Search Results for: The Aces

EMI Group, home to stars from the Rolling Stones to Norah Jones, came under more pressure to find a suitor on Wednesday after its debt was slashed to “junk,” sending its shares to their lowest level in more than 10 years. EMI, the world’s third-largest music company, saw its stock slump 13 percent after Moody’s slashed its debt below investment grade late on Tuesday on concerns about the weak outlook for the music industry, stoking fears about the group’s profits and dividend. Faced with an increasingly gloomy outlook, EMI has been in talks in recent months with two rivals –… Read more »

Songwriters and music publishers have filed a $17 billion lawsuit against German media giant Bertelsmann AG, claiming that their investment in Napster constitutes copyright infringement. The case was filed late Wednesday in U.S District Court of New York. Plaintiffs in the suit include songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, whose hits include “Hound Dog” and “Stand by Me,” and music publisher Peer International Corp. Of note is that the lawsuit is seeking class-action status for other music publishers represented by the Harry Fox Agency. If this were to happen, BMG Music Publishing, which is a division of Bertelsmann, would… Read more »

Britain’s latest manufactured pop groups were forced to hold back their tears Wednesday after promoters canceled their debut 11-night “Popstars” tour. Boy band One True Voice and their chart-topping female rivals Girls Aloud had been due to begin the two weeks of arena concerts on March 1. Concert promoter Triple A Entertainments and Granada, the producers of the “Popstars” television show, both declined to comment on why the tour was canceled. Media reports suggested tickets had not been selling, but a spokeswoman for the London Arena, where the bands were due to play on March 3, said ticket sales had… Read more »

Boy-band hitmaker Lou Pearlman is the target of a state probe into complaints that hundreds of aspiring models and actors were duped into paying up to $1,500 each for spots on his company’s Web site. Clients say they were led to believe that Pearlman’s company, Trans Continental Talent Inc., would help them find work – not just post their pictures online. The investigation, which began in August, has turned up “hundreds of potential violations” but no one who actually landed a job through the company, Assistant Attorney General Jackie Dowd said. Pearlman, best known for launching the Backstreet Boys and… Read more »

Bon Jovi’s new album, Bounce, is expected to debut in the upper regions of the Billboard 200 on Wednesday (October 16). Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora revealed that he expects the album to battle Elvis Presley (news)’s Elvis: 30 #1 Hits for the top spot. “You know I’m anxious to see how it’s going down. Obviously it’s being well received everywhere else. And right now from what I’m hearing we’re neck-and-neck with the King right now. He’s up yesterday, we’re up today, and it’s like, literally [the difference is] 7,000 records, which is not a lot of records,” he said.… Read more »

Kurt Cobain fans are closer to Nirvana than they have been in years. A studio version of the unreleased Nirvana track “You Know You’re Right” has surfaced online in its entirety. The song, which was reportedly recorded in January 1994, less than three months before frontman Cobain took his own life with a shotgun in his Seattle home, is expected to a appear on the long-awaited Nirvana greatest-hits album, which, according to Courtney Love, is due by Christmas. A Universal Music Group spokesperson, however, said that while the LP would come out, there was no specific release date. By Monday… Read more »

Paul Simon has replaced Paul McCartney at the 25th annual Kennedy Center Honors taking place in Washington in December. Last week, the former Beatle sent his regrets to the organizers of the Kennedy Center Honors, explaining that a personal obligation would not permit him to attend the ceremony on December 7. McCartney’s name will be on the list for 2003 instead. No other details were given about McCartney’s bow out on the event and a call to his representatives were not returned at press time. Simon was named as a replacement, whom the center said would have been honored in… Read more »

Lance Bass’ space voyage was at risk while Hollywood dealmakers and Russian bureaucrats squabbled over payment for the pop idol’s $20 million trip. “We have a contract, but we don’t have any money,” Russian Aerospace Agency spokesman Konstantin Kreidenko said. Bass hopes to be a member of the crew scheduled to travel on a Russian Soyuz rocket to the international space station in October. But the deadline for the ‘N Sync singer to make a payment to secure his spot was Tuesday, according to a Russian space agency official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Kreidenko would not confirm that.… Read more »

A clash with shareholders cost Thomas Middelhoff his job at the helm of media giant Bertelsmann – even though the company made money while rivals like AOL Time Warner and Vivendi ran into trouble. Not even one of the deals of the decade – reaping billions from selling a stake in AOL Europe at the height of the Internet bubble – could save Middelhoff from the same fate as Vivendi’s former chief Jean-Marie Messier and Robert Pittman, ousted as head of AOL Time Warner’s AOL division in a management shakeup. Bertelsmann said Sunday that Middelhoff was leaving due to “differing… Read more »

Too bad everyone doesn’t take the title of 3 Doors Down’s last single literally. A simple “duck and run” could’ve saved the band’s bassist, Todd Harrell, from an entanglement with the law. Harrell turned himself in to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Thursday (May 23), after being wanted by police for a misdemeanor simple assault charge, according to a police spokesperson. He was released on a $500 signature bond soon after. A complaint against Harrell was filed by Terry Alexander, 49, on Friday (May 17). In it, Alexander claimed he was attacked at a party in Harrell’s… Read more »