Search Results for: Record Store Day

The days of the compact disc could be drawing to a close as an increasing number of music fans, especially technologically savvy youngsters, turn to the Internet for free downloadable music. At a panel of the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin on Thursday, music industry executives talked about how they plan to stay afloat in the digital world of downloadable music and CD burning. “Unless you’re in a coma, it’s clear that the current business model of selling shiny discs at $17.99 isn’t going to sustain anybody any longer,” said David Adelson, executive editor Hits Magazine and the… Read more »

Music fans have until Monday to register for their $5 to $20 share of a settlement involving major U.S. record distributors and retailers. All U.S. residents who purchased at least one compact disc, cassette or album between 1995 and 2000 can register online for a piece of the $44 million class-action settlement. The latest figures, from October through Tuesday, indicate 2.8 million people had signed up on the Web. That may seem like a lot, but it probably represents just a small fraction of Americans who purchased retail music during the late 1990s. Figures from the Recording Industry Association of… Read more »

A music industry trade body launched Monday electronic identity tags to keep tabs on Internet music sales in a bid to compensate musicians and song writers as more of their works become available online. The Global Release Indentifier, or GRid, is a code akin to the Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code found on a CD or cassette tape in stores. The aim is to track each time a record label, online retailer or distributor such as Microsoft’s MSN or Italian Internet service provider Tiscali sells a song in the form of a Web stream or download. Such tracking initiatives… Read more »

Michael Jackson said Thursday he felt betrayed by a “terrible and unfair” TV documentary about his life, in which the King of Pop revealed he sometimes lets children sleep in his bed. In a statement issued Thursday by his London representative, Jackson said British journalist Martin Bashir broke the trust placed in him, and added he felt “more betrayed than perhaps ever before.” Bashir spent eight months making the 90-minute program, which was to be shown in the United States at 8 p.m. EST Thursday on ABC’s “20/20.” “I trusted Martin Bashir to come into my life and that of… Read more »

Today marks the official premiere of LPTV, an extensive, exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Linkin Park as they record their new album, METEORA. A new episode of LPTV will debut each Tuesday on linkinpark.com (http://linkinpark.com/ ), with members of the band’s fan club, Linkin Park Underground (http://lpunderground.com/), getting a sneak preview every Monday. The nine episodes lead up to the release of METEORA, in stores March 25th in North America and March 24th worldwide. The series is groundbreaking in the entry it offers fans from around the globe into the daily life of the band. Phoenix adds, “We love the idea… Read more »

Six retail record store chains ? hurting from competition from CD burning, online music and large discount stores ? are teaming to offer consumers digital music downloads in their stores and over the Internet. The stores have formed a joint venture called Echo that will provide technology and allow them to offer individual tracks for downloading to portable devices and computers. The stores are Best Buy, Tower Records, Virgin Entertainment Group, Wherehouse Music, Hastings Entertainment Inc. and Trans World Entertainment Corp., operator of FYE, Strawberries and Coconuts stores. “We’re trying to make digital music work in a mass market way,… Read more »

Internet providers must abide by music industry requests to track down computer users who illegally download music, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in a case that could dramatically increase online pirates’ risk of being caught. The decision by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates upheld the recording industry’s powers under a 1998 law to compel Verizon Communications Inc. to identify one of its Internet subscribers who was suspected of illegally trading music or movies online. The music industry knew only a numerical Internet address this person was using. The ruling means that consumers using dozens of popular Internet file-sharing programs… Read more »

Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, on Wednesday announced it would make more than 43,000 song tracks available for download at retail outlets and music Web sites, opening a new front in the marketing of digital music. The initiative is aimed at attracting fans who may want to buy songs or albums on a one-off basis online rather than through monthly Internet subscriptions, the alternative the major labels have offered to peer-to-peer song swapping services. Universal Music, a unit of Vivendi Universal, said the downloads will be burnable to CD and transferable to secure portable devices. The digital… 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 »

An $800,000 Michigan house owned by Aretha Franklin burned down. Nobody was in the 5,000-square-foot residence at the time of the Friday morning blaze. The house was mainly used to store boxes and furniture. Fire Chief Leo Chartier said flames were shooting through the roof when firefighters arrived just before 6 a.m. Friday. The house, which firefighters said was completely razed, had an estimated value of $812,900, according to township records. The cause of the blaze is under investigation. An acquaintance of Franklin said the singer hadn’t lived in the house in two years.