Total Request Live the series on MTV that features popular music videos will soon shut down after 10 years on the air. TRL was used as a promotion tool used by musicians, actors, and other celebrities to promote their newest works to the teen demographic.

MTV pulled the plug because the popularity of music videos perished along with the TRL artists including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, N’Sync, Eminem, The Backstreet Boys, Blink-182, and Jessica Simpson.

The writing was on the wall at this year Video Music Awards when the German boy band Tokio Hotel walked on stage and grabbed the moon man trophy for Best New Artist. Long gone are the days when N’Sync was as popular as Sarah Palin, instead it’s Tokio Who?

Today’s Best New Artist is the artist no one knows about.

“The show spent ten years cycling the worst of pop music into daily rotation. And while you’d think that a decade in the biz would confer some legitimacy onto the show, you’d be wrong: Its Nielsen score actually peaked in 1999, after a mere year on the air”. (Wired)

Don Henley gives virtual chat with Star-Telegram pop music critic
Preston Jones.

“The record labels have always stolen from artists; now, music consumers are doing it, too. The only way for a musician to make a living anymore is on the road, because the Internet has just about succeeded in killing copyright”.

“We came up in an era when bands actually tried to avoid publicity except for what was absolutely necessary. Our generation of musicians also considered the visual media as something to be avoided in most instances. We tried to maintain an air of mystery, a little aloofness. We would hole up and write our songs, record them, reluctantly do a photo session, give a couple of interviews and then hit the road”.

“The live performance was the thing and FM radio was king. There wasn’t all this silly celebrity culture, all these tabloid TV shows and rabid packs of paparazzi roaming the streets. There was no YouTube, no MySpace, no TMZ. In the ‘60s and early ‘70s, most artists weren’t willing to “ho” to get their fifteen minutes of fame”.

“Back in the day, there was no MTV or VH-1. That was the beginning of the end, I think — MTV. It forcibly turned an aural medium into a visual medium and, in doing so, killed the opportunity for the listener to use his imagination. Bob Pittman, the inventor of MTV, said: “Young Americans are TV babies. If you got their emotions going, forget their logic, you’ve got ’em”.

“He went on to convince the struggling, major labels that MTV was the ultimate promotional tool — and, for a time, it was, enabling the majors to sell trainloads of absolute crap. During the MTV era, the number of one-hit wonders grew exponentially, and the music business has never recovered. As the song says, “Video killed the radio star,” and now the Internet is finishing the job”.

I don’t know if we would have made it in today’s climate. I’m not sure that we would have wanted to.”

Embracing The Online World: Music labels are pumping up promotions in the online world. MySpace will launch a site this month that will assist music companies manage their catalogs online while Universal Music’s Polydor Records will distribute Snow Patrol’s upcoming album as an Apple iPhone application. Regardless, many labels are still stunned by complicated technology. Read the full article from Forbes titled ‘Record Biz Pumps It Up‘.

Death Magnetic Released Days Ahead: The release date September 12th flew out the window. Metallica’s UK label Vertigo has soft released “Death Magnetic’ after a slew of retailers put it on sale earlier this week. The entire record can be streamed here.

New Study: The latest AMS Radio Index shows that 64 percent of American adults listen to the radio at least once a day and the survey showed that radio remains the number one source for Americans to learn about new music. Internet radio is also on the rise which increased 39%, up from 23% six months ago. Radio is the top source for new music? Hmmmm…

Recommended Reading: The Guardian UK says the indie labels are the new mavericks that define trends and launch careers. “Record labels that are also fueled by the passion for music rather than money are becoming more successful”.

The Pay Off In Running A Torrent Site? Oink Admin Alan Ellis has been charged with conspiracy to defraud.

Recommended Listening: Film Noir and The 59 Sound by
The Gas Light Anthem. For fans of The Replacements, Bruce Springsteen, and Rise Against. The New Brunswick, New Jersey band just released their debut on indie label Side One Dummy Records.

Metallica’s new album will hit the street tomorrow with first week sales expected to top at least 300k. Listen to the track All Nightmare Long.

Prison Welcomes Elite Torrents Administrator: Daniel Dove, a former administrator for Elite Torrents has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. Dove recruited members with extremely high upload connections and ran a high speed server for the purpose of distributing pirated content.

Underoath are Overachievers, the band debuted Number 8 on Billboard selling 56,000 copies of their new record ‘Lost in the Sound of Separation’. The record was mixed by David Bendeth and produced by Adam D and Matt Goldman.

Slipknot Frontman Says Labels Cause Piracy:

Of course, lots of people blame the labels for piracy but Taylor believes they aren’t doing their job properly since they promote acts which aren’t up to standard, resulting in people feeling the acts simply aren’t worth the money.

“I think it’s the quality of the product. If record companies would stop giving any f**king mook (idiot) on the street with a fringe a record deal or their own record label, maybe you would sell more f**king albums, dips**ts.”

We somewhat agree with Corey, but the majority of the music out there whether it sells or not is uninspiring and at best worth a stolen download or a one and gone paid download on Itunes – it isn’t about the “book” anymore – it is about the chapter. Maybe that’s the reason why people are reading more books on the whole these days. Adult paperback sales have rose 37% since January.

There is a MORE to the decline of music “collection” and “buying” then just simply crappy music – but that the core issue will always be talent – talented musicians and talented record people. Where are the Led Zeppelins and Ahmet Urtegan of the world today?

Pathway To Providence who hails from Florida started as a group of high school friends hanging out and writing music. The band shows a glimpse of promise with tracks like Hazy Eyes and Hypochondria. Unlike the other of multitude of bands, Pathway To Providence has the chops of making a solid rock record but they have to lose the Blink 182 pop punk influence. Why are bands desperately clinging to a music scene that is virtually dead? Maybe they see Vans Warped Tour as the only meaningful way of touring and PureVolume as the only musical outlet for exposure. You cannot build your band around Warped Tour and at the same time build an audience. It’s close to impossible. We are in a new era with nothing left to lose. It’s time to take chances and challenge the boundaries that were set before your eyes.