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245 items by Steve Knopper Steve Knopper’s Profile on

  • Myspace Relaunches, But Does It Have a Chance?

    Myspace Relaunches, But Does It Have a Chance? | ARTICLE

    Myspace – the pioneering social network that was all but left for dead at the dawn of the Facebook era – is relaunching today with a splashy new design emphasizing artists and musicians, backed by a $35 million...

    June 12, 2013 2:00 PM ET
  • On the Charts: Queens of the Stone Age Assume the Throne

    On the Charts: Queens of the Stone Age Assume the Throne | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Queens of the Stone Age. Could the veteran rock band's first Number One album (. . . Like Clockwork, with 91,000 sales) portend a long run on the charts? Not even...

    June 12, 2013 12:20 PM ET
  • Apple Introduces iTunes Radio Streaming Service

    Apple Introduces iTunes Radio Streaming Service | ARTICLE

    Apple's long-awaited iTunes Radio, unveiled yesterday at the computer giant's annual Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco, is part of what senior vice president Eddy Cue calls "the best music player we have ever done." But it's...

    June 11, 2013 9:15 AM ET
  • On the Charts: Throwbacks Rule: Alice In Chains, John Fogerty Debut Strong

    On the Charts: Throwbacks Rule: Alice In Chains, John Fogerty Debut Strong | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Throwbacks. Daft Punk's Random Access Memories repeated at Number One this week, but the big chart surprises were Alice In Chains' The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (61,000 sales, number two)...

    June 5, 2013 12:45 PM ET
  • On the Charts: Nothing Random About Daft Punk's Big Debut

    On the Charts: Nothing Random About Daft Punk's Big Debut | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Daft Punk. In addition to selling 339,000 copies in its debut week and hitting Number One on Billboard's Top 200, the French electronic-dance-music duo set a Spotify record for most streams in...

    May 29, 2013 12:10 PM ET
  • On the Charts: Vampire Weekend Score Second Number One

    On the Charts: Vampire Weekend Score Second Number One | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Vampire Weekend. It's hard to believe an indie-rock band with such a nuanced sound has scored its second Number One album in a row – Contra sold 124,000 copies during its first week...

    May 22, 2013 12:25 PM ET
  • The Best Summer Concert Bargains

    The Best Summer Concert Bargains | ARTICLE

    The days of seeing the world's biggest rock and pop bands for a few bucks, plus a little extra for parking and service fees, are as long-gone as Peter Frampton's curly hair. But amid $650 Stones...

    May 21, 2013 12:05 PM ET
  • On the Charts: 'Gatsby' Soundtrack Living the High Life

    On the Charts: 'Gatsby' Soundtrack Living the High Life | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: The Great Gatsby soundtrack. Not since the swing craze of the late Nineties have so many popular artists been so obsessed with tuxedos and the Lindy Hop. The Leonardo DiCaprio movie opened last...

    May 15, 2013 2:55 PM ET
  • On the Charts: Can't Hold Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

    On the Charts: Can't Hold Macklemore and Ryan Lewis | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. You thought you'd be finished with this hippie-hip-hop duo after "Thrift Shop" finally dropped down the charts? Nope. Billboard reports the band's latest single, "Can't Hold Us," received a...

    May 8, 2013 12:40 PM ET
  • The Doors Get an iPad App: A 'Major, Major Project'

    The Doors Get an iPad App: A 'Major, Major Project' | ARTICLE

    As he painstakingly went through music and photos for the new Doors app on the iPad, Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman found the bit he was looking for on a tape reel marked "Excited Utterances." The...

    May 7, 2013 1:05 PM ET
  • Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen Neil Young Join Global Citizen Ticket Drive

    Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen Neil Young Join Global Citizen Ticket Drive | ARTICLE

    To fight world hunger and transform their fans into social activists, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Beyoncé, Black Sabbath, Neil Young, Kanye West, My Morning Jacket and dozens of other stars...

    May 1, 2013 9:20 PM ET
  • On the Charts: Michael Buble, 'Idol' Alum Fantasia on Top

    On the Charts: Michael Buble, 'Idol' Alum Fantasia on Top | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Fantasia. With her pedigree as a 2004 American Idol winner, Fantasia commands more gold-standard publicity than most above-average R&B singers. (Her album Side Effects of You has exactly one great track: the swinging,...

    May 1, 2013 12:20 PM ET
  • iTunes' 10th Anniversary: How Steve Jobs Turned the Industry Upside Down

    iTunes' 10th Anniversary: How Steve Jobs Turned the Industry Upside Down | ARTICLE

    Apple's iTunes Music Store, which opened 10 years ago this Sunday, exists for one major reason: Napster. By late 2002, the file-sharing service that had peaked with 80 million users was no longer in business. The Recording Industry...

    April 26, 2013 2:45 PM ET
  • On the Charts: Can Fall Out Boy 'Save Rock and Roll'?

    On the Charts: Can Fall Out Boy 'Save Rock and Roll'? | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Fall Out Boy. Save Rock and Roll is the title of the once-mighty emo band's comeback album – and maybe it's not even an exaggeration. That speaks to the health of...

    April 24, 2013 12:00 PM ET
  • Twitter #Music App Is Splashy, Fun and a Work in Progress

    Twitter #Music App Is Splashy, Fun and a Work in Progress | ARTICLE

    The new Twitter #Music app has a beautiful, intuitive interface – popular, up-and-coming and shared songs arranged in iTunes-style wallpaper squares, each begging to be clicked. If only it worked properly. Today's the big release day after...

    April 18, 2013 3:20 PM ET
  • On the Charts: Psy's 'Gentleman' Earns YouTube Love

    On the Charts: Psy's 'Gentleman' Earns YouTube Love | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Psy. Yes, horse-dancing YouTube phenom Psy's new song "Gentleman" is a copy of "Gangnam Style," but the video is just as breezy and funny, with an elevator reappearance of the Man Dressed...

    April 17, 2013 12:25 PM ET
  • On the Charts: Bruno Mars Keeps Hitting Singles

    On the Charts: Bruno Mars Keeps Hitting Singles | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Bruno Mars. Unorthodox Jukebox, which came out last fall, is starting to hit the Rihanna/Katy Perry stratosphere – the album hasn't sold many copies, but each single outdoes the last one....

    April 10, 2013 12:35 PM ET
  • Michael Jackson Trial May Hinge on Conrad Murray Testimony

    Michael Jackson Trial May Hinge on Conrad Murray Testimony | ARTICLE

    The latest super-trial involving Michael Jackson will hinge on a few key questions: Did executives from AEG Live, Jackson's concert promoter, hire Dr. Conrad Murray? And did they pressure Murray into pumping Jackson full of...

    April 10, 2013 11:05 AM ET
  • On the Charts: Justin Timberlake Holds Fast to Number One

    On the Charts: Justin Timberlake Holds Fast to Number One | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Justin Timberlake. Again. The 20/20 Experience had the biggest sales debut of the year, then dropped 67 percent in its second week – 318,000 sales, although easily still ahead of

    April 3, 2013 12:00 PM ET
  • On the Charts: Justin Timberlake Has Best Sales Week Ever

    On the Charts: Justin Timberlake Has Best Sales Week Ever | ARTICLE

    WINNER OF THE WEEK: Justin Timberlake. Of course. The 20/20 Experience sold 968,000 copies in its debut week, the most since Taylor Swift's Red did 1.2 million last October. Swift may be a hotter...

    March 27, 2013 10:00 AM ET