- Music labels and Universal Music Group have filed suit against Yahoo China over illegal downloading.
- Publishing Vice Chairman has exited the struggling EMI.
- Many students don’t get why the recording industry is after them. As the music biz targets students at Ohio University as well as other college students for illegally sharing and downloading music, many students still don’t see anything wrong with sharing copyrighted music files.
and………
record companies are offering to settle with college students accused of illegally downloading songs, asking for payments of as much as $5,000 to avoid court.
The Recording Industry Association of America sent 400 “pre-litigation letters” this week to 13 U.S. universities, asking them to inform copyright violators they have 20 days to settle with music companies or meet them in court.
- Los Angeles based Latin/Ska/Reggae band Upground have signed to Peer MusicPublishing; Legal rep is Ben McLane and Mgmt is Stephanie Mercada.
- Check out pop act Holiday Parade who hails from Atlanta Georgia
- Straylight Run who ended their contractual obligations to Victory Records has now signed to Universal Republic Records. They released their self titled debut album in 2004 which sold over 11,000 copies in the first week, and made the Billboard Top 100 Albums list.
- Courtney Love sued over unpaid $180,000 drug rehab bill. Kurt Cobain had a better taste in music than he did in love. Love spent all his money.
Hype Alert…………………………………………………..
Indie media darlings the Gossip have signed to Columbia’s music imprint Music with a Twist. The buzz of the day spreads fast across the internet. Are they going to Hollywood? or does the Gossip stay in indie land? Something doesn’t add up. KOAR says no Hollywood but possibly Disney Land.
The thing is college students grew up with the internet. They were sharing songs amongst each other before it was deemed “illegal.” They were also sharing music on the original Napster while the recording industry was seeing HUGE, record first week sales amongst Britney, N’sync, Backstreet, Eminem, etc. Records first week sales that we may never see broken. I see it as if college students don’t see anything wrong with some thing that was once deemed OK, but now isn’t.
that gossip band .. are you joking me? what is happening with the music industry .. this really angers me.
it seemed that Jennifer Hudson may have open some doors.went to their myspace and they have 6000 plays today so the Gossip band must be doing something right.and she’s got a good voice.there must be a good market for this band or they wouldn’t have gotten the deal.read here before that major labels have to have hits.if the music buisness is in so much trouble then what do a&r reps see that we don’t?
There seems to be a ton of buzz about the Gossip and I think they’ve been featured in NME over in the UK plenty of times, Live 105 in SF loves ‘em.
Personally, not a fan.
Just feel the indie/pop punk rock thing is becoming too trendish
I think you misunderstood me Larry. I went to their MySpace .. they’re attracting a large category of people. I just don’t feel they have a “smash hit” .. like A&R are looking for ..
RealMad..thats my point..what the hell is a&r looking for? looks? trends? the music is just basic.any a&r guy must know the amount of money that must be invested by the label just to get these guys out of the gate.and the real question is will this band be around for 20 years or 20 months.and will the label break even or make a profit.after reading how bad the music buisness is you start to wonder what is a “safe signing” an what is a risk signing…
As much as people hate Hinder, 10 Years, Nickelback, Three Days Grace, 30 Seconds To Mars, and similar bands .. they made revenue for the labels 10x fold according to Sound Scan.
I agree with whoever said the whole indie/ pop punk rock type thing is becoming too trendish.
i want to know who the fuck is buying all these shitty bands records? cause i dont know anyone!!
maybe i just dont get it?? i dont want to see a band of people that looks like i made fun of them in high school playing with stupud haircuts and 2×12 combo amps.
I want to see some dirty tattood drunks who crank it up to 11, roll in with stacks of amps, and leave me wondering why they just left with my girlfriend!!
Exactly Rob. Thats why labels like Cement Shoes / Bieler Bros. / Octone / I AM: Wolfpack will bring brilliant music back.
NME is a UK magazine known to hype garbage. NME peddled The Strokes, The White Stripes, the Vines, the Hives, etc. Other acts they hyped up were The Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, the monkeys, and Franz Ferdinand.
The Gossip is another NME hyped artist. People with ‘untrained ears’ can be easily fooled into signing the “buzz” of the minute trash rock bands.
The Dragonettes are another hyped euro trash pop band and are currently the “buzz” band in the UK.
Rob..the bands you are talking about are playing in dive rock clubs with bad P.A.and lights.and praying that they sell enough merch to get gas to go to the next show.bands like Brand New Sin (Centry Media Records) who are out busting ass get very little support.no glowing reviews or even air time on major radio station.but it is real music.stuff that comes from the heart not trend setting ideas.we all have seen here (K.O.A.R.)the same bands the same sound the same look.it isn’t going to change until some magazine or tv show or radio station says so…
Wow, ok so this should be the first thing columbia should do to help get them out of the crapper!!! They should get the guy that signed this band and stand him up in front of the whole A&R dept and say ” dont be stupid like this person” anyone that can’t see this is pure trash sure as hell doesnt need a job in A&R! Hell if he likes this band my sons girlfriend has a band in highschool that plays at the rollerskate hangout on the weekend. JESUS!!! I think the labels send out a letter randomly that says” Are you stupid and have no musical talent?” Then u would make a geat A&R guy.With decisions like this Columbia is going to be in a world of trouble.
hm, holiday parade sounds pretty good
What’s unfortunate is that when this band inevitably fails, people will say things like ‘the mainstream just isn’t ready for an overweight frontwoman.’ We all know that’s bullshit, that the band just isn’t any good, but the teams surrounding artists have a way of making everything ‘not about the music.’
There is a serious problem in this country with underdeveloped talent, and don’t get me started on the industry side. I feel like I am taking crazy pills.
The quote unquote “music business” deserves to go under. Years of payola, closing the door on all but the chosen few, and insulting the public with manufactured boy and girl band crap. Threatening their customers with lawsuits and now going after the little internet radio provider with outlandish royalty rates. All I can say is what goes around comes around.
Here we go, The HYPE continues with the GOSSIP. You can now find a GOSSIP feature at PEREZHILTON.COM, the QUEEN of ALL HYPE. Trust KOAR, the GOSSIP wont be saving ROCK N ROLL.
http://perezhilton.com/topics/beth_ditto/reason_873_we_love_beth_ditto_20070312.php
AJ..you hit it on the head about under developed talent.but numbers must speak louder than talent.i’m sure the gossip band should do about 700,000 out of the box and the guy who signed them will be a hero.real rock bands that don’t fit the trend will never see a major deal.bands that are on small labels will never be heard on major market radio or be in the “cool” magazine.but they are bands that love what they do and play from the heart.and who gets the attention?well we read about them everyday here.
Larry, it’s not about label deals or trends or major market radio or magazines. None of that matters when you’re talking about talent. Take the industry completely out of the equation and we’re still left with underdeveloped bands. Labels don’t do development, and while that is sad, they haven’t done it for more than 10 years now. Development is now the responsibility of others and VERY few people seem to be doing it.
I suspect this is a problem because people simply don’t know how. You could say its the responsibility of the manager or a producer or PR person, but that only touches on certain aspects of what it takes to really develop an artist.
If bands were developing properly and had a good team around them, they would be able to grow organically. The industry landscape is irrelevant when we’re talking about music and I’m sick of people thinking they’re so closely related. To think the only options bands have is to get signed to a label or break up is completely ignorant.
WOW!!! My sensitive ears are in shock from the most generic band I have ever heard!!!lol I hope Columbia Records went all in on this band.The reason why album sales are down is because of the novice talented musicians such as The Gossip.
“NME is a UK magazine known to hype garbage. NME peddled The Strokes, The White Stripes, the Vines, the Hives, etc. Other acts they hyped up were The Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, the monkeys, and Franz Ferdinand.
The Gossip is another NME hyped artist. People with ‘untrained ears’ can be easily fooled into signing the “buzz” of the minute trash rock bands.
The Dragonettes are another hyped euro trash pop band and are currently the “buzz” band in the UK.”
… did you hear that? that was the sound of a nail hitting a head
i wish i could get away with making comments like that though, because when i do, I get called all sorts of things, like ‘a close minded, brit-rock hating mofo’… and that’s just what my mum calls me!
Brit-rock is the new pop in the UK – as it’s the best selling genre of music and most of the artists that encompass the genre have the song-writing prowess of a 5 year old on a fisher price instrument (all except Pete Doherty, as that would be an insult to all said 5 year olds).
Hey Larry,A&R reps apparently don’t know shit!!! The Gossip proves it.What about bands that are selling,The Fray,James Blount etc.These are songwriters,they capture a feeling that everyone can relate to,something that The Gossip will never do.I’m not trolling you dude,you just do not make much sense and I doubt you have been on tour and seen the lifestyle first hand.