MORE Indie Invaders / POSTED BY: KINGSOFAR

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Struggling MTV will move the upcoming Video Music Awards to Las Vegas for the first time. MTV, struggling to bring back the unscripted zaniness of the show’s early years, will take over the entire Palms, using suites and a rooftop club “to inject a new kind of life into the format,” Ignjatovic said.

The new location won’t change the perception of unscripted zaniness. To little to late. Plus, the whole show and every segment will be casted anyway. Due to the internet people now know whats real and not real.

Speaking about the internet, read the article ‘Things that Changed the Internet‘. 747 Million adults logged on in January.

Not surprisingly, Hip hop magazine ‘The Source’ has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Coolfer)

Producer songwriter Brian Howes who was behind the success of Hinder’s Lips of Angel will produce the new act Adelitas Way that will be released on Interscope.

      MORE Indie Invaders / POSTED BY: KINGSOFAR

Check out the new Kelly Clarkson Never Again video. This song is great to be angry to and the video is perfect. Kelly pulled off the sexy, angry, ex – Perfect. It also has the Alanis ” You Oughta Know” vibe. This song is going to be a huge hit. Movie offers should follow after this performance.

BMI ‘Pick of the Month’ is alternative/folk artist Fion Regan. He will be performing Wed. May 23rd at the Living Room (NYC)

Soundscan

Avril Lavigne
Best Damn Thing
TW 121,630
Total 407,988

NIN
Years Zero
TW 57,666
Total 245,928

Daughtry
TW 48,505
Total 2,358,914

Hilary Duff
Dignity
TW 21,657
Total 232,658

Fall Out Boy
Infinity on High
TW 17,278
Total 795,154

Top Catalog Albums

Pink Floyd
Dark Side of the Moon
TW 7,082

Guns N Roses
Greatest Hits
TW 7,064

      MORE Indie Invaders / POSTED BY: KINGSOFAR

Google responds to Viacom’s copyright infringement lawsuit over YouTube….ITS LEGAL!

Google finally has a response to Viacom copyright infringement lawsuit over Google’s video-sharing sharing site YouTube, arguing that the site’s activities are legal.
Viacom sued Google on claiming that YouTube has used digital technology to “willfully infringe copyrights on a huge scale. Google said that YouTube respects the importance of copyrights and goes above and beyond what is required under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which gives Web hosts protection from copyright lawsuits so long as they comply with requests to remove unauthorized material.

Google is playing Politics here and are re-writing basic definitions. Its a twisted argument and they want to hide behind the DMCA. Read KOAR’s article on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

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MTV’s struggling TRL may change its name to YouRL….

MTV is struggling to maintain its hip brand for teens as internet sites like MySpace and online video ites compete for its viewers’ affinity. While the show is still in development, YouRL is the leading title, an MTV spokesperson confirmed. MTV executives have said that, when the show relaunches, online participation will be key. A play on the echnical term for a Web address, URL—”uniform resource locator”.

YouRL? Now, thats creative!

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The Shockstars will sell out their upcoming June 21st gig at the Metro. Check out the tracks Baby Baby and Butterfly (People are Afraid). Click here to view the live performance of Baby Baby. Labels as well as other media/internet companies will be attending the performance. For more information contact Dan Friedman.

      MORE Indie Invaders / POSTED BY: KINGSOFAR

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Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin’s $31 million pay package has fueled the critics who claim that a merger between XM and Sirius benefiting consumers is a MYTH and that the merger will enrich management rather than listeners.

Reducing shelf space at Walmart continues to be a growing concern in the music industry. Read KOAR’s previous post on the loss of space at Walmart.

Also…

EMI’s indie arm Caroline Distribution will be cutting its regional sales force.

Pop punk act Farewell who recently signed to Epitaph is looking for a booking agent. Email here for more information.

Kelly Clarkson is streaming new music at her myspace. The first single Never Again is a solid aggressive track.

      MORE Indie Invaders / POSTED BY: KINGSOFAR

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Well, the old industry appears to be in its final death throws. Rather than holding our breath and waiting for it to officially bottom out, we’re ready to move on. The alternate industry is booming and the trails blazed here are becoming paths for others to follow. What am I talking about? Quantifiable success and the return of indicators. Good news for those who rely on indicators to know what’s good and what isn’t, but the best news here is for artists.

The opportunities available in this alternate industry are plentiful. Through social networking, online advertising and promotion, and digital distribution, artists can not only build their fanbase, but make enough money to quit their day jobs at Starbucks to tour full time. Artist services ranging from merch design to bio writing to online booking to budget mixing and mastering to organizational programs specifically designed for bands have cropped up via the internet and given artists affordable opportunities and the ability to control the direction of their careers. Every aspect of major label inner workings have not only been duplicated, but improved upon, and available for at least 20 times less than what labels pay for it.

However, despite all of the access and bargain services available, that doesn’t mean bands will have it easy. If anything, navigating the alternate industry can be significantly harder and more time consuming than turning over the reigns to a label. Between approving comments, responding to fans and keeping them active, managing a MySpace profile is a full time job by itself. Add in maintaining the numerous other profiles artists have, booking shows, performing shows, writing new material, practicing, seeking out new opportunities, promoting and advertising, networking locally with press and radio, etc etc, and its a wonder that such a large number of kids actually want to be musicians. It’s grueling and it’s time consuming, and you can’t skip any of it. So much work can be overwhelming to artists, which is why many of them are quick to jump into bad deals or align themselves with anyone promising to alleviate some of the work load.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, despite being on a major label, are seen by many as the flagship internet artist. In interviews, RJA credit sites like MySpace and KOAR as being integral to their career. They worked the hell out of the MySpace profile, building up a large national fanbase long before they ever left their hometown. They interacted with new fans and maintained those relationships so when the record did come out and when they did come to town, they were selling out shows and charting the record immediately. More recently, artists like One Less Reason and My Favorite Highway are making between 5 and 10 thousand dollars per month just on downloads. Independent artists who play their cards right actually stand to make more money on their own than their major label counterparts. No big advances to pay back, no staff of thousands of people you’ve never met to support, no splitting profits among people who don’t help you, no expensive office building in an expensive city relying on you to keep the lights on, and most importantly- no one trying to change your vision to make it more profitable for them.

If it weren’t for the internet, would anyone know who The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is? Honestly, yes. Sure, they worked the hell out of their MySpace profile and KOAR gave them the industry exposure that led to their signing, but working MySpace and being on KOAR does not guarantee a record deal. In the end, its always about the music, and the band writes hits. More importantly, the band put the work in. What they did off-line was just as important as what they did online. For the couple years leading up to their signing, this is a band that was giving it away. Hanging around malls and other young people hot spots, handing out cds, flirting with girls, and being rockstars. They literally gave their music away because they knew that no one was going to buy something they have never heard before. But, if they give it to people for free, perhaps they will invest in the band in other ways…the ways that pay off in the long run. They were right. It worked. One Less Reason is working hard for radio exposure. It’s a similar idea to RJA– making the music available and letting people decide for themselves whether or not they like it. One Less Reason puts the work in. They know how to schmooze radio, they know which songs to work, and for as ridiculously arrogant as their frontman is, he clearly has star power.

The internet isn’t a vacuum. It takes the combined efforts of working online, working in person, and working on stage to get people to notice. No matter how kick ass your MySpace is, if your music sucks, nothing will happen. Having a million friends on MySpace is irrelevant unless they’re true believers in your music and actively supporting you. The internet is cheap, but it isn’t free. If you’re an artist, you need to be making money, because you’re going to have to spend some. Recoup your own expenses and turn your own profit by making smart investments and spending wisely. No, you don’t need to buy a tour bus unless you’re actually on the road significantly more often than not. No, you don’t need 35 different t-shirt designs readily available at all times. No, you don’t need to spend $10k buying onto a tour with a band that doesn’t draw a big crowd. I know musicians aren’t businessmen, and articles like this probably bore the piss out of them, but it is imperative that artists do these things on their own. Their job is to rock…hard, but artists shouldn’t pick up management with the hopes that there will someday be something to manage, and they shouldn’t pick up management simply because they don’t want to put the work in.

The alternate industry exists. It’s a real thing and it’s beginning to produce results. At this point, I am not sure why any artist would want a major label deal. I have said before that for the right artist, the old industry still works, and I believe that to be true. But I don’t think most artists are ‘that kind of artist.’ The majority of what we post on KOAR would sound ridiculous on Top 40 radio sandwiched between Beyonce and Daughtry, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. It just isn’t Top 40. Most bands aren’t. The alternate industry has given the artists willing to work for it, no matter the genre, a place to be heard and be successful, without compromise. Don’t get it confused though, ‘the alternate industry’ is not synonymous with ‘the internet.’ Its merely a new way of doing things. Taking back the power. Putting the control back into the hands of the artists. The internet, of course, was integral in demolishing the old system, but the change in mentality across the board is what has allowed the alternate industry to evolve so quickly.

AJ, KOAR

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