Despite monitoring him for more than a decade, the FBI did not uncover any major revelations about Michael Jackson’s private life nor did it find any solid evidence against him in connection with two different molestation allegations, according to newly released files.
Independent artists who sold their music through imeem’s Snocap music storefronts on MySpace and other sites won’t be paid what’s owed even after MySpace Music’s acquisition of some — but not all — of Imeem, Wired.com has learned.
(Source: Nate Anderson – http://arstechnica.com) With a new school year in full swing, Ars takes a look at the RIAA’s newly updated copyright curriculum. Your kids could be learning from it–so what does it say? School kids in America could certainly stand to learn about copyright in the classroom–it’s a fascinating topic that increasingly impacts the life of every “digital native” and intersects with law, history, art, and technology. But should they be exposed to industry-funded materials meant to teach kids: That taking music without paying for it (“songlifting”) is illegal and unfair to others (RIAA) Why illegally downloading music… Read more »
Songwriters, composers, and music publishers are making preparations to one day collect performance fees from Apple and other e-tailers for not just traditional music downloads but for downloads of films and TV shows as well. Those downloads contain music after all. These groups even want compensation for iTunes’ 30-second song samples. In the future, Apple may be required to pay licensing fees to ASCAP and BMI for the downloads of TV shows and films it sells. At a time when many iTunes shoppers are still fuming over Apple’s first-ever increase in song prices, the demands by the American Society of… Read more »
Authorities searched the sprawling Las Vegas home and medical office of Michael Jackson’s personal doctor Tuesday, seeking documents as part of a manslaughter investigation into the singer’s death. Los Angeles police officers and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents entered Dr. Conrad Murray’s home in a gated community while others across town searched Murray’s medical offices, Global Cardiovascular Associates Inc. Michael Flanagan, assistant special agent in charge of the Las Vegas DEA office, said the warrants were sealed and could not say what documents agents were seeking. He said he expected the search would last five hours. It was the second… Read more »
What’s one way to ensure your mega music festival is well attended in the middle of a recession? Book a reunited Phish. The jam band’s legions of ardent followers sell out arenas in minutes, so with little difficulty they will flood the Tennessee fields of the Bonnaroo Music Festival, which begins Thursday and runs through Sunday. In its eighth year, Bonnaroo – arguably the country’s biggest festival – will have a distinctive Phish flavor. Oh, and a guy named Bruce Springsteen is playing, too. With that lineup, organizers expect that tickets to sell without a hitch along the way, in… Read more »
Linkin Park co-frontman Mike Shinoda said the band’s fourth studio album is going to be so unique, “they’re going to have to come up with a new genre name for what this record is.” Shinoda wants to shake things up in the rock world with the follow-up to 2007’s Minutes To Midnight. Linkin Park is about halfway through the writing process and hopes to have the album ready for an early 2010 release. But chief among Shinoda’s concerns is the quality of the tunes, something that could impact the release date. “If we need to take a step back and… Read more »
Hard at work on its fourth album, rock band Linkin Park has kept busy on a number of other fronts as well, among them its first movie soundtrack. In addition to the group’s contributions to the new “Transformers” film, some of its members have solo projects in the works. As for the new Linkin Park album, it likely will come out in 2010, according to co-frontman Mike Shinoda. “It’s moving,” said Shinoda. “I feel like we’ve been writing a lot. I’d say we’ve got about half the music done, though I shouldn’t say halfway, because who knows how long the… Read more »
No matter who is crowned the next American Idol on Wednesday night, season eight has already been one for the books. After a wild five months that has included emotional breakdowns from near-finalists, a comedian/singer who almost crashed the top 13 with his over-the-top shtick, the first top 13, a wild card round, a judges’ save and some serious bickering in the expanded judging panel, you’d think that whatever happens on the finale would be anticlimactic. But thanks to the surprise exit of early favorite Danny Gokey last week, tonight’s sing-off between Kris Allen and Adam Lambert has injected some… Read more »
There was a point – midway through the writing process of Paramore’s new album – when they almost gave up. Racked by doubts that they had anything left in the tank, struggling to write material that matched the ferocity of their breakout Riot! album and smothered by unspoken tensions that had simmered ever since they nearly split in early 2008, they were treading water in their hometown of Franklin, Tennessee. And with deadlines – not to mention a tour with No Doubt – looming on the horizon, the situation was getting dire. “We went through a lot of heavy stuff… Read more »
