The EMI Group, at the center of an acrimonious legal dispute between the buyout house Terra Firma and Citigroup, posted a full-year £1.56 billion net loss and said it needed more money to stay afloat, Reuters said.
MONTPELIER, Vt. – Appealing to Vermont’s independent streak, the former president of Middlebury College said Thursday the state is an ideal place to try returning the legal drinking age to 18.
Vans Warped Tour kicks off its 15th year of rocking up summer in Pomona, Calif. on June 26, and this year Fearless Records has four acts heading out for two months of punk rock mayhem. The Maine continues a killer year with a headlining slot on The Hurley Stage, while both A Skylit Drive and Breathe Carolina will play the entire tour on the SmartPunk Stage. Also joining them on select dates will be Every Avenue, which is set to take Warped by storm for a second year from July 24 – August 23. The Fearless tent will be… Read more »
Not much rattles Apple. Disciplined and focused, the company lavishes attention on its own elegant products and rarely deigns to discuss rivals. Yet here was Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer and designated stand-in for ailing CEO Steve Jobs, erupting during an earnings call in late January at the mere mention of a pip-squeak competitor. The pest in question was Palm, the fallen pioneer of handheld digital organizers, which two weeks earlier had unveiled a new smartphone, the Palm Pre, to rave reviews. Not only did the Pre have features the iPhone couldn’t match – snazzy multitasking, universal search, a… Read more »
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – Three years after the former manager of The Killers sued the band for alleged breach of contract, the group has filed a countersuit claiming a pattern of incompetence and double-dealing. The Killers' lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Las Vegas alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment as well as breach of an implied good-faith covenant by former manager Braden Merrick and his company, From the Future. Though the Killers' suit doesn't specify the amount of damages being sought, a statement from the band obtained by Billboard cites "multi-million-dollar damages in… Read more »
Bruce Springsteen has castigated Ticketmaster after it encouraged US fans to buy tickets online for one of his gigs at inflated prices. The Boss also put the boot in about any possible merger between Ticketmaster and concert promoter Live Nation, declaring that such a move would “make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan”. Springsteen, his manager Jon Landau and the entire Springsteen tour team claimed on the Brucemeister’s website that such a move would lead to “a near monopoly situation in music ticketing”. Officials in Connecticut and New Jersey are launching investigations into Ticketmaster’s sales practices, following… Read more »
The industry gets upset when anyone calls this a “tax” so I’ll use the “voluntary license” term, even though tax is much more accurate. A true voluntary license wouldn’t require everyone having a certain provider to opt-in, but that’s exactly what this plan would require. In fact, as the slides indicate, eventually it would basically require all ISPs to “opt-in” forcing all of their members to “opt-in.” Suddenly, everyone has to pay. That’s not a voluntary license. It’s a tax. However, even if we step back and pretend it’s really a voluntary license, and even if we grant the premise… Read more »
Former Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus sued a father-and-son business Monday, alleging they pocketed his investment in a venture to install automated checkout machines at McDonald’s restaurants. The lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court says Ed and Jeff Mitchell lined their pockets “to the tune of over $1.5 million.” It alleges their company – Missicom LLC of San Diego – does not have any contracts to install the machines to take orders and collect payments at McDonald’s or anywhere else. Hoppus, currently a member of the pop-punk band Plus-44, invested $600,000 in Missicom in October 2003, according to the complaint. The… Read more »
Hasidic reggae rapper Matisyahu and rock act Chiodos will join the 2008 Vans Warped Tour lineup for limited dates this July, Billboard.com has learned. Matisyahu, who joins the Vans Warped Tour for the first time, will appear in the traveling rock festival July 9-11 and on July 13 at St. John’s Country Fairgrounds in Jacksonville, Florida. Vans Warped Tour veteran Chiodos joins the trek on July 18 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Matisyahu has a handful of other summer concert appearances lined up, including sets at Milwaukee’s Summerfest (June 30) and the inaugural Pemberton Festival in British Columbia (July 27).… Read more »
Heather Mills was a less than candid court witness whose $250 million divorce claim was exorbitant, a judge said in his ruling on her divorce from Paul McCartney. The judgment by Hugh Bennett was released Tuesday, after a court rejected Mills’ attempt to block publication. On Monday, Bennett awarded Mills a $48.6 million divorce settlement after her four-year marriage to the former Beatle. Mills had sought almost $250 million, while McCartney had offered $31.6 million, including Mills’ own assets. In his ruling, the judge said Mills’ claim “is and was unreasonable, indeed exorbitant.” He also said Mills’ evidence was “not… Read more »
