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R. Kelly’s “The World’s Greatest” entered Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart last week at Number 75. The song is the first single from Ali, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, out today (November 27), which also features songs from Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin, Angie Stone, and Everlast. R. Kelly, who auditioned for the role of Muhammad Ali, wrote “The World’s Greatest” before seeing the film, and penned “Hold On” for the soundtrack after previewing the movie, which stars Will Smith. The soundtrack also features Dionne Warwick’s son David Elliot singing Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me.” Al… Read more »

The world’s big record labels are finally rolling out online subscription services smack in the middle of the holiday season that caps the music industry’s worst year in at least a decade. In coming weeks, music fans – who have for years been pulling everything from Radiohead to Madonna off the Web for free from services like Napster – will be introduced to a new breed of money-for-music services like PressPlay and MusicNet, which have been developed by the major record companies. Several smaller independent firms like FullAudio and Listen.com will soon be launching subscription services too. Industry officials and… Read more »

Sirius Satellite Radio, the satellite radio broadcaster, today announced it hired consumer electronics and telecommunications veteran Joseph P. Clayton, 52, as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Clayton joins Sirius from Global Crossing, the global internet and long distance services provider, where he was vice chairman. Mr. Clayton previously served as chief executive officer of Frontier Corporation, a Rochester-based national provider of local telephone, long distance, data, conferencing and wireless communications services, until its acquisition by Global Crossing in October 1999. Mr. Clayton succeeds David Margolese, Sirius’ founder and chairman, who stepped down as Chief Executive Officer in October. In… Read more »

LFO has announced that it will open for Britney Spears on select December dates of her Britney 2001 U.S. tour, including December 11 at the FleetCenter in Boston; December 14 at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina; December 15 at Philips Arena in Atlanta; and December 16 at the New Orleans Arena. O-Town is opening Spears’s current concerts. LAUNCH spoke to LFO singer Rich Cronin recently, and he said that LFO feels very comfortable with its new record label, J Records, a private joint venture between Clive Davis and BMG Entertainment. “It feels good. Like Brad always… Read more »

The upcoming Now That’s What I Call Music! 8 compilation is being dedicated to the late R&B singer Aaliyah, who died on August 25th in a plane crash in the Bahamas. The twenty-track compilation, due in stores November 20th, will contain “Rock da Boat,” a track from her latest album, Aaliyah, and a portion of the proceeds from Now 8 will be donated to the Aaliyah Memorial Fund. The remainder of the eighth volume of the successful series will contain recent hits by the likes of Destiny’s Child, U2, Blink-182, ‘N Sync and others. Now 8 is the third volume… Read more »

Columbia Records will release The Concert For New York City – a 2-CD collection documenting the historic all-star concert event held to benefit those in need affected by the World Trade Center tragedy. The Concert For New York City album will be released on Tuesday, November 27. DVD and VHS versions will be available thereafter. “The Concert For New York City” took place on October 20, 2001 at Madison Square Garden. Produced by VH1, Cablevision, Miramax and AOL, the concert was a celebration of the strength of New York and a thank you to the heroic firefighters, police officers and… Read more »

The comedy “The Wash,” which opened on Wednesday, pits Snoop and co-star Dr. Dre against the imposing “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which opens Friday (November 16). Snoop isn’t stressing the stiff competition. “I keep hearing about mutha ing Harry Potter,” Snoop said. “I’m like, ‘Who is this mutha er I keep hearing about?’ I don’t know him, but I do know this. Dre and Snoop, we’ve got a following that’s definitely dedicated and devoted, and that’s all that matters. “We’re gonna crack a new audience, because I’ve been doing a lot of acting lately, and I’ve been gaining… Read more »

EMI’s glittering roster of recording artists, from Mariah Carey to the Rolling Stones, failed to save the music giant from a dismal year, but investors are pinning hopes on new recruit Alain Levy to bring sparkle back to the balance sheet. In an industry facing its worst ever year, EMI is reeling from two failed mergers and a lack of big hits. Jaded investors are eager to hear Levy’s plans as the new head of recorded music when the group reports an expected sharp fall in first half profits Monday. EMI warned in September that full-year profits would slide 20… Read more »

Britney Spears’ new album debuted at the top of U.S. sales charts, making her the first female solo act to reach No. 1 with her first three albums, according to statistics released Wednesday. And she’s not even 20 yet. The 19-year-old pop teen queen’s new album “Britney” sold 745,744 copies in the week ended Nov. 11, usurping the sales figure crown from Michael Jackson, the self-proclaimed “King of Pop,” according to SoundScan, which tracks retail music sales. Jackson’s “Invincible,” his first album of original music in six years, fell to No. 3 with sales of 202,341 copies this past week,… Read more »

Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and YourMobile/PWS today announced the launch of a new online commercial wireless service which will offer ringtones – musical options for the ring on mobile phones indicating incoming calls – to music fans for purchase within the United States, at http://wireless.sonymusic.com. The ringtones offered will represent compositions associated with a wide array of SME artists, as well as ringtones representing artists from a variety of other music labels and companies. Thousands of musical ringtones will be immediately available for sale domestically. While the initial launch of the service will focus on the U.S. market, additional ringtone… Read more »