Search Results for: thursday

Edgar Bronfman Jr will step down as executive vice chairman of media giant Vivendi Universal next year, leaving flamboyant Frenchman Jean-Marie Messier solo at center stage. Vivendi said on Thursday that Bronfman, head of Canada’s Seagram before it merged with France’s Vivendi last year, would step down at the end of the first quarter 2002, though he would remain non-executive vice chairman of the board. “I deeply regret Edgar’s decision but fully understand his wishes,” Messier said in a statement. he said Bronfman was standing down to spend more time on his “personal and family interests.” It was not clear… Read more »

Edgar Bronfman Jr. has often been derided as the spoiled rich kid who blew his family’s liquor fortune on Hollywood, but in reality he nearly tripled it. Now, capping six years of intense dealmaking which culminated in folding the Bronfman family-controlled concern Seagram Co. Ltd. into the world’s second largest media company, Vivendi Universal, the soft-spoken mogul plans to walk away, possibly to start a new company. Save for the timing, it was no surprise that on Thursday, Bronfman, 46, said he would step down as executive vice chairman of Vivendi in 2002. The announcement came one day after another… Read more »

In an effort to create added buzz on their upcoming releases, Loud Records has partnered with Zingy to offer Hip-Hop fans an opportunity to preview new music and customize their cell phone ringtones. First to participate in this new promotion are WU-TANG CLAN and MOBB DEEP. Always eager to find innovative methods to reach consumers and stay connected with the streets, Loud Records CEO Steve Rifkind has entered into a groundbreaking partnership with Zingy, the first comprehensive wireless portal geared toward the unique communication and entertainment needs of teens and young adults. “As technology continues to advance so quickly, there… Read more »

The Canadian singer, who left the music industry two years ago to start a family with her manager/husband, Rene Angelil, has recorded an album for release in March, her spokesperson said Thursday. Details on the release will be announced in January. After giving birth in January, Dion came out of the woodwork in May to announce that she would end her hiatus in 2003 with a three-year residency at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Dion will perform a show designed by Cirque du Soleil’s Franco Dragone inside a replica of the Coliseum in Rome. Since then, Dion has taken part… Read more »

Jay-Z received a three-year probation sentence Thursday (December 6) from Judge Micki Scherer for stabbing music executive Lance “Un” Rivera in December 1999, according to a spokesperson for New York’s District Attorney’s office. The top rapper admitted to committing the crime in court on October 17. Jay-Z stabbed Rivera in the stomach while attending the December 2, 1999 release party for Q-Tip’s Amplified at New York’s Kit Kat Klub. The rapper, who also heads Roc-A-Fella Records, was rumored to be upset with Rivera for allegedly bootlegging his album, Vol. 3…Life And Times Of Sean Carter. Rivera accused Jay-Z of assaulting… Read more »

Album sales of the music of George Harrison and the Beatles surged following his death last week at age 58 of cancer, album retail tracker SoundScan reported Wednesday. The Beatles’ “1” – a collection of the 27 Fab Four singles that reached No. 1 in the United States or Britain – sold nearly 31,000 copies in the week ended Dec. 2, almost double the previous week’s total. Those sales drove “1” to No. 73 on the latest U.S. pop album charts, up from No. 146 a week earlier. The album topped charts around the world when it was released last… Read more »

Edgar Bronfman Jr will step down as executive vice chairman of media giant Vivendi Universal next year, leaving flamboyant Frenchman Jean-Marie Messier solo at center stage. Vivendi said on Thursday that Bronfman, head of Canada’s Seagram before it merged with France’s Vivendi last year, would step down at the end of the first quarter 2002, though he would remain non-executive vice chairman of the board. “I deeply regret Edgar’s decision but fully understand his wishes,” Messier said in a statement. he said Bronfman was standing down to spend more time on his “personal and family interests.” It was not clear… Read more »

George Harrison’s landmark album “All Things Must Pass” is flying off the shelves and up the charts on a wave of nostalgia after his death from cancer last week. “There has been a very significant sales rise since Friday. If this continues it will move into the top 40 of the album charts,” Gennaro Castaldo, spokesman for leading British record retailer HMV, told Reuters Monday. The album, featuring the mystical “My Sweet Lord” – the first No. 1 single by a solo Beatle – was first released in late 1970 but was digitally remastered and re-released earlier this year before… Read more »

Dave Matthews Band proved nearest and dearest to the hearts of fans, as their votes gave the Virginia group the bulk of the glory at the My VH1 Music Awards Sunday. Matthews and violinist Boyd Tinsley, accepting on behalf of their bandmates, left Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium with three awards – My Favorite Group, Must Have Album for Everyday and Damn I Wish I Wrote That! (Song of the Year) for “The Space Between.” The group was also honored via a win for their fan site nancies.org in the Coolest Fan Website category. DMB and U2 had a pack-leading six… Read more »

With only days to go before the top music companies start selling music online, they appear unwilling, at least initially, to support most of the digital music players currently sold. Analysts have dim expectations for the new ventures because their music will remain largely chained for now to the computer desktop – and only for as long as subscribers pay to “rent” it. “What’s the use if I’m going to have it on my desktop and I can’t take it with me?” says Jackie DeLeon, 26, a student housing coordinator at the University of Illinois-Chicago who uses her portable MP3… Read more »