Search Results for: thursday

DETROIT –  It seems that Metallica will be a two-bassist band at Saturday’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland. A day after former bassist Jason Newsted told Billboard.com that his replacement, Robert Trujillo would not take part in the performance part of the induction, a spokesman for the group’s Warner Bros. label clarified that “Jason and Robert will both be playing Metallica’s induction songs.” He did not indicate what the songs would be or if Newsted and Trujillo would be on stage together or separately. Metallica is flying in from Paris, where the group plays Wednesday… Read more »

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 »

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 »

At worst, Hillary Transue thought she might get a stern lecture when she appeared before a judge for building a spoof MySpace page mocking the assistant principal at her high school in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. She was a stellar student who had never been in trouble, and the page stated clearly at the bottom that it was just a joke. Instead, the judge sentenced her to three months at a juvenile detention center on a charge of harassment. She was handcuffed and taken away as her stunned parents stood by. “I felt like I had been thrown into some surreal sort… Read more »

It’s official: With an introduction of “together again,” Blink-182 confirmed that they are back in the Blink business at the Grammy Awards Sunday night (February 8) when they appeared onstage together for the first time in four years. Emerging to sounds of their 1999 hit “What’s My Age Again,” bassist Mark Hoppus, drummer Travis Barker – wearing a sling on his injured left arm – and estranged guitarist Tom DeLonge walked out together, with Hoppus joking, “Isn’t it great to see the Jonas Brothers and Stevie Wonder back together again?” after the unlikely pairing performed a medley of the Bros’… 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 »

Just what exactly does Barbadian R&B pop queen Rihanna have to do with the Super Bowl? About as much as Fall Out Boy. Yet there both acts were, playing to a hyped-up crowd on Thursday night at Tampa’s Ford Amphitheater for the VH1-broadcast Pepsi Super Bowl Smash show that served as the unofficial kickoff of Super Bowl XLIII weekend. The one-hour special, hosted for the second year by easily excited actor Jerry O’Connell and a series of NFL guests, kicked off with a mini-set from FOB. The band stormed out to play “I Don’t Care” with their new signature LED-flickering… Read more »

Fourteen news organizations, including The brief filed Thursday in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argues that allowing webcasting of the Feb. 24 hearing is in the public interest, and is in keeping with camera access already granted in the courts. The Recording Industry Association of America is appealing a Boston judge’s decision to allow the webcast, which it says goes against federal court guidelines on cameras and threatens its ability to get a fair trial. “It is hard to imagine a hearing more deserving of public scrutiny through the same technological medium that is at the heart of… Read more »

New Orleans-based eclectic/innovative rock quartet MUTEMATH has confirmed an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this Thursday Jan. 15, 2009. The Grammy-nominated band will perform a brand new song entitled, “Spotlight,” from the chart-topping Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, TWILIGHT, based on the Stephanie Meyers book which has become an international phenomenon. The soundtrack to the movie was released this past Nov. 4, 2008. The critically-acclaimed band are currently in the studio recording their 2nd Teleprompt/Warner Bros. Records album. Release is expected later this year. Details to be announced soon. MUTEMATH first came to national attention with their independently—produced… Read more »