Barlow at war with record labels

November 8th, 2009 more images more images LONDON - Singing legends Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder may perform at the 50th anniversary celebrations of record label Motown. Late in 1960, Franklin was offered a contract with Motown but she had chosen to affiliate with Columbia Records.

November 8th, 2009 more images more imagesNEW DELHI - Apart from the upcoming Copenhagen climate change talks and renowned beer maker Carlsberg setting up its ninth brewery in Rajasthan, Denmark may soon make news in India for musical reasons as well. Nikolaj Grandjean, a 36-year-old Danish singer and songwriter, was in India recently to perform before a select audience and negotiate contracts with Indian record companies.

October 27th, 2009 LONDON - After complaining about the music industry, British singer Lily Allen is setting up her own record label. Despite two hit albums and several singles that topped UK top 10, Allen has been hinting at her dissatisfaction with the industry, reported mirror.co.uk.

October 19th, 2009 LONDON - Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney is all set to join other performers including Take That, Lily Allen and Muse for a charity gig for Children in Need in November. Dame Shirley Bassey, Leona Lewis, Dizzee Rascal and Snow Patrol are also slated to make an appearance on the show.

October 7th, 2009 LONDON - Benjamin Presley, grandson of American Rock 'n' Roll star Elvis Presley, has landed a record deal worth $5 million with Universal. The teenager says his compositions will be different from his grandpa's music.

September 28th, 2009 LONDON - Robbie Williams has forgotten old grudges and misunderstandings to work with old 'Take That' buddies, it has emerged. It is believed the boys had planned to meet at New York for Mark Owen's stag do, and also booked the Electric Lady Studios to make music for their reunion performances.

September 22nd, 2009 LONDON - Legendary singer Dame Shirley Bassey launched her first studio album in 20 years at a glittering reception in London. The Welsh singer, famous for singing Bond-film themes such as Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever, held the preview of her new album 'The Performance' in the London hotel.

September 22nd, 2009 LONDON - Sir Elton John has expressed his displeasure on music piracy and asserted that it should be dealt with by cutting off the internet connections of persistent illegal filesharers. "I am of the view that the unchecked proliferation of illegal downloading (even on a "non-commercial" basis) will have a seriously detrimental effect on musicians, and particularly young musicians and those composers who are not performing artists," the Guardian quoted him as stating in a letter written to the business secretary, Lord Mandelson.

July 5th, 2009 LONDON - Music mogul Allen Klein, whose career highlights included celebrated clients such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, passed away aged 77 in New York after suffering from Alzheimer's. The record label executive was said to have earned an infamous reputation as a ruthless operator, digging out money-spinning deals from labels for his clients during his career spanning five decades.

July 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Cops have reportedly found a horde of 20 different drugs at late singer Michael Jackson's home, of which ten are potentially lethal painkillers and anaesthetics. There were anti-anxiety pills, including Valium, Methadone, used to wean junkies off heroin, Demerol, a pain reliever, anaesthetic Propofol, dubbed "the Milk of Amnesia", Fentanyl, a powerful pain reliever given to terminal cancer patients and Oxycontin, a painkiller similar to morphine but branded "Hillbilly Heroin".

June 29th, 2009 LOS ANGELES - Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz set a new record on US TV show Late Night by snuggling in a hammock with 48 bunnies. Show host Jimmy Fallon squeezed the rabbits into the hammock with the actress, which adjudicators ruled was a new record, reported imdb.com.

June 17th, 2009 LONDON - Take That star Gary Barlow has a thing about... ballet pumps.

June 13th, 2009 LONDON - Fleet Foxes' frontman Robin Pecknold has said illegal downloading may not have gone down well with record labels but it certainly helped bands to create a generation of new acts. The singer said that online file-sharing softwares helped artists by making even the obscure material available thereby widening their scope for inspiration.

June 8th, 2009 LONDON - Pop superstar Shakira has dismissed rumours she was dumping her record label Epic, saying reports of a rift with its bosses were "not true". The Grammy Award-winning singer has been dogged by speculation that she was unhappy with executives at Epic records, with Internet gossip claiming she feels "neglected" by her current managers and has been courting other labels, reports dailystar.co.uk.

May 29th, 2009 LONDON - Eminem's new album Relapse has set a record in the US for the most first week sales in 2009.hady's comeback album Relapse went straight to number one selling 608,000 copies, Nielsen SoundScan, the firm that tracks music sales, said. The record pipped Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown, which topped the charts last week, to land the first spot.