Steve Knopper | Rolling Stone

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Em, U2 Can't Save 2004 | ARTICLE

Two new CDs cannot save a sinking holiday season. U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and Eminem's Encore have sold a combined total of more than four million CDs since they came out in November, but...
December 16, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Ringo Talks Beatles CDs | ARTICLE

In the tradition of last year's Let It Be . . . Naked and 2000's Beatles 1, Capitol Records is repackaging the Beatles' back catalog just in time for Christmas. This year's project is a box-set reissue...
November 8, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Ashlee Simpson Not Alone | ARTICLE

When Ashlee Simpson was caught lip-syncing on Saturday Night Live on October 23rd, it was an embarrassment for the singer and the show. But the use of backing tracks in concerts and TV performances is hardly the shock it was...
November 2, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Cash, Beatles Sell Big | ARTICLE

Johnny and June Carter Cash hoarded family heirlooms and kitschy knickknacks for decades -- their Tennessee rooms were famously filled with antique pocket watches, honorary police badges, a photo of themselves with President Bush, a signed letter...
October 6, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Aretha Franklin Goes West | ARTICLE

Due to a crippling fear of flying, Detroit resident Aretha Franklin hasn't performed on the West Coast in more than two decades. But that's about to change, with the Queen of Soul plays two shows at Los...
September 15, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Norah, Kiss Feel Chill | ARTICLE

In the summer of 2004, if you weren't Madonna, Prince or Simon and Garfunkel, it was probably a bad season to tour. The summer was so bad, in fact, that promoters looked to the punk-rock Warped Tour...
September 10, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Simon & Garfunkel Conquer | ARTICLE

On July 31st, in front of more than a half million Italian fans at the Colosseum in Rome, Simon and Garfunkel triumphantly closed their nine-month Old Friends Tour. The free show, which capped a successful twelve-city run...
August 9, 2004 12:00 AM ET
CD Sales Up in 2004 | ARTICLE

Record sales rose 6.9 percent in the first half of 2004 -- the first period of growth for the ailing business in four years. But even some top music executives are skeptical about the significance of the...
July 30, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Summer Ticket Prices Down | ARTICLE

What's bad for concert promoters may be good for consumers. In a last-ditch attempt to fill seats in a lackluster summer-concert season, venues around the U.S. slashed ticket prices to as little as ten dollars -- for...
July 29, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Libraries Don't Want Ricky | ARTICLE

Ordinarily, a box of 171 free CDs in the mail might make a librarian extremely happy. But not Craig Buthod, director of the Louisville Free Public Library in Kentucky. His new discs included Martha Stewart Living: Spooky...
July 15, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Are CDs Rotting Away? | ARTICLE

The Bar-Kays' "Greatest Hits," a soul CD on Michele Youket's desk at the Library of Congress, has seen better days. On its surface are dozens of tiny holes and rusted-out blotches, making it resemble a chrome bumper...
June 25, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Summer Tours Slumping | ARTICLE

A month after promoters declared the concert industry healthier than ever, big summer tours such as Ozzfest, Fleetwood Mac, the Dead and Lollapalooza have run into a concrete wall of slow sales. "Ticket sales are mixed, and...
June 21, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Piracy Spreads to Ring Tones | ARTICLE

The cell-phone ring-tone industry, which sold $3 billion worth of electronic song clips last year and generated $148 million for musicians and songwriters, may be under threat from its own Napster. Xingtone, a year-old software company, allows...
June 8, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Clear Channel Limits Live CDs | ARTICLE

In the past few years, fans leaving some concerts have discovered a souvenir far better than a T-shirt: a live recording of the show they just attended. Bands including the Allman Brothers, moe. and Billy Idol have...
May 24, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Dashboard Snag "Spider-Man" | ARTICLE

Dashboard Confessional didn't plan on recording new music this summer. Then the producers of Spider-Man 2 came calling. "I'm a comic-book fan and a movie guy," says Dashboard singer Chris Carrabba, who knocked out a new track,...
May 5, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Hits From the Web | ARTICLE

In the old days, Green Day's version of "I Fought the Law" might have been a forgotten bonus track on a CD, or...
April 29, 2004 3:10 PM ET
Clear Channel Goes to Trial | ARTICLE

In a legal setback for the world's largest concert promoter, Clear Channel Communications, a U.S. District Court judge granted a jury trial to a Denver competitor that accuses the company of "monopolistic and predatory practices."Judge Edward W....
April 20, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Rock Radio Gets Interesting | ARTICLE

Heavy bands such as Godsmack, Nickelback, Linkin Park and Trapt have had a stranglehold on modern-rock radio for years. But another punk revolution may be in the works, as stations around the country are squeezing songs by...
April 19, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Tower Records in Trouble | ARTICLE

A record store the size of a supermarket may not seem like a revolution in the age of the Virgin Megastore. But in 1968, the huge Tower Records on the corner of San Francisco's Columbus and Bay...
February 24, 2004 12:00 AM ET
American Idol Rejects Speak | ARTICLE

Simon Cowell was his usual self after Spc. Martha Krabill, a nineteen-year-old in a U.S. Army uniform and a red 82nd Airborne Division beret, finished singing "Dancing in the Street." "A bit of advice, Martha," the British...
February 17, 2004 12:00 AM ET