Search Results for: GOLD

Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl flash lasted less than three seconds, but the impact continues to ripple through Viacom, the media giant that broadcast the game. Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, right-wing radio commentators and outraged citizens are calling for stricter decency standards – and the artists and executives who make a living from edgy music, performances and videos are in retreat. MTV in particular, which produced the Super Bowl halftime show, is in the midst of a wide-scale re-evaluation of its musical, news and dramatic content. Within a week of the game, MTV – no stranger to criticism, most recently… Read more »

Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson’s respective careers may be causing some newlywed tension, according to Extra. The TV entertainment news show reports that as Simpson’s career has been skyrocketing lately, her husband has become, quote, “the man in her shadow.” Last week on the couple’s MTV reality show, Lachey was upset about his wife’s bigger role on a VH-1 skit. In addition, his contribution to their public service announcement was all but cut from the final product. The latest issue of Us magazine reports that the couple may be headed for tough times. The magazine’s cover story on Simpson and… Read more »

It was a breakthrough deal that would have put the Napster kitty on millions of Hewlett-Packard computers. But in the days leading up to Napster’s re-launch in late October, HP suddenly – and without explanation – returned Napster’s $250,000 check and canceled the agreement to install a link to Napster’s online music service on its computers. Worse, in January HP announced a surprise partnership with Napster rival Apple Computer to feature the iTunes Music store on HP computers and sell Hewlett-Packard branded iPod music players. Neither HP nor Napster’s parent company, Roxio, would comment on the soured deal, whose details… Read more »

Beyonce Knowles may be “Crazy in Love,” but she kept her cool Sunday at one of the more sober Grammy Awards shows in memory. She was the night’s big winner, taking home a record-tying five trophies to join recent Grammy queens Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones with the most wins in a single year by a female performer. OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won Album of the Year, giving the eccentric Atlanta funk/rap group three wins, including Best Urban Alternative Performance and Best Rap Album. British band Coldplay took home the prize for Record of the Year for “Clocks,”… Read more »

As Johnny Rotten once snarled, “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” To the dismay of aging punk fans, a British television company announced Monday that the former Sex Pistols singer and angry punk icon – now known by his real name, John Lydonhas agreed to appear in the reality show “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” “I’m gobsmacked,” said Tony Wilson, a British journalist and music entrepreneur who knows Lydon. “I’m shocked, but I have faith… I’m sure he’s doing it for the right reasons.” Other punk fans were appalled. “The announcement made me feel instantly old….… Read more »

Platinum rockers Simple Plan are ringing in the new year by celebrating the rise of their debut album No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls ascent into the Billboard Top 40. The band’s album officially charted at #35 this week on the Billboard Top 200, marking the band’s highest charting position of their entire career. Since the release of their album in March 2002, Simple Plan is considered by many to be one of the biggest artist development stories in recent history. No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls first entered the Billboard Top 200 57 weeks ago and has continued to move up… Read more »

Working to provide consumers with the most compelling digital content whenever and wherever they desire, HP and Apple(R) today announced a strategic alliance to deliver an HP-branded digital music player based on Apple’s iPodâ„¢, the number one digital music player in the world, and Apple’s award-winning iTunes digital music jukebox and pioneering online music store to HP’s customers. As part of the alliance, HP consumer PCs and notebooks will come preinstalled with Apple’s iTunes(R) jukebox software and an easy-reference desktop icon to point consumers directly to the iTunes Music Store, ensuring a simple, seamless music experience. This offering is yet… Read more »

Maroon 5 has an incredible 2004 planned with the launch of “This Love,” their second single and video (premiering on MTV on January 6), an upcoming tour with John Mayer and a special live performance on MTV’s Total Request Live on January 13. In 2003, LA’s Maroon 5 saw the fruits of their labors when their debut album, Songs About Jane, was certified gold and their first national headlining tour was all but completely sold out in every market. The band’s first single and video for “Harder To Breathe,” received massive airplay at Top 40, VH1 and MTV. The video… Read more »

Rick Van Santen, a co-president of Goldenvoice, a Los Angeles concert promotion company that ushered punk rock from the fringes of the music scene to a wide audience, died last Sunday at his home in Ventura County of flu-related complications, his Goldenvoice partner Paul Tollett said. He was 41. In the 1980s, a time when major promoters shunned punk because of its reputation as a violent subculture, Goldenvoice presented acts in large, established rooms with quality sound, such as the Hollywood Palladium and the Palace (now the Avalon). “There cannot be any L.A. band since the early ’80s that was… Read more »

Cris Kirkwood, former bassist for influential alternative rock band the Meat Puppets, remained hospitalized Monday after being shot in the abdomen on Friday. Kirkwood was shot outside a post office in downtown Phoenix by a security guard escorting him off the premises after he was involved in an argument with a woman over a parking space, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center in nearby Banner, Arizona, in critical condition and underwent surgery on the wound, a hospital spokesperson said. As the 43-year-old Kirkwood attempted to back into a… Read more »