IF you were satisfied with HBO’s brilliant ‘‘dramedy,’’ you will be amazed at the soundtrack that the people behind Six Feet Under have managed to unearth.

The haunting, dark and yet comic traits that the series boasts of, is reproduced with impeccable perfection in this compilation of music featuring some of the finest talents on the international scene.

It would seem easy to compose and compile music for a television series with a theme that defies life, since most would expect monotonous orchestration largely comprising stringed instruments. But producers Thomas Golubic and Gary Calamar show us why this soundtrack can move the dead.

Read the full review here

There's no doubt that the Hume brothers - Jon, 22, Peter, 20 and Dann, 18 - are the biggest export that Feilding will ever have.

Their radio-friendly debut, Dreams, shot up the Australian charts before they were acknowledged at home with an Apra Silver Scroll award. This follow-up sees them signed to huge US label Sire Records by head honcho Seymour Stein, who launched the careers of Talking Heads and Madonna.

Evermore have never wanted to rock out. Instead they felt more comfortable being New Zealand's answer to Coldplay or Keane, with Peter switching between piano and keyboards and bass. Like Coldplay, they are an earnest bunch but there's no denying the production values and musicianship attached to Real Life, with the brothers' rich vocal harmonies showcased to their fullest. But there's a familiarity with the formula. Songs have that slow, plodding rhythm, the lone piano opening - or coda, or middle eight - the singalong chorus and a gently strummed chord that somehow seems important.

While Jon may believe he's singing about real life - and morning stars and the unbreakable connection between two people - where is the dirt and grime? Life just isn't this clean.

Evermore's Real Life is out now through Warners.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz

While the debate rages as to whether the festival calendar is already over-saturated, news reaches us of two more being plannned for next summer - a 'mini T In The Park' and the Isle Of Man's first major music event...

With no Glastonbury Festival taking place this year it was perhaps inevitable that a whole new crop of festivals would spring up in attempts to fill the void. Some have worked, others have half-worked, several have completely fallen by the wayside and many more remain to be seen.

But it seems the explosion of new festivals will not be limited to only this year. Already there are reports of two new outdoor music weekenders for 2007.

Read the full article here

Making a movie about 9/11 presents many challenges. There’s the need to remain faithful to the events and the people who died. There’s the need to be respectful to the survivors and the families while creating a compelling film. And that’s just what goes into the writing and filming of the movie – then you have to sell it, reports chud.com.

The film is tracking strongly with young women – 40% of women in their teens and 20s have “definite interest” in seeing the movie. The strong central love stories between the men trapped in the rubble and the women waiting for them back home obviously appeals to this demographic, and thus we end up with a Coldplay song on the TV commercial. “Every generation has a defining moment,” Announcer Voice says on the ad, and one of them is when we realized that in a just universe Coldplay would have been in Tower 2.

Read the full article here

South Florida couch potatoes can spend the last sizzling weeks of summer glued to the Tube.

The Tube Music Network, a music channel created by MTV co-founder Les Garland, launched Tuesday in Broward and Miami-Dade counties as an alternate to MTV. The Tube has been offered in Palm Beach County for more than a year.

The Tube showcases music -- period. Coldplay's melodies and Norah Jones' purrs are uninterrupted by VJs, dating games or award shows, which have become MTV staples. Advertising totals six minutes per hour. "This is music television that's unique and special, focusing exclusively on music itself and playing music videos," said Rich Engberg, vice president and general manager for WBZL-TV 39, the Miami-based station that transmits the Tube.

Tube President Garland has been at the forefront of music video programming for decades. He co-founded MTV, VH1 and later The Box, an interactive music channel that became MTV2. Tube's headquarters are in Fort Lauderdale. The network is owned by Tube Media Corp., formally called AGU Entertainment Corp.

In April 2005, the music video channel signed an agreement with Raycom Media to transmit a Tube signal to several of its stations, including WFLX-TV 29 in West Palm Beach. In March 2006, the Tube teamed with the broadcasting division of Tribune Co., owner of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The deal allowed the Tube to broadcast in several major markets, including Miami. The Tube first aired on Tribune airwaves May 8 in Los Angeles.

In upcoming months, the Tube will launch an e-commerce site where viewers can buy DVDs, CDs, concert tickets and memorabilia.

Since its West Palm Beach launch, the station has received "enormous response" from viewers, said WFXL-Fox 29 General Manager John Spinola. Spinola said Tuesday's launch of the station will increase overall viewership of the Tube.

"This is a product that's always going to have a good niche," Spinola said.

"You're going to get a younger audience to come to it and ... you're going to get most people who grew up with MTV. They're going to see some of the things they originally saw," he said.

Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com

You won’t find any of their autographed glossies on Hotel Solamar’s walls, nor in its restaurant, the J-Six, or even in a manager’s office.

But an impressive lineup of celebrities have stayed, dined or partied at the 235-room boutique since it opened a little more than a year ago, including actor Jamie Foxx; singer, songwriter Baby Face; rhythm and blues great Al Green; rapper Eminem and the rock band Coldplay.

Last month, country singer Kenny Chesney gave an impromptu performance at the hotel’s upper-story patio and pool deck, the J-Bar, while he was a guest.

Recently, Samuel L. Jackson, who was in town for a sneak peek Comic-Con showing of the soon-to-be-released “Snakes on a Plane,” in which he has top billing, dined in the hotel’s restaurant.Devoted primarily to the comics industry, the annual event at the San Diego Convention Center, which draws thousands to downtown, serves as an ideal setting for Hollywood and TV studios to screen and show off their latest productions.

The hotel’s catering director, Ed Nesfield, said that representatives of seven studios checked into the Solamar, including NBC Universal, which hosted a private party for 300 at the J-Bar.

Aside from ambience, the allure for celebrities is the fact that the Solamar has strict rules governing privacy. Staffers may not ask for autographs or pictures, nor are they allowed to approach or talk to the stars unless it’s in the line of business or the stars themselves initiate conversation. And the property is off-limits to paparazzi.

So how does a hotel woo the big names of Hollywood?

Indirectly, Nesfield said.

“They know the Kimpton brand, and word gets around,” he added, emphasizing that the Solamar strives to give them as much anonymity as possible.

Surveying preparations on the day before NBC Universal’s gala, he said everything was going according to plan. On the deck of the J-Six bar, workers were setting up a series of tents around the pool where food would be served while a man on a ladder adjusted a movie projector, hidden out of sight in a palm tree. A white canvas tarp stretched on the side of a building would serve as a temporary movie screen.

“Soon the J-Six will have a permanent screen,” Nesfield said.

Hong Kong was blasted into summer by three mega music events over ten days in July when the international sell-out tours of Coldplay and The Black Eyed Peas hit town, along with the MOOV Party extravaganza.

The new Arena at AsiaWorld-Expo drew this unprecedented glut of talent to Hong Kong for the first time, and tens of thousands of people crowded into the city’s largest purpose-built entertainment venue to see and hear live some of the hottest acts on the planet.

With four Grammys and as many Brit awards to their name, London-based Coldplay brought the sell-out ‘Twisted Logic Tour’ to Hong Kong on 13 July, delighting fans with a two-hour extravaganza of music, including tracks from their 17 million selling 2005 ‘X&Y’ album. The Hong Kong event came at the climax of a global tour spanning Europe, the United States, Canada and other cities in Asia.Three days later, the equally popular Grammy-winning The Black Eyed Peas had the entire arena on its feet from start to finish, screaming along with the group’s biggest hits including ‘Don’t Phunk With My Heart’ and the mega-hit anthem ‘Shut Up’.

Known for the passion and energy of their live performances, ‘The Monkey Business Asian Tour’ is the Black Eyed Peas’ hottest tour to-date and comes on the back of the critically acclaimed albums ‘Behind the Front’ (1998), Bridging the Gap’ (2000) and their latest multi-million selling ‘Elephunk’ (2003).

Topping the hot month of music in Hong Kong, the ‘Netvigator Love Music Tour – MOOV Party’ transformed the Arena into a huge dance floor for Canto-sensations Aaron Kowk, Twins and Stephane Cheng, and the hugely popular Se7en from South Korea.

All three concerts took full advantage of the impressive facilities at AsiaWorld-Arena. Concert-goers benefited from the latest acoustic technology, flexible seating and standing for a maximum of 13,500 people and state-of-the-art lighting and audio-visuals. Hundreds of concert-goers also enjoyed the buoyant atmosphere of the in-venue Spotlight Bar for a pre-and post-concert drinks.

An impressive calendar of events, from music to corporate, has been drawn to Hong Kong by the range and quality of facilities available at the complex opened in December 2005.

Source: http://www.asiatraveltips.com

When you're the smallest kid in the class it helps to have a few tricks up your sleeve. But now the skills that Steven Frayne, 23, used as a schoolboy in Bradford to keep the other kids off his back and himself out of trouble are paving his way to stardom.

Frayne, aka Dynamo, has become the most sought-after guest on the celebrity party circuit, performing for, among others, Chris "Coldplay" Martin and his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, the Prince of Wales and Snoop Dogg.

This year, he released his own self-produced DVD, Underground Magic, and in May, Channel 4 screened a documentary, Estate of Mind, which filmed him performing close-up street magic on the Bradford council estate where he grew up.He was brought up by his mother and rarely saw his father. He was also diagnosed with Crohn's disease, a chronic stomach condition, as a child. But now, global fame beckons for Dynamo, who has signed a major deal with Warner Vision International for the worldwide distribution rights to his next DVD, scheduled for release this November.

He is also the star of the video "Hands", the new single from the Raconteurs, out today. It seems that Dynamo, often referred to as Britain's answer to David Blaine, will soon be rivalling the American's success. Senior vice-president of Warner Vision International, Frank Brunger, said that they would also produce a TV version of the production and distribute it digitally. "We were attracted to work with Dynamo simply because of his talent and the effect it has on other people. He came and did some magic here in our offices and all the staff were gobsmacked," he said.

His unique brand of hip-hop-style urban magic, which sees him body-popping as he slams cards through windows or passes lit cigarettes through a card, has made him one of the most creative illusionists performing today.

"The main focus will be to show the magic to its full potential. I want to step out in my own right and let the magic speak for itself," Frayne says. Snoop Dogg broke into a spontaneous rap when they met and Ian Brown was so inspired that he wrote a song about him and performed it live at the launch of Estate of Mind.

The White Stripes frontman Jack White cast him as a "fifth member" of his new band, the Raconteurs, in the video for the single "Hands". Dynamo is seen tricking his way through the song.

Financial success for Dynamo will give him the chance to fulfil a personal ambition. "What I want to do is look after my family, make sure they're all alright," he says.

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk

Even if you missed Top of the Pops you probably taped it.

After more than 40 years on the small screen, the nation's favourite bids a fond farewell tomorrow night when original presenter Sir Jimmy Savile signs off with the last ever show. With more than 2,200 editions of the show recorded, the hit programme has fallen down the listening figures and BBC bosses have decided not to sing its praises any more.

Like it or loathe it, TOTP is a national institution and it will remain imprinted on the nation's psyche for decades to come. TOTP made unknown artists household names and catapulted bands to superstar status. Had it not been for the show, bands like Led Zeppelin, the Stones, Oasis and Coldplay may not be as huge as they are.As Top of The Pops spins off into oblivion this Sunday, Mike Smartt recalls the seismic impact the first episode had in 1964 on a pop scene that, until then, catered more for dads than teenagers.

Cultural phenomena are hard to spot when they arrive. Critics said John Osborne's Look Back In Anger stank like a kitchen sink full of week-old washing up when it premiered.

It took weeks for people to realise TV's The Office wasn't a real documentary.

But Top of the Pops was never like that. Before New Year's Day 1964, when TOTP first emerged from a disused church in Salford, pop had been what Americans called their fathers and also went snap and crackle on the breakfast table.

On radio, records by real artists were played only rarely. On shows like the BBC's Saturday Club, teenagers - themselves invented just a few years earlier - had to endure cover versions instead. Not covers in today's sense, when cool stars give a new meaning to old favourites.

These were in-house singers like Vince Hill (before he became a bit famous) mauling top tunes of the day in front of an ill-rehearsed bunch of session musicians. It was as bad as that. Your dad quite liked it.

So when the Rolling Stones actually performed I Wanna Be Your Man at the start of Top of the Pops episode one, it was a revelation. Even if they did look then like a bunch of junior clerks from the Labour Exchange.

The Beatles were on too because they wanted to Hold Your Hand at number one and to cap it all, I was watching in my cousin's front room in Liverpool, the fabbest city on earth at the time.

It was clear from day one this was a programme to be missed only in the event of global catastrophe or detention for some schoolboy misdemeanour.

For years, who had and had not been on Top of the Pops dominated adolescent conversation from the moment it finished on Thursday evening right through the weekend and beyond.

Yes, much of it was naff.

Anyone who remembers a golden age of pop, when every release was another She Loves You, forgets Clive Dunn's Granddad, A Walk in the Black Forest with Horst Jankowski and everything by Engelbert Humperdinck. And Tony Blackburn and Dave Lee Travis were unhip even then.

But the possibility every week of seeing The Who, thrashing out a potential number one with only The Small Faces to beat, and the Animals bestriding the Atlantic atop both charts with the House Of The Rising Sun, made it a joy to be spotty, British and alive. As, of course, did Pan's People.

For pubescent lads reading about the fun everyone else was apparently having in the permissive society, the TOTP's in-house troupe of dancing girls were a welcome substitute.

Everyone's mates most fancied Babs, who was to go on to marry the actor Robert Powell. But even today the thought of the small, dark one (called Cherry or Damson or something) can make the knees go weak.

It's probably a bit daft of Noel Edmonds to suggest that the BBC is ditching a great brand needlessly. Top of the Pops long ago stopped being an "appointment viewing", as it's known in media circles.

With so many charts and genres and different ways of obtaining music these days, few seem to know or care who is top of the charts any longer.

But we used to. We were Fluff Freeman's "pop-pickers" after all.

And although many of us now pick up little more than our pensions, the thrill and expectation generated by those first five notes of the instrumental version of Whole Lotta Love, which should kick off Sunday's final Top of the Pops (it'd better), still stirs a loin or two.

Talking of pensioners, there'll be Jimmy Savile. You can't have everything I suppose.

Gwyneth Paltrow is looking to spend more time - and money - on this side of the pond, now that she’s buying property in the Hamptons.

Sources say the granola-crunching London resident, and sometime actress, is in contract to purchase a summer home in Amagansett.

This, of course, is a very good morale boost for us Yanks, since the Oscar winner has been quoted as saying that she prefers living in London instead of the U.S. because she believes that Brits are “more intelligent and civilized” than we are. Securityconscious Gwynnie and her rocker hubby, Chris Martin, are in the process of buying a five-bedroom Traditional-style home - surrounded by high hedges - with ocean views, a pool and guest quarters. There’s also plenty of room for the nannies of their two kids, Apple and Moses.

Her broker, Gene Stilwell of The Corcoran Group, would not comment on the transaction, but he does have a listing that looks remarkably similar in description. For some time now, the skittish actress has reportedly felt uncomfortable in her adopted home, and complained about the gloomy English weather and possibility of more terrorist attacks.

Source: http://www.nypost.com

Her career hotting up for the second time, Furtado plans to record with Timbaland again later this year in what she describes as "a band project like Gorillaz or Gnarls Barkley".

She has also contributed to Justin Timberlake's forthcoming album (also produced by Timbaland) but will not confirm rumours her ex-boyfriend and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin - who co-wrote the Loose track All Good Things (Come to an End) - is working on a solo record with Timbaland.

"I've come to this great place in life where I'm a mother and I feel very comfortable in my womanhood," she says. "I've really learnt how to have fun and take life less seriously."

Read the full article here

Shares of Warner Music Group fell after London-based EMI Group said it would no longer pursue a $4.6 billion merger with the U.S. recording giant.

EMI backed out of merger talks following a European court ruling earlier this month that scuttled two-year-old BMG Music Entertainment -- the joint venture between Sony Music Corp. and Bertelsmann AG.

Manhattan-based Warner Music issued a statement after EMI's announcement, saying it would also back out of its counteroffer for EMI.Shares of Warner Music fell as much as 11.3%, to $22.37, in morning trading and were down 3% intraday.

Warner Music and EMI have been locked in a tug of war since May, after each rejected a takeover bid from the other.

EMI and Warner Music previously attempted to combine in 2000, but were thwarted by regulators. Three years later, a group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. purchased Warner Music for $2.6 billion and took the company public.

A Warner-EMI merger would have controlled 25% of global sales, making it the second largest music group behind Universal Music Group, a unit of Paris-based Vivendi.

EMI's roster of current talent includes British rock band Coldplay, Janet Jackson, The Rolling Stones and hip hop producer and rapper Pharrell Williams. Warner Music's roster includes Phil Collins, Madonna, reggae star Sean Paul and Bad Boy music label founded by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.

Warner Music said it would "monitor the situation carefully," but until matters cleared up through a re-review of Sony-BMG by the European Commission or a court appeal to the European Court of Justice, Warner officials said "it would not be prudent" to pursue a deal with EMI.

Source: http://www.newyorkbusiness.com

The well-behaved and uptight crowd spoilt it for Jessica Rajandran at Coldplay’s amazing concert in Singapore recently.

Ten of us went to see Coldplay when they were in Singapore on July 10. Two of us had gone to see them perform at Earl’s Court, London in December and the same two had gone to see them when they came last to Singapore.

But we weren’t the only out-of-stationers. Among the neighbours, fans travelled from Indonesia and Thailand for its only Southeast Asian stop on their Twisted Logic world tour. For a Monday night show, the stadium was packed to its ears — 10 000 people came on a Monday night!

Read the full article here, discussion here

LONDON (Reuters) - EMI Group Plc, the world's third-largest music company, said it has dropped plans to buy smaller rival Warner Music (WMG.N) "for the time being," sending its shares down as much as 7 percent on Thursday.

The decision was expected following a European court judgment this month that annulled the 2004 approval of the merger between Sony Music and BMG, casting doubt on whether regulators would allow further consolidation in the industry.

"The board will review this position in the light of future developments," Britain's EMI said in a statement.Warner Music was not immediately available for comment.EMI, home to Coldplay and Robbie Williams, and Warner Music, the group behind Madonna, had been seeking to buy each other, with each offering about $4.6 billion.The proposals were the latest in a series of attempts over the past few years to combine the two to create a rival on a par with majors Universal Music, owned by French conglomerate Vivendi (VIV.PA), and Sony BMG, a joint venture between Japan's Sony Corp. (6758.T) and Bertelsmann.

At 0720 GMT, EMI shares were down 3.7 percent at 252 pence, the biggest fall on the UK mid-cap index (.FTMC), but off an earlier low of 244-1/4p.

EMI said in its statement that it was enjoying strong growth in digital sales and on track to deliver cost saving targets.

"EMI believes that it will, in this financial year, again deliver a strong operating performance, achieve its financial objectives and make good progress."

Typically, when movie studios set out to market an adult drama about a historic event, they write off teenagers.

But when Paramount Pictures executives first screened director-producer Oliver Stone's upcoming release, "World Trade Center," for a test audience last month, they realized there was nothing typical about selling a movie about 9/11.

Teens who were just children when the Twin Towers fell said in a focus group attended by Paramount marketing staffers that the movie strongly resonated with them because the events it portrayed occurred during their lifetimes.

"I remember back in 2001 when it happened on the news," said one 14-year-old girl. "I kept thinking, 'This isn't real; it's just one of those disaster movies.' This movie made me feel Sept. 11 was real for the first time."

Five years since terrorist attacks leveled New York's iconic towers — and about three months since a rival studio released the first major feature film based on 9/11, which did little business in theaters — Paramount is selling "World Trade Center," which opens Aug. 9, as a story of heroism, not terrorism.

In Hollywood, where blatant sales pitches tend to be the norm, the studio's approach to marketing the movie that some are calling Stone's triumphant return has been unusually low-key. Call it respectful hype.

But for all the challenges Paramount Worldwide Marketing President Gerry Rich has faced on this project — chief among them, he says, is avoiding looking like "Hollywood trying to cash in" on a tragedy — he also caught an unexpected break. So favorable has been teenagers response to the film, Rich says, that Paramount completely reworked its $35-million marketing campaign to also court the most faithful and frequent moviegoing demographic: young people.

"Every generation has a defining moment," says the voice-over of a 30-second TV spot aimed at the under-25 crowd that began airing this week. The melodic "Fix You" by rock group Coldplay plays as the screen goes black and three words appear in stark white letters: "This Was Ours."

And Friday, MTV, Paramount's sister company, will air a 30-minute "town hall" special in which young adults discuss their reactions to the PG-13-rated movie with filmmakers, cast members and one of the 9/11 survivors depicted in the picture.

Much is at stake for Viacom Inc.-owned Paramount with "World Trade Center," which cost $63 million to make. To break even, the studio needs the film to reach a much broader audience than did Universal Pictures' lower-budget April release, "United 93," which grossed just $31.5 million at the domestic box office.

Paramount Chairman Brad Grey, who's been in his job just 17 months, also has a lot riding on the film. "World Trade Center" is the first homegrown production to be made start to finish under Grey and Paramount President Gail Berman.

"I felt that it was an extraordinary story and one that people would be entertained by," Grey said. "And I know that 'entertainment' in this context is a complicated definition."

While the terrorist attacks provide the backdrop for "World Trade Center," the focus of the film is the bravery and valiant rescue of two Port Authority police officers — Will Jimeno (played by Michael Pena) and Sgt. John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) — who were buried in the rubble.

It fell to Rich and his senior vice president of creative advertising, Josh Greenstein, to highlight this theme and shake off the preconception that "World Trade Center" is another bleak tale about the horrors of 9/11. On another front, Paramount marketers worked closely with consultants linked to conservative commentators and public interest groups to head off speculation that Stone's film was a liberal political soapbox.

To distinguish the movie from "United 93," they emphasized the uplifting, emotional and inspirational aspects of the story in trailers, TV spots and posters, which read, "A True Story of Courage and Survival."

Then, rather than hosting a traditional press junket, which involves flying journalists to a single city to interview the principals in a posh hotel, Paramount is taking the movie, the filmmakers, some cast members and the two survivors on a two-week, 10-city tour across the country that ends Friday.

"We took the film to the heartland, because this was something we couldn't achieve in a hotel suite in L.A. or New York," Rich said.

In the interest of good taste, it was decided that there would be no celebratory party after the movie's red-carpet premiere in New York on Aug. 3. And the studio has posted no outdoor advertising — on subways, billboards, construction sites or the sides of buildings — in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Instead of creating 20 TV ads as it did for its recent comedy release "Nacho Libre," the studio is airing about half a dozen 30-second spots for "World Trade Center."

In most cases, when studios test-screen a movie, the comments received are used to tweak the film — to cut it, say, if viewers complain about the length or to rework an unsatisfying ending. With "World Trade Center," the key realization that came out of its test screening in Minneapolis led the studio to revamp its marketing campaign.

In fact, Greenstein got the idea for the youth-focused TV spot that very night, when a male college student noted, "It's like your grandparents knowing where they were when they heard Pearl Harbor got bombed or your parents hearing of JFK's assassination. For my age group, this event is for us."

Later, during the filming of the MTV special, 19-year-old Brittney Summer, whose father is a New York fireman who made it out alive on Sept. 11, struck a similar chord.

"The movie definitely gave me an opportunity to express my emotions about the day," she said, "which I had a lot of trouble doing in the beginning."

According to industry tracking numbers reported Wednesday, as Paramount's media campaign was just getting rolling, 40% of teen girls and women in their 20s who were aware of the movie said they had "definite interest" in seeing it. Teen boys were close behind, with 37% reporting definite interest.

Rich said young people's curiosity about "World Trade Center" came as a surprise to everyone but Stone.

"Oliver believed in his heart that young audiences would respond in a profound way," said Rich, noting that it was Stone who insisted the research company hired by Paramount recruit as many teens as possible to attend the test screening.

Stone, the controversial Oscar-winning director of "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July" whose inconsistent box-office success and reputation for being combative have not always endeared him to mainstream Hollywood, said that he benefited from his own personal focus group: his 10-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son.

"They loved the movie," said Stone, who showed his children his early cuts. "Kids who were 7, 8 and 9 at the time didn't know enough. It makes perfect sense that they'd want to know what really happened."

With advance Oscar buzz already mounting, Stone is philosophical about his place in the industry firmament.

"I've always been an outsider," said the director-producer who had been ridiculed for such misfires as "Nixon" and "Heaven and Earth." "And I've been down and out for years, but I try to come back."

Source: http://www.latimes.com

Multi-Platinum Act Barenaked Ladies Provides Millionth Track; Catalogue Milestone Illustrates Power of 'Long Tail' Model

NEW YORK, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orchard, the world's leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, today announced that multi-platinum act Barenaked Ladies' "Sound of Your Voice" has become the company's one millionth licensed track.

This milestone solidifies The Orchard's position as the top independent distribution company in the industry, with a catalogue unmatched in its depth, stylistic diversity, and geographic reach."Reaching this benchmark is the epitome of the 'long tail' phenomenon, that is, leveraging the largest catalogue of music in the world across a global distribution network through creative and targeted sales and marketing approaches," said Greg Scholl, chief executive officer of The Orchard. "Our relationship with Barenaked Ladies and their management company, Nettwerk Music Group, also illustrates another important aspect of The Orchard's business: we provide focused attention and top-quality marketing and distribution services to all our labels, servicing both up-and-coming indie bands and multi-platinum sellers. Our scale and the diversity of our offering, and the size and strength of our marketing and product management teams, set us apart."

"As digital sales become an increasingly important part of the mix, we believe strongly in providing our artists with the outlets to succeed in the online marketplace," said Nettwerk founder and chief executive Terry McBride. "Greg and his team at The Orchard share this commitment and understand the challenges and opportunities of the digital world. We're proud to have played a role in pushing The Orchard's catalogue past the one million track mark, and we hope that a Nettwerk artist has the privilege of repeating the feat when The Orchard gets to two million in the not-too-distant future."

"Sound of Your Voice" appears on the Barenaked Ladies' new Desperation Records EP, "Easy EP," which The Orchard is distributing through its long-term distribution and marketing agreement with Nettwerk. In addition, "Sound of Your Voice" will appear on the Canadian group's forthcoming album, "Barenaked Ladies Are Me," which The Orchard will also distribute to leading digital music stores and mobile operators worldwide. The "Easy EP" is available today, while "Barenaked Ladies Are Me" will hit stores on Sept. 12, 2006.

About The Orchard

The Orchard is the world's leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, with a catalogue of more than one million tracks representing 73 countries, thousands of labels, and every music genre. This catalogue includes titles from multi-platinum acts such as Green Day, Coldplay, Ray Charles, and Barenaked Ladies, as well as from breaking bands like The Hold Steady, Bedouin Soundclash, and Immortal Technique. The Orchard supplies all the leading legal digital music stores and mobile operators throughout the world and markets its labels' catalogues for sync song placements in films, commercials, and television shows. The company is owned by Dimensional Associates, the private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc. whose portfolio companies also include eMusic and Dimensional Music Publishing. The Orchard is headquartered in New York and London, with offices in 23 countries and six continents. For more information, please visit: www.theorchard.com.

About Nettwerk Music Group

Nettwerk Music Group is Canada's leading privately owned record label and artist management company responsible for managing some of Canada's biggest artists like Sarah McLachlan, Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies and many others. Nettwerk has several offices located around the world including offices in New York, Los Angeles and London; with our main office right next to Granville Island in Vancouver, B.C.

Source: http://biz.yahoo.com

Great concert in Singapore, man. Now, I don't usually do this, but after listening to 'Yellow' for the 586th time, I can no longer ignore the gaping holes in the song . Here's what I mean...

Read the full article here [thanks RYKO]

In a year which has seen Sandi Thom's online gigs lead to a major-label contract, Gnarls Barkley's record-busting download hit dominate the charts and now Lily Allen's MySpace friends help propel her debut single to number one, there has never been a better time to celebrate the UK's digital music pioneers.

The deadline for this year's BT Digital Music Awards, planned to be televised on Channel 4, is August 15.

Artists and music companies are encouraged to enter for one or more of the 19 categories designed to reward cutting-edge music entertainment, which last year saw Gorillaz and Coldplay among the winners. This year's BT Digital Music Awards, will be the first music awards show at the newly refurbished Camden Roundhouse on October 3.The awards are endorsed by the BPI, the UKs record trade association, the Official UK Charts Company and The Mobile Entertainment Forum. From September, music fans will be given the chance to vote for their favourites at the Awards' official online home www.dma06.com.

Fans will vote for 14 of the awards including Best Artist according to genre, Best Podcast and Best Music Magazine. Five of the awards, including Best Artist Campaign, Best Use of Broadband and Best Innovation will be judged by the panel alone.

The People's Choice Awards - this year expanded to include Best Unsigned Artist Site and Best Music Blog categories - are open to music fans that create and develop their own online music presence.

Last year's awards were dominated by Gorillaz and Coldplay, who scooped two and three awards respectively, although Coldplay were beaten in the Best Rock Artist category by V2's Stereophonics whose loyal online fanbase kept the Welsh band at the top of the scoreboard.

BT says it is dedicated to enabling the digital media marketplace and committed to developing and producing cutting-edge broadband technology and applications.

As part of its partnership with the music industry, BT is restricting participation in the awards to sites and services that have licensed music from record companies, ensuring that artists are properly rewarded for their work.

Source: http://www.creativematch.co.uk

Police are desperately trying to find out details of a "mega" illegal rave expected to take place in the coming weeks, as forces across the country begin to report a significant resurgence in the free party movement.

First signs of the rebirth of the outdoor rave came last year, but partygoers now appear to be more emboldened to challenge laws brought in 12 years ago by the Conservative government to crush a scene that epitomised the dance and drug culture of the early 90s.

The so-called "rebirth of rave" is being put down by enthusiasts as a rebellion against the "chav culture" blighting many clubs and against the sort of music created by the likes of Coldplay.

Read the full article here

Aristotle once wrote: "Where there is a dearth of quality, mediocrity is King."

And so it was when Parachutes landed upon us, and, it would seem, most of the time since. Because Coldplay write perfectly adequate songs, and have an almost original sound, and actually play their instruments, and do so perfectly adequately, and have clearly become a very successful "rock" band.

All very admirable, and, as Aristotle implied, given that there was absolutely nothing else around at the time, a very welcome distraction for the hordes of people sick to the core with manufactured vacuous pop. What's wrong with that? The problem with Coldplay is that they have their sound, their original songs, their success and all that, but somehow managed to make it as excruciatingly boring as possible. This is not meant in a personal sense (although they are unashamedly privately dull too), but in a musical one. Everything I have heard from Coldplay has been slow, preferably quiet, with a voice that floats over the top waiting to be blown away by a sheep's fart. Coldplay are boring, and this is coming from a person who will turn up Radio 4 when the shipping forecast comes on.

People who know me well may say that my vitriol is inspired by envy. And they would be close, the key to my feelings about Coldplay is that I am, to a degree, resentful of their success, as I am the opposite to Coldplay, i.e. in an unsuccessful but interesting band (please see www.hebiteme.com for further evidence of this). But why do I resent Coldplay's success and not that of countless other hugely successful bands/singers/artists/whatevers out there? I resent Coldplay's success because they are successful and yet seem to be deliberately boring and therefore crap. Allow me to elaborate:

Way back when Parachutes had only just become the number one album, our friend Phil got us into a Coldplay gig at Oxford Brookes University. I was quite excited, because I like live music and hadn't been to a biggish live gig for a while, let alone to one by the New Big Thing. There was a big noisy crowd of pissed up students, and they were well up for catching the crest of the new wave of music early, as well as hopefully a great gig, maybe even some crowd surfing. The band comes on, starts to play, the crowd goes mad. Then, after about one and a half songs, most people are just standing there. The ones that were jumping and shouting now look sheepish. People who came in late have a bit of a shout, realise they look a bit silly, and head to the large crowd at the bar. There is some gentle swaying, and that's about it.

Some bands are better live, and some are not. Coldplay are of the latter. I wish my band could open for them, because I actually feel sorry for the audience. Being at a Coldplay gig is like putting on the Coldplay CD in your living room, but not being able to turn it down and have a conversation, and paying for the privilege on top. Because that's what it's like - the gig was exactly like the album. Nothing played in the slightest bit differently, not even a guitar solo. Hardly even any wrong notes. It was like a boy-girl-band/pop idol gig, but with no dancing, bright lights, fun, or jail-bait teens. Before I labour the point too much, a live gig is by definition unique, a one-off, and that it what makes it more exciting than just whacking on an album. Coldplay managed to remove as much of the uniqueness from it, and, in keeping with their general musical being, made the whole thing as boring as possible.

If greatness was measured by how many middle-class twenty to forty-somethings put on your album with the volume down under the conversation but over the "homemade" Tesco's Finest French Onion soup, then Coldplay would have little or no competition. If, however, crapness was measured by the same people, dinner being over, suddenly getting up and saying "Ooh, lets put something more interesting on, shall we", then my point has been proved many a time in living rooms up and down Middle England. Because honestly, how many people can actually have listened to an entire album's worth of Coldplay without the need of strong locks on the doors, stronger medication, or good old-fashioned manacles. According to research, the average duration is 2.8 tracks, followed by a week off, just to clear the glazed expression that had formed across the victim's face.

And finally, in answer to the question "OK then, so could you do better?", I firmly and with a deep voice answer "Hell Yes". That's the whole point. Come to Cargo in Shoreditch on July 21st, and see a real gig, with some music that is not incredibly boring. Feel free to jump and shout and bonk in the audience, because to our music, you won't look like a knob.

Source: http://upsideclown.com

Trade magazine Home Media Retailing's Jessica Wolf this morning has a new report about HBO shows coming to DVD this Fall. Among them is a new "complete series" release of Six Feet Under. Here's what Wolf says about it:

Streeting Oct. 31 is Six Feet Under: The Complete Series ($279.99). The elaborately packaged set includes all five seasons of the Emmy Award-winning show, boxed in burial-plot-themed packaging.

The set also features new bonus footage, including “The Book of Obituaries”, which includes obits for the eight main characters with photos and a family tree. Also included are two soundtrack CDs containing music aired during the show’s run from such artists as PJ Harvey, Zero 7, Sia, Coldplay, Nina Simone, Radiohead and Death Cab for Cutie.

"Burial-plot-themed packaging," eh? Interesting. We'll bring a picture of that to you once HBO makes it available. Stay tuned!

Network television has always used its shows to sell the sponsor's soap. But as audiences find more ways to zap those commercial messages (think TiVo) and spend less time watching TV overall, networks are scrambling to find new ways to make shows sing for their supper.

In a recent episode of CBS's "CSI: New York," a cellphone rings with the song "Talk" by Coldplay, which the characters discuss. At the next commercial break, the audience is invited to download the ringtone for $2.49. Over on NBC's "Las Vegas," sports fans en route to the Winter Olympics join the story line. The episode, which aired just prior to the Turin Games, then follows the group to Italy.Welcome to life after the 30-second TV spot. These examples are a tiny glimpse of what one media pundit calls "desperation marketing" - advertisers going beyond simple product placement to capture the hearts and wallets of increasingly ad-wary consumers who are spending more time online and on cellphones and less watching TV.

While the traditional commercial is not extinct quite yet, it's on the endangered list. "That ship has sailed," says Joseph Jaffe, author of the book, "Life After the 30-Second Spot."

Dollars spent on TV advertising have been declining since 2004, when revenue hit $9 billion. "We've witnessed the peaking of TV," says Mr. Jaffe. "We're incrementally dissipating that spending on TV as the number of viable alternatives and substitutions continue to proliferate."

The average American spends more than 15 percent of his media time online, as opposed to virtually zero 15 years ago, says Steven King, senior adviser for the Institute for the Future, a nonprofit research group in Palo Alto, Calif. But it's not just the outlets that are changing, says Mr. King; so is the consumer. Americans, he says, have long prided themselves on being nobody's fool, but customers are now pickier than ever.

Today's consumer, especially the under-35 generation raised on computers and cellphones, demand interaction with a product and prefer to do their own research prior to purchase. Advertisers are scrambling to adapt. "All of these things are an attempt to sneak by the commercial sniffer in the average consumer," says King. As a result, the line between content and ads will continue to blur, producing what he calls "deeply commercial" entertainment.

The online "digisodes" for Snickers candy bars are one example of that phenomenon. A series of digital films about hip-hop factory workers who gain superpowers after eating Snickers bars was created by ad agency BBDO, targeting the teen market. The series launched in June ( InstantDef.com) and is meant to be watched like videos, not commercials. "This is a good example of the ad as a story line," says Jimmy Smith, who created the campaign. BBDO chose the hip-hop music and comic-book style to reach teens who get most of their information online, he says. "It's the kind of entertainment and product help that our product's target audience will enjoy," he says.

Cellphones are also being mined for their ability to leverage a consumer's lifestyle. A surfer on his way to the beach in Malibu can now use his phone to check wave activity. As he does, he logs into an online surfing community run by a local retailer, Beach Bum Surf Shop, and supported by AirG, a mobile service provider. He swaps tips with fellow surfers and, more important, maybe buys a board and hat during the call. Up in Palo Alto, a new company named Mozes has made it possible for phones to be used "almost like a remote control," says CEO Dorrian Porter. Users can save and retrieve a TV show or any other digital information from businesses that partner with Mozes.

Ads designed for commercial breaks are being retooled as well. A company named 1800GotJunk recently launched a national campaign for its junk-removal services. But it was not particularly successful. That's because it was driven by what ad maven Simon Sinek calls legacy-thinking. "It was full of information about their services, but nobody really cared about big shiny trucks and junk removal. They didn't understand what that meant for them," Mr. Sinek says.

Sinek worked with the company to create a campaign from the consumer's perspective. Instead of a standard "informational" ad, he turned it into a lifestyle question and came up with what Sinek calls the "nagging" campaign. "We had to re-create the spouse saying, 'Get that junk out of here,' " says Sinek, who teaches marketing at Columbia University in New York. Four single-screen, five-second ads said simply, "Did you clean the attic yet?" Each popped up once throughout a standard commercial break, concluding with a fifth screen that simply said, "Just Get it Done," with the 1-800-GotJunk phone number.

But while consumers may be getting savvier about skipping the 30-second spot, "smart targeting" and the saturation of commercial messages comes at a price, say some observers. "We're living in a prechewed world," says Matt Felling, media director of Center for Media and Public Affairs in New York. In the fight for our dollars and eyeballs, he says, the media has turned us into commodities. Mr. Felling says we're all being categorized and then directed toward thinking that reflects our own. "Don't know what to think about the world? Just turn on cable news," he says. "Americans are being called upon to fight for their own independent thought. We need to get back to kicking tires on everything."

New network, new ads

The CW, a merger of the soon-to-be-defunct networks The WB and UPN, kicks off on Sept. 20 with a two-hour special episode of "America's New Top Model," introducing what executives call the next wave in TV ads: "content wraps," which are sponsored minimovies that both tell a story and push the sponsor's product.

The "cw's," as entertainment president Dawn Ostroff calls them, will replace the regular 30-second spot and appear sequentially so that viewers must stay tuned to the end of the hour to get the whole story.

"We've had a great response from the advertisers," says Ms. Ostroff. "They're always looking for new ways to engage viewers and get their messages across."

Source - csmonitor.com

IN the space of a month, three singers from stellar bands are releasing solo albums.

The Eraser, by Radiohead's Thom Yorke, came out two weeks ago and is being followed by the British release next week of The Great Western, from Manic Street Preachers' James Dean Bradfield, and My Secret is My Silence, by Idlewild's Roddy Woomble.

Solo albums are so effective at restoring functionality to dysfunctional bands that they should be prescribed to any group that seems to be losing its way. Coldplay are always talking about the need to reinvent themselves: gentlemen, may I suggest solo albums as the perfect way out of a rut? Just to clarify, none of these singers is going solo. All of their bands are still operational, which raises the question: why would a singer in a band need to make a solo album?

We can better understand the motivations of the overlooked sideman who does so in a bid to get more attention. But why would the person who stands in the spotlight, who is already the focus of most of the attention that comes the band's way, need to make an album under his own name?

Bradfield says he made The Great Western because he was bored. On the face of it, this is a reasonable claim. His band had taken a year off and, no doubt having done all those little jobs that needed doing at his rock star's mansion, Bradfield found time hanging heavy.

But bands are not that simple and the powerful internal dynamics that exist in any band of long standing were revealed when the Manics' bassist, Nicky Wire, learned of Bradfield's solo plans and immediately realised that he was bored too and, rather than take up a hobby or attend some evening classes, would be able to assuage the boredom only by making his own album. (Wire's I Killed the Zeitgeist will be released in September.)

The conspiracy theorist's interpretation of these events would be this: Bradfield is getting a little tired of having to put the music to Wire's lyrics, especially as the latter tends to find song titles in the speeches of 19th-century British prime minister William Gladstone and reckons that the Spanish Civil War will form the basis of a hit.

Fed up with Wire saying things such as, "It's called If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, turn it into an upbeat, radio-friendly singalong, could you?", Bradfield is using The Great Western as his pitch to contribute a greater share of lyrics to his group's albums.

If The Great Western does represent a power play by Bradfield, Wire is wise to react quickly; a similar ploy by Depeche Mode's singer, Dave Gahan, proved very effective.

For the best part of two decades, all of the Mode's songs were written by their keyboard player, Martin Gore. This increasingly irked Gahan, so the singer released a solo album, Paper Monsters, in 2003.

The acclaim that greeted Paper Monsters strengthened Gahan's position in the group and their next album, Playing the Angel, featured several Gahan compositions. It was also regarded as a return to form for the band after a couple of so-so efforts.

That The Great Western has already been hailed by one music magazine as "an absolute belter" suggests Manics fans can look forward to the band, when it regroups, releasing songs with a few less historical references and many less syllables per line.

The reasons behind Yorke and Woomble making solo albums are, in one sense, identical and, in another sense, could hardly be more different. Identical because both singers have developed a fondness for a musical genre that doesn't necessarily sit happily with their bandmates and may even adversely affect the commercial potential of their bands.

Different because Yorke is heading off into the futuristic world of avant-garde bleepy electronica and Woomble is retreating to the melodic world of traditional Scottish folk music. Both have succeeded in moving their bands towards these musical destinations.

Across four albums, Idlewild have gradually softened from their punkish beginnings, while Radiohead's experimental Kid A album and its follow-ups have famously divided their fan base, shrunk their sales and - it is widely assumed - left Yorke's bandmates feeling at best frustrated, at worst unwanted.

In both cases, the solo album is a chance for the singer to get it out of his system. The rest of Radiohead will be hoping that, having sat alone with his laptop making The Eraser, Yorke may be more amenable to making guitar-based music with them.

Idlewild's musical progression has been more gentle than Radiohead's sudden dive into the avant-garde, but even so Woomble admits the songs on My Secret is My Silence "would never have lived with Idlewild".

He talks of "feeling free to describe myself in a way that I've wanted to for a long time", a sentiment similar to, but not as sulkily expressed, Yorke's claim that The Eraser is about "freeing yourself from a routine that's become stifling".

Yorke tells the music magazine Mojo that "I want to take that feeling back to (Radiohead)". This bodes well for the band's future and highlights how important solo albums can be in resolving problems within bands and maintaining the delicate chemistry that makes them function. Yorke has hinted that Radiohead more or less split up after their last tour, and The Eraser has helped reduce tensions and bring the band back together.

There are two interested parties who want bands to stay together: their fans, who want more of their music, and their record companies, who want more profits. Pressure from both sides can motivate bands to stay together long after the gang mentality that formed them has dissipated. The solo album can be a vital outlet that allows band members, who now have little in common, to continue to coexist in relative harmony.

The most famous instance must be the wrangling in the middle of the Rolling Stones' career. In the early 1980s, Mick Jagger made a concerted effort to update the band's sound, then announced that he would be making a solo album. Neither of these acts went down well with Keith Richards and, by 1987, it was widely assumed that the band had broken up, though no announcement was made.

In the end, Jagger and Richards were able to use their respective solo albums to act out their power struggle.

Jagger's efforts, aiming at a modern, funky sound, were poorly received. Harking back to the more relaxed Stones vibe of the early 1970s, Richards's Talk is Cheap was a fine example of a solo album that was better than the work of the band. One critic heralded it as "the best Rolling Stones album in 17 years", a pointed swipe that would not have been lost on Jagger. The solo albums restored the Stones' power balance, allowing them to continue to this day.

A more recent example of solo albums keeping a big band on an even keel has been the career of John Frusciante, guitarist with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Frusciante's ability to conjure melodic riffs is a vital element of the Chili Peppers' stadium-conquering sound, but only a tiny part of what Frusciante wants to do. Fortunately, the man's obsessive need to make music can be catered for through the simple act of releasing solo albums. (Astonishingly, he once released five in one year.)

Solo albums are so effective at restoring functionality to dysfunctional bands that they should be prescribed to any group that seems to be losing its way. Coldplay are always talking about the need to reinvent themselves: gentlemen, may I suggest solo albums as the perfect way out of a rut?

But the prime candidate for a dose of solos must be REM. Since the loss of drummer Bill Berry nine years ago, the band has wobbled along like a table missing a leg. There is only one solution: solo albums all around.

Source: Entertainment News

Vivendi's Universal Music has made a bid of close to $2 billion in the auction of Bertelsmann AG's music publishing arm, the Financial Times said on Friday, citing two people familiar with the situation.

The world's largest music company made it through to the second round, along with Warner Music and also private equity group BC Partners, with bids coming in between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, the newspaper said.

Fifteen prospective buyers have been sent information about BMG Music Publishing, which owns thousands of copyrights to songs by Coldplay, Nelly and other artists. Analysts expected BMG Music Publishing to fetch at least 1.5 billion euros.German media conglomerate Bertelsmann said on Tuesday strategic and financial bidders would participate in a second round of bidding for BMG Music Publishing that begins this week.

Fifteen prospective buyers have been sent information about BMG Music Publishing, which owns thousands of copyrights to songs by Coldplay, Nelly and other artists. Analysts expected BMG Music Publishing to fetch at least 1.5 billion euros.

Companies left out included U.S. broadcaster Viacom and financial sponsors including Permira, the FT said, while a proposed management buy-out led by BMG Music Publishing's Chief Executive Nicholas Firth, also failed to progress.

Universal Music is seen as a front-runner in the bidding for BMG Music Publishing because of the potential cost savings from merging BMG's operations with its own. Universal is the world's largest record company but smaller than some of its rivals in publishing.

EMI Group is working with private equity group KRR on a plan to provide services to BMG Music Publishing, the FT also said.

Source: Reuters

Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia is to end its headline sponsorship of the Isle of Wight music festival.

The event has been billed as The Official Nokia Isle of Wight Festival for three years but the company has now decided that it can associate itself with music in more strategic ways.

Nokia head of marketing Simon Lloyd revealed the news at the MusicWeek/Ricall Music & Brands conference yesterday (19 July). He said: “Isle of Wight has been good for us for the last three years and we got involved at a time when we were just formalising our music strategy. We have realised that a brand of our size does not need to put our name on those kind of events. We get the same cut-through by just being involved and we don’t need to necessarily badge the event.”He added that Nokia hoped to still take part in the festival in some form. This year the festival was held over the weekend of June 10 with headliners Coldplay and The Foo Fighters.

Nokia also has its Rock Up & Play initiative that provides unknown bands with a stage at music festivals. However, it also sponsors television show The X Factor. The telecoms industry has scrambled to associate itself with music as mobile phones become an increasingly important method of audio and video content distribution for young people.

O2 now sponsors the O2 Wireless Festival in London’s Hyde Park and Vodafone has just taken up sponsorship of the Somerset House series of concerts, while T-Mobile is well into its 18 month partnership deal with Robbie Williams.

Lloyd also hit out at the occasional “precious” nature of music artists and said that the industry was sometimes “painful” to deal with when trying to create brand partnerships. He pointed out that there were only a limited number of brands but a seemingly infinite number of interested players in the music industry.

He said: “If it’s about the music experience it does not really matter who the label or who the artist is as long as they are in the right place in the market. If the artist gets too precious we can move on to someone else.”

Source: http://www.mad.co.uk