Buzz Track: Do What You Want, Be What You Are

Lael Summer, a singer-songwriter has just released her debut EP featuring 4 songs from her forthcoming album, Burden to Bear which will be released early 2013. At 14, she opened for Jon Anderson of ‘Yes’ at B.B. King’s, singing Cat Steven’s ‘Peace Train.’ Lael is an expressive and sultry singer/songwriter bringing a fresh pop twist to classic soul. For fans of Sade, Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse and Norah Jones.

Contact: marla@marlamase.com

Most musicians think the time to hire an attorney is not one minute before you
absolutely have to. All too often, the artist finds out that they needed a lawyer much
sooner than they thought—and sometimes that lesson is very expensive. We spent the day for an exclusive interview with Martin F. Frascogna, a lawyer who’s workingto change how—and when in their careers—musicians and lawyers come together.

5:30 am Mornings in the Frascogna house are a finely orchestrated kind of chaos.

It would be easy to mistake this scene for just plain chaos, but turn up the volume,
and you find that the routine is quite by design. As an entertainment lawyer
who specializes in International Music, Marty Frascogna’s work hours have to
accommodate half a dozen time zones on any given day.

On this particular morning, he has a 6 am call from Ireland with artist Senekah.
They are discussing the previous night’s performance, progress on a music video
concept, and Marty is briefing his artist on the strategy he’s using for the negotiation
of a label deal. Frascogna usually takes his first call and gets through his first round
of email at home, allowing him to be part of the family’s early morning routine of
feeding dogs and changing diapers, and also be accessible to his growing family of
clients.
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Amazon almost gives away this years most anticipated releases…

Showbiz 411 says this:

They bought ‘em, they can what they want with ‘em: Amazon.com is pretty much giving away downloads of the new albums by Green Day and No Doubt. You can pick ‘em up, or pick ‘em out for five bucks. That’s the equivalent of free, kids. (The so called deluxe version of No Doubt’s “Push and Shove” are $7.99.)

Well, Amazon paid the freight to Warner Bros and to Interscope, so they can do what they want. With music sales very shaky, they probably figure it’s the only way to stimulate sales.

But at five bucks, Amazon is taking a hair cut, that’s for sure. And it means that the two albums will do much better in the charts next week for debuts than they might have otherwise.

Was it necessary? For Green Day, maybe. Band leader Billie Joe Armstrong is in rehab, and the group has two more albums coming this fall. “Uno,” the first, is very enjoyable lite punk rock, just in the vein of “American Idiot” and Green Day’s past efforts. Warner Bros. is desperate for a hit with their name on it given their current situation.

The new regime finally ousted Lyor Cohen. With Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Cohen turned WB into the company without hits. This week, as Cohen leaves with millions of dollars, new houses, and lots of prizes, WB has just a few scattered CDs on Atlantic. But the Warner Bros. name is, as usual, nowhere to be found at the top of the charts. Oh, yes: and James Taylor is suing them.

As for “Push and Shove,” it’s No Doubt’s first album in 11 years. Don’t speak! Yes, it’s true. Gwen Stefani had a couple of solo albums, launched fashion lines and had kids. Now the group is back. No Doubt, like matchbox twenty, has become a dependable brand. (I really love m20?s “She’s So Mean.”) Anyway, “Push and Shove” will do very well at this price point.

But in both cases, it’s a concession that no money can be made from actual album sales. The revenue has to come from live performances. For No Doubt, there’s little doubt that will happen. But with Armstrong’s problems, Green Day is now a big question mark. Still all the songs are catchy and hummable, ready for radio or what’s left of it. For my money, I’d rather have the matchboxtwenty, and definitely Aimee Mann.

The albums, by the way, are not getting good reviews. The No Doubt lacks passion and a reason, frankly. Nothing on it is equal to their cover of “It’s My Life” or “Don’t Speak.” And Green Day–three albums? How about one really good one?

Anyway, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, and the Rolling Stones are coming to town soon.

Buzz Track: What Your Mother Taught You

News Update….

Kingsfoil hit #47 on the iTunes Rock Charts yesterday. Check them out today on VH1’s Morning Buzz program.

Kingsfoil has been on the Kings list for a while now and we love them even more now. Check out the new release as well as the video for the track What Your Mother Taught You. The new track was produced by Dustin Burnett (Newsboys, Augustana). The band has performed with Passion Pit, Dev, as well as Cobra Starship. The band will release their new record on September 29th that will coincide with a performance at the Chameleon Club in PA.

Contact: todd@masterkeymanagement.com

Buzz Track: Monster Soul

Here is a new song from Mike and Cody, two college students that self- produced an EP that was released last year. That track is in the vein of Foster The People and MGMT. Last year they were #1 most popular out of 12,000 Washington D.C. artists on Bandcamp, as well as #36 on the pop charts.

Contact: cody.hochheiser@gmail.com