Search Results for: ep

Songbird, the software brainchild of a 20-year-old Internet entrepreneur, was launched on Wednesday with song-swap company Napster firmly in its sights. The technology, billed as the first offered to everyone as an Internet search tool, enables artists and musicians to track down who has done what with their compositions. The software, invented by Utah-based Travis Hill, won the backing of the record industry’s IFPI watchdog and 10 organizations representing artists, songwriters and publishers. Songbird was introduced at IFPI’s London headquarters. “Songbird gives music copyright holders a completely new insight into how Napster is using their music and, if they want… Read more »

Clive Davis, widely recognized as the record industry’s most innovative and influential executive, will receive the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement from UCLA on May 4. Two-time Golden Globe winner Katherine Helmond will present the award. The only non-performer to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Davis was the founder and guiding force behind the powerhouse label Arista Records for more than 25 years, launching the careers of Billy Joel, Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston and Dido, among others. Recently, Davis reunited with Santana to produce Supernatural, the Grammy-sweeping album, which has sold… Read more »

The number of songs swapped on Napster fell by more than a third, down 36 percent, in April from March as the company’s court-ordered filters blocked more pirated files, but nearly 1.6 billion MP3 files still changed hands. Technology research firm Webnoize said in a report this week that the number of files traded on the Napster service has steadily declined, from a peak of 2.79 billion in February to 2.49 billion in March and 1.59 billion in April. MP3 is a compression format that turns music into small digital files. It has spurred an explosion in the sharing of… Read more »

San Antonio, Tex. based Clear Channel Communications today announced whopping gains in revenue and after-tax cash flow. The company says that Q-1 net revenues were $1.6 billion, up 108 percent over the first quarter of 2000, and historical EBITDA (defined as operating cash flow less corporate expenses) of $404 million, up 70 percent over the first quarter of 2000. After-tax cash flow reported for the quarter was $324 million, an increase of 69 percent over the first quarter of 2000. Commenting on the results, Lowry Mays, chairman and chief executive officer, says, “With the difficult comparisons from last year’s first… Read more »

MeasureCast reports that despite the recent appearance of several roadblocks for online broadcasters, many stations still streaming their programs continued to experience dramatic audience growth during the week of April 16-22. The report shows that among the 24 comparable stations from the previous week’s MeasureCast Weekly Top 25, 22 stations experienced an increase in the total number of hours streamed while fourteen stations showed an increase in Cume. Significant increases in total time spent listening were logged by ESPNRadio.com, which saw a 43 percent increase in TTSL, while KLTY-FM-Dallas/Ft. Worth enjoyed a 36 percent increase in TTSL, and Virgin Radio… Read more »

With the Hollywood-Washington war expected to be reignited today, Motion Picture Assn. of America prexy-CEO Jack Valenti on Monday warned lawmakers in no uncertain terms to back off. “May God save the First Amendment,” Valenti said during a keynote speech before the National Assn. of Broadcasters, which is meeting here for its annual confab. Valenti, like his counterparts in the music biz, was gearing up for the release this morning of a Federal Trade Commission report that will chart how well the entertainment biz has done in stopping the marketing of violent or suggestive fare to kids. The FTC reportedly… Read more »

A new federal report singles out the recording industry for doing virtually nothing to stop marketing violent materials to children, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. The Federal Trade Commission report, due out Tuesday, finds that the film and video game industries have made some progress but have not yet eliminated the problem, the newspaper reported, citing sources familiar with the situation. The “snapshot” report, requested by staff members of the Senate Commerce Committee, will provide a preliminary review of the marketing practices of the film, movie and recording industries. It will be the first of two follow-ups to a… Read more »

After five albums for Atlantic, Bad Religion is returning to Epitaph Records, the label owned by Brett Gurewitz, a founding member of the 21-year-old punk band. Gurewitz has also rejoined the band in a writing capacity, according to a source. Bad Religion recorded its first seven studio albums for Epitaph before signing to Atlantic in 1993; Gurewitz left the L.A.-based act in 1994 to focus on Epitaph, which was enjoying its first mainstream success with the Offspring’s “Smash.” The group is writing and recording material for its next album, but no release date has yet been targeted. Bad Religion recently… Read more »

Epic Records President Polly Anthony has named Pete Ganbarg to the post of Senior Vice President, A&R. Ganbarg will report directly to Anthony and will be based in Epic’s New York office. Responsible for signing and developing new artists for Epic, Ganbarg will also work closely with artists already signed with the Group. Before joining Epic, Ganbarg served as Senior Director, A&R, Arista Records. “Pete Ganbarg brings to this position a truly committed approach to A&R and artist development,” Anthony commented. “He has a great set of ears and a unique ability to match the right song with the right… Read more »

Napster claims their filtering software is succeeding in blocking songs named by the RIAA. Napster filed its third compliance report with the U.S. District Court for Northern California this week, saying that the company’s enhanced filtering software is succeeding in blocking songs named by the RIAA. In the documents filed with the court, Napster boasted that it has taken extraordinary steps to meet the demands of the record labels. Napster says that it has added yet another layer of file-filtering, bringing the total number of policing levels to three. Additionally, Napster also hinted that the company would begin to challenge… Read more »