Inside these posts: Music

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‘Super Bowl Shuffle’ owner sues Viacom

"The Super Bowl Shuffle" by the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew in 1985. Left to right: Mike Richardson (27), Gary Fencik (45), Willie Gault (83), William Perry (72), Walter Payton (34), Richard Dent (95), Jim McMahon (9), Otis Wilson (55), Steve Fuller (4), Mike Singletary (50). (Tribune file photo)

The owner of a beloved ditty by the 1985 Chicago Bears is preparing to shuffle on down to federal court to take on a media conglomerate.

“Super Bowl Shuffle” owner Julia Meyer filed a lawsuit in Chicago this week alleging Viacom used the video on MTV and VH1 without permission. Get the full story »

MySpace relaunches as music-focused site

MySpace launched a new version of its Web site centered around music and entertainment, as the social networking company attempts to regain its former appeal in a market it helped create.

MySpace Chief Executive Mike Jones said that News Corp-owned MySpace is no longer seeking to compete head-on with social networking company Facebook, and is recasting itself as a complimentary service that he hopes the 35-year-old-and-under crowd will flock to to stay abreast of the hottest music and videos. Get the full story »

Sony to stop making Walkman cassette player

The Sony Walkman. (Sony)

Sony is sending its cassette tape Walkman into retirement in Japan as demand for a music player that was ground-breaking in its day dwindles to a tiny niche in the era of digital technology.

Sony stopped Japanese production of the portable music player in April and sales will end once the last batch disappears from stores, company spokeswoman Hiroko Nakamura said Monday. Get the full story »

Sony bets Walkman showing lyrics can rival iPods

Sony's new Walkman series are unveiled in Tokyo, zeroing in on sound quality and karaoke-like lyrics. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

Sony is zeroing in on sound quality and karaoke-like lyric displays to woo Japan, its stronghold in digital music players, amid a battering elsewhere from U.S. rival Apple Inc.’s iPod.

Hisatsugu Nakamuta, the Sony Corp. general manager overseeing marketing, said Wednesday that the Japanese electronics and entertainment company is hoping to grab as much as half of Japan’s annual 6.5 million unit portable audio-player market with its new Walkman models. Get the full story »

iPod, Apple TV upgrades expected today

With the unveiling of a new set of Apple Inc. products — likely to include music-related devices, but also the possible major upgrade of a TV gadget — Steve Jobs and company are again poised to cause a stir in the tech world.

Apple watchers are predicting that Chief Executive Jobs, at a company event today in San Francisco, will announce updates to Apple’s lineup of ubiquitous iPod media players, and also changes to its iTunes store to make it more friendly to mobile devices. Get the full story »

FM radio to be required on cell phones?

A proposed settlement to a long-running dispute over music royalties could include a federal mandate that all new cell phones and other wireless devices contain an FM radio tuner.

The proposal is now under discussion by radio broadcasters, recording labels and recording artists. Get the full story »

Gadget census pits Chicago against D.C.

When President Barack Obama moved from Chicago to the White House, he also moved to an area with 53 percent more BlackBerries, according to a recent study that pits cities against one another in terms of the gadgets they use.

And if it seems like every hipster in Chicago is rocking out to streaming music at work and on the train, that’s because they are — 45 percent more than their counterparts in Washington, D.C. Compared to D.C., you also won’t see too many Chicagoans watching television on an iPhone or reading books on their gadgets: 66 percent more of us own three or more TVs and we have 50 percent fewer e-Readers per capital than our nation’s capital, according to the gadget census, conducted by Retrevo.com, an electronics review and shopping site. Get the full story »

At Lollapalooza, everything that moves is insured

(Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

For the music-loving public, the Lollapalooza music festival in Grant Park is all about 130 bands on eight stages over three days.

Not so much for James Chippendale, 42, and Jerid Schmickle, 36.

It’s their job to worry, worry and worry. They prepare for the worst and try to minimize risks at the event, so no one ends up getting sued — or, if they do, they’re at least insured. Get the full story »

Apple boots developer who hijacked iTunes accounts

Apple Inc. has booted a developer and his apps from its applications store after hundreds of hijacked user accounts were used to push his titles to best sellers over the weekend.

Developer Thuat Nguyen has been banned for violating an Apple license agreement, “including fraudulent purchases,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said Tuesday. About 400 iTunes users were affected, she said

Playboy sues Drake over song sample

From Billboard.biz | Playboy Enterprises is suing rapper Drake, alleging that the beginning of his song “Best I Ever Had” was taken from “Fallin’ In Love,” by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Dennison/Reynolds, which it owns.

Google to launch music service

Google Inc. is planning to launch an online music downloading service tied to its search engine, the Wall Street Journal reported, a move that would pit it against Apple Inc and its popular iTunes site.

Google’s plans are still vague, but it has been “stepping up conversations” about offering music services online as well as over mobile phones that use its Android operating system, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the company’s talks with the music industry. Get the full story »

Sears, Kmart to sell movies, music online

Sears Holdings Corp. Tuesday became the latest retailer to partner with digital media company Sonic Solutions to sell movies and television shows through an online Web site. Under Sonic’s latest multiyear deal, the operator of Sears and Kmart stores has licensed Sonic’s RoxioNow platform to sell digital entertainment under the Sears and Kmart brand names. Get the full story »