Search Results for: The Aces

A fire erupted Tuesday afternoon (October 9) at the building housing Hit Factory Recording Studios, birthplace of records by artists ranging from John Lennon to Notorious B.I.G., causing an unknown amount of damage. No one who worked in the building was hurt in the blaze, according to police on the scene, though the section of the building that faces West 54th Street appeared severely damaged. The fire was contained chiefly to the fourth-floor offices of SESAC, a performing-rights organization representing songwriters and publishers that leases space in the building, according to Hit Factory executive Troy Germano. The Hit Factory has… Read more »

Federal Judge Marilyn Hall Patel Wednesday deferred a decision on a request by recording giants for a summary judgement in their long-running copyright infringement suit against song-swap service Napster. “She took it under consideration and Napster threw a lot of issues on the wall. Patel was interested in a few of them, but at the end of the day, there is no question that liability is going to be found and damages will be assessed,” said Matt Oppenheim, senior vice president of legal affairs for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents music companies. Issues which came under… Read more »

Featuring two of the day’s most popular heavy rock acts – the masked Midwest horror-meisters Slipknot and the politically-driven Southland quartet System Of A Down – the nationwide Pledge of Allegiance tour features a couple bands whose recordings and performances are marked by uncompromising intensity. However, their musical styles and their levels of talent, as seen at the near-full Forum, share few resemblances. After a typically explosive set by German fire-tamers Rammstein, as well as opening turns by young groups Mudvayne and No One, System played their first L.A. show in two years and the first since the release earlier… Read more »

Major recording giants head to federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday to request a summary judgement against Napster in their long-running copyright infringement lawsuit against the song-swap company, lawyers for the companies said on Sunday. “We will argue in front of Judge (Marilyn Hall) Patel on Wednesday, seeking a summary judgement against Napster on the issue of liability, which would in essence leave for trial only the amount of damages and the nature of the injunction,” said Russell Frackman, an attorney for the record industry. Napster lawyers will oppose the request and argue for a full trial to determine… Read more »

Music publishers and recording companies are expected early this week to announce a deal for licensing of music online, removing a hurdle that threatened to thwart industry plans to launch Web services, sources close to the talks said on Sunday. Under the deal, which is expected to be announced as early as Tuesday, the major labels would pay music publishers, who own the copyrights to underlying compositions, a $1 million advance to cover the use of their music over the next two years, said a source familiar with the matter. The publishers’ effort has been led by the National Music… Read more »

Gorillaz, the cartoon indie-beat band formed by Damon Albarn of the rock band Blur, picked up six nominations, including best group, in the eighth annual MTV Europe Music Awards noms, announced here Tuesday. Gorillaz will compete with Destiny’s Child, Limp Bizkit, R.E.M. and U2 for the best group prize in a ceremony to be aired live Nov. 8 on MTV’s worldwide channels from Frankfurt, Germany. Additionally, Gorillaz’ international hit single “Clint Eastwood” is up for best song. Nominees in the female act category include Dido, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna and Mariah Carey, while Robbie Williams, Eminem, Ricky Martin, Shaggy… Read more »

Music fans mourning the passing of Aaliyah – and those curious about her legacy – will push the late R&B star to the top of next week’s Billboard 200 albums chart. Despite strong debuts from Mary J. Blige and Slipknot, Aaliyah’s eponymous album will vault to #1 on the albums chart next week, a month and a half after its initial release. The singer died August 25 in a plane crash that claimed the lives of eight others. Sales of Aaliyah jumped from 62,000 copies during the week of her death to 305,000 copies in the week that followed, bumping… Read more »

Country pop trio the Dixie Chicks are suing Sony Music Entertainment, seeking to terminate their contract and accusing the Japanese recording giant of cheating the singers out of more than $4 million. The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in New York and made public Tuesday, charges that Sony engaged in “systematic thievery” to underpay royalties owed the Grammy-winning act since 1998 for two multiplatinum albums released by Sony’s Monument imprint. The Dixie Chicks – Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Seidel and Emily Robison – are the latest in a growing list of recording stars to rebel against the… Read more »

Some of hip-hop’s biggest names had yet to make their way to the Jackie Gleason Theater a few hours before the Source Hip-Hop Music Awards show was to begin taping late Monday afternoon (August 20). Others had dropped out entirely. Snoop Dogg was scheduled to perform but pulled out at the last minute for undisclosed reasons, and multiple nominee Jay-Z also decided to skip the event. P. Diddy and the Bad Boy Family, like Eminem and D-12, won’t be at Monday’s show but will still be a part of the program, which will air August 28 on UPN. They pre-taped… Read more »

He couldn’t have been more eager to talk about Live’s fifth album, V, which comes out September 18. Every time frontman Ed Kowalczyk started to explain the creative process for the disc, though, a Chihuahua circled his feet and yapped noisily. “Will you just shut up?” the singer snapped at the dog, momentarily breaking his Zen-like disposition. “She’s a girl and we fixed her,” he continued. “They say sometimes after you fix them they get all barky.” The animal is one of three dogs that circulate through Kowalczyk’s Los Angeles house, where he lives with his wife, Erin, when he’s… Read more »