Music Shuffle: January 9
iTunes finally goes DRM-free and Phish is reuniting but Led Zeppelin's not.
Top 5 Billboard Albums
Taylor Swift has landed her fifth non-consecutive week at the top of The Billboard 200 with her latest album, Fearless, moving 90,000 copies.
Beyonce's latest holds strong at #2, while Kanye's 808s and Heartbreak jumps from #5 to #3 despite a 57% sales decline.
Somehow, the Chop Shop/Atlantic soundtrack to Twilight moved 66,000 units, rising to #4, while Nickelback's latest knocks Britney Spears' Circus out of the top 5. So don't say Nickelback never did anything good.
Billboard Hot 100 Update
Lady GaGa hops to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 this week with "Just Dance," which sold 279,000 downloads in the U.S. alone.
For the first time in almost exactly ten years, there are no debuts on the Hot 100. Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," drops to #2, while T.I. finally lets someone else step into the sun by dropping down to #3 with "Live Your Life" featuring Rihanna.
Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton was found dead on Jan. 6 at his house in Ann Arbor, MI. Asheton formed the Stooges with his drummer brother Scott and Iggy Pop in Ann Arbor in 1967.
Police were called to the guitarist's house early Tuesday morning by Dara Hytinen, his personal assistant, who had not been able to reach him for several days. It's believed that Asheton had likely been dead for several days, but that there was no sign of foul play or drug use. The guitarist had high blood pressure but no other major medical problems.
About damn time: Apple has confirmed reports that all four major record companies were now on board to deliver DRM-free music through the iTunes Music Store. iTunes began offering 80 percent of its 10 million songs in a DRM-free format Tuesday, and the remaining two million songs offered will be available DRM-free by the end of March.
The company also plans to launch a variable pricing model beginning in April. Price points are listed as 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29, with more songs promised to be priced at 69 cents than $1.29.
You may have heard rumors of a Led Zeppelin world tour in 2009, with a host of replacement singers for Robert Plant, who has no plans to be a part of things. Whether or not you thought this was a good idea is irrelevant, because it's not happening. Not a chance. Jimmy Page's manager Page’s manager Peter Mensch recently told Music Rada that any talks of Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham touring and recording an album with a singer other than Robert Plant is “completely over now.”
When pressed for specifics, Mensch just about burst a blood vessel: “Led Zeppelin are over! If you didn’t see them in 2007, you missed them. It’s done. I can’t be any clearer than that.”
Phish has confirmed a flurry of reunion tour dates this summer in addition to a three-night stand in early March in Hampton, Va. The tour, which begins June 4-5 at Jones Beach in Wantagh, N.Y. is the band's first since splitting in 2004. After some successful sessions back in November, the boys resumed rehearsals this week.
According to Billboard, additional shows include the Comcast Center outside Boston (June 6), Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J. (June 7), the Civic Center in Asheville, N.C. (June 9), the intimate Fox Theatre in St. Louis (June 16), the Post-Gazette Pavillion in Burgettstown, Pa. (June 18), the Verizon Wireless Center in Noblesville, Ind. (June 19), and Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wis. (June 20-21).
The band is also highly rumored to be performing for the first time at the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, TN between June 11-14, which coincides with a gap in the above itinerary. The Bonnaroo lineup will be announced Feb. 3.
Do you hear a tiny violin? The entire assets of Death Row Records are hitting the auction block on Jan. 15. The shady record company initially filed for Chapter 11 protection in April 2006, after which a judge ordered a bankruptcy trustee to take over the label. In February 2007, the Warner Music Group was in final negotiations to buy Death Row, but pulled out in the end, as did Koch Records and an investment group called Global Music, the latter being part of a deal the collapsed amid fighting between investors, who ultimately were unable to raise the cash for the buyout.
Ever the finger-pointer, label co-founder Lydia Harris claims that Global Music Group has "destroyed" the Death Row legacy and has turned it into "a joke," she told Billboard.
Some potential bidders are said to be worried about crossing paths with ex-Death Row boss Marion "Suge" Knight. However, Harris, who started Death Row with Knight and incarcerated ex-husband Michael "Harry O" Harris in 1991, says "It isn't about them being scared. It's about money and greed."
