Las Vegas is the only place I know where money really talks–it says, “Goodbye.” — FRANK SINATRA
Well, Frank. We’ll soon walk the walk and talk the talk as we’re less than 2 weeks away from the Vegas Music Summit. The event happens Sept 23-24, 2009 and will feature 2 nights of showcases and 1 day of panels. RM 64 is offering complimentary industry badges and the daytime panels are FREE and open to the public. Did we mention…FREE!!! Our host hotel, the El Cortez has informed us that the VMS reserved rooms are sold out! But there are still some rooms available at the Fremont Hotel and the Golden Nugget. VMS sponsors include: SESAC, Miller Lite, BMI, Smash Magazine, A&R Knights, Hell Ya! and ASCAP. For more info, log on to: www.VegasMusicSummit.com. In the meantime, here’s a brief list of confirmed speakers:
Sara Berkowitz / Viper Room (Hollywood)
Joe Fleischer / BigChampagne
Jeff Sosnow / Interscope Records
Matt Messer / EMI Music Publishing
Jennifer Knoepfle / Sony-ATV Music
Mark Weinberg / Producer (O.A.R, Matt Nathanson)
Josh Feingold / SESAC
Tom DeSavia / Notable Music
Eric German / Mitchell, Silbbererg & Knupp
Jason Reynolds / Myspace Records
Josh Briggs / ASCAP
Jennie Smythe / Girlilla Marketing
Adrian Amadeo / Geffen Records
Eddie Meehan / GroundCtrl
Jon Nelson / Band Bitch
We Don’t Need No 9/9/09: Wolfmother’s New Pubco, Kids of 88, Rumble L.A. & More…
Rumble L.A. Tonight @ 3 of Clubs
In our last update on the Wolfmother pub derby, we reported that the field had seemingly narrowed to two majors (Universal Music Publishing and Sony/ATV) and that the numbers were ratcheting up. However, in classic bidding derby form, one contender leaves the race only to be replaced by a dark horse who most had counted out. As Sony /ATV exited the derby, Cherry Lane Music appears to have made a last minute play with a huge offer topping all others on the table. But it didn’t end there, not to be outdone UMPG pulled out all the stops putting up an even bigger number and switching lead executives on the deal to keep this one in the family. Wolfmother’s new album Cosmic Egg will be released in the U.S. on October 13th via Interscope Records.
Speaking of Interscope, the label that brought you Beats by Dr. Dre headphones (available here) is in search of a singer to front a new Americana/Country/Rock & Pop band. Auditions are being held in Nashville on October 6th, for more info head to: http://interscopeaudition.wordpress.com
Kiwi duo Kids of 88 are causing quite a stir with their 80’s influenced electro-pop, as labels here in the states and in the UK have the band making the long flight over. Their song “My House” was featured in a recent promotion for New Zealand’s C4 television network, which quickly propelled the song up the country’s Top 40 singles chart. Stay tuned…
Finally, join us tonight (9/10) for the Rumble L.A. party at 3 of Clubs. Tonight’s show is a big one featuring The Library, United States of Electronica and The Dance Party, who incidentally we hear will become the first signing to the new Hell Ya! Records imprint through Elektra/Atlantic. Congrats to everyone involved (you know who you are)…
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Back to Sin City…
baby, we'll be up five-hundy by midnight!
The RM 64 crew is closing out the summer of ‘09 by heading to that magical place in the desert where dreams, marriages and a month’s salary could all be lost or won in a matter of minutes. The Vegas Music Summit will take place on Sept 23 – 24, 2009. The mini-confab will host 2 nights of showcases at the Beauty Bar and 1 day of panels at the El Cortez Hotel & Casino in beautiful Downtown Las Vegas. Showcasing acts are currently on the A&R tip sheet and have been handpicked by LA talent/event promoters A&R Knights, Hell Ya! and RM 64. We’ll be hosting cocktail mixers in between sets at our lounge in The Griffin two doors down from the Beauty Bar. Event sponsors include Miller Lite, SESAC, ASCAP, Smash Magazine and BMI. Daytime panels and industry badges are FREEEEE!!! (“You’re killing me Larry!”) Panels will feature Major and Indie label A&R execs, Producers, Managers, Attorneys and Music Publishers. So come on down, cause just like the boys in the Hangover, you too could party ’till the early morn and wake up to find a tiger sleeping in your hotel bathroom. Stay tuned to this space for showcase and panel updates. For more info and to be on our comp industry badge list, email us at info@RM64.com
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Oh how Notable it is: Q&A with Music Publishers Damon Booth & Tom DeSavia
Notable Music Founder Cy Coleman
**UPDATE 9/01/09: Notable Music and IODA announce new partnership, read the press release HERE
With a diverse and impressive publishing roster that includes music legend Cy Coleman and an amazing Jamaican music catalog, the crew from Notable Music is marking their territory in the new music landscape. The boutique pubco’s Damon Booth and Tom DeSavia recently sat down for a little Q&A sesh with RM 64 knuckleheads Rodel Delfin and Scott Sheldon.
RM 64: Before we get into the inner workings of Notable, share with us your industry backgrounds.
DB: I’ll start considering the guy who moved me to LA from Chicago is sitting right next to me. I started my career working for ASCAP in their Midwest office and Tom (DeSavia) was my boss. When he left to work at Elektra Records in the late 90s, ASCAP moved me to Los Angeles and I took over Pop music membership at the PRO. From there I went to EMI Publishing where I was a Creative exec for a few years and then crossed over to the label side, doing A&R at Warner Brothers Records.
During this period I was introduced to an amazing songwriter who later became my brother-in-law, named Cy Coleman. He was also an independent music publisher as he had never sold his publishing and he had this great American Songbook collection. We ended up becoming very close.
When Cy passed away suddenly in 2004, I left Warner Bros. to keep his little boutique company, Notable Music up and running, thus keeping it a family business. I’ve been doing that for three years now and we moved the company from New York City to Pasadena, CA two years ago. And I was fortunate enough to have Tom come on board earlier this year as VP of Creative.
TD: For me, I started as a music journalist for a publication called Cash Box. I was later asked to interview at ASCAP. I got the gig and ended up staying there for seven years before going to Elektra Records where I did A&R for six years. After that I went back to ASCAP for an additional eight years, heading up the West Coast membership staff.
Over the years, Damon and I have been such good friends that joining him at Notable is really like a kid’s fantasy. To have the opportunity to work together after so many years is amazing.
RM 64: On to Notable, how did it start?
DB: Notable was started in 1962 by Cy Coleman. He was widely considered one of the last of the great American Songbook legends. He was the baby of that group which included Cole Porter, George Gershwin, as well as contemporaries like Sammy Cahn and Stephen Sondheim. He had a couple of huge hits during his early 20’s and wrote for Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., collaborators who at the time were much older lyricists than him.
A lot of the writers he was working with didn’t want to sign their publishing away to someone they didn’t know, so they signed with Cy. And he kept signing writers that loved him and that he trusted. And they trusted him.
Cy could identify talent really early, but he wasn’t trying to sign anyone and everyone. His philosophy was, ‘I’m a songwriter, I’m going to take care of my own songs and other artists who I trust and want to work with.’ But he had a career writing and performing everyday. And you know, even though the songs were standards, you have to work them just as hard as a new project because they will fade and people will forget them.
DeSavia (left) & Booth (right) circa early 90s, with their spiritual guide, Francisco (middle)
RM 64: What were some of your goals when taking over the company?
DB:Things weren’t going the right direction when I came in, so we took over the catalog and moved administration through Chrysalis Publishing, who has been amazing partners. Right away they brought up the idea to do a tribute album of Cy’s work. I thought it was a great idea. They introduced us to Dave Palmer, an L.A. based producer, arranger and musician, and we brought in some contemporary singers to do Cy’s songs in new arrangements. The idea was to present something new to these standards so people wouldn’t expect what they heard. We’re trying to bring in a new audience to match the name with the music and keep the legacy going. The tribute album which will be coming out via New West Records features Fiona Apple, Patti Griffin, Ambrosia Parsley, Missy Higgins and a variety of great artists who knew and loved Cy’s songs.
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TEDx Music, EMI’s Future & Wolfmother Pub Derby Update
Authentik Artists' Meeting of Important People
This past Sunday, August 16th, an invite-only TEDx event took place in Los Angeles on the topic of the Music Business. The TEDx is an off-shoot community program from the influential TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference (http://www.ted.com), which is held annually in Long Beach, CA. For those not familiar with the nonprofit group, TED was started in 1984 and is devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” It’s an invitation-only event where the world’s leading thinkers and doers gather to find inspiration. Veteran entertainment/technology attorney Ken Hertz hosted this past Sunday’s TEDx function at his residence. Insiders who attended shared with us that the gathering was set in an informal setting, and hosted a select group of high-level music and technology executives, thus connecting the world’s old and new media players. The event also included performances by up-and-coming artists. Not surprisingly, the discussions focused mainly on the current changes that are transforming the music business, particularly with regard to the digital future. There’s no doubt that some high-level networking and deal-making was happening on the sidelines. However, one invited guest commented on the lack of entrepreneurs invited. The majority of the attendees were corporate executives…
A fitting inclusion for today’s post (if in name only) is Authentik Artists act Meeting of Important People. The indie-pop trio from Pittsburgh with a sound akin to The Shins, Modest Mouse and The Beach Boys, dropped their new self-titled LP last week. The album quickly reached #15 on the iTunes singer-songwriter charts; check out “Brittaney Lane Don’t Care”. www.myspace.com/meetingofimportantpeople
While industry spectators have been gossiping and keeping a watchful eye on the Terra Firma-owned EMI Music Group for some time now, there’s been some chatter of late about the group having quiet discussions with suitors about selling its profitable publishing division. In addition, with the label division pulling-back on a couple recent artist deals, can we expect Terra Firma to reveal their playing cards soon? Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal’s August 15th article about EMI Music’s struggle to avoid defaulting on its loan from creditor Citigroup touches on the many highly publicized changes EMI has experienced following its acquisition by Terra Firma in 2007, but the timing and tone of the piece is curious. With what said, is the WSJ article a teaser of something more drastic to come? Stay tuned…
The latest on the Wolfmother pub derby is that two companies are pulling away from the pack. The action is ramping up and it looks like Sony/ATV and Universal Music Publishing have narrowed the field by submitting offers well over the 7-figure mark. UMP, who already controls the band’s publishing for Japan, New Zealand and Australia, are said to be making a worldwide play for the Aussie rockers. For their previous Interscope release, the band had an administrative deal with Cherry Lane Music for their worldwide publishing outside of the aforementioned territories that UMP has a stake in. If you understand what’s going on here, please explain it to us. Meanwhile, the Sony/ATV crew has been making an aggressive and impressive play for their pursuit of the band. This one is getting nutty. We’ll keep you posted…
08.10.09BREAKING NEWS: ASCAP Gets A New Member
Word on the street is that longtime industry veteran Sue Drew has been tapped for the creative-membership position at ASCAP. The PRO has been interviewing numerous candidates for months to fill the open position since longtime ASCAP execs Tom DeSavia and Jennifer Knoepfle both exited their posts to work at pubcos Notable Music and Sony/ATV, respectively. Drew has held executive A&R positions at Elektra and Reprise Records. She recently was an independant A&R consultant working with a variety of artists/projects.
08.4.09Nods, Odds & Sods
2nd Annual Sunset Strip Music Festivlal to Bring Chaos to the Order
Lots of buzz building around the 2nd annual Sunset Strip Music Festival taking place on September 10-12. The event will enclose a section of the Sunset Strip to feature two outdoor stages and six venues: the Roxy, Viper Room, Key Club, Whiskey A Go-Go, Cat Club and House of Blues. Event promoters recently added Korn to the eclectic line-up, which also includes Chris Cornell, Pepper, Unwritten Law and Shiny Toy Guns, to name a few. We give props to the Roxy’s Nic Adler and event producers for what is shaping up to be a must-see music festival. For the full line-up and more info: www.sunsetstripmusicfestival.com…
On the Film/TV front, congrats goes to Bob Thiele Jr. on his Primetime Emmy nomination for the theme to FX’s Sons of Anarchy. Thiele also held music supervision duties for the show, which featured a number of emerging artists such as Audra Mae, Lions and Year Long Disaster, helping to distinguish the show as a new tastemaker outlet…
We mentioned how much we liked the new Wolfmother album, Cosmic Egg, and it looks like we’re not the only ones. We hear a hefty pub derby (in the 7-figure range) is brewing with both majors and boutique pubcos who are trying to ink the Brisbane-based trio led by Andrew Stockdale. Publishers in the mix are Universal Music Publishing, Sony/ATV, Chrysalis Music, Cherry Lane and Warner/Chappell. Stay tuned…
Meanwhile, after releasing 2008’s Elephant Shell via Saddle Creek Records, it appears that Tokyo Police Club has found a new label home with Mom & Pop Records, which is a division of Q-Prime and run by well-respected industry vet Michael Goldstone…
Finally, SoCal locals Call the Cops have made it into the final 5 in the MySpace/Toyota-sponsored Rock the Space contest. The winner of which receives a deal with MySpace Records.
07.30.09Get It On…
AWOLNATION @ Viper Room Tonight
Following up on some of our recent updates… Heavy crowd including labels, publishers and film/tv out last night to see Burn Down The Mission’s first L.A. performance, and you’re going to want to watch that one closely. We hear there might be another performance in-town before the band heads back to the East Coast. We mentioned that publishers were circling buzz band Local Natives, and it looks like Universal Music Publishing Group has indeed signed the band out of the UK… Congrats to Myles Lewis who has joined up with Josh Abraham’s Pulse Recordings after a recent departure from his Senior Director of Writer/Publisher Relations position at BMI. A lot of action going on at Pulse, we wonder what he will be up to over there? Finally AWOLNATION, the new band featuring Aaron Bruno the former singer from Under the Influence of Giants, plays The Viper Room tonight. Head to the MySpace page to grab a free download of the new song “Burn It Down”. Playing with AWOLNATION tonight is All Wrong & The Plans Change, who is a must see if you haven’t had the chance yet, and Jinnrail who recently completed their new full-length New Angeles. See you there…
07.28.09Bang A Gong…
Sony/ATV Signs Passion Pit
We have to give kudos to all those involved with presenting last night’s Wolfmother Cosmic Egg listening event at the Laserium. It was an old school vibe that brought together all sorts to hear the long awaited new album, which we should mention was amazing. So with sore necks and seeing spots, here’s a little catch-up on some of the hustle and bustle… Labels were out to see L.A. locals The Rescues last week, and while surely a few lookie loos, it sounds like some folks are already in, so expect more to follow. Keeping it local, we hear publishers are in play for SXSW ’09 buzz band Local Natives, with offers coming in, though there doesn’t appear to be much movement on the label front. More on the publishing tip it looks like Sony/ATV will come out on top of the Passion Pit pile-up, inking the highly sought-after Frenchkiss/Columbia act whose debut full-length Manners was released stateside back in May… Checking in on the Film & TV front, Manchester’s The Filthy Souls recently had a big look on the ABC series 10 Things I Hate About You, which featured the band as an integral part of the adolescent romance saga between Patrick and Kat (we don’t exactly know what that means either, but it involves onscreen t-shirts, posters and a live performance in the background). Wow. The Filthy Souls support Band of Skulls at Spaceland tonight. Also tonight at Bordello Bar is The Street and Babe Shadow, the new project from Hot Hot Heat’s Luke Paquin, named with an obvious nod to Marc Bolan. Nice. Stay tuned…
07.7.09Post 4th Catch-Up
Audra Mae Signs to SideOneDummy
Welcome back from the holiday weekend (we decided to delay our post for those who REALLY enjoyed themselves), we hope it was a good one. Also, thanks to everyone who made it to last Thursday’s Rumble L.A. event, it turned out to be another great night with some amazing performances. Here’s a little catch-up on what’s happening out there…
The usually steady landscape of performing rights organizations have seen some shakeups of late on the west coast, particularly with the open director position at ASCAP that had many throwing their hat in the ring. A little birdie tells us that the field is narrowed to a short-list and the final selection is imminent. Speaking of chirping, inquires about a similar west coast opening at BMI have started coming in due to a recent departure in the creative/membership department. Will we see a similar parade of applicants? Or will there be an in-house hire of one of their own creative execs who’s a rising star?
On the signing front, one of our favorite artists of the last year, Audra Mae, has signed with uber-indie label SideOneDummy Records. Kudos to Warner Chappell’s Blue Hamilton who signed Audra early on the publishing tip, and manager Marc Pollack, who recently returned to Hits joining The MGMT Co.. On the east coast, RCA Records A&R exec David Wolter, in tandem with Nick Burgess in the UK, has signed L.A.’s Funeral Party (formerly on Fearless Records). Meanwhile, the Ben McClane-repped Secret Secret Dino Club has signed with Drive Thru Records…
Currently in the mix is Marissa Renee, who is slated to appear on P-Diddy’s new MTV show, has performed with Kanye West and is currently writing for the Clique Girlz on Interscope. Quite impressive for the 19-year-old Phoenix native. We hear publishers are circling in… Speaking of Arizona, which seems to be an artist hot spot of late, the Tempe-based This Century appears to be finalizing a one-off arrangement through a Warner Bros. Records imprint… Finally, we recently mentioned that multiple labels were taking notice of the John Branca-repped AMD with label showcase requests piling up for the female-foursome. At press time, we hear there are offers in from majors on both coasts, while calls are still coming in. Stay tuned…
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