NY Attorney General and music industry nemesis Eliot Spitzer is running for governor. Big Hollywood stars and media moguls including Netscape founder Jim Clark are contributing to his campaign. As you know Eliot Spitzer served subpoenas against record labels in an investigation into “payola”, the illegal compensation of radio stations for playing certain songs. I believe Spitzer would be much more suited as a VP of A&R rather than a NY Governor. Apparently, Spitzer knows the different between a hit and a stiff even commenting that J Lo can’t even hum her own tune. Considering his background and credentials I predict that he would learn the record business rather quickly.

-Producer management company, Worlds End, have started a new indie label called Beverly Martel Music. They just signed Long Island’s Madison Prep and Sacramento upstarts Track Fighter.

When a record is played on “terrestrial� broadcast radio in the United States (i.e., over the air), who makes money? Since a radio broadcast is a “public performance� of the song in the record under the U.S. Copyright Act, the songwriters and publishers make money through their performing rights organization, whether ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. But does the artist? Does the session drummer? Does the record company?

Not in the United States.

If the same record is played in Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, or any one of a host of other countries, not only do the songwriters and publishers get paid a royalty through their PRO, but the artists, session players and copyright owner of the recording also get paid through a sound recording PRO. CONTINUE READING

Unsigned Virgin Millionaires who we featured in KOAR’s Higher Learning has outsold major label artist releases during the same six week period in their hometown market Indianapolis.
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Virgin Millionaires – N/A – 1,834 units (6 wks)Â Top 40 Soundscan, first 2 wks Top 10
Wreckers – Warner Bros. – 1,666 units (6 wks)
Raconteurs – V2 – 2,059 units (7 wks)
Wolfmother – Interscope – 1,396 units (9 wks)
Blue October – Universal – 1,196 units (6 wks)
Angels & Airwaves – Geffen – 1,777 units (6 wks)
Taking Back Sunday – WAR – 2,633 units (8 wks)
Snow Patrol – ANM – 1,216 units (7 wks)
Goo Goo Dolls – Warner Bros. – 2,482 units (10 wks)
Mark Knopfler – Warner Bros – 2,257 units (10 wks)
Flyleaf – Octone – 2,893 units (15 wks)

Solid spins on WZPL (Indy) and WRZX (Alt). Sold-Out 7/1 Concert @ Birdy’s Live

This is a success story that A&R’s should be looking for.

1) an unsigned band services song to radio
2) radio station likes song therefore spins song
3) consumers go to store and buy record.

Hence, this is a solid radio/retail story. Where are the A&Rs?

Check out the tracks

For more information contact legal Nick Ferrera.

-Metal act Ill Nino has been dropped from RoadRunner.

-Due to security threats some Canadian businesses are beginning to ban iPods and other mp3 players from the workplace to their ability to act as high-capacity portable storage. Who would ever think that songs would be looked at as files and data..(Globe and Mail)

-The EMI/Warner drama continues as the NY Post ran an article Music Deal’s On Ice (EMI-Warner Unlikely). As KOAR mentioned, the European court decision to overturn the 2004 SonyBMG merger has put heat or (ice) on the potential EMI/Warner Merger.

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I don’t want my MTV. I don’t want my VH1. I don’t want my Daily Download or TRL. I want my YouTube.

Video site YouTube has said its users are now watching more than 100 million videos per day.

*YouTube has 29% of the country’s multimedia market (Hitwise)
*Last month 2.5 billion videos were watched on YouTube
*60% of all videos watched online in the US are on Youtube while Yahoo, Microsoft’s MSN, Google and AOL each have 3 to 5% of the video search market.
*It has almost 20 million visitors to the site each month, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. (BBC)