Alternative rock act Rides Again who hails from Canada just signed a publishing deal with Last Gang Publishing and are currently in the studio with producer Gavin Brown (Three Days Grace) .

YouTube to Sponsor Video Awards Show
Lonelygirl15, OK Go and other YouTube sensations will get an opportunity to walk down a virtual red carpet. YouTube has announced its Video Awards Show which will recognize the best-user created videos of 2006. The awards will be handed out in seven categories: most creative, most inspirational, best series, best comedy, musician of the year, best commentary and “most adorable video ever.”

Check out the LA Times for a good recap of SXSW 2007. YOU couldn’t turn your head during last week’s South by Southwest Music Conference without seeing the logo of some company trying to cash in on the event’s hip cachet……..

Lastly…..Who is Bigger than Bruce Springsteen? Simon Cowell is…..

American Idol personality Simon Cowell says he is bigger than Bruce Springsteen. “I sell more records than Bruce Springsteen, sure,” Cowell says of the 57-year-old rocker, who signed a contract that was reported to be in the neighborhood of $100 million. I mean, in the last five years, I’ve probably sold over 100 million records. If (Springsteen) got one hundred (million dollars), I should have got five hundred (million dollars),” he says. “Every single `Idol’ winner is now signed through Sony BMG,” says Cowell. “And this applies to … all the countries … we sell `Idol’ to, which is over 30 countries.”

Former American Idol Star Daughtry’s self titled release is selling like hotcakes (#3 on Billboard). Its not suprising since his songs and voice resemble Scott Stapp of Creed. Creed sold millions in their HEYDAY. Daughtry isn’t GREAT, but its not BAD either. Considering the lack of HITS these numbers shouldn’t suprise you. It also shows you that the general public are salivating for good radio songs and that they still will pay 10 bucks for one song.

The new Nelly Furtado single ‘Say it Right’ is good.

Norah Jones is now platinum.

KORN’s MTV Unplugged sold 51,000K in its first week. This group knows how to stay alive.

Lastly…

Viacom is getting support from media rivals including Time Warner in Google-YouTube Battle.

New York-based News Corp. said companies are justified in asserting copyright claims, while Time Warner called on YouTube to clean up the site.

YouTube has become even more popular since we took down Viacom’s material,” Google General Counsel Kent Walker said yesterday in a statement. “We think that’s a testament to the draw of the user-generated content on YouTube.”

Big News……

Viacom Sues Google For A Billion…

Media conglomerate Viacom said it filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Google and video sharing site YouTube over unauthorized use of its copyrighted entertainment.
The suit accuses Google and YouTube of “massive intentional copyright infringement” of Viacom’s entertainment assets and seeks an injunction against further violations.
Viacom contends that almost 160,000 unauthorized clips of its programming have been uploaded onto YouTube’s site and viewed more than 1.5 billion times.

Label news…………

According to sources a list of Australian bands have been let go from Capitol Records including Airbourne and the Vines who failed to deliver records that resonated with the public.

Unless you sold half a million copies of your last record for Capitol, you’re probably gone,” one source said

Other artists that are rumored to have been released are Dandy Warhols, Ima Robot, and Melissa Auf Der Maur.

Some good news for Indie Artists on Indie Labels…

Radio broadcasters are going to give indie bands some play time. I can’t say indie music is better than mainstream pop but at least it breaks up the playlist a bit. In my opinion, hearing the same songs over and over is closer to hell than hearing a really bad indie song. Four major radio broadcast companies have tentatively agreed to pay the government $12.5 million and provide 8,400 half-hour segments of free airtime for independent record labels and local artists in separate agreements in attempt to curb “PAYOLA”.

In other Myspace news……

MySpace is set to launch its own news service that will allow users to comment on and rate stories that they post on their personal pages

Last bit of Miscellaneous news…..

Paris Hilton  talking about her CD.
People go crazy (when they hear it). They love it. Everyone’s like ‘Who’s this?’”
Paris adds, “I, like, cry, when I listen to it, it’s so good.”

KOAR is crying too..

The singing sensation Paris Hilton is to be dropped by her record label Warner Brothers within the next few weeks. Her record sold a mere 185,000 copies in the United States.

Starbucks is planning to launch its own record label as soon as this week. Starbucks is also close to a deal for the next album from former Beatle Paul McCartney to be its first release, according to sources familiar with the plans. Paul McCartney is a free agent not signed to any label, sources said.

Starbucks Records is expected sign, record and produce its own artists rather than licensing songs from other labels.

Up until now, Starbucks has only distributed music though its retail coffee shops. But it is believed that Starbucks Records will seek to secure distribution for its releases in other retail outlets.

Also, Starbucks has enough licensing deals in place with major and independent record labels to build its own digital-music store a la Apple’s iTunes, or it could bring in a partner to help build the digital infrastructure.

There have been talks about putting kiosks in its shops so that customers can shop for music and create their own compilations while waiting for their $5 cup of joe.

Who would ever thought 10 YEARS AGO that a coffee franchise would be signing a BEATLE? Lets look at the starbucks facts. The caffein pusher has built coffeehouses all over the world, 7,102 company-operated outlets worldwide: 5,668 of them in the United States. Now that is a RETAIL outlet. It beats FYE. Starbucks has the demographic and the presence. Now thats a solution.

• Music labels and Universal Music Group have filed suit against Yahoo China over illegal downloading.

• Publishing Vice Chairman has exited the struggling EMI.

• Many students don’t get why the recording industry is after them. As the music biz targets students at Ohio University as well as other college students for illegally sharing and downloading music, many students still don’t see anything wrong with sharing copyrighted music files.

and………

record companies are offering to settle with college students accused of illegally downloading songs, asking for payments of as much as $5,000 to avoid court.

The Recording Industry Association of America sent 400 “pre-litigation letters” this week to 13 U.S. universities, asking them to inform copyright violators they have 20 days to settle with music companies or meet them in court.

• Los Angeles based Latin/Ska/Reggae band Upground have signed to Peer MusicPublishing; Legal rep is Ben McLane and Mgmt is Stephanie Mercada.

• Check out pop act Holiday Parade who hails from Atlanta Georgia

• Straylight Run who ended their contractual obligations to Victory Records has now signed to Universal Republic Records. They released their self titled debut album in 2004 which sold over 11,000 copies in the first week, and made the Billboard Top 100 Albums list.

• Courtney Love sued over unpaid $180,000 drug rehab bill. Kurt Cobain had a better taste in music than he did in love. Love spent all his money.

Hype Alert…………………………………………………..

Indie media darlings the Gossip have signed to Columbia’s music imprint Music with a Twist. The buzz of the day spreads fast across the internet. Are they going to Hollywood? or does the Gossip stay in indie land? Something doesn’t add up. KOAR says no Hollywood but possibly Disney Land.