Hot Music Beat

30 Seconds to Mars and EMI have come to an agreement and made a new record deal for the band’s highly anticipated third album and follow up to ‘A Beautiful Lie’. The band’s front man, Jared Leto said “It’s great to finally move forward and focus on what’s most important to us all- the music. We are excited about starting over with the many talented people at Virgin/EMI, and to sharing our new music with the fans in the very near future. We will never forget the unrelenting support from all our friends, family, and fans around the world.” The label’s President of A&R Labels also commented saying “We are thrilled to have set aside our differences and signed a new agreement with 30 Seconds to Mars. Our relationship has been extremely rewarding and successful, and we’re eager to move forward and put our global team to work on the brilliant new album they are recording with Flood.”

Nelly Furtado has gone and launched her own music label called Nelstar Music and will introduce Toronto-based electro-dance band Fritz Helder & The Phantoms as the first act signed to the company. Nelly said “I’ve been thinking about a way to help Fritz Helder for a while and this venture grew out of my love for the band, their art and their work ethic. I am as committed as they are to bringing their creativity to the world.” If Nelly’s words sparked your curiosity about the band, feel free to check out their MySpace. Also the band will be helping close out fashion week in Toronto this Saturday so you can check them out live if you’re in the area.

Snoop Dogg parted ways with his long time record label Interscope Records this past Monday. On Tuesday, the rapper announced that he’s partnering up with MTV to release his new album ‘Malice in Wonderland’, in conjunction with a variety talk show on the network hosted by Snoop as well as a tie in with MTV’s Rock Band video game platform. MTV released a statement describing the premise of Snoop’s show ‘Dogg After Dark’ saying “‘Dogg After Dark’ will bring his Doggystyle swagger to the airwaves with raw interviews with A-list celebrities and musicians, hilarious sketch-comedy segments and musical performances from the hottest artists. The show will air every Tuesday night for seven weeks and feature Snoop’s own in-house band, the Snoopadelics.”

Jermaine Dupri has suddenly left his position as President of Island Records Urban Music last week. There were no explanations given for his departure and there was uncertainty whether he quit or was fired. In a recent interview with Essence, Jermaine has set the record straight about what really happened. He said “It was a situation where it felt very stagnant to me. As a person who is used to putting out new records and continuing to do that, it just wasn’t turning over as being that place to me where I should stick to it and see if it was going to turn around.” He also said to not believe anything Def Jam says adding “Island [Def Jam Records] is going to say what makes them look good. They are not going to tell the truth. I haven’t spoken to L.A. [Reid] in three months. I don’t know if it’s amicable [considering] that they claim they put me out. I feel like it’s not amicable. Don’t lie, be real about the situation.”

Did he get fired or did he quit? Whichever way you look at it, Jermaine Dupri is out of a job. According to new reports, Jermaine is no longer the President of Island Records Urban Music. A formal announcement is supposedly set to be released some time this week. Jermaine has been president of the label for almost 2 years. He was responsible for the labels urban music operations and his “duties also included providing production for the Music Group’s entire roster.” Last April, Island/Def Jam even created TAG Records, a joint venture with Procter & Gamble’s TAG brand that was overseen by Jermaine. It looks like things have gone south after that. I wonder what happened?

Two members of The Smashing Pumpkins are involved in a lawsuit against Virgin Records America. James Yoshinobu Iha and D’Arcy Wretzky-Brown are claiming that the label has screwed them out of ringtone fees and other stuff. They say that back in 2005, five years after the band broke up, Virgin negotiated a deal solely with front man Billy Corgan for the electronic transmissions (ringtones, downloads, computer files and whatever else), without ever getting their consent. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages in the suit filed in LA County Superior Court. Why does it take some people a lot of time before filing suit? You would think that a year without getting royalties would have made them do something already.

A guy is suing Death Row Records and he’s going after them for more money than what people thought it was worth. The label was bought at an auction last month for $24 million. Ron Goldberg claims in a lawsuit that he got Susan Berg and Reggie Bush to buy Death Row but that he’s now on the outside looking in. He wants $25 million from Berg, Bush and the former president of his company, Global Music Group. A lawyer for Global Music Group says “Mr. Goldberg is not a principal of Global Music Group Inc., a New York corporation, nor does he have any ownership in that company or in its assets, including the Death Row assets subject to the company’s court-approved bid.” That means, he’s worth nothing.

Universal Republic Records’ rock band 10 Years landed a Top 15 debut on Billboard’s Top Album chart this week, coming in at #12 with their new album Division. The new CD also grabbed the top spot on iTunes coveted rock page and currently sits at #7 on the Top Albums. It also garnered the #1 spot on the Top Hard Music Chart, #2 on the Top Alternative Album Chart and #3 on the Top Current Rock Album Chart rallied by their soaring hit single “Beautiful.” The single was launched at radio in early February and was the #1 Most Added single at Alternative and Active Rock radio.

The video for the new single has also garnered wide acclaim, with the clip taking a swipe at both celebrities and paparazzi in the current Gotcha game of celebrity journalism. 10 Years has also earned a place on one of 2008’s most anticipated summer tours, joining mega-rockers Linkin Park on their 5th annual rollout of the Projekt Revolution tour, which kicks off on July 16 at the Tweeter Center in Boston, MA. 10 Years will share the Revolution stage with multiple other bands on the raucous trek, including metal icons Atreyu, Hawthorne Heights, and Armor For Sleep. The 24 city trek hits multiple major U.S. cities in July and August, including New York City on July 22, Washington DC on July 27, Atlanta on August 3, and Chicago on August 16, winding up in Houston Texas on August 24 for the final Projekt Revolution event at the Cynthia woods Mitchell Pavilion.

Critics have cited no let-down in the momentum10 Years established with the across-the-board fan response they received with their previous album The Autumn Effect, which spawned the hits “Wasteland” and “Through The Iris.” “Wasteland” was hailed by the rock, video, and digital world as one of the decade’s breakthrough rock singles, setting career highs for the band as it reigned for more than a year on the rock charts. The song notched the #4 spot on the year-end Active Rock chart, and pulled off a hat-trick of #1 citations at Active Rock, Billboard’s Modern Rock chart, and in the Alternative Rock format.

The new album, Division, was produced by acclaimed production veteran Rick Parasher (Pearl Jam, Nickelback, Soundgarden. Rob Zombie, among others), and recorded during what the band
has described as ‘an intense creative process.’ Songs on Division include “Just Can’t Win,” “Drug of Choice,” “11:00AM (Daydreamer),” and “Focus,” among others. The latter song was co-written by guitarist Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots’ fame.

Formed in 2002, members of 10 Years are longtime friends, gaining notoriety with their independent release Killing All That holds You, and signing on with Universal Records in 2005.

3 Doors Down announced today their plans for a full headline summer tour in celebration of the upcoming self-titled Universal Republic Records release, 3 Doors Down, is available everywhere since May 20th. 3 Doors Down promises the shows will be one of the summer concert season’s more rocking bills, tearing it up live across the US with two of the most invincible road warrior bands, Boston-based Staind and notorious Oklahoma fivesome Hinder.

3 Doors Down Summer Tour with Staind and Hinder
Date City
July 9 Maryland Heights, MO — UMB Bank Pavilion
July 11 Cuyahoga Falls, Oh — Blossom Music Theatre
July 12 Milwaukee, WI — Marcus Amphitheater
July 13 Tinley Park, IL — First Midwest Bank Pavilion
July 15 Portland, ME — Cumberland Co. Civic Center
July 16 Holmdel, NJ — PNC Bank Arts Center
July 18 Hartford, CT — New England Dodge Music Center
July 19 Harrington, DE — Delaware State Fair
July 20 Saratoga Springs, NY– Saratoga Performing Arts Center
July 22 Mansfield, MA — Tweeter Center
July 25 Darien Center, NY –Darien Lake Theme Park
July 26 Camden, NJ — Susquehanna Bank Center
July 27 Hershey, PA — Hershey Park Stadium
July 30 Clarkston, MI — DTE Energy Music Theater (Finger Eleven replaces Hinder)
Aug 6 Sturgis, SD — Buffalo Chip Campground (Finger Eleven replaces Staind and Hinder)
Aug 8 Saskatoon, SK — Saskatoon Credit Union Centre
Aug 9 Brandon, Manitoba — Turtle Crossing
Aug 21 St. Paul, MN — Minnesota State Fair
Aug 23 Calgary, AB — The Pengrowth Saddledome
Aug 24 Edmonton, AB — Rexall Place
Aug 26 Vancouver, BC — General Motors Place
Aug 27 Seattle, WA — WaMu Theater
Sept 6 Cincinnati, OH — Riverbend Music Center (Staind not performing on this show)
Sept 7 Burgettstown, PA — Post Gazette Pavilion (Staind not performing on this show)

Rumors have been running rampant lately that the Backstreet Boys are about to get the boot from their record label Jive Records. The reason behind the rumors is that their last two releases didn’t really perform well.

However, a Jive Records spokesperson has recently gone on the record and put an end to the rumors by saying “Reports about Jive Records dropping Backstreet Boys are completely untrue. The group is about to embark on a worldwide tour in support of their album ‘Unbreakable’ starting February 16 in Toyko, Japan as well as some high profile television appearances.” That’s a relief!