Scans from China.
Category: Magazines.

HIT magazine

Scans from the USA.
Category: Magazines.

Scans by JPASC24.

Live Nation response about Madonna tour in Japan and Australia.
Category: Live Performances & Tours.

Our reader Joseph from Sidney contacted Live Nation about Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour in Japan or Australia.

Here is the response from Live Nation:

"Hello Joseph, and thank you for your enquiry.

Unfortunately, there is no plan for her to play either Japan or Australia this time out. The tour schedule is Europe and North America, and has been set."

Noth American premiere of ''Filth & Wisdom''.
Category: Movies.

From Variety.com:

The Provincetown Film Festival will mark its ninth anni with the opening night North American preem of Madonna-helmed drama "Filth & Wisdom."

Indie fest runs June 18-22 and will showcase domestic and foreign films along with panels and industry kudos on the tip of Cape Cod, Mass.

Thesps Gael Garcia Bernal and Jane Lynch will be feted along with multihyphenate Quentin Tarantino, for the Filmmaker on the Edge award.

Clark Gregg’s "Choke" will close the fest, and James Marsh’s doc about a daredevil tightrope walker, "Man on Wire" will unspool in the centerpiece selections with helmer Alan Ball’s "Towelhead."

Fest will honor all 10 previous Filmmaker on the Edge recipients: John Waters, Christine Vachon, Ted Hope, James Schamus, Gus Van Sant, Todd Haynes, Jim Jarmusch, Mary Harron, Gregg Araki and Todd Solondz with some of the past honorees in attendance.

Thanks to Sino.

BACK from Paris: Thanks for the making us attend this GREAT SHOW!
Category: Live Performances & Tours.

DrownedMadonna.com had less updates during the latest days, but we are now back from Paris and the site will be updated as always for the pleasure of sharing love and passion with other Madonna's fans and trying to show what's the real Madonna's world, besides what the press says.

DrownedMadonna.com wants to thank Madonna, Sara and Guy for giving us the VIP tickets for the Hard Candy Promo Tour at L'Olympia Hall in Paris.

Photo reportage coming soon...

Media Release: Madonna Hard Candy debuts at #1 Around the World.
Category: Music.

MADONNA’S HARD CANDY DEBUTS AT #1
AROUND THE WORLD
Album has biggest one week Canadian sales in 2008

It seems that the entire world has quite an appetite forMadonna’s new album, Hard Candy,with the record debuting at number one in no fewer than 27 countries. Inaddition to debuting at the top of the chart in Canadaand the United States inNorth America, the album has also entered at number one in the UnitedKingdom, Ireland,Australia, Germany,Italy, France,Japan, Holland,South Africa, Sweden,Finland and Slovakia,to name just a few.

In Canada,Neilsen SoundScan, the firm that measures actual sales of music in North America, Hard Candyhas debuted at #1 with over 57,000 physical and digital albums sold, alreadymaking Hard Candy the fourth bestselling album in this country in 2008.

Today’s announcement is just the latest in a series of recordbreaking performances that this record has been making. In April, “4Minutes,” the first single from HardCandy, had also debuted at #1 on the Digital Tracks Sales Chart withthe highest one week total sales since the establishment of the chart in2005. This followed the news a week previous that “4 Minutes”had become the first single to debut at #1 on the CHR chart in the history of BDS in Canada.

Hard Candyfeatures Justin Timberlake on multiple tracks and production by Timberlake,Pharrell Williams, Timbaland and Nate “Danja” Hills. “4Minutes” was co-written by Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.

Madonna's Newsletter on her Stiky & Sweet Tour.
Category: Live Performances & Tours.

Live Nation on Madonna not touring Sweden.
Category: Live Performances & Tours.

As you know, Madonna won’t be visiting Sweden on her Sticky & Sweet tour. It’s the fifth time in a row she doesn't visit Sweden on a tour.

Thomas Johansson at Live Nation confirmes the bad news, saying that Swedish venues aren’t modern enough for Madonna. The chances of a Madonna concert in Scandinavia would have been better of they weren’t so far from the other places she will be visiting. Madonna aims for playing in Central Europe, on the most modern venues.

Thomas Johansson is however very optimistic about Madonna visiting Sweden on some future tour.

Fresh Paparazzi Photos 10 may 2008
Category: Photos.
    

 

Madonna endorses secondary ticket markets
Category: Live Performances & Tours.

Madonna endorses secondary ticket markets

Madonna is endorsing the sell-on of concert tickets, condemned by some concert promoters as scalping or touting, by making two leading companies in the secondary ticket market official partners for her forthcoming Sticky & Sweet tour of North America and Europe.

StubHub will be able to trade tickets for her North American concerts, while Viagogo has been given the rights to be secondary ticket partner in Europe, as well as handling VIP packages and all premium tickets.

The deals mark a breakthrough for a practice which has been strongly opposed by leading concert promoters in the UK, such as Harvey Goldsmith, but which state politicians in the US and the UK government have rowed back from making illegal.

Secondary ticketing companies enable the public to trade their tickets online with customers who are prepared to pay above their face value. The company takes a cut of about 10 to 15 per cent.

Many sports promoters complain that they are not getting any share of the premium on these ticket sales and concert promoters in the UK have pressed unsuccessfully for the government to outlaw the practice.

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.

Viagogo has paid a rights fee to Madonna and Live-Nation, the concert promoter which last year signed a 10-year contract with the artist for her albums, tours and merchandise.

StubHub declined to discuss the terms of the deal, while Viagogo described its deal as similar to the partnership deals it struck with Premier League football clubs, including Chelsea and Manchester United.

Eric Baker, chief executive of Viagogo and founder of StubHub, described the deal as "truly groundbreaking" and the first time that a major artist had endorsed secondary ticketing.

The deal allows both StubHub and Viagogo to set up links with Madonna's website and fanzones and to be included in press releases and promotional material.

While Mr Baker expected Viagogo to make a profit from the Madonna deal, he described the promotional value of the deal as "truly priceless".

He expected Viagogo to be trading double or treble the number of tickets it would have otherwise exchanged unofficially.

Neither StubHub nor Viagogo was willing to discuss the terms of the deal.

Mr Baker said the Madonna deal showed that Viagogo and other secondary marketing companies were "here to stay for ever", adding that they were providing ticketing solutions across the board to artists.

StubHub said it was the first partnership with a leading performing artist and an endorsement of the secondary market.

Chuck LaVallee of StubHub described its agreement as a landmark deal, made with a forward-thinking and progressive artist.

"I applaud the Madonna and LiveNation teams for leaping with the industry leader into what will obviously be the future of the concert ticketing industry," he said.

Will Muirhead of Tixdaq, which monitors secondary ticket sales on websites, said the only previous examples of official endorsements of the market was The Eagles' partnership with Ticketmaster.

Agents representing performing artists in the UK have been working on a voluntary agreement with secondary ticketing companies to ensure that a share of the profits they make from the exchange of tickets is returned to the artists.

But Mr Baker said the Madonna deal signalled that such an arrangement would become irrelevant if performing artists continued to deal directly with secondary ticketing companies.

Source: Roger Blitz, Financial Times

StubHub Enlisted in Resale Of Madonna Concert Tickets
Category: Live Performances & Tours.

StubHub Enlisted in Resale Of Madonna Concert Tickets

Madonna's coming concert tour is to feature what appears to be a first in the concert business: An official ticket reseller that will peddle seats at marked-up prices to fans who couldn't get them through normal channels.

In the U.S. and Canada, eBay Inc.'s StubHub will serve as the "official fan-to-fan ticket marketplace." In Europe, the role will be filled by Viagogo Ltd., a ticket reseller that also will sell "VIP packages" -- higher-priced tickets that include amenities like backstage passes and meetings with performers.

The endorsements highlight the growing popularity and influence of so-called secondary ticketing companies, which let both fans and brokers sell tickets to others at prices that often far exceed their face values. Concert promoters and artists have long complained that they are locked out of the secondary marketplace, putting money in the pockets of speculators and middlemen who aren't involved in staging or promoting concerts.

Sports teams and leagues have entered partnerships with secondary ticketing companies. But executives at Viagogo and StubHub called this the first time a major music artist has officially embraced the secondary market on this scale.

"It's the future of the ticketing business," said Chuck La Vallee, StubHub's head of business development for music. "Promoters have always complained that we don't have skin in the game."

Terms weren't disclosed, but people close to the deal said Viagogo is paying promoter Live Nation Inc. and Madonna a flat fee, while StubHub is offering a percentage of revenue on top of a fee. Despite the official status of the two companies, fans would still be able to buy and sell tickets on other online marketplaces, such as TicketsNow, RazorGator or Craigslist. But Viagogo and StubHub will be promoted in emails to fans and other marketing materials.

The tour is the first for Madonna since she announced a $120 million partnership with Live Nation in which the promoter is to participate financially in nearly every aspect of the pop star's career. The album she is promoting, "Hard Candy," is the last under her record contract with Warner Music Group Corp. The "Sticky and Sweet" tour is to start in August, with nine dates in Europe, followed by 18 U.S. shows in the fall. There will be several stadium shows in the U.S., including at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium -- far larger venues than the arenas Madonna has historically performed in. Prices weren't announced.

Live Nation's contract in the U.S. with IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ticketmaster expires at the end of this year. At that point Live Nation will begin selling its own tickets for its concerts. Arrangements like the one with Viagogo -- in which Viagogo handles a portion of the so-called primary ticketing, in addition to resales -- could become more common on Live Nation tours once Ticketmaster is out of the picture.

Source: Ethan Smith, Wall Street Journal

Are Madonna's first-week sales numbers a disappointment? Blame Mariah.
Category: Charts.
Are Madonna's first-week sales numbers a disappointment? Blame Mariah.

While Madonna scored yet another No. 1 album, it may not have been the blockbuster opening that some were expecting.

She sold 280,000 copies of "Hard Candy," according to Nielsen SoundScan, in its first week in stores. First things first: With the days of the CD as the music format of choice seemingly numbered, any album that sells in the six-figure range is a bonus for the music biz these days.

And those who rolled their eyes at yet another blog alluding to the death of the CD, ask Madonna herself, who last year signed a $120-million deal with a touring company in Live Nation. And this summer, fans will get to see that deal start to pay off. Madonna will be generously coming to a whopping 16 North American markets, according to Billboard.

Great Diva Sales Race of 2008

Yet it's also hard not to note that Madonna's "Hard Candy" sold about 180,000 fewer copies than Mariah Carey moved two weeks ago. She's still significantly ahead, though, of the 181,000 copies sold by Janet Jackson's "Discipline" when it debuted in March.

But back to Carey. Her "E=MC2" scored the highest debut of the year when it opened at No. 1 after selling 463,000 copies. In just three weeks on the chart, "E=MC2" has sold more than 740,000 copies.

Album sales may be down across the board, but Madonna would certainly be expected to be closer to Mariah than, say, Leona Lewis on the diva totem pole. Newcomer Lewis entered at No. 1 a few weeks ago, her debut, "Spirit," selling 205,000 copies.

To compare "Hard Candy's" stats to Madonna's last record: In 2005 her Euro-influenced "Confessions on a Dance Floor" opened with 350,000 copies, according to Billboard. It's rare these days for an artist to actually top the first-week sales of a prior album, but if anyone could do it, it would certainly be Madonna. And Mariah just did it.

So it's easy to view Madonna's sales tally as a disappointment, a sign that she's losing her grip on the pop marketplace. But don't.

CD sales just an added bonus

Billboard downplays Madonna's sales dip, noting that "Confessions" opened during the holiday season. The trade also fairly points out that Mariah may have benefited from appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "American Idol."

On one hand, Madonna is a bigger international brand than Mariah will ever be, and she was just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But on the other, the marketing campaign for "Hard Candy" was one based less on promotion than on partnerships. The album may not have been endorsed by Oprah, but the marketing campaign leading up the release of "Hard Candy" has been far from what anyone would call subtle. There are the Sunsilk commercials, the branding promotions with Verizon, the odd YouTube video and the video gift to gossip blogger Perez Hilton.

Additionally, Madonna's lead single, "4 Minutes," has been inescapable. It's still a top-10 hit, and her second single, "Give It 2 Me," has just debuted in the top 100. But even more important, "4 Minutes" has given Madonna something she didn't have at all with "Confessions on a Dance Floor," and that's a hit on U.S. radio. 

But if there's a problem -- if this is a problem -- with "4 Minutes," it's that it is as much a Justin Timberlake or Timbaland single as it is one from Madonna. It's also a song that will spur download sales, but not necessarily album sales.

For instance, as fun and silly as it may be, "4 Minutes" also could have appeared on Timbaland's 2007 album "Shock Value," or Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds." It's a song fit for an iTunes playlist as much as it is a new Madonna album.

Indeed, by lining up today's top producers and superstars -- Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, etc. -- Madonna has created an album that may sound swell stacked up with everyone else on the radio, but it also risks the danger of failing to set itself apart.

But "Hard Candy" doesn't really need to stand alone in order to be a success. The end result is an album seemingly built to sell millions of single-track downloads, ring tones, videos and bits of whatever digital accessories exist. And for pop music as business plan, that may prove to be one of Madonna's smartest moves yet, whether intentional or not.

Source: Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times

STICKY AND SWEET world tour announced......
Category: Press Release.
MADONNA STICKY & SWEET TOUR ITINERARY 2008

Showdate - City - Venue - On sale Date:

23-Aug - Cardiff Millennium Stadium - Fri. May 16
26-Aug - Nice Stade Charles Ehrmann - Fri. May 16
28-Aug - Berlin Olympic Stadium - Wed. May 21
02-Sept - Amsterdam Arena - Sat. May 17
04-Sept - Dusseldorf LTU Arena - Wed. May 21
06-Sept - Rome Olympic Stadium - Fri. May 23
09-Sept - Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena - Wed. May 21
11-Sept - London Wembley Stadium - Fri. May 16
20-Sept - Paris Stade de France - Fri. May 16
03-Oct - E. Rutherford Izod Center - Mon. May 19
06-Oct - New York City Madison Square Garden - Mon. May 19
07-Oct - New York City Madison Square Garden - Mon. May 19
15-Oct - Boston TD BankNorth Garden - Sat. May 17
18-Oct - Toronto Air Canada Centre - Sat. May 24
22-Oct - Montreal Bell Centre - Sat. May 24
26-Oct - Chicago United Center - Sat. May 17
30-Oct - Vancouver BC Place Stadium - Sat. May 24
01-Nov - Oakland Oracle Arena - Sun. June 1
04-Nov - San Diego Petco Park - Sun. June 1
06-Nov - Los Angeles Dodger Stadium - Sun. June 1
08-Nov - Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena - Sat. May 31
11-Nov - Denver Pepsi Center - Sat. May 31
16-Nov - Houston Minute Maid Park - Sat. May 31
19-Nov - Philadelphia Wachovia Center - Mon. June 2
22-Nov - Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall - Mon. June 2
24-Nov - Atlanta Philips Arena - Sat. May 31
26-Nov - Miami Dolphin Stadium - Sat. May 31


Additional dates and venues to be announced.


Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tour will also visit Mexico and South America later this year. Show date and on sale information to follow.
MADONNA all over BILLBOARD Hot 100!
Category: Charts.

Madonna is ALL OVER the Billboard HOT 100 this week!

'4 MINUTES' gets it's SIXTH week in the top 10 and lands at # 6 this week .....

While 'GIVE IT TO ME' debuts at # 57!

OFFICIAL Billboard Figures for HARD CANDY'S # 1 DEBUT!!
Category: .

Here's an amazing analysis from BILLBOARD of M's incredible debut in the U.S. !

Madonna's "Hard Candy" album makes a sweet entrance at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 280,000, giving the diva her seventh chart-topper and the third biggest sales week of the year. A whopping 26% of the album's first week sales were downloads sold through digital retailers ... Other high debuts this week come from Lyfe Jennings, the Roots, Def Leppard, Portishead, Mudcrutch and Tim McGraw ... In Progress Reports, we've got news on Coldplay, James Otto and Weezer.


FLASH POINTS


• Madonna's "Hard Candy" takes its expected bow atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, giving the queen of pop her seventh No. 1 -- the second-most among all female artists. Only Barbra Streisand, with eight, has more. "Candy" earns the third biggest sales week of the year as well, with 280,000 sold in its first week. That's a bigger number than the 225,000-250,000 range that Billboard projected last week based on the set's first-day sales figures. (Digital downloads accounted for a whopping 26% -- 73,000 -- of the album's overall first-week, easily making it No. 1 the Top Digital Albums chart.)

• Madonna's last studio effort, 2005's "Confessions on a Dance Floor" started with 350,000 when it bowed at No. 1. However, that discofied album was released on Nov. 15, just as the Christmas shopping season was kicking into high gear, which partially explains its bigger opening. Each of the top seven albums that week on the Billboard 200 sold more than 100,000. Even the No. 2 album, the debuting "Some Hearts" by Carrie Underwood, started with more than 300,000.

• So far in 2008, there has yet to be a week that busy. The last time the chart housed seven or more albums that each sold at least 100,000 was -- no surprise -- the sales week ending Dec. 23, 2007, when the top 23 all did more than 100,000. Ho, ho, ho!

• For those chart watchers (and diva enthusiasts) who are trying to draw comparisons between "Hard Candy's" 280,000 bow and Mariah Carey's 463,000 start with her new "E=MC2," hold your horses. During "E=MC2's" release week, Carey pulled out all the stops and performed on "American Idol," "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "Good Morning America." During "Hard Candy's" release week, Madonna did not perform on TV. In fact, she has yet to perform on American TV to promote this album. Last week, the only chat show she visited was BET's "106 and Park" (May 2).

• Madonna did, however, stage a well-publicized club show at the Roseland Ballroom in New York on April 30, which was streamed online via MSN. But a club show -- no matter how hot -- can't compare with the impact "American Idol" and Oprah Winfrey has. And, keep in mind that Carey was returning with her first album since her comeback set, "The Emancipation of Mimi," which also happens to be the biggest selling album of 2005.

• Besides, with an album loaded with singles that seem ripe for American radio, "Hard Candy" may have a healthy shelf life. The set was led by the unqualified hit single "4 Minutes" (featuring Justin Timberlake). It's her biggest radio hit since 2001's "Don't Tell Me" and it spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Digital Songs chart. Madonna's had a tough time getting her new music heard on U.S. radio in the past six or so years, so securing American airplay with "4 Minutes" was key in the promotion of "Hard Candy." The diva is in Europe now, focusing on the promotion of the album there. Last night (May 6) she staged her second club show supporting the album, this time at the Olympia Hall in Paris.

Madonna MANIA on U.S. Soundscan chart!!!
Category: Charts.

Madonna is ALL OVER the new Soundscan digital singles chart released today! Check out the amazing numbers!

4 MINUTES comes in at  # 3, selling an additional 150,000 downloads this week

GIVE IT TO ME comes in at # 21, selling around 37,000 downloads

CANDY SHOP & BEAT GOES ON also were on the Top 200 Downloads chart ....

* NOTE * The impressive sales for GIVE IT TO ME will help it debut on tonight's BILLBOARD HOT 100, BUT it will likely drop off until the actual single/radio release in late June .... But GIVE IT TO ME WILL debut on tonight's HOT 100, which is GREAT news!!

 

[Rumours] Latest from Paris.
Category: Live Performances & Tours.

According to www.news-of-madonna.com, tomorrow, Tuesday, May 6, six Limouines will go around Paris and will give away invitations and lollipops for Madonna's private concert at L'Olympia Hall.

Here is the rumoured programme for tomorrow:

 3 Limousines "TA WIN PLACE" circulating in Paris:

 Limousine 1 = 15.30 - 17.00: Republic / Bastille / ST PAUL-The marshes - post before OLYMPIA

 Limousine 2 = 16.30-18.00: Chatelet / St Michel / Montparnasse outpost before OLYMPIA

 Limousine 3 = 17H30-19H00: Trocadero / Champs ELysées, Opera - to post OLYMPIA

 2 Limousines (soothers load to be distributed at olympia between 17.30 and 19.30) which will then turn from 15h to 17.00 in Paris in the major places = Champs Elysees, Opera, Vendome, Rivoli, Concorde.

 1 Limousine (black) reserved for VIP  

Madonna Live Competition on Israeli mobile company Orange.
Category: Live Performances & Tours.

If you download any Madonna's song/truetone from Israeli mobile company Orange, you enter a competition to win ticket to see Madonna live in London on May 10.

Check it our here. 

Thanks to Elad.

[BREAKING NEWS] Another chance to attend Madonna's show at the Olympia Hall.
Category: Live Performances & Tours.

From Madonna.com:

If you didn’t win your tickets for the exclusive show Madonna will perform at the Olympia Hall in Paris on May 6, then here is your chance to attend this so special event!

The first 500 fans who will lineup in front of the Olympia Hall, 28 Boulevard des Capucines, 75009 Paris, tomorrow morning, will get a wristband allowing them to attend the show tomorrow night!

Wristbands will be given away tomorrow, May 6, at 10am, Paris time.
Good luck and see you at the show!

Thanks to Alessandro.

Madonna to Appear on VH1 Top 20 Countdown: May 10
Category: TV.

Madonna is going to appear on Vh1's Top 20 Countdown episode that airs on Saturday, May 10. On the May 3 episode "4 Minutes" was ranked #5 on the countdown. The position is determined by online voting.

PLEASE vote for "4 Minutes" here: -link-

It only takes a brief moment to vote, and you do not need to input 20 video selections each time to vote. It would be great to have "4 Minutes" ranked #1 on the episode in which Madonna appears on. Start voting now and spread the word to other online Madonna communities.