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Are you a college student who has recently travelled to Iran?

mtvU is looking for college students who may have any submissions in the form of journal entries, stories, photos, and/ or video footage of recent trips to Iran that you would potentially want to share with our audience in a segment on Iran this fall.

If interested, please e-mail us at iran@mtvu.com. Include your name, age, school, how recently you visited Iran, as well as what materials or stories you'd be willing to submit to the segment for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.

More info over here http://www.mtv.com .

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Eminem Says He's 'Taking a Break'

Is Eminem headed for retirement — or just taking a break? Earlier this month, reports from his hometown of Detroit quoted sources as saying the 32-year-old rapper would play his last concert at Slane Castle in Dublin, Ireland, on Sept. 17, at the end of "Anger Management" tour.

In a posting on its Web site, MTV quotes Eminem as saying, "I'm not retiring," and also denying that "Encore" is his last album.

Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, is quoted as saying: "When I say I'm taking a break, I'm taking a break from my music to go in the studio and produce my other artists and put their albums out."

He is also quoted as saying, "When I know my next move, I'll tell everyone my next move. Not some reporter who writes a story about `This is Eminem's last album.' I never said (`Encore') was my last album."

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No copyright violation in 'Fixin' to Die Rag'-court

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court has rejected a lawsuit charging 1960s psychedelic rocker Country Joe McDonald with copyright infringement for his 1965 protest song "Fixin' to Die Rag," which became a rallying cry for opposition to the Vietnam War.

a decision made public on Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from Babette Ory, who said McDonald's song infringed on jazz standard "Muskrat Ramble," credited to her father, Kid Ory.

Ory sued in September 2001, claiming that "Fixin' to Die Rag" was similar to and infringed on "Muskrat Ramble." Kid Ory, who recorded with jazz great Louis Armstrong, died in 1973.

The appellate judges upheld a lower-court decision saying there was too long a delay in bringing the copyright lawsuit and awarded McDonald his attorney fees. Ory obtained copyright to "Muskrat Ramble" in 2001.

McDonald wrote "Fixing To Die Rag" in 1965 to protest the nation's escalating military involvement in Vietnam and the song's refrain: "And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for?" quickly turned into a rallying cry against the war and figured prominently at the Woodstock music festival in 1969.

[Rasputin]

US fans shun Michael Jackson CD

Michael Jackson's latest greatest hits album has sold just 8,000 copies in the US in its first week of release, reaching number 128 in the chart.

The Essential Michael Jackson is the star's first release since he was cleared of child abuse a month ago.

Jackson's two-disc set went straight to number two in the UK - but he failed to match that success in his home country.

The number one US album, multi-artist compilation CD Now 19, sold 436,000 copies in its first week.

Jackson faces a struggle to repair his image and repay debts that prosecutors in his trial claimed amounted to $300m.

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Coldplay's 'X&Y' reaches double platinum

NEW YORK (Billboard) - A little more than a month after its release, Coldplay's "X&Y" has been certified double-platinum in July by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).



The trade group verified shipments of 2 million copies of the Capitol set to U.S. retailers. (Actual sales to consumers stand at 1.76 million copies as at July 31, according to Nielsen SoundScan.)

The feat follows a trend for the U.K.-based band, whose 2000 debut, "Parachutes," is also double-platinum, while 2002's "A Rush of Blood to the Head" has reached the triple-platinum mark.

Others reaching new multi-platinum heights in July included a pair of superstar country acts, Brooks & Dunn and Kenny Chesney. The former's 1997 Arista Nashville "Greatest Hits" set reached quadruple platinum as did the latter's 2004 BNA release "When the Sun Goes Down."

Kelly Clarkson's sophomore RCA album "Breakaway" tipped the RIAA's scales at triple platinum last month, while Velvet Revolver's "Contraband" (RCA) and Disney's "The Lizzie McGuire Soundtrack" were each certified for U.S. shipments of 2 million copies.

George Strait notched double-platinum in July with two separate MCA Nashville albums. His latest studio set, "Somewhere Down in Texas," released in late June, was certified platinum for U.S. shipments of 1 million copies, even though Nielsen SoundScan reports sales at just 472,000. In addition, his 2002 "20th Century Masters-The Millennium Collection" also reached the same plateau. According to the RIAA, Strait has 30 platinum albums to his credit.

Also reaching platinum in July were Audioslave's "Out of Exile" (Interscope), the Backstreet Boys' "Never Gone" (Jive), the Black Eyed Peas' "Monkey Business" (A&M), the Foo Fighters' "In Your Honor" (RCA), Il Divo's "Il Divo" (RCA), Jay-Z and Linkin Park's "Collision Course" (Warner Bros.) and Sugarland's "Twice the Speed of Light" (Mercury Nashville).

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ATLANTA (Billboard) - Popular music artists Usher and 50 Cent tied for top winner at the Billboard-American Urban Radio Networks 2005 R&B/Hip-Hop Awards on Friday night.

The two performers each earned three statuettes. Tied at two awards each were Mario and Alicia Keys. Jonathan "Lil Jon" Smith, who led the field as a finalist in five categories, earned kudos as top R&B/hip-hop producer.

The Aug. 5 ceremony, staged at the Compound nightclub in Atlanta, wrapped the sixth annual Billboard-AURN R&B/Hip-Hop Conference, which began Aug. 3. This was the first time the conference and awards show were held in Atlanta; previous sites were Miami and New York.

Usher's wins included top R&B/hip-hop artist, male artist and singles artist. 50 Cent's "The Massacre" landed him plaudits for top R&B/hip-hop album and albums artist, plus top rap album.

Keys was awarded statuettes for top R&B/hip-hop songwriter and female artist. Mario's R&B/pop No. 1 crossover single "Let Me Love You" earned accolades for top R&B/hip-hop single and single (airplay).

Fantasia and the Game were first-time R&B/hip-hop award winners. Fantasia's "I Believe" won for top R&B/hip-hop single (sales). The Game claimed the new R&B/hip-hop artist award. Destiny's Child, which is disbanding after wrapping its current tour in September, was awarded top R&B/hip-hop duo or group.

Interscope wrested the title of top R&B/hip-hop major label from last year's winner, Island Def Jam Music Group. Repeating as the top independent label was TVT.

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LISBON Portugal said on Tuesday it would award Irish rockers U2 the country's Order of Liberty to honor the band's humanitarian efforts.


President Jorge Sampaio will award the Dublin four -- lead singer Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. -- before a concert in Lisbon on Sunday.

"Over the last 25 years the band has allied its public exposure gained through musical success with the defense of humanitarian causes and human rights," a presidential spokeswoman said.

Bono was a major figure in the Live Aid concert for Ethiopian famine relief 20 years ago and has since campaigned for the world's poor. U2 were also involved in last month's Live 8 concert held to pressure rich nations to allieviate poverty.

[Rasputin]

Eminem hospitalized for drug dependency

LOS ANGELES , Rap star Eminem has been hospitalized for dependency on sleep medication, his label said on Thursday, two days after the recording artist canceled a European tour due to "exhaustion" and "other medical issues."

The back-to-back announcements come weeks after the Detroit Free Press reported that the Grammy-winning rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, might retire at the end of his "Anger Management" tour, which also featured his protege, 50 Cent.

Eminem, who turns 33 in October, flatly denied such plans, but has said he wants to focus more on producing artists for his Shady Records label. The North American leg of the tour wrapped recently.

"Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, is in the hospital under doctors' care," Interscope Records said in a statement. "He's being treated for dependency on sleep medication."

A publicist at the Universal Music Group label declined to give further details, including information about where and or for how long the rap star had been hospitalized.

On Tuesday, Eminem said through his label that he was canceling the European leg of his tour, scheduled to run from September 1 in Hamburg to September 17 near Dublin, citing "exhaustion, complicated by other medical issues." Those dates were not expected to be rescheduled, the statement added.

Eminem became a smash sensation in the last six years with a series of Grammy-winning albums, despite critics who condemned many of his lyrics as homophobic, misogynist and excessively violent.

His current release, "Encore," toned down the rhetoric, and included an anti-war single.

He won an Academy Award in 2003 for co-writing a song that appeared on the hit movie "8 Mile," a semi-autobiographical release in which he also starred.

[Rasputin]

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Back in his days with Pink Floyd, Roger Waters took on the big issues of life. In high-concept projects like "The Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall," he grappled with such challenging topics as social oppression, the long shadows of war, the interplay of money and power, and the abuse of authority.

Since 1989, Waters wrestled with many of those same concerns in a genre new to him: opera. The result, "Ca Ira," an opera set during the French Revolution, arrives in stores September 27 from Columbia/Sony BMG Masterworks.

Spread over two Super Audio CDs and accompanied by a "making of" DVD and a lavish 60-page booklet, the recording features an accomplished cast, including bass baritone Bryn Terfel, soprano Ying Huang and tenor Paul Groves.

The opera's setting and themes were inspired by a libretto written for the French Revolution's bicentennial by songwriter Etienne Roda-Gil and his wife, Nadine, who also created illustrations for their co-written text. (Some of those images are included in the booklet.) Introduced to the couple by a mutual friend, Waters took on the task of writing the music for the opera, whose characters include King Louis Capet, Marie Antoinette and the revolutionaries who changed the course of history.

"Eventually, though," Waters recalls, "Sony urged me to use English instead of French, so I wrote an English version of Etienne and Nadine's work, and then I felt compelled to expand on their original text. Their work was really a series of gorgeous tableaux, and I added more personal narrative and history for some of the characters."

Waters' music recalls the lush, hyper-Romantic sound of opera composers like Puccini. "(He is) definitely an inspiration," concurs Waters, who also sees common ground between his rock compositions and some of Puccini's work: "After all, his opera 'Tosca' takes place in a police state."

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Music Watch for August 2005 II

Kurdish Tanbur at Niavaran Palace
{Ali Akbar Moradi} will perform at NIAVARAN Palace 1-2 September. He will be accompanied by {Pezham Akhvas} on daf and tonbak. Moradi says that the program will be in four parts, reflecting the four seasons, although the seasons start with the summer, rather than spring, as it is customary in the Iranian calendar.

Moradi's last concert in Tehran was 7 years ago, but he is an establish musician outside the country, having appeared in numerous performances with kamancheh player {Keyhan Kalhor} and percussionist {Pezhman Haddadi}. His last concert outside Iran was in London in July. His last published work in Iran, Sama'e Mastaneh (Mahoor Records), is eight months old.

The concert is organized by AVAKHORSHID Records, which will release the concert's DVD soon. Ali Akbar Moradi is not only a distinguished tanbur player but a music scholar who has worked on the maqams of the music of Kermanshah. He has published the result of his research in 4 CDs in Europe. These CDs are not available in Iran.

[Rasputin]

Music Watch for August 2005 III

An Album That Breaks Every Professional Rule of the Game
Vaqe'e is a newly released album whose publication would no doubt have been impossible outside the country. It is not unlike a karaoke recording done at home. Vaqe'e appropriates the music of established band AXIOM OF CHOICE, a band whose core members are Iranians living in Los Angeles. Axiom's three albums were released outside the country and because their lead singer, {Mamak Khadem}, is a woman, they cannot be published in Iran.

Two years ago, when Khadem traveled to Iran, she was offered a deal by which a male voice would appear next to hers in selected Axiom pieces to legitimize their publication in Iran. She and the other Axiom member, {Ramin Torkian}, adamantly protested such a move. When Khadem came back to Iran in the following year, she learned that an album has been published in which a {Homayoun Kazemi} was said to have "cooperated" with Torkian and Khadem on it.

Despite Axiom's numerous appeals to AVAYE BARBAD Records to revoke the album, the company has gone on with its sales. Finally, Khadem went to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance with her grievance, and the Ministry's answer was the last straw: Since Axiom has published its albums abroad, the country's intellectual property rights do not apply to them. As such, anyone can claim the work as his or hers.

[Rasputin]

Red-hot Coldplay plans spring tour

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - Coldplay's ongoing Twisted Logic tour is doing huge business at the box office in North America, but the U.K. group already has its sights set on a return engagement.

After the December 20 close of a European tour, Coldplay will return to North America in February for an arena tour that will run through mid-April, the group told Billboard.

The current tour is proving as successful as Coldplay's third Capitol album, "X&Y," which in 11 weeks has sold 1.9 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

[Rasputin]

ANDY & SIAVASH IN CONCERT

Event Type
Concert

Date And Time
8:00 PM Sunday, Aug 28

Event Area
Los Angeles

Event Location
Greek Theatre

Description
See the Greats: Andy, Siavash Ghomeishi and Mansour Live in Concert!
Admission Fee

Contact Info
Greek Theatre. Los Angeles Tickets are available at stores and also at tickemaster.com

[Rasputin]

LOS ANGELES - A subdued Courtney Love, clutching a copy of Bob Dylan's autobiography, was sentenced on Friday to 180 days in jail for violating her probation, but will serve her time in a live-in drug treatment center.

The troubled rocker has been living at a lock-down substance abuse facility since admitting in August she had used drugs, a violation of her probation. A Los Angeles judge said she would be spared jail time because of the headway she made in rehabilitation.

"I'm very pleased with your progress. I think this is an excellent first step on the road to recovery," Superior Court Judge Rand Rubin told Love after studying a report on her treatment.

The 41-year-old singer, who came to court carrying Dylan's book "Chronicles" and wearing dark sunglasses, will not be allowed to leave the clinic except for emergencies and would be subject to random drug tests. Rubin ordered her back to court on November 18 and extended her probation, which stems from drug and assault convictions, until March 2007.

"Thank you very much, your honor," Love said quietly, before leaving court with an eight-person entourage. A man who was with Love, the former singer for rock group Hole, barred journalists from riding in a courthouse elevator with her and shoved a reporter who tried.