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The Official Roxette Fanclub members who ordered their tickets from the fanclub’s exclusive service and paid for the delivery, are not going to get tickets mailed to their homes. Here is the message that was sent to the orderers:

Dear all of you,

 

This is to let you know that recently you have ordered tickets from the official roxette fanclub.

 

Because of the time-limit sending the tickets we have decided not to send you tickets by mail.

 

Once your payment is received you do not have to worry and you can go to the concert, since your name will be on the “FANCLUB GUEST LIST” of EMA Telstar, which is available at all venues.

 

Please make sure that you have a proper identification with you and ask the ticket boot (which is at each venue) for the fanclub list, you will get your tickets there and can go to the show.

This is probably the most convenient way to handle the situation and should have been considered in the first place. However, it seems that the 8-10 euros (7.60-9.50 USD) charged for postage won’t be refunded.

• Official Roxette Fanclub

Billboard’s columnist and well-known friend of Swedish music, Fred Bronson, commented on the importance of Roxette’s new US record deal in his weekly online Chart Beat Chat. David Di Troia asked Fred’s opinion on Roxette’s decision to sign to a small record label and release “Wish I Could Fly” as a single. This is what Fred replied:

edel is a major record label throughout Europe, and the biggest hit to date on edel America is “Crush’ by Jennifer Paige — so the label is certainly pop-oriented. I think it’s a good fit for Roxette, which instantly becomes the best-known group on the American label’s roster.

Given the current climate of Swedish production success in the U.S., the time may be right for Roxette to return to the U.S. charts, and the duo’s recent appearance on the World Music Awards may have helped pave the way.

Editor’s Note: I have to say — as a European — that I’ve never heard of Edel Records before Roxette’s announcement. The subsidiary labels of Edel (such as Mega Records) are known in Europe, but Edel itself isn’t. (roxeteer)

• Billboard Chart Beat Chat

Fans have wondered why Edel America Records hasn’t yet mentioned Roxette on their Website. This is what their spokesperson has replied:

Not to worry! At the moment the new Edel America website is under construction and is set to launch this July, this will also include the new US Roxette Website, in time for their Greatest Hits album release!

• Edel America Records

According to Expressen, the band Brainpool has been working on a rock opera for 6 months already. “The opera will be set in the present and will satirize and criticize the economy-centered society that has grown so strong during the last 12 months,” says guitarist David Birde in Expressen. Birde is also responsible for the opera’s libretto. The rock opera is due to be ready next year. The band is hoping that Philip Zandé would be the director. The music of the opera will be first released as a CD.

Brainpool is a guitar-pop band coming from Lund, southern Sweden. Brainpool was first “found” by Per’s record company Jimmy Fun Music. Brainpool’s members, especially bassist Christoffer Lundquist, have been co-operating with Per and Roxette since Per’s solo album in 1997.

• Expressen’s Swedish article
• Brainpool

The Daily Roxette finally managed to get some more information on the band Sverige which will be the opening act on Marie’s summer tour, as we first mentioned in an earlier report.

Their official biography from their record company Universal Music says that the band was founded on a winter evening in 1999, when Peder Ernerot (aka “Pedda P”) and Johan Forsberg were listening to Johnny Cash in a local pub. They noticed that no-one had done a good Swedish country album, and decided to make a good one themselves. When Peder’s brother Markus said that he already had some song ideas and Gustave Lund (aka “Gurra G”) came in, starting up a band became reality.

It was Johan who came up with the name Sverige. All the band members immediately thought that it was a great name, but then they became unsure. What if the name is misunderstood as a nationalistic statement? Peder, however, said that the fear of misunderstanding leads to great art, so the band decided to keep the name.

Later, bassist Thomas Lindberg, drummist Stefan Carlsson and keyboard player Joakim Uddling joined the band. After some practicing and purchasing a banjo, the band had a great premiere on stage in Tantogården. Johan Norberg told the band that he was interested in producing their album. Sverige’s debut album “Som Landet Ligger” was released in April this year.

In Swedish newspapers the album has got rather good ratings, but according to the papers, the album is “missing catchy songs.”

Image courtesy of Universal Music.

MP3s, Napster, and other Internet file-trading programs were supposed to cannibalize retail music sales and destroy the recording industry.


But thanks in part to clever Internet marketing, just the opposite has happened — at least in some cases. The music industry has smashed several retail sales records during the last few months.


Eminem fans last week flocked to the store to purchase 1.76 million copies of the rapper’s new album. Britney Spears’ May 13 release sold 1.3 million copies. And boy band ’N Sync’s album “No Strings Attached” moved an amazing 2.4 million units in April to become the highest first-week selling album of all time.


Insiders are attributing some of the retail success to Internet-based promotions. And now, with Per’s recent investment in Cell, it’s possible for Roxette to mount the same kind of campaign should they, and their management, decide to take advantage of that capability. Read more…

Marie’s successful duet with Patrik Isaksson, “Det Som Var Nu,” will be released to radio on July 19th, and available in stores at the end of July.


In an effort to promote the single, Marie will appear as part of this year’s premier program of “Allsång på Skansen” on June 27th. Skansen is an outdoor park just outside Stockholm, and the show is broadcast live on Swedish TV. She’ll be joined onstage by Patrik to sing “Det Som Var Nu” live. On the same program, she’ll also sing “Tro” together with the Duvemåla choir.

Marie is currently the Artist of the Month (Artister > Månadens Artist) on EMI Sweden’s Website. The feature includes Marie’s comments on the various tracks on the album.

• EMI Sweden

The following paragraph is part of a news column written by C. Bottomley that appeared in the “The Wire” section of VH1.com:


Roxette are back! They’re finally getting around to releasing their European greatest-hits set, Don’t Bore Us, Get to the Chorus, with a few tracks from Have a Nice Day. The 1999 Day album was never released in the U.S., following a dispute with the group’s record company. Said Marie Fredriksson, the cute one, “We have to work with promotion in America and really show the Americans that we are back and that we never quit. It’s really important to show our fans - if there are any still [laughs] - that we are here for them.”

• VH1 column