Rolling Stone Founder Fires Workers and Goes On Holiday

But that doesn't mean the minions at Wenner Media are being spared. About 10 people were axed so far this week, including the head of production, Lou Terracciano, hired only six months ago, and more are expected to go today, insiders are saying. [this was published Friday morning] - [They also take him to task for his outdated political dead horse beating. No it's not the ironic self-hatred of evil capitalists. =) read more]

Prince Rebuffed In Italian Plagiarism Case

Billboard reports: An Italian court has ruled that Prince's 1994 hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" was plagiarized from a song by two Italian writers.

However, it could take several years for a definitive ruling in the case, which has already dragged on since the 1990s.

According to a sentence handed down by the Court of Appeal in Rome, the song borrowed heavily from "Takin' Me to Paradise," written by Bruno Bergonzi and Michele Vicino.
- more on this story

Masterplan Lose Their Voice

Metal Underground reports: Masterplan has parted ways with vocalist Mike DiMeo. Mike issued the following year-end recap message that also includes his confirmation of leaving the band:

"Hey Guys, I just wanted to take a minute to say thanks to everyone that writes me here and give a quick update…. 2008 was a great year with a lot of cool shows around the states with Tommy James and another great tour with Bonnie Tyler around North America. I had the chance to work with a lot of amazing musicians… The Groove Kings were joined by John Scofield at one of our live gigs one night!! That was cool…I did some really cool session work and have a bunch of releases slated for 2009 of which I am really looking forward to… One of them is with Australian band "Ilium" and I am really happy with how it turned out…

"I also do want to confirm that I am no longer working with the Masterplan guys…..although I have nothing but profound respect for them and continue to wish them nothing but success in the future…"
- more on this story

Gregg Allman Burglary

AP reports: Gregg Allman almost had a few less silver dollars after someone broke into his southeast Georgia home and stole a coin collection, knives and unreleased concert recordings, police said.

The Allman Brothers Band singer and keyboardist, 61, was out of town when burglars broke into his home in Richmond Hill, 20 miles south of Savannah.

Sands said the burglars took a case containing Allman's collection of 19th-century silver dollars and two safes filled with gold coins, personal papers, collectible knives and several tapes of unreleased recordings. - more on this story

Mayday Parade Miserable At Best

PR reports: Mayday Parade debuts their new music video for "Miserable At Best," off of their latest album A Lesson in Romantics on MySpace.com

The video, directed by Mark Staubach (The Academy Is, The Cab), depicts the emotional journey that a person goes through when they breakup with a loved one. This touching ballad unites lyrics and visuals through a cold, snowy winter night. "I wanted to make a video that is relatable to everyone," says Staubach. ""Miserable At Best" is powerful, honest and heartfelt. I wanted to capture those emotions and feelings with the video."

"The video came together quickly," says vocalist Derek Sanders. "We all agreed we wanted to make a video that expressed our feelings and lyrics visually. The song is pretty heart-wrenching and we wanted to portray that feeling of heartbreak and a loss." - Watch it

Warner Music Jumps On Social Networking Bandwagon

Reuters reports: After years of watching music fans flood online social networks to interact with their favorite recording artists, the music industry is starting to get serious about adding community features to its own websites.

Hoping to become a big player in that effort is networking giant Cisco, which during the Consumer Electronics Show, January 8-11 in Las Vegas, introduced its Eos platform -- a set of hosted online tools designed to enable media and entertainment companies to build social networking functions into websites.

For record labels, that means adding fan community services to artist sites. Warner Music Group (WMG) is the first label partner signed on to use the Eos platform - more on this story

Black Kids Hitting the Road

PR reports: Black Kids announce plans to hit the road this 2009, playing a slew of coast-to-coast shows and stopping off in Canada along the way.

2008 was an exceptional year for the always energetic 5-piece who made quite the splash with their critically acclaimed debut LP, Partie Traumatic (Almost Gold/ Columbia Records).

The quintet spent the year playing to thousands of new fans, performing on multiple TV shows and riding high on the critical praise for their debut album, and its break-out single "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You". . - Yadda yadda yadda, how about those dates

Tribe After Tribe To Rock L.A.

PR reports: Psychedelic tribal rockers Tribe After Tribe are pleased to announce their upcoming show in Los Angeles on January 15th at Spaceland in celebration of the release of their new album; M.O.A.B.

Do not miss this rare opportunity to experience live what is considered by many to be one of the world's finest three piece bands ever. Tribe's music has been described as a fine fusion of hard rock and African rhythms somewhere between the epic noise of Led Zeppelin and the modern world beat of Peter Gabriel.

M.O.A.B continues the work Tribe after tribe began in South Africa more than two decades ago, fusing unique world rock elements with ringleader Robbi Robb's incisive, intelligent lyrical dreamscapes, exposing the evil forces of Apartheid and its ideological brethren…forces that remain with us today, perhaps more so than ever before. The message in the music is not, however, a political one, but rather a simple signpost pointing to the common ground of the human heart which we all share. - more on this story

Petula Clark Love Song Collection Coming

PR reports: International vocal superstar Petula Clark, best known for hits like "Downtown," "I Know A Place," "Color My World," "Don't Sleep in the Subway" and "My Song," will soon have both a CD and DVD on Collectors' Choice Music.

The CD, titled Petula Clark: Open Your Mind — The Love Song Collection and due out February 3, contains 21 love songs, many of them previously unreleased and spanning the period between 1972 to present. The DVD, Portrait of Petula Clark, dropping March 10, is taken from a 1969 multi-city shoot originally seen as a British TV special.

Petula Clark: Open Your Mind — The Love Song Collection ships just ahead of Valentine's Day and contains originals by Clark, songs written by longtime producer Tony Hatch and several covers, all culled from a variety of labels, among them MGM, Universal and Scotti Brothers. - more on this story

. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology

The band's consistency is admirable, but the last few good Cardinals albums could have been consolidated into one great one. Cardinology is as close to a great one as the Cardinals have made yet. Is it one of the best of 2008? (4 stars) - Read the full Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology review

. Bruce Springsteen Month: The River

This massive double album isn't perfect but as I grow older and venture further into adulthood, more than any other collection of songs in Springsteen's cannon, I return to this one the most. (4.5 stars) - Read the full Bruce Springsteen Month: The River review

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