EMI Drama: According to a UK paper Guy Hands is considering selling EMI’s recorded music business leaving him with only the publishing arm. He also may move the US headquarters of the label from East Coast to West.

American Idol: Still a Launch Pad for Stardom: Negative news plagued American Idol this year. We heard about the ratings drop and the lack of talent, but it hasn’t stopped the Idol show breaking new artists. Idol champ David Cook just set some new sales records..

“David Cook will set a record for debut entries on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Digital Songs tomorrow as 11 titles enter the former, while 14 songs jump on the download tally. Cook’s takeover of the Hot 100 shatters the mark for debuts set by Miley Cyrus (as Hannah Montana) in the Nov. 11, 2006, issue, when she placed six new titles on the list. The 11 songs on the chart are the most in a week by any artist in the Nielsen Music era, which began in December 1991 when the chart converted to Nielsen BDS and Nielsen SoundScan data. His haul also marks the most placements on the list since the Beatles charted 14 songs on the Hot 100 in the week of April 11, 1964.” (Billboard)

Recommended Shows: Carlotta @ Annex (NYC) on June 2nd at 8:45pm. Listen to the tracks Rise and Fall and Maybe in a Year. For more information contact Gil c/o Moir Ent.

The Vanishing Album: Sony chief executive Howard Stringer said at a recent tech-focused conference,”The problem with the iPod model is it is a singles model, and the album stands for a body of work, and the vanishing album is an issue I worry about, but maybe I am old.” (Digital Music News)

No Howard, your not old. It’s just that many artists can’t focus long enough to complete a body of work. Medical professionals call this the ADD generation. The ADD generation are held hostage by distractions. Let’s all give a huge thanks to Coldplay. They haven’t forgot about the album as they go through every note, every melody line, every verse and chorus with a fine tooth comb. The album cover and art work even goes throughs a torture process. It isn’t a technology problem, it’s an artistic problem…

Imagine traveling and having your iPod and labtop searched by police looking for stolen content. In reality, it’s no different buying goods at a Wholesale Club. Upon exiting the door, security guards will look at your receipt for the proof of purchases. If something is in your shopping cart that is not shown on the receipt you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a new plan that could see Canada joining other countries, including the United States and members of the European Union, to form an international coalition against copyright infringement.

The deal could turn border guards and other public security personnel into copyright police. “The security officials would be charged with checking laptops, iPods and even cellular phones for content that infringes” on copyright laws, such as ripped CDs and movies.”

“Anyone found with infringing content in their possession would be open to a fine. They may also have their device confiscated or destroyed, according to the four-page document.”

“This government is working both at home and internationally to protect the intellectual property rights of Canadian artists, creators, inventors and investors.” Read the full article here.

Sometimes the government has to go to extreme measures to protect the ‘creators of content’ from thieves, and because of thieves the international copyright laws must be revamped.

In a time where rock radio is becoming just as cluttered with sound-a-like acts as today’s “pop/punk” scene (Boys Like Girls/All Time Low/etc…) we have the Hinder/Daughtry/Nickelback’s all over radio right now. Even a new band like Saving Abel who prides themselves on the fact that they sound like everyone else finds their debut single “Addicted” sitting at #2 on today’s active rock chart. “You know when you hear a song on the radio and you don’t know who it is, but you love it and feel like you’ve heard it before? That’s our band! The first time someone hears us, they go, ‘I know that band!’ Then someone explains, ‘no, it’s a brand-new song and band.’ –you HAVE heard us before,” states lead singer Jared Weeks – last.fm

The truth is, there’s radio success in the formula these acts use. Recently, St. Louis rock band Cavo has released some tracks that could contend for airplay on rock stations across the country. Since signing to Bullet 339 Records these rockers revved up the aggression for the new single “Champagne” which is receiving spins at St. Louis’s 105.7 The Point and Nashville’s “The Buzz”. Another act to watch out for this summer is the recent Universal signing
State of Shock who’s cheesy, but catchy-as-hell single “Money Honey” which already found itself in the top 10 of three Canadian formats. This one has crossover potential.

The past few years we have only seen a few Christian artists who have been able to see significant mainstream success. Switchfoot, Mat Kearney, and Flyleaf are some of the most notable. One band signed to Flicker/Sony who has the chance to make such an impact is Fireflight. Following in the footsteps of
successful female fronted rock act Flyleaf, Fireflight has their own big hit ready to dominate mainstream stations. “Unbreakable” has already been #1 at christian rock and spent a few weeks in the top 5 of the Christian pop chart. It’s just hard for me to see how any station that’s been spinning Flyleaf’s “All around Me” could pass up this one.

Singer/songwriter Justin Nozuka just signed to Glassnote & his video for “After Tonight” has been added to VH1’s You Oughta Know feature and is in heavy rotation on MTVU. He may be no John Mayer or Jack Johnson, but he seems to be receiving plenty of attention as of late. Check out “After Tonight”

Soundcheck was written by Dallas who currently attends San Francisco State University and works on the Live 105 (KITS) Action Team.

Doing Time: A Brooklyn man could be facing 5 years in prison for pirating/stealing movies, music and video games. Along with a prison sentence he could be fined $250,000 according to the Justice Dept.

Top Of The Heap: 3 Doors Down will take the No. 1 spot on Wednesday with projected sales of 150,000 of their new album. 3 Doors Down offers another solid album and stuck to what they do best – big verses and big choruses. You will be hearing ‘Your Arms Feel Like Home‘ in a town near you…

Sexism or Idealism? Alanis Morisseette went on record calling the music biz sexist by saying that male executives are terrified of allowing women to take full control of their careers.

“It’s scary for them, especially if there’s money involved. I’m a liability to them – I’m a woman, I’m empowered, I’m an artist. I’ve had executives who can’t come to my shows they’re so scared of me. I’ve been a thorn in many people’s sides just by existing”.

I think that statement would have been more accurate a decade ago, before the internet. Over the last year we have seen many female artists/entertainers take full control of their careers, some succeeded and many went down the toilet. Regardless, I like Alanis and enjoy listening to her music, she should just stop obsessing over feminism.

Rock Band Resurrecting Rock: Motley Crue’s new track, “Saints of Los Angeles”, sold 5 times as much as downloadable content via Rock Band than it did on traditional music services like iTunes or Amazon.” According to the band the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band alone sold 47000 copies of the track”.

First Review Of Coldplay Album: “The attention to detail is incredible. You can imagine CHRIS MARTIN, GUY BERRYMAN, JONNY BUCKLAND and WILL CHAMPION obsessing over every note and word in this, their fourth album. They haven’t gone off the rails with drugs and booze, churning out rubbish, like many a band before them. This latest album — much of which was recorded in churches in Spain and and Latin America — is full of religious references. It’s as heavy-going as the Bible but as ultimately as rewarding if that’s your bag”. Read full review here.

New Songs: The new the track titled ‘Sittin’ At the Bar‘ by Rehab is starting to get some buzz. Rehab hails from Atlanta and will definitely appeal to fans who have Everlast and Beck in their record collection.

And don’t forget to listen to ‘Angels On The Moon‘ by Thriving Ivory. This could be the summer song and will find its place on TV and multiple radio formats.

A new track called ‘Its Not Over‘ by Carolina Liar is finding its way on alternative radio. The track has a nineties vibe and I wouldn’t doubt that band is influenced by Soul Asylum.

Blender Mag Looking Grim: Instead of analyzing Britney’s fate, you would think Blender would analyze their own. How will it end? Blender’s ad pages are down 25%, and and each issue is less than 100 pages. “When the Reaper passes by The Blender Theater, it sees more authors speaking than bands playing. They’re betting the house on stripped down girls on Maxim.com instead. Kent Brownridge is going to have some ‘splainin’ to do to the fat cats who backed him on this one.” (TDS via Magazine Death Pool)

These magazine don’t take chances. They don’t take music reviews seriously. Just recently Blender gave the Black Crowes record a mediocre review without even listening to it. They have no vision and no passion. When passion is thrown to the curb then success becomes impossible. Ever watch the movie ‘Final Destination’ where death finds you? Well, in this case, these mags are finding death. How does putting Tila Tequila on your cover position a mag for success? If you want nude photos of Tila, go to the internet. Anyone who wants to get in business with Tila is looking for instantaneous gratification only to be waiting for an immediate KNOCKOUT!

The music mags don’t focus on new music anymore and don’t even attempt to find an artist that they like and promote the hell of out them. They certainly can’t build a business using the same content that can be found on Perez and MTV. It all points towards the ‘creative drought’….