Search Results for: european

The Crowes and Oasis don’t plan on merging into a bluesy Brit-pop supergroup anytime soon, but the two bands will definitely jam onstage together on their joint Tour of Brotherly Love, Gallagher promises. “It’d be rude not to, wouldn’t it,” Gallagher said Wednesday from his manager’s office in London. “I have no doubts in my mind that there’s gonna be various people on stage at various points – as for what we’re gonna do, I don’t know.” The songwriter/guitarist/vocalist said that his top three choices of cover songs to play with the Crowes would be Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,”… Read more »

Reuters reports that Bertelsmann Music Group is now seeking to make cooperation deals or small acquisitions following the collapse of merger talks with EMI. BMG, the music division of German media giant Bertelsmann, ranks last among the Big 5 music majors worldwide, behind Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI and Warner Music. The company said on Tuesday it had abandoned merger talks with EMI after failing to resolve issues identified by the European Commission as regulatory problems. Bertelsmann Chief Executive Rolf Schmidt-Holtz told Reuters, “We can easily cooperate with anybody. We have of course identified partners.” Schmidt-Holtz said BMG… Read more »

Iggy Pop, the undisputed godfather of punk, is slated to release another blistering sonic assault in July. Entitled “Beat ‘Em Up,” the album is a return to form for the astonishingly ageless Pop, whose last release was 1999’s “Avenue B.” “Beat ‘Em Up,” to be released from Virgin Records America, was produced by Iggy, and engineered by Danny Kader. Joining Iggy are Whitey Kirst (guitar), Alex Kirst (drums), Pete Marshall (guitar) and Lloyd “Mooseman” Roberts (bass). Sadly, Mooseman, formerly of Body Count, was murdered in a drive-by shooting this past winter. Pete Marshall will take over bass duties for Iggy’s… Read more »

EMI Group, the world’s fifth-biggest music company, and Bertelsmann’s BMG music unit may call off merger talks, reports said on Monday. EMI’s labels represent popular artists such as the Spice Girls,Ý Fat Boy Slim, and Radiohead. BMG’s artists include Whitney Houston, David Bowie, and Christina Aguilera. Both companies continue to talk but are awaiting merger conditions from the European Commission early this week. Those conditions could mean that the combined group may have to sell businesses to get regulator approval. Talks to form the world’s biggest music company have been ongoing for the last six months and have at times… Read more »

Bertelsmann’s plans to merge with EMI appear to have stumbled over regulatory hurdles, putting in jeopardy the two company’s desire to join forces to offer a vast music library to consumers. Negotiations have been going on for more than five months and, according to a report from Reuters, both sides claim they still want the merger to take place. Regulators’ concerns stem from the fact that, should a Bertelsmann-EMI merger occur, the galaxy of the world’s largest music companies would be trimmed from five to only four. Some believe that in order for the two sides to get a deal… Read more »

The dimensions of Moby’s Area: One festival were solved Monday (April 23) when the electro-rocker unveiled lineup additions as well as dates and venues for his musically diverse roadshow. At a New York press conference, Moby heralded the addition of a side stage that will feature artists from the DJ/electronic scene, including Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, the Orb and Timo Maas. Also scheduled to play under the air-conditioned tent that will serve as the second stage are Detroit techno pioneers Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. “Without them I wouldn’t be here,” Moby said. The tour will also feature… Read more »

Bertelsmann’s planned merger with British music giant EMI is expected to be scrapped shortly, highly placed sources close to the action reported yesterday. Official word of the nixing of a BMG-EMI joint entity will likely come from the congloms in the next couple of weeks. Surprisingly, the companies dropped plans for a merger before a finalized proposition was even formally presented to the EU regulatory board for approval. In an attempt to make the BMG-EMI deal happen, sources said, Clive Calder and his Zomba/Jive Records were going to play a major role in solving some of the monopolistic concerns raised… Read more »

London’s huge Party In The Park, a free show held in London’s Hyde Park already has an amazing lineup, but today rumors abound that Madonna will play the free show. It seems Madonna’s European tour will find her reasonably close to London at approximately the time of Party in the Park on July 8. In other free-gig-in-London news, REM has been confirmed for the free show at Trafalgar Square celebrating the 7th anniversary of democracy in South Africa. Also playing at that one will be Mel B and The Corrs.

Tupac Shakur’s latest posthumous effort, Until the End of Time, has knocked Shaggy’s Hotshot out of the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200 on its way to selling just over 425,000 copies in its first week. Until the End of Time, a two-disc set, is the rapper’s best posthumous showing thus far, as 2Pac + Outlawz’s Still I Rise made its way to No. 6 in January of 2000 and Greatest Hits, another two-CD set, hit No. 3 in 1999. Elsewhere in the top 10, Train’s second Columbia Records effort, Drops of Jupiter, landed at an impressive No. 6,… Read more »

Limp Bizkit will resort to self-inflicted torture this summer to write the “heaviest album you’ve ever heard,” frontman Fred Durst says. “We’re gonna go in, no air-conditioning, 130 degree room, just mad as f , and just go there,” he said. “We need to go there. “We have a lot to say now, and we’re really emotional,” he continued. “The success has allowed us to step back and look at the world.” Durst said Limp Bizkit have worked on some new material during sound checks, but they plan to start largely afresh when they return from their European tour in… Read more »