Kings of A&R

The new album by Prince is being launched as a free CD with a national Sunday newspaper that has drawn widespread criticism from music retailers.

If you study the history of Prince, you will realize that he took full reigns of his career. If he failed, it was because of him alone.

In the beginning, he signed a three-album deal and blew the budget for all three albums on the first one, and this after insisting that he play all the instruments himself, record all the vocals himself – and produce it himself. He had assumed full artistic control from the off and he has never relinquished it.

Prince also had a bizarre fashion sense. He performed in Y-fronts and fishnet stockings, and took the stage once wearing a violet mackintosh, black pants and stockings and stiletto ankle boots.

Why is Prince Giving his new CD away?

A spokesman for Prince said: ‘Prince feels that charts are just music industry constructions and have little or no relevance to fans or even artists today. Prince’s only aim is to get music direct to those what want to hear it. Prince famously took a stand against Warner Records in the Nineties when he went on strike and appeared with the world “slave” drawn on his cheek. Subsequently, he regained control of the publishing right to his work and broke down the existing system through his innovation.’

He never really took to the traditional label-artist relationship.

In 1995 he told an interviewer: ‘Once the internet is a reality the music business is finished. There won’t be any need for record companies. If I can send you my record direct, what’s the point of having the business? I don’t even have a manager any more. Would you want somebody living off your work?’

When record company executives warned him against releasing Sign O’ The Times as a double album, he ignored their wishes and it became his most critically acclaimed work.

‘These are the same people who would tell Mozart he writes too many notes or say that Citizen Kane is a long movie,’ he said at the time

(Daily Mail)

More Here…..

Janet Jackson has followed her boyfriend Jermaine Dupri from Virgin to Island Def Jam, according to Billboard. “She’s on Island, but it’s more or less [Def Jam CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid's] project,” Dupri says. “I let him deal with that on a day-to-day basis. He’s going to A&R that project, too. Janet’s record is one that he’s wanted to do for a long time. He’s very passionate about it. Jackson left Virgin after her two records failed to react with the public. Will her third record be any different? Will Janet come back on a steam boat?

AFI has a side project called Blaqk Audio that will be release August 16th. Check out the track Bitter for Sweet.

Its been said that Live Nation and Madonna have finalized a touring, merchandising, and recording arrangement. Live Nation model continues to move past live performance revenues. (DigitalMusicNews)

The stars of American Idol have landed their own jeans line. The heads at FreeMantle Media have struck a new deal with Lyric Jeans to create a lyric-inspired American Idol branded apparel line for department stores.

The European Commission cleared Terra Firma’s takeover bid of EMI

Microsoft has applied for a patent titled “Off-line Economies for Digital Media” that allows owners to generate revenue by sharing music. According to the patent, Microsoft would like to erect a system by which pirated music can be transferred to other Zune devices, and the sender can be paid a sales commission. The system would allow illegal music converted into legal music. (Coolfer)

Good news for web casters, or at least temporary good news. SoundExchange will not enforce the new royalty rates. Webcasters will stay online, as new rates are hammered out.

Bad Religion who will be performing at Vans Warped Tour recently released a new disc called “Maps of Hell”. Pick up the new record for sure. Check out the track Honest Goodbye.

Warner Music will now stream All Its music online for free….
Warner Music and online community Imeem have partnered to stream ad-supported music and video on Imeem’s free social media networking site.

Kelly Clarkson who insisted on writing her own songs despite Clive’s recommendation to use professional songwriters cannot hold back any longer.

In the August issue of Blender, Clarkson says she told Davis: “I don’t know you very well, and I am not a bull-[bleep]er. I get [that] you don’t like the album. You’re 80; you’re not supposed to like my album.” She also said: “I literally got told to my face that it wouldn’t sell more than 600,000 copies. And I got lied to. One reason I don’t like working with people at the label is that they lie . . . If you’re going with the flow and not fighting, that’s settling. I can’t take that. Life is just too short to be a
pushover.”

Clarkson also fired her manager and cancelled her summer tour.

This is probably one of the most heated controversy between artist and label head in recent memory.

(NYPOST)

Kelly Clarkson drops 60 percent…
Kelly Clarkson’s “My December” dropped off 60 percent in sales for its second week (116k), bringing the total to 416,000 copies. Sober recently went to radio. Will it resonate with the public? not only that, according to insiders RCA pulled Clarkson’s summer campaign off of tv and print spots and have moved on to Underwood’s much anticipated fall release.

Will Bruce Springsteen save Columbia Records?
Springsteen is planning an album release for late fall. Former Sony Music CEO Andy Lack helped Bruce land a contract worth $100 million over several years. Insiders are claiming that layoffs are continuing, with several departments in publicity and marketing gutted. (Fox)

The new Smashing Pumpkins record ‘Zeitgeist’ could sell 150k in its first week.

Union Entertainment Group who manages Nickelback has struck a deal with EMI Music to form a joint venture record label to go through Caroline Music. The first artists signed to the label include the rock bands Cinder Road and The Black Summer Crush.

Avril Lavigne has been in the press last month regarding the song GIRLFRIEND.
Avril is being sued for copyright infringement for allegedly plagiarizing a substantial part of “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” a song by ’70s new wave group the Rubinoos.

The debate spilled over at YouTube. You can view the song comparison here.

Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald who co-wrote GIRLFRIEND has lashed out at the plaintiffs — songwriters James Gangwer and original Rubinoos member Tommy Dunbar denying allegations that he and Lavigne “copied” “Boyfriend.”

“I never heard of the Rubinoos before the lawsuit,” said Gottwald, an in-demand producer who has crafted hits for Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Daughtry, among others. “I never heard of the song and neither has Avril. I would take a polygraph on that in front of them.”

This drama began with the June issue of Performing Songwriter magazine, in which Chantal Kreviazuk, who co-wrote much of Lavigne’s 2004 triple platinum-selling album “Under My Skin,” ridiculed the notion that Lavigne writes her own material.

Girlfriend” has sold 2.6 million copies worldwide

It’s also been noted that Avril Lavigne’s song ‘I Don’t Have To Try’ that comes off her new album The Best Damn Thing sounds identical to the track I’m The Kinda by a Canadian artist known as Peaches. Song comparison here.

Is it a coincidence? or a perfect crime?

(LA Times)

Avenged Sevenfold will be producing their next record, and dubbed it the ‘Heaviest’.
“We were going to do it with Rob Cavallo,” said Shadows, referring to the producer behind Green Day’s 2004 LP American Idiot and My Chemical Romance’s 2006 effort The Black Parade. “It was such a great match — he loved the songs we’d been working on. But he was too busy working on Kid Rock’s next record, and he wasn’t going to be able to work on ours until later on in the year.”

Music Licensing companies are getting ’serious’ collecting royalties.
‘ Whether it’s a professional recording taken from a Web site or an accordion player singing a Jimmy Buffet tune in a small venue, the industry is working to collect royalties for whoever wrote the songs.’
Nighclubs and coffee shops are facing crackdowns by the industry to those who refuse to pay BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC.

Last.fm has signed a content agreement with Sony BMG, meaning it can now carry music from three of the four major labels. Last.fm inked deals with EMI and Warner, and has deals with several indie labels, allowing it to play tracks through its embedded web player and personalized radio streams.

New Music coming soon…….

 Many industry executives noted that when peer-to-peer took hold in 2001-2003 thats when sales began to decline. “That’s when we went from music having real value in people’s minds to music having no economic value, just emotional value.”

The flood gates are now open and Sprint has signed on as the first company to underwrite a song to be distributed on file-sharing networks, agreeing to embed its logo on copies of tracks from Atlantic Records hip-hop artist Plies.

Sprint and Atlantic Records are teaming with ArtistDirect’s Media Defender division for the initiative, which essentially amounts to an advertising buy for the telecom company.

According to sources, Media Defender will push 16 million Plies song files embedded with the Sprint logo onto peer-to-peer networks over a three-month period in return for a “substantial six-figure” fee to be divided between Media Defender, Atlantic Records, Plies and his publishing company.

Once embedded, the Sprint logo will be attached to the files forever and will appear alongside Plies’ name and the song title on the screen of a desktop computer, iPod, cellphone or any other digital music player.

The vast share of music consumption, particularly for the under 35 set, is done on file-sharing networks. ArtistDirect CEO Jon Diamond said the initiative serves the triple purpose of generating advertising income for record labels, curtailing piracy and allowing brands to associate with key artists to reach a desired demographic.

According to Steve Yanovsky, a former record industry executive who consults for Mindshare Interactive, which counts Sprint as a client, the deal positions Sprint “as an innovator and will help drive perception of them in the marketplace.”

How it works…………..

1) Sprint pays for the right to embed its logo in 16 million song files
2) People download the song for free from file-sharing sites
3) When song is played, the artist’s name, song title, and sprint logo will appear on screen
4) Money is split between technology company, record label, artist and music publisher

(NYPOST)

Swearing, confused messages, the failure of sing alongs, an unimpressive bill….

Check out and read an in depth observation of Live Earth:

Neil McCormick finds confused messages and an unimpressive line-up at London’s Live Earth concert “If you wanna save the planet, jump up and down!” urged Madonna.

Can global warming be stopped by an out-of-breath, middle-aged, super-rich narcissist in a leotard and high heels?   
The superannuated pop queen Madonna was certainly up for the challenge, but judging by the negligible response to the text message number displayed on stage, I suspect the public may have been justifiably confused by the link between aerobics and the environment.

As global satellite multi-media musical entertainment, Live Earth was just about adequate.

As a platform for stadium politics, it was a dismal affair. “Can you help save the earth?” bellowed Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles. Cue muted murmur of support. “We might be screwed if that’s the response,” he half-joked.

The whole tone felt misjudged: Al Gore appeared by satellite, to no great reaction in the stadium, and seemed to be addressing a small audience of native Americans, not seizing the world by the reins.

The message itself was confused: Keane performed in front of the legend “Insulate your ceilings and walls”. Razorlight performed America to footage of penguins. Duran Duran stuck to supermodels, but somehow tried to turn Girls on Film into an ecological anthem. Simon Le Bon urged the crowd to sing “Change, change, we gotta start the change” without much success, perhaps because he was having trouble singing it particularly well himself.

The failure of singalongs became something of a theme of the day, bands appearing to expect a much greater familiarity with their hits than was apparent. Only a smattering of acts made any genuine attempts to engage with the issues.

(more…)