MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015
ITUNES USERS LIKE U2 AFTER ALL
All those people who complained about U-2's free album on their iTunes account appear to be a vocal minority. A study by research firm The Kantar Group finds in January, U-2 accounted for 23 per cent of the music listened to on iOS devices. The next biggest artist was Taylor Swift at 11 per cent, then Katy Perry at eight per cent. The study also found that 95 per cent of the people who listened to U-2 that way heard at least one track from the ``Songs of Innocence'' album. Guitarist The Edge says it was a big risk to give away ``Songs of Innocence,'' but today they can say the experiment worked.
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TAYLOR SWIFT MAKES DONATION TO NEW YORK SCHOOLS
Taylor Swift is serious about helping out New York. She has just donated 50-thousand dollars to New York public schools, the first proceeds from the sales of her song, ``Welcome to New York.'' A spokeswoman for the city's department of education says it is ``deeply appreciative of this kind gesture.''
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``PHYSICAL GRAFFITI'': JIMMY PAGE'S LABOR OF LOVE
Jimmy Page wanted to remaster Led Zeppelin's music because he hates how modern versions sound. Page says the compression of M-P-3s takes away so many textures that the files do not represent what the band did. The latest reissue is ``Physical Graffiti,'' out this week. Page says after delving into the project, he was satisfied that there was nothing he would have done differently. So that's out of the way -- what's next for Page? He won't say. He says when he's ready to announce his plans for new music, he will, but he doesn't want to be constantly second-guessed in the meantime.
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JON BON JOVI HELPS PROVIDE MEALS
Jon Bon Jovi is sponsoring a community restaurant on the Jersey shore near his childhood home. The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation is giving financial backing to the church project Spoon Full of Hope in Union Beach, near Bon Jovi's hometown of Sayreville. It lost its funding last summer. Patrons can either pay a donation for a meal or give an hour of time working off the cost. It's similar to Bon Jovi's community restaurant JBJ Soul Kitchen, which opened in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 2011.
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BEN HARPER IS MARRIED
Ben Harper celebrated the new year with a new bride. People magazine reports Harper married social advocate Jaclyn Matfus on New Year's Day. He was previously married to actress Laura Dern. They divorced in 2013. Harper also will reunite with his band, The Innocent Criminals, after being apart for seven years.
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YOKO ONO TAKES AIM AT CRITICS
Yoko Ono doesn't want to be treated as an old lady or as a classical musician. Ono wrote a message on her Imagine Peace website on her 82nd birthday, ``Don't make me old, with your thinking and words about how I should be.'' She says critics rip her concerts apart because they demand the musical standard of a classical musician, and she is very much not that. In her words, ``Get my energy or shut up.''
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