1998Before These Crowded Streets by the Dave Matthews Band debuts at #1 on the albums chart, ending the Titanic soundtrack's 16-week berth at the top. Fans get a glimpse of the band's darker side with the moody lead single, "Don't Drink The Water."More
1990Don Everly's daughter Erin, who inspired the song "Sweet Child O' Mine," marries Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses. The rocky union lasts nine months.
1987The Art Of Excellence by Tony Bennettbecomes the first album to be initially released on CD instead of the traditional vinyl format.
1981Original T. Rex bass player Steve Currie dies in a car accident at age 33, four years after the group's lead singer Marc Bolan met his demise in a similar fashion.
1979Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" hits #1 in America, the first of their four chart-toppers in that country.
1973Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moonhits #1 on the Billboard Albums chart. It stays at the top for just one week, but goes on to eclipse the record for most weeks on the tally, with over 880 (non-consecutive).
2017At the WXTB Rockfest, in Tampa, Florida, Soundgarden launch what will be their final tour with Chris Cornell, who dies on May 17 at a stop in Detroit.
2017Brad Paisley releases the first visual album in country music: a special edition of Love and War with videos for each of the 16 tracks.
2013Bass player Lonnie Turner, a founding member of The Steve Miller Band, dies of lung cancer at age 66.
2006ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus is accused by the Swedish government of $12 million US in delinquency of back taxes.
2005Jazz bassist Percy Heath dies of bone cancer two days before his 82nd birthday.
2005Eddie Montgomery of country duo Montgomery Gentry seriously injures his left wrist during a show in Asheville, North Carolina, after he falls to the arena floor from a speaker cabinet onstage.
2000James Brown Enterprises, which handles tours for The Godfather Of Soul, has its offices destroyed by fire, destroying music and memorabilia. An employee is later charged with arson in connection with the incident.
1999Members of The Verve release a statement announcing their second breakup (their first was in 1995). The band reunites in 2007, but that only lasts two years.
1991Bonnie Raitt marries her first husband, actor Michael O'Keefe, in New York. The couple would divorce in 1999.
1989Jon Bon Jovi (Bon Jovi) marries high school sweetheart Dorothea Hurley at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.
1988Country/pop singer B.W. Stevenson, known for the original 1973 version of "My Maria," dies at age 38 while undergoing heart valve surgery.
1987Ray Charles appears before Congress to urge more funding for hearing research, stating "My eyes are my handicap, but my ears are my opportunity."
1985Bryan Ferry releases "Slave To Love."
1980Tommy Caldwell (original frontman for The Marshall Tucker Band) dies at age 30 when his Jeep overturns during an accident.
1978Bob Dylan records "Baby, Stop Crying," "Is Your Love In Vain?" "New Pony," and "Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)."
Apple Launches iTunes Store Selling 99-Cent Songs
2003
Apple launches the iTunes store, the first widely successful legal music download app, thanks to the emergence of the iPod, which lets people take their music with them. At first, the service is available only to Mac users, with the music files encoded in Apple's proprietary format (AAC) restricting where they can be played.
Steve Jobs makes the official presentation of iTunes 4 on the stage at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco while wearing his famous black turtleneck, jeans, and New Balance sneakers. For the first time, we can now legally download individual songs without paying for the whole album - and whether it's the latest hit from Ludacris or a John Denver album cut from 1974, it's the same price: 99 cents.
Record labels are eager to stanch the bleeding from Napster and other file-sharing services, but have been reluctant to enter agreements for downloads as they pine for the good ol' days of $18 CDs. Apple finally brings them on board, signing enough labels to build an impressive library - if the song you're looking for isn't by The Beatles or Led Zeppelin, there's a good chance it will be there. Apple also streamlines the hardware connections of previous iPod versions and creates a "One-Click" purchase option. Easy and legal.
Public reaction is not without its detractors. Because of music licensing complications, the Apple Music Store is initially open only to US users, and all purchases require a stored credit card. The songs are embedded with a sharing and copying restriction technology called FairPlay, utilizing digital rights management (DRM), which causes problems when users try to play the songs on different computers and devices. Anyone used to Napster is accustomed to unrestricted MP3 files.
The store launches with over 200,000 songs for sale with free 30-second previews. Bob Dylan, U2, Eminem, Sheryl Crow and Sting partner up, sweetening the pot by offering exclusive releases.
According to Apple, they sell one million tracks in the first five days, highlighting their assertion that iTunes is the solution to stop illegal downloading and filesharing.
Over one million Windows users download iTunes when it launches in October 2003, and by December 15, 2003, Apple announces that it has sold 25 million songs.
Record labels are eager to stanch the bleeding from Napster and other file-sharing services, but have been reluctant to enter agreements for downloads as they pine for the good ol' days of $18 CDs. Apple finally brings them on board, signing enough labels to build an impressive library - if the song you're looking for isn't by The Beatles or Led Zeppelin, there's a good chance it will be there. Apple also streamlines the hardware connections of previous iPod versions and creates a "One-Click" purchase option. Easy and legal.
Public reaction is not without its detractors. Because of music licensing complications, the Apple Music Store is initially open only to US users, and all purchases require a stored credit card. The songs are embedded with a sharing and copying restriction technology called FairPlay, utilizing digital rights management (DRM), which causes problems when users try to play the songs on different computers and devices. Anyone used to Napster is accustomed to unrestricted MP3 files.
The store launches with over 200,000 songs for sale with free 30-second previews. Bob Dylan, U2, Eminem, Sheryl Crow and Sting partner up, sweetening the pot by offering exclusive releases.
According to Apple, they sell one million tracks in the first five days, highlighting their assertion that iTunes is the solution to stop illegal downloading and filesharing.
Over one million Windows users download iTunes when it launches in October 2003, and by December 15, 2003, Apple announces that it has sold 25 million songs.
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