Search Results for: Record Store Day

It’s OK with Nickelback if you want to call them a pop group. In fact, pop doesn’t begin to describe the Canadian quartet’s third album, “The Long Road.” The Roadrunner set, arguably the most-anticipated global rock release of the year, is due Sept. 23 in North America and a day earlier in the rest of the world. “Somewhere along the line, people turned pop – as in ‘popular’ – into a dirty word,” says Chad Kroeger, leader of the hard-rocking band. “We want to reach the widest audience possible and let everyone know who we are. Korn, Tool and Slipknot… Read more »

The Beatles want to take another bite out of Apple Computer Inc. Their record company, Apple Corps Ltd., said Friday that it was suing Apple Computer because the technology company violated a 1991 agreement by entering the music business with its iTunes online store. When Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computer in 1977, he is said to have chosen the name in part as a tribute to the Beatles. The 1991 agreement dealt with the future use of the name “Apple” and of both companies’ well-known logos. Apple Corps, founded in 1968, is owned by Sir Paul McCartney; Ringo Starr; John… Read more »

The legal assault on music file-swappers is an unparalleled move by recording companies desperately trying to survive after failing to fully embrace digital distribution methods and driving up the cost of CDs. But record companies now risk a backlash that could damage far more than their financial results, while still not making a significant dent in music piracy, some observers say. A day after firing off 261 copyright lawsuits against individuals it accuses of each sharing hundreds of music files online, recording industry officials fielded a few calls from defendants eager to avoid paying thousands in damages. The Recording Industry… Read more »

Universal Music Group’s strategy of lowering its CD prices is good news for music fans, but some traditional music retailers on Thursday worried the move may damage their business. A day after Universal announced a cut on the wholesale price of most of its CDs and an end to advertising discounts, retailers large and small began assessing how the new pricing plan would affect them. Large retailers such as Borders, BestBuy, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com generally reserved judgment Thursday on the change, although several noted it could be an effective consumer lure. Several of them declined to discuss how… Read more »

Vivendi Universal’s (V) Universal Music Group plans to sharply lower the consumer cost for compact discs, in an effort to bring customers back into retail stores and boost music sales. The move comes as the music industry grapples with a continuing decline in retail sales in the face of rampant piracy and other problems. In a press release Wednesday, Universal Music said it will reduce wholesale prices and implement a $12.98 manufacturer suggested retail price on virtually all of its top-line CDs in the U.S. The plan will eliminate MSRPs of as much as $18.98, and the company believes retailers… Read more »

Hollywood will win the war against illegal downloading but the battlefield will be littered with casualties, including the DVD and CD formats as physical means of distributing video and audio, according to a Forrester Research study released Tuesday. The study predicts that in five years, CDs and DVDs will start to go the way of the vinyl LP as 33% of music sales and 19% of home video revenue shifts to streaming and downloading. Part of that stems from the continued proliferation of illegal file trading, which has caused an estimated $700 million of lost CD sales since 1999. But… Read more »

Blink 182 and Taking Back Sunday are set to perform a benefit concert on September 6 in San Diego for professional surfer Jason Bogle, who suffers from a rare kind of bone cancer called Ewing Sarcoma. At the same time, Blink 182 is readying the release of a new self-titled album, the follow-up to 2001’s Take Off Your Pants and Your Jacket. The set hit stores on November 18. Some parents who take their kids to Blink 182’s shows are often surprised at the giant burning expletive in the background, but band members Mark Hoppus and Tom Delonge revealed that… Read more »

Details on Pink’s upcoming album have been hard to come by this summer – until now. Due in stores on November 11, the singer’s album now has a tentative title, Try This. The track list is still under wraps, but the first single – also tentative – will most likely be called “God Is a DJ,” an energetic, melodic pop song that merges Pink’s exuberant dance-floor energy with a grinding, rock edge. On the hook, Pink sings, “If God is a DJ, life is a dance floor, love is a river, and you are the music/ If God is a… Read more »

A.F.I. fans should check out the import section of their favorite record store for the upcoming Australian CD-single release of “The Leaving Song Part II,” from the band’s current album Sing The Sorrow. The Australian CD, which will be released on August 4 to coincide with the band’s tour there, includes three additional tracks-demo versions of “This Celluloid Dream” and “Synthesthesia,” plus a CD-ROM video for the band’s first single from Sing The Sorrow, “Girl’s Not Grey.” On the home front, “The Leaving Song Part II” is currently at Number 25 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. A.F.I. has been… Read more »

Napster may be long dead, but the name and the “kitty” logo of the pioneer online music-swapping program could return to cyberspace before the year is out. Santa Clara-based Roxio Inc., which owns the rights to the Napster name, plans to shelve its current online music service, pressplay, and roll out Napster 2.0 by Christmas, Chris Gorog, Roxio’s chairman and chief executive, told The Associated Press. Gorog was scheduled to announce details of the venture Monday at the Jupiter Plug.IN Conference & Expo in New York. Software maker Roxio acquired pressplay, a joint venture of Universal Music Group and Sony… Read more »