Search Results for: european

Napster launched a test version of its new copyright-compliant service Thursday in a bid to restart the once wildly popular song-swap Web site that was shut down by a record industry lawsuit. The test or “beta” version, which lacks content from the major music labels, is not open to the public. Instead, it will be offered to 20,000 people randomly selected from a group of more than two million who e-mailed Napster showing interest in participating in the beta test. Napster’s service has been sidelined since July as a result of an injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn… Read more »

The music industry is having to rethink its drive towards copy-protecting music CDs, following people-power protests and probing questions from US politicians. BMG in Europe had launched two of its chart CDs, Natalie Imbruglia’s White Lilies Island and Five’s Greatest Hits, with copy protection technology but have now switched production to “clean” unprotected CDs, following consumer complaints. The discs were launched “clean” in Australia. In the US, Universal’s new compilation CD of Fast and Furious rock music is copy-protected but is clearly marked with consumer warnings, unlike previous discs. BMG released both their CDs with only a small print reference… Read more »

They may be critical of the U.S. government, but System of a Down love the people of this nation – so much so that they’re slipping in 12 North American theater dates between tours in Australia and Europe instead of taking a well-deserved month off. The band will start the jaunt with openers Clutch on Valentine’s Day in Las Vegas at the Joint, and then they’ll hit 11 other cities. The tour will conclude in Verdun, Quebec, on March 1. System of a Down will begin their European tour in Coimbra, Portugal, on March 5. That trip will conclude in… Read more »

The rock band U2 had the second biggest tour ever during a year in which concert industry business was off but ticket prices continued to rise, an industry trade publication said Thursday. The top 100 concert tours sold 34.4 million tickets in 2001, down about 7 percent from 37.1 million the year before, according to an analysis by Pollstar magazine. U2, coming off one of its strongest albums, sold out arenas across the country with a well-received back-to-basics show. They even added dates after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The band’s $109.7 million in estimated ticket sales is second only… Read more »

French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal has agreed to buy the entertainment assets of USA Networks Inc. for about $12.4 billion in cash, stock and assumed tax liability, a source familiar with the deal said Sunday. One source said Vivendi’s board approved the deal on Friday, the same day the company said it will buy an 11 percent share of EchoStar Communications Corp., the No. 2 U.S. provider of satellite television. Meanwhile, USA Network approved the deal late Sunday, according to another source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The companies plan to make an annoucement in the near future, probably… Read more »

Four years after the divorce, Vivendi Universal and USA Networks are poised to tie the knot again in a $12.4 billion deal, expected to be announced today in New York. The deal will put the TV assets acquired by USA in 1997 back under Universal’s control and install USA chairman and CEO Barry Diller as the head of the studio’s film, TV and theme park operations. Sources said the complex transaction was structured as the creation of a joint venture between Vivendi Uni and USA encompassing Universal’s film studio and theme parks and USA’s cable channels, including USA Network and… Read more »

Media giant Vivendi Universal said on Friday it would pay $1.5 billion for a 10 percent stake in No. 2 U.S. satellite television firm EchoStar Communications Corp., securing crucial U.S. distribution for its vast film, TV and music programming. The eight-year deal gives EchoStar much-needed cash as it pursues a $27 billion merger with its larger rival, Hughes Electronics Corp., parent of satellite operator DirecTV. Vivendi will own a little under 5 percent, assuming that merger is approved by U.S. regulators. Vivendi, in turn, plans to create five new satellite channels delivering programming from its film library, which includes such… Read more »

Edgar Bronfman Jr will step down as executive vice chairman of media giant Vivendi Universal next year, leaving flamboyant Frenchman Jean-Marie Messier solo at center stage. Vivendi said on Thursday that Bronfman, head of Canada’s Seagram before it merged with France’s Vivendi last year, would step down at the end of the first quarter 2002, though he would remain non-executive vice chairman of the board. “I deeply regret Edgar’s decision but fully understand his wishes,” Messier said in a statement. he said Bronfman was standing down to spend more time on his “personal and family interests.” It was not clear… Read more »

Edgar Bronfman Jr will step down as executive vice chairman of media giant Vivendi Universal next year, leaving flamboyant Frenchman Jean-Marie Messier solo at center stage. Vivendi said on Thursday that Bronfman, head of Canada’s Seagram before it merged with France’s Vivendi last year, would step down at the end of the first quarter 2002, though he would remain non-executive vice chairman of the board. “I deeply regret Edgar’s decision but fully understand his wishes,” Messier said in a statement. he said Bronfman was standing down to spend more time on his “personal and family interests.” It was not clear… Read more »

Christmas came early on Tuesday for hundreds of U.S. troops in Kosovo when pop diva Mariah Carey flew in to perform a festive concert for them. “We want to give them a little glamour,” said the 31-year-old singer, sporting stylish military fatigues for her frontline “day out with the boys in the Balkans.” One of the world’s most successful female artists of the past decade took a chartered jet from London to Skopje and then was off by helicopter for a whirlwind tour of bases in Kosovo. Her top priority, she told Reuters on the flight out, was to boost… Read more »