NEW YORK TIMES May Advertising Revenue Down 8.5%, Internet Ad Sales Up…

KOAR recently posted an article ‘New Music is Killing your Ears‘. Check out this YouTube video (via Coolfer) that will provide you a crystal clear example.

Check out the article in The Wall Street Journal ‘A New Spin for Corporate Music Deals’….

It seems labels are sick of spending cash launching artists and only receiving a small return on investment. Remember, labels only make money off the CD and digital downloads, a dwindling revenue stream. Labels cry and weep when they see those successful artists BENEFIT from successful tours, merchandising
deals, clothing deals, sponsorships, Fan worship, etc.

Warner Brothers has recruited Chris Lighty the manager of 50 Cent to address this dilemma:
Their inability to capitalize on lucrative revenue streams such as merchandise sales and image licensing that typically benefit artists and their managers.

“The music industry is growing,” Warner Chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. told an investor conference last week. “The record industry is not growing.” He went on to say that his company is trying to expand into “many, many other businesses” beyond the sale and licensing of music.

The Firm released this statement regarding the recent loss of another client Kelly Clarkson.

Kelly Clarkson is an enormously talented artist. We are pleased to have served as her managers during her well-deserved rise to stardom and are proud of the role we played in backing her creative choices. “We believed in Kelly from the day we met her and believe in her now. We have only the best wishes and hopes for her in the future.”
Kelly is a quarterback without a coach.

We hope she doesn’t lose this game!

More Clarkson news………………

Kelly says her new record may not be for 10 Year – olds…
I know it’s not going to do what Breakaway did, ’cause it’s not as mainstream. I get that. Some of the songs are not what 10-year-olds are probably going to listen to. But we all go through situations for certain reasons, and I think we should share that. This record is more intense, it’s more raw, it’s more emotional. But it’s not that different. It’s not Metallica. Even if it does tank — who cares? It’s one album! Out of a whole career of albums I’m going to have, you’re worried about one? I’m not worried about it! And I’m obviously not going to want to put out s—. I obviously don’t want to fail. I’m not an idiot.
Like Nebraska from Bruce Springsteen — that’s one of my favorite records, and it’s not the most well-known. But it’s an artist’s record. (Full interview here)

Good Charlotte hopes to ‘Revive’ Good Morning Revival…

Good Charlotte will hop on tour with Justin Timberlake. Good Charlotte recent release ‘Good Morning Revival’ is slow to react.

Daughtry Manager asks himself ‘Would Daughtry get a deal without American Idol’?

Manager Sterling McIlwaine of 19 entertainment doesn’t mince words when talking about the failures of record companies to find and develop talent like Daughtry’s………

‘He was just playing bars around Greensboro a year and a half ago,’ McIlwaine told Pollstar. He had no idea what the future had in store for him. I’m not sure that the business, as it is now, would have signed him had he gotten in front of A&R people before he came on the show. Thats the irony of the whole thing.’

Daughtry has sold 2.6 million records.

Lastly, KOAR will be posting ‘NEW’ music soon………………………

Labels:
Major labels have made serious cuts when it comes to staff, and they started with promo and marketing. While it was common knowledge that majors had plenty of fat to trim, the cuts that were made have left a bare bones staff of people too busy to be interested in the music they’re working. Any one person is working more records than is really possible, and although they are paying for the assistance of 3rd party PR companies, this kind of disorganization at the top always trickles down. For marketing departments to handle the workload, they have adopted a very simplistic template for press that they can plug any artist into, making only minor changes. Here’s what you need to work a major label record to press: 2 press releases, 1 bio, 1 audio link, 1 video link, tour dates, ad budget. Unfortunately, this standard set by majors has been adopted by essentially everyone, and ‘not knowing anything about what you’re working’ has become somewhat commonplace.

PR:
Since PR companies are given so few materials from their clients, there isn’t much more they can pass along to their press outlets, except maybe a few pictures. The main reason they are hired by labels in the first place isn’t really to ‘do press’ but to manage the ad buys and make sure people print the press releases. Where a successful PR agent once knew all of the big players in print personally, they are now maintaining spreadsheets to keep track of the thousands of music sites and blogs, a list that changes almost daily. These sites and blogs are of varying quality and reach, and their writers are of varying skill and taste, meaning for every good review, I’ll show you 10 bad ones and vice versa. While the actual work load is relatively minimal for just one band in this template system, PR companies are also feeling the pinch of an industry hemorrhaging money, and are picking up as many clients as possible to make up the difference. And while they aren’t being given any real information about the acts they’re working and most of the time have never even heard the music, they are still expected to produce results from their campaigns. They must report back with every site and magazine that has written about the artist and anywhere ads have been placed.

Press:
The average music site will receive upwards of 50 press releases a day. In a given week, they will be introduced to approximately 30 new bands, all of whom are ‘the next big thing.’ From the PR companies they work with, they are expected to print every press release and all of the tour dates, post the songs and videos from the acts and then review the album. While MOST sites will never receive money from labels or artists, many can be included in bulk ad buys through a number of companies, where they make fractions of a penny per day from their ad space. The constant flux of music sites and blogs can be attributed to how easy it is to start one, but how difficult it is to maintain. Writers are being bombarded by people demanding exposure, most of them not worthy of it, and find it difficult to break even, let alone turn a profit. Additionally, those who created sites because of their love of music quickly learn that not only does love not pay the bills, but the serious reporting they were hoping to do is made near impossible by the lack of information and access available. Magazines are certainly experiencing these same problems, and then some, as their ad space costs about 5 to 10 times more than what can be purchased on websites. The cost of producing a physical magazine is much higher than a web page, and finding someone who can afford the space often takes precendence over unearthing the underground.

Unknown artists do not break ground in press without ad budgets. Most press outlets are too broke to be concerned with hooking someone up, unless they’re being hooked up in return. Perhaps, if they’re creative, they can appeal to the right hipster journalists at the bigger rags and gain a little traction, but that hasn’t proven useful as those artists rarely achieve significant sales as a result. Now, I am not saying that press is pointless, but I will say that for music, it is completely dominated by those who can afford to purchase a writer’s time and pay for ad space. Real music journalism is barely alive today. Real writers who see the stories and wish to pursue them face roadblock after roadblock as their PR contact tries to find the right information for the label contact, who may or may not have heard of the band, but is certainly too busy to be bothered. Reaching out to the bands directly can also be a dead end as writers are bounced between the numerous managers and staffers, if they are able to find contact information at all. And should they finally get that story, the one they had been waiting for, all they can do is hope someone sees it amidst the endless overhyped press releases and ‘purchased’ articles.

So here’s the question:
Even if you DID have the ‘real thing’ on your hands, what would you do about it?

AJ, KOAR

Clarkson has just fired her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz of the management company The Firm, reports Us Weekly.

A source tells the mag, “It happened last night. They disagreed over the songs and the direction. “Everyone is surprised.”

KOAR knew this was coming, to many chefs in the kitchen.

The one time hot shot Beverly Hills Management Company has lost most of their King Pin artists including Kelly, Linkin Park, Staind, 30 Seconds to Mars, etc..

Kelly, we will say it again, and again, and again….you are a rock star!

Royal Bliss signs to Capitol/Virgin Records.

Downtown Records, label home to Gnarls Barkley and Cold War Kids, is planning to partner with Internet entrepreneur Peter Rojas on a new online label venture featuring ad-supported free music.

Warner Music Group released a brief statement stated that it was still considering an offer for EMI.

Relentless touring and a single at radio pays off for Papa Roach…..

Papa Roach began with a slow start with the release of Paramour Sessions moving only 6,000 a week. The record is picking up steam moving 10k a week and now getting 50k plays a day on myspace after the release of the second single ‘Forever’ which is an active rock and fan favorite.

It always feels like somebody’s watching Me: YouTube will test video ID with Time Warner and Walt Disney.

YouTube who has come under fire for copyright infrigement will test a new video identification technology with the largest media companies, including Time Warner Walt Disney. The technology, developed by engineers will help content owners such as movie and TV studios identify videos uploaded to the site without the copyright owner’s
permission.