Search Results for: european

Could 2003 be the year that EMI finally finds a mate? Frenzied gossip among executives at this year’s Midem music industry conference on the French Riviera would suggest so. As a new group of suitors eyes the EMI dowry, which includes the Beatles back catalog, bets among the glitterati at Cannes are that the world’s third biggest music company will pair up with one of its old flames: BMG or Warner Music. Yet some still hold out hope for a more dramatic swoop by private equity houses led by an industry guru – cash-rich Clive Calder being one contender after… Read more »

In its harshest indictment yet of Internet piracy, a top official of the music industry said Sunday Europe’s 600,000 music professionals risk losing their jobs unless the industry fights back. “They are all potential victims of online music piracy,” Jay Berman, the CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) told music executives in his annual address at the Midem music conference in southern France. “In truth, online music piracy is not about free music. The music creators and rights holders, denied the right to choose how their music is used and enjoyed, are in fact paying the… Read more »

EMI Group Plc chairman Eric Nicoli didn’t confirm any of the myriad rumors of possible merger plans for his music major at a media confab in Gotham Tuesday, but he didn’t try very hard to dispel them, either. The British label group – which has been twice spurned by European and U.S. regulators in its attempts to link up with rival majors – would benefit from the expanded scale and geographical reach offered by a combination, Nicoli said at UBS Warburg’s Media Week event. And the regulatory skepticism, while still significant, may have been diminished somewhat by the dismal performance… Read more »

British rock band Oasis is to return to the stage in Wales on Sunday to finish a European tour after a brawl in a Munich bar forced two shows to be canceled. Wildman vocalist Liam Gallagher, 30, lost two teeth in the fight on December 1, leaving him unable to sing in two scheduled German shows. But a band spokesman said on Saturday dentists had repaired the damage and the final, British leg of the two-month tour would go ahead. “The Oasis UK tour will therefore be going ahead as planned, starting this Sunday,” he told the band’s Web site… Read more »

Two of Jim Morrison’s old pals from The Doors had hoped to debut a reconstituted version of the band next week, but they’ll have to wait until next year because their new drummer, Stewart Copeland, broke his arm. Copeland, a former member of the Sting-fronted rock trio The Police, was injured during the Thanksgiving holiday when he fell from his bicycle on a path near his Los Angeles home, the band’s publicists said on Monday. The accident has forced members of the Doors’ new lineup to postpone their kickoff performance at the Palms in Las Vegas from Dec. 8 to… Read more »

Vivendi Universal said third-quarter revenues for Vivendi Universal, excluding its utilities unit Vivendi Environnement, grew by 1 percent to $7.4 billion, despite revenue declines in its publishing and music divisions. The report, released Monday, comes as the media, entertainment and utilities conglomerate faces continuing pressure to improve its balance sheet and convince investors that its business is sound. For the three months ending Sept. 30, Vivendi’s Canal Plus subscription television group showed some improvement, with revenue growing 4 percent to nearly $1.2 billion in the third quarter. But Vivendi’s Universal Music Group saw revenues fall 9 percent to 1.3 billion… Read more »

Faced with adverse publicity to copy protection on CDs, a year ago Bertelsmann Music Group bravely gave in and promised to replace a clutch of Natalie Imbruglia CDs which were protected by Midbar’s Cactus Data Shield. But a year is a long time, BMG is at it again, this time apparently set on applying copy protection to all its music products. Not, of course, that this should be surprising. The music companies are absolutely intent on copy-proofing their products, and although they’ll maybe retreat a little when irate consumers pelt them with ordure, they’ll be right back just as soon… Read more »

The European Union must make an identity code for compact discs compulsory when it unveils a draft law aimed at combating piracy later this year, industry executives said on Tuesday. “What we are asking for is a little code. It’s a very cheap way to fight piracy,” said Yolanda Smits, international trade adviser at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Smits was one of several representatives from music and film industry bodies speaking at a news conference in Brussels, where the European Commission is expected to unveil its proposal for a law on piracy in early December. But… Read more »

Universal Music, the music arm of Vivendi Universal and the world’s largest record company, will decide in coming weeks which of its Web music properties are worth keeping as the French media giant seeks to downsize, sources close to the company said on Thursday. Company representatives declined comment, but people familiar with the company said such a move was in line with Vivendi chairman and chief executive officer Jean-Rene Fourtou’s overall mandate to sell about $12 billion in company assets to reduce debt. “One of the things that will be happening in the next few weeks is that Universal Music… Read more »

The Foo Fighters will embark on an eight-city U.S. tour later this month, with each date scheduled to be announced as tickets go on sale. The Brandtidos trek, sponsored by Sirius Satellite Radio, comes in support of the group’s fourth album, “One by One,” due Oct. 22 from RCA. The only date confirmed so far is Oct. 22 in Los Angeles, but an Oct. 31 show in New York, dubbed the “Foos-Ball & Halloween Costume Party,” will be announced today (Oct. 7) by local radio station K-ROCK. Sirius subscribers can get a jump on tickets before they go on sale… Read more »