Search Results for: ep

Does hip-hop speak to Pepsi’s “new generation”? Well, it depends on who you ask. Last week, Fox News Channel’s conservative ranter Bill O’Reilly denounced the soda giant for choosing Ludacris to appear in Pepsi ads, calling him a “thug rapper” who “espouses violence, intoxication, and degrading conduct toward women.” Just one day later, Pepsi announced that it was dropping Luda as its spokesperson and apologizing to anyone who was offended by its association with him. This move came despite Pepsi’s own research which had found that teens ranked the soda’s hip-hop spokesperson as popular as any celebrity associated with the… Read more »

LMiV today announced that effective September 30, 2002 it would cease to exist as an independent operating company. The functions and activities that had been managed by LMiV during the past two years will once again be performed by the individual founder companies and their stations. LMiV was created two years ago as an industry solution to the Internet by five media industry leaders – Bonneville International Corporation, Corus Entertainment (NYSE: CJR), Emmis Communications (NASDAQ: EMMS), Entercom Communications (NYSE: ETM), and Jefferson-Pilot Communications (NYSE: JP). “The two things that were of critical importance to the mission of LMiV – the… Read more »

Paul Simon has replaced Paul McCartney at the 25th annual Kennedy Center Honors taking place in Washington in December. Last week, the former Beatle sent his regrets to the organizers of the Kennedy Center Honors, explaining that a personal obligation would not permit him to attend the ceremony on December 7. McCartney’s name will be on the list for 2003 instead. No other details were given about McCartney’s bow out on the event and a call to his representatives were not returned at press time. Simon was named as a replacement, whom the center said would have been honored in… Read more »

Tommy Lee will assume the Ozzfest main-stage slot that was left vacant with the passing of Drowning Pool singer Dave Williams. The ex-Mötley Crüe drummer-turned-frontman will join up with Ozzy, Rob Zombie, System of a Down and the rest of the Ozzfest 2002 crew August 22 in Denver, according to his publicist. Lee will continue throughout the remainder of the trek, which winds down September 8 in Dallas. Williams’ body was found Wednesday (August 14) on Drowning Pool’s tour bus in Manassas, Virginia. The band was on its way to an Ozzfest stop in Bristow. Lee has two live performances… Read more »

Love’s Arthur Lee might be making a triumphant return around the United States, but he won’t be playing north of the border for now. The 57-year-old Lee-who last year concluded a five-year prison sentence for a gun violation in California for which he continues to maintain his innocence-was denied a visa by Canadian officials and had to cancel his planned Monday (August 5) show at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. Lee-who was honored by the British Parliament for his musical contributions earlier this summer-was also reportedly turned down for a visa for a Vancouver show in July, but tickets for that… Read more »

A clash with shareholders cost Thomas Middelhoff his job at the helm of media giant Bertelsmann – even though the company made money while rivals like AOL Time Warner and Vivendi ran into trouble. Not even one of the deals of the decade – reaping billions from selling a stake in AOL Europe at the height of the Internet bubble – could save Middelhoff from the same fate as Vivendi’s former chief Jean-Marie Messier and Robert Pittman, ousted as head of AOL Time Warner’s AOL division in a management shakeup. Bertelsmann said Sunday that Middelhoff was leaving due to “differing… Read more »

Since their inception, Linkin Park have made it clear that they are neither rap nor rock but an evolved hybrid of both. Their debut album contained elements of the once-opposing genres, though it retained decidedly rock roots. But on Reanimation, a “reinterpretation” of their Hybrid Theory tracks due July 30, the group trades most of its rock riffs for meaty beats, effectively proving that the line dividing the two genres was barely noticeable to begin with. “We all started in L.A.,” explained MC Mike Shinoda, “from a musical background where you’ve got a lot of things going on at once.… Read more »

Music fans weren’t quite ready to vacate “Nellyville” this week, as the sophomore album from St. Louis rapper Nelly stood strong against a heady debut from funk-punk foursome the Red Hot Chili Peppers and held on to the top spot for the third week running. Sales of “Nellyville” (Universal) slipped 24% to 340,000 units, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, but the album still managed to top 1.5 million in total sales after less than a month out. Fresh off that success, the hip-hop star is said to be planning a move into the TV world, starring in his… Read more »

Rock ‘n’ roll has turned music fans into rebels. Not only are they pirating tunes on the Internet rather than paying upwards of $20 for a compact disc, they are also increasingly reluctant to fork out for costly concert tickets. A survey of the North American concert industry by trade publication Pollstar showed the top 50 acts sold a combined 10.6 million tickets in the first half of the year, down about three percent from the year-ago period (10.9 million tickets) and off 18 percent from 2000 (12.9 million tickets). The average ticket price for those top 50 tours rose… Read more »

In response to the overwhelming demand for “By The Way,” the highly anticipated new album from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Warner Bros. Records has embarked on an innovative outreach to fans entitled, “A Song A Day,” providing a special sneak peek at the band’s new material prior to the album’s release on July 9th. “A Song A Day,” which launched June 21st, allows millions of Chili Peppers fans to listen to a track a day from “By The Way” until the album hits stores on July 9th. “A Song A Day” has already garnered the participation of over 150… Read more »