Island Def Jam Music Group Launch New Hip-Hop Label in Partnership with TAG Body Sprays: Island Def Jam and Procter & Gamble’s TAG brand formed a new hip-hop record label, TAG Records which will be led by hip-hop mogul Jermaine Dupri who will act as president. The TAG Brand will showcase TAG Record’s artist and Jermaine Dupri across various TAG brand advertising and marketing initiatives throughout 2008.

Does Free Streaming Sell Music? Last.fm’s free, ad-supported music streams have resulted in a 119 percent increase in music purchases through Amazon, the company said today. Last.fm says they have the proof and streaming free music allowing users to have full-track previews drives music sales, both digital and physical.

So far the Last.fm model seems to be working. The labels get paid every time a track is played and longtime members were buying more music too—there was a 66 percent increase in album and track purchases among existing users.

Radio Links to iTunes: US radio broadcaster, Clear Channel, has linked all of its digital FM music stations to Apple Inc.’s iTunes store, giving listeners a way to buy songs they’ve heard. Clear Channel will now share in revenue from iTunes.

New Music: Denver band Flobots is climbing up the alternative charts. They were discovered after Denver radio station, KTCL, began playing their track Handlebars. The beginning of the track instantly sucks you in and they remind us of novelty act Cake meets Eminem.

Payola: Wired published a column titled ‘Is Sonicbids’ Pay-for-Play Music Promotion the New Payola?‘ that discusses whether they share artists’ fees with the websites that use bands’ content.

Recommended Listening: So Long and Little Pill By Stereoside.

 

A new study shows continued growth for iTunes. When it comes to familiarity, Apple’s iTunes leads among the herd as the dominant digital music destination, even over MySpace.

R.E.M – Accelerate – (TW) 115k
Counting Crows – Saturday Nights – (TW) 60k – (Total) 150k
Panic At The Disco – Shine A Light – (TW) 37k – (Total) 176k
Taylor Swift (TW) 27k – (Total) 2,800,000
Sara Bareillas – Little Voice – (TW) 27k – (Total) 633k
Raconteurs – (TW) 25k – (Total) 67k
Alicia Keys – As I AM – (TW) 22k – (Total) 3,363,000
Jordin Sparks (TW) 19k – (Total) 631k
Paramore – RIOT! – (TW) 12k – (Total) 833k
Foo Fighters – Echoes – (TW) 6k – (Total) 705k

Bored to Tears: American Idol’s Simon Cowell said he was bored by the talent earlier this year – but not anymore. “It’s a reality show,” he told The Post. “If you’re bored, you’re bored. If you’re not, you’re not. I can’t help it if I’m bored. Sometimes it’s mind-numbingly boring, and it shows on my face.”

“It’s a long run during auditions,” he says. “That’s the time that you’re most miserable.” The contestants appear to be “trying harder” in recent weeks, and that’s why he seems more engaged than he did earlier in the season, he says.

Thats how we feel at Kings. We are bored. We haven’t really found any mind blowing artists lately – maybe some decent ones, but definitely not great!

Speaking of Idol, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, were to appear Wednesday on the uber-popular US reality show “American Idol.” Other stars who recently signed on to the Fox television show are Victoria and David Beckham, Jim Carrey, Reese Witherspoon, Julianne Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Bono, Celine Dion, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Connolly, Mariah Carey and Robin Williams.

Perez For Sale? Hilton’s core audience is twentysomething females who make his trash talking and celebrity gossip site a daily destination. ‘As popular as PerezHilton.com is, it gets less than half the traffic of the reigning celebrity-gossip sites: Time Warner’s TMZ.com and NBC Universal-Yahoo joint venture OMG.yahoo.com’. Some insiders say Perez is looking for a potential bidder.

So Who is Really the #1 Music Retailer? Wal-Mart is still the #1 music retailer, not Apple’s iTunes. Hits Daily Double says the Big 4 Distributors confirm this. We say calling Apple the #1 music retailer in April based on a week’s worth of data calculated back in January is a tough call.

New Music: Pop band Camera Cant Lie is heading to NYC for a string of showcases. Check out the track Losing You. Also, Alkaline Trio posted a new song titled ‘Help Me‘ on their myspace and their new record will be released in July through Epic Records.

Breaking Bendeth: Q Prime who represents some of the biggest acts including Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Shania Twain has added producer
David Bendeth to their roster. Bendeth has produced platinum selling artists including Paramore, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Breaking Benjamin.

Radio Remains Relevant: 72% of adults are listening to the radio about the same amount or more than they did five years ago, according to American Media Services‘ latest “Radio Index” survey. 73% still usually turn on the radio when they get in the car. “The findings are interesting from many standpoints,” said AMD Chairman Edward Seeger. “They show that ‘regular’ radio remains a strong industry even while other audio devices are available.

Also, radio offers an experience unlike playlists on the iPod. I personally like to be suprised and I don’t mind sitting through a bad song.

Imeem Acquires Snocap: Snocap which has been struggling over the past year has been bought by Imeem. The Snocap/ Myspace widget stores never caught fire with the MySpace artist community. Many artists complained Snocap charged excessive per-track fees, which led to high-priced downloads to fans and leaving little left for the artist.

A Good Year: Virgin Megastores had one of the most successful years the U.S. chain of stores have ever had. Sales for DVD’s, Fashion, Video Game and Books were up. “Virgin Megastores are being recognized as a lifestyle entertainment shopping destination, rather than solely a music retailer,” says CEO Simon Wright.

A Victory for Victory Records: Hawthorne Heights who has been in a long cold war between labels and managers have finally come to a peace agreement.The label and the band have settled its differences and Victory Records will release Hawthorne Heights new studio album in late summer according to Hits.

Home copying – burnt into teenage psyche: A new study says 95% of youngsters are illegally copying music. Many record label executives see the piracy problem getting worse before it gets better. Some say new business models that adapt to consumers taste will put an end to the rapid growth of illegal downloading.

Ultimately it has to get better … At some point musicians and songwriters have to make enough money out of it otherwise they stop doing it,” he said.

New Music Streams: Alternative rock band 10 Years will be releasing their new record ‘Division’ through Universal Republic in May. Their new single Beautiful is climbing up the alternative and active rock charts and they just completed a video shoot with director Paul Boyd who has worked with Sting, Lenny Kravitz and Shania Twain. A couple of new tracks can be streamed here.

Recommended Listening: Room on Fire By Say it Twice

The Kings of A&R: SLASH of Guns N’Roses said there are no more identifiable guitar players and that emo sucks. We have an answer to that. It’s called the lack of musicianship. Being influenced by Fall Out Boy won’t lead you to the pearly gates. Those who listen and are influenced by artists pre-dating 2000 will generally have a better idea of musicianship and songwriting. If you want a career or at least a HIT, begin writing songs with dynamics. We want to hear a real vocalist this week. A vocalist that has a wider range than almost any other rock vocalist. Email Tips@kingsofar.com with a link to your myspace.