Search Results for: MAX

The Academy Award-winning producer behind the “Lord of the Rings” franchise has sued the films’ distributor, New Line Cinema, to force it to disclose its accounting for the multibillion-dollar epic. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Los Angeles by octogenarian producer Saul Zaentz, was at least the second involving profits from the trilogy against New Line, which is accused in both suits of hiding profits. A lawsuit brought by director Peter Jackson over profits from the first film caused a rupture that has New Line considering a new director for the fourth film, “The Hobbit.” Zaentz acquired the rights to… Read more »

American hip-hop and R&B singer and rapper Akon pleaded not guilty to minor criminal charges onMonday after being accused of tossing a teenage fan off the stage during a concert in upstate New York earlier this year. The singer, who also goes by Aliaune Thiam and was partly raised in Senegal, faces misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a minor and harassment. A woman at the concert in Fishkill, about 80 miles north of New York City, told local media she suffered a concussion when she was struck by the young fan Akon tossed off the stage. “It was… Read more »

Panic! at the Disco guitarist-lyricist Ryan Ross is tired of computer-tuned vocals and software-tweaked drums. “People have taken technology so far, to the point where music is almost sterile these days,” he says from the studio in Las Vegas’ Palms Hotel, taking a break from recording sessions for the band’s second album. “With all those old rock & roll records, you can really feel there’s a character to them, because it was played by real people. I feel like a lot of that’s missing now.” It’s a common argument these days, but Ross is an odd person to be making… Read more »

The new owner of EMI Group PLC has said he will drop artists the music group believes are not working hard enough and will overhaul the company’s own executives’ pay packages, the Financial Times reported Friday. EMI, which has Coldplay, the Rolling Stones and Kylie Minogue on its roster, also threatened to withdraw stars’ lucrative advances if record sales are disappointing, the FT said, quoting an internal memo to staff from the chief executive of the private equity firm that bought the company in August. Guy Hands, the CEO of Terra Firma Capital Partners, said the company would in the… Read more »

Former “American Idol” contestant Corey Clark is facing up to two years in jail and a maximum fine of $150,000 after pleading guilty to a felony charge of harassment. Clark, 27, is scheduled to be sentenced in early November in Yuma County Superior Court although no date had been set as of Friday. In exchange for entering a guilty plea to one charge of aggravated harassment on Oct. 2, Clark had four other charges dismissed, said Roger Nelson, chief criminal deputy attorney for the Yuma County Attorney’s Office. Authorities said Clark violated a court order in August 2006 by placing… Read more »

AJ McLean remembers the conversation well. Kevin Richardson was having doubts about his future in the Backstreet Boys, and one night in the dressing room after a 2005 show, he told his friends in the mega-selling boy band how he was feeling. “There’s some things I need to do first, for me,” McLean recalled Richardson saying. The group had been discussing “when we wanted to start recording again,” McLean said. “Everyone was ready, but that was the first time Kevin put it out in the atmosphere that he wasn’t.” The Boys needed some time to digest Richardson’s news. In June… Read more »

Bruce Springsteen was back in familiar territory with a rehearsal show Monday night in the city that has become known worldwide through his songs. The show at the oceanfront Convention Hall was the first of two benefit rehearsals for Springsteen and the E Street Band, who are about to embark on their first tour together in four years. They will also play Tuesday night, and a third rehearsal concert has been added for Friday at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford. Springsteen and the band opened up with “Radio Nowhere,” a song from their new album. “We’re going to run… Read more »

Next week, Fall Out Boy will make their first appearance in Russia, at the B1 Maximum concert in Moscow. However, contrary to what some of their fans have been told, they won’t be appearing at an “autograph session” immediately beforehand.Several Russian Web sites claimed to be “official” Fall Out Boy fan clubs, all of which were charging fans money for memberships in return for sit-and-sign sessions with the band. “We were made aware [of several sites] setting up a fake meet-and-greet, somewhere around the band’s upcoming Moscow show, that we had to shut down,” Fall Out Boy’s manager, Bob McLynn,… Read more »

LOS ANGELES, CA –NEW FOUND GLORY will cover classics hits such as “Kiss Me,” “Iris” and “Don’t You Forget About Me” on their upcoming release, From The Screen To Your Stereo 2 out on September 18th. The album consists of the band’s own take on soundtrack songs from popular movies from the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s. The album also features guest vocalists from friends of the band including Adam Lazarra from Taking Back Sunday, Chris Carraba from Dashboard Confessional,Will Pugh from Cartel, Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy.  Lisa Loeb sings on her own number one single, “Stay.”  Complete track… Read more »

Getty Images thinks it’s time to reinvent the commercial music licensing business. The company is well known for its vast catalog of pre-cleared digital stock photos, which is sells at a flat rate. Its Web site allows customers to browse, preview and buy these images without ever even making a phone call. It plans to apply that same model to music licensing for ads, TV shows and movies. The first step was its $42 million acquisition of Pump Audio in late June. Pump Audio operates an online music licensing business similar to Getty’s photo service. Users can browse through Pump… Read more »