Check out ‘new’ music from alternative act Alseep hailing from Youngstown, Ohio. Their motto? Refusing the worn out formulas of current mainstream trends in favor of making the most genuine music possible is no easy task in today’s recording industry. If you don’t believe it just check out the track
Stay to Live.
For more information: Rick Smith or Scott FrazierÂ
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Fall Out Boy opens with a #1 Billboard position with 259,674 sales. They deserve it, one of the hardest working artists in the scene today.
American Idol Rules Over Grammys
American Idol on Tuesday had 33.36 million viewers compared to the Grammy Awards which had 20.06 million viewers.
And….
EMI cut its revenue and profit forecasts for the second time this year as music sales continue to slump in the U.S.
The White Stripes are close to inking a multi-million dollar deal with Warner Bros. A million dollar Deal for the White Stripes? Definitely a leap of faith here.
MTV is set to cut 250 jobs. They are facing the challenges of society and the digital age.
David Goldberg and Robert Roback who lead Yahoo’s music division, are leaving the company. The resignations are due to personal reasons.
Grammy Sweep by Dixie Chicks Is Seen as a Vindication? Country Broadcasters call the Recording Academy ‘Out-of-Touch’.
The Dixie Chicks’ big win at the Grammy Awards exposed ideological tensions between the music industry’s Nashville establishment and the members of the Recording Academy.
Although we don’t know, many insiders have some serious doubts about this years Grammys. Even though the Dixie Chicks album “Taking the Long Way Home” sold 1.9 million copies, it still fell short compared with albums by Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts which were supported by country radio.
As for as the Grammy voters were concerned, the Dixie Chicks “made a great album this year, and their music and their commentary resonated with our membership, as it did with the entire nation,� said Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
But……
Mr. Ayeroff, who founded the voter-registration group Rock the Vote, said a man sitting behind him in the Grammy audience snickered each time the Dixie Chicks received another trophy.
And………
Even though the Dixie Chicks owned the Grammys, it still wont convince Nashville. Country radio still won’t make nice with the chicks.
“Most country stations aren’t playing the Chicks, and they aren’t going to start now,” said Jim Jacobs, owner of WTDR-FM, a country radio station in Talladega, Ala.
Country broadcasters said that the group’s five Grammys show how out of touch the Recording Academy is from the average country fan.
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Val Emmich begged to walk away from his multiple album deal and the begging paid off……….
After two years on Epic Records and nothing to show for his efforts but a re-released version of his debut album Slow Down Kid, New Jerseyan Val Emmich begged successfully for the privilege to walk away from a multiple album deal and returned to the exact place where he started - writing music by himself for himself. The result is Sunlight Searchparty a loose and fearlessly raw album recorded almost entirely live to tape, complete with mistakes, chatter, party noise, and slightly out-of-tune instruments.
Val Emmich will be playing at The Mercury Lounge on Thursday February 22 at 8:30 pm. Contact Ralph Hanan at Pi Artist Management for more information: Ralph@piartistmanagement.com or 908-433-6624. Legal: Rosemary Carroll at Carroll Guido & Groffman.
Check out the track The Ships Going Down, check out the video here.
Steve Jobs Comments Cause Uproar: Steve Jobs comments yesterday that record companies should do away with copyright protection angered music industry executives. CEO of Apple Steve Jobs published an open letter on Tuesday arguing that selling music online without such protections – known as digital rights management – would make it easier for consumers to listen to music on different devices, boosting the overall market. Critics suggested that Mr Jobs’s true motive was to defuse legal problems in Europe, where Apple is being asked to make iTunes compatible with other devices. Several record executives said they would take a tougher line on variable pricing when their iTunes contracts come up for renewal from this May, and may also push for some share of iPod revenues.
Canned at Capitol: According to R&R seven promo staffers were axed at Capitol. The pink slip in Capitol and Virgin has not even reached the pinnacle yet.
Jermain Dupri is Back in Business: Record executive Jermain Dupri was axed or forced out from Virgin Records for lackluster sales from Janet Jackson. Jermain Dupri accepted the position as the president of its newly formed Island Urban Music
We Need ‘Hits’: Many insiders feel that there could not be a better time for management companies developing artists. The word is that the executives at majors are so consumed trying to figure out how to market dead weight and have ignored prospecting new talent. Management companies with developing artists will win this year because labels desperately need ‘Hits’. After a year of head scratching, labels now realize that radio and not the internet alone is still largely responsible for selling records for the next years to come. Some say that labels can no longer afford to sign artists without smashes.
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs Shifts Blame On Music Industry
The Story
Steve Jobs is getting anxious. He knows that a host of European countries are concerned about iTunes music downloads and how they only play on the iPod. Apple is now officially in violation of consumer protection laws in Norway. Apple has refused to license Fairplay DRM to other parties (thus locking the user into the iPod.
Major record labels, online music stores embed software code into the digital song files they sell to restrict the ability to copy them. Apple uses its own system, the songs it sells can be played only on the iPod.
Rather than Apple engaging in Fairplay, Steve Jobs suggest that labels could shed digital rights management altogether.
Music industry executives said that if the music industry moved away from copy protection, it could potentially make it easier for competing music players. Mr. Jobs seems to be betting that anything that stimulates the sale of digital music can only help his company.
Others claim that Steve Jobs is calculated freak and loves his name in the press. These statement drew criticism from some competitors, who argued that he was simply trying to get in front of a shift in industry strategy and claim credit for it.
Armchair Cynics
Cutting Through the Noise.
Although most people never heard of the melodic rock 4 piece
Armchair Cynics, they are no strangers to Canada. They put out an EP on Nickelback Chad Kroeger’s label 604 Records in Canada and it is distributed in the two western provinces British Columbia and Alberta. The EP has sold well over 7,000+ copies in Canada which would be the equivalent of about 50-55,000 copies in the United States. Armchair Cynics have already been recognized receiving multiple M Power awards (Best Artist, Best Male Songwriter, and Best Producer/Engineer) for their debut album “Coffee Shop Confessions”.
Check out the track ”Bang” which was produced by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback and Joey Moi, and is best testing song at Vancouver’s CFOX in recent history. Although the band is signed to 604 Records in Canada, they are free agents in the United States. For more information email Jared Sheer.
