After signing much-hyped nine-figure "360" deals with Jay-Z and Madonna, to handle all their album sales, touring, and merchandising, concert promoter-cum-all things music industry company Live Nation faces the fallout: Chairman Michael Cohl is being pushed out. He's negotiating the terms of his "resignation" now with CEO Michael Rapino. Not everybody thought lavishing more than a hundred million dollars on major artists was such a good idea, given the current industry climate.
If the rumor floating around is true, if, indeed, 50 Cent is about to ink a $300 million, 360 deal with arch-conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s Myspace to rival Jay-Z’s measly-by-comparison $100 million deal with Live Nation, then this would be huge, ground-breaking, major front-page news.
Oh for the love of all that is holy, we can finally put this "speculation" about whether Jay-Z and Beyonce actually got married to rest. The duo filed their signed marriage license in Scarsdale on Friday. The news arrives today, just as most of the tabloids are shipping to the printer. No worries though; they didn't much care for these nuptials anyhow.
Kudos to Us Weekly for being the only tabloid wise enough to realize Americans might be just as interested in Beyonce and Jay-Z's (maybe) wedding as, say, a white girl like Katherine Heigl's.
Janice Min might be the only celeb weekly editor who understands the newsstand lure of black celebs; her magazine's Janet Jackson "How I Lost 40 Pounds" issue was among its best selling ever (though it's said that Min was on leave, and didn't have much to do with it).
While the paparazzi hounded the Tribeca apartment building where Jay-Z and Beyonce supposedly got married, and the local television news had a field day guessing why everyone was wearing white, OK!, In Touch, Star, and Life & Style all ignored the week's biggest story on their covers.
How come? CONTINUED »
Casting biopics is hard enough, I’m sure. But it’s particularly hard when they biopic is about contemporary people who are (mostly ) still alive. For example, Oliver Stone has been busy casting his George W. Bush film, W — it looks like Thandie Newton will be playing Condi Rice. And look at all the trouble producers went through to find the perfect Biggie (Jamal Woolard) for the new film, Notorious, for which they also had to cast a pre-op Lil Kim (Naturi Naughton), Puff Daddy before he was Diddy (Derek Luke), and Voletta Wallace (Angela Bassett).
So it got me thinking about today’s celebs and who would star in a movie about their lives if it was made today. Of course, my mind naturally swayed to Jay-Z (it would be a natural spin-off of Notorious) and Beyonce’s saga.
The Daily Mirror’s 3am Girls, from all the way in the UK, have somehow managed to snag intimate details of the Knowles-Carter wedding from a source who apparently says “mum” and automatically converts dollars to pounds in his or her head. It makes the story totally believable.
Remember how Jay-Z was supposed to have retired from making music? One hundred fifty million dollars says otherwise.
That's the size of the deal he's about to close with Live Nation, the concert promoter-cum-industry saving grace, which has already handed out mega-contracts to U2 (~$100m over 12 years) and Madonna ($120m over 10 years).
But Jay-Z, who, like many artists, has seen album sales decline over the last few records, isn't just signing on for CDs and tours; he's getting into bed with Live Nation for merchandise, his own entertainment venue, a talent and consulting unit, and endorsement deals. It's all one neatly packaged deal, including a $25 million unfront fee, a $25 million advance against costs, and $10 million per album for three albums delivered over 10 years. (Live Nation, meanwhile, posted losses of $12 million last year.) Music might be dead, but the cash register cha-ching still tolls.
Jay-Z, like any other rapper, thinks very highly of himself and his abilities. That doesn’t mean that others value him quite as much as he values himself. Take, for instance, his new label. He’s looking for a home for his new label, the Carter Music Group, but insiders say he’ll need to lower his price. By a lot.
If there's an industry Jay-Z chose to be a part of, he has conquered it. Recording artist, music executive, fashion designer, hotel and nightlife impresario, sports mogul. So we're expecting to see great things from Shawn Carter's latest resume padding: ad man. CONTINUED »
• Suri Cruise has already grown disillusioned with fame. So precocious!
• That Vivica A. Fox sex tape is fake, because you know Vivica would be getting a cut if that shit were real.
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Over New Year's, Beyonce beat Kanye West nine (!) times in a row in Connect Four. Jay-Z found a real winner with her.
MOGULS MAKE IT HAPPEN Despite a bunch of hating, Jay-Z's 40/40 club opening Vegas last night. Congratulations Jay-Z on the opening and free press from us. [Stereohyped]
• Dave Letterman wins approval from the writers, still working on the approval of the viewers.
• Hunky guys wearing only grease. Don't be ashamed, go ahead out-click. CONTINUED »
• Chuck Norris is suing Penguin over their book, The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 Facts About the World's Greatest Human. Norris claims he never authorized the use of his name. In other words, he isn't getting royalties from it.
• Rupert Everett doesn't want to be typecast. Instead of starring in a movie as a gay leading man, he's writing a movie about a gay leading man.
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Editorial Director
