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Timbaland’s next musical collaboration might be a lullaby. The rapper-producer and fiancée Monique Idlett welcomed a baby girl a few days ago, People reported Tuesday. “They’re both really happy together,” a source told the magazine. “They’ve known each other for years.” Timbaland, whose real name is Tim Mosley, has hit the studio with a mind-boggling number of artists ranging from Dr. Dre to Duran Duran to Björk, but the visionary who helped bring “SexyBack” with Justin Timberlake hasn’t had much to say as far as his nonprofessional partnerships go. Although apparently he doesn’t mind taking a little business home with… Read more »

The five are ready to become one and things couldn’t be more “spectacular.” That’s the word from Melanie “Sporty Spice” Chisholm, who on the eve of the Spice Girls reunion, broke down the hotly anticipated comeback for E! Online. It’s been seven years since the quintet was riding girl power to the top of the charts, but Chisholm says that aside from them all being in their 30s, she hasn’t seen too much change in Baby, Scary, Ginger and Posh Spice. (In non-Spice World that’s Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham, respectively.) In fact, their original Spice… Read more »

Jasun Martz, a producer and musician who has recorded for Michael Jackson, toured with Frank Zappa and helped arrange Starship’s classic hit We Built this City, recently found an old, dusty suitcase in the corner of his attic. Inside was a small canvas painting and unmarked audio tape. An unreleased Michael Jackson or Zappa outtake, he thought? The tape, missing for 30 years, turned out to be the only known recording by unknown Los Angeles singer, songwriter, pianist Sue Reed. In the late ’70s Ms. Reed was pioneering the sound now made popular by Tori Amos, Regina Spektor, Fiona Apple,… Read more »

According to a report in the venerable entertainment industry trade rag Variety, Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal, asked Apple for a cut of iPod revenue as part of the failed negotiations between the two companies over a contract extension for the right to sell NBC’s shows on iTunes. (Thanks, Valleywag.) If that’s true, wow. A source familiar with NBC Universal’s negotiations confirmed that the company asked for a slice of iPod revenue but only after Apple refused to budge on variable pricing. “Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content and made… Read more »

Relationships in the entertainment world can be famously fraught. And few are more so these days than the one between Steve Jobs and Universal Music chief Doug Morris. You may recall that Morris recently refused to re-up a multi-year contract to put his company’s music on Apple’s iTunes Music Store. That’s because Jobs wouldn’t ease his stringent terms, which limit how record companies can market their music. Now, Morris is going on the offensive. The world’s most powerful music executive aims to join forces with other record companies to launch an industry-owned subscription service. BusinessWeek has learned that Morris has… Read more »

Just as he’s reached the top of the album charts for the first time, Kid Rock has made a major change at the top of his business operations. Rock’s manager, Detroit-based Ed “Punch” Andrews, who also handles Bob Seger, has resigned after seven years of working with the Michigan rocker. Sources tell Billboard.com that Andrews has decided to retire after shepherding Rock’s latest album, “Rock N Roll Jesus,” to release last week. “Rock N Roll Jesus” is Kid Rock’s first No. 1 album on The Billboard 200, selling just over 170,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Kid Rock has reportedly… Read more »

Britney Spears is no stranger to being photographed, but it’s not often she has her fingerprints taken at the same time. On Monday night, Spears reported to a Los Angeles police station to face charges of hit and run and driving without a valid license, police said. Officer Mike Lopez said Spears turned herself in around 9 p.m. and left about 45 minutes later. Spears was fingerprinted and photographed, he said. “She was fine, cooperative,” Lopez said. “She did her business and came out.” Spears, 25, was wearing large designer sunglasses and a black turtleneck dress and jacket. As she… Read more »

Amid an uproar over the huge demand for seats to pop idol Hannah Montana’s tour, a U.S. federal judge on Monday barred the use of automated software to make mass ticket purchases from the leading box-office service Ticketmaster. U.S. District Court Judge Audrey Collins issued a preliminary injunction against Pittsburgh-based software maker RMG Technologies, whose computer programs, Ticketmaster says, have enabled scalpers to gain rapid, repeated access to its online retail system. The court order stems from a lawsuit brought against RMG by Ticketmaster, a unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp, in April, before tickets for the 54-date Hannah Montana concert tour went… Read more »

AJ McLean remembers the conversation well. Kevin Richardson was having doubts about his future in the Backstreet Boys, and one night in the dressing room after a 2005 show, he told his friends in the mega-selling boy band how he was feeling. “There’s some things I need to do first, for me,” McLean recalled Richardson saying. The group had been discussing “when we wanted to start recording again,” McLean said. “Everyone was ready, but that was the first time Kevin put it out in the atmosphere that he wasn’t.” The Boys needed some time to digest Richardson’s news. In June… Read more »

They’ve been called weirdoes, freaks and Satanists. Animal Collective’s otherworldly song structures, deconstructed harmonies and tribal rhythms aren’t always met with receptive ears, but there might not be a more progressive band in indie music. With two of the best-reviewed albums of the year – the band’s new “Strawberry Jam” and the solo disc by keyboardist Panda Bear, “Person Pitch” – Animal Collective has established itself as an act wildly separate from the many retro-oriented bands that populate today’s scene. The sound of the future, the psychedelic band acknowledges, is something they seek. “That’s kind of always been a goal,… Read more »