Axl Rose finally speaks and has plenty to say about his new album ‘Chinese Democracy’.
On the delay the album (14 years)
There aren’t too many issues of the hundreds [we ran into] that happened as quickly as anyone would have preferred, from building my studio; finding the right players; never did find a producer; still don’t have real record company involvement or support; to getting it out and mixed and mastered.
All that aside, it’s the right record and I couldn’t ask for more in that regard. Could have been a more enjoyable journey, but it’s there now. The art comes first. It dictates if not the course [then] the destination artistically.
On how Universal handled the album..
Unfortunately I have no information for me to believe [that] there was any real involvement or effort from Interscope. I’m not saying there wasn’t. But in my opinion, without [Interscope Geffen A&M chairman] Jimmy Iovine’s involvement, it doesn’t matter who anyone talks to or what they say — virtually nothing will happen from their end.
I do know [that] I’ve been asking for a marketing plan for over five years and still haven’t got anything. We’ve asked for a complete breakdown of promotion expenses and efforts from all parties but unfortunately I’ve received very little information, if anything, so far. On another note, the draft booklet leaking and, I believe, the early shipping of preorders and the inclusion of the early draft booklet for the release was through involvement with Interscope, which was a mess. That’s not to say they don’t work for other artists and make things happen. I feel they work very hard for whatever it is they truly want to sell, whether it’s good or …
On Jimmy Iovine…
Jimmy [Iovine] and whoever would come down to the studio. Things would be good for a month. Then, according to whoever was involved at the time from their side, someone above Jimmy would start putting pressure regarding us on him, Jimmy would start pressuring others at his label [and they] would begin doing the same with us. We get that it’s just how business — and perhaps especially this business — tends to work, but after a month of this the whole thing would get ugly and extensively interfere with getting anything productive done, and near the middle of the third month we’d arrange for Jimmy to come down again. They’d go away happy and the entire process would repeat itself over and over and over. CONTINUE READING
Major labels and indies alike are swarming around Fairfax, Virginia pop act
The Downtown Fiction. Touring in February through March. Today, the band will be playing acoustic sets for Republic, Columbia, Sony ATV and Atlantic. Expect them to close on a deal soon.
KOAR favorite Michael Warren who we profiled in October 08 just signed a co-publishing deal with Atlantic Records (administered by Warner Chapell). Warren is writing with Atlantic’s marquee artists and will have several placements this upcoming year. Warren is still available for a signing a recording agreement. We find his songs more dynamic and hook driven than John Mayer.
For more information contact legal.
We are digging the Oregon rock act The Day The Nights. Full self produced album coming out at the end of February and will be shooting a video for the track ‘Her Name is Alice’ which is also featured in the Oscar nominated movie “The Wrestler”. The members see themselves as a rock n’ roll band with attitude. For fans of Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, and Quicksand.
Our favorite track is ‘Her Name is Alice‘
For more information contact tim@theborisgroup.com
Check out these tracks from singer songwriter Amanda Ghost who hails from London. In fact, Ghost has now become the new head of Sony’s Epic Records, replacing Charlie Walk. Ghost will based in NYC and will join the company effective February 16, 2009 and will oversee management and the creative direction.
Ghost is a pop princess and grammy-nominated songwriter, penning songs for James Blunt “You’re Beautiful”, Beyoncé & Shakira “Beautiful Liar†and Jordin Sparks ‘Tattoo.
Ghost released her debut album “Ghost Stories” on Warner Bros. in 2000 and later went on to release records in the UK on her own record label, Plan A records which was distributed through Universal Records.
Ghost says:
“I’m not a conventional choice as an executive in the music business, but it is testament to the new mood at Sony where content is now king and the music business is being put back in the hands of creative talent such as myself. I’m here to draw on my experiences as an artist, songwriter and producer to make the new and existing artists signed to Epic as brilliant and successful as possible,” she continued.
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