LL Cool J, Common, Lupe Fiasco and Rick Ross are working on a special performance for The Grammys Nomination Concert.
The stars will join the Furious Five members Melle Mel and Scorpio for a rendition of The Message.
Their performance of the 1982 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five hit will take place during a live show on Wednesday.
The one-hour show will reveal the nominations for the 54th annual Grammy Awards which will take place on February 12 2012.
LL Cool J has already signed up to host the event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Usher, Sugarland and Ludacris have been announced as performers. Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry will be on hand to present awards to some of the lucky winners.
It was recently announced that The Message would be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, 30 years after the track was recorded.
The track's hook "It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under" is well known across the world of hip-hop. The single has been sampled by artists such as Ice Cube on his 1993 hit Check Yo Self and P. Diddy who used it in Can't Nobody Hold Me Down in 1997.
The Grammy Nominations Concert Live - Countdown to Music's Biggest Night will air on November 30 on CBS.
http://www.music-news.com
Janet Devlin offered Dragons' Den record deal
A record label, co-owned by Duncan Bannatyne, has been quick off the mark, by offering X Factor star Janet Devlin, a lucrative deal less than 24 hours after she was voted off of the show.
Reality TV guru and talent agent, Dean 'Midas' Maynard from Durham, has been backing & promoting Janet since her audition. Less than 35 minutes after she exited the show, the label were in touch offering a deal.
Dean said "I think this is fantastic news for Janet, her family and all of her loyal supporters because it proves how popular and talented she is. There is always demand for an artist that shows true, raw talent, and the future will definitely be bright, beyond the X Factor. She has the tour to enjoy first, then she will weigh up her options, choosing the right path when the time is right.'
Co-owner & Founder of RKA Records Mr Ryan Ashmore said today, "With Janet's amazing talent and great image I just had to put my offer out there. She is destined for success and I'm sure RKA and Janet can have a great relationship and achieve great things together"
Music News - On-line music site featuring news, reviews, interviews and all the gossip from the UK Music scene
http://www.music-news.com
Reality TV guru and talent agent, Dean 'Midas' Maynard from Durham, has been backing & promoting Janet since her audition. Less than 35 minutes after she exited the show, the label were in touch offering a deal.
Dean said "I think this is fantastic news for Janet, her family and all of her loyal supporters because it proves how popular and talented she is. There is always demand for an artist that shows true, raw talent, and the future will definitely be bright, beyond the X Factor. She has the tour to enjoy first, then she will weigh up her options, choosing the right path when the time is right.'
Co-owner & Founder of RKA Records Mr Ryan Ashmore said today, "With Janet's amazing talent and great image I just had to put my offer out there. She is destined for success and I'm sure RKA and Janet can have a great relationship and achieve great things together"
Music News - On-line music site featuring news, reviews, interviews and all the gossip from the UK Music scene
http://www.music-news.com
Selena Gomez: This year astounded me
Selena Gomez feels 'humbled' by the success she has enjoyed this year.
The 19-year-old star has released a string of hit singles and hit the road with her We Own the Night Tour in 2011. She starred in the movie Monte Carlo and hosted the MTV European Music Awards this year. Selena can't believe how much she has achieved in the past 12 months.
'My music, for sure, [surprised me], like touring. I definitely was excited to get on the road and be able [to have] my first headlining tour," she told MTV News. "I was excited to go everywhere and meet my fans and experience different places. To be honest, I didn't expect the tour to do as well as it did, and we went to Canada and Canada was amazing and made me feel very humbled."
Selena also spoke about the end of her Disney TV show the Wizards of Waverly Place. Although she was sad to leave the series behind, she feels it was a turning point in her career.
'To be honest, it would probably be when my series ended and not in, like, a happy way, but it was kind of like it was a new chapter in my life," she replied, when asked what she will remember most about 2011. "I think it was a really interesting time for me and that time in this year was probably my favourite."
Although Selena has a hectic work schedule, she also wants to spent time with her loved ones. The star is looking forward to seeing her boyfriend Justin Bieber and also her mother ' who is pregnant.
"I'm gonna have a week off for Thanksgiving, which will be nice, and then a week and a half or two weeks for Christmas time," she added. "And then I'm going to just relax and do nothing.'Music News - On-line music site featuring news, reviews, interviews and all the gossip from the UK Music scene
http://www.music-news.com
The 19-year-old star has released a string of hit singles and hit the road with her We Own the Night Tour in 2011. She starred in the movie Monte Carlo and hosted the MTV European Music Awards this year. Selena can't believe how much she has achieved in the past 12 months.
'My music, for sure, [surprised me], like touring. I definitely was excited to get on the road and be able [to have] my first headlining tour," she told MTV News. "I was excited to go everywhere and meet my fans and experience different places. To be honest, I didn't expect the tour to do as well as it did, and we went to Canada and Canada was amazing and made me feel very humbled."
Selena also spoke about the end of her Disney TV show the Wizards of Waverly Place. Although she was sad to leave the series behind, she feels it was a turning point in her career.
'To be honest, it would probably be when my series ended and not in, like, a happy way, but it was kind of like it was a new chapter in my life," she replied, when asked what she will remember most about 2011. "I think it was a really interesting time for me and that time in this year was probably my favourite."
Although Selena has a hectic work schedule, she also wants to spent time with her loved ones. The star is looking forward to seeing her boyfriend Justin Bieber and also her mother ' who is pregnant.
"I'm gonna have a week off for Thanksgiving, which will be nice, and then a week and a half or two weeks for Christmas time," she added. "And then I'm going to just relax and do nothing.'Music News - On-line music site featuring news, reviews, interviews and all the gossip from the UK Music scene
http://www.music-news.com
Cee Lo Green: I lived in violent neighborhood
Cee Lo Green says he would 'probably get shot' if he returned to where he grew up.
The American singer was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and lived there throughout his younger years. He witnessed a lot of violence as a young man, admitting he's had a gun aimed at him many times.
It's made him feel wary and the 37-year-old star owns many firearms to help him feel safe.
'Oh, I definitely have a few guns, yeah ' I'm all about self-preservation. One for the car, one for the home, another for the wife and kids. well, the ex-wife and kids. She took a few of the weapons with her. Have I ever been shot at? Yes. Shot at, but never shot,' he told the January edition of Q magazine.
'I come from an environment where it's very common, shootings and violence. What's uncommon is you don't become a product of it. It hasn't happened for a while but if I went back there ' at home, in the neighbourhood ' I could probably get shot at today! I'm pretty sure I could get shot at just as soon as I pulled up! It doesn't even have to be a certain hour of day anymore. These care are on some broad daylight, random senseless sh*t now. It's terrible. It's not like when I was growing up. There was honour among thieves then.'
Cee Lo prefers not to dwell on the more difficult aspects of his life.
He believes his experiences have shaped him and helped him grow into a successful artist.
The star went on to discuss his collection of body art, many of which he got when he was younger. The star says his back tattoos were the most painful and one of them still needs to be finished.
'There was a time when I wanted to get my entire face done, just get something really wild. I saw a guy recently and he had all solid black from the brow, down the middle of the nose, around the eyes and to the sides ' it looked like a Roman fighting helmet,' Cee Lo enthused. 'It was so awesome! That is a commitment and it's a way to say I can truly take the pain. it's quite a statement.'http://www.music-news.com
The American singer was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and lived there throughout his younger years. He witnessed a lot of violence as a young man, admitting he's had a gun aimed at him many times.
It's made him feel wary and the 37-year-old star owns many firearms to help him feel safe.
'Oh, I definitely have a few guns, yeah ' I'm all about self-preservation. One for the car, one for the home, another for the wife and kids. well, the ex-wife and kids. She took a few of the weapons with her. Have I ever been shot at? Yes. Shot at, but never shot,' he told the January edition of Q magazine.
'I come from an environment where it's very common, shootings and violence. What's uncommon is you don't become a product of it. It hasn't happened for a while but if I went back there ' at home, in the neighbourhood ' I could probably get shot at today! I'm pretty sure I could get shot at just as soon as I pulled up! It doesn't even have to be a certain hour of day anymore. These care are on some broad daylight, random senseless sh*t now. It's terrible. It's not like when I was growing up. There was honour among thieves then.'
Cee Lo prefers not to dwell on the more difficult aspects of his life.
He believes his experiences have shaped him and helped him grow into a successful artist.
The star went on to discuss his collection of body art, many of which he got when he was younger. The star says his back tattoos were the most painful and one of them still needs to be finished.
'There was a time when I wanted to get my entire face done, just get something really wild. I saw a guy recently and he had all solid black from the brow, down the middle of the nose, around the eyes and to the sides ' it looked like a Roman fighting helmet,' Cee Lo enthused. 'It was so awesome! That is a commitment and it's a way to say I can truly take the pain. it's quite a statement.'http://www.music-news.com
Lana Del Rey reveals album details
New York baroque pop ingénue Lana Del Rey announces details of her debut album.
Singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey has been on the lips of tastemakers after her single 'Video Games' emerged ' a haunting torch song with a ridiculously sultry vocal.
Surely her looks haven't hurt, with the self-filmed and -edited clip earning over eight million views on YouTube since appearing in August.
She inked a deal with Interscope recently, and Prefix reports that she announced to the title of her debut album and a release date on French TV.
It'll be called Born To Die (she's already aired the title track live), and it'll be out on January 23 next year.
In the meantime, help out her stats by having just one more look at 'Video Games' below, available to buy digitally with b-side 'Blue Jeans'.http://www.music-news.com
Singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey has been on the lips of tastemakers after her single 'Video Games' emerged ' a haunting torch song with a ridiculously sultry vocal.
Surely her looks haven't hurt, with the self-filmed and -edited clip earning over eight million views on YouTube since appearing in August.
She inked a deal with Interscope recently, and Prefix reports that she announced to the title of her debut album and a release date on French TV.
It'll be called Born To Die (she's already aired the title track live), and it'll be out on January 23 next year.
In the meantime, help out her stats by having just one more look at 'Video Games' below, available to buy digitally with b-side 'Blue Jeans'.http://www.music-news.com
Jennifer Lopez 'touchy-feely' with beau
Jennifer Lopez and Casper Smart reportedly can't keep 'their hands off each other'.
The pair spent Thanksgiving weekend together on the Hawaiian island of Kauai with some other family members and Jennifer's three-year-old twins Max and Emme.
Jennifer and her backing dancer have reportedly been dating for the past few weeks.
'They are definitely a couple - and a very touchy-feely one at that!' an onlooker told the Chicago Sun-Times. 'They could barely keep their hands off each other.'
The source also said 24-year-old Casper has already built up a bond with Jennifer's children, who she has with estranged-husband Marc Anthony.
The singer and her new beau were spotted playing with the kids in the sand.
'[He was] looking very paternal toward them,' the insider added. 'It was sweet to see him with them on the beach.'
Despite the 18 year age gap, Casper was taking care of his girlfriend. The pair hugged and sipped cocktails together in a cabana in the shade.
'He seemed very protective towards her, it was quite sweet,' another onlooker told British publication The Daily Mail. 'He seemed like the older one, they seemed if not love, well, very happy to be together.'
The American Idol judge split from her third husband Marc in July after seven years of marriage.http://www.music-news.com
The pair spent Thanksgiving weekend together on the Hawaiian island of Kauai with some other family members and Jennifer's three-year-old twins Max and Emme.
Jennifer and her backing dancer have reportedly been dating for the past few weeks.
'They are definitely a couple - and a very touchy-feely one at that!' an onlooker told the Chicago Sun-Times. 'They could barely keep their hands off each other.'
The source also said 24-year-old Casper has already built up a bond with Jennifer's children, who she has with estranged-husband Marc Anthony.
The singer and her new beau were spotted playing with the kids in the sand.
'[He was] looking very paternal toward them,' the insider added. 'It was sweet to see him with them on the beach.'
Despite the 18 year age gap, Casper was taking care of his girlfriend. The pair hugged and sipped cocktails together in a cabana in the shade.
'He seemed very protective towards her, it was quite sweet,' another onlooker told British publication The Daily Mail. 'He seemed like the older one, they seemed if not love, well, very happy to be together.'
The American Idol judge split from her third husband Marc in July after seven years of marriage.http://www.music-news.com
The Streets play last ever gig
The Streets play laste ever gig at The Big Reunion 2011, Butlins, Skegness.
The Streets performed an amazing set celebrating a decade of their career. Over 7,500 people attended this epic night and the band's front man, Mike Skinner also celebrated his birthday. It was an emotional farewell as the band and their production team enjoyed a drink on stage with their fans! Cheers to that!
The Big Reunion is the UK's largest indoor Winter music festival over 2 weekends, bringing 15,000 people together with music performances across 6 arenas. Other acts from this year's event included Chase & Status, Example, Rizzle Kicks, Devlin and Wretch 32.
http://www.music-news.com
The Streets performed an amazing set celebrating a decade of their career. Over 7,500 people attended this epic night and the band's front man, Mike Skinner also celebrated his birthday. It was an emotional farewell as the band and their production team enjoyed a drink on stage with their fans! Cheers to that!
The Big Reunion is the UK's largest indoor Winter music festival over 2 weekends, bringing 15,000 people together with music performances across 6 arenas. Other acts from this year's event included Chase & Status, Example, Rizzle Kicks, Devlin and Wretch 32.
http://www.music-news.com
Nickelback reveal they want to write a musical
The chart-topping band Nickelback have shocked their rocker fans by revealing that they would have liked to write the musical soundtrack to the glitzy West End show Chicago, and how they now have their eyes on a theme tune for The Office.
Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake also chatted to Absolute Radio about writing for the Spiderman movie and let slip that they count The Police as a musical influence.
VB: 2002, Chad, you teamed up with Josie Scott to do the Spiderman theme song Hero. How did that come about?
N: I think Josie teamed up with him.
VB: Ah. Josie was your shadow, following you round?
N: My manager was managing the band that he was in called Saliva and they were also signed to. Island Def Jam, then Island Def Jam had just like acquired half of our record company. They were like 'Hey, you should really do a song with Josie.'
VB: Push it out there.
N: Yeah, I mean it was, it started as one of those and then I played that and he's like 'Just a minute, let me get my A&R guys.' So he brought his A&R guy in the room and he was like 'Just give them the first verse again and a little bit of the chorus.' So I played it again for them acoustically and they just said 'Yes, that's the one we should definitely do that one together.' Then we sent the demo back to the record company just to see what they were thinking and right away they sent it over to Columbia who were doing the sound track for Spiderman and they wanted the song badly, which was really nice.
VB: So the song came first, then the sound track picked it up. It wasn't written particularly for that film?
N: No. When you start a song that says 'I'm so high I can hear heaven', you know, I wasn't really talking about.
VB: Spiderman.
N: Swinging from building to building.
VB: Are there any films that you wish you'd recorded a full sound track for? Is that something you'd like to do as a band in the future?
N: Chicago. I think we could have done the whole sound track to Chicago.
VB: Nice, bit of jazz.
N: We could have done it poorly but we could have done it.
http://www.music-news.com
Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake also chatted to Absolute Radio about writing for the Spiderman movie and let slip that they count The Police as a musical influence.
VB: 2002, Chad, you teamed up with Josie Scott to do the Spiderman theme song Hero. How did that come about?
N: I think Josie teamed up with him.
VB: Ah. Josie was your shadow, following you round?
N: My manager was managing the band that he was in called Saliva and they were also signed to. Island Def Jam, then Island Def Jam had just like acquired half of our record company. They were like 'Hey, you should really do a song with Josie.'
VB: Push it out there.
N: Yeah, I mean it was, it started as one of those and then I played that and he's like 'Just a minute, let me get my A&R guys.' So he brought his A&R guy in the room and he was like 'Just give them the first verse again and a little bit of the chorus.' So I played it again for them acoustically and they just said 'Yes, that's the one we should definitely do that one together.' Then we sent the demo back to the record company just to see what they were thinking and right away they sent it over to Columbia who were doing the sound track for Spiderman and they wanted the song badly, which was really nice.
VB: So the song came first, then the sound track picked it up. It wasn't written particularly for that film?
N: No. When you start a song that says 'I'm so high I can hear heaven', you know, I wasn't really talking about.
VB: Spiderman.
N: Swinging from building to building.
VB: Are there any films that you wish you'd recorded a full sound track for? Is that something you'd like to do as a band in the future?
N: Chicago. I think we could have done the whole sound track to Chicago.
VB: Nice, bit of jazz.
N: We could have done it poorly but we could have done it.
http://www.music-news.com
Miley Cyrus: Stoner comment was a joke
Miley Cyrus' representatives have insisted comments she made about smoking marijuana have been 'taken out of context'.
The singer celebrated her 19th birthday last week with a party organised by her friend Kelly Osbourne.
Over the weekend a video taken at the bash was made public. In the footage, Miley is seen making a joke about her birthday cake ' which was emblazoned with the face of reggae star Bob Marley.
'You know you're a stoner when your friends make you a Bob Marley cake - you know you smoke way too much f**kin' weed,' she is heard saying.
The teenager's spokesperson has now slammed reports about the incident, insisting Miley was only joking.
'The cake was a joke and Miley was being sarcastic,' the representative told Access Hollywood. 'It is being completely taken out of context.'
Kelly has also jumped to the defence of the young star.
In 2010, a different video of Miley hit the internet. She was seen smoking a bong, which she later insisted contained the legal hallucinogen salvia. Kelly insists the cake was just a silly reference to that incident.
'Let me make something very clear after Miley Cyrus' salvia incident we started calling her bob miley as a JOKE!' she wrote on Twitter.
'The cake was also A JOKE! It makes me sick that Miley Cyrus' so called 'friends' would sell her out and lead people 2 believe she is someone that she is not!
'U guys if Miley Cyrus is not recording/filming/touring she is works everyday how could she possible do all that if she was a stoner! #think (sic).
http://www.music-news.com
The singer celebrated her 19th birthday last week with a party organised by her friend Kelly Osbourne.
Over the weekend a video taken at the bash was made public. In the footage, Miley is seen making a joke about her birthday cake ' which was emblazoned with the face of reggae star Bob Marley.
'You know you're a stoner when your friends make you a Bob Marley cake - you know you smoke way too much f**kin' weed,' she is heard saying.
The teenager's spokesperson has now slammed reports about the incident, insisting Miley was only joking.
'The cake was a joke and Miley was being sarcastic,' the representative told Access Hollywood. 'It is being completely taken out of context.'
Kelly has also jumped to the defence of the young star.
In 2010, a different video of Miley hit the internet. She was seen smoking a bong, which she later insisted contained the legal hallucinogen salvia. Kelly insists the cake was just a silly reference to that incident.
'Let me make something very clear after Miley Cyrus' salvia incident we started calling her bob miley as a JOKE!' she wrote on Twitter.
'The cake was also A JOKE! It makes me sick that Miley Cyrus' so called 'friends' would sell her out and lead people 2 believe she is someone that she is not!
'U guys if Miley Cyrus is not recording/filming/touring she is works everyday how could she possible do all that if she was a stoner! #think (sic).
http://www.music-news.com
Kelly Rowland launches monthly search for the UK's best mates
X Factor judge and new face of 'make mine Milk' asks 'Why is your mate the best?'
Kelly Rowland, the new face of the 'make mine Milk' campaign today launches mate of the month a brand new monthly search for the UK's best mates ' and has given a heart warming account of what she's done for her best friend from home.
X Factor star Kelly's friends have always given her the feel good factor. She met one of her best friends, Barbara, almost twenty years ago, waiting for a lift home from school in Houston, Texas. She said: 'I asked her her name and then that turned into a conversation, conversation turned into friendship. It's just really a blessing, she's always really straight with me, and I love her to death! The nicest thing I have ever done for Barbara is that when she got married, I actually gave them a honeymoon, so got the hotel, got the flights, everything, the travel. And she came back with a baby!'
The team behind the 'make mine Milk' campaign want to hear amazing stories of why your best mate deserves to be crowned mate of the month ' whether it's helping you through a difficult time or organising a mind blowing birthday surprise. There are some fantastic prizes to be won for you and your mate, from theatre tickets to shopping vouchers so you enjoy a great day out together.
Kelly wants people across Great Britain to get onto the new mate of the month app on Facebook, follow the instructions, and let her know why your mate should be crowned mate of the month.
Ex-Destiny's Child member and self-proclaimed Independent Woman, Kelly Rowland is the latest in a long line of celebrities to don the famous milk tash as part of the multi-million-pound campaign. Amongst others, she follows in the footsteps of Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, F1 driver Jenson Button, supermodel Elle Macpherson, pop princess Pixie Lott and Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay.
To enter the mate of the month competition, visit www.facebook.com/makemineMilk. For news on the 'make mine Milk' campaign, visit the campaign website www.makemineMilk.co.uk, follow @makemineMilk on Twitter or visit the campaign's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/makemineMilkuk.
http://www.music-news.com
Kelly Rowland, the new face of the 'make mine Milk' campaign today launches mate of the month a brand new monthly search for the UK's best mates ' and has given a heart warming account of what she's done for her best friend from home.
X Factor star Kelly's friends have always given her the feel good factor. She met one of her best friends, Barbara, almost twenty years ago, waiting for a lift home from school in Houston, Texas. She said: 'I asked her her name and then that turned into a conversation, conversation turned into friendship. It's just really a blessing, she's always really straight with me, and I love her to death! The nicest thing I have ever done for Barbara is that when she got married, I actually gave them a honeymoon, so got the hotel, got the flights, everything, the travel. And she came back with a baby!'
The team behind the 'make mine Milk' campaign want to hear amazing stories of why your best mate deserves to be crowned mate of the month ' whether it's helping you through a difficult time or organising a mind blowing birthday surprise. There are some fantastic prizes to be won for you and your mate, from theatre tickets to shopping vouchers so you enjoy a great day out together.
Kelly wants people across Great Britain to get onto the new mate of the month app on Facebook, follow the instructions, and let her know why your mate should be crowned mate of the month.
Ex-Destiny's Child member and self-proclaimed Independent Woman, Kelly Rowland is the latest in a long line of celebrities to don the famous milk tash as part of the multi-million-pound campaign. Amongst others, she follows in the footsteps of Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, F1 driver Jenson Button, supermodel Elle Macpherson, pop princess Pixie Lott and Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay.
To enter the mate of the month competition, visit www.facebook.com/makemineMilk. For news on the 'make mine Milk' campaign, visit the campaign website www.makemineMilk.co.uk, follow @makemineMilk on Twitter or visit the campaign's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/makemineMilkuk.
http://www.music-news.com
Gotye and Boy & Bear win big at ARIA Awards
The 2011 ARIA Awards was a big one for Gotye and Boy & Bear.
The ARIA Awards were handed out this evening in Sydney at Allphones Arena.
Boy & Bear picked up Album of the Year for 'Moonfire. Gotye was Best Male Artist. Kimbra Best Female Artist and Gotye and Gotye feat. Kimbra won Single of the Year for 'Someone That I Used To Know'.
Artist who picked up ARIA's tonight were:
ALBUM OF THE YEAR ' Boy & Bear, Moonfire
SINGLE OF THE YEAR ' Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
BEST MALE ARTIST ' Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
BEST FEMALE ARTIST ' Kimbra, Cameo Lover
BEST GROUP ' Boy & Bear, Moonfire
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST (ALBUM) ' Boy & Bear, Moonfire
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST (SINGLE) ' Boy & Bear, Feeding Line
BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE ' Art vs Science, The Experiment
BEST ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM ' Boy & Bear, Moonfire
BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM ' Billy Thorpe, Billy Thorpe's Tangier
BEST BLUES & ROOTS ALBUM ' The Audreys, Sometimes the Stars
BEST CHILDREN'S ALBUM ' The Wiggles, Ukulele Baby!
BEST COMEDY RELEASE ' Hamish & Andy, Celebrating 50 Glorious Years
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM ' Kasey Chambers, Little Bird
BEST DANCE RELEASE ' Cut Copy, Zonoscope
BEST HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL ALBUM ' Front End Loader, Ritardando
BEST POP RELEASE ' Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
BEST ROCK ALBUM ' The Living End, The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating
BEST URBAN ALBUM ' Drapht, The Life of Riley
HIGHEST SELLING ALBUM ' Altiyan Childs, Altiyan Childs
HIGHEST SELLING SINGLE ' Guy Sebastian, Who's that Girl (featuring Eve)
BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM ' Sally Whitwell, Mad Rush: Piano Music of Philip Glass
BEST JAZZ ALBUM ' Elixir featuring Katie Noonan, First Seed Ripening
BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK/CAST/SHOW ALBUM ' Chris Lilley, Angry Boys ' Official Soundtrack Album
BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM ' Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Rrakala
BEST MUSIC DVD ' AC/DC, AC/DC ' Live at River Plate
BEST COVER ART ' Alter, for Cut Copy, Zonoscope
BEST VIDEO ' Natasha Pincus for Starkraving Productions, for Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
ENGINEER OF THE YEAR ' Francois Tetaz, for Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR ' Wally De Backer, for Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
2011 PUBLIC VOTED ARIA AWARD WINNERS
MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST ' Birds of Tokyo
MOST POPULAR INTERNATIONAL ARTIST ' P!nk
MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN LIVE ARTIST ' The Living End
http://www.music-news.com
The ARIA Awards were handed out this evening in Sydney at Allphones Arena.
Boy & Bear picked up Album of the Year for 'Moonfire. Gotye was Best Male Artist. Kimbra Best Female Artist and Gotye and Gotye feat. Kimbra won Single of the Year for 'Someone That I Used To Know'.
Artist who picked up ARIA's tonight were:
ALBUM OF THE YEAR ' Boy & Bear, Moonfire
SINGLE OF THE YEAR ' Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
BEST MALE ARTIST ' Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
BEST FEMALE ARTIST ' Kimbra, Cameo Lover
BEST GROUP ' Boy & Bear, Moonfire
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST (ALBUM) ' Boy & Bear, Moonfire
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST (SINGLE) ' Boy & Bear, Feeding Line
BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE ' Art vs Science, The Experiment
BEST ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM ' Boy & Bear, Moonfire
BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM ' Billy Thorpe, Billy Thorpe's Tangier
BEST BLUES & ROOTS ALBUM ' The Audreys, Sometimes the Stars
BEST CHILDREN'S ALBUM ' The Wiggles, Ukulele Baby!
BEST COMEDY RELEASE ' Hamish & Andy, Celebrating 50 Glorious Years
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM ' Kasey Chambers, Little Bird
BEST DANCE RELEASE ' Cut Copy, Zonoscope
BEST HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL ALBUM ' Front End Loader, Ritardando
BEST POP RELEASE ' Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
BEST ROCK ALBUM ' The Living End, The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating
BEST URBAN ALBUM ' Drapht, The Life of Riley
HIGHEST SELLING ALBUM ' Altiyan Childs, Altiyan Childs
HIGHEST SELLING SINGLE ' Guy Sebastian, Who's that Girl (featuring Eve)
BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM ' Sally Whitwell, Mad Rush: Piano Music of Philip Glass
BEST JAZZ ALBUM ' Elixir featuring Katie Noonan, First Seed Ripening
BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK/CAST/SHOW ALBUM ' Chris Lilley, Angry Boys ' Official Soundtrack Album
BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM ' Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Rrakala
BEST MUSIC DVD ' AC/DC, AC/DC ' Live at River Plate
BEST COVER ART ' Alter, for Cut Copy, Zonoscope
BEST VIDEO ' Natasha Pincus for Starkraving Productions, for Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
ENGINEER OF THE YEAR ' Francois Tetaz, for Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR ' Wally De Backer, for Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
2011 PUBLIC VOTED ARIA AWARD WINNERS
MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST ' Birds of Tokyo
MOST POPULAR INTERNATIONAL ARTIST ' P!nk
MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN LIVE ARTIST ' The Living End
http://www.music-news.com
David Bowie licenses songs for theater?
There seems to be quite a bit of confusion at the moment as to whether David Bowie has licensed his catalog, or a portion of it, to screenwriter and producer Deep Singh for the new jukebox show Heroes: The Musical.
Singh originally reported that licensing was in place in the U.K.'s Guardian, saying that the show would not be a biography but a fictional piece using Bowie's music, much like ABBA's was used in Mamma Mia and Queen's in We Will Rock You.
Unfortunately, the agreement has evidently been shot down by Bowie, EMI Music and Chrysalis. A statement was released by Bowie's people on Sunday saying "Neither the David Bowie Organization, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for a Bowie musical at the O2, as has been reported in the UK. There are no negotiations pending for a long-running musical featuring the music of Mr. Bowie."
Does Bowie really not want his songs to be used in a musical or did Singh let the agreement out too soon? We will see how this develops over the coming weeks.
http://www.music-news.com
Singh originally reported that licensing was in place in the U.K.'s Guardian, saying that the show would not be a biography but a fictional piece using Bowie's music, much like ABBA's was used in Mamma Mia and Queen's in We Will Rock You.
Unfortunately, the agreement has evidently been shot down by Bowie, EMI Music and Chrysalis. A statement was released by Bowie's people on Sunday saying "Neither the David Bowie Organization, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for a Bowie musical at the O2, as has been reported in the UK. There are no negotiations pending for a long-running musical featuring the music of Mr. Bowie."
Does Bowie really not want his songs to be used in a musical or did Singh let the agreement out too soon? We will see how this develops over the coming weeks.
http://www.music-news.com
Quick quips: George Michael, AC/DC, Allman Brothers, Nikki Sixx, Gary Glitter, Don Devito
A friend of George Michael has shot down rumors that the singer is in grave condition with pneumonia. Fadi Fawaz told Britain's Daily Star that "He is improving every day. There is nothing to be concerned about. He is doing fine. We are very happy. He is doing extremely well and coming back from everything. We are very pleased."
Only one veteran artist won a prize at this years ARIA Awards, the Australian equivalent to the Grammy. Best Music DVD went to Live at River Plate by AC/DC. Album of the year was Moonfire by Boy & Bear and single was Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye featuring Kimbra.
Gregg Allman says to expect at least one more Allman Brother Band album. He told the Boston Herald "Absolutely, we have another album in us. I've had to spend a lot of time healing up from these surgeries with nothing to do but write songs. So don't listen when you hear there will never be another album. 'Never say never' is something I've learned recently."
Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue and Sixx: A.M. is already a three-time best selling author and he's putting together two more books for release. While Sixx is not letting on about subject matter, other than they will be different from the three previous, he is saying one should be out next May or June while the second is for 2013.
Scotland Yard has made it possible for Gary Glitter to once again leave England by not asking the courts to continue his travel ban; however, he remains on the sex offender's registry so he will have to ask permission to leave the country for more than three days and he may find bans on his entering many countries around the world.
Don Devito, an executive at Columbia Records who produced much of Bob Dylan's output during the 70's, passed away on Friday from prostate cancer. The two turned out Desire (1976), Street Legal (1978) and the live albums Hard Rain and At Budokan. He later worked on the Bootleg Series Volumes 1 through 3. He also worked with Billy Joel and Aerosmith, among others.
http://www.music-news.com
Only one veteran artist won a prize at this years ARIA Awards, the Australian equivalent to the Grammy. Best Music DVD went to Live at River Plate by AC/DC. Album of the year was Moonfire by Boy & Bear and single was Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye featuring Kimbra.
Gregg Allman says to expect at least one more Allman Brother Band album. He told the Boston Herald "Absolutely, we have another album in us. I've had to spend a lot of time healing up from these surgeries with nothing to do but write songs. So don't listen when you hear there will never be another album. 'Never say never' is something I've learned recently."
Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue and Sixx: A.M. is already a three-time best selling author and he's putting together two more books for release. While Sixx is not letting on about subject matter, other than they will be different from the three previous, he is saying one should be out next May or June while the second is for 2013.
Scotland Yard has made it possible for Gary Glitter to once again leave England by not asking the courts to continue his travel ban; however, he remains on the sex offender's registry so he will have to ask permission to leave the country for more than three days and he may find bans on his entering many countries around the world.
Don Devito, an executive at Columbia Records who produced much of Bob Dylan's output during the 70's, passed away on Friday from prostate cancer. The two turned out Desire (1976), Street Legal (1978) and the live albums Hard Rain and At Budokan. He later worked on the Bootleg Series Volumes 1 through 3. He also worked with Billy Joel and Aerosmith, among others.
http://www.music-news.com
Alicia Keys 'empowered' by charity work
Alicia Keys admits that her AIDS charity work in Africa is 'frenzied' at times.
The 31-year-old singer is the co-founder of Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit organisation that provides medical treatment to children and families afflicted by HIV and AIDS in Africa.
To commemorate World AIDS Day, which takes place this Thursday, Alicia is airing her newest documentary on the subject Keep a Child Alive With Alicia Keys.
Filming in Africa for the second time was enlightening for Alicia.
'The first [2008 documentary entitled Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland] was about my experience there. This time we chose five Americans to come with me during the World Cup, so there's the juxtaposition of that frenzy and meeting the people we've been helping to get medication,' Alicia explained to People magazine.
A few years back while filming the first documentary on the topic, Alicia was pregnant with Egypt Dean, her now 13-month-old son with her husband hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz.
'I remember thinking, 'My son, who isn't even born yet, is experiencing all these things through me.' It was very empowering,' she recalled.
Egypt continues to bring great joy to Alicia and her husband.
She is elated to see her son progress.
'[Egypt]'s walking!' Alicia gushed. 'He's blowing my mind every second. [Motherhood] is the coolest.'
Keep A Child Alive With Alicia Keys airs in the US on Showtime this Thursday December 1.
http://www.music-news.com
The 31-year-old singer is the co-founder of Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit organisation that provides medical treatment to children and families afflicted by HIV and AIDS in Africa.
To commemorate World AIDS Day, which takes place this Thursday, Alicia is airing her newest documentary on the subject Keep a Child Alive With Alicia Keys.
Filming in Africa for the second time was enlightening for Alicia.
'The first [2008 documentary entitled Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland] was about my experience there. This time we chose five Americans to come with me during the World Cup, so there's the juxtaposition of that frenzy and meeting the people we've been helping to get medication,' Alicia explained to People magazine.
A few years back while filming the first documentary on the topic, Alicia was pregnant with Egypt Dean, her now 13-month-old son with her husband hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz.
'I remember thinking, 'My son, who isn't even born yet, is experiencing all these things through me.' It was very empowering,' she recalled.
Egypt continues to bring great joy to Alicia and her husband.
She is elated to see her son progress.
'[Egypt]'s walking!' Alicia gushed. 'He's blowing my mind every second. [Motherhood] is the coolest.'
Keep A Child Alive With Alicia Keys airs in the US on Showtime this Thursday December 1.
http://www.music-news.com
Rihanna 'exhausted' by tour
Rihanna nearly cancelled her concert this weekend due to extreme 'exhaustion,' it has been reported.
The 23-year-old singer performed her scheduled show in Dublin on Friday despite being extremely fatigued.
Jetting around the world in her ten-month 101-date tour has taken an extreme toll on Rihanna.
'She's just a young woman who just wants to have fun, but she was feeling pretty low,' a source told British newspaper the Sun.
'It's a mix of exhaustion and stress. She's been partying hard to take her mind off things, but there are days when she wakes up and doesn't even know where she is because of the travelling. It's no wonder she is feeling down."
Rihanna found motivation to perform Friday night by discussing the matter with her mentor Beyoncé Knowles.
The Crazy In Love singer advised Rihanna to complete her remaining tour dates and to take a year off afterward.
Beyoncé relaxed for a year in 2009 for similar reasons and commiserates fully with Rihanna's difficulties.
"[Beyoncé] knows Rihanna needs downtime or she'll burn out,' the source explained.
Rihanna has 16 more dates until her Loud tour is officially complete.
Her final performance will be held in London on December 22.
http://www.music-news.com
The 23-year-old singer performed her scheduled show in Dublin on Friday despite being extremely fatigued.
Jetting around the world in her ten-month 101-date tour has taken an extreme toll on Rihanna.
'She's just a young woman who just wants to have fun, but she was feeling pretty low,' a source told British newspaper the Sun.
'It's a mix of exhaustion and stress. She's been partying hard to take her mind off things, but there are days when she wakes up and doesn't even know where she is because of the travelling. It's no wonder she is feeling down."
Rihanna found motivation to perform Friday night by discussing the matter with her mentor Beyoncé Knowles.
The Crazy In Love singer advised Rihanna to complete her remaining tour dates and to take a year off afterward.
Beyoncé relaxed for a year in 2009 for similar reasons and commiserates fully with Rihanna's difficulties.
"[Beyoncé] knows Rihanna needs downtime or she'll burn out,' the source explained.
Rihanna has 16 more dates until her Loud tour is officially complete.
Her final performance will be held in London on December 22.
http://www.music-news.com
Wild Beasts announce UK tour dates
Currently on a sold out UK tour, Wild Beasts are pleased to announce another set of dates for March 2012. The seven date tour will take them through the regions focussing on towns the four-piece have not played since the release of their critically acclaimed album, Smother.
Dates with ticket links are as follows:
Sun 11 Mar Warwick University
Mon 12 Mar Norwich Waterfront
Tue 13 Mar Colchester Arts Centre
Wed 14 Mar Exeter Phoenix
Thu 15 Mar Falmouth Pavillion
Fri 16 Mar Cardiff Coal Exchange
Sat 17 Mar Liverpool Masque Theatre
Tickets are on sale from tomorrow, Friday 25th November.
The Kendal four-piece play their second night at London's Shepherds Bush Empire tonight after a mesmerising sold out show last night, with Cambridge this Friday and Brighton on Saturday:
Thu 24 Nov London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Fri 25 Nov Cambridge Junction ' sold out
Sat 26 Nov Brighton Concorde II ' sold out
The latest single from Smother, Reach A Bit Further, is out now on limited edition coloured 12' vinyl backed with the b-sides Catherine Wheel, Smother and new track, Thankless Thing, recorded with Richard Formby at the beginning of the album sessions.
http://www.music-news.com
Dates with ticket links are as follows:
Sun 11 Mar Warwick University
Mon 12 Mar Norwich Waterfront
Tue 13 Mar Colchester Arts Centre
Wed 14 Mar Exeter Phoenix
Thu 15 Mar Falmouth Pavillion
Fri 16 Mar Cardiff Coal Exchange
Sat 17 Mar Liverpool Masque Theatre
Tickets are on sale from tomorrow, Friday 25th November.
The Kendal four-piece play their second night at London's Shepherds Bush Empire tonight after a mesmerising sold out show last night, with Cambridge this Friday and Brighton on Saturday:
Thu 24 Nov London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Fri 25 Nov Cambridge Junction ' sold out
Sat 26 Nov Brighton Concorde II ' sold out
The latest single from Smother, Reach A Bit Further, is out now on limited edition coloured 12' vinyl backed with the b-sides Catherine Wheel, Smother and new track, Thankless Thing, recorded with Richard Formby at the beginning of the album sessions.
http://www.music-news.com
PW to support Dappy on tour
Following on from the overwhelmingly positive response to his debut mixtape 'New Kid Off The Block' that brought you underground hits such as 'W.I.N.N.E.R' and 'Not Thinking About You', the 19-year old rising star who hails from north London, PW, aka Akheim Allen, has shown that he is certainly no passing fad and is gearing up to support no1 artist Dappy on his nationwide UK 'Rockstar' tour this December.
TOUR DATES:
09/12/11 ' NORWICH U.E.A
10/12/11 ' BIRMINGHAM HMV INSTITUTE
11/12/11 ' MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2
12/12/11 ' SHEFFIELD PLUG
13/12/11 ' LIVERPOOL O2 ACADEMY
15/12/11 ' GLASGOW O2 ABC
16/12/11 ' BRISTOL O2 ACADEMY
17/12/11 ' OXFORD O2 ACADEMY
18/12/11 ' CAMBRIDGE THE JUNCTION (OVER 14'S)
19/12/11 ' LONDON INDIGO2
http://www.music-news.com
TOUR DATES:
09/12/11 ' NORWICH U.E.A
10/12/11 ' BIRMINGHAM HMV INSTITUTE
11/12/11 ' MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2
12/12/11 ' SHEFFIELD PLUG
13/12/11 ' LIVERPOOL O2 ACADEMY
15/12/11 ' GLASGOW O2 ABC
16/12/11 ' BRISTOL O2 ACADEMY
17/12/11 ' OXFORD O2 ACADEMY
18/12/11 ' CAMBRIDGE THE JUNCTION (OVER 14'S)
19/12/11 ' LONDON INDIGO2
http://www.music-news.com
Alabama 3 launch new album & announce 2012 live dates
Musical fusionists Alabama 3 Acoustic will bring their rollicking live show to The Spiegel Saloon, Monday 12th December to launch their new album, "Shoplifting for Jesus.
The band join a host of exciting acts at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham this Christmas for 7UP's Winter Wonderland. The album which is possibly their best titled yet will be released in Ireland February 3rd 2012.
They will perform their unique blend of country acid house music at the Spiegel Saloon along with tracks from their new album. There is free admission to 7UP Winter Wonderland, and to the live music performances happening every day in the continental style Spiegel Saloon.
The full nine piece band returns to Ireland in the New Year to play Queens University Belfast (Feb 10th), The Button Factory, Dublin (Feb 11th); Cork Opera House (Feb 12th).
http://www.music-news.com
The band join a host of exciting acts at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham this Christmas for 7UP's Winter Wonderland. The album which is possibly their best titled yet will be released in Ireland February 3rd 2012.
They will perform their unique blend of country acid house music at the Spiegel Saloon along with tracks from their new album. There is free admission to 7UP Winter Wonderland, and to the live music performances happening every day in the continental style Spiegel Saloon.
The full nine piece band returns to Ireland in the New Year to play Queens University Belfast (Feb 10th), The Button Factory, Dublin (Feb 11th); Cork Opera House (Feb 12th).
http://www.music-news.com
Professor Green 'Never Be A Right Time' video
Professor Green firmly established himself as one of the UK's most exciting new talents around when his debut album 'Alive Till I'm Dead' crashed into the charts at #2.
Since certified double-Gold, the album launched four hit singles with 'I Need You Tonight', 'Just Be Good To Green', 'Monster' and 'Jungle' amassing over 500,000 sales and gaining Green 1.4 million Facebook friends.
On the live side, after selling out his current November and December dates, Professor Green will also embark on his biggest tour to date next April culminating with a show at London's O2 Academy Brixton on Saturday May 5th 2012.
April
Mon 23rd Glasgow, O2 Academy 0844 499 9990
Tues 24th Leicester, O2 Academy 0844 477 2000
Weds 25th Plymouth, Pavilions 0845 146 1460
Fri 27th Leeds, O2 Academy 0844 477 2000
Sat 28th Blackpool, Empress Ballroom 0844 811 0051
Sun 29th Wolverhampton, Civic Hall 0870 320 7000
Mon 30th Southend, Cliff Pavilion 01702 351 135
May
Weds 2nd Reading, Rivermead 0118 960 6060
Thurs 3rd Cardiff, Uni Great Hall 0292 048 8020
Sat 5th London, O2 Brixton Academy 0844 477 2000
Professor Green's November and December dates are sold out with a limited number of tickets still available for London Brixton Electric.
November
Sun 27 Liverpool University Mountford Hall
Mon 28 Glasgow Barrowland
Tue 29 Edinburgh Playhouse
December
Thu 01 Newcastle O2 Academy
Fri 02 Manchester Academy
Sat 03 Preston 53 Degrees
Mon 05 Sheffield O2 Academy
Tue 06 Leamington Spa Assembly
Wed 07 Nottingham Rock City
Fri 09 Birmingham O2 Academy
Sat 10 Lincoln Engine Shed
Sun 11 Norwich UEA
Tue 13 Bournemouth O2 Academy
Wed 14 Bristol O2 Academy
Thu 15 London Brixton Electric 020 7403 3331 *new show added*
Rizzle Kicks have been added as special guests on all shows from Nov 27th until Dec 14th.
http://www.music-news.com
Since certified double-Gold, the album launched four hit singles with 'I Need You Tonight', 'Just Be Good To Green', 'Monster' and 'Jungle' amassing over 500,000 sales and gaining Green 1.4 million Facebook friends.
On the live side, after selling out his current November and December dates, Professor Green will also embark on his biggest tour to date next April culminating with a show at London's O2 Academy Brixton on Saturday May 5th 2012.
April
Mon 23rd Glasgow, O2 Academy 0844 499 9990
Tues 24th Leicester, O2 Academy 0844 477 2000
Weds 25th Plymouth, Pavilions 0845 146 1460
Fri 27th Leeds, O2 Academy 0844 477 2000
Sat 28th Blackpool, Empress Ballroom 0844 811 0051
Sun 29th Wolverhampton, Civic Hall 0870 320 7000
Mon 30th Southend, Cliff Pavilion 01702 351 135
May
Weds 2nd Reading, Rivermead 0118 960 6060
Thurs 3rd Cardiff, Uni Great Hall 0292 048 8020
Sat 5th London, O2 Brixton Academy 0844 477 2000
Professor Green's November and December dates are sold out with a limited number of tickets still available for London Brixton Electric.
November
Sun 27 Liverpool University Mountford Hall
Mon 28 Glasgow Barrowland
Tue 29 Edinburgh Playhouse
December
Thu 01 Newcastle O2 Academy
Fri 02 Manchester Academy
Sat 03 Preston 53 Degrees
Mon 05 Sheffield O2 Academy
Tue 06 Leamington Spa Assembly
Wed 07 Nottingham Rock City
Fri 09 Birmingham O2 Academy
Sat 10 Lincoln Engine Shed
Sun 11 Norwich UEA
Tue 13 Bournemouth O2 Academy
Wed 14 Bristol O2 Academy
Thu 15 London Brixton Electric 020 7403 3331 *new show added*
Rizzle Kicks have been added as special guests on all shows from Nov 27th until Dec 14th.
http://www.music-news.com
More acts announced for December Sessions at The O2
December Sessions is a brand new and unique Christmas programme delivering a totally free music and entertainment experience which gives music fans of all ages the opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow over the course of 20 days at the world's most popular music venue.
Running from December 3rd until 22nd 2011, each night will see five bands take to a specially constructed stage in London Piazza at The O2. With a potential audience of thousands ' more than 4,000 capacity in the London Piazza and a further 15,000 possible in the thoroughfare ' December Sessions at The O2 gives these new acts a 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity to play to a huge audience at London's most celebrated entertainment venue.
Acts already announced to play included:
- Nikki Garnett, hailing from Manchester and described as a Winehouse meets Lily Allen;
- The Sea and I, (Hoosiers frontman) Irwin Sparkes' new project;
- London based trio Belakiss (whose bassist Tatia is Ringo Starr's granddaughter);
- Treetop Flyers, who recently won the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition;
- Son Of Jack who are fresh from touring and recording with Chrissie Hynde;
Music Radar & Last FM
December Sessions has teamed up with Music Radar and Last.fm, who each have their own programmed night during December to showcase the pick of their most popular bands. Last.fm Presents is coming to the O2 on 14th December where they will be curating a line up based on acts racing up their Hype Charts, the fastest rising artists in the UK today. MusicRadar are hosting a night on the 12th December and have worked with their partners at Live and Unsigned to select the best bands from this year's competition. The December Sessions is a great showcase for new talent and the MusicRadar night will see performances from five exciting new acts.
Photography Exhibition & 'Silentgig'
As well as the live music, there's plenty more on offer at December Sessions including a photography exhibition by world famous live music photographer Carsten Windhorst. He has created a one-off 'photowall' of more than 80 live images as well as 25 portrait shots of some of his most famous pictures. A 'Silentgig' ' presented by Sennheiser ' involving an audio, visual and sensory stimulation designed to give a truly unique and interactive event experience will also take place on one of the nights. The Silentgig will allow individuals to choose their own listening level and mix for the performance by the act they're seeing, delivering the audio via headphones with virtually no external sound.
The British Music Experience
One of London's iconic red double-decker Routemaster buses has been transformed into a moving museum by The British Music Experience, Britain's museum of popular music based at The O2 'those attending December Sessions can hop on board and get a snapshot of Britain's wonderfully eclectic music history and take a turn on the bus' very own custom band set up. Plus you can pick up a pair of the very latest Festival Spectacles, based on the original Seventies design with a donation from each pair sold going to the Sightsavers charity.
December Sessions at The O2 is proudly supported by Gibson, Best Buy, Sennheiser and Last FM.
http://www.music-news.com
Running from December 3rd until 22nd 2011, each night will see five bands take to a specially constructed stage in London Piazza at The O2. With a potential audience of thousands ' more than 4,000 capacity in the London Piazza and a further 15,000 possible in the thoroughfare ' December Sessions at The O2 gives these new acts a 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity to play to a huge audience at London's most celebrated entertainment venue.
Acts already announced to play included:
- Nikki Garnett, hailing from Manchester and described as a Winehouse meets Lily Allen;
- The Sea and I, (Hoosiers frontman) Irwin Sparkes' new project;
- London based trio Belakiss (whose bassist Tatia is Ringo Starr's granddaughter);
- Treetop Flyers, who recently won the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition;
- Son Of Jack who are fresh from touring and recording with Chrissie Hynde;
Music Radar & Last FM
December Sessions has teamed up with Music Radar and Last.fm, who each have their own programmed night during December to showcase the pick of their most popular bands. Last.fm Presents is coming to the O2 on 14th December where they will be curating a line up based on acts racing up their Hype Charts, the fastest rising artists in the UK today. MusicRadar are hosting a night on the 12th December and have worked with their partners at Live and Unsigned to select the best bands from this year's competition. The December Sessions is a great showcase for new talent and the MusicRadar night will see performances from five exciting new acts.
Photography Exhibition & 'Silentgig'
As well as the live music, there's plenty more on offer at December Sessions including a photography exhibition by world famous live music photographer Carsten Windhorst. He has created a one-off 'photowall' of more than 80 live images as well as 25 portrait shots of some of his most famous pictures. A 'Silentgig' ' presented by Sennheiser ' involving an audio, visual and sensory stimulation designed to give a truly unique and interactive event experience will also take place on one of the nights. The Silentgig will allow individuals to choose their own listening level and mix for the performance by the act they're seeing, delivering the audio via headphones with virtually no external sound.
The British Music Experience
One of London's iconic red double-decker Routemaster buses has been transformed into a moving museum by The British Music Experience, Britain's museum of popular music based at The O2 'those attending December Sessions can hop on board and get a snapshot of Britain's wonderfully eclectic music history and take a turn on the bus' very own custom band set up. Plus you can pick up a pair of the very latest Festival Spectacles, based on the original Seventies design with a donation from each pair sold going to the Sightsavers charity.
December Sessions at The O2 is proudly supported by Gibson, Best Buy, Sennheiser and Last FM.
http://www.music-news.com
Chase & Status join one of the hot spots of Manchester nightlife
First established in 2002, electronic music promoters Metropolis will be celebrating their 10th year of events in 2012, with the launch of a brand new residency at one of the hot spots of Manchester nightlife.
Best known for their ground breaking and genre defying worldwide music events, Metropolis will mark their decade of success with the launch of a fresh new club night at Manchester's Sankeys.
Kicking off on New Years Day, Metropolis will be hosting an all-nighter at the venue and the event will be the first in a series of it's kind.
The all-new club nights will see a return to more regular Metropolis shows in the promoter's hometown and will be hosting some of the biggest names in bass music.
The main headliners for the launch show are one of the leading names in electronic music today and true Metropolis favourites, Chase & Status, who will spinning a DJ set covering drum and bass, dubstep, and anything in between.
Chase & Status will be joined by Shy FX, one of the original pioneers of the Jungle and Drum & Bass scenes, and now a leader in the bass music revolution with his imprint Digital Soundboy
DJ Redlight, who's forthcoming smash "Get Out of My Head" is released on MTA Records in January, will also be joining the new year's day revelry.
Also confirmed for the show are Metropolis residents North Base, Mak & Citizen, and the show will be hosted by MC Stamina, Dread and Tonn Piper.
Metropolis director and owner Mark Newton said 'we're excited to be hosting events at the venue which is regarded as one of the best in the country and the line-up for New Years Day is set to be incredible. We're really excited to be bringing some new and distinctive bass fueled nights to the highly acclaimed venue in Manchester.'
The event, which takes place on Sunday 1stJanuary, gets going at11pm and will continue right through until 7am on Monday 2nd. Earlybird tickets are currently on sale at £18.50 while standard price tickets fall at £22.50.
Full line up:
http://www.music-news.com
Best known for their ground breaking and genre defying worldwide music events, Metropolis will mark their decade of success with the launch of a fresh new club night at Manchester's Sankeys.
Kicking off on New Years Day, Metropolis will be hosting an all-nighter at the venue and the event will be the first in a series of it's kind.
The all-new club nights will see a return to more regular Metropolis shows in the promoter's hometown and will be hosting some of the biggest names in bass music.
The main headliners for the launch show are one of the leading names in electronic music today and true Metropolis favourites, Chase & Status, who will spinning a DJ set covering drum and bass, dubstep, and anything in between.
Chase & Status will be joined by Shy FX, one of the original pioneers of the Jungle and Drum & Bass scenes, and now a leader in the bass music revolution with his imprint Digital Soundboy
DJ Redlight, who's forthcoming smash "Get Out of My Head" is released on MTA Records in January, will also be joining the new year's day revelry.
Also confirmed for the show are Metropolis residents North Base, Mak & Citizen, and the show will be hosted by MC Stamina, Dread and Tonn Piper.
Metropolis director and owner Mark Newton said 'we're excited to be hosting events at the venue which is regarded as one of the best in the country and the line-up for New Years Day is set to be incredible. We're really excited to be bringing some new and distinctive bass fueled nights to the highly acclaimed venue in Manchester.'
The event, which takes place on Sunday 1stJanuary, gets going at11pm and will continue right through until 7am on Monday 2nd. Earlybird tickets are currently on sale at £18.50 while standard price tickets fall at £22.50.
Full line up:
http://www.music-news.com
Ghostpoet and The D.O.T.'s video for RizLab project takes shape
Preparations for Ghostpoet & The D.O.T.'s ambitious experimental music video for RizLab project are gathering pace. Next week, Ghostpoet, Mike Skinner and Rob Harvey's collaboration 'Trouble' will be shot and broadcast live in one take in what will be the world's first live-streamed, interactive music video.
Right now fans can email in their suggestions for what they'd like to see in the video to rizlab.events@exposure.net. The best will be put into a shortlist to be used in the video, then on the night, online viewers of the FACTmag live stream will be presented with a series of A or B options from which to choose. Throughout the performance, viewers will click on the option they would like to see and the most popular will be immediately implemented in real-time.
Also performing at the shoot will be former Ghostpoet remixers, and two of the most talented producers in electronic music in 2011, xxxy and dBridge.
As well as streaming the tracks, a brand new video of Ghostpoet & The D.O.T. undergoing a health and safety interview ahead of the video shoot can also be viewed at rizlab.co.uk/projects.
http://www.music-news.com
Right now fans can email in their suggestions for what they'd like to see in the video to rizlab.events@exposure.net. The best will be put into a shortlist to be used in the video, then on the night, online viewers of the FACTmag live stream will be presented with a series of A or B options from which to choose. Throughout the performance, viewers will click on the option they would like to see and the most popular will be immediately implemented in real-time.
Also performing at the shoot will be former Ghostpoet remixers, and two of the most talented producers in electronic music in 2011, xxxy and dBridge.
As well as streaming the tracks, a brand new video of Ghostpoet & The D.O.T. undergoing a health and safety interview ahead of the video shoot can also be viewed at rizlab.co.uk/projects.
http://www.music-news.com
The Flaming Lips to spend New Year with Yoko Ono
As Wayne Coyne Tweeted, THE FLAMING LIPS have announced that they will perform two shows to celebrate the New Year at the Bricktown Events Center in Oklahoma City on December 31st and January 1, 2012.
The band promises to pull out all the stops with MORE of everything! More confetti, more balloons, massive volume, and maximum weirdness for its NEW YEAR'S FREAKOUT 5, which also features very special guests YOKO ONO PLASTIC ONO BAND. Tickets go on sale today, Friday Nov 25th, and are priced at $100 per night or available at a special package price of $150 for both nights.
Expect exclusive merch to be available for this event only. Plus Gummy Fetuses (containing a USB drive featuring three new songs: "Enthusiasm For Life Defeats Existential Fear Part 2," "Steven's Moonbow," and "Squishy Glass"), Gummy Skulls (Exclusive LA Edition) which houses a USB drive that contains "The Soft Bulletin: Live La Fantastique de Institution 2011," a complete live concert recording of THE SOFT BULLETIN. Once these are gone, they are gone for good. Also on sale will be the mesmerizing light illusion toy The Strobo Trip, which also include a USB drive with three exclusive recordings: "Butterfly, How Long It Takes To Die," "Found A Star On The Ground," -- the 6 hour long song that will blow your mind way beyond the third bardo - plus "Evil Minds," are all on sale at the Flaming Lips Webstore.
Also recently released is "7 Skies H3" - yes, the 24-hour long song! This comes in a real genuine human skull artfully decorated with chrome and "7 Skies H3" on a hard drive inside the skull. Cost: $5,000, however these are completely sold out but you can hear the song at http://flaminglipstwentyfourhoursong.com/
The LIPS have also announced a holiday performance to take place on Dec 27th at The Belly Up in Aspen, CO. Be sure to keep an eye on www.flaminglips.com and www.twitter.com/waynecoyne for all things LIPS as new and exciting news is just around the corner.
http://www.music-news.com
The band promises to pull out all the stops with MORE of everything! More confetti, more balloons, massive volume, and maximum weirdness for its NEW YEAR'S FREAKOUT 5, which also features very special guests YOKO ONO PLASTIC ONO BAND. Tickets go on sale today, Friday Nov 25th, and are priced at $100 per night or available at a special package price of $150 for both nights.
Expect exclusive merch to be available for this event only. Plus Gummy Fetuses (containing a USB drive featuring three new songs: "Enthusiasm For Life Defeats Existential Fear Part 2," "Steven's Moonbow," and "Squishy Glass"), Gummy Skulls (Exclusive LA Edition) which houses a USB drive that contains "The Soft Bulletin: Live La Fantastique de Institution 2011," a complete live concert recording of THE SOFT BULLETIN. Once these are gone, they are gone for good. Also on sale will be the mesmerizing light illusion toy The Strobo Trip, which also include a USB drive with three exclusive recordings: "Butterfly, How Long It Takes To Die," "Found A Star On The Ground," -- the 6 hour long song that will blow your mind way beyond the third bardo - plus "Evil Minds," are all on sale at the Flaming Lips Webstore.
Also recently released is "7 Skies H3" - yes, the 24-hour long song! This comes in a real genuine human skull artfully decorated with chrome and "7 Skies H3" on a hard drive inside the skull. Cost: $5,000, however these are completely sold out but you can hear the song at http://flaminglipstwentyfourhoursong.com/
The LIPS have also announced a holiday performance to take place on Dec 27th at The Belly Up in Aspen, CO. Be sure to keep an eye on www.flaminglips.com and www.twitter.com/waynecoyne for all things LIPS as new and exciting news is just around the corner.
http://www.music-news.com
X Factor Guilty Pleasures week review
Guilty pleasures and heroes week on The X Factor. We all have them, so when the editor asked for mine I shamed myself with my confession to loving Rick Astley along with Batman. Oh, not that type of hero! Whoops!!
Last week we said farewell to Craig Colton. A truly likeable lad with a exceptional voice but his luck ran out. It's getting so close now. The good just have to keep getting better to make sure they rise above the rest. Hopefully we will hear more from him in the future. Good luck Craig.
This week, we were treated to two songs each from the remaining five contestants. Guilty pleasures followed by their heroes.
First up however, was the bonus surprise contestant, Mr Dermot O'Leary, who danced rather than sang his guilty pleasure.
Onto the serious stuff and girl band Little Mix were first up. Bit of a shaky start but they finished the song strongly.
Their second song was brilliant and I would be stunned if Little Mix did not make the Final. During their performance the note I wrote on my pad was 'Finalists'
Midas Act Janet Devlin was up next, and sadly it did not go at all well. The song choice was not good, made worse by Janet forgetting her words and she looking very uncomfortable throughout the song. Janet has her unique style, and when she sings to this style, she is the most outstanding and unique artist out there. Feedback from the judges wasn't great.
Her Heroes song was much much better, this time she sung a song she both liked herself and that matched her style. Only time will tell if Janet has done enough to stay for another week. I will be keeping everything crossed.
Now if Misha B can get the public on board, then she is set for a great career. Her vocal during her first song was world class and she is always consistently good. My wife is a big fan of hers.
Saying that though her second track was not as good and the curse of the bottom two could be beckoning again if she doesn't get the support.
Marcus Collins entertained us again during his guilty pleasure song but it is all getting a bit repetitive with him. For the first time this series I got bored watching him. Sorry mate.
The judges did their best to try and persuade us that his second song was better but we all must have been listening to a different version at home. His voice was off key at times and the song didn't work for him. I do still expect Marcus to be in the Final though and he does have the like ability factor with that cheeky grin.
Last up was Amelia Lily who did a 'smashing' version of China in Your Hands, and Gary it certainly wasn't shouty.
Her second track was not as good but I think Amelia still had a lot to offer and her first song more than made up for this offering.
The results show tonight is going to be hard to call.
Before I go I just want to congratulate the X Factor team, the finalists, JLS and One Direction for the brilliant charity track 'Wishing on a star'. If you have a spare pound please download the song as every penny is going to the 'Together For Short Lives' children's charity.
Right now where did I leave my Rick Astley CD?
http://www.music-news.com
Last week we said farewell to Craig Colton. A truly likeable lad with a exceptional voice but his luck ran out. It's getting so close now. The good just have to keep getting better to make sure they rise above the rest. Hopefully we will hear more from him in the future. Good luck Craig.
This week, we were treated to two songs each from the remaining five contestants. Guilty pleasures followed by their heroes.
First up however, was the bonus surprise contestant, Mr Dermot O'Leary, who danced rather than sang his guilty pleasure.
Onto the serious stuff and girl band Little Mix were first up. Bit of a shaky start but they finished the song strongly.
Their second song was brilliant and I would be stunned if Little Mix did not make the Final. During their performance the note I wrote on my pad was 'Finalists'
Midas Act Janet Devlin was up next, and sadly it did not go at all well. The song choice was not good, made worse by Janet forgetting her words and she looking very uncomfortable throughout the song. Janet has her unique style, and when she sings to this style, she is the most outstanding and unique artist out there. Feedback from the judges wasn't great.
Her Heroes song was much much better, this time she sung a song she both liked herself and that matched her style. Only time will tell if Janet has done enough to stay for another week. I will be keeping everything crossed.
Now if Misha B can get the public on board, then she is set for a great career. Her vocal during her first song was world class and she is always consistently good. My wife is a big fan of hers.
Saying that though her second track was not as good and the curse of the bottom two could be beckoning again if she doesn't get the support.
Marcus Collins entertained us again during his guilty pleasure song but it is all getting a bit repetitive with him. For the first time this series I got bored watching him. Sorry mate.
The judges did their best to try and persuade us that his second song was better but we all must have been listening to a different version at home. His voice was off key at times and the song didn't work for him. I do still expect Marcus to be in the Final though and he does have the like ability factor with that cheeky grin.
Last up was Amelia Lily who did a 'smashing' version of China in Your Hands, and Gary it certainly wasn't shouty.
Her second track was not as good but I think Amelia still had a lot to offer and her first song more than made up for this offering.
The results show tonight is going to be hard to call.
Before I go I just want to congratulate the X Factor team, the finalists, JLS and One Direction for the brilliant charity track 'Wishing on a star'. If you have a spare pound please download the song as every penny is going to the 'Together For Short Lives' children's charity.
Right now where did I leave my Rick Astley CD?
http://www.music-news.com
American Anthems II 3 x CD
American Anthems II is three CD set to follow up the original collection from last year. Again the set picks up classic tracks from American artists, spanning 3 decades of music. There are some great forgotten tracks on here – Sixpence None the Richer for one, although bizarrely Janet performed this on X-Factor the same week the set came out!! Other ‘lsot’ tracks for me include Mr Mister’s ‘Kyrie’ (better than Broken Wings), Billy Joel’s environmental hit ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ and Rick Springfield’s’ ‘Human Touch’; all take me right back to No Limits with Jonathan King, Lisa Maxwell and Jenny Powell.
This collection also encompasses some more recent acts such as The Killers, Train and Kid Rock, with all three fitting into the set seamlessly. Finally, great to see Prince on here; doesn't appear on many compilation CDs.
Excellent volume 2.
Disc 1
1. Africa - Toto
2. We Don't Need Another Hero - Tina Turner
3. Gimme All Your Lovin' - ZZ Top
4. Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
5. We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
6. Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac
7. I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) - Hall & Oates
8. Burning Heart - Survivor
9. Unskinny Bop - Poison
10. Girl Can't Help It - Journey
11. When I See You Smile - Bad English
12. Lido Shuffle - Boz Scaggs
13. What I Am - Edie Brickell
14. When I'm Alone - Lissie
15. I Don't Want to Be - Gavin DeGraw
16. Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer
17. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite - R.E.M.
18. All Summer Long - Kid Rock
19. All These Things That I've Done – The Killers
Disc 2
1. Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
2. Waiting for a Girl like You - Foreigner
3. You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
4. Stuck with You - Huey Lewis & the News
5. Long Train Running – The Doobie Brothers
6. Abracadabra - Steve Miller Band
7. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
8. Hey, Soul Sister - Train
9. Kyrie - Mr. Mister
10. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
11. Take This Heart - Richard Marx
12. Walking in Memphis - Marc Cohn
14. One of Us - Joan Osborne
15. Babe - Styx
16. Lullaby - Shawn Mullins
17. Little Miss Can't Be Wrong - Spin Doctors
18. More than Words - Extreme
19. If You Leave Me Now - Chicago
Disc 3
1. If I Could Turn Back Time - Cher
2. Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
3. Californian Girls - David Lee Roth
4. Crazy Crazy Nights - Kiss
5. Leave a Light On - Belinda Carlisle
6. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
7. Two out of Three Ain't Bad - Meat Loaf
8. I Drove All Night - Roy Orbison
9. These Dreams - Heart
10. Gloria - Laura Branigan
11. Playing with the Boys - Kenny Loggins
12. Mighty Wings - Cheap Trick
13. Human Touch - Rick Springfield
14. Sailing - Christopher Cross
15. Hitch a Ride - Boston
16. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
17. Make You Feel My Love - Bob Dylan
18. Make It with You - Bread
19. A Horse with No Name - America
20. Purple Rain - Prince
http://www.music-news.com
This collection also encompasses some more recent acts such as The Killers, Train and Kid Rock, with all three fitting into the set seamlessly. Finally, great to see Prince on here; doesn't appear on many compilation CDs.
Excellent volume 2.
Disc 1
1. Africa - Toto
2. We Don't Need Another Hero - Tina Turner
3. Gimme All Your Lovin' - ZZ Top
4. Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
5. We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
6. Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac
7. I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) - Hall & Oates
8. Burning Heart - Survivor
9. Unskinny Bop - Poison
10. Girl Can't Help It - Journey
11. When I See You Smile - Bad English
12. Lido Shuffle - Boz Scaggs
13. What I Am - Edie Brickell
14. When I'm Alone - Lissie
15. I Don't Want to Be - Gavin DeGraw
16. Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer
17. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite - R.E.M.
18. All Summer Long - Kid Rock
19. All These Things That I've Done – The Killers
Disc 2
1. Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
2. Waiting for a Girl like You - Foreigner
3. You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
4. Stuck with You - Huey Lewis & the News
5. Long Train Running – The Doobie Brothers
6. Abracadabra - Steve Miller Band
7. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
8. Hey, Soul Sister - Train
9. Kyrie - Mr. Mister
10. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
11. Take This Heart - Richard Marx
12. Walking in Memphis - Marc Cohn
14. One of Us - Joan Osborne
15. Babe - Styx
16. Lullaby - Shawn Mullins
17. Little Miss Can't Be Wrong - Spin Doctors
18. More than Words - Extreme
19. If You Leave Me Now - Chicago
Disc 3
1. If I Could Turn Back Time - Cher
2. Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
3. Californian Girls - David Lee Roth
4. Crazy Crazy Nights - Kiss
5. Leave a Light On - Belinda Carlisle
6. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
7. Two out of Three Ain't Bad - Meat Loaf
8. I Drove All Night - Roy Orbison
9. These Dreams - Heart
10. Gloria - Laura Branigan
11. Playing with the Boys - Kenny Loggins
12. Mighty Wings - Cheap Trick
13. Human Touch - Rick Springfield
14. Sailing - Christopher Cross
15. Hitch a Ride - Boston
16. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
17. Make You Feel My Love - Bob Dylan
18. Make It with You - Bread
19. A Horse with No Name - America
20. Purple Rain - Prince
http://www.music-news.com
Unseen Michael Jackson Footage Flops at Auction
Unseen footage from a stop on Michael Jackson's Dangerous tour in 1993 failed to sell at an auction in England on Saturday. The film, shot from the stage at a concert in Argentina by Jackson's production crew, was rejected by the singer. The only copy of the footage was presented as a gift to Jackson's driver, who put it up for auction at the Fame Bureau auction house in London.
"At this stage it has not sold," said a spokesman for the auctioneers. "We are still talking to people, but online it did not sell." In a statement, the auction house speculated the failure to find a buyer could be rooted in the fact that the film cannot be used for commercial purposes. Given the restriction, one would need to be a very serious and wealthy fan to require more than the ample footage from the tour that can be viewed for free on YouTube.
http://www.rollingstone.com
"At this stage it has not sold," said a spokesman for the auctioneers. "We are still talking to people, but online it did not sell." In a statement, the auction house speculated the failure to find a buyer could be rooted in the fact that the film cannot be used for commercial purposes. Given the restriction, one would need to be a very serious and wealthy fan to require more than the ample footage from the tour that can be viewed for free on YouTube.
http://www.rollingstone.com
Lily Allen Has a Baby Girl
British pop star Lily Allen has given birth to her first child, a daughter. Allen, whose breakthrough 2006 single, "Smile," helped sell more than two million copies of her debut album, suffered two miscarriages before the birth of her newborn, which she has yet to name.
Allen, 26, is married to 32-year-old British businessman Sam Cooper, whom she has called "the love of my life."
http://www.rollingstone.com
Allen, 26, is married to 32-year-old British businessman Sam Cooper, whom she has called "the love of my life."
http://www.rollingstone.com
The Arctic Monkeys have announced that their next single to be released will be 'Black Treacle'
The band will release 'Black Treacle', taken from their latest album 'Suck It And See', on January 23.
'Suck It And See' is the fourth track to be taken from the album; which includes singles 'Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair' and 'The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala'.
Meanwhile, the Arctic Monkeys are currently without a record label for their next album.
The Sheffield band's contract with independent label Domino Records recently expired after their latest album 'Suck It And See'
http://www.gigwise.com
'Suck It And See' is the fourth track to be taken from the album; which includes singles 'Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair' and 'The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala'.
Meanwhile, the Arctic Monkeys are currently without a record label for their next album.
The Sheffield band's contract with independent label Domino Records recently expired after their latest album 'Suck It And See'
http://www.gigwise.com
Gorillaz Celebrate 10th Anniversary With Spotify Page
Formed by Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett back in 2001, the virtual band have released four studio albums and collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Dangermouse, Bobby Womack Little Dragon, Shaun Ryder and Lou Reed.
The Singles Collection: 2001-2011 was released today (November 28) and to celebrate Gorillaz and Spotify are giving usees of the site five weeks of exclusive and interactive content.
The exclusive content includes a three-part radio programme hosted by Gorillaz characters, covering the band's history and unseen live concerts.
The Singles Collection: 2001-2011' is available on CD, DVD and vinyl.
The tracklisting for 'The Singles Collection: 2001-2011' is:
'Tomorrow Comes Today'
'Clint Eastwood'
'19-2000'
'Rock The House'
'Feel Good Inc'
'DARE'
'Dirty Harry'
'Kids With Guns'
'El Manana'
'Stylo'
'Superfast Jellyfish'
'On Melancholy Hill'
'Doncamatic'
'Clint Eastwood' (Ed Case & Sweetie Irie Refix)
'19-2000' (Soulchild Remix)
http://www.gigwise.com
The Singles Collection: 2001-2011 was released today (November 28) and to celebrate Gorillaz and Spotify are giving usees of the site five weeks of exclusive and interactive content.
The exclusive content includes a three-part radio programme hosted by Gorillaz characters, covering the band's history and unseen live concerts.
The Singles Collection: 2001-2011' is available on CD, DVD and vinyl.
The tracklisting for 'The Singles Collection: 2001-2011' is:
'Tomorrow Comes Today'
'Clint Eastwood'
'19-2000'
'Rock The House'
'Feel Good Inc'
'DARE'
'Dirty Harry'
'Kids With Guns'
'El Manana'
'Stylo'
'Superfast Jellyfish'
'On Melancholy Hill'
'Doncamatic'
'Clint Eastwood' (Ed Case & Sweetie Irie Refix)
'19-2000' (Soulchild Remix)
http://www.gigwise.com
David Bowie has denied reports that he's given permission for his songs to be used in the new 'Heroes' musical.
Reports emerged yesterday (November 27) that the singer had granted permission to allow his music to be used in the stage show, which was reported to get its world premiere next March in London.
But, according to Bowie's official spokesman, this is incorrect and neither the singer nor his management are in negotiation for his songs to be used in a musical.
The statement reads: "Neither the David Bowie Organisation, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for this performance at the O2. There are no negotiations pending for a long running musical featuring the music of Mr. Bowie".
The singer has not released a new album since 2003's 'Reality' and last performed live in 2006, despite calls from his fans to make a comeback.
http://www.gigwise.com
But, according to Bowie's official spokesman, this is incorrect and neither the singer nor his management are in negotiation for his songs to be used in a musical.
The statement reads: "Neither the David Bowie Organisation, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for this performance at the O2. There are no negotiations pending for a long running musical featuring the music of Mr. Bowie".
The singer has not released a new album since 2003's 'Reality' and last performed live in 2006, despite calls from his fans to make a comeback.
http://www.gigwise.com
Best music-related books
“I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution,’’ Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum For those who came of age during the glory days of the music video era - from the early ’80s to the early ’90s - this oral history, woven together by music journalists Marks and Tannenbaum, evokes nostalgia and illuminates some interesting behind the scenes action at the then-burgeoning music network.
“Aerosmith: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Boston Bad Boys,’’ Richard Bienstock Four hundred photos, concert posters, ticket stubs, and backstage passes tell the wild story of the beloved Boston rockers in living color, from the 1970s to the present. Pictured: Steven Tyler.
“It’s So Easy: and Other Lies,’’ Duff McKagan Most rock star bios are tedious laundry lists of half-remembered drug-booze-and-sex-fueled vignettes. Guns N’ Roses bassist McKagan offers a few of those and some insider info on Axl and the boys, but he also takes a more thoughtful route in detailing his life and his work toward sobriety.
Related
Our books pick: ‘Def Jam Recordings’
Globe's complete music gift guide
“No Such Thing as Silence: John Cage’s 4’33,’’ Kyle Gann A smart and pellucid introduction, not only to a single avant-garde masterwork but to Cage’s broader creative world.
“You Only Rock Once: My Life in Music,’’ Jerry Blavat From teenage dancer on “American Bandstand’’ to influential Philadelphia DJ, nightclub owner - and friend to Sammy Davis and Frank Sinatra - and pioneer of the “oldies’’ format, Blavat (known as “The Geator With the Heater; the Boss with the hot sauce’’) offers a look at the early rock scene and his part in it.
“The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock ’n’ Roll,’’ Preston Lauterbach Nominally, music journalist Lauterbach tells the tale of the spider-web of joints across the nation that served as sometimes grueling education for many black artists before and during the rock era. But ultimately this is a cultural history that explores music, race, and more in a narrative that is smart, touching, and funny.
“The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh, and Wailer,’’ Colin Grant Chronicling their formative years in Kingston through their rise to global fame as the Wailers, Grant looks at the entwined stories of three of Jamaica’s musical pioneers: Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer.
“See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody,’’ Bob Mould Part memoir, party elegy for his old destructive ways of living, Mould’s book looks at his journey from his rural upbringing to cult fame leading the band Hüsker Dü and beyond. Along the way, he addresses, with startling honesty, his struggle with addiction and learning to embrace his sexuality.
“Four Strong Winds,’’ John Einarson Ian & Sylvia, one of the great duos that emerged at the dawn of the folk movement in the late 1950s, finally get their due. Working with personal anecdotes from Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson, Einarson traces their early years in Toronto’s coffeehouses to the disintegration of their union, both on and off stage.
“The Greatest Music Stories Never Told,’’ Rick Beyer Dipping into jazz, rock, classical, folk, and hip-hop, this compact book brims with fascinating stories about music and pop culture, from the invention of the theremin to the origins of karaoke.
“Aerosmith: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Boston Bad Boys,’’ Richard Bienstock Four hundred photos, concert posters, ticket stubs, and backstage passes tell the wild story of the beloved Boston rockers in living color, from the 1970s to the present. Pictured: Steven Tyler.
“It’s So Easy: and Other Lies,’’ Duff McKagan Most rock star bios are tedious laundry lists of half-remembered drug-booze-and-sex-fueled vignettes. Guns N’ Roses bassist McKagan offers a few of those and some insider info on Axl and the boys, but he also takes a more thoughtful route in detailing his life and his work toward sobriety.
Related
Our books pick: ‘Def Jam Recordings’
Globe's complete music gift guide
“No Such Thing as Silence: John Cage’s 4’33,’’ Kyle Gann A smart and pellucid introduction, not only to a single avant-garde masterwork but to Cage’s broader creative world.
“You Only Rock Once: My Life in Music,’’ Jerry Blavat From teenage dancer on “American Bandstand’’ to influential Philadelphia DJ, nightclub owner - and friend to Sammy Davis and Frank Sinatra - and pioneer of the “oldies’’ format, Blavat (known as “The Geator With the Heater; the Boss with the hot sauce’’) offers a look at the early rock scene and his part in it.
“The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock ’n’ Roll,’’ Preston Lauterbach Nominally, music journalist Lauterbach tells the tale of the spider-web of joints across the nation that served as sometimes grueling education for many black artists before and during the rock era. But ultimately this is a cultural history that explores music, race, and more in a narrative that is smart, touching, and funny.
“The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh, and Wailer,’’ Colin Grant Chronicling their formative years in Kingston through their rise to global fame as the Wailers, Grant looks at the entwined stories of three of Jamaica’s musical pioneers: Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer.
“See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody,’’ Bob Mould Part memoir, party elegy for his old destructive ways of living, Mould’s book looks at his journey from his rural upbringing to cult fame leading the band Hüsker Dü and beyond. Along the way, he addresses, with startling honesty, his struggle with addiction and learning to embrace his sexuality.
“Four Strong Winds,’’ John Einarson Ian & Sylvia, one of the great duos that emerged at the dawn of the folk movement in the late 1950s, finally get their due. Working with personal anecdotes from Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson, Einarson traces their early years in Toronto’s coffeehouses to the disintegration of their union, both on and off stage.
“The Greatest Music Stories Never Told,’’ Rick Beyer Dipping into jazz, rock, classical, folk, and hip-hop, this compact book brims with fascinating stories about music and pop culture, from the invention of the theremin to the origins of karaoke.
Magazine YouChoose: Yoni Bloch's multiple-choice pop videos
The first thing you notice about the video for Andy Grammer's " Keep Your Head Up" is the same trick that won it MTV's Most Innovative Music Video award in 2011. Every 20 seconds or so, options appear on screen. Depending on what you click, the story unfolds in several possible directions. At the start, say, you can decide whether to have Grammer jostled by bikers or menaced by Rainn Wilson from the US version of The Office. Every transition is seamless, and viewers can share their favourite versions.
Look a little closer and you might spot a human Easter egg. Yoni Bloch, CEO of Interlude, the company behind the technology, sits quietly in one scene. Why the Hitchcockian cameo?
"I had a feeling it might win an award, and I thought, 'Wait a second, I want to be in there,'" says Bloch with a laugh. At 30, he is still best known in his native Israel as a singer, songwriter and guest judge on Kokhav Nolad -- Israel's answer to The X Factor. But he has been mixing tech and music since he was a child. "I used to spend all the money I had to buy microphones and mixers," he says. "I wanted my music to sound like tape-machine recordings, although it was recorded on my computer at home."
The break from internet celebrity into the mainstream came when a fan shared his songs with her father, a record-company chairman. But over Bloch's three subsequent albums, he kept thinking about how technology could help audiences to re-engage with music in an age of second screens and constant distraction.
At the heart of his software is proprietary video technology that allows the Interlude player to load and switch between movie snippets without interruption. Companies have already used it to make recruitment videos and adverts.Interlude has plans to conquer TV -- and TV has plans for Interlude. Nancy Tellem, former president of CBS Network Entertainment, has joined Interlude's advisory board to find ways of exploiting tablets and smart TVs as these devices continue to change the ways media is consumed.
"If you play Interlude on a tablet, it's ten times more amazing because you can touch your choice," says Bloch. "The same thing could happen on television." Interlude is also working with PrimeSense, which designed Kinect's 3D camera sensor, to create new ways to interact.
Despite a new office in New York and funding from Sequoia Capital, Bloch hasn't abandoned his indie sensibilities. "I recently got a script that starts with a guy standing on the edge of a building. You think the first choice will be whether to jump, but the film runs backwards and the choices tell you how he ends up standing there. That's what excites me the most: a new way of telling a story."
Check out the gallery to see some of the options in Andy Grammer's award-winning "Keep You Head Up".
Look a little closer and you might spot a human Easter egg. Yoni Bloch, CEO of Interlude, the company behind the technology, sits quietly in one scene. Why the Hitchcockian cameo?
"I had a feeling it might win an award, and I thought, 'Wait a second, I want to be in there,'" says Bloch with a laugh. At 30, he is still best known in his native Israel as a singer, songwriter and guest judge on Kokhav Nolad -- Israel's answer to The X Factor. But he has been mixing tech and music since he was a child. "I used to spend all the money I had to buy microphones and mixers," he says. "I wanted my music to sound like tape-machine recordings, although it was recorded on my computer at home."
The break from internet celebrity into the mainstream came when a fan shared his songs with her father, a record-company chairman. But over Bloch's three subsequent albums, he kept thinking about how technology could help audiences to re-engage with music in an age of second screens and constant distraction.
At the heart of his software is proprietary video technology that allows the Interlude player to load and switch between movie snippets without interruption. Companies have already used it to make recruitment videos and adverts.Interlude has plans to conquer TV -- and TV has plans for Interlude. Nancy Tellem, former president of CBS Network Entertainment, has joined Interlude's advisory board to find ways of exploiting tablets and smart TVs as these devices continue to change the ways media is consumed.
"If you play Interlude on a tablet, it's ten times more amazing because you can touch your choice," says Bloch. "The same thing could happen on television." Interlude is also working with PrimeSense, which designed Kinect's 3D camera sensor, to create new ways to interact.
Despite a new office in New York and funding from Sequoia Capital, Bloch hasn't abandoned his indie sensibilities. "I recently got a script that starts with a guy standing on the edge of a building. You think the first choice will be whether to jump, but the film runs backwards and the choices tell you how he ends up standing there. That's what excites me the most: a new way of telling a story."
Check out the gallery to see some of the options in Andy Grammer's award-winning "Keep You Head Up".
As Coldplay shuns streaming, indie bands weigh options
Last week was a busy one in the world of music and business. Much attention has been given to the US launch of Apple's iTunes Match service, and of course the ramifications of the ongoing breakup and sale of EMI, with it recorded music arm going to Universal for £1.2 million ($1.9 million) and its publishing division to a Sony-led consortium for £1.4 billion ($2.2 billion).
However, a smaller but perhaps significant motion in the musical ocean was the removal of all but four of ST Holdings' 238 labels' output from music streaming services Spotify, Rdio, Simfy and Napster.
It has to be said that the overlap of the Venn diagram of Simfy users and fans of the Skull Disco label probably doesn't represent a vast constituency, but the trend is worth considering. One of the withdrawing labels offered the rock'n'roll soundbite "Let's keep the music special, **** Spotify". For "special" here, read "profitable" -- the danger, as identified in a survey of US listeners at the time of Spotify's US launch, recently published jointly by NPD and NARM, is that the ability to listen to music does not convert into sales, and the payments from streaming services alone are limited for all but the biggest names.
In terms of how that affects a small band, Uniform Motion provided the figures for their relationship with Spotify in September 2011:
With Spotify, we'll get €0.003/play.
If you listen to the album all the way through, we'll get €0.029.
If you listen to the album 10 times on Spotify, we'll get €0.29
If you listen to it a hundred times, we'll get €2.94
If you listen to the album 1,000 times (once a day for 3 years!) we'll get €29.47!
For comparison, the cash after costs of a CD sale at €10 is €4.34, and on a pay-what-you-want digital download at €5 the cash after costs is €3.88. Depending on perspective, the relatively small profits from Spotify are either a small supplement to other digital earnings, or a low-value substitution for digital downloads.
At the other end of the market, Coldplay's latest album, Mylo Xyloto will not be streamed on Spotify. The band have cited artistic reasons -- stating that the album is best experienced as a unified whole – but this does sound a little like Brian Eno refusing to sell his next album to people without really good hi-fi setups. Which, admittedly, seems more credible now that I've typed it, but let's move on. As a gambit, it has certainly not significantly harmed the band, whose album went in at number 1 in all 35 iTunes music stores.
When quizzed about the future of music during the promotion of his book ‘Free: The Future of a Radical Price', Chris Anderson ventured that there would always be a desire to make music, and their would probably always be people who made large amounts of money from making money, but that the expectation of making money from selling recorded music would recede.
There are models for this kind of musician -- Jonathan Coulton, the Internet's sweetheart, makes $500,000 a year through touring and sales of music which is largely available for free. It isn't much compared with the earnings of the richest hip hop stars, but it's a decent living. However, Coulton started early, at a time when distributing music over the Internet remained something of a novelty, and has displayed considerable talent and good fortune in finding and serving an audience. For the musician just starting out, what options are there?
Next: Hope for the future in secondary rights?
I spoke to Daniel Cross of Record-Play, an interesting, agile music consultancy. Cross sees secondary rights exploitation as an opportunity for hungry -- metaphorically and literally -- musicians. The secondary rights market -- essentially, payment for use of your music in a form other than as recorded music available for sale -- provides opportunities for bands to realise a longer tail of profitability form their recordings, and in some cases to use the exposure from the exploitation back into sales. At the top end, tracks like Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks" have spread across advertisements, TV promos and other secondary uses to the point of near-ubiquity.
Arguably, ‘Pumped Up Kicks' owes its original profile to its use in advertising for NYLON magazine; the irony is further compounded by the fact that it was composed by Mark Foster while working as a writer of advertising jingles for Los Angeles' Mophonics.
Based in an office in London's achingly hip Shoreditch, Cross operates on several levels. At a high level, he manages music for campaigns for large consumer brands like Adidas and Reebok. These brands crave credibility, and can gain it by being connected to up and coming artists under their corporate radar, as well as by the usual brand endorsements. While paying Fiddy conspicuously to wear your shoes confers a certain kind of heat, sponsoring a series of sessions for young talent, or finding the right French electropop DJs to accompany your promotion is another.
The same set of skills and contacts can be mined for film soundtracks (Record-Play licensed the soundtrack for The Age of Stupid) or computer games. Gaming in particular is an interesting market, as it is so closely connected, increasingly, to online play and online markets. Sugarstar is a British company which has taken advantage of this to sell end-credits songs directly through iPhone remakes of the classic ‘Broken Sword' games, by the simple expedient of putting a button onscreen that links straight through to the iTunes store. Edmonton's Faunts contributed ‘M4 (Part II)' to the end titles of ‘Mass Effect', which has now sold more than 7 million copies, and led to an iTunes-exclusive album of remixes. Games of that size generally have their own music teams and composers, but there are definite opportunities for licensing, for introductory music or in-game music (such as the Theory of a Dead Man CD playable in the ineffably French adventure ‘Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy').
Along with sitting in your apartment listening to sepulchral post-grunge, Indigo Prophecy also had gameplay based around practising the guitar, looking for files and tracking down lost books. So, pulse-pounding action all the way, there.
However, smaller games -- and films, and other media properties -- also need music, and frequently lack the budget to create their own material, or license a song by Coldplay. Which is where the other interesting part of Record-Play's business model comes in. Independent labels like Warp and Ninja Tune may want to negotiate directly when dealing with the most recent output of their properties. However, they also have a vast back catalogue of music which they no longer promote, and which sits on their books, earning almost nothing for the artists or the label. "Music hubs", like Record-Play or the more conventionally library music-orientated Beatpick provide a way for labels and artists – and unsigned artists or part-time musicians -- to monetise otherwise moribund assets, in a largely automated method. Songs are submitted to the database with metadata added through a form. They are curated (essentially, sifted for quality), and uploaded. At the other side, an agency looking for a song can stipulate the style, mood, length, dominant instrument and so on, and the database will spit out possible song choices.
No artist is likely to get rich from this long tail of hassle-free residual payments -- Cross estimates that a popular selection might earn €5-10,000. However, for a working musician this might be the difference between continuing to perform and record or being forced out of the industry. Musicians increasingly need to be hustlers, balancing a range of different revenue streams, from live performance, digital sales and streaming services -- often with little or collective management. The same flexibility and versatility is required up the value chain. For example, a set of cork record sleeves commissioned for Record-Play's spin-off label, Tape, has spun off in turn a range of laptop and iPad cases. It seems like an inexplicable brand extension, but it holds together, as does the new studio opened across the hall from Cross' one-room office.
The cork industry has something in common with the music industry -- a resource wrestling with the economic impact of falling purchases and dropping costs caused by oversupply -- through the easy reproduction of digital music in one case and the growing popularity of plastic corks in the other. Album sales this year, driven by Lady Gaga, are actually on the rise for the first time since 2004. However, this has been achieved at the cost of deep discounting -- Gaga's ‘Born This Way' was briefly made available for 99 cents on release to drive sales. As individual slices of that pie shrink along with it, smart musicians are looking hard at how their money is made.
However, a smaller but perhaps significant motion in the musical ocean was the removal of all but four of ST Holdings' 238 labels' output from music streaming services Spotify, Rdio, Simfy and Napster.
It has to be said that the overlap of the Venn diagram of Simfy users and fans of the Skull Disco label probably doesn't represent a vast constituency, but the trend is worth considering. One of the withdrawing labels offered the rock'n'roll soundbite "Let's keep the music special, **** Spotify". For "special" here, read "profitable" -- the danger, as identified in a survey of US listeners at the time of Spotify's US launch, recently published jointly by NPD and NARM, is that the ability to listen to music does not convert into sales, and the payments from streaming services alone are limited for all but the biggest names.
In terms of how that affects a small band, Uniform Motion provided the figures for their relationship with Spotify in September 2011:
With Spotify, we'll get €0.003/play.
If you listen to the album all the way through, we'll get €0.029.
If you listen to the album 10 times on Spotify, we'll get €0.29
If you listen to it a hundred times, we'll get €2.94
If you listen to the album 1,000 times (once a day for 3 years!) we'll get €29.47!
For comparison, the cash after costs of a CD sale at €10 is €4.34, and on a pay-what-you-want digital download at €5 the cash after costs is €3.88. Depending on perspective, the relatively small profits from Spotify are either a small supplement to other digital earnings, or a low-value substitution for digital downloads.
At the other end of the market, Coldplay's latest album, Mylo Xyloto will not be streamed on Spotify. The band have cited artistic reasons -- stating that the album is best experienced as a unified whole – but this does sound a little like Brian Eno refusing to sell his next album to people without really good hi-fi setups. Which, admittedly, seems more credible now that I've typed it, but let's move on. As a gambit, it has certainly not significantly harmed the band, whose album went in at number 1 in all 35 iTunes music stores.
When quizzed about the future of music during the promotion of his book ‘Free: The Future of a Radical Price', Chris Anderson ventured that there would always be a desire to make music, and their would probably always be people who made large amounts of money from making money, but that the expectation of making money from selling recorded music would recede.
There are models for this kind of musician -- Jonathan Coulton, the Internet's sweetheart, makes $500,000 a year through touring and sales of music which is largely available for free. It isn't much compared with the earnings of the richest hip hop stars, but it's a decent living. However, Coulton started early, at a time when distributing music over the Internet remained something of a novelty, and has displayed considerable talent and good fortune in finding and serving an audience. For the musician just starting out, what options are there?
Next: Hope for the future in secondary rights?
I spoke to Daniel Cross of Record-Play, an interesting, agile music consultancy. Cross sees secondary rights exploitation as an opportunity for hungry -- metaphorically and literally -- musicians. The secondary rights market -- essentially, payment for use of your music in a form other than as recorded music available for sale -- provides opportunities for bands to realise a longer tail of profitability form their recordings, and in some cases to use the exposure from the exploitation back into sales. At the top end, tracks like Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks" have spread across advertisements, TV promos and other secondary uses to the point of near-ubiquity.
Arguably, ‘Pumped Up Kicks' owes its original profile to its use in advertising for NYLON magazine; the irony is further compounded by the fact that it was composed by Mark Foster while working as a writer of advertising jingles for Los Angeles' Mophonics.
Based in an office in London's achingly hip Shoreditch, Cross operates on several levels. At a high level, he manages music for campaigns for large consumer brands like Adidas and Reebok. These brands crave credibility, and can gain it by being connected to up and coming artists under their corporate radar, as well as by the usual brand endorsements. While paying Fiddy conspicuously to wear your shoes confers a certain kind of heat, sponsoring a series of sessions for young talent, or finding the right French electropop DJs to accompany your promotion is another.
The same set of skills and contacts can be mined for film soundtracks (Record-Play licensed the soundtrack for The Age of Stupid) or computer games. Gaming in particular is an interesting market, as it is so closely connected, increasingly, to online play and online markets. Sugarstar is a British company which has taken advantage of this to sell end-credits songs directly through iPhone remakes of the classic ‘Broken Sword' games, by the simple expedient of putting a button onscreen that links straight through to the iTunes store. Edmonton's Faunts contributed ‘M4 (Part II)' to the end titles of ‘Mass Effect', which has now sold more than 7 million copies, and led to an iTunes-exclusive album of remixes. Games of that size generally have their own music teams and composers, but there are definite opportunities for licensing, for introductory music or in-game music (such as the Theory of a Dead Man CD playable in the ineffably French adventure ‘Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy').
Along with sitting in your apartment listening to sepulchral post-grunge, Indigo Prophecy also had gameplay based around practising the guitar, looking for files and tracking down lost books. So, pulse-pounding action all the way, there.
However, smaller games -- and films, and other media properties -- also need music, and frequently lack the budget to create their own material, or license a song by Coldplay. Which is where the other interesting part of Record-Play's business model comes in. Independent labels like Warp and Ninja Tune may want to negotiate directly when dealing with the most recent output of their properties. However, they also have a vast back catalogue of music which they no longer promote, and which sits on their books, earning almost nothing for the artists or the label. "Music hubs", like Record-Play or the more conventionally library music-orientated Beatpick provide a way for labels and artists – and unsigned artists or part-time musicians -- to monetise otherwise moribund assets, in a largely automated method. Songs are submitted to the database with metadata added through a form. They are curated (essentially, sifted for quality), and uploaded. At the other side, an agency looking for a song can stipulate the style, mood, length, dominant instrument and so on, and the database will spit out possible song choices.
No artist is likely to get rich from this long tail of hassle-free residual payments -- Cross estimates that a popular selection might earn €5-10,000. However, for a working musician this might be the difference between continuing to perform and record or being forced out of the industry. Musicians increasingly need to be hustlers, balancing a range of different revenue streams, from live performance, digital sales and streaming services -- often with little or collective management. The same flexibility and versatility is required up the value chain. For example, a set of cork record sleeves commissioned for Record-Play's spin-off label, Tape, has spun off in turn a range of laptop and iPad cases. It seems like an inexplicable brand extension, but it holds together, as does the new studio opened across the hall from Cross' one-room office.
The cork industry has something in common with the music industry -- a resource wrestling with the economic impact of falling purchases and dropping costs caused by oversupply -- through the easy reproduction of digital music in one case and the growing popularity of plastic corks in the other. Album sales this year, driven by Lady Gaga, are actually on the rise for the first time since 2004. However, this has been achieved at the cost of deep discounting -- Gaga's ‘Born This Way' was briefly made available for 99 cents on release to drive sales. As individual slices of that pie shrink along with it, smart musicians are looking hard at how their money is made.
Belfast firmly on the musical map with the 2011 MTV Music Awards.
Considered by some the musical version of the Olympics, MTV considered bids from a number of cities before settling Belfast for its annual awards show.
Star Events Group Ltd provided a VerTech 2015CPL stage system for live performances from local super group Snow Patrol.
The stage type and access features were specified by Duchess Iredale on behalf of MTV Europe was built over the main gates of Belfast’s iconic City Hall facing the main shopping thoroughfare of Donegal Place.
The gates and railings formed integral parts of the completed structure with the stage height set to allow smooth passage of rolling risers between the main gate posts. The construction took place over 4 days which meant minimal disruption to traffic despite the delivery of some 100t of equipment and use of an 80t crane to assemble the stage.
Ancillary structures including a multilevel front of house and follow spot tower, with an essential cable bridge across the main highway and camera platforms were all deployed during a brief overnight road closures which was carefully controlled by Steve Iredale and Tony Killeen. Although the weather during the build had been typical for Belfast and the time of the year, with plenty of wind and rain, the conditions improved significantly for the show and live rehearsals allowing the Star Events team headed by Bob Fennel the opportunity to remove the back wall sheets and profiles to let the magnificent City Hall form the back drop for the main show.
Pete Holdich Star Events project Manager commented; it was a real pleasure to be back in Belfast for such a prestigious show and demonstrates the confidence that has grown in the city, the support from the site and production teams has been excellent, combined with our experienced team meant our operation ran to schedule in delivering a world class event.
Star Events Group Ltd provided a VerTech 2015CPL stage system for live performances from local super group Snow Patrol.
The stage type and access features were specified by Duchess Iredale on behalf of MTV Europe was built over the main gates of Belfast’s iconic City Hall facing the main shopping thoroughfare of Donegal Place.
The gates and railings formed integral parts of the completed structure with the stage height set to allow smooth passage of rolling risers between the main gate posts. The construction took place over 4 days which meant minimal disruption to traffic despite the delivery of some 100t of equipment and use of an 80t crane to assemble the stage.
Ancillary structures including a multilevel front of house and follow spot tower, with an essential cable bridge across the main highway and camera platforms were all deployed during a brief overnight road closures which was carefully controlled by Steve Iredale and Tony Killeen. Although the weather during the build had been typical for Belfast and the time of the year, with plenty of wind and rain, the conditions improved significantly for the show and live rehearsals allowing the Star Events team headed by Bob Fennel the opportunity to remove the back wall sheets and profiles to let the magnificent City Hall form the back drop for the main show.
Pete Holdich Star Events project Manager commented; it was a real pleasure to be back in Belfast for such a prestigious show and demonstrates the confidence that has grown in the city, the support from the site and production teams has been excellent, combined with our experienced team meant our operation ran to schedule in delivering a world class event.
XL Video at the MTV European Music Awards
XL Video EMAs GUETTAXL Video UK supplied specialist LED and IMAG projection screens plus control to the 2011 MTV European Music Awards, staged at Belfast Odyssey Arena, Northern Ireland, and broadcast live to 45 countries worldwide.
The UK’s leading live music video production specialist has been involved with the glamour and buzz of this high profile event for several years, and XL’s Chris Saunders was project managing for the third year running.
The show included a dynamic, star studded line up of artists performing live, including Lady GaGa, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Jesse J, Justin Bieber, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Selina Gomez, who was also hosting.
Technical challenges included fitting an ambitious and visually spectacular stage set designed by Es Devlin – complete with integrated screens – into the venue. Also the XL team had to be flexible enough to accommodate specific requests from some artists late on as their individual performances evolved during the rehearsal period in the preceding week.
Saunders worked closely with Devlin, production manager Margaret Mouzakitis, TV director Russell Thomas and media creators Hello Charlie, who produced all the show’s bespoke video content and graphics.
The large (16 tiles wide, 15 high) LED screen at the back of the main stage was made up from XL’s Pixled F15 modules. Flanking the stage left and right were two IMAG screens of Pixled F11, both 26 tiles wide and 14 high, configured in slightly different shapes to add quirkiness.
In the ‘Glamour Pit’ presentation area at the opposite end of the arena to the stage, there were a further 14 x 8 modules of F15 mounted behind the presenters. These were used for providing generic block colours and funky ambient footage as well as for winner looks, logo sequences, etc.
All the screens were managed on site by Klass Eecloo from XL Ghent, Belgium.
Flown from the roof at the back of the arena were two delay projection screens, each fed by a single Barco FLM machine with another running as hot backup. These were fed with the same IMAG images as the two screens either side of stage.
XL supplied a Barco Encore screen management system, which was run by Jonathon Bond with a separate output to each screen. The XL crew received a sub-cut of the broadcast TX, and Chris Saunders co-ordinated outputting this onto the four IMAG screens and sending the assorted playback media to all six screens at the relevant times.
XL also supplied Lady GaGa with a Barco FLM 22K for projecting content onto her moon set piece, which had to be arranged at the last minute, together with a Catalyst media server on which to store her moon surface content, which looked highly effective.
The XL team was on site for a week during the build. Chris Saunders comments, “It was great to be involved with another MTV EMAs. Each year the show evolves and grows and the technical production standards are consistently high. Es’s set was inventive and interesting as always, and our long term experience of how the event develops as a live show concept and what’s required helps all things flow in a tight timescale”.
The UK’s leading live music video production specialist has been involved with the glamour and buzz of this high profile event for several years, and XL’s Chris Saunders was project managing for the third year running.
The show included a dynamic, star studded line up of artists performing live, including Lady GaGa, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Jesse J, Justin Bieber, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Selina Gomez, who was also hosting.
Technical challenges included fitting an ambitious and visually spectacular stage set designed by Es Devlin – complete with integrated screens – into the venue. Also the XL team had to be flexible enough to accommodate specific requests from some artists late on as their individual performances evolved during the rehearsal period in the preceding week.
Saunders worked closely with Devlin, production manager Margaret Mouzakitis, TV director Russell Thomas and media creators Hello Charlie, who produced all the show’s bespoke video content and graphics.
The large (16 tiles wide, 15 high) LED screen at the back of the main stage was made up from XL’s Pixled F15 modules. Flanking the stage left and right were two IMAG screens of Pixled F11, both 26 tiles wide and 14 high, configured in slightly different shapes to add quirkiness.
In the ‘Glamour Pit’ presentation area at the opposite end of the arena to the stage, there were a further 14 x 8 modules of F15 mounted behind the presenters. These were used for providing generic block colours and funky ambient footage as well as for winner looks, logo sequences, etc.
All the screens were managed on site by Klass Eecloo from XL Ghent, Belgium.
Flown from the roof at the back of the arena were two delay projection screens, each fed by a single Barco FLM machine with another running as hot backup. These were fed with the same IMAG images as the two screens either side of stage.
XL supplied a Barco Encore screen management system, which was run by Jonathon Bond with a separate output to each screen. The XL crew received a sub-cut of the broadcast TX, and Chris Saunders co-ordinated outputting this onto the four IMAG screens and sending the assorted playback media to all six screens at the relevant times.
XL also supplied Lady GaGa with a Barco FLM 22K for projecting content onto her moon set piece, which had to be arranged at the last minute, together with a Catalyst media server on which to store her moon surface content, which looked highly effective.
The XL team was on site for a week during the build. Chris Saunders comments, “It was great to be involved with another MTV EMAs. Each year the show evolves and grows and the technical production standards are consistently high. Es’s set was inventive and interesting as always, and our long term experience of how the event develops as a live show concept and what’s required helps all things flow in a tight timescale”.
MTV VJ Ruby Rose appears to have signed with Sony Music as a recording artist Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/mtv-vj-ruby-rose-appears-to-have-signed-with-sony-music-as-a-recording-artist
SHE'S a self-proclaimed rock star wannabe who can't play an instrument - but ambitious Ruby Rose looks to have signed with a major music label as a recording artist.
A major talking point at the ARIAs was the DJ's friendly association with Sony, even sitting as a guest on their table along with other prized talent such as Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Guy Sebastian.
Insiders revealed the MTV presenter is keen to take "the next step" in her career and become a full-time musician, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Confidential understands Sony hopes Rose can mirror the success of spunky blonde Havana Brown, mixing and releasing mainstream songs into dance tracks and releasing them as CDs under a Ruby Rose brand.
There's even a chance to segue into singing, as Brown did this year.
"She's already got a name for herself that people will recognise and the right 'look'," an insider said.
"She dresses like she already is (an artist). Now it's just about coming up with the right material and a market. Like house, R'n'B."
While there was no confirmation to be had yesterday, an announcement is expected tomorrow.
Back in 2008, when Rose first appeared on the scene, she spoke about wanting to be a rock star but admitted being unable to sing.
She was born and bred on a white bread diet of Madonna, Sinead O'Conner and Meat Loaf and would fall asleep to Guns n'Roses' "Sweet Child O'Mine".
A self-confessed "80's pop and rock tragic", Rose also collects guitars, even though she doesn't play a lick. She has also studied acting - at Melbourne's Victorian College of Arts.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/mtv-vj-ruby-rose-appears-to-have-signed-with-sony-music-as-a-recording-artist/story-e6frfn09-1226208608693#ixzz1f0ihwIYp
A major talking point at the ARIAs was the DJ's friendly association with Sony, even sitting as a guest on their table along with other prized talent such as Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Guy Sebastian.
Insiders revealed the MTV presenter is keen to take "the next step" in her career and become a full-time musician, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Confidential understands Sony hopes Rose can mirror the success of spunky blonde Havana Brown, mixing and releasing mainstream songs into dance tracks and releasing them as CDs under a Ruby Rose brand.
There's even a chance to segue into singing, as Brown did this year.
"She's already got a name for herself that people will recognise and the right 'look'," an insider said.
"She dresses like she already is (an artist). Now it's just about coming up with the right material and a market. Like house, R'n'B."
While there was no confirmation to be had yesterday, an announcement is expected tomorrow.
Back in 2008, when Rose first appeared on the scene, she spoke about wanting to be a rock star but admitted being unable to sing.
She was born and bred on a white bread diet of Madonna, Sinead O'Conner and Meat Loaf and would fall asleep to Guns n'Roses' "Sweet Child O'Mine".
A self-confessed "80's pop and rock tragic", Rose also collects guitars, even though she doesn't play a lick. She has also studied acting - at Melbourne's Victorian College of Arts.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/mtv-vj-ruby-rose-appears-to-have-signed-with-sony-music-as-a-recording-artist/story-e6frfn09-1226208608693#ixzz1f0ihwIYp
MTV Then and Now: "Reality" replaces music
“Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.”
These were the words spoken by John Lack, Chief Partner Creator of MTV, on August 1, 1981 to launch MTV as the “new face of music videos.” Since then, the channel has evolved from solely airing music videos to an endless marathon of reality TV.
“When I was a teenager, MTV was geared more towards music and music appreciation, so there were many more music videos and interviews with singers and rappers… There were definitely no reality shows or sexual content,” said assistant principal Melanie Williams.
Most people know MTV today as a host of television shows, with very little to do with music and music videos.
“There is not much music on there anymore; it is not the same MTV it used to be when it first came out,” said sophomore Madison Straits.
In 1981, the station was based on airing things only about music 24/7. Northwood phys. ed teacher Russ Frazier thinks that the current MTV does not air enough music videos to be called Music Television. In fact, in 2010, MTV dropped “Music Television” from its corporate logo.
“They mainly play music videos when [students] are in school or should be asleep,” Frazier said. “When I was in high school, people went home from school to watch TRL, [a daily showcase for music videos].”
MTV used to feature a wide variety of music on a regular basis. There were shows devoted to specific music genres. For instance, TRL, or Total Request Live, was a television series that featured popular music videos that stopped airing in 2008.
“MTV focused on rock-and-roll, alternative and pop music and maybe one or two shows that focused on rap and R&B,” said Williams.
Now, most viewers that watched MTV in its early stages no longer watch the station because it has changed so much. Frazier says he doesn’t watch it because there’s nothing he wants to see.
But since 1986, the percentage of teenage viewers climbed from 43 percent to 75 percent.
“It’s got a lot of reality shows and it’s entertaining most of the time. It’s interesting to see different people’s lives; it’s people our age and it’s just what’s going on now. It’s pop culture,” said Straits.
Senior Anna Brown thinks MTV has changed from being centered on music to being centered on television shows.
“MTV is reality, but it’s more like teen reality and stuff that goes on in our lives and stuff that we find interesting and funny,” said Brown.
Some teenagers enjoy watching MTV because they feel like they can relate their lives to the shows aired, which they also find entertaining and full of drama.
“I watch MTV because a lot of the reality shows portray extraordinary lifestyles of teens and it’s entertaining. It gives you a good laugh because some of the people are just ridiculous,” said Straits.
Some people think that MTV is a bad influence on younger viewers. Shows such as Jersey Shore and The Real World depict people partying, fighting and participating in other extreme activities.
“I don’t like all the reality shows because I think it gives kids the wrong impression of what reality is,” said CTE teacher Delisa Cohen.
A few Northwood students believe MTV has a negative influence on people’s lives.
“MTV has a bad influence on people because it’s all about partying and going to the clubs,” said junior David Candelori.
Others believe that MTV, and television in general, should not be blamed for the decisions of teenagers.
“I think that there is so much information in the world and teenagers are smart enough to make their own decisions. Just because you see it doesn’t mean you have to do it; I wouldn’t attribute anything to one television channel,” said Williams.
These were the words spoken by John Lack, Chief Partner Creator of MTV, on August 1, 1981 to launch MTV as the “new face of music videos.” Since then, the channel has evolved from solely airing music videos to an endless marathon of reality TV.
“When I was a teenager, MTV was geared more towards music and music appreciation, so there were many more music videos and interviews with singers and rappers… There were definitely no reality shows or sexual content,” said assistant principal Melanie Williams.
Most people know MTV today as a host of television shows, with very little to do with music and music videos.
“There is not much music on there anymore; it is not the same MTV it used to be when it first came out,” said sophomore Madison Straits.
In 1981, the station was based on airing things only about music 24/7. Northwood phys. ed teacher Russ Frazier thinks that the current MTV does not air enough music videos to be called Music Television. In fact, in 2010, MTV dropped “Music Television” from its corporate logo.
“They mainly play music videos when [students] are in school or should be asleep,” Frazier said. “When I was in high school, people went home from school to watch TRL, [a daily showcase for music videos].”
MTV used to feature a wide variety of music on a regular basis. There were shows devoted to specific music genres. For instance, TRL, or Total Request Live, was a television series that featured popular music videos that stopped airing in 2008.
“MTV focused on rock-and-roll, alternative and pop music and maybe one or two shows that focused on rap and R&B,” said Williams.
Now, most viewers that watched MTV in its early stages no longer watch the station because it has changed so much. Frazier says he doesn’t watch it because there’s nothing he wants to see.
But since 1986, the percentage of teenage viewers climbed from 43 percent to 75 percent.
“It’s got a lot of reality shows and it’s entertaining most of the time. It’s interesting to see different people’s lives; it’s people our age and it’s just what’s going on now. It’s pop culture,” said Straits.
Senior Anna Brown thinks MTV has changed from being centered on music to being centered on television shows.
“MTV is reality, but it’s more like teen reality and stuff that goes on in our lives and stuff that we find interesting and funny,” said Brown.
Some teenagers enjoy watching MTV because they feel like they can relate their lives to the shows aired, which they also find entertaining and full of drama.
“I watch MTV because a lot of the reality shows portray extraordinary lifestyles of teens and it’s entertaining. It gives you a good laugh because some of the people are just ridiculous,” said Straits.
Some people think that MTV is a bad influence on younger viewers. Shows such as Jersey Shore and The Real World depict people partying, fighting and participating in other extreme activities.
“I don’t like all the reality shows because I think it gives kids the wrong impression of what reality is,” said CTE teacher Delisa Cohen.
A few Northwood students believe MTV has a negative influence on people’s lives.
“MTV has a bad influence on people because it’s all about partying and going to the clubs,” said junior David Candelori.
Others believe that MTV, and television in general, should not be blamed for the decisions of teenagers.
“I think that there is so much information in the world and teenagers are smart enough to make their own decisions. Just because you see it doesn’t mean you have to do it; I wouldn’t attribute anything to one television channel,” said Williams.
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