1. Kelly Clarkson ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’ (279,605)
2. The All American Rejects ‘Give You Hell’ (173,504)
3. Lady Gaga ‘Just Dance’ (149,996)
4. The Fray ‘You Found Me’ (145,337)
5. Kanye West ‘Heartless’ (143,783)
6. The Pussycat Dolls ‘I Hate This Part’ (143,783)
7. Beyonce ‘Single Ladies’ (119,891)
8. Taylor Swift ‘Love Story’ (112,020)
9. Britney Spears ‘Circus’ (107,132)
10. Jason Mraz ‘I’m Yours’ (90,231)
11. The Veronicas ‘Untouched’ (81,788)
12. Pink ‘Sober’ (73,667)

Mainstream pop/dance/club is dominating every genre as far as digital single sales. Country star Taylor Swift dominates the Top Album chart with 62,575 albums sold followed by Beyonce and Nickelback. In my opinion, these hot digital tracks are OK, far from great. If you want to sell 150,000 singles a week then you need to write something just a little better than what’s out there. We certainly want to hear what you come up with – email tips@kingsofar.com

This Chicago rock act American Taxi who are known for their intense live show belongs on your radar list. The band cites The Clash and The Replacements as influences and were named “The Top 8 Bands To Watch” by the Daily Herald. American Taxi will be performing at the Double Door January 27th for a variety of labels.

• Our favorite tracks include The Mistake and Dead Street.

• For more information contact legal.

Bob Lefsetz recently sent out an email titled “Quality” and producer Bob Ezrin responded with conventional wisdom. Let’s not forget that Bob Ezrin has seen his fair share of quality artists that would even make me envious, he produced Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’. This is what he says:

But unless it is especially touching in some way (even if it’s in a juvenile or prurient way), nobody will care and it will end up having no value at all. Which then goes to your title “Quality”. If a thing lacks quality of some sort, it will not touch anyone. It will simply be a not so special thing in a world of not so special things. It will blend in and disappear. But if a work or performance is of high quality and special, then it has at least a shot at becoming valuable to someone – and the person who creates it has a shot at being appreciated and rewarded for it. If I were talking to “struggling musicians” I would say:

First, be special. Make something of such high quality that anyone would care. And that’s not as easy as it sounds. Just because you can use a sequencer and play an instrument doesn’t make you an artist. You have to create something that is special – unique and capable of moving others in a meaningful way. Once you are truly special, truly great at what you do, you may have a chance at finding an audience willing to reward you for your specialness. More than likely you will not, because special – by definition – belongs to the very few. But if you do, then someone somewhere might recognize that and show up to help you to take your creativity out to a wider audience. CONTINUE READING

Major labels and indies alike are swarming around Fairfax, Virginia pop act
The Downtown Fiction. Touring in February through March. Performing at The Vibe Lounge w/ VersaEmerge Feb. 4th in Rockville Centre, New York and will perform for majors on February 5th. Solid myspace plays.

• Our favorite track ‘Is Anybody Out There‘.

• For more information contact Greg Federspiel.

• It looks like Universal is officially getting nervous over Amy Winehouse. Take note that her album ‘Back To Black’ paid for a lot of salaries, it went 5x platinum in the UK and double platinum in the United States. Brian Rose the commercial director for Universal Records recently confronted Winehouse over the future of her music career. The fact is, the label is losing momentum with one of its biggest artists and there is no plans for new music.

• Speaking of Universal, apparently there were hushed layoffs. A reader told Silicon Alley Insider: Major layoffs at Universal Music Group on Friday. People from every department were axed (there were a few departments spared, it seems, though). From what I can tell, most of the major imprints were hit (IDJ, Universal Records). It seems that they are trying hard to keep the layoffs out of the press.

• Listen up musicians – some claim the rock n roll legend Buddy Holly changed the music industry – creatively and legally. During that time (1958) music was exciting and Holly experimented with musical styles creating his own sound. “But what made him really remarkable was that a young musician in, say Liverpool, England, could sit on the edge of his bed with his guitar, listen to Buddy Holly’s recordings and figure out what he was doing.” Also, artists before Holly rarely produced their own records and usually would turn their business over to recording professionals. Holly insisted that he produce his own music and had a shrewd understanding that the more legal control he had, the more artistic freedom he would get.

• Twitter is about to raise new VC funding with a $250 million valuation? Techcrunch says so.

• A tiny self-governing island called Isle of Man located in the Irish Sea has a new idea for the music industry. It may be worth evaluating since they brought us the Bee Gees. “Under a proposal announced this month, the 80,000 people who live on the Isle of Man would be able to download unlimited amounts of music – perhaps even from notorious peer-to-peer pirate sites. To make this possible, broadband subscribers would have to pay a nominal fee of as little as £1, or $1.37, a month to their Internet service providers.” The money collected by the Internet providers would be sent to a special agency that would distribute the proceeds to the copyright owners, including the record labels and music publishers. What do you think?