U2 manager Paul McGuinness accused the world’s Internet providers of victimizing the music industry. He accused the ISP’s of adopting a moral code that applies more strictly to one group than to another.

ISP’s do not want to work with the creative community and protect artist rights because they claim that they don’t want to intervene in the traffic of their networks, but history and evidence show that ISP’s have INTERVENED in the traffic when it SUITS and BENEFITS them. This evidence alone displays a discriminatory practice and requires government legislation.

McGuiness saved his sharpest criticism for China.

China is a picture perfect example of a crumbling music business that we as americans, musicians, artists, songwriters, want to avoid at all costs. BBC reported that the huge numbers of pirated CDs and high levels of illegal downloading are forcing Chinese pop stars to find alternative ways to make a living. China’s music industry is considered the world’s most chaotic, those involved in the business say. In other words its pure anarchy.

“McGuinness likened ISPs to “shoplifters” and accused them of “turning their heads” away from the music industry’s troubles and “rigging the market.”

“Warner Music prexy Lachie Rutherford pointed out that the 2% of revenues from downloads and ringtones is shared with performers. “There are huge amounts of money being made from music (by portals and carriers) that are not supporting music, or radio or magazines,” Rutherford said.”

CONTINUE READING

Borders Cut Jobs: Borders who is losing market share to retailers such as Wal-Mart and Amazon will fire 274 workers, or 20 percent of its corporate workforce, as part of a plan to save $120 million a year.

John Mayer indirectly claims he is one of the better guitar players: Mayer responds when asked ‘What does the guitar mean to you now’?

“For me, it’s my flotation device, because I now exist in this celebrity sort of world. But I don’t feel like anybody’s been able to truly knock me off my legs, because I have a trade. You can’t just walk onstage and start playing guitar ’cause you thought it looked neat. With guitar, you get out what you put in, and it’s the ultimate shield for other people trying to fuckin’ take away your heart and soul. It’s a completely exposed craft. There is no facade”.

It’s also a nice to see that Mayer recognizes a good guitar tone that seems so absent in today’s music. “There’s so many clichés about this, which I hate, like “molten glass.” But I want it to sound like a voice. That’s all. And you want that voice to speak back to you in a tone you don’t expect — so it doesn’t sound exactly like you. You want to listen to what it’s saying back to you says Mayer”.

New Music: Check out alive by Superchick. Although Superchick isn’t new, most people haven’t heard of the band. The band has sold over 700,000 albums in the Christian market. They have a new album dropping on June 24th titled “Rock What You Got”.

The Charts: Usher has a No. 1 album this week with “Here I Stand” with 433,000 U.S. copies sold. Ushers last record “Confessions” sold 800,000 first week. Rock act 3 Doors Down sold 63,000 and Death Cab For Cutie’s “Narrow Stairs” sold 33,000.

Major Music Labels Continue Investing In Digital Companies: Universal has invested into Uber, a digital startup that allows users to instantly create multimedia websites and blogs. Warner Music Group also invested $20 million in Lala.

TuneCore Finds A Way To Contribute To The Cesspool of Mediocrity: Tunecore claims it can get unsigned artists on digital stores including iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, and Rhapsody, for roughly $30 an album.

“Twenty years ago, an artist with an acoustic guitar and a four-track demo would need to find a label to get her album on the shelves at Tower Records. Getting that contract was a long and painful process for the few who could navigate it; for most, it never led to anything, and that four-track demo was heard only by friends, family, and patrons of the local coffee shop”.
(Ars Technica)

Jeff Price who heads TuneCore tells Ars Technica that “the music industry changed” on the day that TuneCore went live. Any person on the planet “can have access to worldwide distribution; there are no filters,” he says, and he says it with energy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow us to re-write the story. Twenty years ago, an artist with an acoustic guitar and a four track demo couldn’t get the album on the shelves at Tower Records because in MOST cases, it wouldn’t deserve such a prime placement. It wasn’t a distribution problem, it was called mediocre product problem.

Distribution won’t increase your popularity and certainly won’t increase sales especially if you’re an unknown artist. Jeff Price sees a marketing opportunity what he calls ‘worldwide unfiltered distribution’. Price is contributing to the cesspool of garbage and certainly doesn’t seem to care about the consumer or the music. Filling iTunes with unfiltered music is comparable to dumping raw sewage in our seas. We don’t need more music, we need better music.

If you’re a serious passionate artist looking to build a fan base and hoping to bring your music to the masses, then getting your songs on iTunes is not the solution. The solution is writing great songs and finding a producer that will attack the songs, making them even better. The next step is to play live and putting on a killer live show. Sell your CD’s at a live show for 5 bucks and you were certainly make a return on your investment. If your worthy and fans want more of you, then consider a line of merchandise including t-shirts. When you begin to feel the buzz and you’re getting hundreds upon hundreds of legit emails requesting music, then consider iTunes; or sell your songs on your website establishing a direct relationship with the fans.

If you’re that person with an acoustic guitar and a four-track demo wanting worldwide distribution, consider yourself a dreamer, certainly not an artist.

We want to hear new music. Send us great songs and make our day. Email tips@kingsofar.com with link to your myspace and let us know what song we should be listening to.

Today’s culture hasn’t produced as many great artists as it has in the past. Years ago, we couldn’t get to the stores fast enough to get the newest recordings by MANY competitive artists. Who’s on top of the charts now? No one knows. In reality, no one is on top of the charts, they are all in the middle of mediocrity. When great songs are delivered to us in this era, we must cling to it and cherish it.

Great songs simply cannot be ignored, and a great album cannot be ignored. Thriving Ivory has both. Their reflective songwriting and distinct soothing vocals puts them in between Coldplay and U2. Things took off when Music Director Aaron Axelsen of influential San Francisco rock station KITS Live 105 put the track “Angels on the Moon” into full rotation. Check out the official video for ‘Angels on the Moon‘ and listen to Runaway.

“You’re used to paying extra if you use up your cell phone minutes, but will you be willing to pay extra if your home computer goes over its Internet allowance?”

Since internet usage is uneven among subscribers, Time Warner Cable will have monthly allowances for the amount of data users upload and download. Those who go over the limit will be charged $1 per gigabyte. Subscribers in Beaumont, Texas will be the first in the customer trial.

Users who who download movies or TV shows will be the most concerned of metered internet use. A standard-definition movie can take up 1.5 gigabytes, and a high-definition movie can be 6 to 8 gigabytes.

The truth is metered usage is common overseas and someone needs to finance the infrastructure. The metered model is making a comeback because of consumption. This will slowly change the perception of the internet. One may ask himself, “Is the internet a privilege”?

Internet usage is predicted to skyrocket within the next decade and keeping internet usage down by charging more makes sense.