blog
Zeppelin Canada rumours shot down
The latest rumours to surface over the possibility of Led Zeppelin playing more live dates have been quashed this week.
According to the band's US tour promoter, there's no plans for the reformed rock outfit to play a mini-residency at Toronto's Rogers Centre, as had previously
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Avril Lavigne struck down with laryngitis
Avril Lavigne has been forced to cancel a string of US live dates after being struck down with acute laryngitis last week.
Two months into a gruelling five-month world tour, the Canadian star has been forced to pull out of six shows this week which would have seen her playing
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Glastonbury 2008: ticket demand is down
The number of people registering for tickets to this year's Glastonbury Festival is down, festival boss Michael Eavis.
In 2007, hundreds of thousands of music fans logged onto the ticketing website on April 1st after a whopping 400,000 had previously registered their details to
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Kid Rock signs up for Download 2008
Kid Rock will make his first ever appearance at this year's Download Festival.
The American rap rock star will be promoting his latest album 'Rock N Roll Genius' with a main stage appearance at the huge hard rock festival, behind headliners KISS, Lostprophets and Judas
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New NIN album released as free download
Nine Inch Nails have released their new album as a free download this week.
Trent Reznor is following Radiohead's lead by giving away new album 'Ghost I-IV', a 36-track instrumental LP, as a limited download - although fans will have to pay for the full release.
Currently, a
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The Subways mark return with fee download
The Subways will be looking to build on the hype generated by their breakthrough debut album in 2006 with the release of their latest set 'All Or Nothing', out June 9th.
The three-piece punk/pop group came out of nowhere in 2005 to end the year playing on hit U.S. drama the O.C.
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Massive Attack curating Meltdown Festival
London's annual Meltdown Festival will be helmed this year by Bristol's Massive Attack.
The festival of culture is in its 15th year, and the Bristol dance act will follow Morrissey, Davis Bowie and Jarvis Cocker as artistic directors of the event.
"We want this year's festival
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Incubus, Disturbed for Download Festival '08
Incubus, Disturbed and Coheed & Cambria are some of the big names just announced for this year's Download Festival in June.
The U.S. bands join previously confirmed headline acts Kiss, The Offspring and Lostprophets on the bill for this year's hard rock event, once again held at
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Download Festival 2008 headliners revealed
Classic rockers Kiss will join The Offspring and Welsh band Lostprohets to headline this year's Download Festival.
The annual hard rock event takes place this year in its spiritual home of Donington Park from June 13-15th, and other bands joining the bill for the initial
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Liam Gallagher tells Winehouse 'slow down'
Liam Gallagher has advised Amy Winehouse to 'slow down' for the sake of her career.
The Oasis frontman is famed for his former wild-man behaviour but has left the partying behind after the birth of his second son with former All Saint Nicole Appleton, who he married this year.
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Tearful Kanye West breaks down
It's just a week since the death of his mother and Kanye West was back on stage doing what he does best. However, fans at the Paris Le Zenith arena saw the rapper break down in tears as he introduced a song dedicated to Donda.
The rap star's mother passed away just a week ago from
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All Saints star 'downsizing'
She may have been in one of the biggest girl group's of the 90's, but singer Melanie Blatt has revealed how she's selling her London house to pay the bills.
Blatt hit the top of the charts in the mid-90's with All Saints, but told press last week that she didn't come out of it all
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Gwen Stefani will tone down Malaysia show
Gwen Stefani has been at the centre of a religious row the last week across Malaysia, but it seems the issue over her 'obscene' stage show in a predominantly Muslim country has now been resolved.
The glamorous pop star was due to play her first ever show in the capital city, Kuala
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Britney in interview meltdown
Britney Spears' interview with OK! magazine, which was seen as a bid to put her recent troubles behind her, was a 'complete disaster' for the star, according to reports.
As reported this week, Spears herself took the decision to call OK!'s Editor-in-Chief Sarah Ivens to set up the
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Lady Sov says sorry after U.S. meltdown
Lady Sovereign has apologised to her American fans after storming off stage last week following a volley of bad language.
The British urban star cut her late-night performance to just two tracks, before storming off stage yelling 'f*ck the U.S.'. The club show, which kicked off at
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Downloads buoyant as Asda ditches singles
One of the biggest contributors to the physical singles market, supermarket chain Asda, has announced plans to stop selling CDs after a major dip in sales.
The decision points towards the continued success of download singles - a point underlined this week when Rihanna's
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Download festival moves into Half Life
Download Festival organisers have launched their mascot, the Download Dog, into cyberspace to run loose in virtual world Second Life, Sound Generator can report.
For a special "Hunt The Beast" contest, the hard rock festival organisers have designed the mascot as an animated,
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Richard Swift - Dressed Up for the Letdown
It's not difficult to loathe the proliferation of folky singer-songwriters. Frequently self-absorbed, and sounding upset at even the tiniest amount of success, as a movement they've released uninspiring drones for public consumption. Diamonds in the rough do exist, from Danielson to
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EMI Records to offer 'unlocked' downloads
A hastily arranged press conference in London yesterday afternoon saw EMI Records breaking news that changes the future of the music industry considerably - agreeing to remove copyright software from all their music downloads.
The major record label - home to popular acts like
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Suge Knight on a downward spiral
Marion 'Suge' Knight looks to have fought on battle too many this week, as police and bailiffs took the step of forcibly evicting the rap mogul from his Los Angeles home.
Patrol cars and police detectives were on hand to supervise the court order to remove the former Death Row
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Ticket touts escape clampdown
The UK's live music industry says it's been 'frustrated' yet again by the government's indecision over regulating ticketing at music concerts and festivals.
This week, culture secretary Tessa Jowell hinted at plans for more regulation in the reselling of tickets for higher profile
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Babyshambles - Down In Albion
Whatever you think of Pete Doherty, and the finer (or not so fine) points of his tumultuous, inglorious and endlessly unpredictable story so far, you can't deny that he is a genuine rock'n'roll star, inspiring hero-worship at every precarious turn. Not since the Gallaghers' halcyon
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UK Labels winning download war
The singles market lifts in 2005 by over 50%
Just over two weeks after winning a landmark file sharing case, the entertainment industry has another reason to celebrate following news of a huge increase in UK music downloads.
No doubt spurred by the high profile court
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Betzefer - Down Low
Metal merchants Roadrunner Records are so excited about their first Israeli signing that they are calling Betzefer their very own 'weapon of mass destruction' (ouch!). But while the Holy Land is new territory for the label, musically this is the same old terrain; the same scorched
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MD of MTV Networks India steps down
Alex Kuruvilla joined MTV in 1999 and moved the channel into the forefront of youth culture in India.
In a statement Kuruvilla said, "I've had the opportunity to be part of the network during my time here - from launching exciting new channels, to bringing reality television to
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Download Festival 2005 - Friday
Friday, June 10
First band to cross our radar early Friday afternoon are glam rockers
Queen Adreena. Fresh from a recent UK tour promoting 'The Butcher and the Butterfly', the band blitz the main stage with a disturbing, fraught and furious set. With lead singer Katie Jane
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Download Festival 2005 - Saturday
Saturday, June 11
The earth shakes and the sky rumbles -- the monsters have arrived. But before the madness, a pantomime, served up by comedic metal heads
Bowling For Soup. Unable to complete a single song in their set without stopping midway through for some banal banter
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Download Festival 2005 - Sunday
Sunday, June 12
Those braving their hangovers and the cold, windy morning are treated to
Henry Rollins‚ early morning 'Sunday Sermon'. The ex-hardcore frontman draws a huge crowd with his own brand of vitriolic stand-up comedy. Drawing on his experiences in The Rollins‚
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Download Festival 2005 - Donnington Park, UK
Held over the weekend of June 10-12, the hard-rock Download festival continues to move in bigger and better directions. This year's reporting was led by James Laffoley, with additional Sunday reporting from Michael J. Photography from Dan Jocelyn.
It all started with a faintest
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Beans - Down By Law
Slick, infectious offering from the former Anti-Pop Consortium maestro negates the usual misogynist, gun touting hip-hop content for a more challenging lyrical vision.
Backed by heavy, throbbing beats and rhythms this single provides perfect accompaniment for his excellent 'Now
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Yahoo! Joins Music Download Race
Not to be outdone in the digital download race by the likes of Microsoft, Apple and Real Networks, Yahoo have firmly stated their intentions by acquiring Musicmatch.
Musicmatch started in 1997, pioneering digital music management technology. They have since built their flagship
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Up & Down
Firing up a storm across radio and music TV, "Up & Down" is looking a sure bet to become Positiva's second summer hit following Shapeshifters' recent number one.
Released August 9, "Up & Down" is the brainchild of 24-year-old Miss Motif, as well as production duo Daniele Davoli
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Lockdown Project - Lockdown Project
Lockdown Project's debut album couldn't really have come at a better time.
With winter behind us and the evenings drawing themselves out, an album as upbeat as Lockdown Project's self-titled effot is particularly welcomed.
With a fusion of eclectic style, pigeonholing this
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Download Festival 2004 - Donnington Park
Back and bigger than ever. The UK's Download festival, it seems, is here to stay as it enters its second year as
the heavy rock festival.
This year's bill included the heavyweight line-up of Metallica, Slipknot, Korn (their first UK show in several years) punk rock veterans
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Sony 'Connects' With Music Downloads
Sony has officially launches its new, high-profile music download site, offering music fans over 500,000 tracks from major and independent labels across the globe.
The domestic launch of the Connect online store (connect.com) was inaugurated by a live in-flight concert by Sheryl
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Sia - Don't Bring Me Down
Best known as one of the voices of Zero 7, Australian Sia Furler is finally launching her most consistent attempt at a solo career since collaborating with the much-revered British collective.
'Healing is Difficult', her 2002 debut album, was welcomed by the critics but
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Jackass Stars Go Download
Stars from the hit MTV show
Jackass are to make an appearance at this year's Download festival, soundgenerator can report.
With Johnny Knoxville off being Gram Parsons and Bam Margera firmly committed to his CKY project, world renowned nut-cases Steve O and Chris Pontius,
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OD2 Reaches Millionth Download
Pan European digital music company OD2 has announced that it has sold its millionth download in the first quarter of 2004.
This figure represents a doubling of its downloads from the fourth quarter of 2003 and a 10-fold rise from the year-earlier period.
OD2 is the UK based
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Starbucks To Launch In-Store Downloads
The
Starbucks coffee chain have revealed a major initiative to offer customers the ability to download music legally while stopping by for a cup of Java.
The newly formed partnership with Hewlett-Packard will see the launch of an in-store service that will allow customers
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Napster Passes 5 Million Downloads
Napster, the former scourge of the music industry and haven for music pirates is doing things legally nowadays. All that is left of the former ‘company’ is the brand and technology but it is by far the most famous name for downloading music on the Internet.
It is now a division
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Coca-Cola Launch Music Download Site
Coca-Cola become the latest multinational company to involve themselves in the burgeoning legal downloads market.
mycokemusic.com is set to launch next month and claims to be the be the largest legal music download site on the web, with more than a quarter of a million tracks
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Top Classical Label Gets Into Downloading
The popular classical label Naxos of America has made its catalogue of classical music available on four major Internet music sources for digital downloads. With the extensive range of Naxos recordings, classical favourites as well as rare repertoire from early music to 21st century
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S Club 8 - Sundown
Die hard productions teams, top songwriters and a bunch of cute pretty kids. That’s the winning formula and to date has proved immensely successful. ‘Sundown’ the second album from former S Club Juniors sees S Club 8 move up a notch and deliver an album packed with screaming pop
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S Club 8 - Sundown
A name change and whole lot more grown-up. 'Sundown' is actually a great tune, their best yet. Big on dance value as well as very radio friendly. Should see the S Club 8 gang hit the top 5.
1. Sundown
2. Wherever Your Heart Beats
3. Sundown (Almighty Mix)
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Clea – Download It
Yep, another bunch of Pop Idol ‘runners up’ jump on the reality show bandwagon – just as it’s careering out of control towards Beachy Head cliffs.
‘Download It’ is as you’d expect; forgettable rubbish, with Clea’s introduction to the world being a ‘soulful R&B / Pop ballad’ style.
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VH1 Save The Music Foundation Man Steps Down
VH1 Save The Music Foundation Board Chairman Sandy Feldstein announced on July 31 that longtime foundation Chief Executive Officer Bob Morrison will be stepping down from that post.
"Bob has decided to move on to new challenges," Feldstein said. "His service to the foundation and
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BPI Continues Crackdown On Pirates
The BPI anti-piracy unit have been involved in a series of raids over the last 2 weeks following a new alliance with the Department of Work and Pensions.
The raids, focussed around Huddersfield, Wigan, and Blackpool led to the seizure of counterfeit CDs and manufacturing equipment
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Muse Single: Download It Here Now!
Muse will break a year's silence on July 14th with the online release of their first new music of 2003 and we are one of the select few to have the single available for you.
'Stockholm Syndrome' will only be available as a download and will be accompanied by an exclusive,
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Earlimart - Everyone Down Here
'Everyone down Here' is the fourth album from Californian quartet Earlimart, and chief architect Aaron Espinoza, a highly credited artist and respected musician of the Californian underground rock scene. Having been courted by such luminaries as Grandaddy & The Breeders and this
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Download 2003
Download Festival came and went on a hot hazy weekend in May.
The first-ever multi-day festival at Donnington Park saw main stage headliners Iron Maiden making their only UK appearance of the summer in along with Audioslave (risen from the ashes of two of the most influential rock
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140,000 EMI Tracks To Download
EMI Recorded Music have announced plans for the biggest European music download initiative by a record company in Europe to date. The company will make available for sale online over 140,000 tracks from over 3,000 EMI artists.
As well as upping the amount of tracks available,
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Today Is Digital Download Day
Today is Digital Download Day. UK and German music fans can make free downloads on a host of sites for today only. It is also been announced that an official chart will be in place by Christmas of the top 40 downloaded tracks. It will only however include those downloaded from
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BPI Cracks Down On More Pirates
The BPI's Anti-Piracy Unit took a further step towards hitting the source of illegal CDs in the North East of England yesterday by closing down a third illegal music and film factory in as many weeks.
In a raid on Friday March 28th at a private address in Sunderland, Northumbria
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Minus 5 - Down With Wilco
The Minus 5, a collective formed by Scott McCaughey and his acoustic cronies, and McCaughey's previous band, The Young Fresh Bed Fellows, are both highly regarded in modern Americana folk circles. This new record brings in recurrent guests Peter Buck (he of airline hell-raising fame
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Warner Chief Steps Down
Roger Ames, Chairman and CEO Warner Music Group, today announced the retirement of Stephen Shrimpton from his position of Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Warner Music International (WMI) with immediate effect.
Shrimpton, who has served as Chairman & CEO WMI since January
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RIAA take on'Aimster' download site
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on behalf of its member companies, and the music publishers, filed a motion late Wednesday afternoon for a hearing to find Aimster (a.k.a. Madster) in contempt on the grounds that it has willfully disregarded an order issued on
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Downfall
The fourth single from the West Country act's now gold-selling album 'Invitation'.
With a seemingly winning formula of anthemic piano, guitar, fragile vocals and soaring melodies the group specialise in being as inoffensive as Coldplay and Keane. Unfortunately this track is so
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Down Boy
York based quintet 'The Yards' -- fronted by former Seahorses singer Chris Helme -- serve up an enthusiastic self-titled debut with a dish of 60's psychedelic rock and a side helping of 70's garage punk.
With Helme back on the scene attempting to shed an old 90's Britpop skin,
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Counterfeit Music Operations Shut Down
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Anti-Piracy Unit announced this week three successful search and seizure actions against pirate music operations in Texas, Connecticut and California.
On Thursday, May 31, 2001, members of the Dallas Police Department and the
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Music Growth In UK Despite Global Slowdown
The British record industry saw growth of 5.3 per cent in value in 2001 despite a slowdown in the rest of the world. Much of the growth was driven by British artists.
The UK album market grew by 4.4 per cent in volume with the top seven of the best-selling albums all by British
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Clampdown On Napster-Alternative Sites
A number of media companies have filed a lawsuit against three Internet sites that currently offer copyright material free.
The courts have named Morpheus, Grokster and Kazaa as operations that have profited from a boom since Napster's closure.
Disney, Capitol Records and
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