There are 50 days left until the Summer Olympics gets underway in London and organizers are promoting the fact with a hashtag on Twitter (#50DaystoGo) and a list of 50 ways for the public to engage with the Games.Continue reading...

Fresh from receiving a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame on Thursday and being feted at the Grammy Awards tonight, Sir Paul McCartney is also featured in a new commercial for JBL by Harrman, which debuted during tonight's CBS broadcast of the Grammy Awards.

The 14-time GRAMMY winner, and 2012 MusicCares recipient, is a "life-long user of JBL equipment in the studio, on tour and at home." The video features his new single, "My Valentine," from the album "Kisses on the Bottom" — an album whose title-mocking he has shrugged off.

The Beatles, of course, are a brand – and that brand has influenced nearly every aspect of American culture, from music to fashion.

Now, Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded many of their iconic songs, is at risk of being sold – and fans are utilizing modern social platforms, Twitter and Facebook, not surprisingly, to voice their feelings and wield influence. Abbey Road was immortalized when the Beatles named an album after the storied recording studio, which to many symbolizes the band’s rock ‘n roll soul.

On a radio show, Paul McCartney encouraged fans to mobilize and save Abbey Road. As a result, The National Trust, a non-profit organization that owns the Liverpool childhood homes of Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney, started soliciting the public's opinion.Continue reading...

They may once have sung "All You Need Is Love." But in case that's not enough, the Beatles unveiled on Monday a high fashion bag collection, in collaboration with Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons.

The collection of bags and shirts come simply spattered with apples and polka dots, the former en homage to Apple Corps, the company controlling the rock stars' legacy. The latter is merely a favorite pattern of the Japanese designer.

“I want to develop the ‘Beatles by CDG’ collection in a strong conceptual way,” said Ms. Kawakubo through an interpreter. “Instead of making many unnecessary items that may come to resemble a Beatles souvenir shop, I think it is better to concentrate on one strong idea.”

The 10 bags are sure to be a hit with the vegan crowd; all are non-leather (consistent with the passion of Paul McCartney's late wife Linda and their daughter, designer Stella McCartney), and are made of embossed polyurethane and printed PVC material. Kawakubo explained the graphic patterns as “deliberately undesigned” and “prototypical shapes.”Continue reading...

Pearl Jam signed up with Target. So did Christina Aguilera. U2 and BlackBerry have a closer relationship than Bono and sunglasses. Selling out is the modern rebellious act for rock and pop stars. And it pays well. Very well.

Recording artists are tossing aside rock 'n' roll taboos, and aligning with corporate sponsors such as Bacardi and retail distributors like Wal-Mart. Struggling record labels can’t compete with the allure of mega-brands and retailers dangling behemoth amounts of money and exposure. According to Bloomberg, “Record labels have cut marketing budgets as they contend with dwindling revenue from CD sales and piracy rates as high as 95 percent for downloaded music.”Continue reading...