Tower Records, the worldwide music, book and video retailer that began in a family drug store, is downplaying the possibility it may have to file for bankruptcy because of tightening credit. “We have no present intention to file bankruptcy,” company spokeswoman Louise Solomon said Friday, two days after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Tower’s debt ratings. Moody’s said it was likely that Tower would file for bankruptcy protection if it could not find additional sources of capital or pay off its current loans in the next few months. In a recent Securities and Exchange Commission report, Tower said its revolving credit… Read more »
Beginning Sunday, June 17 through July 23, fans that pre-order *NSYNC’s new title “Celebrity” from BestBuy.com, SamGoody.com, MediaPlay.com, OnCue.com or Suncoast.com will receive a recorded telephone message from a member of the band. Fans who pre-order “Celebrity” will receive an e-mail containing a link to register for the telephone message. Within ten minutes of registering, their phone will ring with a message from Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, or Chris Kirkpatrick. The call will also contain samples of three songs from “Celebrity” including “Girlfriend,” “The Two of Us,” and “Selfish”. Fans will have the option of letting… Read more »
A study released Thursday showed that 5.5 percent of Americans aged 16 to 40 have not purchased a single music CD or cassette in the past year but have been actively downloading music from the Internet. The survey, conducted by Edison Media Research for the radio and music trade publication Records & Radio, was one of the first attempts to quantify the impact that Internet-based music services such as Napster have had on sales of recorded music and, more generally, to show how the Internet is changing music listening habits. The record industry won a court order forcing Napster to… Read more »
Columbia Records’ Crazy Town, Portrait/Columbia Records’ The Union Underground and American Recordings/Columbia Records’ American Head Charge have all signed on-board on what just might be the heaviest Ozzfest ever. Following a big British blow-out at the Milton Keynes Bowl in England on May 26, Ozzfest 2001 opens full-force stateside at the World Amphitheater in Chicago, Illinois. Launched by the heavy metal pioneer and visionary Ozzy Osbourne, the first Ozzfest, a multi-band festival held in 1996, hit only two markets-Los Angeles and Phoenix-but paved the way for a full-on touring extravaganza the next year. Since then, the Ozzfest has become a… Read more »
On July 24 Jive Recording artist *NSYNC will release Celebrity the follow up to their Diamond certified Jive debut album No Strings Attached. The first single “Pop” will be available via satellite on May 15 at 7:00 PM ET via the DG system. On May 28 MTV’s Making The Video will debut the video. “Pop” was co-written by Justin Timberlake and Wade Robson and co-produced by BT, Justin Timberlake and Wade Robson. Celebrity has tracks written and/or produced by Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Max Martin, Rodney Jerkins, The Neptunes, Brian McKnight and Wade Robson. * NSYNC will perform “Pop” on… Read more »
Columbia/Loud Records’ Stereomud will be headlining what promises to be one of the most aggressive, exultant and satisfying underground hard rock tours of the summer: the “Pain & Suffering” Tour featuring Columbia/Dv8 Records’ Endo. The “Pain & Suffering” Tour kicks off Monday, May 21 at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan and will feature either Columbia/Portrait Records’ Spike 1000 or Columbia Records’ Flybanger. Inspiration behind the name of the “Pain & Suffering” Tour can be found in the music of the bands: Stereomud’s current hit, “Pain”; Endo’s first single “Suffer,”; and “Make Me Suffer,” the first single from Spike 1000. Currently… Read more »
Taking a cue from their new single, The Call, the romantically inclined Backstreet Boys will reach out and touch some of their fans on Valentine’s Day… well, sort of. Folks who sign up for the group’s “Send-a-Phone-Call” program via the group’s official online store can play cupid by sending a Valentine phone message from one or all of the pop heartthrobs to any lucky BSB fan in the U.S. Senders can prearrange the prerecorded calls to be made any time on or before February 14. Sample messages posted at the store – including one from A.J. McLean beginning with a… Read more »
Electric Century, the new project from Mikey Way formerly of My Chemical Romance, will release an exclusive EP in honor of Record Store Day on April 18th.
After teasing the cover, David Byrne has finally released his reimagination of Paramore‘s “Hard Times.” This follows the band’s take on Byrne’s classic track “Burning Down The House,” which they covered as part of the Talking Heads tribute album Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense via A24 Music. Both tracks will be out on April 20 for Record Store Day on a limited 12″ LP. “The band told me that their song ‘Hard Times’ was inspired by Talking Heads,” Byrne said in a Twitter post. “So I learned and recorded my version of their great song with a horn section.” Fascinatingly, this arrives… Read more »
There’s nothing to “Decode” with Paramore. The trio have announced that they will be releasing a double-sided single with Talking Heads’ David Byrne for Record Store Day. Hayley Williams and co. covered “Burning Down The House” by the iconic indie group, with Byrne covering the After Laughter track “Hard Times.” “The band told me that their song ‘Hard Times’ was inspired by Talking Heads,” Byrne said in a Twitter post. “So I learned and recorded my version of their great song with a horn section.” This follows the pop-punker’s take on Byrne’s classic track, which they covered last month in… Read more »
