Recording Industry

The death Friday of rapper Tupac Shakur following a shooting last weekend in Las Vegas is the most dramatic incident to befall Death Row Records, pop music's most successful and controversial rap label. Shakur's death follows the departure in March of Dr. Dre (Andre Young), the producer credited with forging the label's distinctive sound.

While the hip-hop world expressed sympathy, if not surprise, Monday over the shooting that left rapper Tupac Shakur in critical condition in a Las Vegas hospital, one top record executive predicted that the incident could have a chilling effect on the progress the industry has made in recent years in opening the doors to black entrepreneurs.

Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme and Grammy winner Natalie Cole host the 1996 World Music Awards, honoring the world's best-selling musical artists, from the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo. The show can be seen Monday night at 9 on ABC and is produced by Gary L. Pudney. "Our awards are all based on sales--no juries, no surveys, but by the record-buying public," Pudney said. "The rest of the world accounts for 70% of record sales. The United States is only 30%.

It was a bittersweet victory, singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes recalls, when rhythm-and-blues/rap sensation TLC stepped onstage to pick up two Grammy awards in February. Winning the prestigious honor marked a milestone in the swift rise of the hot trio, whose "Crazysexycool" last year ranked as the nation's second-biggest album. But it also confirmed some of TLC's worst suspicions about the music business.

Sony Music Entertainment President Thomas D. Mottola remembers the night seven years ago when Michele Anthony told him that no rock band in its right mind would sign a contract with his record company. Anthony was a hip young entertainment attorney who represented a dozen of the nation's hottest rock acts, including Guns N' Roses and Alice in Chains.

Entertainment industry figures lashed back Thursday at Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole's charge that Hollywood was producing "nightmares of depravity," although some acknowledged a need for the exercise of caution. Dole, a GOP presidential contender, leveled his attack in Los Angeles Wednesday night at a reception for political donors, charging that "the mainstreaming of deviancy" by Hollywood is a danger to the nation's culture as he took on movies, TV and music.

Republican leaders Sunday pressed their campaign to "shame" the entertainment industry into cutting back on violence and sex in music and movies, with conservative activist William J. Bennett reading explicit song lyrics during a network TV news interview. "Her body is beautiful, so I'm thinking rape. Shouldn't have had her curtains open, so that's her fate. . . . Whipped out my knife, and said, 'If you scream I'm cuttin'.' She begged in a low voice, 'Please don't kill me.'

Two and a half years ago, recording industry titan Warner Music Group embarked on a marketing strategy to speak directly to consumers. The result is a quintet of music magazines, the last to be introduced at the end of this month, that Warner executives hope will stimulate sales of compact discs and audiocassettes.

Big-selling new artists such as Green Day, Counting Crows and Offspring joined with old standbys such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles to make 1994 the biggest moneymaking year ever for the music industry. The Recording Industry Assn. of America on Thursday reported $12 billion in revenue for 1994. For the first time, more than 1 billion compact discs, cassettes, vinyl records and music videos were shipped to retailers.

Tougher enforcement of China's anti-piracy laws and broad access for U.S. movie makers and music publishers to Chinese markets are highlights of the U.S.-China trade accord. The agreement calls for: * Comprehensive enforcement of China's intellectual property protection laws, including formation of powerful interagency task forces empowered to raid pirate factories. * A six-month "special enforcement period" beginning March 1, with sweeping crackdowns on counterfeiters of U.S.