Business events
- Scott Joplin signed a contract for a royalty of 1% on every copy sold of “The Maple Leaf Rag”, with a minimum selling price of 25 cents.
- Oscar Hammerstein announced plans to build five opera houses in New York.
- Columbia Records lowered the price of its 12-inch classical records to $1.
- Atlantic Records bought Ray Charles's contract from Swingtime Records. He thereby moved to a label that began steering him toward harder rhythm and blues rather than the polished pop and West Coast blues in which he had previously recorded.
- Savoy Records announced that artists wishing to record cover versions of songs had to obtain permission from the US Copyright Office. The company also revised its royalty system, with royalties now to be calculated according to the number of records manufactured rather than simply those sold.
- At a meeting in Memphis with manager Bob Neal, Colonel Tom Parker and his father Vernon Presley, he signed a new contract that appointed Parker as a “special adviser” with control over virtually every aspect of Elvis's career. On the same day, Mitch Miller of RCA Victor rejected a proposal to offer $20,000 to acquire Elvis, saying that no singer was worth that amount.
- The J.P. Seeburg Corporation introduced its new Dual Music System jukebox, the first equipped to hold one hundred singles and two-song-per-side Extended Play discs.
- Colonel Tom Parker became Elvis's “special adviser” and effectively took over his management duties from Bob Neal.
- An official Elvis Presley fan club was established in the United Kingdom.
- Cliff Richard signed a recording contract with EMI Records that would last for the next 45 years. He also began a four-week engagement at Butlins Holiday Camp in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, as Cliff Richard and the Drifters. His debut single “Move It” followed in the UK on August 29, reaching No. 2.
- Elvis Presley bought a black Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II.
- Barbra Streisand signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. Although financially modest, the contract gave her creative control over her music.
- Brian Epstein signed The Beatles’ first formal management contract with the group. John Lennon and Ringo Starr signed it themselves, while the parents of the underage George Harrison and Paul McCartney signed on their behalf. The contract entitled Epstein to 25% of the group’s income above a specified earnings threshold.
- Jerry Lee Lewis accepted a $9,500 offer to perform at the opening of the new Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas.
- The Browns became members of the Grand Ole Opry.
- Frank Sinatra sold two-thirds of his record company Reprise to Warner Brothers, which subsequently took over its operation.
- The record company Reprise Records, owned by Frank Sinatra, became part of Warner Brothers Records.
- Brian Epstein signed a contract to manage the New Christy Minstrels, whose members in subsequent years would include Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes and Barry McGuire.
- The Rolling Stones announced that Allen Klein, whom they had met three days earlier, would become their manager alongside Andrew Loog Oldham. At the same time, The Rolling Stones signed a five-year recording contract with Decca Records.
- The Who had their equipment van stolen outside Battersea Dogs' Home in England while they were inside getting a guard dog. One source valued the equipment at $10,000, while another put it at more than £5,000. The van was later recovered. Some sources describe the incident as the theft of the van and equipment, while others emphasize the theft of equipment from the van.
- The Beatles announced that they would manage their own affairs following the death of their manager Brian Epstein.
- Following the death of manager Brian Epstein, The Beatles met at Paul McCartney's house in St. John's Wood, London, to discuss their future. They decided not to seek a new manager and to manage their business affairs themselves, with McCartney taking over most business decisions. At the same time, they postponed their planned trip to India and began production of the long-delayed film Magical Mystery Tour, for which they had already recorded “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Your Mother Should Know.” McCartney presented the others with his idea for a film based on “Magical Mystery Tour.” This decision contributed to the creation of Apple Corps.
- The Beatles officially launched their own multimedia company and record label, Apple Corps.
- Elton John signed a recording contract as a solo artist with Uni Records, a division of MCA Records.
- A party was held in New York to celebrate the official opening of Electric Ladyland Studios.
- A celebration of the official opening of Electric Ladyland Studios was held in New York. Jimi Hendrix had opened the studio. He died a few months later, but the studio continued operating and was later used for recordings by John Lennon, AC/DC, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa and Guns N’ Roses, among others.
- In New York City, an official celebration was held for the opening of Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village, a studio complex founded by Jimi Hendrix. The studio took a year to build and cost one million dollars. Guests included Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ron Wood and the then little-known Patti Smith. Artists who later recorded there included Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, AC/DC, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa and Guns N' Roses. Hendrix subsequently traveled to London to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival and died before he could return to the studio to record.
- After performing at Max's Kansas City in New York City, Aerosmith signed a recording contract with Clive Davis at Columbia Records (CBS Records) worth $125,000.
- Elvis Presley attended a press conference with Colonel Parker and the president of RCA at which the Aloha from Hawaii show, scheduled for January 14 of the following year, was announced.
- Producer Bill Aucoin saw KISS perform at a New York hotel, offered to become their manager and promised them a recording contract.
- Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell left Wings because they did not want to travel with Paul McCartney to Nigeria to record Band On The Run. Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and Denny Laine therefore recorded the album as a trio.
- Eric Clapton received a gold record for the album "461 Ocean Boulevard", which contained his No. 1 hit "I Shot the Sheriff". The album was later certified platinum in the U.S. for sales of more than one million copies.
- Roberta Flack's song “Feel Like Makin' Love” received a gold certification.
- George Harrison founded his own record label, Dark Horse Records.
- Elvis Presley leased a private aircraft for one year. He paid a $26,000 deposit and a monthly rental fee of $13,000.
- Stevie Wonder signed a seven-year, seven-album deal with Tamla/Motown worth a total of $37 million. The contract included a guaranteed $13 million advance, high royalty rates, performance bonuses and extensive artistic control over his music.
- Don Kirshner staged the first Rock Music Award Show in Santa Monica, California. Among the honorees were Eagles, Stevie Wonder and Bad Company.
- He canceled the rental of a Fairchild aircraft and instead purchased a Jet Commander for $508,000. He later flew from Memphis to Las Vegas, but due to breathing difficulties, the aircraft had to make an unplanned landing in Dallas. After resting for several hours at a motel, he continued his journey.
- Sex Pistols received a £40,000 signing bonus after signing a recording contract with EMI Records.
- The Sex Pistols signed with EMI Records for £40,000 (about $68,000). Three months later EMI terminated the contract, stopped production of "Anarchy in the U.K." and deleted it from its catalogue, saying the volume of adverse publicity surrounding the band made it impossible to promote their records.
- The Who purchased Shepperton Studios in London for half a million dollars.
- The Buzzcocks signed a contract with United Artists, an EMI label.
- California Governor Jerry Brown appointed singer and longtime environmental activist Helen Reddy to the state Parks Commission.
- Blondie signed their first contract with a major record label, Chrysalis Records. The group had been signed to the independent label Private Stock Records, which released their self-titled debut album in late 1976. Chrysalis Records bought out their existing contract with Private Stock and acquired the rights to the original recordings.
- Def Leppard signed a contract with Phonogram Records with an initial advance of £120,000 ($180,000) and a 10 percent share of sales during the first two years.
- Despite a long run of hit records in the UK, Gary Glitter declared bankruptcy.
- Sony launched the first commercially available compact disc player, the CDP-101, in Tokyo. The device cost 168,000 yen, equivalent according to different source variants to approximately $650–$730.
- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened its doors.
- Eighteen-year-old Sinéad O'Connor signed a contract with Ensign Records. Her debut album, “The Lion and the Cobra,” was released two years later.
- He outbid Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono at auction and acquired ATV Music Publishing for $47.5 million, a company controlling the rights to The Beatles' catalog. The catalog contained the rights to more than 4,000 songs, approximately 250 of which were Beatles compositions. Three years after their collaboration on “The Girl Is Mine”, Paul McCartney recommended that Jackson invest in music publishing rights. McCartney had previously negotiated with Yoko Ono, who withdrew from the deal for “astrological” reasons. The investment proved highly profitable but permanently damaged the friendship between Jackson and McCartney.
- Forbes magazine ranked New Kids On The Block among the five highest-earning American artists, with the group reportedly earning $78 million during the previous year.
- Prince extended his contract with Warner Bros. in a deal reportedly worth $100 million, although the actual value was significantly lower.
- PolyGram purchased Motown Records from investment company Boston Ventures for $301 million.
- Apple Records won an auction for a rare recording of The Beatles performing “Kansas City” and “Some Other Guy” at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1962, paying £16,000 for the acetate disc.
- A two-sided acetate recording of The Beatles featuring live recordings of “Kansas City” and “Some Other Guy” from the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1962 was sold at Christie's auction in London for $32,000 (£16,500), which at the time was a record price for a recording.
- Rick Rubin changed the name of his record label Def American Recordings to American Recordings because he felt that the word “Def” was overused in pop culture as a synonym for “cool” and had been exhausted after being added to the Webster's dictionary. He staged a symbolic funeral ceremony at the Hollywood Forever cemetery in Los Angeles, which included a eulogy by Reverend Al Sharpton and the burial of a coffin filled with records.
- Motown Records was sold to the Dutch record and entertainment company PolyGram for $325 million. This was more than five times the $61 million received by founder Berry Gordy when he sold the company in 1988.
- The Clarence Hotel in Dublin, owned by members of U2, was damaged by a fire that took more than three hours to bring under control. The nightclub The Kitchen, located in the same building, was also affected and had to be evacuated.
- Microsoft introduced the Windows 95 operating system, whose startup music was composed by Brian Eno, a pioneer of ambient music who released the album „Ambient 1: Music for Airports“ in 1978, designed to calm travelers at airports.
- A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in Cleveland, Ohio, to mark the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The museum officially opened the following day.
- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame building opened in Cleveland, Ohio. Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Little Richard, The Allman Brothers, Boz Scaggs, James Brown and Martha Reeves were among those who performed at the opening ceremony.
- A federal appeals court overturned a ruling that original Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers members Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago had co-written the hit “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?”. The court ruled that copyright claims must be filed within three years of a song's publication.
- Geri Halliwell announced that she would sell some of the Spice Girls’ clothing in a charity auction. Her PVC jumpsuit was offered for £5,000, knee-high boots for £1,200, and the Union Jack dress she wore at the Brit Awards for £8,000.
- David Bowie launched his own internet service, Bowienet. The service offered basic internet services as well as exclusive news and releases related to Bowie.
- The Crossroads Centre, funded by Eric Clapton, opened in Antigua. It provided treatment for people with drug and alcohol addictions and pledged not to turn away anyone who needed help.
- The online music service Myplay.com was launched, entering a highly competitive online music market.
- Liverpool music retailer Rushworth and Dreaper closed after approximately 150 years in business. The store became renowned for supplying musical instruments to The Beatles and other Liverpool bands.
- The Jimi Hendrix estate won an international arbitration case over the domain name www.jimihendrix.com. The World Intellectual Property Organization ruled that the then-holder, Denny Hammerton, had no legitimate claim to the domain and had registered and used it in bad faith.
- Attorneys general from 28 U.S. states filed a class-action lawsuit against major record companies over alleged efforts to keep CD prices high and penalize retailers that sold them below the minimum price set by the labels. The case was later settled for $143 million, and millions of customers who purchased CDs between 1995 and 2000 received compensation.
- The Spice Girls held five places on a list of the twenty highest-earning British celebrities serving as company directors. The companies Monsta Productions, Moody Productions, Red Girl Productions, Moneyspider Productions and Geri Productions each earned £6 million.
- The Recording Industry Association of America introduced rules for labeling recordings containing material considered unsuitable for children in the United States.
- Whitney Houston signed a new recording contract with Arista Records worth more than $100 million — reported at the time as the largest recording deal for a female artist.
- Earth, Wind & Fire announced that their planned U.S. tour celebrating the group's 30th anniversary would be sponsored by a company that manufactured Viagra.
- The original version of the peer-to-peer file-sharing program Napster officially ended after a planned takeover by Bertelsmann Entertainment Group could not be completed during the bankruptcy proceedings. Napster subsequently laid off all employees, and its homepage displayed “Napster Was Here”. The brand later returned as a paid service.
- Robbie Williams signed an £80 million deal with EMI Records, which at the time was described as the most lucrative or highest-value British recording contract in history.
- Tickets for Duran Duran's reunion concert at London's Kentish Town Forum sold out in four minutes.
- Eric Clapton purchased a 50% stake in the London menswear store Cordings to help save the historic business from closure.
- The iTunes Music Store became the first store with a catalog containing more than one million songs.
- Queen became the first rock group to receive official permission to operate in Iran, where Western music was strictly prohibited. Freddie Mercury was of Iranian heritage, and Queen albums had been available in the country for years through unofficial copies.
- The iTunes Music Store reached 125 million songs sold.
- After 46 years, Cliff Richard ended his contract with EMI Records and signed with Universal Music. During his time with EMI, he sold more than 250 million records.
- AC/DC Lane, a street named after the Australian rock band, was officially opened in Melbourne. During the ceremony, the band’s song “Long Way to the Top” was played on bagpipes.
- Britney Spears ended her professional relationship with manager Larry Rudolph, who had managed her career since she was 13. Rudolph said that he and the singer had mutually agreed not to renew their management relationship after nine years.
- Apple launched the iTunes Music Store in Japan with a catalog of one million songs.
- Toby Keith announced that he was founding his own record company, Show Dog Nashville Records.
- A silver 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow that belonged to Freddie Mercury was offered for sale on eBay by his sister and heir, Kashmira Cooke. The car had not been seen publicly since 2002, when it transported the Bulsara family to the premiere of Queen's musical We Will Rock You. A box of Kleenex Mansize tissues that Mercury had reportedly left inside was said to still be there.
- Elvis Presley Enterprises announced plans for a major redevelopment of the Graceland complex, including a new visitor center, hotel, and modern multimedia exhibits.
- Procter & Gamble secured a license to use The Beatles' song “All You Need Is Love” in a television advertisement for Luvs diapers.
- The American National Music Publishers' Association joined legal action against YouTube over claims that songwriters were not properly compensated for the use of their music on the platform.
- Jon Foreman, frontman of Switchfoot, announced that the band had left Columbia Records. Switchfoot subsequently founded their own label, lowercase people records.
- Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders opened Mark Lindsay's Rock And Roll Cafe in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. The restaurant closed the following year.
- The Veronicas' fashion collection for the Target retail chain was launched in Australia.
- Radiohead’s official website crashed after the band announced that their album “In Rainbows” could be ordered through their own website. Fans could pre-order the digital version for any price they chose, while a special physical package costing £40 contained two CDs, two vinyl records, artwork, and booklets.
- The first guitar Jimi Hendrix famously set on fire on stage sold for £280,000 at a rock memorabilia auction. It was a 1965 Fender Stratocaster that Hendrix set alight at the end of his 1967 concert at the Astoria in Finsbury Park, London. At the same London auction, the Beatles' first management contract, signed in 1962 by all four members and manager Brian Epstein, sold for £240,000. One source states that the guitar was sold by British auction house The Fame Bureau for approximately $575,000.
- Apple launched the iTunes Store in Mexico with an extensive catalog of music from major and independent record labels.
- Madonna launched her “Material Girl” fashion brand through Macy’s, targeting teenage girls. Her daughter Lourdes also helped with the project.
- Plans were announced for an auction of a toilet from John Lennon's luxury estate, Tittenhurst Park, in Berkshire. Lennon used the floral-patterned porcelain toilet while living at the estate from 1969 to 1971. When it was replaced, he reportedly told builder John Hancock to keep it and “use it as a flower pot”. Instead, Hancock stored it in his shed for 40 years, and after his death, his family offered it for sale. It was expected to sell for $1,500. However, the August 28, 2010 auction far exceeded expectations, with the item acquired by a private overseas bidder for £9,500, approximately $14,740, nearly ten times the original estimate.
- Apple launched the social network Ping, which was integrated into iTunes. The service was discontinued two years later.
- Elton John filed a lawsuit against the British newspaper The Times over an article published on June 21 that linked him to a tax avoidance scheme. The case was settled in October when the British High Court ruled in favor of The Times.
- Members of Mötley Crüe and KISS announced a $100,000 donation to support victims of the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado.
- Kiss and Motley Crue jointly donated $100,000 to the families of victims of the Aurora, Colorado, shooting during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises”. The attack left 12 people dead and 58 others injured.
- According to Celebrity Net Worth, Ringo Starr was the world’s richest drummer in 2012, with an estimated fortune of $300 million. He was followed by Phil Collins with $250 million, Dave Grohl with $225 million, Don Henley with $200 million, and Lars Ulrich with $175 million. The top ten also included Larry Mullen of U2 and Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones.
- An oil painting by German artist Gerhard Richter, owned by Eric Clapton, sold at auction for £21 million ($34 million), then an auction record for a work by a living artist. Clapton planned to donate the proceeds to the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, the rehabilitation facility he founded.
- Nielsen SoundScan reported that U.S. album sales for the week ending July 28 totaled 4.68 million units, the lowest figure since the tracking system was introduced in 1991.
- Madonna was named by Forbes as the highest-earning celebrity of the previous year. It estimated that she earned $125 million from the MDNA Tour and her clothing and beauty projects.
- Kimberley Rew sold the rights to “Walking on Sunshine” and his remaining catalog to BMG for $16 million.
- Columbia House, the mail-order music club that originally offered customers eight albums for one dollar, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after nearly two decades of declining sales. The company was founded in 1955 by CBS’s Columbia Records division, and its sales gradually declined first because of Napster and later because of iTunes, Amazon and Netflix. BMG, a longtime competitor, bought the company in 2005, and it ended its mail-order business in 2009.
- Judge R. Gary Klausner denied Led Zeppelin and its publishing company nearly $800,000 in legal fees related to the lawsuit over whether the band had plagiarized the chord progression in “Stairway to Heaven”.
- Paul McCartney signed a worldwide recording agreement with Capitol Records and returned his solo catalog of original master recordings to the label associated with the US releases of the Beatles' recordings.
- Trumpeter Herb Alpert donated $10.1 million to Los Angeles City College, enabling the school to provide students in music programmes with free tuition and individual lessons for several years.
- The REDD.37 mixing console used at EMI Abbey Road Studios to record the first Beatles tracks was offered for sale by Vintage King Audio. No price was given. In January 1964, the console had been replaced by the newer REDD.51 model.
- Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May announced that an asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter had been named after Freddie Mercury in honor of what would have been his 70th birthday.
- The mobile home once owned by Elvis and Priscilla Presley was auctioned together with Michael Jackson's glove at the GWS Auctions “Legends: Iconic Film and Music Memorabilia Auction”.
- During his concert in Hannover on August 2, 2019, Ed Sheeran broke U2’s record for the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. His Divide Tour surpassed the $735.3 million gross generated by U2’s 360° Tour.
- Published accounts showed that Ed Sheeran Ltd made a gross profit of £23,770,262 in 2018, equivalent to approximately £65,124 per day. He paid £4,506,139 in taxes.
- A guitar played by Jimi Hendrix in the early 1960s was sold at auction for $216,000. Hendrix used it, among other things, as a backing guitarist for Wilson Pickett, Slim Harpo, Sam Cooke, Ike & Tina Turner, Jackie Wilson and The Isley Brothers.
- Forbes named Rihanna the world's wealthiest female musician, with an estimated fortune of $1.7 billion, with the majority of her wealth coming from Fenty Beauty.
- Gene Simmons of KISS confirmed that the band had dropped former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth as the opening act for their current tour. Approximately one week later, Simmons publicly apologized for his remarks.
- The auction house Gotta Have Rock & Roll offered for sale the BTR2 recording console used at EMI Abbey Road Studios to record The Beatles, Pink Floyd and other artists.
- Taylor Swift gave her truck drivers on the Eras Tour an extraordinary $100,000 bonus each in recognition of their work. Total bonuses reportedly exceeded $55 million for performers and crew members.
- Sean “Diddy” Combs donated $1 million to the Earn Your Leisure fund to support financial literacy and subsequently donated another $1 million to the football team of Jackson State University in support of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Diddy is an alumnus of the HBCU Howard University.
- A Houses Of The Holy album cover signed by all four members of Led Zeppelin was sold at auction for £15,000, even though it did not include the actual record. The item was exceptionally rare because of drummer John Bonham’s death in 1980 and the subsequent breakup of the group.
- Pitbull became the first artist to acquire naming rights to a stadium when he signed a 10-year, $12 million agreement with Florida International University to rename its stadium Pitbull Stadium. The deal also included the opportunity to host concerts and festivals there.
- Three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna were canceled because of a potential security threat. The shows were scheduled as part of her Eras Tour at Ernst Happel Stadium.
- Oasis announced two additional concerts at Wembley Stadium in London due to “unprecedented demand” for tickets for their reunion tour. The band said all ticketing platforms had struggled to cope with the demand. In the same statement, Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher and the other members publicly distanced the band from Ticketmaster's decision to use dynamic pricing during the sale. This led to an angry reaction from fans on social media.
- It was discovered that David Bowie had begun work on another project before his death. In his own notes, he described it as an “18th-century musical” titled The Spectator. Its existence was unknown until it was discovered locked away in his study. The materials were later donated to the V&A museum along with another part of Bowie's archive. Had it been completed, the musical would have fulfilled one of Bowie's lifelong ambitions.
- Mass layoffs were announced at the music websites Alternative Press, BrooklynVegan, Revolver and Goldmine. The sites had previously been acquired by Veeps, which is controlled by Live Nation along with Good Charlotte founders Joel and Benji Madden.