Search Results for: NeX GEn

The annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony featured the spirit of 1970s British punk, some anti-war sentiments and probably the loudest noise ever heard at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. In what’s often the case at the glittery ceremony, the honor also brought together a long-estranged group, in this case the Police. The British trio played publicly Monday for the first time in 18 years, singing the reggae-tinged “Roxanne,” the obsessive hit, “Every Breath You Take” and “Message in a Bottle.” “I’d like to make it very clear that there is absolutely no ego in our band whatsoever,”… Read more »

A flying sheep’s head hit a concertgoer and fractured his skull at a concert of metal band Mayhem. The band, part of Norway’s death metal music scene, was carving up a dead sheep as part of its stage act when the animal’s head flew off lead singer Maniac’s knife and struck Per Kristian Hagen, 25. The show was Thursday in Bergen, 487 kilometers (302 miles) west of the capital, Oslo. “My relationship to sheep is a bit ambivalent now. I like them, but not when they come flying through the air,” Hagen told The Associated Press Monday from his hospital… Read more »

America Online on Tuesday said it would offer MusicNet to its 27 million U.S. subscribers, the broadest appeal yet to a mainstream audience by an online commercial music service. America Online’s entry into the music subscription race is viewed by analysts and even competitors as a positive development for online music services, which have struggled to gain a foothold in an area dominated by file-swapping. MusicNet is owned by EMI Group Plc, Bertelsmann AG and Warner Music, which, like America Online, is owned by AOL Time Warner, three of the world’s largest music companies. By sending out an invitation to… Read more »

U2 and Paul Simon will likely perform their Oscar-nominated songs at the March 23 ceremony, Oscars producer Gil Cates said. “We don’t have any complete confirmations today as to who will perform but it is likely that U2 will perform because their schedule allows for it. It is likely that Paul Simon will perform,” Cates told reporters. “The other thing, Eminem we’re not sure about in terms of the schedule. We haven’t heard.” The three acts are nominated for best original song: U2’s “The Hands That Built America” from “Gangs of New York,” Paul Simon’s “Father and Daughter” from “The… Read more »

Incubus filed suit against Sony Music on Thursday seeking to be released from their recording contract with Sony subsidiary Epic Records. The suit – filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in Santa Monica on behalf of singer Brandon Boyd, guitarist Mike Einziger, drummer Jose Pasillas and bassist Alex Katunich – asks a judge to allow them to set aside their original deal, which they claim they have satisfied. “This isn’t Courtney Love or some other artists where we’re walking away from a deal,” said the band’s manager, Steve Rennie, referring to a suit settled last year in which Love sought… Read more »

Tough times may have hit the record business, but sellers of musical instruments and products are humming. “It looks like we got back to the high water mark of $7 billion in annual U.S. sales in 2002, and I’m very bullish about the next 10 years,” said Joe Lamond, president and chief executive officer of International Music Products Association, representing nearly 8,000 retailers and makers of musical instruments and products in 85 countries. The estimated 2002 U.S. level would represent an uptick from $6.7 billion in 2001, which had fallen from the industry’s record $7 billion in 2000. The latest… Read more »

A peace treaty announced Tuesday between the record business and Silicon Valley could reshape the debate over what role Capitol Hill should play in mandating antipiracy technology being sought by Hollywood, making it more difficult for the movie biz to pursue its legislative agenda. The landmark pact among the Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA), the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP) launches a new chapter in the music industry’s fight to recover from devastating levels of computer piracy. For its part, Silicon Valley will actively help the RIAA, the lobbying arm of the major… Read more »

Blamed by shareholders for AOL Time Warner’s sharp fall in fortunes, Steve Case said he will step down as chairman of the conglomerate he helped create – a marriage of old and new media first hailed as revolutionary but now struggling for a future. Case’s departure means the company’s leadership will be without any of the key architects of the blockbuster merger of America Online and Time Warner in 2001. The company said Sunday he would step down in May. In a brief statement, Case said he had concluded AOL Time Warner was better off without him as chairman. “Some… Read more »

Classic acts such as Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Cher lured more people to concerts in 2002 and helped the industry make a record $2.1 billion in ticket sales, according to figures released Friday. This was the fourth straight year concert receipts reached record levels in America. There were $1.75 billion in sales in 2001, according to trade publication Pollstar, which tracks the concert industry. In 2001, ticket costs rose and sales declined, Pollstar said. Last year, increased ticket sales helped push concert receipts higher. “We had some very big marquee names out on tour this year,” said Pollstar’s… Read more »

In more bad news for the music industry, album sales declined for the second straight year in 2002, down 10.7 percent from the previous year. Nielsen SoundScan reported this week that 2002 album sales fell from 763 million in 2001 to 681 million. Overall music sales in 2001 had been down 5 percent – the first decline since SoundScan began tracking music sales in 1991. Hilary Rosen, chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, blamed the decline mainly on illegal downloading of music off the Internet. “There’s no question that the availability of free music on the… Read more »