More Top Stories: Radiohead, Black Eyed Peas
Radiohead have donated the use of the In Rainbows song “Videotape” to UNICEF‘s new five-year initiative Put It Right, which aims to provide children everywhere with clean water, health care, schooling and protection from exploitation. The band has also soundtracked ads for the UK charity Shelter with the song. Check out the five-minute video promoting the new initiative above. [At Ease]
ESPN will air a new special about Tupac Shakur titled One Night in Vegas on September 7th. The special will focus on Shakur’s friendship with boxer Mike Tyson and the events leading up to his shooting after Tyson’s boxing match against Bruce Seldon in Vegas. [ESPN]
One week after getting arrested for fighting with her neighbor, Foxy Brown has found herself involved in more trouble. The rapper narrowly escaped arrest after fleeing a New York City high-rise where she reportedly got into a brawl. [TMZ]
The Black Eyed Peas‘ The E.N.D. hit “I Gotta Feeling” has become the first song to ever top six million digital downloads. “I am so proud to be leading our industry with 6 million digital sales,” Will.i.am said in a statement. “It means so much for the future of the music industry.”
Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love the Way You Lie” locked up the Number One spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for the second straight week. The track has also remained the chart’s top-selling digital song for a fifth consecutive week. [Reuters]
A group of French nuns who signed a deal to release an album of Gregorian chants have since received a rash of death threats after they posted their music online. “There were threats written in English saying that these nuns had to be killed,” one newspaper report noted. [Reuters]
Following this past week’s Love Parade tragedy in Germany, Italian environmental and cultural heritage groups have lobbied city officials in Rome to ban pop concerts at the city’s Villa Borghese park, claiming the events lure vandals. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Spotify, one of the most popular music streaming services in Europe, is close to launching the service in the U.S. The company is near completing deals with the major labels for music rights and expects to launch in the states later this year. [Billboard]
Animal Collective’s Dave “Avey Tare” Portner, will release his first solo album Down There on October 26th. Fellow Animal Collective member Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox will also return with his next solo album, Tomboy, this fall. [Pitchfork]
The battle against illegal downloads has not been kind to the RIAA. New documents show the association spent $17 million in legal fees in 2008 but only recovered $391,000 from illegal downloads. The RIAA, however, defends its actions, adding that it previously won large settlements like the $115 million it obtained from peer-to-peer file sharing site Kazaa. [ABA Journal]
The Neil Young impersonator who’s regularly appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s show returned last night to perform a cover of the viral sensation “Double Rainbow.” Check out the clip below: