Search Results for: against the current

Christina Aguilera’s golden locks, Fred Durst’s backward ball cap, Gwen Stefani’s rainbow makeup and Justin Timberlake’s freshly grown peach fuzz took a back seat Thursday to a look unprecedented even in popular music – blindfolds. “I feel like I’m playing pin the tail on the donkey,” Aguilera quipped in between takes during the first day of shooting proper videos for three all-star remakes of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” Many of the artists who contributed to the project – from Ja Rule to Staind’s Aaron Lewis to Alicia Keys – will don blindfolds for the video shoot, which heads to… Read more »

Columbia Records is releasing “Stoned Raiders,” the eagerly-awaited new album from Cypress Hill, the first full-length studio outing from the group since 2000’s platinum-selling “Skull & Bones” and the group’s first album since last year’s “Live At The Fillmore.” The latest chapter in the ongoing saga of alterna-rap’s best-selling bold marauders, “Stoned Raiders” carries on Cypress Hill’s uncanny patented hip-hop/rock meld. The album is produced, arranged and mixed by Muggs and features guest appearances by Kurupt, MC Ren & King Tee, Redman & Method Man, and Kokane. Also appearing on “Stoned Raiders’ are Fear Factory’s Christian Olde Wolbers, Andy Zambrano… Read more »

Voting is currently going on for the 2002 class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and once again Black Sabbath is among the finalists on the ballot. Frontman Ozzy Osbourne has made many caustic comments about the Hall and has intimated that he has no interest in being thus enshrined. However, in a recent chat with LAUNCH, Osbourne changed his tone somewhat and indicated that, if elected, he would serve. “I’ve voiced my opinion about it,” he explained. “I don’t really believe in it, to the respect that it’s not voted by the people-it’s voted by the committee.… Read more »

American songwriters and music publishers have reached preliminary agreement with the on-line file sharing service Napster to settle the class-action lawsuit currently pending in federal court in California. The agreement includes terms under which the songwriters and music publishers will license their music to Napster’s new membership-based service. The announcement of the proposed settlement was made jointly by Edward P. Murphy, president and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association, Inc., Gary L. Churgin, president and CEO of The Harry Fox Agency, Inc., George David Weiss, president of The Songwriters’ Guild of America, Inc., and Napster president and CEO Konrad… Read more »

Schools, health care facilities, WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. will get to keep a broad swath of airwaves they use, federal regulators said Monday, turning aside an attempt to shift the spectrum entirely to third generation wireless services. Yet, the agency said it would expand the possible uses for the airwaves in the 2500-2690 megahertz (MHz) band – currently used for fixed wireless services like Internet access – to include a mobile component so that they could be used for 3G services such as high-speed Internet access, or music and video downloads. “This action does not help to address the… Read more »

Maverick Recording Company and Activision, Inc. have partnered with world championship skateboarder Tony Hawk to release Music From and Inspired by Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3. Scheduled to hit stores October 16th, the soundtrack, to be released by Maverick, is the music accompaniment to Activision’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater(TM) 3 video game, to be released for the PlayStation ® 2 computer entertainment system and PlayStation ® Game Console on October 30th. In addition to the audio CD, Music From and Inspired by Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 will also include a first of its kind, enhanced CD, Tony Hawk Inside… Read more »

Who is Osama bin Laden? What does he want? What is the United States’ relationship with the Middle East? Who are our allies and our enemies? How and why did the events of September 11 happen, and what do they mean for Americans in the future? Last week’s surprise terrorist attacks on the United States broadsided the American public, raising an endless stream of questions about our personal safety, our national security and our global affairs. Perhaps no segment of our population has more questions – or more at stake – than young people. Premiering on Friday, September 21 at… Read more »

Hoping to raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic claiming 5,000 African lives each day, artists including Bono, Wyclef Jean, Britney Spears, ‘N Sync, Fred Durst, Missy Elliott, Gwen Stefani and Mary J. Blige have come together to record an all-star rendition of Marvin Gaye’s protest anthem “What’s Going On.” While the organization hopes to release the re-vamped Gaye single on December 1st, Global AIDS awareness day, they are currently without a record label. Recorded at a New York studio in early September, the collaboration was the brainchild of Leigh Blake, head of Artists Against AIDS Worldwide. Blake also co-founded the… Read more »

Courtney Love and Don Henley will lead a charge of pop artists at a hearing in the California state legislature on Wednesday to denounce what they claim are corrupt business practices by big recording companies. The hearing takes place against the backdrop of several bitter lawsuits against major labels by acts like Love and the Dixie Chicks, who allege “unconscionable” contracts and accounting practices by the recording conglomerates. The hearing at the Select Committee on the Entertainment Industry in Sacramento will focus specifically on California’s so-called “seven-year statute,” which restricts entertainers from being tied to any company for more than… Read more »

Zomba Records, the powerful independent record label that is home to the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, said Thursday it had settled a copyright infringement lawsuit with online music company MP3.com Inc., a unit of Vivendi Universal. “The parties have settled the litigation between them and resolved their differences to their mutual satisfaction and have entered into a licensing arrangement for the My.mp3 service,” Zomba said in a statement. The terms were not disclosed. The settlement with Zomba comes just about a week after more than 50 music publishers and songwriters, including country artist Vince Gill’s publishing companies filed yet… Read more »