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Napster Inc. said on Monday it filed for bankruptcy protection, as German media giant Bertelsmann AG prepares to take over what remains of the once dominant Internet music-swapping service. Napster listed $7.9 million in assets and about $101 million of debts as of April 30, according to papers filed with its voluntary Chapter 11 petition at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The filing is part of a comeback plan for three-year-old Napster, which became one of the Internet’s hottest properties by allowing millions of people to swap music online for free. Though Napster was wildly popular, attracting nearly 60… Read more »

Sure, everyone likes a little Jay-Z, Nelly and DMX party music now and then, but sometimes you just want a bit more to chew on, and for a lot of people that means turning to the world of underground rap. The Difference, a compilation of 12 new songs due in June on the Official Jointz label, is already catching a buzz thanks to “Clear ‘Em Out,” an alleged Nelly dis track by KRS-One featuring Tonedeff. According to the album’s producer, Domingo (Fat Joe, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony), when he asked KRS-One if the track was a direct attack on the St. Louis… Read more »

SESAC, the nation’s fastest growing performing rights organization, and the Television Music License Committee have negotiated a new industry-wide licensing agreement for commercial local television stations across the United States. The SESAC/TMLC-negotiated blanket license, which covers the period January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2004, reflects the strategic growth SESAC has achieved over the past few years. “SESAC has experienced dynamic growth since my partners and I acquired the company in 1992,” says SESAC Chairman Stephen Swid. “Having said that, this deal with the TMLC represents a defining moment in the evolution of SESAC. This agreement was possible because renowned… Read more »

Comverse and BMG Europe today announced an agreement for BMG to supply both international & local music content for Comverse’s VoiCD advanced mobile music solution. This agreement represents the collaboration of two leading players in their respective industries, to build a complete and comprehensive music solution that will provide premium value to telecom service providers. Visit Comverse at the Mobile Entertainment Event in London on April 9-10, 2002, Booths 7 & 9. This cooperation combines the technology and music worlds and opens a new distribution channel for the music industry. BMG is one of the first of the major labels… Read more »

Forget J-Lo’s naval and Eminem’s foul mouth. The 44th annual Grammy Awards Wednesday had weightier issues to contend with as artists and performers sought to soothe the nation with humor and song after a year of turmoil within the music industry and in the United States. From heightened security, to performers’ songs and to host Jon Stewart’s jokes, the devastating attacks on America of Sept. 11 hovered in the background of the music industry’s most glamorous night. When Stewart came onstage at the Staples Center, he walked through a dummy metal detector, which gonged off and sent huge security guards… Read more »

Modern rock act Incubus will kick off a North American tour April 11 in Portland, Ore., in support of its latest Immortal/Epic set “Morning View.” The 50-date tour will be sponsored by Honda Civic, which put Blink-182 and Everclear out on the road last year on separate tours. An exclusive weeklong online ticket pre-sale will launch at 10 a.m. ET Saturday (Feb. 16) at civictour.com. “The band is really excited to be involved with Honda and the Civic Tour because it gives us a chance to play much bigger venues at a ticket price [$25] that we think is very… Read more »

Since the release of Time to Discover in the spring of 2000, Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise have had their record label, manager and two of their founding members leave them. Bradley, the voice behind the 1997 hit “Once Upon a Time,” thought about hanging up his well-worn hat, until he realized he would not only be leaving his passion, he would be losing his vision. “One of the great things about being in the music business and being blind is that you really get a chance to see,” Bradley, who was born blind, said Tuesday, the day his latest album… Read more »

A few punks, a scruffy “Refugee” and the most sex-crazed chef on television are crashing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Punk rock pioneers the Ramones and Talking Heads, Southern rockers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and soul singer Isaac Hayes will lead the class of 2002 when they are inducted into the rock hall on March 18, organizers announced Thursday (December 13). Other artists recognized include ’60s icons Brenda Lee and Gene Pitney, guitar great Chet Atkins, and Stax Records co-founder Jim Stewart. Atkins, who crafted the sound of country music before moving on to record with Elvis… Read more »

PressPlay, an online music venture between Universal Music and Sony Music, said on Thursday it signed licensing deals with six independent record labels that offer music by a wide variety of acts, from rappers 2 Live Crew to country singer Kenny Rogers to jazz legends Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. PressPlay, set to launch its service to subscribers this fall, noted that its latest deals with Madacy, Navarre, OWIE, Razor & Tie, Roadrunner and Rounder will add music from hundreds of artists to its already large catalog of music for streaming and downloading. The company said the six labels were… Read more »

Bassist Jason Newsted toured, recorded and partied with Metallica 24-7 for some 13 years. After quitting the band in February, at least partly because of a ban on side projects, he suddenly found the flexibility to work on multiple projects with different artists. Newsted, 38, is producing an album by punk-metal behemoth Speedealer and anticipating the major-label debut of his trio EchoBrain. Toward the end of the year, he’ll begin producing New York noise-metal band Dragpipe before entering the studio with Voivod to play bass on the band’s allegedly final album. And if he has time, he’ll play drums with… Read more »