MILAN (AP) -- Riccardo Muti received two standing ovations upon his return to La Scala’s stage Sunday after an 11-year absence, not to conduct this time but to discuss his nearly two decades as music director at the fabled opera house. 　“Welcome home,” someone shouted from the upper tiers.　Muti’s last appearance in 2005 was to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in a benefit concert just weeks after abruptly stepping down after 19 years as music director amid backstage turmoil. 　“What I can say is t

NEW YORK (AP) – Prince’s death sent fans flocking to buy his music -- and set some new standards on the charts at Billboard, the music industry bible.For the first full sales week following Prince’s death on April 21, five of his albums were in Billboard’s top 10, at Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7. Only Beyonce’s “Lemonade” kept him from the top. Billboard says no artist has had that many albums in the Top 10.Prince had 19 discs in Billboard’s top 200, beating a record of 14 previously set by The Beatles

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Playboy, fresh from doing away with full nudity for its models, is taking another step to modernize by entering the booming area of music streaming.The iconic men’s publication founded in 1953 on Wednesday launched Playboy Music, an app for smartphones and tablets that sets racy footage of women to song.Playboy Music essentially offers original music videos, with subscribers who pay 99 cents each month gaining access to imagery of models posing, acting and lounging to the music

BERLIN (AP) -- German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk have suffered a legal setback at Germany's highest court in a suit over a two-second sample.The verdict is a victory for German music producer Moses Pelham, who had used a beat from Kraftwerk’s 1977 work “Metall auf Metall” without permission or payment.Pelham had argued that restricting the use of even short sequences would limit his artistic freedom because rap and hip-hop rely heavily on sampling.Tuesday’s ruling by Germany’s Constitut