MusicMoviesNews

Aug. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wal-Mart announces the launch of "DRM-free" MP3 music downloads, now available online at www.walmart.com. At only 94 cents per track and $9.22 per album, the new MP3 digital format delivers value, convenience and the ability for customers to play music on nearly any device, including iPod, iPhone and Zune portable media players. Wal-Mart is one of the first major retailers to offer MP3 digital tracks with music content from major record labels such as Universal and EMI Music.

"As we consistently strive to help our customers shop smart at Wal-Mart, our new 'DRM-free' MP3 digital tracks give them the ease and flexibility to play music on virtually any device at a great value," said Kevin Swint, Wal-Mart's senior director and divisional manager for digital media. "Also, we're excited to launch our MP3 catalog with major record labels such as Universal and EMI Music that includes music from popular artists like The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, KT Tunstall, Amy Winehouse, Maroon 5, George Strait and Nelly." Read more

June 25, 2007 -- To honor and support the philanthropic efforts of legendary guitarist Eric Clapton, Fender® is collaborating with Clapton to create a very special limited edition guitar and amp package featuring the new Eric Clapton Crossroads Stratocaster® guitar and Crossroads ’57 Twin-Amp™.

The Eric Clapton Crossroads Stratocaster guitar, or “Sun Strat®” will be produced in a limited run of 100 instruments globally; the Crossroads ’57 Twin-Amps will number only 50. All profits from the project will benefit the Crossroads Centre, Antigua, the drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation facility founded by Clapton on the small, idyllic Caribbean island in 1998. Read more

June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT and MobiTV, Inc., the leading provider and platform for content delivery over mobile and broadband networks, today announced the addition of more than 2,500 music videos from SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT to the MobiTV service. MobiTV will put the videos into rotation immediately on their existing, branded music channels, giving fans access to a library of 7,000+ music videos through their mobile service.

SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT and MobiTV will also collaborate on the creation of a series of customized channels featuring original video programming. The content will range from long-form concerts to genre and artist-driven shows and series, some of which will be available for an additional fee. In many cases the programming will be conceived and created by the artists themselves. Read more

February 13, 2007 -- Electronic Arts and MySpace, the world’s leading lifestyle portal, have today announced an international search for the hottest new bands in the United States and Europe, in collaboration with Virgin Records and Epiphone. EA’s Burnout™ Bandslam started accepting entries on MySpace (www.myspace.com/burnoutbandslam) from February 6, 2007.

Burnout Bandslam offers unsigned bands from across the United States and Europe the chance to showcase their best track in front of a potential global audience of over 80 million MySpace users, all of whom will be able to vote for their favorite track online.

The winning bands – one each from the United States and Europe – will each receive a Virgin Records demo recording contract and a chance to have their song included in a future Burnout videogame. One runner-up band from each country will become the proud owners of one top-of-the-range Epiphone Les Paul Custom Guitar(1). Read more

Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. today announced the beta version of its new video downloads service, now available at www.walmart.com/videodownloads. The beta service, powered by new technology from HP Video Merchant Services, includes more than 3,000 movie and TV titles from major Hollywood studios and television networks and offers customers the convenient option of downloading movies and TV shows to their personal computers for viewing on PCs, laptops and portable media players. Wal-Mart is the first major retailer to offer a video downloads service with the support of all major Hollywood studios. Read more

January 30, 2007 -- SCI-FI-LONDON, the UK's only annual festival of science fiction and fantastic film is delighted to announce that the restored, extended edit of THINGS TO COME will be given its first theatrical screening after the Arthur C Clarke Literary Award on 2nd May 2007 at the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival, with an additional screening plus Q & A open to festival-goers on Friday 4th May 2007.

The digital restoration of the H.G. Wells SF classic THINGS TO COME will be given a nationwide theatrical and special edition DVD release in May 2007. This version of the film is the one which most closely resembles director William Cameron Menzies’ original vision created over seventy years ago. Every version of the film shown in cinemas, on television and available on video since 1936 has been drastically cut. Network has commissioned the best and longest known version to exist of this film anywhere in the world in H.D. Read more

January 19, 2007--Hold on to your whammy bars: In one of the most anticipated events in electric guitar history, Eddie Van Halen and the master builders of the Fender Custom Shop in Corona, Calif., have teamed up to introduce EVH® brand guitars, amps and musical products, beginning with a painstaking recreation of one of the most recognized guitars in the world: the red-black-and-white striped “Frankenstein™” guitar played by Eddie throughout his remarkable career.

Strikingly accurate down to the very last detail—and incorporating an astounding aging process to duplicate the effects of the explosive years Eddie Van Halen spent on the original—the Eddie Van Halen Frankenstein™ replica guitar will be limited to only 300 instruments. No effort has been spared to mirror every last scratch, ding and cigarette burn; Fender designers even scoured the land for 1971 quarters (that’s the right year), just like the original he at one time stuck under the original tremolo bridge. While Eddie no longer uses the quarter for that purpose, it’s still one of the guitar’s most recognizable appointments, and still adorns Ed’s baby, as well as each and every Frankenstein™ replica guitar. Read more

Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Netflix, Inc. today introduced a new feature that allows people to immediately watch movies and television series on their personal computers and said it will make the new feature available to its subscribers in a phased roll-out over the next six months.

The introduction marks an important enhancement to the Netflix service. Subscribers will continue to receive DVDs by mail from the company's market- leading catalog of over 70,000 titles and will have the additional option of instantly watching about 1,000 movies and TV series on their PCs. The new feature will be included in subscribers' monthly membership plans at no additional cost, and the company said its phased roll-out is meant to ensure that subscribers have a great initial experience with the feature. Read more

December 2006 - AOL Music (www.aolmusic.com), a leading online music destination, celebrates the holiday season with an extensive array of content offerings that will have revelers quickly making their lists and checking them twice.

Santa’s little helpers in AOL Music’s editorial and programming department have been busy all year long preparing to bring music fans of all ages the best holiday experience on the Web. From Divas Deck the Halls, where fans can check out songs and videos like Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ and Jessica Simpson’s ‘Let It Snow,’ to Get ‘Idol’ Gifts, where the stars of ‘American Idol’ perform renditions of holiday favorites, AOL Music is your one-stop entertainment destination for all your holiday music this season. Read more

December 4, 2006--Gibson Guitar, the world’s premiere musical instrument manufacturer and leader in music technology, has announced the availability of the Gibson HD.6X-Pro Guitar System—the most revolutionary leap forward in guitar manufacturing in more than 70 years. The result of years of research and development, the HD.6X-Pro Guitar System, nicknamed the HD LP, combines incredible Gibson craftsmanship with the latest, groundbreaking digital technology. The result may look like an electric guitar, but the Gibson HD LP is a complete digital audio system that is poised to usher in a new era of music making. With unprecedented technology and innovative development, the Gibson HD.6X-Pro Guitar System is the first guitar of its kind, and represents a dramatic step forward for the instrument. Guitar legend also known as the father of the electric guitar, Les Paul spent time in New York this week to personally autograph this newest innovation from Gibson Guitar. One hundred limited-edition HD LP guitars have been signed by Les Paul, and are available through online dealer Sweetwater (www.sweetwater.com). The limited-edition, signed HD.6X-Pro has an MSRP of $7,999 USD. Other unsigned HD.6X-Pro models will also be sold through Sweetwater at an MSRP of $3,999 USD. Numerous artists and musicians from around the world are scheduled to appear and perform with the system. Read more