Search Results for: dr dre

The story of Napster, the failed online song-swapping service, always promised the kind of larger-than-life elements Hollywood thrives on – corporate intrigue, a nail-biting court battle and a young hero. Now comes Napster, the movie. Cable network MTV on Wednesday said it has reached a deal for the exclusive rights to the life story of Shawn Fanning, who created the controversial and wildly popular file-sharing program in 1999 while he was a 19-year-old student at Northeastern University in Boston. The movie, tentatively scheduled to air in 2003-2004, may even star Fanning, now 21, as himself. “Anything is possible and the… Read more »

The world’s five largest music companies and the three largest music retailers will pay $143.1 million to settle a CD price-fixing case launched by New York and Florida two years ago, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said on Monday. In August 2000, most U.S. states joined in a lawsuit alleging that an industry practice called “minimum advertised pricing” (MAP) artificially inflated the price of CDs between 1995 and 2000, violating federal and state antitrust laws. Under MAP, the labels subsidized advertising for retailers that agreed not to sell CDs below a certain price. The five record labels –… Read more »

Yoko Ono and Frederic Seaman, a former personal assistant to John Lennon, privately reached agreement early today in a U.S. District Court in Manhattan, foregoing closing arguments and jury deliberation after four days at trial. The lawsuit, filed by Ono over three years ago, charged Seaman – who worked with the Lennon family between 1979 and 1982 – with failing to return several documents and hundreds of photos after he was found guilty of grand larceny in 1982. Seaman had stolen and subsequently returned Lennon’s personal diaries as well as letters, drawings, contracts, demo tapes, and stereo equipment. However, Ono’s… Read more »

Remember when Michael Greene, then-President of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, warned us all about the unlawful evils of Internet file sharing during the Grammy Awards back in February? Soon people will get an earful straight from those who make the music. Britney Spears, Missy Elliott and Nelly are among the artists set to appear in TV spots as part of an awareness campaign to educate people about the legal and financial ramifications of unauthorized file sharing, according to a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) spokesperson. The ads were first shown Thursday at a congressional hearing… Read more »

Madonna is moving into the field of covert operations. In her new video for “Die Another Day,” the pop diva, lusty temptress and maternal nurturer becomes involved in a world of intrigue and espionage. The song is the title track for the next James Bond movie, which opens in theaters November 22. The upbeat dance cut is filled with electronic flourishes and the stealthy, suspenseful vibe essential to all Bond themes. It will be released to radio October 7. In the clip, which was shot in Los Angeles earlier this month by directing team Traktor, Madonna plays a secret agent… Read more »

Mary Weiland, the wife of Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, filed for divorce after two years of marriage on September 24th. The filing cited irreconcilable differences, and Mary is seeking spousal and child support and full custody of their children, one-year-old son Noah and two-month-old daughter Lucy. Weiland pled guilty to a domestic battery charge last December for an incident a month earlier at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Mary Weiland tried to prevent her husband from leaving their room at the hotel to pick up a prescription, prompting him to push her against a… Read more »

Some popular online services are using a new kind of software to divert sales commissions that would otherwise be paid to small online merchants by big sites like Amazon and eToys. Critics call the software parasite-ware and stealware. But the sites that use the software, which is made by nearly 20 companies and used by dozens, say that it is perfectly legal, because their users agree to the diversion. The amounts involved are estimated by those in the industry to have mounted into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and are likely to continue to grow – in part because… Read more »

Chris Cornell and the remnants of Rage Against the Machine are ready to put the super back in their supergroup. Yes, their hyped off-again, on-again collaboration is back on, and to prove it, they’re releasing an album and planning a tour. After hooking up with much fanfare in early 2001, the group-then toying with the name Civilian-wrote 20 songs, hit the studio with Rick Rubin (who produced the last Rage album) and even signed on as an Ozzfest mainstager. But the project was seemingly scuttled when ex-Soundgarden singer Cornell walked last March. The Ragers-guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and… Read more »

No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani, dressed in a white-and-pink silk faille gown by John Galliano for Christian Dior, married Gavin Rossdale of Bush in London last weekend. “She looked very beautiful,” Galliano told Us magazine for its Sept. 30 issue. The wedding took place Saturday at St. Paul’s church, with friends and family attending the hour-long ceremony, the magazine said. Telephone calls to Stefani’s publicist in Los Angeles were not returned Tuesday. Rossdale, 34, proposed to Stefani, 32, on New Year’s Day. Stefani became a staple in the music world with No Doubt’s 1995 “Tragic Kingdom” album. British-born Rossdale made… Read more »

Backstreet Boy and soon-to-be-daddy Brian Littrell is hosting a Breakfast With Brian in support of his Healthy Heart Club For Kids at the ESPN Zone restaurant in New York City on October 26 at 8:30 a.m. ET. Guests attending the event will get to meet Littrell and his family, and eat breakfast with them. In addition, guests will have the chance to bid via silent auction on Backstreet Boys items, and the opportunity to go head-to-head with the Backstreet Boy in a game of either basketball, golf, football, or several other sports. All proceeds from the event will benefit the… Read more »