Bob Dylan Brands Music Industry "Hypocritical Rubbish"

Legendary rocker Bob Dylan has launched a scathing attack on the music industry, calling it "hypocritical rubbish."

The 'Like a Rolling Stone' hitmaker, 67, said he preferred the art and book industries, which he described as more "dignified."

He told Britain's The Times newspaper, "The music world's a made-up bunch of hypocritical rubbish. I know that the book people are a whole lot saner.

"And the art world? From the small steps I've taken in it, I'd say, yeah, the people are honest, upfront and deliver what they say.

"Basically, they are who they say they are. They don't pretend. And having been in the music world most of my life I can tell you it's not that way.

"Let's just say it's less dignified."

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BEA Dispatch: Art Spiegelman Calls Out Contemporary Comics

Spiegelman and City Lights Bookstore's Paul Yamazaki Friday nightPhoto: Boris Kachka
Sure, Barbara Walters and Arianna Huffington were in attendance at Knopf's big Book Expo dinner Friday night in L.A., but our big score was sitting next to Art Spiegelman, who'd requested a seat at the end of the table so he could easily run out for smoke breaks. "They told me I would live longer if I quit," he said, "and it's true, the year and a half I didn't smoke was the longest part of my life." What concerns him most these days is his son, a junior at St. Anns, who joined Spiegelman and his wife to visit colleges on the West Coast. With admission rates at a record low, "I feel for him," he said. "He's anxious, and I don't make him feel any better by saying, 'I was a college dropout, it all works out.'"

Soon enough, the conversation moved outside, where, as cars whizzed by on Melrose, Spiegelman expressed his puzzlement with L.A. and waxed nostalgic for the old Soho (where he still lives), but copped to abetting its gentrification with a secretly ad-driven map of the neighborhood he'd started with his wife, thereby financing Raw. So modern Soho dismays him. What about modern comics, a.k.a. graphic novels?



"I wanted this Faustian deal to get struck," he said. "I thought, 'This would be good if comics were in bookstores and you could find them without blushing,' but like with most publishing, it moves in waves and fads. Every publisher wants to have one, but they haven't a clue as to what a good one or a bad one might be." He's reading a lot of manga, he says, but FSG's new graphic versions of historical events — the 9/11 Report, the life of Muhammad Ali — "are not very good. They remind me of certain comics I had in a separate corner of my comic library, which were like My Friend Wheat. You're supposed to learn something. They have pictures, they have text, but they don't have that beat." —Boris Kachka

Leona Lewis receives 55 million hits on YouTube

London (ANI): British singer Leona Lewis has made an amazing comeback by making her mark on YouTube - with more than 55 million hits. Lewis was one of the X Factor winners and she has conquered the music scene on the video site with millions of hits. Her promo for her hit single Bleeding Love entered the site"s top ten most viewed videos of all time. The singer is said to be the only British artist to make it anywhere near the top ten, and at the last count, the No1 single has been watched by more than 55 million people, reports The Sun. She is at the moment in the sixth place, but she is fast catching up to Timbaland, who is featuring One Republic's Apologise video, which has been eyeballed by 56 million.

Studio revenue set for a surge

Expected to hit $42 billion by 2011, report says

Major studios' revenue will climb 19% to almost $42 billion by 2011, according to a new research report.


Studio profits have been pinched by higher costs and recent consumer constraint, but a big revenue surge should help Hollywood manage nicely, the Adams Media Research report found. The forecasted revenue rise is tied in part to the spread of the Blu-ray Disc high-def format, DVD rental kiosks and various electronic distribution schemes.


"When DVD hit the scene in 1997, it changed the way studios made their money," said Tom Adams, president of Carmel, Calif.-based AMR. "Blu-ray won't have the same impact. But this time around, studios and those invested in them have a greatly expanded universe from which to draw revenue."


Revenue expansion in the home-entertainment market won't be as robust as in the glory days of the DVD rollout, he cautioned. "So it's crucial that studios pare down expanding costs and wisely manage upcoming film slates to maximize their profitability," Adams said.


Total worldwide feature film revenue for major U.S. studios is expected to soar from $34.9 billion in 2007 to $41.6 billion by the end of 2011, with the U.S. contributing $20 billion of the global total, or 48%.


The AMR report found that sales of physical media will account for half of all film revenue of the span.


Motion Picture Assn. data show worldwide revenue from major studio films dipped almost 5% between 2004 and 2007 to $34.9 billion. So the forecasted revenue rise would represented a welcome turnaround to the recent trend.


AMR projects that electronic sales and rental will grow at almost 15% annually through 2001, while Hollywood's total worldwide revenue will increase 6% per year.

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Business

   
Artist: Business

   Genre(s): 
Rock: Punk-Rock
   

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Discography:


   
 The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth

   Year: 1997   
Tracks: 14


   
 Death To Dance [EP]

   Year: 1996   
Tracks: 6


   
 Keep The Faith

   Year: 1994   
Tracks: 13


   
 Suburban Rebels

   Year: 1983   
Tracks: 17

---

 

Heigl named 'Most Desirable Woman'

Heigl named 'Most Desirable Woman'

'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Knocked Up' whizz Katherine Heigl has been named the 'Most Desirable Woman of 2008' in an online pate.
The 29-year-old actress topped a lean of 99 women elect by members of the world on the site AskMen.com.
People were asked to vote for women world Health Organization best incarnate the qualities of an paragon girlfriend or wife, as judged by news, wit, personal magnetism and dream.
AskMen.com's Editor in chief, James IV Bassil said: "This year's name rattling goes to present wHO (our users) colligate with and discover beautiful, charming and personable."
Example Alessandra Ambrosio was placed second on the number, with actresses Kate Beckinsale and Eva Mendes coming third base and quartern respectively.
Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Rihanna, Marisa Miller and Adriana Lima completely made the Top 10 of the Most Desirable Women lean.




Andrew Chalk + Daisuke Suzuki

Toni Braxton Hospitalized

Toni Braxton Hospitalized

Toni Braxton is on the darn and in "commodity condition" following a wellness panic.The 40-year-old "Un-Break My Heart" vocalist was admitted to Las Vegas' St. Rosebush Dominican Infirmary for chest pains Mon nox.The six-time Grammy victor, in Vegas headlining a five-nights-a-week present at the Flamingo Hotel and Gambling casino, is currently listed in goodness condition and is expected to be released later Tuesday.Simply according to a Flamingo rep, Braxton won't be able to go on with her Revealed show justly aside."We wish Toni a quick convalescence and would like her to select the time she necessarily to find optimal health," said Preceptor Marrandino, the resort's president . "We are looking forward to her return at the ending of the week."The singer's agent at ICM, Mark Seigel, would not remark on Braxton's hospitalization insurance.Though several reports suffer erroneously claimed that Braxton was taken to the infirmary immediately after a execution, in that location was no Revealed scheduled for Mon. (The show is darkness on Sundays and Mondays.) Hotel officials too clarified that Braxton was non at the casino at the clock time.Patch in that location hasn't been any further details released on her present ailment, Braxton has previously admitted suffering from a consideration called pericarditis, an excitement of the liner of the spirit, which she was diagnosed with four geezerhood ago.In a January interview with Newsweek, Braxton said she periodically suffers from warmness flutters and high gear blood pressure.Since her revelation, Braxton has since been named a spokeswoman for the American Heart Connection.





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