New York rock act Me Talk Pretty signs to the The MGMT Company. Mike Plotnikoff (My Chemical Romance/Buckcherry) and Arun VenKatesh (Taking Back Sunday) produced the latest recordings. The band performed on several Warped Tour dates in 2008 while their recent performance at SXSW sparked interest from labels and publishing companies. Check out the track Flame and Survive. For more information contact info@metalkpretty.com

Until a few years ago, the Grammy Awards helped winners sell lots of records in the following week, but today, the spikes of album sales are much lower. For instance, award winners such as Robert Plant and Alison Kraus saw sales of 77,000 the following week compared to Norah Jones’s album “Come Away With Me” which moved 621,000 in 2003.

“The audience for the Grammys has been steadily decreasing over the last two decades; as recently as 2004 the show attracted 26.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen.” (The New York Times)

Ironically, Taylor Swift who wasn’t nominated for any awards cleaned house this week selling 92,000 copies of her latest album ‘Fearless’.

San Diego pop act Allstar will showcase at Knitting Factory in Hollywood on February 21st. The band combines today’s ingredients that puts them smack in the middle of acts like Jonas Brothers, All American Rejects and Blink 182.

Check out the track Journey to The End of My Life

For more information contact BCMcLane@aol.com

Los Angeles new wave/electro act Aerodrone just got a marketing deal through Myspace Records. The music video for Sceneboy is featured today on the myspace music video page. The band is showcasing Feb 24th at The Knitting Factory for music supervisors courtesty of Trailer Park Avenue who have previously had placements in shows like Smallville, C.S.I., Nip/Tuck, Gray’s Anatomy, Underworld, Cloverfield, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. They are also appearing on DJ Rossstar’s radio show Feb 18th whose past guests include acts like Katy Perry. Check out the Aerodrone feature in our 07 column.

For more information email info@aerodrone.com

“Virgin Megastores announced today that it will mark the closing of its iconic Times Square store with the biggest sale in music retail history. The staff at the Times Square Virgin Megastore has been working around the clock to prepare for this major event, which will begin February 19, 2009.”

“This sale will give our loyal shoppers one last chance to browse the world’s largest music store,” said Simon Wright, CEO, Virgin Entertainment Group. “We’ll be offering discount prices on items that might be difficult to find in the days to come, and we hope our customers have a lot of fun shopping this final sale.”

Nothing lasts forever……..