Several A&R’s at EPIC were let go as of yesterday…..

A new study claims that Internet radio listenership has doubled. “There’s no question that listening to the radio over the Internet is well on its way to becoming more of a rule than an exception,” said AMS President/CEO Edward Seeger.

Soundscan

NOW 24
Various
TW 213,160
Total 443,325
*consumers love HITS, which is what every artist should strive for.

Daughtry
TW 98,426
Total 2,204,219
*Nickelback, Hinder and now Daughtry. The US loves melodic rock. This record is going to hit 4-5 million. This summer you will be hearing more Daughtry tracks hit the airwaves. Read KOAR’s article ‘The Trouble With Nickelback’

Chevelle
Vena Sera
TW 61,901

Kings of Leon
Because of the Times
TW 41,919

The Academy Is
Santi
TW 33,163

J LO
Coma Ama Una..
TW 25,658
Total 74,069

The US will be filing two new trade cases against China over copyright piracy and restrictions on the sale of American movies, music and books there. China is costing American companies billions of dollars in sales because of rampant copyright piracy. China is more concerned jailing journalists than protecting copyright material. What a great leap backward.

KOAR will be posting several NEW artists soon.

My Favorite Highway is performing today in NYC for Virgin staffers.

Check out Jenny Owen Youngs, listen to the first track HOT IN HERE.

Studio in the bedroom to the TOP of I Tunes
Acoustic guitarist Kate Walsh has knocked Take That off the top of the iTunes download album chart – but does not even own an iPod. The 23-year-old guitarist recorded her album in a friend’s bedroom . The homemade album is an unexpected hit with iPod fans who had downloaded it from iTunes in the thousands – knocking Take That and Kaiser Chiefs from the top spots.
Kate Walsh said: “You end up looking at it every day to see if you’re still number one. I think I’m ahead of Elton.

Regardless, these tracks are really tame. Makes KOAR wonder……

Warner and EMI in the news again…
Warner Music is considering pursuing a merger with EMI by making a direct appeal to its rival’s shareholders in an attempt to undermine the opposition of EMI’s management, The Sunday Times reported

The Foo Fighters have resigned with RCA Records.

KOAR predicts Daughtry could do Nickelback numbers (3 to 5 million range)

NE-YO branded Whitney Houston’s new album boring when he was was invited by pop guru Clive Davis to give his verdict on eight new Whitney tracks. NE-YO has now been called in to relaunch Whitney’s career.

MTV’s Vice President, Jeff Yapp, explains why the television network believes games are the next step in music entertainment.

Music business grads far outnumber Music Row jobs….
Approx. 500 music business grads from Belmont and Middle Tennessee State University soon will be competing for jobs and internships, but the entry-level music industry jobs are few each year.
Universal Music Group Nashville, which takes on about 12 interns each semester, has only two or three entry-level positions open each year — usually for jobs as receptionists or in the mailroom.

Check out a new track They Tried to Kill Chivalry… from My Favorite Highway. For more information contact Dan Friedman. MFH are scheduled to perform a private showcase for Virgin tomorrow.

J Lo
Como Ama Una Mujer
TW 49,179

This is a stiff. J Lo sold 49,452 copies. Lopez’s first Spanish language album was a calculated move to win back the audience she lost as her pop albums became increasingly more and more about herself and her celebrity. The failure of “Como” is alarming for many reasons, not the least of which is that Lopez’s already questionable recording career is now in severe jeopardy. Her last ENGLISH album was a sales disaster too. A lot of room at the top for NEW music folks. Consumers are no longer purchasing these pop records sung by socialites.

Amy Winehouse
Back to Black
TW 46,300
Total 144,922

Carrie Underwood
Some Hearts
TW 39,245
Total 5,155,202

Nickelback
All The Right Reasons
TW 32,536
Total 5,156,389

Gym Class Heroes
As Cruel As School Children
TW 15,810
Total 261,486

“He was cremated and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow.
“My dad wouldn’t have cared – he didn’t give a s***. It went down pretty well. And I’m still alive.”

Of today’s musicians, he said: “Everyone’s a load of c***. They’re trying to be somebody else and they ain’t being themselves. Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party? Load of c***, load of c***. Posers, rubbish.” – Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones

Now thats rock n roll. In fact, Ozzy was infamous for snorting ants – don’t you think snorting your dads’s ashes is bit more extreme? We do! We are looking for an artist that can make a statement like this, that will go down in the “History of Rock Music”. If you have this attitude with songs to back it up, then KOAR wants to talk with you. Email KOAR with a link to your music.

The Next Idol?

The impact of the Internet and radio hype about keeping Sanjaya Malakar alive on “American Idol” is overblown, according to the show’s executive producer, Ken Warwick, who doesn’t expect Malakar to be around when the show ends next month.

“There is very little hype anybody can do to affect the vast numbers of votes we get,” Warwick said yesterday.

Howard Stern and the Web site votefortheworst.com have pushed keeping Malakar because they think he’s not good enough and want to make a mockery of the competition. Warwick said that if all of Stern’s listeners voted – or any other radio campaign started – it wouldn’t make up the difference that Malakar has over the people below him, or above him, in the weekly call rankings.

The only individual who believes HIS own HYPE is Howard Stern who actually believes his LISTENERSHIP could alter IDOL’s Influence.

And….

Album sales are down 16.6% to 117.1 million units, according to Nielsen SoundScan, for the period running from January 1 through April 2.
The top selling digitally-downloaded album so far this year is Daughtry’s self titled album, which has scanned more than 98,000 units.

Lastly,

Sanctuary Group who is home to artists such as Morrissey, Widespread Panic, Motorhead, Jonny Greenwood, Idlewild and Dolores O’Riordan will shut down its U.S. label this summer, according to a source within the company.