Search Results for: four year strong

JUST days after the European launch of Apple Computers’ online music store, a chorus of customers are voicing their complaints. The lack of songs from artists on independent record labels – which account for a quarter of the UK market – has left iTunes looking like a poorly-stocked American import store, lacking local talent such as Travis and Franz Ferdinand. “Most Scottish acts are on independent labels,” says Alison Wenham, chairman and chief executive of the Association of Independent Music (AIM), which represents the majority of the UK’s indie labels. “Celtic acts typically start off very strong in their home… Read more »

Having sold millions of copies of their 1997 debut, Middle of Nowhere, Hanson may have a few dollars to spare, but they’ll never part with their Penny. In fact, it’s pretty much impossible to get away from Penny. Contrary to the assumption that the co-protagonist of Hanson’s new single is an omnipresent girlfriend, Penny is actually a catchall for the memories and experiences that define a person. Everyone’s got a Penny. “There’s lots of symbolism in that song – like driving down the highway and smoking cigars in the summertime,” Taylor Hanson said. “Life is sometimes in little pictures. You… Read more »

Green Day’s first studio album in four years will be titled “American Idiot,” a spokesperson told Billboard.com. The set is tentatively due Sept. 14 via Reprise. It’s the follow-up to 2000’s “Warning,” which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 998,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Along with No Doubt, Foo Fighters, Bad Religion and others, Green Day is expected to lend a track to “Rock Against Bush Vol. 2,” the second in a series of politically minded compilations due this August. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong will also contribute two songs to… Read more »

As Britney Spears begins her European tour Monday in London, the pop singer can count on selling more than $10 million worth of concert souvenirs like baby-doll shirts and posters during the five-week trek. About half of that sum will end up in her pocket, says Dell Furano, CEO of Signatures Network Inc., a merchandising and licensing firm that handles Spears products. In the 25 North American dates of her Onyx Hotel tour, Spears’ merchandise sales averaged $150,000-$170,000 a night, reaching a high of $180,000 during the Los Angeles show March 8, according Furano. Her career merchandise sales passed the… Read more »

Federal regulators opened a new front in their crackdown on offensive broadcasts Thursday, saying that almost any use of the F-word on over-the-air radio and television would be considered indecent. The Federal Communications Commission overruled its staff and said an expletive uttered by rock singer Bono on NBC was both indecent and profane. It marked the first time that the FCC cited a four-letter word as profane; the commission previously equated profanity with language challenging God’s divinity. The FCC on Thursday also proposed maximum fines for the broadcast of the Howard Stern radio show and for a program on two… Read more »

U.S. album sales rose 10.4 percent in the first month of 2004, Nielsen Soundscan reported, welcome news to the music industry after a three-year slump marked by costly litigation, rampant piracy and consolidation. The uptrend began late last year, a development hailed by Sanford Bernstein analyst Michael Nathanson in a recent report. But he said he was hesitant to say declines were over. Other analysts note that comparisons were easy with last year when U.S. album sales fell. But many saw signs the music business – led by big record labels at Time Warner, Bertelsmann AG, EMI Group Plc, Sony… Read more »

Time Warner Inc., the world’s largest media company, swung back to a profit in the fourth quarter of 2003 after reporting a $44.9 billion loss in the same period a year ago because of write-downs at its AOL unit, the company reported Wednesday. Time Warner posted net earnings of $638 million, or 14 cents a share, in the three months ending in December, just shy of the 15 cents per share that analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting. The year-ago net loss was equivalent to $10.04 per share. Revenues rose 6 percent to $10.9 billion from $10.25… Read more »

The great digital music giveaway is about to begin. In the new year, some of the world’s biggest brands will promote their products and services by doling out millions of free downloads through alliances with digital music services. “You’re going to see lots of free music given out via third-party companies,” buymusic.com founder Scott Blum says. “It’s not going to be Apple and iTunes driving the business. It’s going to be companies like Pepsi and other third parties that are promoting digital music on bottle caps and on labels.” Indeed, Apple Computer has inked a deal with Pepsi to give… Read more »

Arista recording artist P!nk is in the final stages of completing her hotly expected third album, entitled TRY THIS – in stores November 11th, it was announced today by Antonio “L.A.” Reid, president and CEO, Arista Records. The first single (and opening track) on TRY THIS will be “Trouble,” co-written by P!nk with Tim Armstrong (of alt-rock heroes Rancid), who also produced the track. Impact date at radio is set for September 29th. The ‘wild west’ concept video for “Trouble” was recently shot on location in Los Angeles. It was directed by Sophie Muller, known for previous clips with P!nk… Read more »

Three years ago, Juanes was a relative unknown and wondering whether his decision to move to Los Angeles and start a solo career was a good idea. On Wednesday, the Colombian singer-songwriter was showered with five Latin Grammys, including album of the year for “Un Dia Normal” (A Normal Day) and record and song of the year for “Es Por Ti” (It’s For You). “I never thought that this was going to happen to me,” said Juanes, whose album “Un Dia Normal” spent a record 65 weeks on the Billboard Latin charts. “Three years ago I was lost completely in… Read more »