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More than half of almost 2,000 Net-savvy Americans ages 15 to 35 say they plan to purchase a digital music device over the next year, according to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive for Sony Electronics. This is a marked increase from the approximate 21 percent of the U.S. population ages 15 to 35 with Internet access that currently owns at least one digital portable audio product. “Your Musical Taste,” conducted by Harris Interactive, surveyed almost 2,000 men and women to determine how they use the Internet to download music. It also evaluated the use of Internet portable audio… Read more »

Acknowledging that online piracy is forcing dramatic changes in the music industry, the world’stwo largest record companies are poised to make it easy and cheap for fans to buy-rather than steal-songs off the Internet. The moves by Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment accelerate the industry’s transition to an era in which music is distributed electronically. Other major labels are likely to follow as the record business grapples with the rise of online music copying through unauthorized services such as Napster, Kazaa and Morpheus and potentially billions of dollars in lost sales. Rather than trying to force consumers to… Read more »

It’s a long way from the stage of Madison Square Garden to an HIV clinic in South Africa, or from the thunderous roar of an adoring audience to the buttoned-down halls of the U.S. Senate. For most people, perhaps, but not for Bono. Rock and politics have been strange bedfellows for decades, from folkie Pete Seeger’s civil rights work in the ’60s to Frank Zappa’s censorship battles in the ’80s and Rage Against the Machine’s anti-sweatshop agitation in the ’90s. But whether it’s peace in Ireland or restructuring third-world debt, few rock stars have been able to devote as much… Read more »

“Let’s just say the doctors know more about me than I know about me,” Lance Bass told reporters convened for a press conference at Moscow’s Savoy Hotel. For the last four months, the ‘NSYNC star has endured a battery of physical examinations in the pursuit of becoming the next civilian in space. On Friday (May 31), he announced that he’d finally passed the medical component of qualifying for a seat on a Russian rocket mission this fall. “With such a thorough physical, you’re going to find things that you might need to take care of,” Bass said, explaining an outpatient… Read more »

Strahov Stadium has had it all – communist rallies, anti-globalization protests, gymnastics exhibitions, drive-through movies and, now, Ozzfest. The crumbling structure, which stands as the largest stadium in the world per square foot, lent itself well to Ozzy Osbourne and his latest touring comrades, who hit the venue Thursday night for the seventh stop on the metal tour. With their stage parked in the middle of the field, the hard rockers used only half of the 200,000-capacity stadium, carving out an almost cozy cradle for Bohemia’s metalheads within the concrete monolith. While the tour got off to a less-than-grand beginning… Read more »

Bennett Zier has a fine idea for a new radio format. His eyes light up as he tells you about it. “We play Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Bobby Darin,” he says. “The great thing about it is what we call it. You ready?” He pauses. “Vegas Radio! Is that great or what?” Zier can imagine the whole scene – the deejays, the jingles, the ironic retro-swinger patter. It’s his music, the kind he plays in his car. He’s in love with this idea, and with his natural salesman’s charm, he’s making you love it, too. So why doesn’t… Read more »

You know you’re a long way from home when Groove Armada and Faithless play for wilder crowds than the godfather of heavy metal. “I can’t f-ing hear you!” is Ozzy Osbourne’s standard concert rallying cry, but it took on a new urgency Friday night at the kickoff of the three-day Rock Im Park festival in Nuremberg. As the 53-year-old showman peered out at the half-full Frankenstadion, his famous baffled expression – mouth agape, black-lined eyes open wide, arms extended as though desperately soliciting a hug – looked a bit more confounded than usual. Of course the metal madman delivered, leading… Read more »

Britney Spears’ next single “Boys,” from her latest album Britney, will do double duty as one of the upcoming singles from the soundtrack to Austin Powers in Goldmember. The soundtrack version, however, will be an exclusive remix of the track by the ubiquitous production duo, the Neptunes, who worked on Britney as well. The “Boys” remix is tentatively set as the second single from the soundtrack. Beyonce Knowles’ “Work It Out” is expected to be the first single and will hit radio in early June. Knowles, of course, is Mike Myers’ co-star in the third Austin Powers flick, which hits… Read more »

Cake will headline this summer’s Unlimited Sunshine Tour, featuring the Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Modest Mouse and the Hackensaw Boys. “When I make mix tapes it’s a Frank Sinatra song followed by an AC/DC song followed by a Flaming Lips song,” says Cake singer-guitarist John McCrea of the diverse bill he and his band put together. “It’s not just rock band, rock band, rock band. I really think a lot of listeners listen to a wide variety of music, and those people unfortunately don’t have radio stations to listen to. In a way, we’re taking our own frustrations and… Read more »

Her collarbone may be broken, but her spirit seems barely bruised, given Jewel’s plans to resume touring earlier than expected. She’ll return to the stage Monday for shows that looked as though they wouldn’t happen after she fell from a horse on April 24, according to an Atlantic Records spokesperson. Doctors had suggested she not perform for at least a month. The singer’s first day back in the saddle, so to speak, will be May 13 in Stuttgart, Germany. Although she’s capable of singing, she won’t be able to play guitar. Only two dates of her European tour – May… Read more »