RUMOR MILL
Friday, May 26, 2000
ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS, WE POST
Whalley & Thyret, Britney & Eminem, Michaels & O’Keefe, Hilary & Napster This Week’s Fun Couples
A summary of the week's top stories, as brought to you by hitsdailydouble.com:
- AMES PURSUES WHALLEY FOR WARNER POST: WMG boss roger ames',390,400);">roger ames',390,400);">Roger Ames makes a stunning big -bucks offer to Interscope Geffen A&M President Tom Whalley with 20 months left on his contract. (5/23)
- WB VET THYRET DECIDES TO GO FISHING: Long-time Warner Bros. Inc. exec russ thyret',390,400);">russ thyret',390,400);">Russ Thyret ponders his future after finding out about Ames' offer to Whalley. (5/24)BRITNEY SPEARS THE COMPETITION AS FIRST-WEEK MILLIONAIRE: Britney Spears' "Oops… I Did It Again" tops 1.3 million copies over the counter in first-week sales, making her the best-selling female artist ever in that category. (5/23)
- EM-AZING: "THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP" STARTS RETAIL FRENZY: Aftermath/ Interscope rapper rides "The Real Slim Shady" and saturation MTV play into first-week sales that look to top 1.7 million. (5/25)
- MICHAELS & O'KEEFE ARE CLEAR SAILING AT CLEAR CHANNEL: Radio vets Randy Michaels and Kenneth J. O'Keefe will head Clear Channel after their merger with AMFM is finalized. (5/22)
- CONROY GOES HIGH TECH AT BMG ENTERTAINMENT: BMG's lead technology expert kevin conroy',390,400);">kevin conroy',390,400);">Kevin Conroy gets a boost… He now gets to answer all of Christina Aguilera's e-mail. (5/23)
- EDEL STARTS SPREADING THE NEWS CORP: Global entertainment company edel continues its wheeling and dealing by striking a licensing deal with rupert murdoch',390,400);">rupert murdoch',390,400);">Rupert Murdoch. (5/23)
- EMI'S CUP IS HALF FULL: Profits up, marketshare down for U.K. conglom as it heads into WMG merger. (5/23)
- MS. ROSEN GOES TO WASHINGTON: Artists and execs descend on Capitol Hill to debate "Work For Hire" provisions before Congress and pick up on President Clinton's interns. (5/25)
- NAPSTER GETS A HUMMER: Venture capitalist firm Hummer Winblad invests $15 million in Napster and places Hank Barry as its new CEO. The company is also a major investor in Liquid Audio. (5/22)
