Search Results for: between you & me

U.S. television network NBC won Vivendi Universal’s marathon show-business auction on Tuesday with a proposed merger to create a new entertainment industry giant worth more than $40 billion. NBC, a unit of General Electric Co., clinched exclusive negotiating rights to finalize a deal that would give it a major film studio, more cable channels and theme parks to vault the No. 1 U.S. broadcast network closer to the ranks of such global titans as Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc. If the deal is completed, the new company, to be called NBC-Universal, would include Vivendi’s Universal Pictures, the Hollywood studio… Read more »

It’s hard to imagine that Danny Wood was ever part of a boy band. We’re talking about a guy who’s muscular enough to keep the Hulk in line. The singer, in fact, has grown up in more ways than one since his days as one of the five members of New Kids on the Block, which scored 13 hits on The Billboard Hot 100 – three of them No. 1s – between 1988 and 1994. Wood endured a painful but ultimately successful custody battle for his son in the late ’90s, as well as the death of his mother from… Read more »

Two-thirds of Internet users who download music don’t care whether they’re violating copyright laws, according to a new survey that highlights the uphill enforcement battle facing the recording industry. The survey published Thursday by the nonprofit Pew Internet and American Life Project estimated that roughly 35 million American adults use file-sharing software, about 29 percent of Internet users. Those figures were generally consistent with other estimates of 60 million American users across all age groups. The Pew survey was completed before the Recording Industry Association of America announced its aggressive campaign to sue individual computer users who illegally share “substantial”… Read more »

Chad Kroeger sings about “a world full of killing and blood spilling” in the hit song “Hero,” and in that kind of world Nickelback’s melodic relationship songs don’t seem to have quite as much impact as they once did. Perhaps that’s why Kroeger boosted the musical heft and lyrical import for the band’s third record, The Long Road, due September 23. Sure, there are still enough love songs and light, lighter-raising moments to make the gals swoon. But even on the slower tunes, the guitars shudder with raw intensity, conveying Kroeger’s aim to shed the mainstream pop image he cultivated… Read more »

It seems that not everyone was happy with the outcome of this season’s American Idol. A large group of AI fans have banded together online and have started an email campaign to Fox and the Federal Communications Commission (or FCC), alleging that the talent contest was fixed in favor of winner Ruben Studdard. A group of emailed complaints collected by TheSmokingGun.com-who requested them from the FCC under the Freedom Of Information Act-profile various complaints, including the accusation that Fox provided fewer lines for runner-up Clay Aiken’s voters, that judge Simon Cowell deliberately refrained from picking on Studdard’s weight, and that… Read more »

Assembling a promotional campaign for a veteran band that has been out of the spotlight is a tough enough feat. But Capitol Records is facing the daunting task of reintroducing a group that hasn’t released a new album in 13 years. Luckily, the campaign behind pioneering alternative rock outfit Jane’s Addiction’s “Strays,” due July 22, has had a huge prerelease boost from first single “Just Because.” The song is No. 4 on Modern Rock Tracks after four weeks, returning Jane’s Addiction to the top of the format at which it scored five top 15 hits between 1988 and 1991. The… Read more »

MxPx will release Before Everything and After, their first album in three years, on August 19th. The album has been delayed twice before: first because of mastering issues, and a second time while the band changed the sequencing. “It’s Metallica time,” jokes drummer Yuri Ruley about the extended gap between records. “We’ve put out thirteen brand new recordings since our last full release,” frontman Mike Herrera explains. “That’s almost a full album.” The Renaissance EP included nine of those songs, two more new tunes were added to the greatest hits collection Ten Years and Running and two were on a… Read more »

Nickelback’s record label has released a statement explaining why it wouldn’t let Chad Kroeger appear on the new Santana single, even though he’s on Santana’s album. Kroeger wrote and sang on “Why Don’t You & I” for Santana’s Shaman, which appeared on Arista Records. But when it came time to release the song as a single, Roadrunner Records nixed Kroeger’s participation, and Santana-at Kroeger’s recommendation-replaced him with Alex Band from the group the Calling. In its statement, Roadrunner said, “The agreement between Arista and Roadrunner was for Chad Kroeger to perform on the Santana album Shaman. There was no intention… Read more »

On the heels of their nearly sold-out Roads Outside Columbus Tour, grassroots rockers O.A.R. are set to tour the United States once again. The band is partnering up with funk-metal rockers 311 and Something Corporate for the Unity Tour and planning to hit the road July 25 through August 11th- prior to jumping on the diverse Sprite Liquid Mix tour, featuring N.E.R.D, The Roots, Talib Kweli, and Robert Randolph and the Family Band beginning August 14th in Denver. O.A.R., considered one of the most successful DIY bands in recent history, will support their critically acclaimed new album In Between Now… Read more »

The way things are shaking out, Eminem will go down in history as starting more feuds than Richard Dawson. Last week the rapper’s latest battle, pitting his Shady Records camp against Ja Rule and Murder Inc., took center stage at Giants Stadium during Summer Jam, the annual hip-hop fest thrown by Big Apple radio’s Hot 97. Em protégé 50 Cent started his set with several Ja digs accompanied by a video display. Then Eminem delivered da bomb, performing the blistering Ja Rule-dissing salvos “Doe Ray Me” with D12 and “Hail Mary” with 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes. But don’t start… Read more »