Bits & Pieces: Apple Announcing iCloud, Gaga Weighs-In on Album Pricing, Bob Cavallo Stepping Down & more…
Jobs set to unveil iCloud
Apple has announced that Steve Jobs will participate in the company’s WWDC developers conference next week, and that his presentation will indeed include iCloud, Apple’s new cloud service offering. While music will only be a part of the new iCloud features, in music and tech circles the streaming-music component has been receiving a lot of attention recently with the reports of Apple securing licensing deals with three of the four major labels, leaving agreements with Universal Music and major music publishers as the final pieces to the puzzle. While unlikely, it’s possible that music could be left out of the presentation, or abbreviated, if the remaining deals aren’t reached in time, but a bigger question on industry minds is how much of a ‘game changer’ an iTunes cloud component will be. While exciting to those watching the space over the last few years, the reality is that at least initially, the offering may be less exciting when actually unveiled. The so-called ’scan and match’ component is a fait-accompli at this point, but will the ability to access one’s music from the cloud be limited to music purchased from the iTunes store, and how will users be able to include past purchases if that’s the case? Given that Google was reportedly offering the labels as much as $100 million to get licenses in place for their music service, and still came to an impasse over piracy, it’s not hard to imagine that Apple’s new service will come with some sizable limitations. This again will leave those taking a wider view of the changing industry landscape to soon be reiterating the slow process of evolving, and that along the way there will be benchmarks, but not any one watershed moment… Amazon, who released their new Cloud Drive service without label deals in place, gave a two-day digital offering last week of Lady Gaga’s new release for $0.99, which helped boost consumer recognition for the music service as well as make Born This Way the first million-plus selling debut in quite some time. While a variety of aspects to (and results of) the promotion have been debated, what might get the most attention is the artist’s own admission that she believes 99-cents is a worthy price and value for a digital album…. Elsewhere, Disney Music chairman Bob Cavallo has announced that he will retire in January of next year, with Ken Bunt tapped to takeover the reins upon Cavallo’s departure… And Coachella Festival founder Paul Tollett expounded upon the decision by Goldenvoice to offer back-to-back festival weekends in 2012, in an interview with Billboard, saying, “We feel that there will be even more that want to go, so we’re trying to create more room for them. The options would be to sell more tickets on one weekend or have two weekends, and [the latter] is the option we went with.” Event producers are attempting to offer identical lineups for both weekends.
04.12.11Roundup: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, JEFF the brotherhood, A Lot Like Birds & more…
Vanity Theft final Club Moscow residency show, Wed. 4/13
As the Coachella music festival approaches this weekend, many folks (or at least those who were quick or lucky enough to secure tickets), are preparing for the journey out to the Indio desert for three days of sunshine and music. Following SXSW, the event has become seen as an annual mini-retreat for the industry as well as somewhat of a yardstick for an act’s growing success story, or hype in the case of some artists. If you’re heading out, be sure the heed the extra warnings from the organizers this year… Happening elsewhere, and a look at some sure-to-be hopefuls for a spot on next year’s vaunted Coachella poster, here’s a roundup of recent activity: Portland’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra has signed to Fat Possum Records, following an expeditious rise to blog-fame after releasing a single song on Bandcamp last year… Word has it that Nashville duo JEFF the brotherhood, who was the subject of courting from a variety of indie and major record labels, has signed with a label belonging to the latter category… Supervision-managed act Dry the River, out of the UK, appears to be at the center of a bidding skirmish from multiple labels… Motor-City’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. has made available a new track from their fittingly-titled upcoming full-length It’s A Corporate World, which will be released via Quite Scientific and Warner Bros. Records… Longtime indie shop Doghouse Records has announced the signing of A Lot Like Birds, this follows the addition of former Dance Gavin Dance singer Kurt Travis to the band… Keep an eye on L.A. group Rumspringa, who played their second week of an April residency at the Bootleg Theater last night to a growing number of fans and industry alike… Meanwhile, female-foursome Vanity Theft, who has been recently featured by Nylon, Magnet and the NY Post, will play their final night of a four-week residency at Club Moscow in Hollywood tomorrow night (April 13)…
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File Under: Stuff We Like
Allen Stone @ Hotel Cafe, Thurs. 4/14
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Blacktops and Truck Stops; The Uprising Creative Take It On The Road
Los Angeles-based creative design and marketing company The Uprising Creative has announced Blacktops and Truck Stops, a cross-country tour that has the firm – whose client roster includes Activision, Beck, Beastie Boys, Coachella, Dangerbird Records, Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Ryan Adams and many more – hitting the road with an RV outfitted as a mobile design studio for two weeks in October… Their mission is to get inspired by Americana and share their passion for art and design with everyone they meet along the way; from music events, art galleries, designers and clients, to gas stations, RV parks and roadside coffee shops. In addition to meeting with other designers along the way and visiting many of America’s majestic and eccentric places, The Uprising will also be making stops at art schools, at-risk youth centers and local charities. They will be covering ground in the South and Southwest, making stops in Austin, Birmingham, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, Phoenix, Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, Tucson and many other small towns and cities along the way… One of the first major stops on the trip will be in Austin for the Austin City Limits Music Festival and the official aftershow with Sonic Youth at La Zona Rosa on October 9th, presented by Nixon Watches. The whole trip takes place from October 5th – 19th, and will also be filmed for a documentary in the works for 2011. You can get more info HERE.
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Indie Dispatches: Omissions, Additions & What’s Moving this Summer
Avi Buffalo's Debut Album Out this Week Ahead of Big Summer Dates
In our 2010 indie chart busting wrap up last week, there was of course a notable omission – the sophomore album by Vampire Weekend that was released in January on XL Recordings. Not only did the New York band crack the top five, they debuted at the #1 spot, which is quite an achievement for any label in the current climate let alone one of the world’s true independents. But XL is on a roll this year. Did you realize the xx album from The xx, on XL (now that’s a tongue twister) in a very stealth fashion has sold over 100,000 copies domestically? Not bad for a release that has barely blipped on the radar of most mainstream media. As with Vampire Weekend, a lot of blog mentions and a hefty dose of love from Pitchfork can go a long way, but such attention is not a guarantee of success. Looking at sales for some of the other blog favorites such as Neon Indian and UK buzzy acts Hot Chip and The Big Pink, they have all ambled along a similar sales plateau recently in spite of a significant blog presence. In all, that makes the sales for The xx even more impressive. The London trio is sure to spread the gospel even wider coming off a much talked-about dusk slot at Coachella and more upcoming US dates, including two sold-out shows in Los Angeles and appearances at the upcoming Sasquatch and Bonnaroo festivals. Also expect many to come out for support act Phantogram on the West Coast dates, as the highly rated Brooklyn duo are turning heads right now with their album Eyelid Movies on Barsuk Records and current tour with The Antlers.
One band that has a slew of high profile live dates ahead of them is Long Beach teen sensations Avi Buffalo. Coming off a recent runs with both Japandroids and Rogue Wave, the summer will see them sharing the stage with everyone from Modest Mouse and Sub Pop label-mates Blitzen Trapper to My Morning Jacket. Avi Buffalo’s self-titled debut album is out this week and has already garnered a 9/10 rating in Britain’s NME magazine.
- Cool Hand Luke
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Sold-Out Coachella Weekend Starts Today
Coachella starts today and the sold-out festival has many feeling optimistic about the upcoming summer festival season. In a New York Times piece this week, organizer Paul Tollett addressed the 3-day only passes, a first for the event, as a move to step-up to the level of Europe’s huge festivals, saying “I want to take the training wheels off”… An initial ad-based business model was announced by Twitter this week in the form of Promoted Tweets… UK songwriters association BASCA has cast more doubt publicly on Spotify’s ability to generate income for songwriters; makes call for more transparency from the start-up streaming service… Concord Music Group has acquired the Massachusetts-based Rounder Records, who recently celebrated their 40th anniversary… The most recent Apple patent includes details that are causing some to speculate on a possible future concert ticketing application called Concert Ticket… And questions are arising as to the future of the apparently stagnant Lala. With the acquisition by Apple last year, many expected the service to quickly become a key component in an anticipated cloud-based iTunes service…
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Indie Dispatches: Coachella Music Preview & Record Store Day
Band of Skulls set to rock Coachella this Saturday
It’s that time of the year again, when music fans and industry folks alike make the trek to Indio California to sit by the pool, and sip… err, we mean, visit the Empire Polo Fields for three days of the Coachella Festival. And despite the recession and the absence of single-day tickets, we hear the mega-festival has already sold out. As always, it looks to be a great weekend with a solid lineup, but going beyond the big acts like Muse, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke and Faith No More, there is a healthy line-up of more underground but equally exciting artists to check out… Friday highlights include Brooklyn’s Sleigh Bells, who are odds-on for a “most likely to…” status in 2010, and Deer Tick who count NBC’s news anchor and indie tastemaker Brian Williams‘ as a fan… Looking to Saturday, Sub Pop’s Beach House have converted a lot of fans this year with their new album Teen Dream, while Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit should be the perfect summery pop-soundtrack for basking in the afternoon sunshine. From the West Coast, the Pitchfork-approved Girls and the odd-named-but-great-sounding Portugal the Man, who recently signed to Atlantic Records, are both worth a look, while the must-see for the day could be the UK’s Band of Skulls. Expect LCD Soundsystem to wow crowds in the desert, after wowing crowds with surprise shows in NYC last week, and keep an eye on The xx, who are fast-becoming the subject of obsession by music fans on both coast. Finally before escaping the desert, a must-see on Sunday’s dance card list includes: Australia’s The Middle East, who are rolling off a huge SXSW buzz, Sigur Ros singer/guitarist Jonsi, and Local Natives, who are one of the hardest working bands in L.A… Get Coachella set-times here.
If a trip to the desert is not in your future, don’t forget April 17th is the annual Record Store Day. A visit to support your local music emporium should always be a weekly event, but this Saturday is twice as exciting with a cool selection of limited edition items available. Just like a sample-sale event, record geeks will be out in full-force when the doors open, elbowing and jockeying their way to nab a copy of the limited Sonic Youth LPs, the Bon Iver 7″ and that Pavement compilation… Happy shopping!
- Cool Hand Luke
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap – Extended Remix Edition
Linkin Park charity releases digital compilation to benefit Haiti
A lot to stay on top of over this short week, so enjoy this special extended edition of our weekly recap…
More chatter about a possible new iTunes streaming service from Apple continued, fueled by Michael Robertson’s prediction that the service will come in the form of a version update allowing users to access their iTunes media library from anywhere via the proverbial “cloud”… The lineup for Coachella 2010 was announced, and headliners include Jay-Z, Muse, Gorillaz and Thom Yorke… Ad-supported download service Free All Music announced a deal with EMI, who joins Universal Music as the first major music companies to strike agreements with the start-up… Elsewhere, Sony and Warner Music appear to be engaged in an eMusic pricing battle… YouTube launched a new music discovery and playlist experiment… Comcast appears to be taking steps toward an a la carte music streaming service for internet and cable customers… Other ISP news includes a report that Virgin Media’s long delayed “unlimited” subscription service might be called MusicFish, it might not be unlimited and could be arriving this summer… It looks like Live Nation is putting its venues on the block in an effort to ease regulatory concerns over the Ticketmaster merger… And Prince revealed a new song “Purple and Gold” that he penned for his beloved Vikings - sorry Purple One, we’ll be rooting for the Saints…
** If you haven’t yet, make sure to visit www.musicforrelief.org, where Linkin Park took the “pay what you want” model to their charity’s digital album that benefits the crisis in Haiti. The band quickly assembled a compilation of unreleased songs from Peter Gabriel, Alanis Morissette, All-American Rejects and many others. The effort saw a quick and impressive collaboration of artists, labels and publishers who all granted full gratis rights for the compilation, and over a holiday weekend no less.
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