Checking the vital signs of ‘Rock’
The current state of Rock has been a up for discussion recently for a variety of reasons, but the consensus seems to be that it remains the tortoise to Pop act’s hare, sticking around for the long-run. A piece in The Guardian yesterday put a spotlight on the question of rock music’s health in the UK, and while it remains the driving force behind the touring business, comments from Cerne Canning who manages Franz Ferdinand and the Vaccines did weigh-in saying, “it’s as hard [to break a guitar band] as it has been since I’ve been involved with music, since the mid-80s.” And as to why there has been a slump, Neil Pengelly, who books acts for Reading and Leeds festivals, points to the lack of a big scene, ala the 90’s Britpop and the garage-rock revival of the early 2000’s… Meanwhile in America, Rolling Stone is quick to point to three rock releases with staying-power in The Black Keys, Coldplay and Nickelback, which continue to live in the Top 10 this week.
Crush Management hires Capone as VP of Radio Promotions
It was announced late last week that Crush Management and its founders Jonathan Daniel and Bob McLynn, have hired Garrett Capone to take the newly created position of VP of Radio Promotions. Capone will exit his role as PD of San Diego’s 91X alternative station at the end of February to join Crush, whose roster includes Train, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco, Travie McCoy & Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship, Sia,Wavves, Chiddy Bang and others. He will reportedly also be heavily involved with the relaunching of I.R.S. Records - it was announced last summer that EMI Music was reviving I.R.S. as a frontline label in partnership with Crush - working projects including the new release from Foxy Shazam among others.
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The Orchard & Frenchkiss Records to launch new label group
Independent distro company The Orchard in partnership with Frenchkiss Records and label founder Syd Butler, announced today the formation of the Frenchkiss Label Group, which will serve as a potential new home for developing labels, in spirit similar to indie powerhouse Secretly Canadian. “Playing music and operating a successful music label is what I know and love. The Frenchkiss Label Group presents an opportunity for developing labels to learn from my achievements and mistakes,” says Butler. The formation of the new label group comes after The Orchard recently expanded its relationship with Frenchkiss Records, home to acts like Local Natives, Les Savy Fav, Passion Pit and The Hold Steady, by adding physical distribution duties to an existing global digital deal. The group’s daily operations will be headed by Jordy Trachtenberg, formerly of Gammon Records. FKLG is currently accepting label submissions.
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Digital Round Up: Grooveshark legal spat takes interesting turns; Will Vevo swap YouTube for Facebook?; Megaupload action & more
If you’ve been following the story of Grooveshark’s most recent legal fray with major labels, spearheaded by Universal Music Group, you know that the federal lawsuit charges that executives at the digital music company personally uploaded illegal content. In an odd twist to the case, an incriminating anonymous post on Digital Music News from a supposed employee, lead to Grooveshark’s parent company serving the industry blog with a subpoena last weekend, which DMN responded to today. And in the midst of all the activity surrounding the lawsuits, Grooveshark released a new iPhone app this week, and also pulled the plug on its service in Germany citing too high of licensing costs from GEMA… Elsewhere this week, Ticketmaster launched its new robust Facbook app, which allows fans to see what shows or events their friends are attending as well as buy tickets within the Facebook platform, among a number of other social aspects, and it also features an integration with Spotify… Other Facebook news includes reports that major label-backed video site Vevo has been in talks with Facebook about moving the service over to the social network’s platform upon the conclusion of its current deal with Google-owned Youtube. Such a deal would be a considerable boon for Facebook’s music component, and while Vevo has grown to the second largest online video destination, its quick rise to popularity did come on the back of Youtube’s dominant position as the #1 online video destination… The bizarre saga of Megaupload (remember the song and promotional video featuring Will.i.am and other celebrities that was pulled offline recently?) may be coming to a close with major federal action being taken against the internet ‘locker’ service and its executives yesterday. The arrests and seizures were followed by retaliations from Anonymous hackers who targeted multiple websites including those of the DOJ, MPAA, Universal Music Group and others… Meanwhile, an interview this week on Fast Company tries to pin-down Slacker Radio’s CEO Jim Cady on the hotly-debated issue of whether or not streaming-music rates create a sustainable source of income for artists.
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EMI Sale: Warner Music hires antitrust lobbying firm, UK indies take AIM at deal
The LegalTimes blog reported on Tuesday that Warner Music Group has hired the lobbyist team of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, who filed registration report paperwork with Congress last week indicating it would be lobbying on antitrust matters – presumably in an effort to block the completion of Citigroup’s sale of EMI. The Brownstein team lobbied against the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T last year, a merger bid which was ultimately dropped in December… Meanwhile, AIM the UK independent trade organization has launched an offensive to urge the government to review the break-up of EMI to the winning bidders in Universal Music and Sony Music (via Sony’s interest in the group which bid on EMI Music Publishing). The campaign includes reference to the extraordinary recent success of independent-label act Adele, given the current state of the industry, and that the increased size of Universal and Sony would make such a phenomenon even more difficult to achieve. It is also said to include quotes from Beggars Group chief Martin Mills calling the deal “breathtaking arrogance” and “bad news for almost everyone involved in the art and business of music”.
Influential industry gathering Sunset Sessions celebrates 15th anniversary
Jimmy Cliff is among this years performers at Sunset Sessions
Next month the annual private industry event, Sunset Sessions, will celebrate its 15th year running of putting new and established acts in front of radio programmers and music supervisors for films, TV shows, videos and commercials. Past artists to perform at the event include The Black Keys, AWOLNATION and GIVERS among many others. This year the showcases will feature Jimmy Cliff, Wayne Coyne, Lucinda Williams and others as well as alumni Jason Mraz – who along with his label Atlantic Records, attributes much of the artist’s past momentum to his performances at the event. A number of industry heavyweights will speak on event panels as well, including Danny Goldberg, Kevin Lyman, Alex Patsavas and Bill Armstrong. For more info on the history of Sunset Sessions and its founder Michelle Clark, read the recent profile on UTSanDiego.com.
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YouTube & record labels engaged in renewal talks
According to an article by Greg Sandoval on CNET this morning, Universal Music, Sony Music and EMI are all in the process of negotiating renewed licenses with YouTube, while Warner Music, whose relationship with the Google-owned video site has been particularly tenuous in previous years, is noticeably not mentioned. According to the piece, deals are close at hand, with the labels focused on increased anti-piracy measures by the site, as well of course, as larger licensing fees. It appears at least one of the three label groups may have already reached a new agreement with Youtube.
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Aaronson goes to Whalley World
It appears former President of Sire Records and longtime Warner Bros. Records A&R executive Craig Aaronson has joined his previous boss Tom Whalley at his new A&R-focused operation, which currently exists in uncertain terms under the Universal Music umbrella. Rumors have Whalley getting his own imprint label under Universal Republic, while reports last month have the former WBR chief as the new commander-in-waiting for a revived Capitol Records under UMG, though the regulatory process for Universal’s acquisition of EMI is far from being done… Stay tuned.
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Notable Signing: Jon Brion joins boutique publisher’s roster
Independent music publisher Notable Music is starting off their 50th anniversary year on a high note with the signing of an exclusive U.S. admin deal with accomplished and multi-talented producer, songwriter and composer Jon Brion. Brion has worked with artists such as Kanye West, Fiona Apple, Spoon, Elliott Smith, Aimee Mann, The Crystal Method, Rufus Wainwright, Keane, Dido, Of Montreal and Best Coast, among many others, and has scored films including Hard Eight, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I (heart) Huckabees and The Break-Up… His lone solo release, Meaningless, remains a critical favorite, and is regularly cited as an influential record for many artists and songwriters.
Relentless Records to Sony Music
Best known as once the label home of Joss Stone, KT Tunstall, Jay Sean and Cage The Elephant, it was announced today that UK label Relentless Records has a new imprint deal with Sony Music. The arrangement comes after the label ended its deal with EMI under Virgin Records, which would have likely seen the indie shop falling under Universal Music in the coming months. The new deal with Sony also reunites Relentless co-founder Shabs Jobanputra with UK label-chief Nick Gatfield, who was the A&R prexy for EMI labels during the Terra Firma ownership. The imprint move is seen as just part of Gatfield’s larger shakeup within Sony’s UK operation – he said in an interview with The Guardian late last year that the label has been “able to coast” in recent years resting on the success of some of its U.S. acts… Meanwhile, news of the revival of Portrait Records as an imprint under Sylvia Rhone at Sony-label Epic Records in the U.S. is also expected in the coming weeks, as was first tipped by the New York Post last summer. And the Columbia Records / Neon Gold joint venture has reportedly announced its first signing, more than a year after the two labels aligned, inking New York’s St. Lucia.
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