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The California wildfires have been devastating to everyone, but it’s especially hitting home for Hollywood stars. In an effort to help, Gwen Stefani has decided to donate all proceeds from tonight’s concert in San Diego to victims of the wildfires.

Stefani grew up in Orange County and says she considers CA home. Instead of sitting back and watching, Stefani said she wanted to do something helpful for these victims.

“When I heard about the devastation of the fires, at first I felt I should cancel my show out of respect, but then it occurred to me there might be a more useful solution,” she said in a radio interview Monday.

Stefani will give her proceeds to the San Diego Foundation, a local charity which helps distribute funds amongst those who need them.

“We applaud the generosity of Gwen Stefani in dedicating her upcoming concert to support the San Diego Foundation’s After-the-Fires Fund 2007, which will help the Foundation help San Diego,” San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said.

Other famous celebrities are also using their exposure to help raise funds and spread awareness for the wildfires.

David Beckham, of the LA Galaxy, will host a star-studded, fund raising soccer tournament on Nov. 4 in order to raise more money. Actors Anthony LaPaglia, Jimmy Jean-Louis and Costas Mandylor, as well as several former World Cup players, will join in Beckham’s efforts.

Good for Stefani and Beckham! With all the celebrities crowded in Hollywood, I hope we see more of these fund raising events! California needs all the help it can get right now.

Via: E! Online

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Is it 1999…or 2007?

Today, two of the 90’s biggest pop stars, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, are both releasing “come-back” albums.

While Britney Spears is a complete mess and is an entire post on her own (see: Boycott Britney), the Backstreet Boys are actually promoting themselves well and trying as hard as they can do get back in the game.

Appearing on the Today show this morning and Regis and Kelly’s special 3-D Halloween episode tomorrow, BSB’s album Unbreakable offers 14 songs of pure pop bliss.

But is this album a replica of their 1999 album with a few tweaks? According to The Canadian Press, this album sounds just like the one they released in 2005 (which sounds, to me, like the one they released in 1999, as well as any other album they’ve ever released…ever).

States The Canadian Press: “And So you’ll be forgiven, upon listening to “Unbreakable,” for thinking you’ve heard this album before. Because you have - it sounds an awful lot like 2005’s “Never Gone,” which produced the hit “Incomplete” and solidified their footing in adult-contemporary territory.”

In fact, their first single is called Inconsolable, and it sounds almost identical to Incomplete. Too many I’s!

The biggest surprise on this album is the missing member, Kevin Richardson, who decided to leave BSB to focus on his family and “pursue other interests.”

I think it’s sad that they’re no longer the fab fivesome. But will that stop my from buying the record? No way.

BSB is an icon in pop music. Hate them or love them, they’re songs are catchy and fun, regardless of if they all sound the same. I encourage you to listen to the new album, for free of course, and tell me what you think! They’ll always be teen heartthrobs in my mind…R.I.P. Kevin!

P.S. They look pretty good. Nick Carter cleans up well!

Via: The Canadian Press

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Popular instrument retailer Fender Musical Instruments Corp. (FMIC) has just purchased Kaman Music Corp. (KMC) for approximately $117 cash.

Why the merge? Kaman, who owns Ovation Guitars, LP and Toca hand percussion products, Gibraltar Hardware, Genz Benz Amplification, Hamer Guitars, and is the exclusive U.S. sales representative for Sabian Cymbals, and exclusive worldwide distributor of Takamine Guitars and Gretsch Drums, decided to take the company in a completely different direction.

Kaman Chairman and CEO, Paul Kuhn, stated, “We have invested in KMC over the years to build our leadership position in the industry, and KMC has been a positive contributor to the overall success of Kaman Corporation. However, our longer-term growth strategy has evolved to a focus on the aerospace and industrial distribution segments, which has meant finding a new home for KMC. We are very pleased to have attracted a strategic buyer of Fender’s stature, and we are confident that KMC will have a bright future under Fender’s leadership.”

Fender Musical Instruments currently owns the world-renowned Fender brand name, as well as Guild guitars, Charvel Guitars, Jackson Guitars, SWR Bass Amplification, Tacoma Guitars, EVH products, and is the exclusive worldwide distributor of Gretsch Guitars.

“We are delighted to welcome the Kaman Music Corporation into the Fender Family,” said Bill Mendello, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. “KMC is one of the most respected companies in the musical instrument industry. We have very similar cultures that have been developed over many years.

Basically, Fender is going to be the king of musical instruments and the ultimate experts in the music industry. Look out for their name!

Via: Private Equity Hub

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I guess Kanye West figured out “diamonds are a girls best friend!”

West revealed that he will be teaming up with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami to unveil a brand new jewelry line.

At the Givenchy show in New York on Oct. 3, West was sporting a large Japanese animation Magna-inspired diamond studded gold pendant.

However, since not all rap superstars that can afford ridiculously large diamonds, West assures his jewelry line won’t be off-the-charts expensive.

“It will be more accessible, they won’t be all diamonds,” West said.

No date has been set for when he will launch the line, nor has a name been confirmed.

West and Murakami also teamed up for the artwork on West’s Graduation album.

Would you wear these jewels? Bling bling!

[Via: Ace Show Biz]

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God Bless America, because in some other countries, listening to music at work is actually illegal!

Employees of Kwik-Fit Group, a car repair service in the U.K., has been summoned by the Performing Rights Society. The society, which collects royalties for songwriters and performers, said that Kwik-Fit has been infringing on musical copyrights.

To make matters worse, at a procedural hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, a judge refused to dismiss the £200,000 damages claim.

Kwik-Fit employees use personal radios while working at service centers across the U.K. Because the protected copyright music could be heard by other colleagues and customers, the Performing Rights Society deems this illegal.

Who else gets busted for musical enjoyment? Our neighbor, Canada!

In Canada, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers (SOCAN) prohibits music on the premises of dentists and hairdressers. If customer’s listen to music, SOCAN states it should be paid a fee.

I know here at Grooveshark, we work, breathe and eat music. We love it! If the radio is free and open to the public in your car, why not in a building? This just doesn’t make sense.

Obviously, some jobs require that you concentrate fully on your job. But during a lunch break or some free time, why couldn’t you listen to music? What would you do if your company enforced this policy?

[Via: P2PNet.Net]

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Look out - Jennifer Lopez may finally announce tonight that she is pregnant!

Although rumors have been flying around for the past couple weeks, there still has not been an official announcement.

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has been keeping tabs on the situation, continually updating his blog.

The latest?

“We’re hearing loud rumblings that producers at David Letterman are trying to get Jennifer Lopez to announce her pregnancy on their show,” says PerezHilton.com

I would tune into Letterman tonight. This is exciting news, considering Lopez has been trying to get pregnant with Marc Anthony for forever!

Take a look at the picture. It’s pretty obvious…don’t you think?

[Via: PerezHilton.com]

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Following in the footsteps of Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails lead singer Trent Reznor announced that Nine Inch Nails is no longer contracted with a record company.

As of today, Reznor said NIN are free agents. He posted this statement on their official website:

“I’ve waited a LONG time to be able to make the following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label.”

“I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.”

Most Likely, NIN’s next record will go straight to the public, just as Radiohead recently did with their new album, In Rainbows.

Reznor stated that he will soon post another announcement with news about NIN’s future plans for 2008.

Looks like music artists are finally getting the picture. The music industry better shape up and start allowing artist expression - or they will soon find themselves losing some big bands.

[Via: TechCrunch]

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Remember when they were happy?

It’s not the I necessarily enjoy writing about Britney Spears…OK I do. But in all honesty, she’s really just that ridiculous. Today is no different. In fact, it’s pretty big news.

Britney has finally lost complete custody of her children.

Yesterday, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon issued an order, stating that Kevin Federline “is to retain physical custody of the minor children on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 at 12:00 PM until further order of the court.”

Judge Gordon ordered Spears to undergo random drug testing and take parenting classes. Of course she refused, and now she’s paying the ultimate price.

Apparently, Spears is obeying this order. TMZ reports that Spears took her kids through a Carl’s Jr. drive-thru and then handed her them over to Federline Monday afternoon.

In addition to the random drug tests and parenting classes, Spears was also ordered to meet with a drug counselor and required to sign the judges order. Again, she did none of this.

To top it off, Spears has never had a valid drivers license in the state of California. Meaning - she’s been driving around her toddler children illegally.

Best of luck to her. Maybe now that she doesn’t have her kids to focus on, not that she focused on them much to begin with, Spears will get some much needed help and get her life back in order.

Thoughts?

{Register for Grooveshark today!}

[Via: TMZ.com]

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