Talk about marketing. I’ve never wanted to hear a rap album so badly in my life. A new story was released by Reuters promoting Nas‘ upcoming album, formerly known as Nigger. Not everyone was cool with him calling his album Nigger, because apparently the word existing is racist. Using it, no matter the context, is also quite racist. This post is racist. Nas argues that he has the freedom of speech and since the album expresses his personal opinion of what it means to be a black man in the United States, he should be able to use it. However, he has made a concession to retail and removed the title. How completely appropriate that the record that gets people up in arms about racism in rap is one of the few albums that even discusses the subject. It’s not pussy claps, drug promotion and living beyond your means that angers people about rap. It’s talking honestly and provocatively about important social and political issues that must be stopped.

KOAR agrees with Nas and Def Jam on this one. Finding an artist with something to say is a challenge. Their voice shouldn’t be stifled, but responsibility should be exercised. Al Shartpon needs to go away.

Are we still calling EMI a ‘music company’? Massive job cuts and uncertainty about leadership have been plaguing EMI lately and now they’re headed back to court with yet another lawsuit intended to take out online competition and punish past infringements. Yet another lawsuit no artist will see a dime from.

Metallica has announced the title for their new album will be Death Magnetic. Fans are excited. Let’s hope they don’t get burned again.

Great read via BurstLabs Blog regarding Viacom’s purchase of Hype Machine.

“Somebody please make this make sense to me – obviously Viacom can’t openly endorse a service that shares (or promotes the sharing of) copy-written material, so in buying it, wouldn’t they have to change it? And if the strategy is to pay $10M for an architecture that you can fill with your own content, it perfectly illustrates the erroneous mindset of the modern music industry. Jesus, spend half that much and MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN THING. You cannot tell me that you couldn’t have a team of programmers whip up a site that aggregates content from multiple other sites for less than 10 million dollars.”

Phish is threatening to reunite.

-AJ

New Realities: Check out the article ‘Music Row faces new realities‘ that discusses the changing music business.

The Myth of the Long Tail: The Long Tail theory crafted by Chris Anderson is slowly falling apart. Chris Anderson was probably listening to his indie records wishing that the internet would eliminate blockbuster hits and mass culture. I believe Coolfer explained it perfectly…

‘In the book, Anderson wrote that “we’re seeing a shift from mass culture to massively parallel culture,” or “millions of microcultures.” But that doesn’t appear to be the case. Mass culture is alive and well on the Internet. Consumers know the bad from the good. They know what’s popular and they will gravitate towards the hits. Niches will continue to exist, and heavy users will continue to dabble in niches, but the level playing field of digital distribution isn’t going to do away with mass culture.’ (Coolfer)

Kings of A&R: We will be traveling for the next 2 weeks. We will be attending some panels, meeting some artists and talking music shop – our favorite past time. Music news will be sporadic but we will do our best to keep you informed. Everything will return to normal in the KOAR world soon. In the meantime, email tips@kingsofar.com and send us your favorite track.

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.