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The tension is palpable at Universal Studios as USA Networks CEO Barry Diller considers merging his media empire with the studio’s Vivendi Universal parent. “All we know for sure is that Barry Diller is going to be a helluva lot richer a week from now,” said one senior studio executive who was about to attend the Universal Christmas Party. Vivendi Universal, seeking an elusive U.S. distribution outlet for its array of television and film assets, said on Tuesday it was in talks to buy the entertainment assets of USA, which is about 40%-owned by the French company. Whatever Diller does,… Read more »

Whitney, Cher and Faith have done it, so why not Mariah? Pop diva Mariah Carey will join those elite ranks on February 3 when she sings “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Super Bowl XXXVI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, the NFL announced Tuesday (December 11). This year’s game, to be televised on Fox, is expected to attract 130 million viewers in the United States and 800 million viewers worldwide, according to the NFL. The Super Bowl is traditionally the most viewed annual event on television. U2 will perform during the halftime show. Pregame show performers will be announced next… Read more »

In an effort to create added buzz on their upcoming releases, Loud Records has partnered with Zingy to offer Hip-Hop fans an opportunity to preview new music and customize their cell phone ringtones. First to participate in this new promotion are WU-TANG CLAN and MOBB DEEP. Always eager to find innovative methods to reach consumers and stay connected with the streets, Loud Records CEO Steve Rifkind has entered into a groundbreaking partnership with Zingy, the first comprehensive wireless portal geared toward the unique communication and entertainment needs of teens and young adults. “As technology continues to advance so quickly, there… Read more »

A group of Phish fans has donated over $170,000 to fund music education for children, including eight new grants this week that benefit low-income, minority, and gifted children from California to Connecticut and Kentucky to Kosovo. The funds will bring new instruments, instructors, curricula, and professional development for teachers to a wide range of settings and musical genres. The funds come from sales of the 928-page Phish Companion and the double-CD Phish tribute Sharin’ in the Groove. Each was produced by the Mockingbird Foundation, an entirely unconventional organization that has no salaries, paid staff, or office, and donates all funds… Read more »

Loud Records extends its reach into wireless networks through a groundbreaking new partnership with mobile entertainment portal Zingy (www.zingy.com). Fans of the digitally progressive Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep may now customize their cell phones with free ringtones and logos from their new albums. This marks the first time in the U.S. that music has premiered for mobile phones before an album release. “Technology is advancing so fast in this day and age, there’s no better way to get involved than through the wireless networks. Cell phones are so widely used that ringtones are one of the best ways to… Read more »

With only days to go before the top music companies start selling music online, they appear unwilling, at least initially, to support most of the digital music players currently sold. Analysts have dim expectations for the new ventures because their music will remain largely chained for now to the computer desktop – and only for as long as subscribers pay to “rent” it. “What’s the use if I’m going to have it on my desktop and I can’t take it with me?” says Jackie DeLeon, 26, a student housing coordinator at the University of Illinois-Chicago who uses her portable MP3… Read more »

For certain punks, there was no Bad Religion from 1996 through 2001. During that dark period, co-songwriter Brett Gurewitz split the seminal act he co-created with his pals in high school. He was disenchanted with the band’s major-label deal (at Atlantic), overwhelmed by the sudden hugeness of Epitaph – the label he founded to release Bad Religion records and eventually home to Rancid and the Offspring – and increasingly strung out on smack. The band would release two albums in his absence, both guided solely by the vision of Gurewitz’s estranged collaborator, Greg Graffin. Both records – 1996’s Gray Race… Read more »

The back-to-back debut of new video game consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo is expected to fuel strong sales of home entertainment goods as jittery Americans opt to spend more time at home after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, analysts said. They said the launch of Microsoft Corp’s Xbox on Thursday and that of Nintendo Co. Ltd’s GameCube – three days later – could even help lift third and fourth-quarter profits for some of the nation’s top consumer electronics stores. The big boost, the analysts said, will also come on a jump in customer traffic to stores… Read more »

Madonna may be the bitchiest and bossiest woman in pop music or the most beloved. She may be an emotionally insecure manipulator – who (shock! horror!) uses men and throws them away. Or she may be just an old-fashioned girl looking for the traditional twosome: love and marriage. But one thing she doesn’t do is kiss and tell – that’s left for the biographer. Two unauthorized biographies published this month both tout supposed fresh new insights into the life and love life of the pop and cultural phenomenon who has reinvented herself with almost every one of her 14 hit… Read more »

Apple Computer Inc. unveiled on Tuesday a portable music player that can hold an entire music collection and takes Apple outside its core computer business for the first time in eight years. Apple’s “iPod” is the size and shape of a deck of cards, with a small LCD screen and round dial on a white front and a stainless steel back. It holds about 1,000 songs in the MP3 music format and has a battery life of 8-10 hours. Apple will begin selling iPods, which only work with its Macintosh computers, on Nov. 10 at a suggested retail price of… Read more »