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A clash with shareholders cost Thomas Middelhoff his job at the helm of media giant Bertelsmann – even though the company made money while rivals like AOL Time Warner and Vivendi ran into trouble. Not even one of the deals of the decade – reaping billions from selling a stake in AOL Europe at the height of the Internet bubble – could save Middelhoff from the same fate as Vivendi’s former chief Jean-Marie Messier and Robert Pittman, ousted as head of AOL Time Warner’s AOL division in a management shakeup. Bertelsmann said Sunday that Middelhoff was leaving due to “differing… Read more »

Sharon Osbourne’s cancer is more serious than was initially diagnosed. After having a foot of her colon removed in surgery July 3, the wife of heavy metal pioneer Ozzy Osbourne and matriarch of “The Osbournes” was expected to make a full recovery. However, she told People magazine in an issue published Thursday the cancer had spread. Doctors, who believed they had removed the cancer, later found cancerous cells in one of two lymph nodes removed during the procedure, indicating it had moved beyond her colon. Sharon will undergo three months of chemotherapy beginning July 29 and MTV will document it… Read more »

P.O.D. (“Alive” and “Youth Of The Nation”), Missy Elliott (“One Minute Man”), and Eminem (“Without Me”) scored six nominations each for the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, which were announced Monday (July 22). Shakira (“Whenever, Wherever”) and White Stripes (“Fell In Love With A Girl”) garnered four nominations. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Eminem, and Pink are among the artists set to perform at the event, which will be held August 29 at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. More performers for the show, hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Jimmy Fallon, will be announced later. Here’s a… Read more »

Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Blur’s Damon Albarn, Beck, the Neptunes, and the Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi are among the judges for the 2002 Shortlist Music Prize, which spotlights lesser-known acts for their artistic merit. Others musicians accepting the role as so-called “listmakers” for the second annual Shortlist are Mos Def, Paul Oakenfold, Iggy Pop, Jill Scott, the Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. They are joined by directors Baz Lurhman and Spike Jonze, producers Dan “The Automator” Nakamura (Gorillaz) and Gustavo Santaolalla (Cafe Tacuba), as well as journalists and radio personalities. Through the summer and… Read more »

Lance Bass of the boy band ‘N Sync ( news – web sites) is working to finalize his contract with the Russian space agency, Russian officials said Monday, voicing optimism that the singer could catch an autumn flight to the international space station ( news – web sites). Space agency spokesman Vyacheslav Mikhailichenko said Bass has “serious intentions” and that they are negotiating terms of the flight contract. Previously, the agency had sounded lukewarm about prospects for Bass’ flight, saying he stood little chance of boarding a flight scheduled for October because there was too little time left for training.… Read more »

The first commercial radio station to cybercast its over-the-air playlist is among the first to fall victim to newly imposed royalty rates for online broadcasts. KPIG stopped streaming music online Thursday, ending a near seven-year run on the Internet. According to its own estimates, the small-scale station would have been forced to pay $24,000 in back royalties (or approximately $3,000 per month) from this year alone on an arm of the station that generates little or no revenue on its own. It was purely for the benefit of those who were interested in hearing it. Based in Freedom, California, KPIG’s… Read more »

What were you expecting? A wheelchair, some crutches? Just a few months after a car accident involving singer Scott Stapp derailed Creed’s summer tour, the band is back and, seemingly, no worse for the wear. On the fourth date of the resurrected second leg of their Weathered tour, Creed preached to the converted at a nearly sold-out Polaris Amphitheater on a night when all the flames, fireworks and smoke bombs added heat to the already muggy Midwestern night. The nearly two-hour show was a no-frills affair, with Stapp slowly walking the front of the stage as he belted out one… Read more »

The surprise wasn’t that Eminem ( news – web sites) has found someone new to take on – namely, Lynne Cheney and the many others who have derided the shock-rapper’s work. The surprise, instead, came near the end of his 70-minute show, which kicked off the Eminem-headlined Anger Management Tour on Thursday. That’s when a visibly discouraged Eminem was left pleading for more from the audience packing Buffalo’s HSBC Arena. “Buffalo!” Eminem yelled out as the set segued from “Drug Ballad” to “Come on Everybody,” with little energy flowing from the crowd. “Buffalo! Don’t die on me yet.” The audience… Read more »

EMI Group Plc played down chances of an attempt to merge or sell its business on Friday, saying it was more convinced than ever it was best off alone despite a rapidly shrinking music industry. Signs so far this year point to a steeper than expected decline in global music sales of four percent, but the world’s third biggest music group remains on track to meet its targets, EMI’s head of recorded music Alain Levy said. “When we originally announced a merger with Warner Music, we made clear the best option after that was to remain as a stand-alone. That… Read more »

Authorities are investigating how cocaine and alcohol found in blood tests may have affected the pilot of a small plane that crashed in the Bahamas last year, killing nine people – including 22-year-old singer and actress Aaliyah. Aviation officials on Tuesday said an autopsy performed on Luis Antonio Morales Blanes showed he had cocaine in his urine and traces of alcohol in his stomach. The autopsy findings were released for the first time along with the crash investigation report, the Bahamas Department of Civil Aviation said. Investigators are trying to figure how out the substances may have affected the pilot… Read more »