Atlantic Records

The Internet has transformed how bands interact with their fans. But that can lead to troublesome consequences. A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that Warner Music Group, Atlantic Records and other music industry organizations helped coerce a 16-year-old girl into making pornographic rock videos when a band advertised for extras on MySpace, News Corp.'s teen-oriented social networking site. The companies and musicians' representatives deny they did anything wrong.

Warner Music Group, in a sign that the struggling recorded music company is seeking to bolster its ranks of artists, has tapped producer Rob Cavallo for the newly created position of chief creative officer. In that role he will help develop acts across all of the Warner music labels including Atlantic, Asylum, Electra and Warner Bros. Cavallo, a multiple Grammy winner, has a strong track record with credits that include Green Day's "American Idiot," Kid Rock's "Rock N Roll Jesus" and most recently the top-10 release "Brand New Eyes" from the rock band Paramore.

Ahmet Ertegun, the Turkish ambassador's son whose ear for the culture of black America would make his Atlantic Records a legendary fount of 20th century popular music, died Thursday. He was 83. Ertegun had slipped into a coma after suffering a head injury in an October fall backstage at a Rolling Stones show celebrating the 60th birthday of former President Clinton. Ertegun never recovered from the severe trauma of the injury, said Dr.

Warner Music Group has promoted Ron Shapiro and Craig Kallman to co-presidents of its Atlantic Records division, sources said. Shapiro started at Atlantic less than a decade ago as a publicist and is credited with helping transform unknown folk singer Jewel into an international star. Kallman founded famed dance-music label Big Beat in the 1980s and sold it to Atlantic a decade ago. The two executives will report to Atlantic Co-Chairmen Val Azzoli and Ahmet Ertegun.

Joel Dorn, a producer who won two consecutive Grammys for record of the year at Atlantic Records while helping to shape that label's distinctive jazz sound, died Monday after suffering a heart attack in New York. He was 65. "Joel bridged the worlds of jazz and pop with enormous skill and grace, never compromising the integrity of his artists and their music," Edgar Bronfman Jr., chairman and chief executive of the Warner Music Group, which includes Atlantic Records, said in a statement.

Singer Solomon Burke, keyboardist Keith Emerson and songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are scheduled to speak tonight at a tribute to Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun at American Cinematheque's Mods & Rockers Film Festival. Ertegun, a native of Turkey, would have been 84 today. He died last December after suffering a head injury in October. The 7:30 p.m.

EDITORS' CHOICE: They're full of forced cheeriness and rife with the danger that you'll make a career-ending remark to your boss. In fact, many workers say they'd rather not go to company holiday parties. But that isn't stopping employers from holding the soirees. BUSINESS, C1 * The World South Korean is new U.N. chief South Korea's former foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, is sworn in as the United Nations' eighth secretary-general.

Warner Music Group Corp. on Monday said it would combine Lava Records with its Atlantic Records Group and expected to take related one-time charges of $25 million to $30 million in the fourth quarter. Warner Music said in August that it would fold Lava, home to such acts as Click Five, Simple Plan and Australia's John Butler Trio, into Warner Music, after the resignation of Jason Flom, chairman and chief executive of Atlantic Records. Lava Records was a joint venture between Flom and Atlantic.

Each week the spotlight will be on musicians who are making a commercial breakthrough. -- Chris Lee D4L "Down for Life" Asylum/Atlantic Records Artist info: The Atlanta-based rap quartet's major-label debut album jumped onto the national sales chart at No. 22 on Wednesday minus the trappings that have become nearly indispensable for hip-hop success -- that is, without the help of superstar producers, R&B backup singers or A-list vocal cameos.

Rap megastar Dr. Dre, who has been a mainstay of Vivendi Universal's music operation, is close to a deal to share in the profit from an album he will oversee for AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Atlantic Records division, sources said. The unusual pact, which could be signed within weeks, underscores industry interest in the acclaimed record producer, who is fresh off the success of proteges Eminem and 50 Cent.

For the final Record Rack of 2009, we take a look at some of the year's most prominent soundtracks and scores. "Avatar" James Horner (Atlantic Records) . 1/2 James Cameron's "Avatar" succeeds in introducing filmgoers to a new world; James Horner's score follows the filmmaker's lead. It's mood-setting music, at times full of wonder. Iridescent synths mix with woodwind instruments, and "The Bioluminescence of the Night" is New Age glitter. Horner avoids sci-fi and fantasy clichés -- choirs and sound effects whiz by, and orchestral flourishes descend into tribal nuances without warning.

Imagine this: By day, you're a typical businessman, working the 9 to 5. Your nights and weekends, however, are spent sharing a stage with nine other guys just like you -- performing a cappella songs in small venues while recording an album for Atlantic Records. That was the double life for the members of Straight No Chaser, an a cappella choir of 10 men who formed in 1996 during their college years at Indiana University. They say their pursuit in music was experimental at first.

Warner Music Group, in a sign that the struggling recorded music company is seeking to bolster its ranks of artists, has tapped producer Rob Cavallo for the newly created position of chief creative officer. In that role he will help develop acts across all of the Warner music labels including Atlantic, Asylum, Electra and Warner Bros. Cavallo, a multiple Grammy winner, has a strong track record with credits that include Green Day's "American Idiot," Kid Rock's "Rock N Roll Jesus" and most recently the top-10 release "Brand New Eyes" from the rock band Paramore.

Joel Dorn, a producer who won two consecutive Grammys for record of the year at Atlantic Records while helping to shape that label's distinctive jazz sound, died Monday after suffering a heart attack in New York. He was 65. "Joel bridged the worlds of jazz and pop with enormous skill and grace, never compromising the integrity of his artists and their music," Edgar Bronfman Jr., chairman and chief executive of the Warner Music Group, which includes Atlantic Records, said in a statement.

Singer Solomon Burke, keyboardist Keith Emerson and songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are scheduled to speak tonight at a tribute to Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun at American Cinematheque's Mods & Rockers Film Festival. Ertegun, a native of Turkey, would have been 84 today. He died last December after suffering a head injury in October. The 7:30 p.m.

Even if you didn't know a thing about Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died in December at 83, you'd instantly glean his monumental significance in the history of popular music from the footage of him in PBS' latest "American Masters" documentary. We see him laughing and swapping anecdotes with such rock, R&B and jazz titans as Mick Jagger, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and Wynton Marsalis.

EDITORS' CHOICE: They're full of forced cheeriness and rife with the danger that you'll make a career-ending remark to your boss. In fact, many workers say they'd rather not go to company holiday parties. But that isn't stopping employers from holding the soirees. BUSINESS, C1 * The World South Korean is new U.N. chief South Korea's former foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, is sworn in as the United Nations' eighth secretary-general.

THE popular notion is that without Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, there wouldn't have been rock 'n' roll. But it may be closer to the truth to say there wouldn't have been rock 'n' roll without Ahmet Ertegun. The co-founder of Atlantic Records loved to say he was just lucky to have worked with such landmark artists as Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin and Cream.

Ahmet Ertegun, the Turkish ambassador's son whose ear for the culture of black America would make his Atlantic Records a legendary fount of 20th century popular music, died Thursday. He was 83. Ertegun had slipped into a coma after suffering a head injury in an October fall backstage at a Rolling Stones show celebrating the 60th birthday of former President Clinton. Ertegun never recovered from the severe trauma of the injury, said Dr.

The Internet has transformed how bands interact with their fans. But that can lead to troublesome consequences. A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that Warner Music Group, Atlantic Records and other music industry organizations helped coerce a 16-year-old girl into making pornographic rock videos when a band advertised for extras on MySpace, News Corp.'s teen-oriented social networking site. The companies and musicians' representatives deny they did anything wrong.