J Records chairman/CEO Clive Davis has endowed $5 million to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University to create the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, Billboard Bulletin reports. The department will offer a four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, with a curriculum that will “educate in all aspects of contemporary recorded music,” including studio technology, promotion, cultural impact, and the history of numerous genres.
An event for high-school students and parents to celebrate the new department will take place in early November in New York, with performances from J artists Monica and Mario.
Davis graduated Phi Beta Kappa from NYU and Harvard Law School.
— Chuck Taylor, N.Y.
Next week, ABC’s “20/20” will present three music-themed shows. Justin Timberlake will be interviewed by “20/20” host Barbara Walters Monday (Nov. 4) at the ‘N Sync star’s Memphis family home, where Timberlake will perform. The Wednesday (Nov. 6) special edition of “20/20” will find Walters spending an hour with the Osbournes — Sharon, Ozzy, Jack, Kelly, and daughter Aimee, the lone family member not participating in their eponymous MTV hit show.And on the Friday (Nov. 8) edition of “20/20,” pop singer Brandy will be interviewed by ABC News correspondent JuJu Chang about the rigors of being a teen star and her recent experiences as a new mother.
— Troy Carpenter, N.Y.
Paul Van Dyk, DJ Dan, Christopher Lawrence, Donald Glaude, and DJ Craze are among the top acts confirmed for the 11th annual Planet New Year 2003, set for New Year’s Eve at San Francisco’s Cow Palace. In all, more than 100 performers will grace seven stages, offering excursions into trance, house, drum’n’bass, hardcore, and ambient.Planet New Year will also play host to a stage featuring such local acts as Jesse Gonsalez and Isaac Haze, plus a separate area dubbed “Planet Erotika,” reserved for patrons over the age of 21. For more information, visit the event’s official Web site.
— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.