We know the 70’s gave us classic bands, there are to many to name…
Remember the 80’s? It was the decade of big stadium bands and UK pop. There was a mile long line of girls and guys waiting outside the tour bus only to catch a glimpse of Motley Crue or Poison. Then came Guns N Roses that was led by a frontman known as W. Axl Rose that nearly shook every arena he stepped foot on. Don’t believe me? just watch this video.
In the nineties, Nirvana entered the scene along with their disciples and spread the message across the globe. The female artists were so convinced of the message that they traded pop for poetry. Top 40 radio let go of pop only to lean towards rock. Lilith Fair was a traveling music festival, founded by musician Sarah McLachlan, all of these bands and artists inspired millions of kids and the music biz was doing quite well.
Then all of sudden, darkness was cast upon the earth. Wolves in sheep clothing promised music executives that they would bring them milk and honey only to leave them with a curse that still has a stronghold on the people and on the land. Those false prophets were the boy bands – and when they last walked the earth the music business was setting sales records and the milk and honey were overflowing.
Then came the curse. Now in a bleak era and dark times the labels are looking back to boy bands hoping they will get them out of the tough times.
New Kids On The Block are back together and are recording a new album due in the fall and “nearly every major is pushing its own fresh group of singing, dancing dudes, including Warner Bros.’V Factory, Geffen’s NLT, Capitol’s Varsity Fanclub and Epic’s new Menudo.”
In fact, the major music labels are looking at Disney’s success with their teen stars and they want to get in the game and start hedging bets. Disney has used their networks including the Disney Channel and Disney Radio to launch multi million seller teens including Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers.
“Disney has done a phenomenal job using the assets that they control to create stars,” says Capitol Music Group CEO Jason Flom. “But that doesn’t mean they have a monopoly. The right music trumps everything.”
Of course times have changed and the media landscape has changed so launching a boy band today is much different than yesterday. MTV doesn’t play videos anymore and top 40 is still held hostage by urban and club beats.
So will the false prophets rise again? Or will the angels in white robes regain their lost territory and claim victory once again. Only time will tell….
KOAR featured Tamar several months ago because we fell in love with the track New Day. Tamar is a Los Angeles based singer/songwriter and her unique style of piano driven pop-rock may just give her swarm of fans. We also like her influences – Billy Joel, Carole King, and The Beatles. Tamar submitted for a One Republic “Apologize” cover contest and her version proved to be better than the other thousands that entered. The good always will rise to the top. Her passion, talent, and effort just recently led to a record deal with Interscope Records and she will begin recording early July. Check out her indie video for her track ‘New Day‘.
U2 manager Paul McGuinness accused the world’s Internet providers of victimizing the music industry. He accused the ISP’s of adopting a moral code that applies more strictly to one group than to another.
ISP’s do not want to work with the creative community and protect artist rights because they claim that they don’t want to intervene in the traffic of their networks, but history and evidence show that ISP’s have INTERVENED in the traffic when it SUITS and BENEFITS them. This evidence alone displays a discriminatory practice and requires government legislation.
McGuiness saved his sharpest criticism for China.
China is a picture perfect example of a crumbling music business that we as americans, musicians, artists, songwriters, want to avoid at all costs. BBC reported that the huge numbers of pirated CDs and high levels of illegal downloading are forcing Chinese pop stars to find alternative ways to make a living. China’s music industry is considered the world’s most chaotic, those involved in the business say. In other words its pure anarchy.
“McGuinness likened ISPs to “shoplifters” and accused them of “turning their heads” away from the music industry’s troubles and “rigging the market.”
“Warner Music prexy Lachie Rutherford pointed out that the 2% of revenues from downloads and ringtones is shared with performers. “There are huge amounts of money being made from music (by portals and carriers) that are not supporting music, or radio or magazines,” Rutherford said.”
Borders Cut Jobs: Borders who is losing market share to retailers such as Wal-Mart and Amazon will fire 274 workers, or 20 percent of its corporate workforce, as part of a plan to save $120 million a year.
John Mayer indirectly claims he is one of the better guitar players: Mayer responds when asked ‘What does the guitar mean to you now’?
“For me, it’s my flotation device, because I now exist in this celebrity sort of world. But I don’t feel like anybody’s been able to truly knock me off my legs, because I have a trade. You can’t just walk onstage and start playing guitar ’cause you thought it looked neat. With guitar, you get out what you put in, and it’s the ultimate shield for other people trying to fuckin’ take away your heart and soul. It’s a completely exposed craft. There is no facade”.
It’s also a nice to see that Mayer recognizes a good guitar tone that seems so absent in today’s music. “There’s so many clichés about this, which I hate, like “molten glass.” But I want it to sound like a voice. That’s all. And you want that voice to speak back to you in a tone you don’t expect — so it doesn’t sound exactly like you. You want to listen to what it’s saying back to you says Mayer”.
New Music: Check out alive by Superchick. Although Superchick isn’t new, most people haven’t heard of the band. The band has sold over 700,000 albums in the Christian market. They have a new album dropping on June 24th titled “Rock What You Got”.
The Charts: Usher has a No. 1 album this week with “Here I Stand” with 433,000 U.S. copies sold. Ushers last record “Confessions” sold 800,000 first week. Rock act 3 Doors Down sold 63,000 and Death Cab For Cutie’s “Narrow Stairs” sold 33,000.
Major Music Labels Continue Investing In Digital Companies: Universal has invested into Uber, a digital startup that allows users to instantly create multimedia websites and blogs. Warner Music Group also invested $20 million in Lala.
TuneCore Finds A Way To Contribute To The Cesspool of Mediocrity: Tunecore claims it can get unsigned artists on digital stores including iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, and Rhapsody, for roughly $30 an album.
“Twenty years ago, an artist with an acoustic guitar and a four-track demo would need to find a label to get her album on the shelves at Tower Records. Getting that contract was a long and painful process for the few who could navigate it; for most, it never led to anything, and that four-track demo was heard only by friends, family, and patrons of the local coffee shop”.
(Ars Technica)
Jeff Price who heads TuneCore tells Ars Technica that “the music industry changed” on the day that TuneCore went live. Any person on the planet “can have access to worldwide distribution; there are no filters,” he says, and he says it with energy.
Ladies and Gentlemen, allow us to re-write the story. Twenty years ago, an artist with an acoustic guitar and a four track demo couldn’t get the album on the shelves at Tower Records because in MOST cases, it wouldn’t deserve such a prime placement. It wasn’t a distribution problem, it was called mediocre product problem.
Distribution won’t increase your popularity and certainly won’t increase sales especially if you’re an unknown artist. Jeff Price sees a marketing opportunity what he calls ‘worldwide unfiltered distribution’. Price is contributing to the cesspool of garbage and certainly doesn’t seem to care about the consumer or the music. Filling iTunes with unfiltered music is comparable to dumping raw sewage in our seas. We don’t need more music, we need better music.
If you’re a serious passionate artist looking to build a fan base and hoping to bring your music to the masses, then getting your songs on iTunes is not the solution. The solution is writing great songs and finding a producer that will attack the songs, making them even better. The next step is to play live and putting on a killer live show. Sell your CD’s at a live show for 5 bucks and you were certainly make a return on your investment. If your worthy and fans want more of you, then consider a line of merchandise including t-shirts. When you begin to feel the buzz and you’re getting hundreds upon hundreds of legit emails requesting music, then consider iTunes; or sell your songs on your website establishing a direct relationship with the fans.
If you’re that person with an acoustic guitar and a four-track demo wanting worldwide distribution, consider yourself a dreamer, certainly not an artist.
We want to hear new music. Send us great songs and make our day. Email tips@kingsofar.com with link to your myspace and let us know what song we should be listening to.
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