Cool Stuffs

NEW YORK | Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:22pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Spotify, the popular European music service, is set to launch in the United States on Thursday the company said.

The digital music service allows users to stream a limited number hours of their favorite songs for free every month betting that users will eventually sign up to a paid subscription.

Spotify, which has racked up more than 10 million registered users across Europe, has spent more than 18 months negotiating with major music companies to license top artists and songs.

But in the last few months the London-based company, founded by Swedish entrepreneurs, has inked agreements with Sony Corp Music Entertainment, EMI Music, Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group and independent labels through Merlin. It is expected to close a deal with Warner Music Group by launch or soon after according to a source.

U.S. music companies had been concerned that by giving away too much free music Spotify would end up cannibalizing their most important retailer Apple Inc's iTunes Music Store and other subscription services like Rhapsody and MOG. But in April Spotify introduced new limits to the amount of free music it offers.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke, editing by Bernard Orr)

View the original article here

CHICAGO | Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:39pm EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter R. Kelly has failed to make mortgage payments on his multimillion-dollar Chicago-area home for more than a year and now may lose the property to lenders, court documents show.

In a foreclosure action filed in June in Cook County Circuit Court, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A. said that the singer, whose full name is Robert S. Kelly, had not made a monthly payment on the 11,000-square-foot home in Olympia Fields in south suburban Chicago since June 2010.

The suit said the current principal balance on the loan was more than $2.9 million, not including unpaid interest, which accrues at rate of $251 a day.

The original loan issued in 1999 was for $3.5 million, according to the lawsuit, and the monthly payments were

$24,345.12.

The property has a number of liens on it, according to the lawsuit, including nearly $2 million from the Department of the Treasury.

The 44-year-old R&B star, who won three Grammy Awards in 1998 for his song "I Believe I Can Fly," is no stranger to controversy.

In 2008 a jury acquitted him of child pornography charges.

(Reporting by Karin Matz; Editing by Jerry Norton)

View the original article here

Singer Blake Shelton performs on NBC's ''Today'' show in New York July 8, 2011.

Mon Jul 11, 2011 5:40pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap) - Everybody knows winners on TV music competitions have their albums rushed through production to capitalize on instant notoriety. But Blake Shelton may be the first judge on such a show to require his own rush job.

He wasn't scheduled to record his new album, "Red River Blue," until July, after the first season of "The Voice" wrapped. But the success of the NBC series -- or, more accurately, his success on the series -- meant pushing the release date to Tuesday, when he'd originally planned on entering the studio.

The process couldn't have been more hurried if he were your new American Idol. Which maybe he is.

Judge or no, Shelton might be the worthiest beneficiary of a TV talent show since...well, since his bride, Miranda Lambert, finished third on Nashville Star eight years back.

He's already been a borderline-superstar in the country community -- that is, most everywhere between San Bernardino and Hackensack -- but this, his eighth studio recording, might as well be his debut in country-resistant climes like Brentwood and midtown Manhattan.

It's a pretty decent starter course, and/or career summation, depending where you're coming from.

Newcomers may be slightly confused. Is he the lovable rogue who delights in the most politically incorrect gags and bawdy postings any mainstream star dares type on Twitter? Or the gentleman groom recently seen looking courtly on wedding-themed magazine covers? Both, of course, at least on record, where Shelton enjoys playing country music's Goofus and its Gallant.

His rascal side -- let's call it "Rake" Shelton -- gets a workout on "Get Some," the album's pickin'-est and grinnin'-est nod to irresponsibility. (Sample lyrics: "You get gas/You get beer/You get weird/You get drove home/You get up-thrown.") But some songs that threaten rambunctiousness disguise a morally conservative core.

"Drink On It" is not one of Shelton's rowdy odes to getting plastered, but a reasonably polite suggestion to a girl that they get to know each other over libations. (It contains one of the album's more memorable rhymes: "We can talk rocket science, Jesus, or politics/Hey, your boyfriend cheated on you?/Man, he sounds like such a prick.") "Good Ole Boys," a musical homage to Waylon Jennings, doesn't champion outlaw behavior but rather good manners, knocking baggy pants-wearing kids who "don't say ma'am or sir no more."

The ballads abandon these regional tropes. (The best, "Addicted," is only available on the iTunes/Walmart deluxe edition.) Lambert adds guest harmonies to the pleasingly rueful title track; apparently these two aren't afraid to jinx their honeymoon with a breakup lament.

Less successfully, Shelton indulges in a rare flirtation with goop on "God Gave Me You," a cover of a Christian rock power ballad that renders divine providence particularly bland. Naturally, it's the album's next single, but you have to wonder what Shelton's shadow Twitter side really makes of the song.

Is his sweeter persona taking over to cater to newfound TV viewers who might not care to kiss his country behind (to paraphrase a recent Shelton anthem)? Or is it a natural continuation of his late success with romantic ballads like "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking"? Has wedded bliss had a settling musical effect, too -- or did he just have too abbreviated a song-picking window to find any new rowdy classics?

If he's mellowing, it's hardly a fatal shift: Even a slightly tamed Shelton is still gratifyingly Goofus-y by other country hitmakers' standards.

View the original article here

Singer Brad Paisley accepts the Male Vocalist of the Year award at the 46th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas April 3, 2011.

NASHVILLE, Tenn | Mon Jul 11, 2011 12:48pm EDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) - Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will co-host the 45th annual Country Music Association Awards on November 9, sharing the duty for the fourth time, they said on Monday.

The two made the announcement via Facebook from the set of their new video, "Remind Me."

The CMA Awards, which annually are among the highest honors for country singers, will be handed out at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and will be broadcast live by ABC.

"We wanted to take a minute to share some very exciting news," Underwood said in the announcement that was available on YouTube. "The CMA has asked Brad and me back to host the CMA Awards in November."

Paisley had also tweeted earlier that he and Underwood were shooting the video, and photos from both that tweet and the CMA announcement showed them on an undisclosed beach.

"Can you believe that?" asked Paisley, who won the CMA Entertainer of the Year award last year. "I can't wait to do it again."

CMA chief executive Steve Moore said both Underwood and Paisley "have the unique qualities of humor, talent, credibility and natural rapport that makes them a hit with fans and the industry audience."

The awards show honors country music's biggest stars from the previous year, with some of the genre's best-known singers handing out 12 awards including Entertainer of the Year, Male and Female Vocalist of the Year, and Album of the Year.

Other awards are Single and Song of the Year, Group of the Year, Vocal Duo, Musical Event, Musician of the Year, Music Video and New Artist of the Year.

(Reporting by Vernell Hackett; Editing by Andrew Stern and Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

Singer Jewel and husband, rodeo rider Ty Murray, arrive at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, February 13, 2011.

NEW YORK | Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:04pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Singer Jewel has given birth to a baby boy, People magazine reported on Tuesday.

The Grammy-nominated singer, 37, and her professional bull riding husband, Ty Murray, welcomed their son named Kase Townes Murray on Monday in Texas, according to People.

"Ty and I are so pleased to welcome our new baby boy into the world," Jewel told the magazine. "We are overcome with happiness."

The singer-songwriter experienced her biggest hits in the mid-1990s with songs such as "You Were Meant For Me" and "Who Will Save Your Soul." In 2008 she released her first country record, "Perfectly Clear."

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

View the original article here

British musician Sting performs onstage during the 45th Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux July 11, 2011.

MONTREUX, Switzerland | Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:37am EDT

MONTREUX, Switzerland (Reuters) - Sting performed Police and solo hits including "Roxanne," "Every Breath You Take" and "Englishman in New York" in orchestral arrangement, bringing a sell-out audience at Montreux Jazz Festival to its feet.

The fit 59-year-old Briton and his "Symphonicity" tour delivered an energetic two-hour show on Monday night on the famed stage of the annual prestigious Swiss summer event.

"I'm very happy to be here with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra," Sting, speaking in French, told the crowd of 3,300 fans of all ages, some of whom paid more than $200 for a seat in Stravinski Auditorium.

Bathed in red light, he then sang "Roxanne," playing his acoustic guitar for The Police's 1978 hit that tells a tale of a man falling in love with a prostitute.

Sting, sporting a tight-fitting grey t-shirt, opened with "Everything Little Thing She Does is Magic," setting the tone for a high-energy evening marked by conductor Sarah Hicks dancing in high heels as she led the German orchestra.

The full force of its drums and horns came through on numbers including "Russians."

A white spotlight shone on first violinist Christine Fischer-Eisenbrand for her solo in "Whenever I Say Your Name." Sting was accompanied in the duet by Australian back-up vocalist Jo Lawry for the 2003 track he recorded with Mary J. Blige.

Sting joined in on harmonica for "Fields of Gold," with a tambourine for songs including "Straight to my Heart," then returned to his acoustic guitar for "(Moon Over) Bourbon Street." Dominic Miller and co-writer of some compositions including "Shape of my Heart" was on electric guitar throughout.

The Police frontman and winner of 16 Grammy Awards who has sold nearly 100 million records earned thunderous applause for "King of Pain." He then brought the crowd to its feet for the rest of the night with "Every Breath You Take" followed by encores of "Desert Rose," "She's Too Good for Me" and "Fragile."

Sting closed with "Message in a Bottle," the crowd joining in the refrain.

Last week the activist abruptly canceled a performance in the Astana Day Festival in Kazakhstan, voicing support for striking oil and gas workers in the former Soviet republic.

"Hunger strikes, imprisoned workers and tens of thousands on strike represents a virtual picket line which I have no intention of crossing," he said in a statement on his website.

Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin opened the two-week Montreux festival along Lake Geneva that closes on Saturday with Deep Purple. Rapper Doom is standing in for Mos Def on Thursday, organizers said in an overnight statement that gave no reason.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

View the original article here