Search Results for: sting

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —  Elton John and Billy Joel’s latest tour kicked off to a packed house on Monday, operating under the simple business model: maximized reward, exceedingly minimized risk. The three-plus-hour event was steeped in hits and nostalgia. The youngest song was the title track from Joel’s last pop album, 1993’s “River of Dreams.” “Speaking of unemployment, we’re just happy you’re keeping us in business. We’re happy to have a job,” Joel said after a timely spin through “Allentown,” Joel’s 1982 ballad of economic gloom. Joel’s words rang true, but there wasn’t much worry about that: They last toured together… Read more »

BEIJING —  Oasis will not play in China for economic reasons and not because of any connection with the Tibet issue, an official at the promoter of the shows said. Oasis had said China blocked shows scheduled for Shanghai and Beijing after they found out that band member Noel Gallagher had appeared at a “Free Tibet” benefit concert in the United States in 1997. But a promoter from Beijing All Culture Communication Co Ltd, a small event company which promotes more ballet and traditional Chinese concerts than rock concerts told Reuters by telephone it was canceled due to a “tough… Read more »

Recording artists may be set to receive a boost in royalty revenues from digital music sales, at least if Eminem has his way. Eminem’s two-year-old lawsuit against Universal Music Group over digital music royalties finally entered a courtroom today, the Wrap reports.  In a trial featuring star witnesses like UMG head Jimmy Iovine and Apple’s Steve Jobs, Slim Shady’s publishing company F.B.T. Productions is seeking more royalties from purchases made using digital music services like Jobs’ iTunes. Eminem is not expected to testify. If the jury sides with F.B.T. Productions, this trial could serve as a landmark case that finds… Read more »

Imeem has launched a new version of imeem Mobile, its award-winning social music application for the Android platform. The updated version of imeem Mobile includes MyMusic, a new feature which enables music lovers to access and stream their personal imeem music library through their Android-powered phones. With MyMusic, people can now browse through the music they already own and have uploaded to imeem.com and play these songs wherever and whenever they want. The enhanced version of imeem Mobile is available as a free download starting today through the Android Market. MyMusic builds on imeem Mobile’s existing features, which allow people… Read more »

One night in the late 1990s, Conan O’Brien was hanging out in a Detroit bowling alley after shooting a remote segment with Ted Nugent (”I rode around in the woods with him, we had a guitar duel and then fired guns,” he recalls). “I have this vague memory of these really cool kids coming over and hanging out with us,” he says. “I knew nothing about them or what they did.” A few years later, O’Brien learned he had met Jack and Meg White that day when he popped into a Saturday Night Live rehearsal to check out the White… Read more »

Google  entered the radio advertising business with grand ambitions three years ago. On Thursday, those ambitions fizzled. Google said it was ending its radio project, Google Audio Ads, because it had failed to live up to expectations. Up to 40 people are expected to lose their jobs. It was the second time in two months that Google had killed a program meant to expand its advertising business offline, suggesting that the appeal of Google’s automated model for selling ads may be far more limited than the company once hoped. The company had planned to revolutionize the way radio ads were… Read more »

BURBANK, Calif. –  Premier pop powerhouse Jack’s Mannequin has confirmed their first worldwide tour of the new year in support of their critically-lauded sophomore Sire/Warner Bros. Records album, “The Glass Passenger.” “One doesn’t have to know McMahon’s back stories or relationship status to relate to his music — and that’s what makes ‘The Glass Passenger’ a fantastic, special album,”  Alternative Press Magazine noted. The tour will kick off Down Under in Australia this month before moving across the U.K. and Europe, and will touch down in the U.S. in early April through late May. “The Resolution,” the current single and… Read more »

For anybody wondering why Microsoft and the top record labels continue to promote subscription music services, the answer was revealed Thursday. David Ring, executive vice president of business development for Universal Music Group’s digital arm, said at the EconMusic Conference that the recording industry simply can’t sustain itself with download sales alone. “If what we’re trying to do is one-by-one downloads…that’s not a business that can grow,” Ring told conference attendees during panel discussion he participated in. “It won’t be healthy for the industry.” Prior to Ring’s statement, Chris Stephenson, an executive in Microsoft’s entertainment unit, was ballyhooing the progress… Read more »

Throughout the week, we’ve been posting segments of our interview with Mark Hoppus. In part one, he spoke about reconnecting with his estranged bandmate, Tom DeLonge, and the possibilities of a full-blown Blink-182 reunion. In part two, he revealed plans for a solo album and said his other band, +44, is pretty much finished. And while Hoppus has done most of the talking, we’ve also been hearing plenty from you too. Seems you’ve had plenty to say – not just about a reunited Blink, but about the end of +44 and the prospects of a Hoppus solo album. So we’ve… Read more »

Amanda Ghost has been appointed President, Epic Records, it was announced today by Rob Stringer, Chairman Columbia/Epic Label Group. Ms. Ghost will join the company effective February 16, 2009 and be responsible for overseeing the overall management and creative direction of Epic Records. She will be based in New York and report directly to Mr. Stringer. “I am delighted that Amanda has chosen to bring her creative vision and flair to the Epic label. In the changing environment of the music business record labels undoubtedly need to be complete partners with the artistic community and Amanda will be the perfect… Read more »