Search Results for: Woe Is Me

The late ’70s, when punk exploded and disco imploded, were tumultuous years for the music industry. A time bomb embedded in legislation from that era, the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, could bring another round of tumult to the business, due to provisions that allow authors or their heirs to terminate copyright grants.

Independent merchants selling and buying used CDs across the United States say they are alarmed by stepped-up pawn-broker-related laws recently enacted in Florida and Utah and pending in Rhode Island and Wisconsin. In Florida, the new legislation requires all stores buying second-hand merchandise for resale to apply for a permit and file security in the form of a $10,000 bond with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. In addition, stores would be required to thumb-print customers selling used CDs, and acquire a copy of state-issued identity documents such as a driver’s license. Furthermore, stores could issue only store credit… Read more »

Music company EMI Group PLC, home of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Coldplay, said it is merging its Capitol and Virgin labels in the United States to form the Capitol Music Group. The move continues a reorganization at EMI, which earlier this month announced the departure of two top executives and warned investors that full-year sales will be far below expectations. Jason Flom will lead Capitol Music Group as chairman and chief executive, EMI said in a statement Thursday. Flom joined EMI as chief executive of Virgin Records America in November 2005. “The music business shows exciting growth potential,… Read more »

The Lostprophets titled their second album Start Something for two reasons. One was to motivate people out of complacency. “We spent the last three years touring and meeting loads of people who were like, ‘I’d love to do this and that,’ but they never had the drive to get up off their asses and do it,” explained singer Ian Watkins. “Start something. Start anything.” The title’s other meaning reflects the band’s feeling that Start Something is their first musical step, despite releasing their debut album three years ago. They’re neither trying to ignore 2001’s The Fake Sound of Progress nor… Read more »

Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington must have realized lately that a hospital is somewhere he belongs. Back in May, the ill-fated screamer was diagnosed with a crippling back and stomach ailment that forced the band to cancel 12 European shows. Despite thorough investigation, doctors were unable to pinpoint the source of Bennington’s mysterious problem. Rather, they have merely speculated that it could have been either an intestinal disorder or a parasite, the latter of which may have been transmitted to Bennington through improperly cooked food (that’ll teach ‘em to let Fred Durst grill the burgers next time…). Since then, things… Read more »

Efforts by the music sector to curtail online piracy and develop digital music services like Apple’s iTunes are the first glimmers of hope for the battered industry, the head of Sony Corp.’s U.S. operations said Wednesday. U.S. Chief Executive and Chairman Howard Stringer said at a media breakfast that the April launch of Apple Computer Inc.’s online music service, iTunes, which lets music fans download some songs from all five major record labels for less than a $1 each, was a “sea change” and a “wake-up call.” “Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) has liberated us,” Stringer told media executives and journalists… Read more »

It looks like capitalization and spacing is no good any more for Fred Durst. He posted a message on Limp Bizkit’s Web site saying the band will now be known as limpbizkit with no capitals and no space between words. He gives no reason for the change. He seems to like playing around with words lately, given the changes he makes to the new album’s title. This week he said it would not be called “Bipolar” but instead “Fetus More.” He’s changed his mind again and now he’s calling it “The Search for Teddy Swoes.” Durst promises “it will all… Read more »