Music News Net

PETER FRAMPTON Files Digital Royalties Suit Against Universal Music

MUSIC NEWS -  Singer/songwriter/guitarist Peter Frampton has joined the growing list of performers filing lawsuits over digital music royalites.  Mr Frampton has filed a suit against his longtime record label, Universal Music Group for a half-million dollars in unpaid digital royalties and for unspecified damages.   Frampton's attorneys filed the suit on Friday, December 23 in a Los Angeles federal court.

The day before, on Thursday, the sister (and heir) to Bruce Gary, the drummer for The Knack, the rockers you know for their 1979 hit “My Sharona,” filed a similar suit against Capitol Records claiming the label withheld digital music royalties.

Gibson Guitar Facilities Raided by Feds Again, Company Will Fight Charges

MUSIC NEWS-  The chief executive of Gibson Guitar company has gone on record that the firm would fight a federal investigation of the guitar maker's wood imports.  This comes after federal agents raided the company for the second time in two years.

Agents entered Gibson's facilities in Nashville and Memphis, TN, on Wednesday, seizing wood imported from India and sending company workers home.  In an affidavit, authorities indicated they are considering charges against the company and/or its executives for illegally importing wood under a US law that bars importation of endangered plants and woods. The company's sued to recover its property.

Coheed and Cambria Bassist Arrested on Theft Charges

MUSIC NEWS - Michael Todd, the bass player for Nyack, NY alt rockers Coheed and Cambria was arrested yesterday and charged with robbing a Massachusetts pharmacy of prescription painkillers just hours before a show.

Attleboro, MA police alledge that Todd entered the  local Walgreen's pharmacy after 1 pm on Sunday and showed the pharmacist a note on his phone saying he had a bomb. Police say the 30-year-old Todd, of Anaheim, CA, then took off off with six bottles of Oxycontin and fled in a cab headed towards the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA where the band was booked to open for Soundgarden. He was arrested at the arena prior to the show, and the band performed without him with one of the band's guitar techs standing in. Todd, 30, was charged with armed robbery and possession of a class B controlled substance.

U2's THE EDGE Gets Another Blow to His Malibu Development Plans

MUSIC NEWS - As U2 makes their return to the concert stages in North America, California officials have delivered one band member a blow as the state agency that oversees coastal development has once again recommended that U2 guitarist, The Edge, be denied his controversial development plan that contains a group of mansions overlooking Malibu. California Coastal Commission staff on Friday (5/27/11) recommended that the board reject the rock celebrity's application at its June meeting.

Back in February, officials made the same recommendation before the plan was pulled from the agenda at the request of the rock musician and his develolpment partners.  Back then, project manager Jim Vanden Berg said he was surprised but said he believed they could work with staff to "clarify misunderstandings."   The proposal involving the NYC based rocker, David Evans aka The Edge, includes five multilevel homes ranging from 7,220 to 12,785 square feet to be built on 156 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains.  The project designers said the homes will be Gold LEED Certified and the guitarist has stated the mansions will be some of the most environmentally sensitive in the world.

More @ AP.com and Malibu.patch.

1970s LEONARD COHEN Footage Up for Sale

MUSIC NEWS- A legal dispute between LEONARD COHEN and entertainment lawyer Steve Machat is ending with Machat agreeing to sell the Cohen footage in question that he possesses.  Machat is handing over 294 film reels that were shot in the 1970s and follow the Hallelujah singer on stage and behind-the-scenes during his 1972 European concert tour.

The tapes were missing since 1980, but located by Machat in 2009.  The footage had been used to make Bird on a Wire,  a documentary about the Canadian singer/songwriter.  Machat, who at one time represented Cohen, has ended his battle with the performer and will offer the reels to fans for $1,500 (each).

Two Convicted in NOAH AND THE WHALE Equipment Theft

MUSIC NEWS- As MNN reported in 2009, NOAH AND THE WHALE had their equipment stolen after a UK gig.  Today we get word that two men involved in the theft were sentenced (January 28).  The equipment, which had been returned to the band after the incident, was stolen after they played a show at Manchester's Club Academy on September 29, 2009.

Global Music Sales Continue Decline in 2010

MUSIC NEWS - The sales globally of recorded music fell approximately 9% in 2010 as rampant piracy hurt major markets, threatening jobs, investment and the discovery of new artists, the industry's trade group, International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, announced today.  The IFPI said nearly 19 out of 20 music tracks downloaded from internet sites last year were illegal, hurting demand for the legitimate sales of physical and digital tracks / albums.

"As an industry we remain very challenged," the IFPI chief executive Frances Moore stated. "We are working in a very very difficult environment. Nineteen out of 20 music downloads are illegal." "We had independent research last year that says that in Europe we could lose 1.2 million jobs in the creative sector by 2015, which is about 10 percent of the work force."

AC/DC Drummer Convicted on Pot Charges in NZ

 MUSIC NEWS -  AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has been convicted of marijuana possession by a New Zealand court, reports the New Zealand Herald.  Mr Rudd was arrested back on October 7, 2010 after police raided his boat that was docked at the Tauranga Beach Marina, North Island, NZ and found 25 grams of the pot on board.

Though he offered a guilty plea at the Tauranga District Court, Rudd's request for leniency was denied by Magistrate Robyn Paterson, who convicted the rocker of marijuana possession as well as imposed a fine of $250 (NZ) and $133 (NZ) in court costs on him.  Rudd's plea to not have the charge on his record was also denied, with Paterson telling the drummer that his arrest was "not just an accident. You were blindly ignoring the law. You have been playing Russian roulette".

TRUTH & SALVAGE CO. Singer/Songwriter Files Lawsuit Against Marriott Corp

   MUSIC NEWS- According to a recent lawsuit filed in Tulare County California,  Tim Jones, one of the four singers/songwriters of the group TRUTH & SALVAGE COMPANY, was shaken awake and pulled from his bed by hotel security and local police while sleeping at the Marriott Hotel in Visalia, CA.  Jones, a Marriott Rewards member and a registered guest staying the night at the Visalia Marriott in February 2010 as part of the band's opening slot on a Black Crowes tour,  was handcuffed, assaulted, taken to jail and cited for trespassing and resisting arrest in his own hotel room after performing at a concert earlier in the evening.

"Best New Artist" Grammy Award Rules Updated

MUSIC NEWS - To evolve and improve its Awards process, The Recording Academy announced changes to eligibility rules in the Best New Artist category, the Classical Field, and for Recording Academy-produced performances. The new rules go into effect immediately for the upcoming 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards on February 13, 2011, with the total number of GRAMMY categories remaining at 109.

New eligibility requirements for Best New Artist;

New artists have at least one chance to compete in the Best New Artist category, provided that the artist has not already won a GRAMMY. The current eligibility requirements state that the artist must have released, as a featured performing artist, at least one album but not more than three; and the artist must not have been entered for Best New Artist more than three times, including as a performing member of an established group. Any previous GRAMMY nomination for the artist as performer precludes eligibility in the Best New Artist category (including a nomination as an established performing member of a nominated group.)

Court Decides on MEN AT WORK "Down Under" Plagiarism Case

MUSIC NEWS- Australian rockers Men At Work won't have to pay out as much money as they thought for plagiarising an Aussie folk song for their classic rock tune, Down Under.  A Sydney court ordered them to hand over 5% of the royalties to the publisher of the children's song Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree , a sum which could top $100,000.

Earlier in the year, an Australian court ruled that the band's songwriters, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, had broken copywrite laws by taking parts of a flute riff when they recorded Down Under.  Larrikin Music Publishing (Kookaburra... publisher) asked the court for nearly 60% of the song's royalties, but a Federal Court judge said he considered "the figures put forward by Larrikin to be excessive, overreaching and unrealistic".

MADINA LAKE Bassist, Matthew Leone, Hospitalized

MUSIC NEWS - Madina Lake's bassist, Matthew Leone, is in a Chicago hospital afer being severely beaten in the Chicago neighborhood of West Town.  Apparently, Leone came to the aid of a woman who was being assaulted by her husband on a local street early Tuesday morning, according to the local news site, Chicago Breaking News.

“Matthew saw something he didn’t like to see and tried to step in and the guy turned on him instead, but then the two of them (the couple) walked off together like nothing happened,” said an unnamed police officer, according to the website. Lead singer in the band, Nathan Leone, and Matthew’s twin brother, said he was due to meet up with his brother at a local bar, and as he arrived he saw his brother trying to stop the husband from hitting the woman.

BILLY JOEL and Former Drummer, Liberty Devitto Settle Lawsuit

MUSIC NEWS -  Billy Joel's longtime drummer and music associate, LIBERTY DEVITTO has settled his lawsuit in which he accused Joel of keeping royalties from many of his biggest albums from him, the singer's lawyer announced on Wednesday.

In Joel's heyday, from 1975 thru 2005 Liberty DeVitto was Joel's main drummer and performed on classic Billy Joel albums such as "The Stranger," "52nd Street," "Glass Houses" and "Storm Front".  DeVitto also appeared live with Joel as part of his touring band.

ROLLING STONE, Ron Wood, Arrested in the UK !

MUSIC NEWS -  Rock guitarist Ron Wood (the Faces, Rolling Stones), 62, was arrested in London on Wednesday night on suspicion of assault charges in connection with a domestic violence incident.  He wasted no time in getting out of the slammer, and posted bail Thursday AM, according to Surrey, England police who have not yet released any details on the incident,  which remain under investigation.

“I can confirm that there was an incident last night and that Ronnie Wood was arrested,” said Wood’s spokesman, David Rigg. “He has since been released on police bail."

Wood has been battling alcoholism for some time, and has had many rehab stints. Wood made the celebrity tabloid news back in July 2008 when he started dating Ekaterina Ivanoca, a young Russian model.  His involvement with the young Ivanoca led to the end of his 24-year-old marriage, which divorce was finalized last month.

NOEL GALLAGHER Attacker to Be Sentenced

MUSIC NEWS - Remember last year, when a man jumpeed on stage at an Oasis concert in Canada and attacked Noel Gallagher causing three broken ribs?  Now the attacker, Daniel Sullivan,, 47, has pled guilty to all charges and will be sentenced on February 5, 2010. The Toronto Sun reports that Sullivan claims he was drunk at the time of the incident, which happened at the Virgin Festival in Toronto, and doesn't remember anything other than jumping a fence.