Billboard Bits: Mp3.com, George Benson, Our Lady Peace
Monday, November 20 2000
Published on AllBusiness.com
Tommy Boy Music has agreed to a licensing and marketing pact with embattled online music site MP3.com, which will make the company's vast catalog of recordings from artists such as De La Soul, Everlast, and Naughty By Nature available through the My.MP3.com storage locker service, which is currently on hiatus.
"We are anxious to begin working with Tommy Boy to find innovative ways to use our technology infrastructure to aggressively market and promote their artists in the digital music space," MP3.com president/COO Robin Richards said in a statement.
Last week, MP3.com reached a settlement in a copyright infringement case brought against it by the Universal Music Group (UMG), and will pay the company $53.4 in damages. The Sony and Warner Music Groups, who settled similar suits with MP3.com this summer, are threatening new litigation based on UMG's higher rate of compensation, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
<hr>
Veteran jazz guitarist George Benson will be seen throughout the holiday season in a new PBS concert special, "George Benson: Absolutely Live." The concert was taped live last May in Belfast, Ireland, and features such staples as the No. 1 R&B single "Turn Your Love Around" and the Grammy-winning "This Masquerade." Also included are tracks from the artist's most recent GRP album "Absolute Benson," which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart in June.
As previously reported, Warner Archives/Rhino last month released "The George Benson Anthology," a two-disc, 32-track retrospective.
<hr>
Canadian rock act Our Lady Peace will embark on an eight-date Canadian club tour in advance of its new Columbia album "Spiritual Machines," due Dec. 12. Tickets for the shows will be doled out by local radio stations, with a limited amount of tickets available from the venue on the day of the event.
The new album is the follow-up to 1999's "Happiness... Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch," which debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian album chart and at No. 69 on The Billboard 200.
Here are Our Lady Peace's tour dates:
<UL>
<LI>Dec. 1: Vancouver (Sonar)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 3: Edmonton, Alberta (Urban Lounge)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 5: Calgary, Alberta (Factory)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 6: Regina, Saskatchewan (State)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 8: Winnipeg, Manitoba (West End Cultural Centre)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 11: Toronto (Phoenix)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 12: Ottawa (Barrymore's)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 13: Montreal (Club Soda)</LI>
</UL>
"We are anxious to begin working with Tommy Boy to find innovative ways to use our technology infrastructure to aggressively market and promote their artists in the digital music space," MP3.com president/COO Robin Richards said in a statement.
Last week, MP3.com reached a settlement in a copyright infringement case brought against it by the Universal Music Group (UMG), and will pay the company $53.4 in damages. The Sony and Warner Music Groups, who settled similar suits with MP3.com this summer, are threatening new litigation based on UMG's higher rate of compensation, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
<hr>
Veteran jazz guitarist George Benson will be seen throughout the holiday season in a new PBS concert special, "George Benson: Absolutely Live." The concert was taped live last May in Belfast, Ireland, and features such staples as the No. 1 R&B single "Turn Your Love Around" and the Grammy-winning "This Masquerade." Also included are tracks from the artist's most recent GRP album "Absolute Benson," which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart in June.
As previously reported, Warner Archives/Rhino last month released "The George Benson Anthology," a two-disc, 32-track retrospective.
<hr>
Canadian rock act Our Lady Peace will embark on an eight-date Canadian club tour in advance of its new Columbia album "Spiritual Machines," due Dec. 12. Tickets for the shows will be doled out by local radio stations, with a limited amount of tickets available from the venue on the day of the event.
The new album is the follow-up to 1999's "Happiness... Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch," which debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian album chart and at No. 69 on The Billboard 200.
Here are Our Lady Peace's tour dates:
<UL>
<LI>Dec. 1: Vancouver (Sonar)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 3: Edmonton, Alberta (Urban Lounge)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 5: Calgary, Alberta (Factory)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 6: Regina, Saskatchewan (State)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 8: Winnipeg, Manitoba (West End Cultural Centre)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 11: Toronto (Phoenix)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 12: Ottawa (Barrymore's)</LI>
<LI>Dec. 13: Montreal (Club Soda)</LI>
</UL>