UK consumers agree that file-sharing is illegal
LONDON, UK (Loudeye - Indiesource) - Seven out of 10 UK consumers now recognise that using unauthorized music file-sharing networks is illegal, according to a major new research project. The survey shows that the percentage of people recognising the illegality of file-sharing networks such has Kazaa ...
| Rhino Records and Verizon Wireless launch 'Rhino Retro Club'
BEDMINSTER, NJ (Verizon Wireless press release) - Rhino Records and Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless provider, today announced the debut of the Rhino Retro Club, a new service available exclusively to Verizon Wireless 'Get It Now' customers. Verizon Wireless customers with select 'Get ...
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From coast to coast Virgin Megastores celebrate All Things Hip Hop!
NEW YORK (Virgin Entertainment press release) - Graffiti-filled alleys are filled with the beats of Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five. B-Boys and B-Girls are on the corner poppin' and lockin'. All the while early MCs and graffiti artists are taking a new art form to create a new culture - Hip Hop. ...
| Midem maintains price freeze
NEW YORK (Midem Official Website) - Midem, the World's Music Market, has reaffirmed it's commitment to supporting the music industry, by maintaining its 2004 price reductions for a second year running. For 2004, Reed Midem, which organizes Midem, chose to reduce participant registration costs by 40% ...
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Bertelsmann confirms receipt of expected statement of objections
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Sony announcement) - Bertelsmann AG confirmed on Monday that the company has received the European Commission's Statement of Objections concerning the proposed recorded music joint venture between BMG and Sony Music Entertainment. The Statement of Objections is part of the Phase II ...
| RIAA sues 493 more music swappers
NEW YORK (RIAA announcement) - The RIAA said Monday it has sued 493 more people for copyright infringement as part of its campaign to stop consumers from copying music over the Internet. The Recording Industry Association of America has now sued nearly 3,000 individuals since last September in an attempt ...
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British music retailer HMV leaves America
NEW YORK (Bloomberg newsletter) - HMV, the UK music retailer, is to close its last store in the US by the end of this year. The retailer ahead of its year end, has three remaining stores in the US. Two, in Harlem (New York) and South Park Mall in Cleveland, will close by the end of next month and a ...
| Record majors to return 50 million dollars in unpaid royalties
NEW YORK (RIAA/P. Diddy & David Bowie Fans/Forums) - Sean Combs, David Bowie, Gloria Estefan, Dolly Parton and thousands of lesser-known artists will get nearly $50 million in unclaimed royalties from the country's largest recording companies, who agreed to work harder to track down musicians to whom ...
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RIAA files 477 more suits
LOS ANGELES (RIAA announcement/Brown University Website) - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed 477 more lawsuits against people trading unauthorized music online, including lawsuits against 69 people who allegedly used university networks to download music. The RIAA filed ...
| Blink-182's Barker starts Record Label
NEW YORK (Blink-182 Fans Website) - Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has launched his own label called La Salle Records. Travis Barker, best known for being Blink-182's drummer, has just launched his own record label, which will be distributed via Atlantic Records. Dubbed La Salle Records, the fledgling ...
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Madonna record label 'lost $66m'
NEW YORK (People Website) - People.com reported Tuesday Warner is accusing the star of losing $66 million for the company over the past five years and failing to pay back a $20-million loan from Warner. The finger-pointing began last month in Los Angeles Superior Court, where Madonna's Maverick Records ...
| Universal to raise price of CDs by $1
NEW YORK (Universal announcement) - Universal Music Group will hike the wholesale prices of newly released compact discs on April 26, contrary to a widely-touted price-slashing plan. The world's largest recording company rocked the industry in September when it unveiled wholesale price cuts as large ...
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US music sales turnaround continues
LOS ANGELES (Nielsen Soundscan) - A gradual turnaround in U.S. music sales that began last fall picked up in the first quarter of this year, resulting in the industry's best domestic sales in years. The recovery of US music sales continued in the first quarter of this year, according to the Nielsen ...
| Music sales decline 7.6pc in 2003
NEW YORK (IFPI announcement) - Global music sales fell 7.6pc in 2003 to USD32bn, the steepest decline since the advent of the compact disc, the trade body representing the world's largest music companies announced yesterday. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) blamed the ...
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MTV settles music video licensing row
NEW YORK (MTV Europe announcement) - Videos by artists like The Strokes and The White Stripes will not disappear from MTV in Europe after a deal was struck with independent record labels. A row between MTV Europe and a group of independent record labels has been resolved. MTV had wanted to reduce the ...
| EMI to cut artist roster, 1500 employees
NEW YORK (EMI/NYSE) - Music group EMI yesterday announced that it was cutting 1,500 jobs as part of a shake-up of its manufacturing operations. The group said it would reduce its headcount by about 900 in the Netherlands and the United States as it moves to contract out production of compact discs and ...
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Madonna sues Warner Music
LOS ANGELES (Madonna Fans Website) - US pop singer Madonna's Maverick Records sued Warner Music Thursday in a lawsuit seeking 200 million US dollars in damages for alleged breach of contract in their joint venture. The suit asks a judge to terminate Madonna's 11-year-old deal with Warner Music and allow ...
| Indie music labels threaten video boycott on MTV Europe
LONDON, UK (White Stripes Fans Website) - Indie record labels are in a big fight with MTV Europe, and they're threatening to pull some of their hottest bands from the network if contract negotiations aren't settled satisfactorily. The plug could be pulled as early as next week on the video channel, ...
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Music sales drop 6% according to RIAA
NEW YORK (RIAA) - US music sales fell again in 2003, but the slump was not as severe as the previous year as music DVDs became more popular, an industry report showed on Thursday. The Recording Industry Association of America said the value of music shipments last year fell 4.3% following a 6.8% decline ...
| Warner Music Group to cut 1,000 jobs
NEW YORK (NYSE Website) - Nearly 20 percent of Warner Music Group's global work force - or about 1,000 jobs - will be cut following Time Warner's sale of the company to Edgar Bronfman Jr. on Monday (March 1). Bronfman and an investor group paid $2.6 billion for the company. Warner Bros. Such cuts were ...
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