BMI wants Pandora to pay the piper. Or at least pay the piper a little more.

Music licensing company BMI filed suit against internet music streaming service Pandora on Thursday, demanding higher licensing fees and accusing Pandora of trying to do an end-run around BMI’s licensing rate structure.

In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in southern New York, BMI contends that, despite Pandora and other streaming services’ growing share of the music-listening marketplace — and accompanying increase in advertising revenues — Pandora has been paying an unreasonably low licensing rate, and in fact has been lobbying Congress to lower its fees even further. Read more

Steven Spielberg on Wednesday predicted an “implosion” in the film industry is inevitable, whereby a half dozen or so $250 million movies flop at the box office and alter the industry forever. What comes next — or even before then — will be price variances at movie theaters, where “you’re gonna have to pay $25 for the next Iron Man, you’re probably only going to have to pay $7 to see Lincoln.” He also said that Lincoln came “this close” to being an HBO movie instead of a theatrical release.

George Lucas agreed that massive changes are afoot, including film exhibition morphing somewhat into a Broadway play model, whereby fewer movies are released, they stay in theaters for a year and ticket prices are much higher. His prediction prompted Spielberg to recall that his 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial stayed in theaters for a year and four months. Read more

Buzz Track: Shame

25 year old Andria Simone is making a name for herself borrowing from Aretha Franklin, Amy Winehouse, and Adele yet bringing something completely new to the table. She was born and raised in Toronto and her voice and style reached the ears of Toronto JUNO Award-winning music producers. Andria was a Featured performer at Canadian Music Fest 2013 for CMW and her song “Do What I Want” was licensed by NIKE CANADA for a Fitness Campaign
Contact: deejtree@gmail.com

As Americans celebrate the nation’s independence on July 4, MTV will also honor its own origins as a station that started out focusing primarily on music.

Hearkening back to the days before “Jersey Shore,” “Teen Mom” and “Awkward,” MTV is joining forces with VH1 and CMT for “Music Independence Day,” which aims to draw attention to emerging musical artists.

The artists will also be able to sell their music to fans. And those will be able to leave tips for the artists. (Hopefully, the tips won’t be along the lines of, “Don’t quit your day jobs.”)

“We want to let fans discover and really love up musicians, give a tip, buy them a beer or simply send a message of support,” Viacom Music Group president Van Toffler said. “We have a history of introducing new artists, celebrating our audiences’ favorite established superstars and providing a forum for all to reveal their influences and the stories behind their music … So we’re going to celebrate the music, let musicians get heard, promoted, and loved. That ain’t all bad.” Read more..

Buzz Track: Ashes of My Paradise

Electro-pop singer Kelly Sweet who we featured last year as an emerging artist is still creating a buzz since MTV “The Hive” premiered her video Ashes of My Paradise. She has received coverage in Seventeen Magazine and Elle. She falls between Ellie Goulding and Florence and The Machine.  She is performing at Club Moscow in Hollywood on June 19th.
Contact: mikesavage123@gmail.com