Eminem at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony

Eminem will be one of the presenters coming to Cleveland for the sold-out Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday, April 4, at Public Auditorium. He will induct Run DMC.

The 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performer inductees were chosen by the 600 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twenty-five years after their first recording is released.

Visit www.rockhall.com to get more information.

Source: AftermathMusic

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Universal Music wins Eminem song Royalty lawsuit

A federal jury in Los Angeles ruled Friday that Eminem's music royalties don't change just because a song has been sold online.

The decision prevents, at least for now, an upending of the music industry that could have greatly changed the financial relationship between record labels and artists, in which labels have long commanded most of the proceeds from album sales.

The Detroit music producers who were involved in the rapper's early works, including his 1999 Grammy-winning album, "The Slim Shady LP," sued Universal Music Group's Interscope Records, accusing the music label of shortchanging them on royalty payments for music downloads and cellphone ring tones.

Mark and Jeff Bass, brothers who own F.B.T. Productions, said their contract entitled them to 50% of the proceeds for songs sold through online stores including Apple Inc.'s iTunes or by cellphone operators such as Sprint.

They argued that the songs Universal provided to online and mobile services amounted to music "masters," from which infinite digital copies could be produced. As such, F.B.T. said it was entitled to a higher royalty rate than the 12% they would otherwise receive on the sale of a song or music CD.

The jury sided with the music company's interpretation that a song purchased online is no different from one bought in a store.

"It's saying that the digital download is the modern version of a record sale," said music attorney Fred Davis, founder of law firm Davis, Shapiro, Lewit, Montone & Hayes in New York, who was not involved in the lawsuit. "And the economics to the artist are the same for a digital download as they were for the sale of a single, back in the glory years."

Davis said the ruling would have had enormous implications if it had favored the Bass brothers, because it would have forced an already struggling music industry to share a much higher percentage of proceeds from sales with artists.

Although federal district court rulings do not establish a legal precedent, they can influence judges weighing similar disputes. Eminem was not a party to the suit.

Richard S. Busch, an attorney representing the Basses, said his clients were considering their legal options.

"We are very surprised by the jury's verdict," Busch said. "We don't understand it, and the fight's not over."

A Universal Music spokesman hailed the decision, saying, "We are pleased with the jury's verdict."

The jury did award F.B.T. $159,000 owed from underpaid royalties.

Source: Los Angeles times

Props to Bunny Rabbit for the news

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Relapse Coming Out May 19

Eminem, the biggest selling music artist of the decade, officially announced the street date of his eagerly awaited new album; his first original studio album in over four years. Relapse (Interscope/Aftermath/Shady) will be released on May 19, 2009. The first single from the album and its accompanying video will see a simultaneous release on April 7th.

Anticipation for Relapse has been building since the fall, when Eminem first announced the album title and debuted the freestyle, "I'm Having A Relapse," during an interview on his Shade 45 satellite radio station. Last month, the release of "Crack A Bottle" from Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent brought that anticipation to a head. The track soared to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (Eminem's second #1 after 2002's "Lose Yourself") and set a Nielsen SoundScan record for opening week download sales (418,000). The recording ranked third in the history of all weekly download sales. "Crack A Bottle" will be included as an album track on Relapse.

With the announcement of the release date for Relapse also comes confirmation of something that had been rumored in recent weeks: Eminem is already working on a follow-up album, Relapse 2, that fans can expect in the second half of 2009. "A lot of people were expecting Relapse to drop last year," said Eminem. "I was one of them. Then Dre and I went back in the studio in September for a few days, and that turned into six months. We were on such a roll; we wound up with a ton of new music produced by Dre. Putting out Relapse 2 will let everyone get all of the best stuff."

Eminem has sold more than 75,000,000 albums worldwide. His previous studio album, Encore, reached #1 and dominated the charts in late 2004. Certified quadruple platinum and spinning off four Top 40 Hot 100 hits, the Grammy-nominated disc has sold more than 11,000,000 copies around the globe. The #1, double platinum, 2005 greatest hits collection, Curtain Call: The Hits and #2, platinum, 2006 various artists compilation, Eminem Presents: The Re-Up, followed. In October 2008, Eminem released "Eminem: The Way I Am," a book compiling thoughts, stories, and memorabilia from various points in his life. The book entered the New York Times Best-Seller list at #11.

Sources: TRShady & Vibes.com

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"Crack A Bottle" Video Preview

As we previously reported, 50 Cent said in a recent interview that the hit song "Crack A Bottle" would soon have a music video. The G-Unit general also stated that the video would "probably" be animated. Curtsey of Paul Rosenblog, you can get a early sneak peek with a screen shot below

The "Crack A Bottle" video is being directed by Syndrome and should be availble in a couple weeks. The Eminem, Dr Dre & 50 Cent laced-track went from #78 to #1 breaking a Billboard record with over 400,000 digital downloads the first week.

Source: RapBasement

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