Key to Universal-EMI decision: Has music business lost control?
On the face of it, Universal Music Group's bid to buy a big chunk of EMI stands to make the world's leading music company an even more formidable force, combining Universal's star lineup of Lady Gaga and Rihanna with the British company's deep library of The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Katy Perry. Certainly the fierce opposition from rival
Alternatives to Youtube catch on with mobile crowd
Like many musicians looking for that big break, 24-year-old Angeleno Felice Lazae turned to YouTube for years to promote her songs -- with modest success, at one point getting more than 100,000 views on her cover of an Alicia Keys hit. But this month, the Los Angeles singer plans to premiere her newest music video not on YouTube but on
Jethro Tulls Anderson Thick As A Brick and dapper
A chat with Ian Anderson - flautist, multi-instrumentalist, founder and wild face of British rock group Jethro Tull - does not go quite as expected. Yes, there is discussion of his music, the 40th anniversary world tour of the progressive rock classic 'Thick As A Brick', and of its 2012 follow up. But there is also a lot more about flutes
Spotify iPad app - review
Spotify finally has an iPad app. The streaming music service has launched a native app for Apple's tablet, following in the footsteps of rivals Rdio, Mog and Deezer. Journalists and subscribers alike have been asking Spotify about its iPad plans for some time, with the topic even overshadowing the company's recent Coca-Cola branding
Chinese censors block news on blind activists escape
A Chinese musician famous for playing a two-stringed fiddle, a 1994 Hollywood drama about two prison inmates, a United Airlines flight bound for Washington and CNN -- what do they have in common?If you try to search 'Abing,' 'the Shawshank Redemption,' 'UA898' and 'CNN' on Sina Weibo, China's
Apps Rush: The Word Magazine, Lego Star Wars Funzone, The Browser, Burgerapp and more
UK-based music and culture magazine The Word has launched its official iPad app, charging £2.99 an issue through Apple's Newsstand. The content has been neatly redesigned for the tablet screen.iPadThere's a healthy community of people building with Lego Star Wars toys out there, and this new Funzone app helps you browse photos and videos
Rolling Stone overhauls album ranking, Kanye stars
Three Kanye West albums have made it on to the latest edition of Rolling Stone magazine's authoritative '500 Greatest Albums of All Time' list, placing him among the greats of popular music. The new ranking, which combines a 2003 list (updated in 2005) with a later survey of the 2000s, saw two Radiohead records join the elite club, while
Music fans hanker for Ray Charles hologram: poll
When a hologram of late rapper Tupac Shakur appeared on stage with Snoop Dogg at the recent Coachella music festival, it stunned audiences by literally bringing the performer back to life - technologically, anyway. Reuters asked Los Angeles-based E-Poll Market Research, which surveys consumers about celebrities for Hollywood's major
YouTube loses music clip copyright battle in court
YouTube must take down copyrighted clips of music, a German court has ruled, in a move that could be a step towards forcing it to pay large sums in royalties. The move is a fresh setback for Google's video site after a US appeals court this month reopened a $1bn (£620m) case brought by media conglomerate Viacom, as well as the Premier
Anontune: the new social music platform from Anonymous
In a move sure to attract attention from the music industry, a small group of coders claiming to be part of Anonymous is putting together a social music platform. The rather ambitious goal: Create a service that seamlessly pulls up songs streaming from all around the internet. The project, called
Sony set to win EU approval for EMI deal: FT
A Sony-led group is set to win approval from European antitrust regulators for its $2.2 billion purchase of EMI's music publishing business, the Financial Times said, citing people involved in the negotiations. Clearance from the EU Commission, the executive body which acts as the competition regulator for the 27-country European Union,
Axl Rose booed at Rock Hall of Fame induction
A range of musicians from rockers Guns N' Roses to R&B legends Smokey Robinson and the Miracles where inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday in a night as notable for who was not there as who was. Axl Rose, frontman for 1990s band Guns N' Roses, earlier this week refused to be honored by the Cleveland-based Rock Hall
Too Cold For Coachella? Watch Couchella On YouTube
It is freaking cold here in Indio California, so cold that half of the folks in the house I'm staying with for the weekend left the Coachella music festival last night around 9pm. Even though I stayed until midnight (made it to Swedish House Mafia, yesss!), I ended up buying an ugly $60 Coachella hoodie to not freeze my buns off. A LOT of
Despite $889M In Revenue This Year, No IPO In Spotifys Cards, But Ek Wouldnt Say No To More Funding
Spotify's storming of the U.S. market last year has seen the company rack up a total of 13 million active users of its music streaming services , three million of them paying. It is projected to have revenues of $889 million this year, up 160 percent on 2011. But with that growth also comes an increasing net losses, which in 2011 doubled
Spotify Play Button brings music to blogs, websites
Spotify is letting bloggers and website managers embed songs from its vast music library for free. Introduced Wednesday, the Spotify Play Button is a widget that will let Web users listen to songs, playlists or entire albums without having to leave the page they're viewing.
Spotify launches Play Button for websites to stream music
Spotify has unveiled its latest attempt to beef up its streaming music service's web presence beyond its desktop application. It's called the Spotify Play Button, and provides website owners with a way to stream songs, albums and playlists from Spotify without making users leave their sites. The button takes the form of a widget,
UKs One Direction sued by US band with same name
Simon Cowell's British boy band One Direction, among the hottest new acts in the music business, has been sued for trademark infringement because it is using the same name as a small California pop-rock group. In what is expected to be a multi-million dollar lawsuit, attorneys for the California band are seeking an injunction that would
Jazz musician Herbie Hancock to pen memoir
Jazz musician Herbie Hancock will reveal intimate details of his career in a memoir due for release in fall 2014, Viking Press said on Tuesday. Hancock, 71, has become a pioneering force in the jazz and blues music world, earning 14 Grammy awards and an Academy Award over his five-decade career, and seeing many of his songs become music
