Search Results for: GOLD

To hear No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani tell it, she’s just a girl from Orange County following a dream. “I’m just like you, except I write songs,” Stefani says. “I feel like I’m doing something right. And right now, I feel like I’m in a good place in my life.” Indeed. Stefani – rock star, pop culture icon, fashion entrepreneur (clothing line L.A.M.B.), actress (Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator,” due in December), wife of Bush vocalist/guitarist Gavin Rossdale – is gearing up for the next chapter in a prolific career. Her solo debut album – or as she prefers to call… Read more »

OCTOBER 26, 2073 – Sixty-nine years to the day after multi-platinum punks Simple Plan released their sophomore album and mega-hit Still Not Getting Any, the now-defunct band plans a reunion tour buoyed by the unwavering obsession with their #1 website www.stillnotgettingany.com The website has fast become the #1 dating website in America for the post-pc generation of self-described “Old People.” The members of the band, none of whom ever married, now reside at the Shady Hills Retirement Community in Bustalottachops, FL. The handsome gents were perhaps best known for their infectious brand of pop-punk in the early new millennium. With… Read more »

Right about now, we’re thinking 50 Cent would have rather been in da club than on da stage. The chart-topping hip-hopster cut short his set at Britain’s Reading Festival over the weekend after getting booed and pelted with plastic bottles by a hostile audience just minutes after he began performing. Accompanied by his G-Unit crew, 50 Cent hadn’t even taken the stage at the legendary U.K. music bash on Sunday evening when the cranky crowd of 55,000 began yelling insults at the former crack peddler and hurling plastic cups. Things got even worse when the lights came up on 50… Read more »

The trophy is a silly Moonman. Treasured memories include girl-on-girl kisses, a flying Fartman and the bobbling of a pasty-covered breast. Where other shows confer honors and respect, this one relishes gaffes, guffaws and giggles. Forget “The envelope, please.” It’s time to push the envelope. MTV’s Video Music Awards is among the most irreverent of awards shows. Which may be precisely why it matters. “It’s pop music; how seriously can you take it?” said MTV news correspondent Kurt Loder. “It’s not Martin Heidegger or something. There’s a lot of empty pomp associated with other shows, like the Oscars and even… Read more »

Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. are not legally responsible for the swapping of copyright content through their file-sharing software, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday in a blow to movie studios and record labels. Among other things, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the suppliers of the free peer-to-peer software, unlike Napster, were not liable for copyright infringement because they don’t have central servers where computer users can access copyrighted material. “In the context of this case, the software design is of great import,” Judge Sidney R. Thomas wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel, which… Read more »

The success of the Black Eyed Peas flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that the music business sacrifices long-term artist development in favor of quick hits and short-term corporate profits. Signed to Interscope Records more than six years ago by chairman Jimmy Iovine, the progressive hip-hop group’s first two albums, “Behind the Front” in 1998 and “Bridging the Gap” in 2000 earned rave reviews but failed to go gold (shipments of 500,000 copies). The first album peaked at No. 139 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 197,000 units, according Nielsen SoundScan, while the sophomore set stalled at… Read more »

With the music industry looking to cut costs amid lower profit margins, record companies see fewer incentives to investing in artist-run label projects. Twelve years ago, Madonna decided to apply the business instincts that made her a superstar toward finding and developing new acts for her own music label. Maverick Records flourished early on. It generated hits by the likes of Alanis Morissette and Prodigy, validating the decision by Warner Music to form a partnership with its biggest star. But Maverick’s good fortunes started to turn during the industrywide sales slump that began in 2000. The label-parent relationship soured, landing… Read more »

Not one rock-based track has reached the top two slots of the Billboard Hot 100 during the past couple of years until this week. The dearth of retail singles for such songs, coupled with the massive audience potential of R&B/hip-hop titles, has all but relegated rock, and some pop titles, to the middle of the top 10. But Hoobastank defies the recent trend, as “The Reason” jumps 5-2 to become the highest-charting rock track on the Hot 100 since Linkin Park took “In the End” to No. 2 in March 2002. With the surrounding R&B tracks having reached their peak… Read more »

Fender Musical Instruments, which has made guitars for generations of rock legends, denied media reports on Wednesday that it had hired financial advisors to find a buyer for the company. The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the situation, said on Wednesday that Goldman Sachs has been hired to sell the legendary guitar company, which could draw bids of up to $500 million. Reuters later ran a similar story, citing a source close to the situation. But Fender Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Schultz, who participated in a buyout of the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company by U.S. private equity firm Weston… Read more »

After a successful tour in Australia and Brazil, Jive/Zomba Recording artists Three Days Grace are gearing up for their upcoming tour with Evanescence and Seether. The tour kicks off July 13th in Minneapolis, MN and will hit over 12 US dates. Three Days Grace will be headlining US dates in June and July before the Evanescence/Seether tour begins. Nearly a year after their debut self-titled album, Three Days Grace was released, their first album has been certified Gold by the RIAA, selling over 500,000 copies. The band’s first single “I Hate Everything About You” continues to receive increases at mainstream… Read more »