Move over wannabe VJs: MTV wants a Twitter Jockey
Most of us remember the constant rotation of the MTV VJs that flashed before our eyes while we were glued to our televisions watching TRL (…Jesse Camp, anyone?…) Well MTV has decided to spice up the VJ search a little bit in hopes of finding their first TJ – otherwise known as the Twitter Jockey.
According to Yahoo.com, MTV is looking for a fresh face to represent MTV and have the ability to bridge the gap between the MTV audience and the MTV executives. The network currently has 18 candidates and needs the public’s help to find the best contenders to fill the 2 remaining spots.
These contestants will compete in various online challenges this summer that will show their true personalities and how well they can connect with the MTV Twitter audience. From there, the five finalists will compete on a live show on August 8th where the fans will pick the winner.
Did I mention that the winner will: report on MTV events, live in New York, AND earn a six-figure salary? Yeah…it’s looking pretty good right about now. Viewers can nominate themselves or their friends over at MTV.com.
Dr. Dre In Court With Death Row Records…
Last Monday, a judge dismissed hip hop producer Dr. Dre’s claims that Death Row Record’s re-release of his classic album “The Chronic-Re Lit” violated his rights of trademark and publicity.
The judge did allow another claim by Dr. Dre to be heard. The legendary producer claims he hasn’t been paid royalties since 1996! In 1991, Dr. Dre formed Death Row Records and orally granted the label a non-exclusive license to
release sound recordings. The next year, he orally agreed to a similar agreement regarding “The Chronic” in exchange for an 18 percent royalty rate. In 1996, Dr. Dre left Death Row Records giving up his ownership in the company as well as the sound recordings
in exchange for the royalty rate and a promise that the label would not release his songs other than “in the manners heretofore distributed.”
Apparently, Dr. Dre has been feuding with the label since it came out of bankruptcy. If there is a lesson to be learned here it is to make sure that you have these kind of agreements in writing. Even for a superproducer like Dr. Dre, bad business practices
can come back haunt you. Also, an 18 percent royalty rate is a pretty generous rate and I can understand why Dr. Dre would be taking this thing to court.
Someone should do us all a favor and remind Dr. Dre that we have been waiting for the “Detox” album for years now and frankly I think we are all over it now.
Maybe this court battle will stir up some good creative juices and we’ll get another classic from the Doc……
Thom Yorke gives Miss Cleo a Run For Her Money….
Or at least he apparently thinks so. According to contactmusic.com , recent fortune teller, Thom Yorke of the generically popular indie group, Radiohead, is encouraging young musicians to resist signing with major labels because “It will be only a matter of time – months rather than years – before the music business establishment completely folds. (It will be) no great loss to the world.” Yorke and his band dropped from major label EMI in 2007 before successfully releasing In Rainbows, in which fans were allowed to choose their own price, making a major statement in the music industry.
I guess it’s really easy to talk about this kind of a thing when he’s already rose to fame and milked EMI for thousands in record sales.
Despite Radiohead’s break with their label and successful online release , I’m not so sure it would be quite so easy for bands that don’t already have a small country’s worth of die-hard fans ready to buy literally anything Radiohead shits out. Record label = major funding and its hard to tell a desperate musician that he’s better off refusing the chance to make his dreams come true. Or maybe its really easy when you already know your an icon of indie music and image.
Let’s stroke his ego for a minute: Wow Thom, your so radical and unique in your take on rejecting the conformity of the music industry and major labels. What a fabulously pretentious precedent your setting for conversations among hipsters everywhere to have as they sip PBR over an open garbage fire.
File Sharing Becoming Legal?
Well this wouldn’t be the worst idea ever. According to The ABA Journal, artists are making most of their money now from digital sales, performances, and concert merchandise. In fact, despite what it might seem like, artists are not suffering income-wise the way we might assume based on the constant decline in CD and music sales. Law makers seem like the may finally be done resisting the shift in money making and conform to the demand of the public: we love downloading free music. The new solution to reducing or even getting rid of file sharing completely is to give people better legal options such as a flat fee for unlimited downloads from one ISP address.
Here’s my thing, the RIAA took back the threat of litigation a while ago so the threat of “getting in trouble” for downloading music is gone. Why would people stop? If people want to find a reasonable solution for illegal file sharing they need to go another direction. Stop trying to make money off of people paying for music because 50% of people if not more are going to tell you to fuck yourself.
A commendable effort at least.
AEMMP Records Working on First Hip Hop Release…
AEMMP Records is currenlty working out the details on its first Hip Hop release which will be a mixtape featuring buzzing local talent as well as some famed Chicago MCs. AEMMP Record’s Hip Hop A&R, Emmanuel Davila said, “The project is historic in that this will be one of AEMMP’s first Hip Hop releases and this will be the first step in finding the right MC to sign to AEMMP.”
AEMMP is in talks with famed Hip Hop blogsite Ruby Hornet’s very own DJ RTC to mix the project. Currently AEMMP is accepting beats from Columbia producers by June 24, and original songs from Columbia MCs by July 1st.
If you are interested in submitting beats or original songs for the project, please email the submissions to manny@aemmp.org & calid@aemmp.org with your conatact information.
More details will be coming soon!
Bonnaroo Goes Super Green
Break out your incense burners and flower-petal face paint because a week from today Bonnaroo 2010 will kick off their tree-hugging festivities in Manchester, TN giving fake hippies even more to hold hands about. This massive three day long concert/camp-out is already known for being eco-friendly but this year they are really going the extra effort in ways that are as commendable as they are questionable. Bonnaroo’s Victory Garden that encourages patrons to grow their own food and be more self-sustaining will offer classes on gardening basics, seed saving, and there will even be mushroom logs! They will offer those who attend tips, seeds, and other supplies needed to start their own garden. This green treat is in addition to the already fantastic efforts they began over the years of using local supplies, reducing biodiesel fuel use and offering artist merchandise in exchange for recycled goods.
I may sound like the no-fun grandma when I say this but do we really need to be teaching hippies how to grow their own mushrooms and weed? Just sayin’. Regardless, if you plan on attending the festivities this year make sure you come prepared to save the planet, party hard, and listen to mediocre music that will sound awesome because you’ll be wasted anyway!
saki: Carrot Top Distribution on “Eight Forty-Eight”
Last October, I called up my old boss Allison Wasilewski at Carrot Top Distribution with a brilliant idea: “You guys should open your own record store!”
After reading an article in the New York Times about small music distribution companies selling direct to fans, I immediately thought of Carrot Top. The small label/distribution company had recently relocated to a beautiful new building in Logan Square.
With offices upstairs and a warehouse in the back, the building still had an amazing storefront that was going completely unused.
Well, that’s all over now because it seems my suggestion was taken seriously! Over Memorial Day weekend, Allison and Carrot Top founder Patrick Monaghan opened up an amazing new record store, saki, in West Logan Square.
Carrot Top Distribution created the space to not only sell vinyl and CDs but to also showcase local musicians and fine artists. Having interned at CTD, I can tell you: These are great people, they love music, and they have a very deep collection.
The Grand Opening continues all week with bands, special guest artists, DJs, etc. For more info, check out http://sakistore.blogspot.com/
You can also hear Allison and Patrick talk about the new store in an interview on Chicago Public Radio’s Eight Forty-Eight, which aired June 1st (about 38 minutes into the show).
Congrats to everyone at Carrot Top & saki for the interview and the incredible new store!
Oh yeah…. and our professor’s band, Poison Arrows, rocked the house!!!!!
Rapper G.A.M.E. Doesn’t Believe In Promoting His New Album…
REALLY GAME REALLY? I’m a fan and all but everyone needs promotion if you plan on being a public figure or have any hopes of reaching any audience.
The rapper told Reuters that … “if you’re a Game fan, then you’ll get the album, I don’t sell myself. This is my fourth album. I don’t think I need to do all that.”
He may be right that loyal fans will remain loyal and purchase an album if they are informed of the release date. However, life moves too fast and technology has really shortened people’s attention spans.
My point is that technology has made music so readily available to consumers that their purchasing habits have changed over the years. For example, we keep seeing a decline in physical sales and an increase in digital sales of music.
Now it may be true that physical sales $ amounts are still much higher than digital sales of music. But I believe that once kids who were born in the late 1980s and early 1990s become the dominant group of consumers, digital sales will significantly increase and promotional techniques will have to evolve.
This is because these kids have grown up with the internet, mp3s, and smart phones. Online shopping is very familiar to them and buying music online is no exception.
Therefore, promotion is just as important as anything else that goes into making an album successful. For an artist like Game, promotion may not seem important because he has a solid sales record and a solid fan base.
Still his product manager Andrew Flad insists that promotional efforts are of the highest importance. Game will begin a promotional tour which has several stops in Europe, as well as appearances on radio and TV shows for interviews.
As for the rest of us indie labels and artists, please do not follow Mr. Game’s advice and always promote….
WAIT I just figured it out! Maybe Game saying he doesn’t believe in promoting is actually promotion since he’s getting some press on his comments….hmmmmm
Free Digital Distribution!
A small company named Little Label Major Distribution is advertising free digital distribution for any independent artist that signs up with them. Sounds like a pretty good deal right? It really is. When you sign up you get a UPC code, IRSC encoding, distribution to 2,500 online retailers, weekly sales reports, and free promo-ET. The only catch is that there is a $15 dollar fee for a UPC code. SO its not actually free, its $15. BUT other than that, I’m gonna go ahead and suggest anyone looking for distribution should check it out on their website!
Big Science at MANIFEST FRIDAY!
Still not sure if you want to invest the $10 to check out Big Science’s release show on May 22nd at Subt? If you’re still questioning the monetary value of this band you should check out a FREE show by them this FRIDAY at Columbia College Chicago’s MANIFEST. Big Science’s show will only be a short (daylight) teaser of the killer show promised to take place at Subterranean on May 22nd, so take a late lunch break and swing by the outdoor stage at 9th & Wabash!
Big Science takes the stage at 3pm sharp. The main stage for Manifest is located on the corner of 9th & Wabash.