Search Results for: european

German media giant Bertelsmann’s shakeup of its flagging music division looks set to continue with U.S.-based subsidiary Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) reportedly looking to lay off hundreds of employees in its efforts to cut costs and raise profits. Rumors followed the appointment last week of former BMG Germany chief Thomas Stein to head BMG’s European division. Stein replaces Richard Griffiths, who is leaving the company by mutual agreement after six months in the job. “We have a new European management team and everything is being reviewed,” said a BMG Europe spokeswoman in Munich, who confirmed that BMG’s top management would… Read more »

Influential guitarist Chet Atkins, who helped modernize country music in the 1960s, paving the way for the massive commercial force that it is today, died in Nashville Saturday. He was 77. In 1973 and in 1997, Atkins had fought both colon cancer and brain cancer, surviving a number of surgeries. Atkins, enjoyed a multi-faceted career: as a sought-after session musician for the likes of Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers; as a prolific recording artist in his own right; and as a veteran Nashville talent scout. His discoveries included Charley Pride and Waylon Jennings. Atkins was one of the most… Read more »

Napster has become so effective in blocking the trade of copyrighted material that the sharing of songs on the service has virtually ground to a halt, research firm Webnoize said on Wednesday. Webnoize said users of Napster’s latest software, which incorporates file identification technology, had an average of 1.5 song files to share at any given time as of Wednesday, down from a peak of 220 songs in February. The newest version of the once-phenomenally popular song-swap software includes audio fingerprinting technology, developed by Relatable, which helps Napster filter out copyrighted songs in order to comply with a court injunction.… Read more »

Prodigy will be playing four European shows in August. Prodigy are currently in the studio working on new material for their fourth album, to be released on Maverick Recording Co. Maverick anticipates an early 2002 release date. Prodigy’s 1997 release, “Fat of the Land”, entered the Billboard Album Chart at #1 and went on to sell two and a half million copies in the U.S. and over seven million copies worldwide. With hits like, “Firestarter,” “Smack My B**** Up” and “Breathe,” the band received major radio airplay and MTV exposure. Prodigy has played to sold-out concert venues nationwide and headlined… Read more »

Southern California punk stalwarts Bad Religion were forced to cancel their European tour due to drummer Bobby Schayer’s shoulder injury. Moreover, the damaged rotator cuff will take him out of the band’s lineup permanently. The injury prohibits Schayer from lifting his arm above his shoulder, effectively ending his drumming career, according to the band’s publicist. Suicidal Tendencies drummer Brooks Wackerman is slated to replace the fallen percussionist. Schayer’s injury has “left us stunned and greatly saddened,” the bandmembers posted on their official Web site (www.badreligion.com). “His doctor tells us that he has lost a very significant amount of motion in… Read more »

Blues legend John Lee Hooker died of natural causes as he slept at his home in Los Altos, south of San Francisco. He was 80 years old. The veteran blues singer recorded more than 100 albums over a career that spanned nearly seven decades. Hooker often recorded under false names, including Texas Slim, John Lee Booker, John Lee Cocker, Delta John, Birmingham Sam, and the Boogie Man. He won a Grammy for a version of “I’m In the Mood,” and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Having recorded his first hit, “Boogie Chillen,” in… Read more »

While the music industry responded aggressively to curb the spread of piracy on the Internet, the number of pirated music discs sold worldwide soared last year. A report released today by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said that even as music industry worked to curb the spread of piracy on the Internet, the number of pirated music discs sold worldwide soared by 25 percent last year. The report, dubbed “IFPI Music Piracy Report 2001,” goes on to say that a total of 1.8 billion pirate recordings (CDs and cassettes) were estimated to be sold in 2000, meaning… Read more »

Incubus have broken camp after completing the sessions for their forthcoming release and are hitting the road. They’ll play a month of dates across Europe before joining Moby’s Area: One tour on July 11th in Atlanta. Though album and song titles are still being considered, Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger mentions “Morning View” as a possible album title. It’s the name of the street where they recorded the album – in a Malibu Hills mansion. This release follows the band’s breakthrough 1999 offering Make Yourself, though Einziger points out this album is deeper. “I think it’s slightly more sophisticated in certain… Read more »

According to a post from Fred Durst, when Limp Bizkit head into the studio later this summer to begin work on the follow-up to last year’s Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, they will be packing plenty of ‘tude. “There is so much Hatorade being drunk out there,” Durst writes on the official Bizkit site. “Every magazine, paper, band, etc. is on a Limp hating rampage and it is really giving us the fire. We have to much built up inside and we wanna let it all out on the new album.” For now, the band is wrapping… Read more »

After nine on-and-off years, Emo-rock trailblazers Sunny Day Real Estate have called it quits. The band had been at work on the follow-up to last year’s The Rising Tide but, because of business woes, has decided not to continue. According to the band’s statement on its official Web site (www.sunnydayrealestate.net), a “string of bad luck” with management companies and Arista Records ceasing to distribute the band’s label Time Bomb Recordings made a “European tour and advertising for a new album near impossible. As frustrations built, progress on the new album became stagnant at times. Not wanting to build personal tensions,”… Read more »