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Scores of workers from MTV Networks walked off the job yesterday afternoon, filling the sidewalk outside the headquarters of its corporate parent, Viacom, to protest recent changes in benefits. The walkout highlighted the concerns of a category of workers who are sometimes called permalancers: permanent freelancers who work like full-time employees but do not receive the same benefits. Waving signs that read “Shame on Viacom,” the workers, most of them in their 20s, demanded that MTV Networks reverse a plan to reduce health and dental benefits for freelancers beginning Jan. 1. In a statement, MTV Networks noted that its benefits… Read more »

Cover bands and tribute bands have been a mainstay of the music scene for decades. When a company licenses a composition, it may find that licensing the original master recording is outside the budget or unavailable for licensing. Hiring the original band members to rerecord the song may not be an alternative because of contractual rerecording restrictions in the band’s record deal, the members no longer sound like they once did or they may be dead. So when someone wants to record a cover version of a song, when does it violate the original artist’s rights? Michael Novak, the Detroit-based… Read more »

Ray Charles is back in his hometown. Albany unveiled a revolving, lighted bronze statue of Charles on Friday in the middle of a new downtown plaza that bears the R&B legend’s name. Family members attended the musical ceremony honoring the city’s most famous native son, born here in 1930. “I can’t tell you how overwhelming it is for me to experience the love that you have for my father,” Sheila Raye Charles told the crowd of hundreds gathered at the $2 million plaza. Charles was born in Albany but moved to Florida with his mother when he was young. He… Read more »

Today it was announced that the Plain White T’s garnered their first-ever Grammy nod in the categories of SONG OF THE YEAR and BEST POP PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS for “Hey There Delilah,” a song that grabbed the much-coveted No. 1 slot in the U.S. on Billboard ‘s “Hot 100” chart   as well as the No. 1 slot internationally on Billboard’s Euro Singles Sales chart (the song hit #1 in 9 countries) making it one of the biggest songs in the world. As reported in Entertainment Weekly, the band’s smash hit “Hey There Delilah” has… Read more »

Alison Krauss will take some time off from her band, Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, to tour with Robert Plant next year in support of their new album, Raising Sand . In the meantime, the members of Union Station will pursue individual musical projects.Released Oct. 23, Raising Sand has already sold more than 340,000 copies in the U.S. The project is Krauss’ first collaboration with the Led Zeppelin vocalist. Denise Stiff, Krauss’ manager, says the tour with Plant will take the duo to various venues in the U. S. and Europe in 2008. Cities and dates are still being determined.… Read more »

They might not know much about running the ball at fourth and goal, but they’ve got it covered when it comes to runnin’ down a dream. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been tapped to headline the Super Bowl XLII Halftime Show Feb. 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The “Free Fallin’ ” rockers join an illustrious lineup that, in the last five years, has included Prince, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Diddy, Kid Rock, Jessica Simpson and Shania Twain. (Some shows being more memorable than others, of course.) Petty’s last album with… Read more »

The Grinch might be stealing Christmas from music retailers, but thanks to Josh Groban and Oprah, there’s still some singing in Whoville. For the sales week kicked off by Super Tuesday–the release date before Thanksgiving when record labels typically schedule their big guns–the figures were abnormally bad, with only one Top 10 bow and a seven-week-old album topping the charts. Still, that album, Groban’s Noël, can thank last week’s performance on The Oprah Winfrey Show for driving it past Alicia Keys and into the number one spot. Noël crowned the Billboard 200 by selling 405,000 copies for the week ended… Read more »

Yahoo! Inc. and Time Warner Inc.’s AOL unit may shut down their Web radio services after being hit with a 38 percent increase in royalties to air music. “We’re not going to stay in the business if cost is more than we make long term,” Ian Rogers, general manager at Yahoo’s music unit, said in an interview. Yahoo and AOL stopped directing users to their radio sites after SoundExchange, the Washington-based group representing artists and record labels, began collecting the higher fees in July. Those royalties may stifle the growth of Internet radio, which increased listeners 39 percent in the… Read more »

British music industry major EMI wants to cut its funding to the industry’s trade bodies, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday, which could deal a blow to the fight against music piracy. The source said EMI, which was recently taken over by private equity group Terra Firma, was looking at ways to “substantially” reduce the amount it pays trade groups. The groups, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and other national associations, represent music companies and the fight against illegal piracy. They receive funding from the four… Read more »

U2 stars Bono and The Edge showed up unannounced and played as a warmup act at a charity concert in London. The show delighted the 250 people who attended the fundraiser on Friday night for Mencap, a charity that campaigns for equal rights for children and adults with learning disabilities. “Don’t tell Larry (Mullen) and Adam (Clayton) we’ve done this,” Bono joked about his other two band mates from the small stage at London’s Union Chapel. Bono and The Edge – performing as a warmup act for Biffy Clyro, a Scottish rock group – played four of their songs: “Stay,”… Read more »