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Bad Company, with hits such as “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Rock & Roll Fantasy” and “Bad Company,” became the first to self title their band name in a song and album and propelled themselves to the forefront of the ‘70s arena rock movement. The band hasn’t performed together since 1999, and the trio will perform without founding member Boz Burrell, who passed away in 2006.

Paul Rogers, celebrating his 40th year as a recording artist, recently performed in London’s Hyde Park as a part of the “4664 Concert - Honoring Nelson Mandela” and will embark on a world concert tour as Queen + Paul Rogers in September. His most recent solo CD/DVD release, Live in Glasgow has been certified Gold.

Bad Company’s debut album, Bad Company, was released in the mid-1970s and quickly hit No. 1 on the charts and remained in the Top 40 for four straight months. The album became multi-platinum and to this day remains, arguably, one of the most accomplished debuts in rock history.

Tickets for the one-night-only show will go on sale Saturday, July 5.]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 16:05:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192997_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what Control. However, it seems that the Joy Division jubilee got out of hand Wednesday when the deceased lead singer’s memorial stone was discovered stolen from its Cheshire County cemetery in England.

Joy Division was a post-punk pre-cursor to the more commercially successful (though less influential) new wave group New Order which was formed by surviving members. Before the frontman’s death the band had only been playing together for four years, releasing an EP (An Ideal For Living) and one LP (Unknown Pleasures). By 1980, the band had just finished recording what would be their most critically acclaimed album Closer, which featured the Manchester punk scene anthem “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” The song began to gain momentum and the band was preparing to tour the United States when Curtis, who had recently been diagnosed with epilepsy, took his own life. As the song was written about a rocky patch in their marriage, Curtis’s widow Deborah chose to engrave her late husband’s memorial stone with the epitaph “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”

According to Cheshire police, the memorial stone, located in a cemetery in Curtis’ hometown of Macclesfield, must have been removed from the its proper location between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. The BBC News reported that the misplacement doesn’t have the Macclesfield bobbies particularly worried. “This is a very unusual theft,” one officer stated, “and I am confident that someone locally will have knowledge about who is responsible or where the memorial stone is at present.” Hopefully, the stone will be returned promptly so fans can pay homage to their rock and roll idol the old fashioned way: flowers and graffiti.]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 15:40:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192992_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what Billboard and Variety gave the music world some hard figures this week, confirming that U.S. album sales are down 11 percent from this time in 2007, topping out at 204.6 million in the weeks between December 31 and June 29. On the other hand, digital music sales are blowing up like fireworks on the 4th of July.

Sales of physical CDS have fallen 16 percent since 2007. Variety claims the drop in CD sales is a side effect of music stores like Virgin and Best Buy downsizing or eliminating their CD products. That leads you to think; which came first, the falling CD sales or the downsizing mega-store?

On a positive note, digital album sales are up, up and up—34 percent to be exact. The 31.6 million units of digital albums sold represent 15.5 percent of album sales this year. It’s a good year to be Universal Music Group, because the top three albums in sales this year have all been released under the label. Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III has sold 1.5 million units so far, followed by Jack Johnson’s Sleep Through The Static, at 1.2 million units and Mariah Carey’s E=MC2 which sold 1.1 million units (and that’s just mid-point sales for the year.)

While it seems like the CD was in its prime just over a decade ago, that music medium may be seeing the twilight of its years. You never know, CDs might make a comeback like their older, more sustainable brother, vinyl. Vinyl album sales have gone up drastically, already selling 803,000 units in 2008 compared to 454,000 in all of ‘07.]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 10:40:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192986_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what Wall Street Journal, it’s a challenge indie artists are meeting head on, starting with corporate ties.

Greg Laswell, for example, who recorded a demo in 2002, ordered 1,000 copies of his first effort, sold a few in his spare time, and “saved the boxes in which they were delivered to use as a coffee table.” While he was less comfortable with self-promotion at the onset of his career, the realization of its necessity came on the eve of his second record’s release (Three Flights from Alto Nido, to be released July 8 through Vanguard Records).

Mr. Laswell and Vanguard unleashed a cross-marketing campaign with corporate tie-ins, such as Marriott International and Amazon.com, that they hope will make him a staple in hotel lobbies and grocery stores across the country. The songs will be played overhead in Courtyard Marriott lobbies and on the hotel’s website. In addition, his songs are played before previews at large movie theaters and in Pepsi and Amazon advertisements nationally. His story, claims the Journal, is indicative of how indie artists have been pushing their music in new ways.

“Corporate deals used to be anathema to indie artists who feared such tie-ins would diminish their street credibility. But these days, launching an independent artist requires more marketing effort,” the article reads. According to Laswell, getting his songs out and heard is “about repetition of hearing that song in the grocery store or in the movie theater and going to where the people are, because they’re not going to the record store shopping for new music like we all used to.”

“At an independent label,” noted Kerry Borsuk, director of marketing for the Nettwerk Music Group, “you have to figure out inventive ways to promote without spending the money. People are doing what they can these days looking for creative ways to sell music.” Laswell went for it, and in promoting the July release, he joined the Artist Discovery Series of Whole Foods Markets, Inc., where customers in grocery checkout lines saw him compared with EMI’s Coldplay.

It may not be the status quo for garnering respect in the indie genre, but it has worked for Laswell in an era where the search for new places to get music heard rapidly expands. According to Vanguard, there has been an influx of traffic to Laswell’s MySpace page since the start of the various efforts, indicating that his name and music is reaching a wide fan demographic.
Laswell admits excitement about the publicity. “Some really big companies are behind this album. This is the most attention I’ve ever had on me,” he said. “I mean, it’s bizarre to be checking out at Whole Foods and see my face. So I’m up for getting my music out there in any way I can.”]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 10:00:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192985_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
Nokia’s “Comes with Music” plan enables consumers to download an unlimited amount of songs from three of the four major record labels for one year, free! The idea is that, at the end of Nokia subscribers’ one year period, they’ll pay a fee to maintain the access they’ve had to new music or simply buy more songs from Nokia’s online store. In other words, they won’t want to leave that convenient access to which they’ve become accustomed.

With iTunes and other relevant music downloading services as obvious competitors, Nokia isn’t worried since they’ve come up with a clever proposal—: buy a cell-phone plan, and get free music for a year!

Before signing the deal, Warner was wary of potential copyright infringement and eportedly apprehensive about Nokia’s “Mosh” website which was said to allow unauthorized file-sharing of copyrighted music.

Michael Nash, Warner’s chief of digital strategy had this to say, “This is probably the most important deal of its kind that we’ve done so far. The Nokia deal could pave the way for similar deals with other carriers.”

“Comes with Music” will provide consumers with millions of tracks, making available various songs by artists such as Madonna, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and REM.]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 09:25:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192983_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what Loose, believes that “the whole building has this creative magic.”

Though a lot of the “creative magic” comes from the studio’s lush surroundings and state-of-the-art equipment (many artists choose the studio as an alternative to the increasingly popular home studio), much comes from its rich musical history. The studio has recorded artists such as Bob Marley, the Rolling Stones, and Michael Jackson, while producing such legendary albums as Highway to Hell, Saturday Night Fever, and Hotel California.

Even with all that history, some would argue that this past year was one of the studio’s most successful. In one year alone the studio had three hits on the Billboard Hot 100: Usher’s “Love in this Club,” Madonna and Justin Timberlake’s “4 Minutes,” and Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” (the first single from his already platinum Tha Carter III).

Just as someone turning 50 might get a nip or a tuck here to maintain a little of that youthful glow, the Hit Factory plans on celebrating its milestone birthday with upgrades to their studio equipment.]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 08:55:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192982_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
What exactly does this little agreement mean for these two companies? Well, through gaining access to an extensive catalogue of Welk Music Group’s artists, EMI will profit from having its name attached to these Welk artists. In return, EMI will be helping these prestigious Welk artists reach a broader – more global--audience. Welk Music is benefitting from EMI’s decision to aide in the distribution of their music, be it digitally or physically.

The agreement also allows Welk Music Group’s artists to use EMI’s vast array of services described by president Kevin Welk as a “unique, seamless, global reach” which translates to something along the lines of “more press, more publicity, more distribution” for Welk’s impressive line-up of artists. Ronn Werre, EMI’s Music President, said in an interview that "EMI Music's aim is to provide world class services to artists and to bring great music to fans. Kevin Welk and his team have built an illustrious catalog and active artist roster, and we are thrilled to offer EMI's global capabilities to them.”

Prior to this new development, EMI’s artists already included The Beatles, Coldplay, Hot Chip, and Pink Floyd and its branches included Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol, Mute and Virgin. Now, EMI will be joined by the artists of Vanguard Records, Sugar Hill Records and Ranwood Records which are all currently under the Welk Music Group. So you may soon be seeing artists like Joan Baez, Nickel Creek and The Watson Twins brandish a Welk Music Group flag in one hand and an EMI flag in the other. Mmmm, back scratches are nice.]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 08:40:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192981_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
Songs on the most popular list range from traditional pieces like “Amazing Grace” (No. 6) and “Danny Boy” (No. 10) to two late sixties hits “My Way”( No. 1) and “What A Wonderful World” (No. 2). Songs on the unusual list are, as the name implies, non-traditional choices. Some examples include “Highway to Hell” (No. 3), “Always Look On the Brightside of Life” by Monty Python (No. 6) and team songs from the Australia Football League (No. 10). Despite South Australia’s reputation for its arid climate, “Dust in the Wind” was, interestingly enough, absent from either list.

In discussing the unusual song list, Centennial Park CEO Bryan Elliot notes that the recent trend in funeral music is to choose musical selections that are less traditional and more personal in order to tailor the service to match the individuality of the recently deceased. For those wondering how guests and family members accept the appearance of a classic rock song at a somber ceremony, Elliot states that, “Some of the more unusual songs we hear actually work very well within the service, because they represent the person’s character.”

The complete lists:

Most Popular
1. “My Way,” Frank Sinatra
2. “Wonderful World,” Louis Armstrong
3. “Time To Say Goodbye,” Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman
4. “Unforgettable,” Nat King Cole
5. “The Wind Beneath My Wings,” Bette Midler
6. “Amazing Grace,” various artists
7. “We’ll Meet Again,” Vera Lynn
8. “Over the Rainbow,” Judy Garland
9. “Abide With Me,” Harry Secombe
10. “Danny Boy,” various artists

Most Unusual
1. “The Show Must Go On,” Queen
2. “Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin
3. “Highway to Hell,” AC/DC
4. “Another One Bites the Dust,” Queen
5. “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead,” Bon Jovi
6. “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” Monty Python
7. “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead,” The Wizard of Oz
8. “Hit the Road Jack,” Willie Nelson
9. “I’m Too Sexy,” Right Said Fred
10. “Power,” Crows and Australian Football League team songs]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 08:35:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192980_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
The mission: get all the fans that visit your band’s MySpace to register to vote.
The prize: the opening slot at Rock the Vote’s Ballot Bash concert at the Democratic National Convention, an aired performance on AT&T’s Blue Room, a new Gibson SG Standard Guitar and matching SG Reissue Bass.

So how will a battle of the bands get people patriotic? Well, when a band registers on Rock the Vote’s website, they can download a widget onto their MySpace page that will allow site visitors to register to vote. On August 14th at 12:00 a.m., the three bands with the most registered voters will be put up for a 24-hour popular vote on MySpace.

The winner will then be invited to open the Ballot Bash Concert Event on August 25th at the Democratic National Convention. Along with the other prizes, this is more than enough incentive for emerging bands to conjure Uncle Sam and recruit voters like nobody’s business.

Rock the Vote is serious about encouraging bands to encourage fans, and they’ve got the perks to back it up. The first 25 bands to register 150 people to vote will be put on a Rock the Vote playlist on TouchTunes digital jukeboxes, which exist in over 30,000 restaurants, bars and retailers nationwide. On July 15th, whichever band happens to be in first place will receive a Gibson SG Special Guitar, and both the runners-up for the 24-hour voting poll on August 14th will also receive the Gibson guitar. Rock the Vote claims to have registered 1.2 million new voters during the 2004 election, and they are clearly trying to top that number. Log in, tune in, and weigh in on this year’s presidential election.]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 08:25:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192979_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
Taylor Guitars recently announced the Liberty Tree T5 as the latest addition to their ultra-exclusive Builder’s Reserve line. The guitar is a continuation of a limited run of “Liberty Tree” guitars Taylor began releasing in 2002 upon the acquisition of 80,000 pounds of the wood. The 50 T5’s to be produced will use the last of Taylor’s patriotic stock.

The guitar is a thinline semi-hollow body electric guitar with that signature Taylor acoustic flair, as is typical of the T5 family. Where the historic Annapolis Liberty Tree comes into play will be the guitar’s top, which will be made entirely from the tree’s wood with the exception of a Revolutionary-period inspired inlay where the guitar’s body meets the neck. Each of the fifty guitars will represent a unique state, numbered in order of entry into the Union.

Each Liberty Tree T5 will also include a commemorative case and documents detailing the building process signed by Bob Taylor himself.

To check out the Liberty Tree T5 and find out how you can get one for yourself, visit taylorguitars.com .]]> Wed, 2 Jul 2008 09:25:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192942_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what Taylor Swift.

Founded in 1999 by Jody Williams as a joint venture with Sony ATV Publishing, the catalogue is currently riding a hot streak with hits from Swift’s debut album, Taylor Swift, which has sold 3.2 million copies. Williams, now BMI’s Vice President of Writer/Publisher relations in Nashville, left the publishing company in 2006 to assume his role at BMI. Also included in the song library are country hits “Long Black Train,” “What If She’s an Angel,” and 2005 Billboard Country Song of the Year “That's What I Love About Sunday.”

ole boasts a team of 25 experienced industry professionals and has offices in Toronto, Nashville and Los Angeles. It has grown into Canada's largest music publisher in three short years and has been named the 2007 CMA Music Publishing Company of the year, the first time in 15 years an independent publisher has been awarded the honor.

According to a press release, ole is “committed to being the best and most innovative global destination for world-class songwriters, composers, and management talent, and the first choice music source for creators in all media.” It is this global vision and motivation that Jody Williams took into consideration when looking for a new home for his catalogue.

“I really wanted to hand over the catalogue to a company who is as hungry to get songs recorded as I was… a company looking for a stronger foothold in Nashville, and ole was the perfect fit,” he explained. “They mean business, and I think the catalogue in the hands of Gilles Godard (Chief Creative Officer, ole Nashville) and his staff will yield a lot of success,” he added.

ole Chariman and CEO Robert Ott said the acquisition of the substantial Jody Williams Music catalogue is the latest investment in ole’s aggressive pursuit of music publishing intellectual property. “ole has acquired over $50 million of music publishing assets in the past couple of years and remains on an aggressive acquisition path in 2008,” he said.

To check out ole, one of Nashville’s fastest growing publishers, click here.]]> Wed, 2 Jul 2008 08:50:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192941_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
Partnering up with trueAnthem, an advertising supported online music distribution, promotion, and marketing company, Hootie is the first band to debut the one-of-a-kind live concert widget. Using trueAnthem’s Homegrown trueWidget, concertgoers can send a SMS text message to purchase the show for $14.99 as soon as the lights hit. This instant gratification gives the show to fans immediately without having to wait for a CD or rock a fashionable, trendy jump drive. They will also be able to pre-order files for upcoming shows and be notified when a particular show is ready for purchase.

In a one-two knockout punch, Darius Rucker and his band are also using this tour as a fundraising charity series. While visiting back home in South Carolina, the boys who penned “Let Her Cry” and “Only Want to Be With You” were exposed to the poor education conditions of their state and were inspired to give back to the community. They are requesting that attendees bring school supplies to their shows to donate to the cause, and have raised over $150,000 worth of supplies so far. “This tour is particularly meaningful for us as it is supporting a cause that is incredibly important: the education of our nation’s youth,” says Rucker. “To add the opportunity for us to sustain the connection we make with our fans at each show is truly incredible and until today, not possible.”

trueAnthem, a San Francisco based company, claims it is a music label for the modern ages by providing services to promote independent and undiscovered talent. Their trueWidgets can be embedded online and will be compatible with sites like MySpace and Facebook. “Now, concert-goers can take home more than the t-shirt as the keepsake from the show—they can take home the concert itself,” says trueAnthem CEO Brad Barnes. “And what’s even better, they can share it with their friends, follow the band from city to city and re-live their memories over and over with fellow fans.”

Live concert USB drive necklaces are so last year...]]> Tue, 1 Jul 2008 16:35:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192922_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what American Idol alum, Kristy Lee Cook has signed with Arista Nashville to begin recording an album this summer. Cook, who begins the American Idols Live! Tour today will certainly have lot on her plate this summer.

Cook, a member of the coveted Top Ten American Idol Finalists, embarks on a 49-city tour this summer with her fellow finalists, which will be kicked off tonight in Glendale, Arizona. One of the other female finalists, Brooke White, told the Los Angeles Times, “We are actually going out as individual performers and doing our own set, our own music.” For Cook, Kristy Lee, that is (there is also a David Cook, the winner this past season, on tour with her), the opportunity to do her own thing on stage will be welcome practice for the recording she prepares to begin this summer on her first solo album.

However, the 24-year-old Oregon native is not new to the country music scene. According to an interview with Billboard earlier this year, she has been on stage with the best of them since she was 14, opening for such artists as Glen Campbell, Creedence Clearwater Revisited and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. At 17, she signed with Arista Nashville but was dropped from the label before any of her music could be released. So she auditioned for American Idol and she ended up back in the arms of her former label, home to other American Idol success stories like Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler.

Cook is scheduled to begin recording her album with help from Nashville-based singer/songwriter/producer, Brett James in the midst of her whirlwind tour this summer and is expected to release the album sometime this fall. Her first single off the album, “15 Minutes of Shame” will be released to country music radio stations in August.]]> Tue, 1 Jul 2008 15:40:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192923_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
The way the service will work is for a monthly fee of five dollars a member will receive weekly MP3s. The weekly content will include an original song by one of the aforementioned superstars, a song by an up-and-coming unknown, and one “crackerjack surprise,” which could be a video, song, or short story (Can you imagine a Bob Dylan short story?). Half of the profits raised will go to the artists and the other will go to AIDS afflicted Africans via (RED).

The service is also an attempt by (RED) to demonstrate some credibility and transparency in its work as it has been criticized for focusing more on marketing (RED) products than on its actual cause. To get this done, the service will send its members e-mails giving them specific information on where their money is going. It will also encourage members to e-mail their friends to partake in a two week free trial.

While fighting AIDS is the main concern of the program, Bono believes that the digital music package will be vital to improving the state of the music business. To insure this aspect of the service, (RED) has brought on Don MacKinnon, previously in charge of music products for Starbucks, as a president of content. According to Bono, “MacKinnon might just be the penicillin the ailing music business needs.” The U2 frontman is correct to say that music could use a pick-me-up, but it would be exponentially better to see (RED)’s newest venture provide for a continent demolished by a deadly disease than for a multi-billion dollar industry.]]> Tue, 1 Jul 2008 15:30:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192921_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
Seeking to be as comprehensive as possible in its concert listings, even by dipping regularly into bands’ MySpace pages that boast at least 50 friends, Songkick hopes to include, according to the site, “every single concert in existence – no matter how obscure the band or tiny the venue.” Users can even create a profile page of their favorite bands to receive updates on shows in their area, and the site has also created a downloadable plug-in for iTunes, Windows Media Player and Winamp applications that scans the user's music library, and adds those found artists into a Tour Tracker to send the user regular updates on those artist's itineraries. Yet another popular feature that sets Songkick apart from similar listing sites such as Pollstar.com is its Alexa look-alike engine, “Battle of the Bands,” that keeps up-to-date tabs on blog buzz surrounding bands to rank them against one another. For instance, one band’s MySpace profile views and Amazon.com sales ranks pit them against similar gathered data on the user's other favorite bands, which is drawn into graphs that can be imbedded on blogs and other websites. For now, about 1 million bands are constantly being tracked by Songkick.]]> Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:40:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192915_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
The move from DRM to unprotected was prompted by Rhapsody’s recent deal with MTV Networks, which has the network using Rhapsody as the sole source of its new venture into MP3 sales. The $50 million dollar deal also involves all four major record labels, and RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser believes it will “open up the digital music marketplace.”

In addition to that of MTV, Rhapsody is also set to operate Verizon Wireless’s VCast MP3 store. The Verizon store will also provide DRM-free options that allow customers to transfer songs between various phones, computers, and MP3 devices.

To add further flexibility, Rhapsody also provides customers with the option of streaming up to 25 songs per month through a web-based Flash player. The new service even allows streaming without a Rhapsody account, though non-account holders must register if they wish to purchase the music they are streaming.

All of these recent changes made by Rhapsody are part of their “Music Without Limits” initiative. The company hopes to provide customers with an easy-to-use, versatile means of discovering and acquiring music, while simultaneously edging out competitors such as Napster and iTunes.]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:30:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192901_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what Untitled after a controversial name change, has lost another song to the internet before its scheduled July 15th release. The track, “Sly Fox” has garnered the rapper serious attention due to the incendiary remarks made about several news organizations, particularly Fox News.

“Sly Fox”, the second track from Untitled to be circulated prior to its release (“Black President” was leaked a few weeks ago), really has it out for the Murdoch empire, mentioning MySpace and YouTube in addition to bashing Fox News. The chorus of the track warns, “Watch what you’re watchin’/ Fox keeps feedin’ us toxins/ stop sleepin’ start thinkin’ outside the box and unplug from the matrix doctrine.” Perhaps the most inflammatory comment made about Fox is the lyric, “The only Fox that I loved is the red one/ only black man Fox loved is in jail or a dead one”.

Nas also sends some love (sarcasm) to Fox News personality, Bill O’Reilly, saying, “The Fear Factor got you all riled up/ O’Reilly, oh really.” The Los Angeles Times suggests the heated dialogue expected between the newsman and Nas, which will no doubt occur, could be a wise publicity stunt aimed at drawing attention to the album as its release date approaches. This wouldn’t be the first time the two had exchanged words, either. Last year, O’Reilly criticized a student group at Virginia Tech University for inviting Nas to perform at the school a few months after a student gunned down 32 people on campus. O’Reilly made it clear he thought the concert was inappropriate because of his opinion that Nas is “a rapper who trades in violence.” Nas fired back then and it seems he isn’t quite finished.]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:00:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192902_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what 1000 Miles of Life and trying to establish a more contemporary career, a piece of his ‘80s legacy could be coming to television. During a Hall and Oates concert last year, Primary Wave senior creative director Evan Duby, noting Oates’ 80s pop icon status, proposed the idea of bringing the music of John Oates to a younger generation of fans.

Considering Primary Wave Music Publishing owns a majority share in most of the hits performed by Hall and Oates, it would appear logical that Duby’s idea would hinge on utilizing some of these classic songs from their catalog. Having cleared the licensing hurdle, Wave Music created a cartoon, suitably titled J-Stache portraying Oates in all of his ‘80s finery, complete with his classic mustache.

Having already produced a two-minute trailer, the publishing company is now working to script a 6-10 minute long pilot episode. In the trailer, Oates’ mustache, voiced by comedian Dave Attell, takes on a life of its own. The mustache tries to lure Oates away from Suburbia and back to rock and roll. The current plan for the pilot is to continue with this theme. With additional story characters voiced by fellow mustached celebrities, David Crosby and Tom Selleck, the plan is for Oates to defeat a group of mustache wearers that are killing other mustache wearers. Although Wave Music has yet to secure a network to air the show, they are not discouraged, and point to the web as another possible venue. At this writing, fans of the ‘80s duo Hall and Oates are still waiting for “someone to make their dreams come true.”]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:25:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192900_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
Seattle's Urban Rest Stop provides a clean, safe and welcoming facility where individuals and families can use restrooms, shower and laundry facilities at no cost to patrons. After a 2007 expansion to the Urban Rest Stop by the Low Income Housing Institute, the URS is able to serve more than 2,000 people each year.

According to Ronni Gilboa, program manager of Noise for the Needy, "The Urban Rest Stop will use this most generous gift to assist in covering the increased daily operating costs caused by [the facility's] expansion." The Expansion has caused a "75 percent increase in service delivery" to the organization, and funds "will be used to pay for the increased utility, cleaning and hygiene supplies, repairs and other related costs."

Each summer, the Urban Rest Stop experiences daily wear of 800 people, providing 225 showers, 150 loads of laundry, and 500 restroom uses daily. "The money will also go to cover other basic necessities, including laundry and body soap, toothbrushes, razor blades and other supplies, the costs for which continue to rise. There also is a need for an additional paid staff member," Gilboa said.

For more information on the organizations or to find out how to donate, visit the NOISE FOR THE NEEDY and URBAN REST STOP websites.]]> Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:40:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192812_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what
In the statement, NARM told companies, “Over the past few months, there have been instances where release dates for physical and digital versions of albums did not coincide, creating unnecessary and unwelcome marketing obstacles, consumer confusion and, most importantly, missed sales opportunities.”

NARM appears to be fighting a losing battle, however, as many labels are moving towards this digital-first, physical-second business module. Antony Bruno, of Billboard.biz, even goes as far as to say that “digital downloads are the new radio,” arguing that an early digital release is now no different than the industry standard pre-album release of a radio single.

Other factors that NARM will have to consider include the problem of unauthorized P2P downloads, the possibility of purchasing the album at a lower price digitally, and the increasingly popular “Radiohead model” that allows fans to name their own price and download albums well before physical release.

Rather than fighting a system that, let’s face it, doesn’t want to die, NARM could focus on the potential benefits of early digital release. Coldplay’s Viva la Vida was leaked online weeks prior to its release and still hit number one on both U.S. and U.K. Billboard charts. Beck is planning to release forthcoming Modern Times on TouchTunes machines before it sees daylight in stores. Perhaps NARM should take a cue from Beck, and get with the “modern times.”]]> Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:50:00 -0500 http://www.echomusic.com/main.php?em3097=192811_-1__0_~0_-1_7_2008_0_0&content=what