Keynote Speech: U2 manager, Paul McGuinness wants to end illegal music downloads and urges internet service providers and governments to toughen up their policies.

In a keynote speech spoken at the MIDEM music conference McGuinness said it was time for artists to stand up against what he called the “shoddy, careless and downright dishonest way they have been treated in the digital age.”

“There’s a lot of money in the music business, but it has stopped coming to the artists,” McGuinness said, though he agreed that U2 long ago determined that it “would be pathetic to be great artists but not be great at business.”

Read the rest of his passionate speech where he blames record labels that “through lack of foresight and planning allowed a range of industries to arise that let people steal music”…..

“We Are Not Idiots”: The new digital start up, Qtrax offers a free 25 million song catalogue and claimed to have deals in place with all four major labels. Wired Mag says the Time Online UK tracked down the CEO of Qtrax where he offered a response to the recent press.

“We are not idiots,” he said. “We wouldn’t have launched the service in front of the whole music industry unless we had secured its backing. We feel we have been unfairly crucified because a competitor tried to damage us. Everyone is very upset.”
Read more here….

The Signs of a New Era: We urge you to read the WSJ column entitled
‘Beyond The Album‘ that urges musicians to experiment on their own.

Digital Christian Music: EMI who is the leading distributor of Christian music and DVDs, is hoping for some divine intervention for the struggling genre’s sales according The NY Post. EMI plans to develop 500 new digital Christian music storefronts.

New Music and Recommended Listening:

The Midnight Academy – Sacramento, California. Think Queens of the Stone Age and My Bloody Valentine. The first track on their myspace, ‘The Epidemic‘ lays down an opening riff reminiscent of Interpol. (contact the band)
Next Show Dates:
Jan 28, The Old Ironsides-Sacramento, California
Feb 1st,The Upstairs – Inside Country Club Lanes, Citrus Heights, CA

Vivendi Chief says music biz gloom and doom exaggerated: Speaking at the Midem conference, Jean-Bernard Levy says the music industry is going through a huge transition. He said there would still be a market for physical products including the CD and the future always depends on discovering great talent.

Record Labels Abandon Legal File Sharing Site: Music fans around the globe faced confusion today as the new digital upstart Qtrax, announced they would be able to download unlimited, free songs without breaking the law. Qtrax claimed it housed 30 million free songs that are compatible with portable music devices including the iPod, but record labels have denied they had granted permission to share the songs. The gamble is that fans will put up with advertising around the Qtrax website’s jukebox in return for free music. Still, Qtrax faces some big obstacles including licensing and song/device portability.

Addictive As Heroin: The NY Times says the autobiographies from GNR guitarist Slash and “The Heroin Diaries,” by the Mötley Crüe bass player and songwriter Nikki Sixx make good reading. That’s not surprising. I couldn’t put down Motley Crue’s ‘The Dirt’.

Valley Mag: 95 percent of music downloads are illegal. The RIAA says illegal music downloads outnumbered legal ones 20 to 1 in 2007.

The Big Payday: Warner Music CEO, Edgar Bronfman Jr, received a compensation package in fiscal 2007 valued at $3.4 million. He also received a salary of $1 million along with $2,419,855 in dividends paid on restricted stock.

New Music:

One Star Story – Springfield, Missouri. This female fronted quartet could fall between The Cranberries and Garbage if the tracks weren’t so passive. Their new record titled “The Empty Room EP” will be released in March on Transatlantic Records. Check out the track So Long. (contact the band)

Nas To Be Released? Nas could be released by his record label Def Jam because of his controversial album title. Nas’ last album sold pretty well, but not well enough for the headache he’s causing the label According to Gig Wise.” If Nas doesn’t change his mind, he’ll be dropped. And he doesn’t have to much time to come to that realization.”

Warner Stock: Shares of Warner Music Group closed at $7.06 today, a 53% jump from WMG’s historic low of $4.57.

KOAR posted several new artists that we feel are making headway in today’s climate, which is no easy feat. Here is the Friday Roundup……….

One Less Reason – Memphis, TN. The band proudly delivers the mainstream southern rock. Think Daughtry, Hinder, and Creed. Huge myspace plays! Listen to the emotionally charged track ‘A Day to Be Alone‘ , which already garnered 26,000 paid downloads will most likely be the song that propels this act in the near future. Information here.

Adelitas Way – Las Vegas, Nevada. This band hangs in the same crowd as
One Less Reason. Recently finished working with producer Brian Howes (Hinder, Daughtry). Information here.

The Hint – Baltimore, Maryland. Think Jimmy Eat World and Weezer. The first single Tell Me How was released January 14th. Information here.

Coleen Mcmahon – Los Angeles, CA. A cross between Celine and Mariah Carey. The producers from the Maury Povich show found her on Youtube and flew her into NYC for a special appearance. Information here.

The Urgency – Brooklyn, NY. A cross between Sting and 311. Currently recording at The House of Loud with producer David Bendeth (Paramore, RJS, and Breaking Benjamin). Information here.

A World Gone Mad: Giving up control of content and giving it away free are not rational ideas in a market economy, yet everyone is cheering says PC Mag. Has the world gone mad? If you think FREE is a good sensible business model then read the PC Mag article entitled “DRM-Free Music Spells Trouble” that discusses basic principles of content, commerce, and our economy.

Music Biz Pushes Piracy Blame To ISPs: ”Copyright theft has been allowed to run rampant on their networks under the guise of technological advancement,” writes John Kennedy, chair of the IFPI. Paid Content says the music industry will begin to shift the blame for piracy on to ISPs.

Busted: Lil Wayne loves his sex, drugs, and rock n roll and got himself in Lil trouble. He was arrested on drug charges In Arizona.

New Music and Recommended Listening:

Check out the rock act Jet Lag Gemini. The band has toured with Hellogoodbye, The Almost, The Matches, and Halifax. The new CD ‘Fire The Cannons’ was produced by Jon Kaplan (The Starting Line, he Jonas Brothers’) and was released through Doghouse Records on January 22. Listen to the lead single Run This City.

Listen to the track Welcome To Your Doom by newcomers Bright Light Fever. These tracks on myspace are definitely an alternative to the mainstream but they could find an audience in today’s marketplace. The band cites Fugazi among many others as a main influence. More information here…

Saving EMI: Read the column ‘Hands Can Save EMI by Making Music Free on Web‘ posted on Bloomberg News. Hands may be smart with money, but so are the Rolling Stones, and if they aren’t sticking around, EMI will be in more strife. And yet Hands is right about one thing: The old rulebook needs to be torn up. But he is wrong to think he can fix EMI with cost cuts. He needs to dig a lot deeper into his pockets.

Ringo Starr Shows His Tough Side: Former Beatle Ringo Starr was scheduled to perform on “Live with Regis & Kelly” on Tuesday and walked off because he and the show’s producers could not agree on the length of his song.

An End to File Sharing? AT&T is evaluating whether to examine traffic on its Internet lines to stop illegal sharing of copyright material.

Juno Soundtrack Sells Like Hotcakes: Soundtracks rarely sell today but the Juno soundtrack sold 57k this week with total sales of 200k. Why is it selling? The movie is impactful and as buzznet says the music fits SO perfectly that you’ll associate the music with your movie experience. When music takes the front the seat, it sells.

Warner Music Sues MP3 Search Engine: Warner Music is suing the popular search engine Seeqpod that allows users to listen to streaming MP3s hosted on other people’s websites.

The Filter: Who wants to weed through 100,000 new record releases and 200 million videos on Youtube? You don’t, but we will. Rock act Adelitas Way has just finished working with producer Brian Howes (Hinder, Daughtry). Yep, this is mainstream rock at its finest. Listen to the track Hate Love. For more information email here.

Listen to the track Run to Me by Jenna Westerbeck. Jenna has appeared in the ‘Here I Stand’ video from Madina Lake and the ‘Rockstar’ video from Nickelback. She will begin her tour in April with Chasing Yesterday. For more information email here.