NEW YORK, 10:22 AM, TUE DEC 2 | 15 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@idolator.com | SUBMIT A TIP | RSS

Posts Tagged “Bono”

the internet equivalent of a restaurant without a sign

Idolator's Helpful Marketing Tips, Part 1: How Not To Announce Your Web Site

Let's say you're going to get your new digital-music site all over the news today by announcing that it'll hawk exclusive tracks from multiplatinum artists when it launches. Wouldn't it be a good idea to feed these news outlets a link for your site, or to make the site at least a bit Googleable so those people who want to snag a Killers Christmas track that somehow features both Elton John and Neil Tennant are able to? Sure, it may not go live until Dec. 1, but what's wrong with a preview page? Or a place where interested parties can sign up for future updates? By the time your site's launch rolls around, most people who browsed your press will probably have forgotten about the whole thing, and the music news sites you pitched will be reluctant to cover the same news twice. I mean, I'm probably better off not hearing the Flowers/John/Tennant collaboration, but if you're trying to raise some money for a worthy cause, you may want to think of just how people will get to your Web site during the afterglow of your all-important initial press blitz. [Billboard]

journalism jobs

"The New York Times" Finds Its Bono Vox Populi

Radar reports that The New York Times editorial page will have Bono penning columns for it in 2009; he'll do six to ten (that's an oddly vague commitment) pieces for the Gray Lady next year. (Radar also teases the possibility that this could mean the sacking of Sarah Palin fetishist Bill Kristol, which is a deal I would gladly take.)

Biases up front: I'm a huge U2 fan, and I think that Bono, despite his arrogance, is a saint, a musician who puts his money where his mouth is and works really hard for the things he believes in, like the AIDS crisis in Africa and forgiveness of Third World debt. (We need some of that in the First World, come to think of it.) These articles could be thoughtful think pieces about the geopolitical issues. I've seen him on the Today shows of the world sounding like he knows what he's talking about. Unfortunately, I've also seen him pontificate at awards shows like some godforsaken beat poet-warrior robot that only speaks in bluesy non-sequiturs. Which is why I'm worried that these NYT pieces might end up looking lke this:

More »

delays

U2 Album Coming Out In October, Or On New Year's Day, Or At Some Other Undetermined Date

Because I'm assisting our Idolators from a location far from the shmancy "Mac" computers at the Idolator flophouse, I don't have access to the macro that brings up the "the next album from [blank artist] has been delayed until [blank date]" template for quick-posting. So I guess I'll just have to write this up by hand: According to Bono, the next U2 album—previously scheduled for release later this year, and a major component of UMG's 2008Q4 business plan—has been delayed to some vague date in "early 2009". More »

yay, activism!

Online Petitioners Still Haven't Found What They're Looking For

If you dislike Bono, it's probably for one or more of the following reasons: 1) he writes epic, yet somehow quite boring music; 2) that heinous iPod commercial; 3) he (allegedly) misrepresents Africa in his (allegedly) misguided attempts at AIDS relief. If you subscribe to the latter, there's now an online petition pledging "a ton of money to fight AIDS" if—and only if—Bono retires from public life. More »

Blind Item: Which Pop Star Was Afraid Of Getting Popped (For Charity) By Bono? "Which pop superstar asked friends to hide them from Bono at an event as they were terrified of being roped into his Red scheme?" Well, it's definitely not Bob Dylan... [Popbitch]

roundup

June 30 Is Apparently A Good Day To Get Into The Digital-Music Business

Today is full of news about new digital-music stores, one of which is launching today, while the others are set to launch later this year. All three offerings will sell DRM-free MP3s from major-label artists, although that fact seems a bit less newsworthy today than it would have even six months ago.
• Rhapsody has launched a digital download store that sells MP3s from all four major labels. Its twist: You can sample entire songs before buying them, instead of those 30-second clips that don't tip you off to, say, the epic coda in "November Rain." [Silicon Alley Insider]

More »

paul is dead (wrong!)

Bono Backs Away From Manager's Radiohead-Bashing Ways

Like U2's manager, Paul McGuinness, Bono firmly believes that all problems can be solved by haranguing people in power and pleading for charitable donations, rather than actually changing economic models. But one thing Bono won't do is dis Radiohead, one of the few successful bands with any critical cachet whatsoever. So when McGuinness decided to call the Internet release of In Rainbows a failure, Bono felt it necessary to send a letter to NME making clear that while their manager doesn't want the RIAA to consider these upstarts' hair-brained schemes, U2 thinks the band are "courageous and imaginative," etc., smooch smooch, let's photo op with Barack sometime. More »

we still haven't found what we're looking for

The Top Ten Not-Bonos

The social conscience and strident voice of Bono has influenced many a singer over the last few decades. The U2 frontman successfully melded the earnest social conscience of Bruce Springsteen with the self-glorifying pomp of European arena acts, realizing that both the Common Man and King Dick were below Jesus on the food chain. Sure there was precedent, but Sting is handicapped by his ego (and jazz bass), while Ian McCullough wanted to be a romantic poet/sex object more than the messiah. Here are ten singers who, at their best (or worst), have aspired to the Almighty's throne. More »

say you'll be there

Spice Girls Show Sells Out In 38 Seconds, Bono To Join Group As "Anti Spice"

Tickets for the Spice Girls' Dec. 15 show at London's O2 Arena sold out in 38 seconds flat this morning, with more than one million people who'd pre-registered for tickets to the show "bombard[ing] the lines" for Ticketmaster, according to the ticketing behemoth's UK boss. More »

news flash: rock star makes joke

Uptight Australians React Uptightly

While being interviewed on Australian radio two days ago, Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns finished off an otherwise true story with an off-the-cuff and obvious falsehood: "It was me and Natalie and Peter Garrett and Bono laying on Bono's bed smoking joints, listening to Young Modern demos." Well, obvious to most people anyway... More »

bono

President Bush Needs To Brush Up On The Rules Regarding Presidential Eligibility

Bush apparently had Bono on his mind. Earlier, he shouted to aide: "Where's Bono? Bono for president."
More »

magazines

Bono, Condoleezza Make Nice

Not sure how today became Vanity Fair day, but the 20(!) covers from the new issue—which was guest-edited by Bono—are up at the magazine's website. We eagerly awaits the Secretary of State's next speech, during which she notes the "unforgettable ire" of Osama bin Laden, and refers to German Chancellor Angela Merkel as an "achtung babe." More »

courts

Bono Now Free To Make As Many Long-Winded, Semi-Obscene Mid-Performance Rants As He Wants

Yesterday, a federal appeals court stuck it to the FCC, claiming that the organization's policy of fining broadcast networks for accidental obscenities was, in a word, shit-showy: More »

news

Liner Notes: Paul McCartney Is Possibly Not Your Baby Daddy

- A German court has stopped its investigation whether Paul McCartney faked a paternity test in 1984; meanwhile, the country's 23-year quest to find who was responsible for fathering Give My Regards To Broad Street continues. [Reuters]
- Bono will be awarded the Liberty Medal from National Constitution Center in September. Is he just making these up at this point? [NME]
- Michael Jackson is getting paid a reported $10 million to appear at a private birthday party in England. In related news, Idolator.com is offering $10 to anyone who can provide a Michael Jackson punchline we haven't used umpteen times already. [The Scoop]

feuds

Bono, Billy Squier Co-Star In Greatest New York "Times" Story Of All Time

If you do only one thing today—and we mean only one thing, eclipsing all other obligations of hygiene, etc.—you must read this New York Times story regarding a co-op feud between Bono and Billy Squier, which is just about the nuttiest thing we've seen in months. We'll get you started: More »

Bono Prepares To Unleash His Unforgettable Ire After reading the umpteenth unfunny wire-photo caption on this site, U2 frontman Bono (real name: Scott Summers) prepares to lift his shades and release his laser fury. [Credit: Getty Images]

liner notes

Liner Notes: Diddy Can't Stop, Won't Stop Having Sex

- Diddy claims that he can go for up to 30 hours at a time. When will he stop sampling Sting? [MSNBC]
- Black Eyed Peas member Taboo was busted outside of L.A. after he wrecked his car and was found with less than an ounce of both weed and talent. [Billboard]
- Bono received his British knighthood today, though technically it's for being an Irish citizen, do you don't have to call him "Sir." Though you can still call him "Shake ya Bon-Bon." He loves that. [AP]

bono

Bono's New Look Leaves Us Numb

The U2 frontman—shown here at last night's ECHO awards ceremony in Berlin—ditches his traditional red-tinted eyewear in favor of the all-seeing SuperOrbTM, which can indentify press-loving U.N. officials and mentor-needy alt-rockers from up to thirty yards away. More »