Shockingly, The NFL has asked musicians to pay for the Superbowl.

The NFL reportedly asked Katy Perry, Rihanna and Coldplay, their top choices to play the 2015 Super Bowl Halftime Show, if they would be willing to pay the league in order to secure one of the biggest gigs in the world, according to The Wall Street Journal.

When reaching out to artists, league representatives asked some acts if they would exchange a headlining slot for a portion of their post-Super Bowl tour earnings, or make another type of financial contribution to the NFL. Sources told the Journal that Music reps gave a negative response.

While the NFL doesn’t typically pay artists who perform during the Super Bowl Halftime Show, they do tend to cover travel and production expenses, which can be upwards of a million dollars. Considering the Halftime Show has only grown more popular in recent years — this year’s performance with Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers drew 115.3 million viewers, compared to the 112.2 million who watched the game — it makes sense they’d want a piece of the pie.

Rusty Maples is a Las Vegas based alternative indie rock band that spent most of 2014 on tour throughout the U.S. while finishing their EP The Western World (out digitally August 19). The group was voted “Best Indie Rock Band” in Desert Companion’s Best of the City 2014 and stopped in Austin during the band’s spring tour to perform several shows during SXSW, including an official spot marking the foursome as the only band out of Las Vegas to officially showcase. They have received local support from KMXB MIX 94.1, KOMP 92.3 and Neon Reverb Radio. The band was also named “Best Live Band of 2013” in Las Vegas Weekly’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards. Check out the track Long Walk Home.
Contact: Alissa@prpluslv.com

The global music industry could agree on a single weekly release date for albums. Instead of the UK releasing albums on Monday, the United States on Tuesday, Australia and Germany on Friday, and so on, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is reportedly moving toward a unified worldwide street date of Friday.

According to Billboard, executives in the major territories and at the major labels want to be able to stage simultaneous international releases. They hope to reboot the system in July 2015, after which record shops from Birmingham to Boston and Bangkok will all put out their new albums each Friday.

Piracy is the main reason for this change. Often, new releases go on sale first in Australia on Friday, four days before the same music becomes available in the US. If tracks are leaked onto file-sharing networks, that’s four days that American fans are asked to await the domestic streetdate.

Beyoncé’s surprise album release, last December, is also being cited as a main reason for this change. By becoming available for purchase everywhere at once, the singer’s fifth long-player benefited from a huge, worldwide response, breaking an iTunes sales record.

Despite the enthusiasm from some quarters, changing the streetdate in markets like the UK and US will require lots of planning, as well as cooperation across disparate parts of the music and retail industries, including warehousing, transport and record shops. Some smaller labels are said to be resisting the move, claiming that they sell more records by releasing albums earlier in the week.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has yet to release a formal statement on its reported plans.

Buzz Track: Nineteen Fifty Three

Nick Raven is a songwriter/producer/guitarist from Auckland, New Zealand. He released his debut album Love & Lomography and just released a new single ‘Nineteen Fifty Three’ takes its title from the fifties, and its musical inspiration from the eighties: think Matt Johnson’s observant songwriting in The The, and The Cure’s. The track was produced by Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers, Mel C).
Contact: nick-raven@live.com