Kings of A&R

Michael Jackson Dropped From Grammy’s: After his diva demands proved too much for the show’s producers, Michael Jackson was dropped from the Grammy Awards. He requested was that he be referred to as the King of Pop no less than 30 times during the ceremony. He also insisted on receiving a special award that no one had received before and never would again, and wanted a special honoree to introduce him.

Also, the 25th anniversary edition of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (Epic/Legacy) sold 166,000 copies in its first week of release but it won’t be found on the Billboard top 200, it is considered a catalog release by Billboard.

TVT’s Bankruptcy A Warning For Chart-Driven Indies: Coolfer recently pointed out an interesting observation regarding TVT’s bankruptcy. Its top artists represent two of the genres that are lost in a transitioning market. “First you have rappers like Lil’ Jon who have traded album sales for ringtones and single downloads — all the while diverting time toward consumer products and other revenue-generating schemes. Rap has lost crossover fans, too, and they won’t return any time soon”. Read the rest of the commentary here.

Recommended Listening: Check out Portland, Oregon rock band
The Crash Engine. The Crash Engine has had their music featured in the Independent film “Last Man Running” and one of their most crowd pleasing songs “The Sky Retreats” appeared this year on Deep Elm Records’ critically acclaimed Emo Diaries compilation. Listen to the track Weary Anthems and Wake Up.

New Artist Updates: San Franciso indie act Magic Bullets have been named Live 105’s Soundcheck Breakthrough Local Artist of 2007. Aaron Axelsonare is giving them repeated spins on the tastemaker radio show. The band has been featured on imeem’s music page as well as YouTube’s music page. Management is Rob Wells and legal is Chris Castle.