A deal between U2 and Live Nation was made official, with the concert company-cum-all things music outfit scoring a 12-year deal to represent the band in all areas except album recording and distribution. Madonna signed a 10-year, $120 million deal with Live Nation last year. [Fox 411]
We own a Product (RED) iPod Nano. It is shiny, and the red goes really well with a Nike Dri-FIT tee we wear to the gym a lot. We bought the RED iPod out of pure vanity, not to support HIV-positive children in Africa. Hopefully that pisses off Bono, because that was our secondary goal. He's just so smug about his philanthropy.
The U2 fontman's Product RED, which has enlisted corporate support from the likes of Dell, Motorola, Apple, and Armani, is, like any charity, deserving of accolades. Up to a point.
As with all philanthropic endeavors, many of the dollars coming in – in this case, from the sale of consumer goods – goes to overhead, and whatever is left over might wind up in the hands of the needy.
So despites the tens of thousands of RED products sold, a grand total of "just" $22 million $59 million has found its way to Africa so far. Okay, not exactly small change: In Rwanda, reports the NYT, contributions of $22 million have helped fund "33 testing and treatment centers, supplied medicine for more than 6,000 women to keep them from transmitting H.I.V. to their babies, and financed counseling and testing for thousands more patients."
But in March '07, AdAge reported RED companies spent $100 million in advertising, which yielded only $18 million for the charity. (RED countered by saying it spent $50 million on advertising, generating $25 million for the charity. Critics have called AdAge's report based mostly on conjecture, and we might have to agree with them.)
So how does all this money change hands? And is all the effort even worth it? CONTINUED »
You know how the argument has been made that celebrity coverage has invaded hard news, like, way too much? We're pretty sure CNN has even covered it, but here they are, on their homepage yesterday, in their Top Stories section, with this headline:
Really? This is news? That Bono ripped off his glasses because he was so upset? So angry, that he tore off his obnoxious eyewear that insists on wearing outdoors and in?
The outrage! The furor! The … ridiculousness of the video that accompanied the headline. CONTINUED »
• When Michael Jackson sends you to Brazil, you come back with adopted boys or you don't come back at all. [b97]
• For all he's done to save the world, Bono still catches flak for investing in a videogame. [Page Six]
• If you're a fat, out-of-work opera singer, there's only one answer — gastric bypass surgery. [NYDN]
• Dallas Austin should be voting Republican from now on. [Jam]
Switching back between Lost and The Grammys was the most challenging activity of the week. Lost rocked so much harder than the music awards anyways, considering every performance we caught, people were half dying. Aerosmith? Ok, well, they weren't as bad as The Rolling Stones, (even though Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler are only like 5 years apart) but what's with the oldies?
Madonna gave new meaning to the last syllable in leotard, while Kanye West needs to consult Lindsay Lohan on getting himself a "breathe" tattoo. By the time he got on stage for Gold Digger he was gasping so hard we thought he might collapse. (Celebs don't fall, they collapse.)
And, the fact that Green Day beat him out for Record of the Year was sort of awesome. Not that we don't love Kanye, but his "I should win the Grammy for everything because I'm the son of God" attitude got a little boring after a while.
In case you were sleeping, or doing something way more fun that watching TV last night, here's the need-to-know winners update. We have no idea who Bono's sucking off over there, by the way, but we are getting really sick of U2 … and we'll still be sick of them in eight years when they play at the Super Bowl.
The winner's circle (also known as the Cristal corner) after the jump.
CONTINUED »
• Don't feel like sifting through uber-prolific Ryan Adam's entire catalogue? Check out New York magazine's cheat sheet on how to distinguish him from all the other scruffy ambiguously hobo-looking guys walking around the East Village. [NYMag]
• Gothamist's interview with Overnight will leave you wondering why you don't hang out at Port Authority with trannies more often. [Gothamist]
• Popmatters has some predictions for what will be considered the greatest pop bands of all time. And while the baby-boomers got Elvis, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles, we have U2 and Dave Matthews Band to boast our generation's utmost hipness. [PopMatters]
• So much for Uptown Girl. Billy Joel drags his wife to the outskirts of Chelsea, after selling his Tribeca loft for a new West Village space. [Page Six]
• Big shocker here: Motley Crue singer Vince Neil acted inappropriately at a fundraiser he agreed to perform at over the weekend. Note to organizers: first make them sing, then unleash them on the open bar. [Lowdown]
• Hockey games: great for getting drunk and yelling at people in masks, bad for the excessive amount of call and response songs. [Hockey Music]
• Paris Hilton's possible first single will be called My Mistake. Welcome to the the longest single ever recorded in history. [The Sun]
• Are things that bad for Eminem? You know selling those wedding snaps to Hello! will get your ass beat back in the Detroit 'hood. [The Sun]
• Pete Doherty was arrested while driving in possession of class A narcotics … again. Maybe Jennifer Aniston could suggest a few good chauffeurs? [NME]
• Bono's U2 bandmates worried that his involvement with politics would make the band less cool. Except U2 stopped being cool in like '98. [AP]
• Because the Grammys aren't just for hoodie wearing street people, Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay have been added to up the desparate housewife appeal. [Billboard]
• Walk the Line was the big winner last night in the Golden Globes "Musical or Comedy" category. Despite being the most depressing movie ever. We wonder: does it really count as acting when Joaquin Phoenix actually believes he's Johnny Cash? [Billboard]
• Michael Jackson is equally abusive to little boys and his pets. Unfortunately, the kids don't have PETA on their side. [The Scoop]
• Ani DiFranco revives a Gothic church in attempt to revive her career. [AP]
• Citizens of San Paolo, Brazil have no problem spending their lives savings on U2 tickets, but they really don't want to wait in line. [MSNBC]
• Are Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown really splitting up? How ever will they decide who gets custody of the blow? (Can we get a "heeell no?) [Lowdown]
• Tom Jones is the next in a line of rockers to get knighted. Will this bizarre trend ever end? [MSNBC]
• Over 3,000 cases of Nelly's "Pimp Juice" energy drink were stolen on December 22, on a shipment bound for Trinidad. Shortly afterwards, Kevin Federline writes "PopoZao." You make the connection. [All Hip Hop]
• You know Mariah Carey beat 50 Cent for number one album, but did you know that Mary J. Blige beat out Notorious B.I.G for best selling Christmas album? We're sticking to our 'holiday spirit" theory. [E! News]
• Bono admits to fearing he'd be thrown out of U2 for his commitment to charity work, because his loyalty is supposed to be to the band. And band managers don't like to see their money go to charity groups. (Unless, of course, it creates publicity.) [AP News]
• Because songs about pimpin' don't really put people in the Christmas mood, Mariah Carey's albums outsold 50 Cent in 2005. Mimi better watch her back. [MTV]
• This year's Rolling Stones tour was the most profitable tour of all time, outselling U2's Vertigo tour, and proving that rich corporate box seat types are the only ones who can still afford to go to concerts. [NME]
• Um, cuz there is absolutely nothing going on (and for some unknown reason everyone is still at work) Mick Jagger buying a new home in London is gossip. Page Six gossip. [Page Six]
• What better way to restore order in Jamaica than to keep on jammin'? [MSNBC]
• Prince reassures everyone that he does not see Universal Records as "a slave ship". Sighs of relief, are followed by a proposal to change the label to Amistad Records. [Prince.org]
• Kanye West puts his Grammy campaign on hold— but just until he gets around to checking out the competition. It's only fair that he listen to it before resuming claims that he is bizest. [MTV]
• Can Bob Dylan still form sentances? If not, we guess he can just hum his way through his new radio show. [NME]
• In the UK, The Eagles are still soaring. Right under U2. [BBC]
• Musicians have requests, too, you know. And their assistants might get shot if someone gives them larger than desired crackers. [Radar]
