Interscope Records

Ted Field, the financier who co-founded Interscope Records and helped turn it into a music industry juggernaut, is stepping down from the company. Field, who started the label from scratch in 1991 with record producer Jimmy Iovine, may concentrate on his film company, sources said. Vivendi's Universal Music acquired a half-stake in the label for $200 million in 1996, buying the rest about two years later and folding the Geffen and A&M labels into it.

Hip-hop star Dr. Dre and music mogul Jimmy Iovine are scheduled to announce Wednesday a $70-million donation to USC for a new academy that they say will give students new facilities and the tools they need to break into the rapidly changing music industry. “I feel like this is the biggest, most exciting and probably the most important thing that I've done in my career,” Dre, whose given name is Andre Young, told the New York Times . The donation will establish the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation.

MCA Inc. entered into high-level talks Thursday to purchase a 50% stake in Interscope Records, the controversial Westwood-based label that Time Warner Inc. dumped four months ago following a national controversy over rap music lyrics. Although no contract has been signed and several elements of the deal are still to be resolved, key sources predicted that an agreement will be consummated before Monday.

One of the most hyped soundtracks of the upcoming movie season is for “The Great Gatsby,” Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.  For those who didn't do their assigned reading in high school, the story takes place in the 1920s in the fictional Long Island setting of East Egg and West Egg. As such, the book happens at the birth of the Jazz Age, when high-energy brass bands worked with stomping, New Orleans-inspired rhythms...

The new single from rap group G-Unit is called "Stunt 101." But the stunt being watched most closely by industry marketers is how Interscope Records is selling the music. The company is about to launch an ad campaign that will turn the forthcoming release into a kind of lottery, a la "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." The Vivendi Universal-owned label is hiding "golden tickets" in four of the first 500,000 copies of the album, which features rap star 50 Cent and hits stores Nov. 18.

Two months after Time Warner Inc. severed ties with Interscope Records, the controversial label is being wooed aggressively by four of the media giant's major rivals. Moreover, what may have been a smart move politically for Time Warner is now looking like a financial fiasco. Sources close to the bidding say the price to acquire a 25% stake in the Westwood label has risen to about $125 million--roughly what Interscope agreed to pay Time Warner for the half-share it is buying back.

Jimmy Iovine, head of Vivendi Universal's Interscope Group, is riding high this week, with the nation's three bestselling albums. Now the smart money is asking: Will his next trick be to change horses? For months, industry insiders have been watching for a sign that Iovine -- among the record world's most highly regarded executives -- is ready to bolt when his contract with Interscope expires in January.

Jimmy Iovine, whose credits as a record producer and engineer range from John Lennon to U2, still winces at the humiliation of being turned down by everyone he approached in 1989 to invest in the record company he wanted to start. "People took my calls and they took me to their house for dinner," says the 40-year-old son of a Brooklyn longshoreman. "But I could sense a lot of them thinking, 'He's no record company president . . . he's no David Geffen.'

U2 album: Irish rockers U2 have named their new album "No Line on the Horizon" and will release it in North America on March 3, Interscope Records said.

Haley Reinhart, the bluesy ingenue who placed third on the 10th season of "American Idol," has parted ways with Interscope Records and 19 Recordings, a source close to the singer confirmed to Pop & Hiss on Tuesday. The 22-year-old's post-“Idol” debut, “Listen Up!,”  was quietly issued in late May, just as a new victor was crowned. The album debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 after it logged 20,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. “Listen Up!

Live on Sunset, the sprawling fashion boutique that occupies the old Tower Records space on the Sunset Strip, is one of L.A.'s best-kept shopping secrets. Stocked with dozens of premium denim and contemporary brands — and featuring spacious footwear, accessories, apothecary and lingerie departments — it feels like a freestanding department store, sans the hassle of hitting up a mall. And soon the shop — which is outfitted with a large stage and high-tech DJ booth — will be partnering with Interscope Records on a series of shows that will stream live performances and celebrity appearances from the store to the Internet via the music label's Vevo Network.

Jimmy Iovine, one of the most powerful figures in the music industry, has been lining his walls with gold and platinum records for decades, so when he declares that he's found "the next big thing" it's worth lending an ear. This time, though, his passion project has nothing to do with radio hits or album sales -- and that alone says a lot about the state of the recording industry. Iovine is chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, and he has stars such as U2 and Eminem on speed dial and a career that dates to the 1970s, when he was a recording engineer for John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge gave an entertainment lawyer and a music executive temporary control of Michael Jackson's estate Monday over the objections of attorneys for his mother who said she was better qualified to oversee his affairs.

Chris Cornell "Scream" (Interscope Records) Baseball fans might remember the downfall of Rick Ankiel. The phenom pitcher led the St. Louis Cardinals to the National League division series in 2000, only to throw five wild pitches in one inning. He had mysteriously lost his ability to throw strikes, eventually ending his pitching career. Timbaland is having a Rick Ankiel moment. Throughout the '90s and into the 2000s, the producer had the most revolutionary ideas of anyone in hip-hop and pop music.

A federal jury in Los Angeles ruled Friday that Eminem's music royalties don't change just because a song has been sold online. The decision prevents, at least for now, an upending of the music industry that could have greatly changed the financial relationship between record labels and artists, in which labels have long commanded most of the proceeds from album sales.

Vice President Dan Quayle, broadening his attack on Hollywood, Tuesday blasted the recording industry for producing rap music that he said had led to violence. Quayle called on the Time Warner Inc. subsidiary, Interscope Records, to withdraw the album "2pacalypse Now" by rap artist Tupac Amaru Shakur from stores.

Hip-hop star Dr. Dre and music mogul Jimmy Iovine are scheduled to announce Wednesday a $70-million donation to USC for a new academy that they say will give students new facilities and the tools they need to break into the rapidly changing music industry. “I feel like this is the biggest, most exciting and probably the most important thing that I've done in my career,” Dre, whose given name is Andre Young, told the New York Times . The donation will establish the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation.

U2 album: Irish rockers U2 have named their new album "No Line on the Horizon" and will release it in North America on March 3, Interscope Records said.

The rapper's rampage must have been a scary thing to behold: a destructive, reflexive reaction to bad news. But viewed another way, 50 Cent's meltdown here last month also exists as an extreme demonstration of his commitment to excellence. On Aug.