Search Results for: Interscope Records

In a pairing that would alter the architecture of the music business, Apple Computer Inc. is in talks with Vivendi Universal to buy Universal Music Group, the world’s largest record company, for as much as $6 billion, sources said. Such a seemingly unlikely combination would instantly make technology guru Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder and chief executive, the most powerful player in the record industry. Universal, which reaps about $6 billion in sales annually from artists such as 50 Cent, Shania Twain, U2 and Luciano Pavarotti, would be controlled by a maverick who revolutionized the computer market and coined the mantra… Read more »

New York’s finest new rock acts will be anthologized on “YES New York,” a 15-track collection due June 3 from Wolfgang Morden, the soundtrack imprint of Vice Records. The album kicks off with a previously unreleased live version of the Strokes’ “New York City Cops” recorded in Iceland, and concludes with an acoustic version of “Our Time” performed by Unitard, a side project of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. “As transplants to New York, we had spent a decade watching the New York rock scene kinda suck with too many Heartbreaker wannabes and noisy sound-alikes,” executive producers Chris White and Brian… Read more »

The Super Bowl halftime show will be a little bit country and a little bit rock n’ roll. Canadian singer Shania Twain and Southern California band No Doubt are headlining halftime entertainment for Sunday’s game. Sting also will appear. “It’s such a big event that there are no limits,” Twain said Thursday. “The sky is the limit.” Twain will perform two songs: “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” from her blockbuster album “Come on Over,” and the title song of her latest album, “Up.” “‘Cause that’s where the ball is going,” Twain said. She’s looking forward to the game, but… Read more »

The Eminem show was everywhere this week as two albums by the rapper commanded top spots on the U.S. sales charts ahead of the Friday opening of his highly anticipated debut movie. The newly released soundtrack to his film “8 Mile” – which features music by Eminem as well as other rappers such as Jay-Z, Nas and D-12 – debuted at No. 1 on the charts, selling an estimated 702,000 units in the week ended Nov. 3, according to music tracker Nielsen SoundScan. The album features three new solo songs by Eminem, who has the starring role in the movie… Read more »

A federal judge threw out a $70 million lawsuit filed by an anti-gangsta rap crusader who claimed lawyers for two record labels tried to drive her to emotional and financial ruin. C. DeLores Tucker and her husband sued in 1999, claiming she was the victim of malicious prosecution because of her campaign against gangsta rap. According to her lawsuit, she met with executives from Time Warner and Death Row Records in 1995 to try to persuade them to clean up the language in gangsta rap. The Tuckers claimed that Death Row Records, rap label Interscope, five attorneys and two hired… Read more »

Bruce Springsteen kept a firm grip on the top spot on the album charts for the second straight week, despite a 55% slide in sales. “Rising” (Columbia), Springsteen’s first disc of new material since 1995, sold just under 239,000 units, according to numbers released Wednesday by Nielsen SoundScan. The Jersey-born rock legend recently launched a U.S. tour to support the release, backed for the first time in a decade by the E Street Band. The Boss was followed in the rankings by a trio of Universal Music Group hip-hop stars. Nelly rebounded one spot to second with “Nellyville” (Universal), selling… Read more »

Music fans weren’t quite ready to vacate “Nellyville” this week, as the sophomore album from St. Louis rapper Nelly stood strong against a heady debut from funk-punk foursome the Red Hot Chili Peppers and held on to the top spot for the third week running. Sales of “Nellyville” (Universal) slipped 24% to 340,000 units, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, but the album still managed to top 1.5 million in total sales after less than a month out. Fresh off that success, the hip-hop star is said to be planning a move into the TV world, starring in his… Read more »

Last week Eminem was a little uneasy about the fact that bootlegging had pressured Interscope to release his much-hyped The Eminem Show way ahead of schedule. Would such a hasty move screw up his game plan? (See “Eminem Show Moved Up Again – Album In Stores Sunday”). Well, 1.6 million records sold later, Em can relax – not that he was really sweating how many units he was gonna move. “I don’t ever buy into the pressure of trying to top my last album for record sales,” he said, cruising around Manhattan on top of a double-decker bus. “The pressure… Read more »

Eminem insists that his new album, The Eminem Show, due out June 4 on Interscope/Aftermath/Shady Records, is not like his previous efforts, despite the style of the album’s first single, “Without Me.” The single is currently Number 43 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The artist, who appeared on Saturday Night Live on Saturday (May 11), recently spoke to LAUNCH about the song that disses Vice President Dick Cheney, Limp Bizkit, and Moby. “The first single is no indication whatsoever how the record is going to sound. That’s probably the most different-est song that’s most like anything off… Read more »

Jim Caparro, the man who helped build the Island Def Jam Music Group into the third-biggest record label in the U.S. through aggressive consolidation and savvy A&R, has decided to resign as chairman of the Universal Music division after three years on the job. Caparro, whose duties will be taken up by his longtime colleague, IDJ president Lyor Cohen, said the timing was perfect for his departure, with the label group at its peak performance and a strong cadre of execs to take up the reins. “People in this position normally leave because they get fired,” Caparro told Daily Variety.… Read more »