Stax Records co-founder Axton dies
NEW YORK (Rolling Stone magazine) - Estelle Axton, the co-founder of the legendary soul imprint Stax Records, has died in the US; she was 85. Rolling Stone reports that former teacher Axton (the 'ax' in the label's name) and her brother Jim Stewart (the 'St') founded Stax in 1959. They released over ...
| Eminem sues Apple!
NEW YORK (Eminem Fans Website) - Does Eminem have an Oprah-esque streak that keeps him from sullying his reputation by endorsing products? Or is he fine with endorsing, but only for obscene sums of money? It's not entirely clear what the objection is, but our potty-mouthed poet is suing Apple Computer, ...
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EMI bans the 'Grey Album'
NEW YORK (Jay-Z Fans Website) - DJ Danger Mouse's The Grey Album, a remix of Jay-Z's Black Album and the Beatles White Album has become an online music sensation, even getting reviewed in Rolling Stone though only 3,000 CDs were ever made. Now EMI, which controls the Beatles copyright, is trying to ...
| BMG seeks again Clive Davis!
NEW YORK (NY Daily News) - Clive Davis is having the last laugh. Four years after BMG booted him from Arista, the legendary hit-maker who now runs RCA Group soared back to the top of the charts yesterday when he was named chairman of all of BMG North America. That means Davis, the fabled music exec ...
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LA Reid talks with Def Jam!
NEW YORK (All Hip Hop) - Universal Music and Antonio "LA" Reid have agreed in principle to a deal that will make Reid the head of Island Def Jam. The deal is expected to be signed next week, sources say. The pact under negotiation is a three-year, multi-million dollar deal for Reid to become chairman ...
| Indie labels fight against Sony & BMG merger in Europe
LONDON, UK (IMPALA) - The proposed merger between Sony Music and BMG faces stiff opposition from European indie labels. IMPALA, an independent trade organization representing over 2,000 independent European labels, announced today that they would fight the merger between the industry giants. "We want ...
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LA Reid exits Arista
LOS ANGELES (Music Industry) - Antonio "LA" Reid resigned on Tuesday as head of Arista Records, estimated to have lost more than $US100 million in the past two years despite a roster of hit artists like Outkast and Avril Lavigne. Bertelsmann AG's BMG, the parent of Arista, said Reid resigned as president ...
| UK album sales reach new high in 2003
LONDON, UK (Music Week) - CD sales in the UK have hit a record high - last year there was an increasing of 7.6% over figures froom 2002. In a new industry report the rise was said to have following the fall in CD prices - this in spite of piracy fears. 121 million artist albums, (excluding compilations ...
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A new and hot competitor for MTV
NEW YORK (Universal annoncement) - Universal is planning to start a music new video channel at US. MTV no longer has the crib all to itself. The king of music television is facing a new rival looking to challenge its long-running hold on music fans. Universal Music Group, the world's largest music empire, ...
| Does radio airplay create sales hits? Play it again and again!
NEW YORK (Radio News Website) - 50 Cent, who had the top song on the chart lists, had a radio audience that was 28% larger than the No. 2 song, Sean Paul's Get Busy. That query once generated an automatic "duh" response from the music industry. But now, when music fans are supposedly abandoning radio ...
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Sony and BMG announced their merger
NEW YORK (Sony/BMG & NYSE announcements) - Two of the last of the record industry giants hope to merge. Sony and BMG confirmed today that they are going ahead with plans to join forces to become Sony BMG - the second-largest label in the world. Both labels are industry heavyweights and the new deal ...
| RIAA piracy fight intensifies
NEW YORK (RIAA announcement) - The American music industry trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America, has enlisted a heavy-hitting expert in its fight against on-line piracy. The director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will lead the industry organization's ...
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Lockdown Records is the new name for Murder Inc.
NEW YORK (Lockdown/Murder Inc. announcement) - The Murder Inc. label has changed its name to Lockdown Records. At a press conference in New York yesterday label head Irv Gotti announced the name change as his top artists, Ja Rule and Ashanti, looked on. Irv Gotti explained that the name change had been ...
| UK record labels fighs to sign a 16-year-old schoolgirl
LONDON, UK (Daily News/W.Hill betnews Website) - UK record companies are reported to be bidding to sign an unknown schoolgirl who's debut single could be the Christmas No.1! BMG, Warners and Universal, are reportedly set to offer up to �10m to sign 16-year-old Erin Rocha, from Poole in Dorset. Her debut ...
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Rock revival boosts UK album sales
LONDON, UK (BPI) - A revival in rock music has helped increase album sales, but overall music sales are down, new figures show. Albums such as Permission To Land by The Darkness and a compilation of soft rock, helped the sale of 232 million albums last year, a record amount. Even UK Prime Minister Tony ...
| Warner Music sold!
NEW YORK (NYSE announcement) - Warner Music Group home to artists including Madonna, R-E-M and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, has been sold to the Bronfman team. The group will pay 2.6 billion dollars U.S. in cash for Time Warner's recorded music operations and the Warner/Chappell music publishing business, ...
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Too early for christmas music?
NEW YORK (Top40 Charts) - It's the beginning of Thanksgiving week and many US radio stations already are subjecting us to non-stop Christmas tunes! At 6 a.m. Thursday, a third Milwaukee radio, WOKY-AM (920), joins WLTQ-FM (97.3) and WMYX-FM (99.1) with a holiday playlist. It's not that these stations ...
| Irv Gotti drops 'Murder'
NEW YORK (AllHipHop Website) - Irv Gotti is in the process of changing the name of his record label from Murder Inc. to The Inc. in an attempt to shed negative connotations surrounding the older moniker. "I am changing the name so people can just try and focus on our music and not our name," Gotti told ...
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Universal has agreed to buy Dreamworks Records
NEW YORK (Universal announcement) - Universal Music, the world's largest record label, has agreed to buy Dreamworks Records. The Dreamworks label includes artists such as pop singer Nelly Furtado and the band Papa Roach. Dreamworks Records is the music unit of the Dreamworks entertainment company which ...
| Licensing deal boosts webcasts
NEW YORK (TechNews) - Webcast fans in Europe will have more opportunity to enjoy online shows following a landmark licensing deal. The recording industry has signed an agreement allowing webcasters to stream music programmes using a single "one-stop" licence. It will enable them to clear producers' ...
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