music industry

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Taylor Swift Sells 1M Albums in First Week

It's the biggest seller in 5 years

(Newser) - Nice week for Taylor Swift: Her Speak Now album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, racking up 1,047,000 sales. (That includes iTunes and the like.) Billboard rounds up some of the milestones:
  • It's the biggest single sales week for an album since 50 Cent's The
...

Sarkozy Will Go Halvsies on That Digital Song

France will subsidize downloads, fight piracy

(Newser) - France is launching what Ars Technica thinks is a "novel" approach to steer young people away from musical piracy. It's going to help them pay for legal downloads. The government has earmarked $70 million over the next two years for half-priced download cards usable on a number of online...

Rascal Flatts Gets $702,500 Per Gig—Really

Concert booking fees might surprise you

(Newser) - In the world of concert bookings, you probably wouldn’t be shocked to hear KISS commands a $500,000 fee. You might be surprised, however, by who comes in ahead of KISS. The Smoking Gun runs down contracts from the 2010 US summer concert season:
  • Rascal Flatts: $702,500
  • KISS:
...

Music Pioneer Mitch Miller Dead at 99

Record exec went on to host karaoke precursor 'Sing Along With Mitch'

(Newser) - Mitch Miller, the goateed orchestra leader who asked Americans to "Sing Along With Mitch" on television and records, died Saturday at age 99. Miller was a key exec at Columbia Records in the pre-rock 'n' roll era, making hits with singers Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page, Johnny Mathis, and Tony...

If You Buy CDs, You're Probably an Oldster

The over-40 set is the mainstay of album sales

(Newser) - These days, if you want to sell CDs, you're best off targeting the over-40 crowd. In a bizarre twist on music industry logic, older buyers have become a relatively potent force in music sales. The reason: "Adults don’t steal, because we don’t know how to," one...

Kevin Eubanks Wraps Last Show With Leno

Band leader announced he was leaving a while ago

(Newser) - Kevin Eubanks wrapped up his 18-year run as Jay Leno's band leader with last night's show, reports E! Online . "Kev, we are going to miss you," said Leno at the end of his monologue. "We are going to miss the whole band." Eubanks announced his departure...

Jay-Z, Eminem to Christen Yankee Stadium
 Jay-Z, Eminem to 
 Christen Yankee Stadium 
SEPTEMBER CONCERT
May 13, 2010 9:29 AM CDT

Jay-Z, Eminem to Christen Yankee Stadium

Pair to perform at ballpark in September

(Newser) - Native New Yorker Jay-Z gets the honor of playing the first concert at the new Yankee Stadium, but he'll be sharing the stage with fellow rapper Eminem, the AP reports. The show is scheduled for Sept. 13, but that won't be their first concert together—on Sept. 2, the two...

Sex Pistols Manager Dead
 Sex Pistols Manager Dead 
punk pioneer
Apr 8, 2010 5:04 PM CDT

Sex Pistols Manager Dead

Malcolm McLaren helped launch punk rock

(Newser) - British music personality Malcolm McClaren, who managed the Sex Pistols and helped define the '70s punk rock movement, has died of cancer at age 64. In the mid-'70s, McLaren was running a clothing boutique, which he'd renamed from "Let It Rock" to "Sex," when he became aware...

Boy George Mulls Reviving Culture Club

'80s hitmakers may reunite for 30th anniversary

(Newser) - Boy George is considering getting the Culture Club together again to mark the band's 30th anniversary. The singer says he's still on good terms with his former bandmates, who last played together for a one-off gig in 2002. "I don't know if it would be a prolonged thing,"...

Top Earners U2 Brought in $109M in 2009
 Top Earners U2 
 Brought in $109M in 2009 
top music moneymakers
Feb 28, 2010 4:20 PM CST

Top Earners U2 Brought in $109M in 2009

Bruce Springsteen finishes 2nd to Irish superstars, and it's not even close

(Newser) - The news that U2 was the top moneymaker in music in 2009 is no surprise, but what may come as a bit of a shock is the gap between No. 1 and No. 2. The Irish rockers brought in $108.6 million lat year, nearly twice as much as runner-up...

Abbey Road Not For Sale: EMI
 Abbey Road Not For Sale: EMI 
Feb 22, 2010 1:23 AM CST

Abbey Road Not For Sale: EMI

Company turned down $46M bid

(Newser) - Abbey Road Studios owner EMI is not looking to sell the legendary operation after all, according to officials. The music conglomerate is working on a "revitalization project" and a "sustantial injection" of fresh capital to make the iconic studios profitable again, said a statement. EMI is deep in...

Abbey Road Studios for Sale
 Abbey Road Studios for Sale 
Feb 16, 2010 5:50 PM CST

Abbey Road Studios for Sale

It can be yours for about $40M

(Newser) - EMI is looking to sell iconic Abbey Road Studios, renowned for producing the Beatles album of the same name. The music conglomerate is in serious debt and expects the sale to fetch up to $47 million. Beatles fans still flock to the North London site to take their photo on...

New 'We Are the World' Video Debuts

Recording will raise money for Haiti earthquake relief

(Newser) - The 25th anniversary remake of "We Are the World" made its debut during the Olympics opening ceremonies last night, and blogger Sgt. Tibs of Chicago Now thinks it generally hits the mark. "Singers that made me go 'Wow!': Celine Dion and Jennifer Hudson," he writes, and...

Killers: We're Not Breaking Up

Band denies rumors on its site

(Newser) - The Killers took to their Web site to address rumors that the band is breaking up or that lead singer Brandon Flowers is going solo, explaining that the members are just looking for some time off after years of near-constant recording and touring.

No-Name Bands Make a Killing on iTunes

Equally anonymous distributors rise to the top of digital heap

(Newser) - You probably haven't heard of TuneCore, but the small startup has swiftly become the world’s biggest music distributor, helping bands you’ve also never heard of make a comfortable living selling music on iTunes. Unlike traditional distributors, which take a cut of music sales, TuneCore and similar digital distributors...

RIP Ringtones: $1B Industry Bites the Dust
 RIP Ringtones: 
 $1B Industry 
 Bites the Dust 


texting trumps calling
Jan 18, 2010 10:55 AM CST

RIP Ringtones: $1B Industry Bites the Dust

Who wants to talk on their phone anymore?

(Newser) - The ringtone industry, which just two years ago was raking in $1 billion annually, will be dead and gone by 2016, analysts predict. Revenue is already plummeting—to about $750 million this year—for one obvious reason: Phones don’t ring very often anymore. “People used to talk on...

France Mulls 'Google Tax '
 France Mulls 'Google Tax ' 
Jan 8, 2010 1:24 AM CST

France Mulls 'Google Tax '

Levy on ad revenue would be used to bolster music, film, media

(Newser) - France is considering helping out industries hit hard by the digital revolution by slapping a tax on Google and other search portals. The proposal, outlined in a government-commissioned report, calls for a share of ad revenue to be turned over to the music, film, and publishing industries. The tax would...

Bret Michaels: Miley 'Nailed' Cover of 'Every Rose'

Pop star records 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn'

(Newser) - Poison frontman Bret Michaels had nothing but kind words for Miley Cyrus after working with her on a cover of his band's ballad, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." Michaels said the teen pop star "nailed" the song. "She's one of the few musicians—and I want...

Apple Widens Music Strategy, Buys Startup Lala

In case people get music from a cloud, not an iPod

(Newser) - Apple has bought the online music service Lala to broaden its reach in the digital music business. Lala relies on so-called cloud computing: It allows users to buy songs for 10 cents and listen to them on the web, but they're not downloaded to the person's hard drive or devices...

Boyle Tops Billboard With Record 700K Sold
 Boyle Tops Billboard 
 With Record 700K Sold 
DREAMING BIG
Dec 2, 2009 11:35 AM CST

Boyle Tops Billboard With Record 700K Sold

She has strongest US sales week of 2009; best female debut ever

(Newser) - Susan Boyle’s Dream has become very real in the US, where her debut album has opened atop the Billboard 200 chart. I Dreamed a Dream sold 701,000 copies, the best sales week for any release this year in the US. Eminem's Relapse previously held the 2009 mark at...

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