Kings of A&R

Signings: Hollywood Records signs Austin, Texas act Alpha Rev. The band cites Radiohead, HIM, NIN, and The Beatles as influences. I don’t hear HIM and NIN - not even close. This falls under adult contemporary and sounds more like Train meets Jonas Brothers with less intensity. Listen to the track Phoenix Burn.

New Music: Our critic and at times nemesis, Jon Cole recommends a band worth listening to. Check out the track Anna No by Right Away, Great Captain! The new album titled “The Eventually Home” will be released on November 11th. This indie act is fronted by Andy Hull who spent 300 nights on the road in 2007 with Manchester Orchestra and came home and immediately began writing. “This is a really slow burning project. I want this to be something that I can continue to write records for the next 20 years,” says Hull. Hull wanted to write a series of concept albums detailing the saga of a sailor in the 1600s.

MTV struck a deal with Columbia Records, to create an AC/DC version of the channel’s popular Rock Band video game that will be sold at Wal-Mart. “If you want to be a physical band, you better make an alliance with a strong physical retailer,” said Steve Barnett, chairman of Columbia Records.

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Lars Gets Loud Over The Loudness War: “Listen, there’s nothing up with the audio quality. It’s 2008, and that’s how we make records. [Producer] Rick Rubin’s whole thing is to try and get it to sound lively, to get it to sound loud, to get it to sound exciting, to get it to jump out of the speakers. Of course, I’ve heard that there are a few people complaining. But I’ve been listening to it the last couple of days in my car, and it sounds fuckin’ smokin’.

“Somebody told me about [people complaining that the Guitar Hero version of Death Magnetic sounds better]. Listen, what are you going to do? A lot of people say [the CD] sounds great, and a few people say it doesn’t, and that’s OK. You gotta remember, when we put out …And Justice for All, people were going, ‘What happened to these guys, this record? There’s no bass on it. It sounds like it was recorded in a fuckin’ garage on an eight-track.’ And now …And Justice for All is sort of the seminal Metallica record that supposedly influenced a whole generation of death-metal bands. The difference between back then and now is the Internet.

“The Internet gives everybody a voice, and the Internet has a tendency to give the complainers a louder voice. Listen, I can’t keep up with this shit. Part of being in Metallica is that there’s always somebody who’s got a problem with something that you’re doing: ‘James Hetfield had something for breakfast that I don’t like.’ That’s part of the ride.

“I will say that the overwhelming response to this new record has exceeded even our expectations as far as how positive it is. So I’m not gonna sit here and get caught up in whether [the sound] ‘clips’ or it doesn’t ‘clip.’ I don’t know what kind of stereos these people listen on. Me and James [Hetfield] made a deal that we would hang back a little and not get in the way of whatever Rick’s vision was. That’s not to put it on him - it’s our record, I’ll take the hit, but we wanted to roll with Rick’s vision of how Metallica would sound.” (Blender)

Lars is absolutely right, the record sounds smokin, regardless, put a leash on the mastering engineers. I have a home stereo, and a solid system in my car with an iPod connection. It’s difficult to gauge the sonic quality when listening to music through computer speakers or iPod earphones. Most of the complainers were probably using these devices. Regardless, the internet does provide a voice for the cowards who would never raise their hand in the classroom. The critics are now voicing their anger towards AC/DC’s unwillingless to release their albums on iTunes. Fans of AC/DC will purchase their albums and college boys may want to download ” You Shook Me All Night Long” for their friday night frat party. I don’t mind AC/DC railing against the system. Heck, Kurt Cobain couldn’t stand the thought of a hyper-sexaulized frat boy humping to “Territorial Pissings”. These are true convictions of an artist not tied to financial gains.  By and large, the internet would have hated Cobain.

Guns N’ Roses long awaited Chinese Democracy is expected to be sold exclusively through Best Buy.

Management firm Union Entertainment Group has added three managers to the company. UEG roster includes Nickelback, Candlebox, Red, and Hinder.

Nickelback has released their new single Gotta Be Somebody as a free download - it can also be heard on Youtube, although it will probably be pulled within minutes. The new album is titled Dark House and will be released November 18th. The album was produced by songwriter and producer Mutt Lange who is the most well known rock producer and has worked with the GREATS including Def Leppard, Foreigner, The Cars, Bryan Adams, AC/DC, and The Corrs. You can download the song here. Yes, it’s a Mutt Lange flawless production and a perfectly written song, will certainly do well at radio.

The new video from Fallout Boy features an appearance from former Guns N Roses touring guitarist Gilby Clarke.  Gilby opens up the video with “What the hell happened to rock n roll? Eyeliner, energy drinks, and no guitar solos! I’ve taken shits with bigger rockstars than them!

The Telegraph posted an article titled iTunes ‘under threat as bands take their business elsewhere‘.

AC/DC’s 1980 Back in Black album will soon surpass Michael Jackson’s Thriller to become the biggest-selling album ever (50 million+) and it won’t be available on iTunes.

“We don’t make singles, we make albums,” says AC/DC guitarist Angus Young. “Way back in the Seventies, we drew these figures on the back of an envelope for our record company. “We showed them how much they earned from us if we sold one million singles and how much they earned if we sold one million albums. The difference was staggering. “That was to get them off our back because we only very grudgingly release singles. Our real reason is that we honestly believe the songs on any of our albums belong together.

“If we were on iTunes, we know a certain percentage of people would only download two or three songs from the album - and we don’t think that represents us musically.”

We all know iTunes changed the way how we consume music. For instance, “Katy Perry has sold 2.2 million downloads of I Kissed a Girl on iTunes, but only 282,000 copies of her album.”

Here is a tip. If you can sell abums without iTunes that means you have a loyal fanbase. It means that you’re more than a singles act unlike Katy Perry. New artists on the scene should approach music like Angus Young. Don’t think singles, think songs - or make albums instead of singles. In other words, you want your entire album to be a single. This is how real artists approach their creation, maybe then you will sell 100,000 records a week for an entire year.

The Becoming who hails from Nashville will release their debut album titled
‘Vol 1′ on September 20th via Tooth and Nail Records. The band’s dark gothic sound is drawn from artists like HIM, NIN, The Ramones, and Depeche Mode. The Becoming is also a track that comes from NIN’s The Downward Spiral. The Becoming comes to the scene with a bold attitude as they urge us to remember what gave us chills the first time we heard really great music and hint they may have perfected the blend of melody, mood and mystique. Listen to the tracks We’re Already Dead and The One To Hurt You.

Another new artist following in the same path as HIM and NIN is Dommin. The band won All Access Mag ‘Best Overall Music Video of The Year‘ and is currently recording their debut in Hollywood. Listen to the tracks Without End and Tonight.

Here are some of our favorite doom and gloom videos:

The Ramones - ‘Pet Cemetery‘ and ‘Poison Heart‘

HIM - ‘Killing Loneliness‘

NIN - ‘The Becoming‘

Lords Of The New Church - ‘Dance With Me‘

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRyIACDCc1I

The Wall Street Journal posted a column titled ‘Even Heavy-Metal Fans Complain That Today’s Music Is Too Loud!!!‘. It’s about time the loudness in modern day recordings is creating legitimate noise.

“Some fans are complaining that “Death Magnetic” has a thin, brittle sound that’s the result of the band’s attempts in the studio to make it as loud as possible”

“Metallica and the album’s producer, Rick Rubin, declined to comment. Cliff Burnstein, Metallica’s co-manager, says the complainers are a tiny minority. He says 98% of listeners are “overwhelmingly positive,” adding: “There’s something exciting about the sound of this record that people are responding to.”

Ted Jenson who mastered ‘Death Magnetic’ agrees with the fans by claiming, “Believe me, I’m not proud to be associated with this one.”

Unfortunately, many today’s music executives believe a louder record will generate more sales. “Nobody really wants to have a record that’s not as loud as everybody else’s” in an iTunes playlist, says Mr. Jensen’s business partner and a fellow engineer.

I think it’s important that we learn from this situation. Music lovers are finally aware that many albums lack dynamics caused by engineers abusing technology. “Digital technology made it possible to squeeze all of the sound into a narrow, high-volume range,” says Bob Ludwig, a veteran mastering engineer.  Hence, ending the loudness war is vital.

This Week Sales: Metallica sold another 329,000 copies of their latest CD ‘Death Magnetic’. The band finally won over their fans and critics. Read Rollings Stone’s review of Death Magnetic.

Buckcherry’s new release ‘Black Butterfly’ also landed on the Billboard’s top 10 selling 42,500. Check out the video for their track ‘Don’t Go Away‘.

When Jonas and Miley Ruled The World: Are the Jonas Brothers influencing today’s emo/electronic artists?  Listen to the track Breakout by Cash Cash and let us know what you think. Ironically, Breakout is also the title of Miley Cyrus latest album and lead off single.  Cash Cash will release a 5 song EP on October 7th via Republic Records and  is touring with Metro Station ( Front man is Miley’s half brother).

Recommended Show: Sparks The Rescue performs tonight at Arlenes Grocery (NYC). Listen to the track I Swear That She’s The One.

New Music: Photo Finish Records has signed Ireland emo act
Fighting With Wire and are giving away a free song EP. We agree with KERRANG Mag, despite the gazillions already used you can still come up with a great band name and Fighting With Wire is cool as hell. Check out the track Strengh In Numbers.

Rising Above The Masses: Ahh, our favorite. Rise Against has released the video for the track Re-Education (Through Labor). We said it before and we will say it again, Rise Against is one of the few bands that escaped the Famine that had a devasting impact on the emo/punk bands.

The Dearly Departed: Janet Jackson has left Island Def Jam after being on the label for 14 months. Jackson was dissatisfied with IDJ when her album ‘Discipline’ failed to resonate with the public. Sources claim that Jackson may be joining the concert promoter Live Nation.

Jean Bernard Lévy, the chief executive of Vivendi, remains optimistic and told the Financial Times that he is predicting strong revenue growth from Universal Music.

Vivendi is increasing music sales by striking a deal with Nokia. For instance, Nokia will charge a premium for handsets that allow consumers to download unlimited music. Universal also struck a deal with Myspace and hope to shake hands with Apple in the distant future.

Levy also said that the music industry is close to bottoming out and he remains focused in developing new business models and new sources of revenues.

“We are working with all the big names in the field of internet, in the field of telecom equipment companies, big media companies and this is a big opportunity,” says Levy. “I really believe we are at the turning point for the music industry and I didn’t say that two years ago.”