New Music: Listen to Walk Away and Creatures by Settings. The band entered the studio in Chicago with producer Marc McClusky (June, Hit the Lights, Powerspace). The band describes their sound as delicate balance between Hoobastank and the Transiberian Orchestra with a guest appearance from the Gibb brothers—or maybe Daft Punk.

The Long Tail Myth: The Long Tail suggests that blockbusters will be less lucrative because of competition and more options. Anita Elberse, a Harvard Business School associate professor suggests new evidence tells a different story. Based on Rhapsody music data and DVD rental data from an Australian Netflix clone called Quickflix, she concludes that the blockbusters are not losing share to the long tail of niche products in those markets; indeed, they’re gaining it. Read the full article here.

Tickmaster Wins Against Automated Bots: Ticketmaster has been awarded more than $18 million in its case against RMG Technologies. RMG Technologies were “bombarding Ticketmaster’s Web site with millions of automated ticket requests denying “the public access to tens of thousands of tickets.

Fantasia dropped by 19 Management? Fantasia has been dropped by 19 Management, yet she still has her contract with J Records. Fantasia record sales have been decent compared to other idols.

Unoriginal: The Wall Street Journal has an article titled ‘Musician Makes Tunes By Borrowing Others‘ that talks about a musician, Gregg Gillis, who dissects hit songs by other artists and stitches the bits together to make his own propulsive dance music. Is it worth suing?

Joss Stone on piracy – “I love it, music should be shared”: The only part about music that I dislike is the business attached to it. Now, if music is free then there is no business, there is just music” says Stone. Personally, I think live shows should be free, especially with gas prices rising. I would rather pay .99 cents for a track then spend 60 bucks to fill up my gas tank. If fans are willing to drive to a show, they should be entitled for a free performance. Also, after Stone’s last record failed to resonate with the public, she decided to launch a legal battle in a bid to leave EMI and free her of her current three-album deal with the record label.

Kate Perry Makes History: Katy Perry hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “I Kissed A Girl”. Perry also makes history with the 1000th #1 single of the Rock era on the Billboard chart, which began in 1955 with Bill Haley & The Comets’ “Rock Around The Clock” according to FMQB. We knew that song was a hit, we finally got something right…

Clive Interview: Check out this interview with Clive Davis. He discusses the strength of A&R and other strategies he has adopted during these rough times. This is an older interview..

The Master is in Debt: Ticketmaster who is famous for their subcharges have been let go by their parent company, LAC/InterActiveCorp. Ticketmaster must now operate independently with 750 million debt.

Kid Rock’s Message To The Youth: This is a must watch video. Kid Rock suggests it’s ok to illegally download songs, but it shouldn’t stop there. Go ahead and steal a MAC and an iPod as well…

The Crue Back On The Charts: Motley Crue is expected to land on the top 5 of the Billboard album charts. The new record titled ‘Saints of Los Angeles is independently released and is distributed by Red. Nikki Sixx’s successful project SIXX A.M . and the best selling autobiography, The Dirt, has put the band on the map again. Check out the new track ‘Animal in Me‘.

This Week Sales:

Disturbed (Indestructible) – TW 59k Total 414,000
Kid Rock (Rock n Roll Jesus) – 28,595 Total 1,021,00
Flyleaf – TW 9,263 Total 1,068,000
Three Days Grace (One-X) TW 6,636 Total 1,254,000

Death Row Off The Block: Suge Knigh’s Death Row Records was auctioned and sold for 24 million. Susan Berg who is the president of Global Music Group laid down the big bucks and is now in control of all the the recordings by Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre during their stay at the label.

New Stream: The new Shinedown record titled ‘The Sound of Madness’ can be streamed here. The record was produced by Rob Cavallo who has worked with Green Day, My Chemical Romance, and Goo Goo Dolls.

Rob Cavallo asked Shinedown frontman Brent Smith about his goals for the band’s new album. “I said, ‘You know what — when I’m dead and gone, when everybody in this band has passed or what have you, I want the world to remember this as a record that needed to be made, and that there was a reason for it,’ ” Smith says.

This is the attitude that every artist must have when making a record….

The Future of 360 Deals: Check out the article ‘Stumbling Towards 360: An Industry Licks Its Early Wounds‘ that discusses the complexities and the future of 360 deals.

Kings of A&R: We want to hear new music, email tips@kingosfar.com. Don’t forgot to tell us your favorite track.

Starbucks Dumping CD’s and iTunes Gift Cards: As of now, you can still find some new releases on the main counter and nearing racks, but Starbucks will have eliminated nearly all of its music retail offerings by September. The ‘spinner’ racks offering multiple CD’s, gift cards, and promotional giveaways for Apple iTunes will be gone. Starbucks is returning to their core business which is pushing expensive caffein.

Politicians Want Their MTV: After declining political advertising since its inception in 1981, MTV will now accept political ads. Up until recently, MTV has refused all political ads.

Jeannie Kedas, exec VP-communications for MTV’s music networks, said the change is effective immediately and reflects the importance of the youth vote.

Bucking The Trend: Coldplay’s opening week numbers for “Viva La Vida” are roughly equivalent to those of Coldplay’s last album, X&Y which sold 737,000 copies in its first week three years ago. No sign of slow down of the record biz in the Coldplay camp. Radio has also played a big role in the album’s success. In an aggressive but unusual strategy, the band sent two singles to stations in advance of its release, and this week the title song is No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart says The New York Times.

EMI – The Layoffs Begins: EMI pledged to trim 1,500 to 2,000 workers of its 4,500 recorded music workforce around the globe, and the cuts are now on its way, the same day EMI announced that Coldplay would land on top of the Billboard charts. According to sources, Capitol Records has begun to slash marketing and A&R.  What a grueling press release.

Live Nation Newest Signings? Live Nation could be making deals with Nickelback and Shakira according to Fox’s Roger Friedman. Friedman also responds to the negative publicity following Madonna. He suggests that Madonna’s ‘Hard Candy’ is floundering because Warner Music has done nothing to promote it, as retribution for her exit to Live Nation. Good theory for sure, but I still believe in the public, and Madonna’s newest album is nothing special. How many beat driven albums can the public buy? Something has to give…

Material Girl Show Signs Of Rust: Live Nation is on the defensive about the health of its $120 million Madonna deal according to the New York Post. The concern is over Madonna’s lackluster album sales and the large number of tickets available for her shows, including the November Los Angeles Show. Live Nation handed out big bucks to aging stars which eventually led to a dispute among the top executives.

Arista Drops Idol: Blake Lewis has been dropped by Arista. ‘Blake’s debut album Audio Day Dream failed to chart any singles, and by Idol standards, underperformed, selling 98,000 its first week and 299,000 to date.’ (MJS)

Recommended Listening: Receive by The Wedding. The band released an EP on Brave New World Records on June 1st. Check out live video here. The band’s mission? To bring the rock back.

Gas Prices Put The Brakes On Bands: Gas prices at $4 a gallon is taking a toll on indie bands. CNN has an article titled ‘Gas prices thwart indie band tours‘ and cites instances where bands are spending $150.00 between shows. Make sure you merch is designed well and that your selling LOTS of it to make up the difference in the rising gas price…It’s a long way to the top if you want to Rock N Roll…

Old School: Coldplay will defy the current musical landscape by debuting #1 on the Billboard Charts with expected sales of 700k.