Musical Chairs, A Mega-Star in The Making, Fake It Till You Make It, and New Music…
Posted April 16, 2008 — in Music News
The Top of the Heap: The music biz is treating Leona Lewis very nicely. She has debuted at No. 1 on this week’s U.S. pop chart, selling 205,000 copies of her Syco/J Records debut, “Spirit” and has become the first British solo artist to ever debut atop the Billboard charts.
New Music: The Austin alternative band, Dawn Over Zero has posted a new track titled Circulation which was produced by Matt Novesky of Blue October. Listen to Circulation as well.
Musical Chairs: Nick Gatfield who has just stepped down as president of Island Records UK, will take the position as head of A&R at EMI for North America and the UK.
War on Piracy: The Pirate Bay, the illegal file sharing site is threatening to seek damages from music industry lobby group The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for blocking access to its website.
A Mega-Star in the Making: Miley Cyrus who is only 15 years old earned herself $18.2 million last year. Plus, we like her sense of humor because she found Madonna’s 4 minutes song silly which shows in this youtube video that can be viewed here.
Fake It Till You Make It: Myspace just makes things to easy for the average joe band. Labels, promoters and music critics use to check a band’s MySpace page to see how many plays they have but they have come to realize (or at least we did) it’s generally a poor indicator in evaluating the overall success of a band.
According to Wired, a company called TuneBoom Pro claims it can artificially inflate MySpace play counts over a thirty day period for any artist, charging on a sliding scale:
$147 for 1K plays
$417 for 5K plays
$747 for 300K plays
A TuneBoom Pro representative said they even have worked exclusively for the majors up until about a year ago when we offered our services to the independent artist and labels. This isn’t suprising because everybody at one point thought the number of Myspace plays held some type of value but everybody came to the realization that it doesn’t contribute to the overall bottom line. If a relatively unknown artist is getting over 10k plays a day on a consistent basis, then its worth checking into for sure. At the end of the day, it all comes down to GREAT songs….
PluggedIn: Will Smith and his entertainment company called Overbrook Entertainment has unveiled a music video site called PluggedIn featuring thousands of videos from EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and indies. Users can create their own personal profile pages on PluggedIn, but these videos cannot be embedded on outside sites.
I never thought there was much value in Myspace plays because you could easily inflate the numbers. I was surprised at how much value people gave to “plays”. Whole companies forming around THAT? Wow.
Comment by Universal Indie Records — April 16, 2008 @ 9:10 am
Anyone can put their songs on Myspace, thank GOD radio isn’t easy!
Comment by koar — April 16, 2008 @ 9:52 am
I personally know bands that pay these services and it just makes them look pathetic. If you cant get the fans legit then your entire job as a musican is nothing but a sham.
Comment by Dave — April 16, 2008 @ 10:22 am
MySpace may be too easy, but radio is too hard. That’s a huge part of why, as this blog has often said, radio is boring and tired.
I don’t blame bands for wanting to boost their numbers (though I wouldn’t pay to do it). Hype is a big part of the game that the labels have created. If you’re looking to get signed, ‘buzz’ often carries more weight than good songs or talent (see the endless supply if overhyped — and now failed — hipster bands or flavor-of-the-month clones).
However, you certainly CAN (and should) blame Clear Channel for subjecting us to the same 40 songs, by the same 20 artists, 24/7 on virtually every station across the country. Media consolidation is a big part of what is killing radio.
That said, I’d rather search through hundreds of bands and find the occasional artist who’s truly unique and interesting than be spoon fed the same 20 bland, Clear Channel-approved artists.
Comment by Jalan — April 16, 2008 @ 11:17 am
radio is boring and tired but thats because music in general is boring and tired. Radio is the reflection of the state of music as the government is the reflection of people.
Do you know how worse off radio would be if they put the top unsigned artists on Myspace and Purevolume in rotation? People would think it would be an APRIL Fools joke.
I dont blame Clear Channel for subjecting us to the 40 same songs, i actually feel bad for them since nothing compelling is delivered to them.
Every artist has their chance to write a great song that has universal appeal. Who is stopping them?
As Nikki Sixx said, very few bands exist that can write clever songs that touch people…
Less artists are in existence right now. I probably have some reasons why, but i don’t want to get in philosophy right now. Blame the 30 million people who go on PEREZ everyday to read their favorite gossip!
Comment by Dean — April 16, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
Agreed on all counts.
Play the percentage game with the ‘play count’ and you’ll read thru alot of the b.s.. If an artist has 20,000 fans, and they get 1000 plays/day, only 5% of their ‘fans’, assuming they all play 1 song at least once. Agreed that it comes down to what the song truly is.
Comment by Scott — April 16, 2008 @ 12:12 pm
Dean that’s horse turds. Writing great songs has nothing to do with the damn radio. Every genre of music is perverted by media consolidation and greed. There is plenty of talent out there. Radio doesn’t equal talent. Come on.
Comment by Bullshit — April 16, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
talent is subjective. All those top 10 unsigned bands on PureVolume think they are equivalent to Led Zeppelin and cite The Beatles as influences. I never met one person (even those who can’t hum a tune) who doesn’t think they are a star.
Radio Promotion has nothing to do with quality of the songs..
Do i like everything on the radio? of course not..
Do i think radio plays some garbage? of course. But the same garbage can be found on the net.
Again, radio is reflection of the musical landscape.
In the nineties, top 40 radio turned alternative..why? because of the success of the grunge bands and no one one was complaining them…
all I can say is get on your knees and pray for a revival…Radio isn’t the enemy, culture and the creative drought is…
Comment by Dean — April 16, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
Whatever happened to breaking an act? Sounds like the record labels want the bands to set all the ground work for them. Whatever happened to finding a diamond in the rough and doing YOUR job and introducing the music to the public.
Comment by Brett — April 16, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
With all due respect, Dean you’re sounding more and more like a failed musician or a typical industry suit than a music lover/talent scout.
Radio sucks because there’s a creative drought? Is that why Britney Spears gets about 1000 times more spins than I am Radiohead? Radio chooses what they play and they CHOOSE to play crap — that’s inarguable.
And no one said radio should play the top unsigned bands on MySpace or wherever — we’re saying there are good, creative, original SIGNED artists who the radio chooses not to play while the same unoriginal crap that YOU yourself complain about is getting spin after spin.
C’mon, Dean. The ‘blame the artists’ card is weak, false and just plain sad.
Comment by Jalan — April 16, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
Far from bitter, just realistic and observant. Yes, radio sucks because of the lack of artists with great songs. What does Britney Spears have to do with this? she already sold over 100 million records and everybody knows who she is..its called FAMILIARITY.
If you owned a radio station that focused on top 40, you would be playing her too, plus as worn out as she is, there are about another million of pop songs that aren’t as catchy as Britney’s PIECE OF ME.
Radio chooses to play songs that are meaningful to their audience.
Do you know why you hear HOTEL CALIFORNIA all the time in your local bar with a bunch of depressed alcoholics? I know why, because it is the only song written to satisfy their depressed mood. Every artist has a chance to re-write that song, but no one can…
lets put this to rest, if you have an ace in your pocket, a great artist backed with great songs –I’m all ears! tips@kingsofar.com
Comment by Dean — April 16, 2008 @ 2:18 pm
Hey check out THE VETTES. They just got picked up by the top radio station in New Orleans B97. They are an unsigned band and are in rotation with Leona Lewis, Britney and you name it. Check out their track “Give em What They Want”. Your right great songs will always win..
Comment by Lisa Bradley — April 16, 2008 @ 3:03 pm
and the “clock” keeps ticking…
it is what it is…
with a bunch of depressed alcoholics,now Dean..you wouldn’t know anything about this..would you ??
Comment by larry anderson — April 16, 2008 @ 6:18 pm
Does anyone know who Disney has determined the next star is going to be?
Comment by Brett — April 16, 2008 @ 7:19 pm
On the topic of Artist Development:
I recently had the pleasure of listening to one of the world’s biggest names in rock history, in their beginnings, their roots. The songs I were listening to were bootlegs from backyard bb-q’s before they became big, and others were half-decent quality (for the era) recordings of songs you wouldn’t recognize, except for pieces here and there. It was MORE than evident that this artist was developed over TIME by the labels. Pieces of certain bootlegs I heard were the main riffs for their major release HITS! Their choruses were changed, songs almost unrecognizable, etc. These songs were worked and reworked by the labels. They sold MILLIONS of records. But all of their hits weren’t all in place from the start. They weren’t currently as you hear them today. Nope. It took a village. They didn’t just come out of the gate with all of these amazing songs and that was that. No. They were developed. Now look at the result. The band? Van Halen.
You don’t believe me? Look it up. Labels need to get back into the art of development. Musicians take it to the highest level they can as an artist/musician. The business men and women who control the industry have stopped practicing THEIR art of developing an artist. They expect the WORLD-WIDE PRE-DEVELOPED VAN HALEN to just get plopped on their doorstep via myspace/pure volume/bodog/sonicbids/snailmail etc etc. Guess what? It’s not going to happen and never will! Get used to that fact. The A&R have to take chances and actually work for their money.
Sure as hell, Michaelangelo didn’t just have “The David” plopped onto his doorstep. That was just a plain, ugly rock when he started with it, but then became one of the most recognizable sculptures in human history. If A&R applied that philosophy to their own work, we might be living in a better place.
Comment by Scott — April 17, 2008 @ 5:47 am
I’m sorry, Dean, but I don’t want to put this to rest because you haven’t validated your argument. And it’s flat-out insulting for you to claim that this is the artists’ fault when there are great, signed artists that are consistently ignored or marginalized by radio.
One of the main problems with your latest argument is this: you say the radio plays Britney Spears because she’s familiar, but she’s familiar because radio played her so much to begin with. It’s 100% circular reasoning.
Yes, radio chooses to play what’s meaningful to their audience, but they largely *determine* what is meaningful to their audience. Radio is still where most people listen to music and hear new artists. They are still key tastemakers. Radio has the ability to take talented, original artists and make them as ‘familiar’ as Britney Spears, but the choose not to — that is their fault, not the artists.
Even if you want to say there’s a creative drought (which I don’t agree with), you could easily say that it’s because radio has started playing fewer and fewer artists, so aspiring musicians have less and less to draw influence from.
This line of reasoning is filled with gaps. If you’re going to place the blame on the only creative people in the equation (artists vs. label heads, radio PDs, etc.) make sure your arguments hold water. As it is, you’re insulting a good share of your readership who happen to be musicians and music lovers.
Comment by Jalan — April 17, 2008 @ 5:49 am
Thank god for Sirius Radio. They atleast give you some variety. Allot of it may be crap but its crap that i am not totally familiar with right off the bat. Every now and then there is that diamond in the rough and i get a new band to listen to. Great example for me. I was sitting in a Target parking lot looking for a parking spot when a song came on Sirius Channel 20. I parked in a crappy spot to listen to an amazing song i had never heard before. It turned out to be Karnivool. Made my day.
Comment by Dave — April 17, 2008 @ 5:49 am
Karnivool? Great band, Dave. I actually just picked up on them last week. The disc is very good. But to the point, terrestrial radio won’t ever touch them b/c they’re odd-time signatured, longsonged, etc. Bogus in my opinion. Radio deems what will be ‘familiar’ to its listeners. Dave, if you like Karnivool, you also might like Dead Letter Circus or Cog (HUGE fan of Cog). All the best…..
Comment by Scott — April 17, 2008 @ 5:55 am
Scott, thanks for the tip. I am all over those guys already. After Karnivool i pretty much raped the entire country of Australia for new music. I admit it might not be radio for America but it was refreshing to hear musicians back into some sort of mainstream.
Comment by Dave — April 17, 2008 @ 6:30 am
Absolutely… the Aussies have some cool stuff coming out of there right now… I found Cog back in early 2006 and was hooked when I heard “Run”. Found their name on the HomeBake site and was pleasantly surprised when I checked them out. Very spatial sound. They ultimately were the reason we recorded with Sylvia Massy.
Comment by Scott — April 17, 2008 @ 7:17 am
Scott, btw checked out your band Fighting Zero. Man you have some good sounding stuff. Nice to hear a band be somewhat progressive but still have that big chorus feel.
D
Comment by Dave — April 17, 2008 @ 7:43 am
Thanks Dave, you guys are rulin’ too…I dig it! It must be something with “Zero” in the band names… lol
Comment by Scott — April 17, 2008 @ 8:56 am
“Real” bands have their own website. It’s 2008 for cryin’ out loud, websites are easy and cheap. There are lots of problems in the music business and lazy artists are part of it!!
Comment by DaveT — April 17, 2008 @ 10:24 am
Who doesn’t have there own website?
Comment by Dave — April 17, 2008 @ 10:54 am
Great tip on Dead Letter Circus. I found Karnivool a while back and REALLY dig some of their stuff. The first few tracks of the CD are truly great, but it seems to fade into more generic nu-metal as it goes on.
Comment by Jalan — April 17, 2008 @ 10:56 am
Oh also another really great Aussie band is Stereophile.
http://www.myspace.com/stereophile. They have an odd take on things.
Comment by Dave — April 17, 2008 @ 11:24 am
Stereophile is rockin too. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of this band from Oslo, Norway… Animal Alpha. Another Sylvia Massy band… the female lead singer is absolutely insane. The album is killer, and single I was introduced to from her was “Bundy.”
Comment by Scott — April 17, 2008 @ 11:45 am
Dean, it really strikes me as odd how you can claim that there’s an artistic drought, ignore all of the solid tips that are most certainly sent your way, & post some of the most vapid tracks I’ve ever heard.
I didn’t hear Blitzen Trapper, Joel Plaskett, MGMT, Dr Dog, the Thrills, Joanna Newsom, Jolie Holland, Wilco, Sondre Lerche, Rilo Kiley, Coconut Records, White Rabbits, the Clientele, the Films, David Vandervelde, Mando Diao, Eastern Conference Champions, the A-Sides, the Wombats, Of Montreal, the Format, the Broken West, Limbeck, or Benny Sings on the radio all of last year & those were some of my very favorite records & most of them had radio friendly tunes. MGMT’s Time To Pretend, Rilo Kiley’s Breakin’ Up, Eastern Conference Champions’ the Box, the Thrills’ Restaurant, Benny Sings’ Let Me In… heck, Hanson’s Running Man was better than almost anything I heard on the radio last year. Radio is HARDLY a reflection of the musical landscape from where I’m standing. And if it is, then someone’s obviously not doing their job because, as opposed to reflecting the full spectrum of what’s out there, it should be a reflection of the cream of the crop. And it most certainly isn’t.
Even if there WAS another Hotel California written today, radio WOULDN’T play it. I’d bet my bottom dollar on it. Radio would not play T Rex, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, or most other artists who were unique enough to stand the test of time, if they were to come out right now. Maybe a safe, condensed, watered down version of those bands, like Jet, but never the real deal.
Comment by Jon Cole — April 18, 2008 @ 9:44 pm