Don Henley gives virtual chat with Star-Telegram pop music critic
Preston Jones.

“The record labels have always stolen from artists; now, music consumers are doing it, too. The only way for a musician to make a living anymore is on the road, because the Internet has just about succeeded in killing copyright”.

“We came up in an era when bands actually tried to avoid publicity except for what was absolutely necessary. Our generation of musicians also considered the visual media as something to be avoided in most instances. We tried to maintain an air of mystery, a little aloofness. We would hole up and write our songs, record them, reluctantly do a photo session, give a couple of interviews and then hit the road”.

“The live performance was the thing and FM radio was king. There wasn’t all this silly celebrity culture, all these tabloid TV shows and rabid packs of paparazzi roaming the streets. There was no YouTube, no MySpace, no TMZ. In the ‘60s and early ‘70s, most artists weren’t willing to “ho” to get their fifteen minutes of fame”.

“Back in the day, there was no MTV or VH-1. That was the beginning of the end, I think — MTV. It forcibly turned an aural medium into a visual medium and, in doing so, killed the opportunity for the listener to use his imagination. Bob Pittman, the inventor of MTV, said: “Young Americans are TV babies. If you got their emotions going, forget their logic, you’ve got ’em”.

“He went on to convince the struggling, major labels that MTV was the ultimate promotional tool — and, for a time, it was, enabling the majors to sell trainloads of absolute crap. During the MTV era, the number of one-hit wonders grew exponentially, and the music business has never recovered. As the song says, “Video killed the radio star,” and now the Internet is finishing the job”.

I don’t know if we would have made it in today’s climate. I’m not sure that we would have wanted to.”

Embracing The Online World: Music labels are pumping up promotions in the online world. MySpace will launch a site this month that will assist music companies manage their catalogs online while Universal Music’s Polydor Records will distribute Snow Patrol’s upcoming album as an Apple iPhone application. Regardless, many labels are still stunned by complicated technology. Read the full article from Forbes titled ‘Record Biz Pumps It Up‘.

Death Magnetic Released Days Ahead: The release date September 12th flew out the window. Metallica’s UK label Vertigo has soft released “Death Magnetic’ after a slew of retailers put it on sale earlier this week. The entire record can be streamed here.

New Study: The latest AMS Radio Index shows that 64 percent of American adults listen to the radio at least once a day and the survey showed that radio remains the number one source for Americans to learn about new music. Internet radio is also on the rise which increased 39%, up from 23% six months ago. Radio is the top source for new music? Hmmmm…

Recommended Reading: The Guardian UK says the indie labels are the new mavericks that define trends and launch careers. “Record labels that are also fueled by the passion for music rather than money are becoming more successful”.

The Pay Off In Running A Torrent Site? Oink Admin Alan Ellis has been charged with conspiracy to defraud.

Recommended Listening: Film Noir and The 59 Sound by
The Gas Light Anthem. For fans of The Replacements, Bruce Springsteen, and Rise Against. The New Brunswick, New Jersey band just released their debut on indie label Side One Dummy Records.

Metallica’s new album will hit the street tomorrow with first week sales expected to top at least 300k. Listen to the track All Nightmare Long.

Prison Welcomes Elite Torrents Administrator: Daniel Dove, a former administrator for Elite Torrents has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. Dove recruited members with extremely high upload connections and ran a high speed server for the purpose of distributing pirated content.

Underoath are Overachievers, the band debuted Number 8 on Billboard selling 56,000 copies of their new record ‘Lost in the Sound of Separation’. The record was mixed by David Bendeth and produced by Adam D and Matt Goldman.

Slipknot Frontman Says Labels Cause Piracy:

Of course, lots of people blame the labels for piracy but Taylor believes they aren’t doing their job properly since they promote acts which aren’t up to standard, resulting in people feeling the acts simply aren’t worth the money.

“I think it’s the quality of the product. If record companies would stop giving any f**king mook (idiot) on the street with a fringe a record deal or their own record label, maybe you would sell more f**king albums, dips**ts.”

We somewhat agree with Corey, but the majority of the music out there whether it sells or not is uninspiring and at best worth a stolen download or a one and gone paid download on Itunes – it isn’t about the “book” anymore – it is about the chapter. Maybe that’s the reason why people are reading more books on the whole these days. Adult paperback sales have rose 37% since January.

There is a MORE to the decline of music “collection” and “buying” then just simply crappy music – but that the core issue will always be talent – talented musicians and talented record people. Where are the Led Zeppelins and Ahmet Urtegan of the world today?

Pathway To Providence who hails from Florida started as a group of high school friends hanging out and writing music. The band shows a glimpse of promise with tracks like Hazy Eyes and Hypochondria. Unlike the other of multitude of bands, Pathway To Providence has the chops of making a solid rock record but they have to lose the Blink 182 pop punk influence. Why are bands desperately clinging to a music scene that is virtually dead? Maybe they see Vans Warped Tour as the only meaningful way of touring and PureVolume as the only musical outlet for exposure. You cannot build your band around Warped Tour and at the same time build an audience. It’s close to impossible. We are in a new era with nothing left to lose. It’s time to take chances and challenge the boundaries that were set before your eyes.

Recommended Show: The Brooklyn grassroots act Pete and J will perform at The Living Room (NYC) tonight. The band draws influences from many 70’s acts including Crosby Stills and Nash. A string of dates can be found on their myspace and our favorite track is This Is It.

Signings: Sonic Youth have decided to return to the indie world and have signed with Matador Records. Sonic Youth were previously on DGC/Geffen from 1990 until 2006.

Apple Squeezing Out Every Penny: Apple has started looking like what Microsoft was 10 years ago — a company that so controls certain market segments that smaller competitors can survive only by living on its scraps or staying out of its way says Newsweek.

Apple has been making hit products, but more importantly, it controls entire ecosystems. One iPod accessory maker says that Apple takes up to 75 percent of the sales price, leaving him with zero profit on some of his products when he sells them in Apple stores.

“Apple’s tactics might seem like smart business: why not squeeze every penny out of every deal? The problem is that if Apple squeezes too hard, some partners may go out of business, harming the ecosystem.”

MTV Name Change: The New York Post has an article titled Why Not Just Rename MTV Obama TV?. The article opens up with: REMEMBER when MTV had veejays who actually knew something about music and aired programs that focused on, um, music? Neither do I. MTV, of course, is a division of left-wing media giant Viacom. Viacom’s PAC is among Barack Obama’s biggest supporters.