Search Results for: GERMANY

Vivendi Universal today announced that its new subsidiary, MP3.com EUROPE, has launched fully localised European music websites as the first step in its plans to become the leading music portal in Europe. Local sites have been launched in the UK, France, Germany and Spain, with further European website launches planned in 2002. MP3.com EUROPE operates under its own newly-established management team based in London. MP3.com EUROPE will offer the largest available collection of online music from unsigned artists, as well as content from major, and independent record labels, distributed by a wide selection of services. Today MP3.com EUROPE already has… Read more »

Fresh from his blockbuster performance before U.S. military forces stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Lava/Atlantic recording artist Kid Rock has just scored RIAA platinum with his new album, “COCKY.” The announcement comes less than one month after the release of the Kid Rock-produced collection, which includes the current hit single, “Forever.” Recent weeks have seen Kid Rock continuing to demonstrate his support of American military personnel, including a very special appearance at San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado, where he signed autographs and posed for pictures with thousands of U.S. sailors. In early December, Kid Rock and his Twisted… Read more »

The world’s largest record company will be the first of the major labels to release a copy-protected CD in the United States, signaling a new chapter in the industry’s efforts to stem music piracy. When Universal Music Group on Tuesday releases the soundtrack, “Fast & Furious – More Music,” consumers won’t be able to copy the music onto another CD or use their PCs to “rip” tracks in digital MP3 format. The copy-protection technology will also render the disc unplayable on Macintosh computers, DVD players and game consoles, such as Sony’s PlayStation 2. It might not even play in some… Read more »

Kid Rock and his band, Twisted Brown Trucker, head to Frankfurt, Germany, this weekend for a USO show for U.S. armed services on Saturday (December 8) that’s being sponsored by MTV. Uncle Kracker, Twisted Brown Trucker’s DJ and a solo artist in his own right, said that the group looks forward to entertaining the troops, who are involved in America’s war against terrorism. “I think it’s good for the troops, I guess, man, give ’em something to look at-give ’em something to do. I mean, I’ve been to Germany, and if they’ve been in Germany for any length of time,… Read more »

No one is suggesting that Kid Rock and his camp are unhappy with initial sales of his latest album, Cocky, which has so far sold more than 337,000 copies and debuted at Number Seven on the Billboard 200 its first week out. But there are those in the industry who expected it to do even better as the follow-up to 1998’s 10 million-selling Devil Without A Cause, and there were hopes that it would debut closer to Creed’s Weathered, which premiered at Number One on sales of almost 880,000. This week Cocky is Number 15 with sales of nearly 115,000,… Read more »

The head of Bertelsmann’s e-commerce arm became the latest victim of the German media giant’s restructuring on Wednesday when the group announced a major shake-up of its music distribution interests. Bertelsmann said Andreas Schmidt was leaving the company as the German-based group unveiled plans to fold its e-commerce arm into BeMusic, a new unit that will house its record club, music retailer and other music distribution businesses. Guetersloh, Germany-based Bertelsmann is sprucing up its sprawling media empire ahead of an expected stock market flotation in the next two to three years, and has been reviewing its business for possible cost-saving… Read more »

Rock ‘n’ roll will never die. Unless it is being made by classic rockers like Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger and former Beatle Paul McCartney, whose new albums are barely registering a pulse at cash registers in the United States. The very youth culture that propelled these music legends to stardom back in the 1960s is now discarding them in favor of a new generation of fresh-faced youngsters, such as perky teen queen Britney Spears and spiritual rockers Creed. According to sales data issued on Wednesday, Jagger’s new album “Goddess in the Doorway” (Virgin) debuted at No. 39 on the… Read more »

Britney Spears’ third album, “Britney”, debuts at no. 1 on the album sales chart this week with 745,744 units sold, more than doubling last week’s top selling album. This gives Britney Spears the second best selling album of 2001 according to Soundscan (the no. 1 best selling album of 2001 goes to her label mates *NSYNC). Beyond all of this, Britney also becomes the first solo female performer in the history of The Billboard 200 to have her first three albums debut in the no. 1 spot. Britney demonstrates the artist’s global appeal with debuts at number one in Canada,… Read more »

While Ali G was insulting German celebrities in a naff bit of hosting in the country’s financial capital, many people were wondering why MTV had selected the less than musical city on the Main for this year’s event. Was it for the internet address, MTV.de, which was held by a local transit company until MTV announced that it had decided to come to Frankfurt? More probable is that the music television pioneer was trying to boost its visibility in Europe’s largest media market, a place where the locals are, in US parlance, kicking its ass. Viva Media, which is listed… Read more »

Fred Durst was the undisputed star of Thursday’s MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony, accepting three awards and performing with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Limp Bizkit won Best Group, Best Rock Act and the Web Award, besting nominee leaders Gorillaz, who won only two of the six awards they were up for – Best Dance Act and Best Song for “Clint Eastwood.” Durst, Page and Puddle of Mudd’s Wes Scantlin played the Zeppelin song “Thank You,” nearly stealing the show from such fellow performers as Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z, who performed “Girls, Girls, Girls” with 300 German women joining… Read more »