* MUSIC LABELS, DEALS, A&R *

A Charlie Brown Christmas - Chapters 1-3

 

JAMAICA'S MUSIC LIBRARY COLLECTION STOLEN - APPEALS TO THE PUBLIC FOR IT'S RETURN

[BBC, 12/4/08]

In January this year, staff at Jamaica's Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBC-J) made a shocking discovery. One of the country's most important music collections, including original recordings by Bob Marley and Pete Tosh, had been ransacked and thousands of vinyl records and CDs had gone missing. It is nearly one year and not a single record has been recovered. Officials are hoping an appeal to music fans will help replace the collection built up over the years by the JBC. Created in 1961 at the end of the colonial era, the JBC followed a model very similar to the BBC: a public service to inform, educate and entertain. The radio station was there at the birth of Jamaica's music business when all kinds of music burst forth on the Caribbean island. Its music library had everything from mento to ska, and from rocksteady to reggae. In 1997, the government sold off parts of the JBC. Under the deal, the library of historic film and video footage, plus the reels of tape and records played on the radio station would be kept as part of the national archive. The collection was stored in the old headquarters of the JBC in part of central Kingston called Half-Way Tree. There it lay, seemingly locked away for safe keeping for more than a decade. Then workers from the JBC's replacement, the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica, or PBC-J, toured the building to check the archive for themselves. "When we came in we saw piles and piles of sleeves that the 45's came in, literally a couple of thousand on the floor just laying on the ground," said Leighton Thomas, the head of the PBC-J. It was estimated that some 80% of the collection had been taken, but the true scale of the loss was difficult to calculate as no accurate records were kept. A team is now trying to work out what was taken and what is left. Classic reggae cuts that are probably irreplaceable seem to be missing. "Artists would go out and make just one vinyl record only for radio, a one-off cut," says Mr. Thomas. "Some of Bob Marley's original recordings would have been here, material that was never mass produced and sold. So that's what we're searching for, to see if we've still got the Bob Marley before he was Bob Marley." Lee Scratch Perry was one dub reggae producer who had his early hits played on the JBC. Police are still investigating what happened.

 

CANADIAN BAND WRITES TUNE FOR BRITNEY'S "CIRCUS"

[CBC, 12/3/08]

Members of a Canadian band penned the music for one of the songs on Britney Spears' new CD, Circus, being released Tuesday, December 2. Adrien Gough and Henry Walter, both of Halifax, wrote the music for the song Mmm Papi with Peter-John Kerr of Montreal. They composed the music under their band name, Let's Go to War, and received production credits on the album. The lyrics were written by Spears and Nicole Morier, one of the pop star's producers. "It's got a '60s go-go vibe," Walter said in an interview with the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. "It's a fun track and is not trying to be anything it's not." The trio, now based in Toronto, submitted several tunes to Kobalt Music in Los Angeles, and one of their submissions was picked up by Morier. They had no contact with Spears herself. Spears released "Circus" on her 27th birthday. She performed songs from the new album under a big top in New York City and unveiled plans for a 26-city tour starting next March that will include Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver. Several songs make reference to her status as a centre of attention for the paparazzi and the media. Womanizer, the first single from "Circus", hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart in October. Spears is trying to relaunch her career after a troubled year in which she separated from her husband, lost custody of her two children and spent a period in a psychiatric hospital.

 

"VELVET REVOLVER" QUEST TO FIND FRONTMAN AND LABEL

[Aversion, 12/3/08]

Velvet Revolver isn't just looking for a new singer. It'll eventually need a new record company, too. The hard rock outfit asked RCA Records to release it from its contract, according to Billboard. The band asked to dissolve its partnership with the label in order for it to focus on its quest to find a new front man. In a flurry of all sorts of publically aired dirty laundry, Velvet Revolver gave singer Scott Weiland the heave-ho. The band hasn't revealed any progress on its singer search. The band last released its Libertad last year.

 

CLASSICAL MUSICIANS GET SHOT AT FAME ON YOUTUBE

[Reuters, 12/3/08]

The video-sharing website YouTube will take classical music out of pricey concert halls and bring it to the masses by holding an online competition where the public chooses musicians to play at Carnegie Hall. The competition invites classical musicians around the world to submit two videos demonstrating their musical and technical abilities, YouTube said in a news release on Monday, December 1. Winners from the competition will be flown to New York for a three-day summit with San Francisco Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas, Chinese pianist Lang Lang and other performers leading up to an April 15, 2009, Carnegie Hall show. Entries will be narrowed down by a panel of judges from the world's leading orchestras, including London, Berlin, Hong Kong, Sydney and New York, before semi-finalists will be voted on by viewers of YouTube, which is owned by Google. Tilson Thomas said the program would "explore new ways for music lovers of all levels to use technology to discover how vast our tradition is." Entrants must submit a video demonstrating their interpretation of an original composition by Chinese contemporary classical composer Tan Dun, and a video showcasing their musical and technical strengths. "YouTube is the biggest stage on Earth, and I want to see what the world's undiscovered musical geniuses will create on it," said Dun, the Oscar-winning composer of the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Entrants can submit videos through January 28, 2009. YouTube viewers will vote on the semi-finalists February 14-22 and the winners will be announced on the YouTube website on March 2, 2009. YouTube's popularity has exploded since its inception three years ago. Anyone can post video to the site. YouTube, which analysts estimate will bring in $200 million to $250 million for Google this year, has launched several recent e-commerce initiatives, including television and movie pacts and live event Web casting. Other institutions participating in the site's classical music program include Amsterdam School of Music, Liceu Barcelona, Moscow Conservatory, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and others.

 

'MR. RAW POWER' HAS A DEAL FOR CANADIAN BANDS

[CBC, 11/28/08]

Gene Simmons is setting out to remake the Canadian music scene. Simmons, the fire-breathing, tongue-wagging bassist of Kiss, is relaunching his Simmons Records in Canada with a plan to create the kind of company that results in commercial success. "So the mandate of Simmons Records is Canadian, not only content but Canadian bands, and we're going to make sure that the next generation of world stars that emanate from Canada — they won't have to [move to the U.S.]," he said in an interview on CBC's Q cultural affairs show. Simmons was one of the architects behind the Kiss look and sound and his business savvy has helped the band last 30 years. Kiss paraphernalia can be found today in nearly any form, from lunch pails, comic books, caskets to DVDs of the 1999 film, Detroit Rock City, and Simmons himself is a TV personality with reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels. "Universal [Canada] and I started talking about relaunching the Simmons Record label, the mandate of which would be to use me, my celebrity, my access to highest levels of corporate Canada, corporate America — there isn't anywhere I can't go and no-one I can't get," Simmons says with customary humility. Simmons Records did a number of records in the 1980s, but has since been dormant. One of his partners in the revived label is Belinda Stronach — the Magna head is investing her personal money in the venture, which will not be related to the Magna brand. Simmons will head the organization and believes he has what is needed to make the world take notice of Canadian bands. "We're going to provide the kind of caring record company the likes of which hasn't been seen since Motown, where the head knucklehead — that's going to be me — is involved in every facet of your life," he said. That means hands-on production and marketing expertise that Simmons hopes will give bands international exposure, without the need to flee Canada. He plans to push his protegés hard, demanding they change the lyrics, change the approach, fire the drug-addled lead singer. "What I want is to create a climate … that can get you that opening slot on YouTube. Your manager can't do that. I know he's from Regina and he's a nice guy and he's believed in you from the beginning but power is what it's about and you're looking at Mr. Raw Power." He'll be based in Toronto and scouring its indie scene and also plans to scout out bands on an upcoming trip to Edmonton.

 

AUSTIN TRIES TO KEEP TITLE OF 'LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL'

[AP, 11/25/08]

Thriving nightclubs, popular festivals and favorite sons like Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan have given Austin a well-deserved, if boastful, moniker: "Live Music Capital of the World." But the world has gotten a lot bigger since the days of the Armadillo World Headquarters, when hippies and rednecks joined together in musical harmony and everybody got to park for free. Back then, to hear the old-timers tell it, nobody worried much about health insurance or affordable housing, and noise complaints were considered welcome attention. Today, Austin is defined as much by its high-tech industry as its live music scene, and some say the once laid-back college town is in danger of losing its stage presence. That's why city leaders are welcoming a plan to promote Austin's rhythmic heritage, ease the struggles of performing artists and make the town a true music incubator. The task force that Oveisi heads up is pushing the creation of a city music department, the development of more music venues, an aggressive marketing campaign and incentives designed to lure music industry components such as publishing houses, managers, record labels and digital distributors. City leaders, who received the report from the panel last week, say there's good reason to protect Austin's status as a live music hub. Live music and related industries have an estimated $1 billion economic impact on Austin, whose cultural sector generates some $2.3 billion in yearly economic activity. There are an estimated 8,000 working musicians in Austin. Since then, internationally acclaimed musical festivals like South By Southwest SXSW) and Austin City Limits have lured thousands, and thriving venues — places like Antone's, The Broken Spoke, Momo's, the Continental Club, Stubbs, La Zona Rosa, The Hole in the Wall — continue to draw big acts and large crowds. "Live music is a defining characteristic of Austin," said Austin Mayor Will Wynn. "Many people consider it to be the heart and soul of what makes Austin such a desirable city in which to live, work and play." Plus, Carlos Santana, who just opened a new restaurant and live music venue in Austin called Maria Maria, says the economic distress will soon seem like "a bad dream that you won't even remember." Santana says Austin's musical heritage won't fade because it flows naturally from the musical legends and fans who found their vibe amid the city's limestone cliffs, adding: "There is something really special about Austin.

 

RED HOUSE: LITTLE LABEL THAT JUST KEEPS SPINNING

[AP, 11/25/08]

Digital music downloads, both legal and illegal. Declining record sales. The fickle tastes of the music-buying public. All make it tough enough to keep a small independent label afloat. Add the unexpected death of the record company's owner and guiding light, and a label could be as obsolete as eight-track tapes. But tiny Red House Records has managed to thrive since the death two years ago of president Bob Feldman. Thanks to its sturdy foundation and the passion of its staff, "The House That Bob Built" is celebrating its 25th anniversary and carrying on his mission — to bring the music to the people. Red House's roster has featured folk stalwarts such as Loudon Wainwright III, former Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, whose 1995 album "South Coast" won Red House its first and only Grammy. The label's appeal is mainly to public radio listeners and the coffeehouse crowd. A 64-song, three-CD boxed set, "Red House 25: A Silver Anniversary Retrospective," is set for release Tuesday, November 25. Losing Feldman, a hands-on businessman who once ran Red House from his apartment and sold records from his trunk, was emotionally devastating to his staff. But it also re-energized the St. Paul-based label, which specializes in folk, roots music and Americana. The employees knew what had happened at other labels when the sole owner died. "Most of them didn't survive. Their catalogs get sold to another label, and they basically vanish from the face of the business," says Chris Frymire, 47, Red House's vice president of operations and a 19-year veteran at the label. Red House survived by doing what a lot of other indie labels have done — create a brand that has "stood the test of time," says Rich Bengloff, president of the American Association of Independent Music, a trade organization that represents about 210 labels. "I would buy a Red House record just based on reading a review or seeing the Red House (logo) on the back of the CD, because I know what they put out," Bengloff says. Feldman stressed selling one record at a time — a philosophy that his staff continues. The biggest sellers at Red House are Lucy Kaplansky's 1999 album "Ten Year Night" and "A Nod to Bob," a 2001 tribute to Bob Dylan featuring Red House artists. Each has sold more than 70,000 copies. Larry Groce, host, artistic director and founder of the National Public Radio program "Mountain Stage," cites the "very thoughtful songwriting" of Red House artists, who are frequent guests on his show. "The people who like to listen (to Red House music) are more of a literary bent," said Groce, who had his own hit, "Junk Food Junkie," in 1975. Iowa singer-songwriter Greg Brown started Red House to issue his first two albums, naming it after the red house he was living in outside of Iowa City. Red House now has nine full- and part-time employees at its office in St. Paul's Midway area, a number that has held steady since Feldman's death in 2006.  Eric Peltoniemi, 59, who has been with Red House since 1986 and took over as president after Feldman's death, says Red House always has been run "lean and mean" without much debt. Musicians say Red House's attentiveness keeps them with the label. "I don't even know now what kind of deal I have with them. That's how unconcerned I am," said singer-songwriter Eberhardt, who joined Red House in 1986 on a handshake deal with Feldman. Red House is now owned by Beth Friend, Feldman's widow. She says continuing Red House is "a way for me to keep Bobby alive and to keep his legacy vibrant." "I'm very happy we've reached this day," Friend said of Red House's 25th anniversary. "I only wish Bobby was here to see it."

 

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