Hulu launching in UK with new 19 Entertainment series

Continuing with their recent string of announcements, MySpace Music revealed a new deal with digital-media distro service TuneCore to allow independent (unsigned) artists to have their music included in the MySpace Music on-demand streaming service for a flat fee (Epicenter)… EMI is taking legal action against video site Vimeo, claiming that while the site may feature original video content created by users, many songs under their control are used in such videos throughout the site without a license (ars)… Can a scientific formula detect radio payola? A researcher at University at Buffalo says yes (Science Daily)… More from the Terra Firma-EMI saga, as it appears that Citigroup made a bid for the music company just prior to the investment firm’s recent legal action against the bank (FW)… And Hulu prepares to cross the Atlantic.  The popular online TV and movie streaming site prepares to launch in the UK early next year, but with just one show, a new 19 Entertainment reality series, If I Can Dream (MediaMemo)…

Rick Shoemaker & Jeff Maxwell host "Breaking In" on KFWB

Those with their sights set on making it in the entertainment business have a new place to get advice and expertise to help navigate the often murky industry waters.

“We had an idea, and they said let’s do it,” says legendary music publisher Rick Shoemaker of his new talk show Breaking In, which he co-hosts on CBS radio’s KFWB 980.  Shoemaker is an icon in the publishing business, most recently holding the position of President at Warner/Chappell Music for 20 years. He was responsible for signing and mentoring many of the pubco’s most successful artists including Green Day, Nickelback, Missy Elliott and many others.   Along with actor, writer and producer Jeff Maxwell, the two host a weekly show offering information, recommendations and anecdotes in an effort to help guide those seeking a career in music, film or television.  The show features a special guest each week as well as a segment called Critique of the Week in which Shoemaker and Taxi founder Michael Laskow evaluate a listener-submitted song.

Breaking In airs on Saturdays from 6:00-7:00PM on KFWB 980.  You can also stream or download the show online from the show’s website. This week’s special guest will be cougar-crooner Mark McGrath.

For possible critique of your song, submit it to: breakinginshow@gmail.com

Violence to Vegas @ Viper Room tomorrow night (10/13)

Violence to Vegas is the band to get on your bill going through the mid-west, at least that’s true if your name is Avenged Sevenfold, Papa Roach, Buckcherry, Slipknot or Shinedown, to name a few.  Spitting their brand of infectious rock venom to a rabid fan-base, the Tulsa, OK natives have supported numerous heavy-hitters.   The single “In the Eyes,” off their past release, went to # 59 on the modern rock chart completely independently, and new track “Beautiful Mistake” is getting spins on KATT after winning the station’s specialty band vs. band call-in show, beating out the likes of Metallica, Creed and Green Day.  CAA is already on-board for booking.  The band plays the Viper Room tomorrow night Tuesday, October 13th @ 8:30PM. Check it: www.myspace.com/violencetovegas

Buddy's new Deal

With the announcement of WBCN ending its legendary run as Boston’s Modern Rock station earlier this week, what is the landscape looking like for Modern Rock radio these days? Atlanta’s 99x went off the air last year preceded by New York’s K-Rock that flipped formats several years ago. Stay tuned for our upcoming report on Alternative radio, including a spotlight on the new acts the format broke this year… Speaking of Modern Rock, our pal, former Capitol Records Alternative Radio loser Buddy Deal, has returned to the dark side after a hiatus of being a surf poser. Deal now hangs with Mickey and Minnie as he assumes the position of VP of Rock Formats at Disney’s Hollywood Records… Lastly, congrats to our friends at Future Sounds who have announced their acquisition of independent internet radio company  WOXY.com.  One of the most well-known and popular online radio stations, WOXY focuses on indie/alternative rock content, and also features a series of live interviews and performances.  Recently, Jack White’s new project The Dead Weather took over the station to play songs from the new album and curate ‘the cool’.  A WOXY radio iPhone app has also been released, and the whole operation is moving to Austin, TX…yee haw!

far's little pony

Sacramento’s far, whose cover of Ginuwine’s classic R&B song “Pony,” became a hit at Alternative Radio this year, has been working away at the Airport Studios on their upcoming full-length release for Vagrant Records.  In finishing the album they’ve asked for a little help from their fans, in what is being dubbed the “Scream-A-Long Project.”  The idea is to create a group chorus that is “the most far-reaching, diverse, punk-rock DIY choir EVER.”  Find out how fans can get involved after the jump…

1. Watch the intro video here: http://thebandfar.com/media/videos/309/456

2. Record the audio and/or video of you (and your friends and family) screaming along

3. Post the recording anywhere you like (YouTube, Facebook, etc)

4. Send the link (not the file) to the band in any number of ways:

- Post it in a comment at http://thebandfar.com/news/839

- Tweet it at http://twitter.com/thebandfar

- Post it as a comment at http://myspace.com/thebandfar

- Post it as a comment at http://www.facebook.com/pages/far/72115108498?ref=mf

Complete Control Returns to LA Airwaves

Starting on April 18th at 10:00PM, Los Angeles will have a new reason to turn the radio back on. The Complete Control radio show will be returning to L.A. on Saturday nights now on 98.7 FM.   The show features both new and old-school punk rock music as well as interviews and tons of information on all that is punk.  The show’s creator and host, SideOneDummy Record’s own Joe Sib, was kind enough to chat with us about Complete Control, Indie 103.1 (Complete Control’s first home) and the show’s new home in L.A. on 98.7 FM.

RM64: Can you tell us some of the story behind Complete Control Radio?

JS: Complete Control began almost 5 years ago on Indie 103.1 FM.  Around the end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004 I remember people telling me, ‘you’ve got to check out this new station’.  The first time I turned on Indie 103.1 I heard in one sitting Elvis Costello, Black Flag, The Shins and then some local Los Angeles band.  I immediately wanted to find out who was running the station.   At the time I was handling radio here at SideOneDummy, so I tracked down the Program Director, Michael Steele, and we setup a dinner to talk about the new Flogging Molly album.  From that point on Michael and I started becoming friends, and one time he asked me about classic punk rock and what kind of stuff the station should be playing.  Since this is L.A. I immediately listed off a bunch of classic L.A. punk bands, and I ended up making him a playlist of all sorts of stuff like The Germs, The Weirdos,  Bad Religion and Social Distortion.  A few weeks later I was in my car and I heard some of the songs from my playlist, it was awesome. And that was the thing I loved about Michael, he was the first guy in radio at that level who not only took my call, but also actually asked me questions and for my opinion on music.

So Michael and I were talking one night, and I mentioned to him that there should be a show on Indie 103.1 that incorporated everything from old school to new punk rock. Not for it to be a throwback show just really informative, and when you had a punk band coming through L.A. for a show they would do an interview on Indie the night before.  Really it was based on a show I grew up listening to in San Jose in the 80’s called Vinyl Rights, it aired on KFJC and was hosted by Alex Morgan.  It was on Thursday nights and he was amazing, so full of information.  So I based the idea for Complete Control off of that show and pitched it to Michael.  I pitched it with the idea of getting someone else to host it but before I even got to that point, he said I love the idea, I want you to do it, and let’s start next week.

RM64: What was it like doing your very first show?

JS: I went on the air for the first time in May of 2004. Being in a band I’d been interviewed on-air a ton of times in the past, but this was different.  All of a sudden it’s me in a room by myself with a live microphone and Los Angeles listening.  I remember my very first night on the air, the red light was on, I’m stumbling through my intro and the board operator starts mouthing to me, ‘say Indie 103.1’.  It was a little rough, but the show quickly picked up and became really popular.  During those years we had Johnny Ramone’s last interview, everyone from X came on, Youth Brigade, Keith Morris, Greg Hetson, just tons of great guests.

RM64: Now that Complete Control is on 98.7, will you do anything different?

JS: No, not at all.  That was the number one thing I said.  The show that I used to do on Indie 103.1 is the same that I’m going to do over there.   We’re not going to make a watered-down version, and the freedom to do that was one of the main things that made me say okay let’s do it.  I know there will be some people that say ‘how can 98.7 do a show that’s punk rock when during the day they’re playing stuff that’s really pretty far from that?’.  And my answer to that is, at the end of the day commercial radio is commercial radio, but for them to turn over the airwaves to me for two hours every Saturday night, and let me do 100% of what I want to do, play whatever I want, that’s really cool.

RM64: Thanks for talking with us, and congratulations on the new show. We’ll be tuning in on April 18th at 10:00PM!

JS: Right on, thank you.  I’m stoked to be bringing Complete Control back to L.A.!

Hyro Playing Bamboozle

We’re back on the beat and enjoying the extra hour of daylight, we hope you are too – here’s a quick rundown on some bustling of late… On the East Coast, Peter Malkin has joined Dave Holmes’ management outfit, clients include Coldplay, Interpol and Rilo Kiley among others. Meanwhile, NYC-based publishing veteran Harry Poloner is now at a creative post at Songs Music Publishing.

Last week Vagrant Records announced the signing of far. Their cover of Genuwine’s “Pony” has been making a big splash at Modern Rock radio over the last few months and the band is currently finishing up a new album due this spring…  Speaking of signings, we are big fans of Buzzbands L.A. blog (http://buzzbands.la/) written by former L.A. Times columnist Kevin Bronson. Last week, Buzzbands was first to report that the highly-sought after derby for indie darlings Airborne Toxic Event went to Island Def Jam…

Among the new additions to Bamboozle (Left) for 2009 and one of the artists featured in Alternative Press’ latest “100 Bands You Need To Know” issue, is Hyro Da Hero. The indie rock/mix-tape rapper will be on the Bamboozle line-up this year, along with headliners Fall Out Boy, 50 Cent and the Deftones. The event takes place at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on April 4th and 5th in Irvine, CA.

In The Mix: Blaze James, Jon Nelson and Menya

Email us: blog@rm64.com

Checkout a little SXSW opening night showcase list and stay tuned for more SXSW show picks later this week… And don’t forget the all-important FREE event list, provided by the good folks at New Music Tipsheet here:
http://www.newmusictipsheet.com/sxswpartylist2009.pdf

- Wednesday March 18th –

Get your pre-drinking drinking done @ The Mohawk (912 Red River @ E. 10th) for BMI’s Austinist day-party with TV/TV, Telekinesis and others…

Stop by the SESAC Showcase @ Volume (612 E 6th Street) to catch Mieka, Young Love, Blacklist and more…

And finally get dirty on ASCAP with Chief, The Temper Trap and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head among others @ The Dirty Dog (505 E 6th Street)

Here's looking at you

Indie 103.1, mainstay of the L.A. and O.C. independent music scene, has announced they are leaving terrestrial radio and moving to an online only format.  A major supporter of many great local artists as well as music and community related causes, Indie 103.1’s presences on the airwaves will be missed by many including us here at RM64.  We wish them all the best… Show some love at www.indie1031.com

Stay tuned for a special feature…

This is how our ass felt in NYC

As yours truly from the RM64 crew braved the chilly and rainy NYC weather last week, news of dramatic changes happening at Sony Music was driving industry chatter on the street. With Epic Records head Charlie Walk exiting his post, the gossip mill churned talk of the label being folded in Columbia. In the process, senior A&R player Andy Gershon makes the departure as well. However, expect A&R exec Pete Giberga, who is coming off the success of Sara Bareilles, to stay put. And rightfully so, Giberga gets big kudos for the development and success of Bareilles considering today’s difficult music landscape. Speaking of Columbia, label head Steve Barnett and A&R hitter Maureen Kinney sign Chairlift…

Some follow-ups to our previous post: Former Columbia Records A&R exec Lee Danay joins the Warner/Chappell crew representing in the East Coast.  Veteran music exec Jeff Aldridge exits his longtime A&R title at Warner Bros. and joins Barry Weiss’ crew at Jive. Meanwhile, we hear WB Records head Tom Whalley brings in veteran A&R exec Kate Hyman into the fold, hence replacing Aldridge. Hyman has held senior creative positions notably at V2, Chrysalis, and Imago Records (editor’s note: newbies in the biz won’t remember Imago. We do, cuz we’re old skool… it’s like that and that’s the way it is)…

Lastly, it’s a late report, but a notable one to mention, L.A.-based Robert Francis signs with Atlantic Records. The major has already put their logo stamp on Francis’ Myspace page. But here’s a little indie trivia for you RF fans out there—the singer/songwriter is the younger brother of Hello Stranger frontwoman Juliette Commagere. He briefly played bass for HS, joining his sister and drummer Joachim Cooder, who famously played with the Buena Vista Social Club along with his father/legendary guitar player Ry Cooder. Francis’ 2007 indie release through Aeronaut Records received rave reviews from rock critics…

IN THE MIX: Jon Pikus, The Temper Trap, and Eggnog (the holiday drink, not a band)…
E-MAIL US: blog@rm64.com