Search Results for: Thursday

Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” led Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart for a seventh week on Thursday, tying the Beatles to become the longest-running No. 1 in the rock era for the singer’s Capitol Records label. The Fab Four ruled for seven weeks in 1964 with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Perry was previously tied at No. 2 with the Knack’s 1979 song “My Sharona.” If Perry’s song can hang on for three more weeks, it will tie rapper Flo Rida’s “Low” as the second longest-running No. 1 of 2008. But challenges loom from R&B singer Chris Brown’s… Read more »

Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. is negotiating the exit of its chairman, Michael Cohl, amid a dispute between him and CEO Michael Rapino, according to a newspaper report Thursday. Cohl and Rapino have been battling over contracts known as “360 deals” that give the company an all-encompassing stake in an artist’s business, including albums, touring, merchandising, and television and film projects, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site. Live Nation already has inked such deals with artists Madonna and Jay-Z, reportedly worth $120 million and $150 million, respectively. Cohl wants to accelerate the pace of the dealmaking, while… Read more »

A musicians union has filed a federal lawsuit against the producers of “American Idol,” claiming musicians were underpaid because the show’s live music was re-recorded for reruns. The American Federation of Musicians filed the suit seeking unspecified damages Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleging that American Idol Productions Inc. and its subsidiary Tick Tock Productions Inc. violated a collective bargaining agreement. That contract says the show’s musicians should be paid royalties for rebroadcasts of the show, the lawsuit said. The producers are required to pay 75 percent of scale to musicians who appear in the original show… Read more »

Coldplay sold 125,000 copies of its new album on the first day of release in Britain, a solid tally industry experts say should be music to the band’s ears and those of its ailing record label EMI. “Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends” now looks “certain” to top Sunday’s album chart, according to The Official Charts Company which tracks record sales, even though it was released on Thursday rather than at the start of the week. “Coldplay are an international act … and these sales figures in the UK are the first indication of how the album… Read more »

Atlantic Records sued two members of the alternative rock band Stone Temple Pilots on Thursday, accusing them of trying to prematurely end their recording contract with the Warner Music Group label. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, claims lead singer Scott Weiland and drummer Eric Kretz have threatened to stop performing under their contract and have indicated they would like to end the agreement unless Atlantic makes significant changes. The record company said in the suit that while Stone Temple Pilots has already delivered six albums, it wants the group to record a seventh album and deliver… Read more »

One hundred acts on 700 acres can mean only one thing. It’s time for Bonnaroo, dude. The four-day festival of music, art, movies and comedy kicks off on Thursday in Manchester, Tenn., and promises a musical experience designed to please, well, almost everyone who likes music, laughter and $7 showers. Launched in 2002, the festival was largely a gathering of jam bands in the beginning, but has expanded its reach over the years to include performances by Radiohead, the Police and a diverse mix of artists spanning a range of genres. And since the word “bonnaroo” is said to be… Read more »

Not such a rapper’s delight, this. Kanye West, Common, Method Man and Redman, along with their respective Universal Music Group record companies, were sued Thursday by the daughter of late jazz musician Joe Farrell for sampling his music sans permission. Adding further unoriginal insult to copycat injury, each of the rappers used snippets from the same tune, Farrell’s 1974 composition “Upon This Rock.” The lawsuit, filed by scorned offspring Kathleen Firantello, claims West sampled the tune in 2005 on Late Registration’s “Gone,” Common in “Chi-City,” a bonus track on his 2005 album Be, and Method Man and Redman in their… Read more »