Illusion of choice

http://www.upworthy.com/the-real-reason-they-still-play-mrs-robinson-on-the-radio?c=la1

Record companies screwing over artists again

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111113/01050116753/umg-finds-perfect-biz-model-cheat-artists-then-if-caught-demand-insurance-company-pay-instead.shtml

The sheer chutzpah of Universal Music is really quite stunning. As you may recall, in 2009, it came out that the major record labels had been screwing over musicians in Canada with a bit of sleight of hand called "exploit now, pay later if at all." The way it worked was that labels would put old works on compilations without getting artists' permission, then put the artists' names on a "pending" list, which was supposed to mean that payment to those artists was "pending." Except the pending lists were never touched and the royalties were never paid. Labels not paying artists royalties is a pretty common issue, but here they weren't even getting any credit at all. Pretty sneaky. Realizing they had been caught red handed, the labels "settled" by agreeing to pay the $45 million in royalties owed.

However, it turns out that Universal Music Group actually seems to think that its insurance company should be paying the $14.4 million it owes (UMG's share of the $45 million). It's now suing its insurance company for refusing to pay. If you think about it for a second, you realize just how insane this claim is. Basically, Universal Music is claiming that it can simply not pay any royalties at all, then wait to get sued... and if it loses and has to pay, it believes its insurance company has to foot the bill. Now there's a business model!

posted from Bloggeroid

P.O.S., tells it like it is.

its not often i come across a hip hop artist, who is a true artist and gets what it means to be original. P.O.S. gets it. Some of his sentiments in this article, are almost word-for-word what i've been saying for years.



here's some P.O.S. -Drumroll (we're all thirsty)

E-Music and Me

I just read this article on ABC's new site that's talking about big name artists Jay-Z and Madonna jumping ship from major labels, who apparently just dont get it yet, instead taking multimillion dollar deals with concert promoter Live Nation.

OK yea, I get it, people are addicted to ipods and itunes. CD's are overpriced and the labels are ripping everyone, including the artists off.

I hate major labels, yes. But where I have a problem with all of this is, I like record stores. And I'm not totally on the internet music bandwagon yet. Call me old fashioned but when I buy something I like to have it in my hands afterwards.

I guess I sort of have it set in my head that if music that is online, its music someone already went to the record store and bought.. and that gives me the comfort in knowing that there will be a physical copy I can buy for myself. A CD with artwork lyrics and stuff, in a record store where I can browse and thumb through other CD's.

I dunno, maybe I need to get with the times and realise music is just data and the concept of an album as a work of art is just no more.

All Ages Movement

Here's a cool thing people can get behind. It's the All Ages Movement.

This is an issue thats pretty close to me. For almost all of my old band Fingertight's existence as a local band we've had to deal with the All Ages issue. Basically, teens like live music, but the only venues where live music can be seen is in bars or clubs that only allow "21+" as it was always posted on the fliers. Where do adults under 21, and more importantly, minors (who anyone in the scene knows are the ones that actually support bands)

Anyway, this group is trying to raise awareness to this issue. Check em out.
http://www.allagesmovementproject.org/

The Death of Hyphy

Not that I'm a fan or anything but this is a great example of how the powers that be can crush a local music movement. As I read this I kept being reminded of my feelings toward local radio for not ever supporting my band or other talented local rock acts.

http://www.sfweekly.com/2008-02-20/news/the-demise-of-hyphy/

Specifically, [KMEL]

• yanked local rappers with buzzworthy records from rotation over petty personal beefs

• made it difficult, if not impossible, for artists not aligned with favored promoters to get access to station personnel

• ignored the advice of its own DJs on potential hit records by local artists

• put the kibosh on efforts to spread hyphy in other regions

• engaged in blatant favoritism toward certain artists, alongside other activities that contributed to the fragmentation of the local hip-hop community

• employed a two-tiered promotion system for major-label and independent acts

its a good read. Rappers are lame but it still sucks when suits shut down the local scene for political bullshit.

Thats why our album sounded like that

When we recorded we spent way too much money on hiring a percussionist and laying down layers of instrument tracks.. and i thought, ok that will sound cool, but when we got the mastered copy back you couldnt hear any of that and it was just this bland generic rock guitar sound on everything... we'll here's why.

The Death of High Fidelity

In the age of MP3s, sound quality is worse than ever

ROBERT LEVINE

Posted Dec 26, 2007 1:27 PM

Advertisement

David Bendeth, a producer who works with rock bands like Hawthorne Heights and Paramore, knows that the albums he makes are often played through tiny computer speakers by fans who are busy surfing the Internet. So he's not surprised when record labels ask the mastering engineers who work on his CDs to crank up the sound levels so high that even the soft parts sound loud.

Over the past decade and a half, a revolution in recording technology has changed the way albums are produced, mixed and mastered — almost always for the worse. "They make it loud to get [listeners'] attention," Bendeth says. Engineers do that by applying dynamic range compression, which reduces the difference between the loudest and softest sounds in a song. Like many of his peers, Bendeth believes that relying too much on this effect can obscure sonic detail, rob music of its emotional power and leave listeners with what engineers call ear fatigue. "I think most everything is mastered a little too loud," Bendeth says. "The industry decided that it's a volume contest."

READ MORE

The Year The Music Industry Broke - 2007

I hate to link MTV but this isnt a bad article.

Madonna Ditches Label, Radiohead Go Renegade: The Year The Music Industry Broke

In the first installment of our three-part series on the future of music, we take a look back at what went wrong and when.

In April, Trent Reznor released Year Zero, a concept album about a future society teetering on the brink of apocalypse. It was supposed to be a grand work of fiction, but it could just as easily have been about the music industry in 2007 — a bleak, burned-out world where the sky fell on a daily basis and the rivers ran red with the blood of record execs. (That the album didn't sell well only furthers the analogy ...)

Make no mistake about it, 2007 was a b-a-a-a-d year for the industry. According to Nielsen SoundScan, album sales were down 15 percent from 2006 (a trend that's continued for eight straight years now); big-name artists jumped ship in increasingly complicated — and messy — ways; and the powers-that-be seemed to get even more heartless and disconnected, thanks to a series of lawsuits, feuds and terrible decisions.

In fact, you could probably say that 2007 was Year Zero. Things started to change because they couldn't possibly get any worse.

In the first installment of our three-part series on the future of the music industry that is rolling out this week, here's a blow-by-blow recap of just how bad the year was ....

READ MORE

The RIAA hates everything that doesn't make them money.

from Dailyplacebo.com

The RIAA hates everything that doesn't make them money. That's right, the RIAA hates puppies and wants to destroy them. So its no surprise that they hate and want to destroy webcasters. Especially since webcasters tend to play non-RIAA music. In a very mafioso "you'll use our service or no service at all" move the RIAA is backing royalty hikes. So smaller webcasters will be unable to pay the higher fees and driven out of business (even if they don't play RIAA music), further solidifying th RIAA's monopolistic grasp on what music is to be marketed. They don't care if they get the royalties, just that the webcasters get taken down; which makes less competition for the distribution of music whereby strengthening the RIAA's -say it with me- monopoly on the music industry.

Techdirt: Why Does The RIAA Hate Webcasters? Webcasters Don't Play Very Much RIAA Music

well said!

"The way the music died" Music Industry FAQ

this site might be old but it answers a lot of questions i've heard over the years.

questions like,

• Why do CDs cost so much?
• How does an artist get a song on the radio?
• What is the role of independent radio promoters and why is it controversial?

good read.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/inside/faqs.html


wow, theres some interviews with artists and music industry people
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/perfect/corp.html

and theres a lot more stuff i havent really got to dig into yet on the main PBS page for this.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/



this is some great stuff!!


you can also watch the entire PBS show on this on the site too.

its on my T0-Do list.

FRONTLINE kicks ass.

No Talent Required

A friend of mine was looking to start an all female rock band and posted an ad up online. this is one of her responses. This is what is one of the things that are very wrong with music industry today.
just read.

Subject: Looking for band- all female linkin park, limp bizkit, etc...
Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 04:23:55 EDT

Established L.A. based entertainment company (film/TV/music/print/management) Looking for female for some upcoming national projects and opportunities. We currently represent various television stars (NBC, UPN, USA, FX, etc...) and we have placed models/actresses in film and TV ranging from Paramount to New line, and from CBS to TNN to Showtime. In addition we have placed talent in print from Maxim to Playboy. We represent some of the nations top TV, print model, vocalists, musicians, dancers, and even Playmates. We are also currently lppking to put an all female rapcore style band with vocals together. The only pre-requisite is that you must be EXTREMELY attractive, a beautiful face and Magnificent body, as this is the current wave in all areas of the entertainment industry. Please note: This does NOT involve any adult work, it is strictly mainstream, nor does it involve any extra work, it is strictly featured or bigger. If you are a female actress, model, vocalist, musician, or dancer, and you feel you meet our pre-requisite and standards, and you are interested, please e-mail Photos (at least one head shot and one body shot, although a few of each would be preferred) or a weblink to your images, for our review and consideration, along with your contact # so that we may contact you and set up a meeting while we are in town.
Thanx and God bless.

extremely offended, as any musician would be, she wrote back and really tore him a new one. I dont have the email she wrote back to him, but you can use your imagination. Expecting to never hear from this guy again she was surprised to see this in her inbox shortly after.

Hi, I apologize if anything in our initial e-mail offended you, it was not intentional. You appear very, very angry, and I'm not sure exactly why. I don't even know you, and you told me to "go to hell." I don't know what could have possibly illicited a response of that caliber, so angry and disrespectful. I assure you that the e-mail we sent you is the very same e-mail we sent to over a hundred other potential candidates, and not one other person has responded in this fashion. In fact most have been very excited, appreciative, and have sent us the photos we requested. at the end of this e-mail I will add a couple of the responses we have received. I appreciate your love of music, and your position that music should come from the soul, in fact I agree with it. I myself have been an artist, a producer, and songwriter, but the fact is that business is business, and there is a reason why there are no new Aretha Franklins and Mellissa Ethridges bursting on to the scene. Even people that talented would not get record deals today, but there are many young ladies with a fraction of Aretha's voice, signing multi-million dollar deals, because of their face and body. In just about every genre of music, the industry is dominated by the beautiful ( Britney, Christina, Pink, Alicia keys, etc...) when you think of a massively successful female fronted rock band that dominates the airwaves of MTV or the covers of major magazines in the mainstream world, only No Doubt comes to mind. That has a lot to do with the fact that Gwen is hot and can wear shorts and a pink bikini top on the cover of Rolling stone and wear it well. When they first came out all everybody talked about was how hot she looked in those midriff tank tops. Even in Country music the big crossover stars are Shania, and Faith. Even little Leann Rimes took her top off for an extremely sexy cover of Maxim Blender. Even artist who were already established like J-Lo, Mariah, and Janet Jackson now use skin to sell every single record they put out. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder is the population and consumer base at large. Even the male artist are all marketed this way now. This is the current standard that drives the industry. I never meant to imply that talent wasn't necessary, but why is it any different for people to admire you because of ability, or looks, or both for that matter, they are both part of who a person is. Do you see any knew Sally Fields, Sissy Spaceks, or Meryl Streeps blowing up in the film industry today? No, but you do see a lot of non talented, or non trained or experienced girls becoming stars because of the way they look. I cannot change society, or what the masses at large want, the reason labels look for beauty, is because it sells, and it sells because that is what people want. I never said don't be deep, or don't come from the soul, or don't use your gifts and talent or don't be edgy with your look, I just said use your beauty and sex appeal along with everything else you have. A person can be tattooed up, and pierced and still be fine. The reason there are not more hugely successful female fronted, or all female bands, is because in most cases when you find a girl that can play, she isn't hot, but instead looks like a dude. When you find a girl that is hot, she usually can't play. When you find one that has both, and is packageable for super stardom in the rock genres, she is usually unwilling to use that either because she is a feminist and thinks it's wrong, or because she is a lesbian and doesn't want to excite men, or because she wants to be bad ass. If they would just use their looks, they would end up with a platform for the whole world to be affected and touched by their music, as well as be espected for their abilities, and would have a platform to reach the world at large with any message they want. but instead they choose not to use their looks and get lost in local obscurity. Once again, this is a business situation, and I meant no affence, for that I am truly sorry. I hope we can agree to disagree, and part with mutual respect for one another.

who else wants to punch this guy? whats most fucked up is that he's right. This is the sad state of the music industry. It may not 100% reflect what the masses want tho. But even if that is what the masses want... the masses are stupid by design. they've been conditioned. if you dont give them a choice of real talent they will pick the good looking hack.

Look at the 70's ... real song writers with great songs making hits that become classics. and they were UGLY! but it didnt matter it was music The industry is insulting us by giving us vacuous celebrity with nothing to offer but eye candy thinking thats all we will accept. There's room for heart throbs but dont confuse pretty faces with talented artists.

Douche bags like this need to be stabbed in the crotch by scorpions.

death of music carrers

Ahmet Ertegun dies at 83. you may have never heard of him... I know I never did even while rubbing shoulders with record execs back when my band was getting its cock fluffed by the dirty hands of the major record industry. He was the founder of Atlantic Records and, he might have been a huge asshole shyster like the rest of them but one thing is obvious. The artists he's accredited to helping over the years are names that stuck around. Names that didn't fade into the bargain bins at the record store after a poor 1st weeks sales on a second record. or get dropped because the 1st radio release didn't hit the top 5.

"He was one of the first recording executives to sell music by black artists to white youngsters looking for something exciting in the conformist Eisenhower era of the 1950s, and in so doing, he helped pioneer rock'n'roll."

This guy is, from what i can tell what was good about the record industry back in the good ol' days. Now that he's dead i think that the days when an honest music artist could have a lasting and successful career based on a 4th or 5th albums success are dead with him.

i didnt know who the hell you were, but Ahmet Ertegun, you'll be missed not just by me but these kids I'm sure as well..

the Drifters, Led Zeppelin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Cream, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Rolling Stones, Genesis, AC/DC, the Bee Gees, Bette Midler, the Allman Brothers Band, the Three Tenors and more.

more on that here.

hey assholes, people want unprotected music

from daily placebo. yeah because I'm lazy and i don't think i could write it any better.

Good for you Emusic. They've sold 100,000,000 DRM free songs online. I'd call that sticking it to all those music executives that say you can't make money without DRM...

Emusic is now the second most popular online music source behind the iTunes music store, and they've done it with independent labels. ..

That's right, they're selling less "popular" music and doing it better because their users don't feel shackled and criminalized. I know because I'm one of them. Hell, I feel like upgrading my account just to stick it to the music industry a little more.

• Techdirt: DRM-Free Music Sells, Major Labels Keep Pretending The Jury Is Still Out

a new way to rip off artists!

RIAA moves to reduce artist royalty payments

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself if the RIAA could display more greed or avarice without actually hiring Satan as its general counsel. The Hypebot points to an article in Radio and Records which reads, "During the period when piracy was devastating the record industry, the RIAA argues, profits for publishers rose as revenue generated from ringtones and other innovative services grew. Record industry executives said there was nothing strange about seeking a rate change that would pay less to the people who write the music."

this text stolen from Digital Music Weblog (full article)

All i have to say is, boycott the major music industry. greedy fucking bastards!

stupid booking requisites

While this isnt a major music industry issue, its something that needs to be said to up and coming bands and most of all club owners, bookers and promoters.

As I was browsing the web for local venues for my new band to play and I came across a pretty cool looking place in town. I clicked on its booking page link and it had a list of "Ground Rules" for playing there. Rules are fine, I'm ok with rules. Most are common sense but some of this places conditions rubbed me the wrong way. After being in a sought after band in this scene for a number of years, working out way up the ladder and paying our dues one thing always pissed us off and really, made no sense. The "you must draw 50 people on a weeknight" rule. Its an understandable rule considering the venue would like to have paying customers and its in a bands best interest to have a crowd to play to. But where I have issue is expecting opening acts to have a following. Ideally, especially in venues with a larger capacity, the shows should be built around a headlining act that can guarantee a good draw, followed by opening and support acts with respectively smaller drawing power. In this situation it gives the lesser-known acts a chance to play to a crowd that is comprised of people other than their girlfriends and coworkers.

With opening acts that can draw 50+ people, 30+ people will go home after seeing the band they came to see. It sucks but its inevitable. I would also like to point out that if a local band gets to the point they can draw 50 people on a weeknight its safe to say that this band is able to draw well enough on a weekend and wouldnt need to play a weeknight gig.

With that being said, my band probably can't draw 50 people. Especially on a weeknight. But it would be rad to have the chance to open for a band that can pack the house and maybe make some new fans in the process.

Another one of thier "ground rules" was "EACH BAND IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HEAVY PROMOTION. We mean posters, flyers, mailing lists, etc. Do not think that just because you are booked here you’re going to have an awesome show." Rightly so. Any band should take the initiative to promote themselves and its naive to think otherwise. But its also in the venue's interest to advertise thier business. Its understandable to hope, and encourage the bands to promote the show but to put all responsibility on, yes I'm saying it, musicians - is also being naive. Not to mention lazy.

They also encourage bands to make friends with other bands and develop a repor with similar sounding bands. Now, this isnt entirely a bad thing. Its always good to have a good working relationship with other bands but what tends to happen is you get bookers putting together a show of 4-5 bands that although, meet the 50 people criteria, they all happen to be friends and have share the same 50 fans. You end up with an excited promoter hoping the math will work out in their favor.

I'm sure there are more outlandish requirments from clubs. And there are eager young bands that will work hard to meet them. This only betters the band. As for the club, they will continue to exclusively book local bands, never get a National headliner and eventually turn into a strip club or porno theater.

long live rock n roll.

Warner Brothers "under the radar" with Tom Petty, Johnny Cash

"Major label Warner Brother Records appears to be podcasting traditionally copyrighted music, from well-known artists, Under the Radar.

Murmurs and whispers around the podosphere have hinted that Bands Under the Radar, described as "a music podcast featuring unsigned bands and indie artists," is not "indie" at all, but is in fact a podcast being quietly produced and distributed by Warner Brothers Records.

The podcast features music from "indie bands", such as Tom Petty, Chris Isaak, Kasey Chambers, Better Than Ezra, Mark Knopfler, Johnny Cash, Loleatta Holloway & Muse - all Warner Brothers artists..."

read more

when Majors discover new original acts they shouldnt try to water them down and "spoon feed" them to the masses. they should let them be who they were when the AR rep signed them, let them develop and build a career around touring and grassroots promotion. word of mouth promo gets you way more cred than being dressed up in rented clothes and put on a pedastal with a "like me, please" sign around your neck. then these labels wont have to pretend they are indie or down with the peeps. because they really will be. they think if you dump piles of money into an artist that you've made shitty by design they will sell records. but its the other way around.. spend less, let the world think they discovered them and you will have an artist with a lasting career. this way you can let the people decide what is good or not. people get sick of anything they hear on the radio 30 times a day.

artists getting ripped off still...

with the new trend of getting your music from services like itunes, the record companies dont have to spend as much money on packaging, storage and distribution to get that music to you. Since it costs them virtually nothing to sell you this music, you'd think they could share the wealth with the artists that actually create the product they are selling. WRONG. Wierd Al of all people pointed out in an article that he makes less off of online downloads.

rad.

Wierd Al article

Allman Bros and Cheap Trick sue over download royalties(good stuff in there)

compounding this is, now its even harder to get a CD without it being copy protected and potentially getting a virus, or not even work in your CD. here's a little disclaimer from Amazon

This CD is copy protected. If that is of concern to you, do not purchase. On the back cover is a warning that this CD may not play in some CD players, DVD players, and computers. It also states that if it doesn't play you're screwed as you won't be issued a refund. If that is of concern to you, do not purchase.

you cant beat pirates/hackers at thier own game, thats what they do. you put up a wall they will climb it, you make the wall higher they will get longer rope, you put barbed wire on it and they'll dig under it.

piracy isnt a problem thats gonna get solved this way, this only hurts the average music lover (and appearantly the artist) by making it harder for them to enjoy the product they purchased.

this is only a bandaid. the RIAA needs to get off thier ass and really figure out how to beat Piracy on a root level. IMO all they really need to do is lower prices and stop being greedy SOB's

oreilly media story about protected CDs

this is just more reason to support indie labels and bands. the music is better anyway.

My Plea.

Time and time again it has been made apparent to me that the major label music industry is steadily ruining popular music. Maybe it's always been this way, but I never had the chance to see it first hand. In a time with political and corporate corruption at an all time high, it seems natural that one of the shadiest industries be tainted with it as well. Am I bitter? Of course I am. But my bitterness has sparked passion in my pursuits to bring this issue to the public. Will you care? Probably not, our president lied us into a war and nearly half of this country thinks its ok. But I digress. If you think Ashlee Simpson is a good songwriter, or that J-Lo can really sing good you are greatly mistaken. If you believed the "written by Avril Lavine" credit with full assertion you are not seeing the full picture. If you keep reading, it has a page of credits for writers, producers, musicians, vocalists in very fine print. Its like that on most pop records. They are just the pretty face that sells their product. Brittney Spears is basically the model for the Pepsi commercials... Oh wait, she IS, or was before she got handed the TV role she was born to play. Herself. Pop singers, are basically actors. Pretending to be something singing heartfelt songs written by a 45 year old man. You're being lied to. And whets worse, if you know it but still buy this shit and think its good. Your a fool.

Wake up people, everything you hear on the radio or see on MTV was manufactured from the ground up with the sole intention to be sold. To you. But not everything is completely manufactured. Most of the rock bands are real rock bands that probably wrote all their songs. But the unfortunate thing is, the reason they are on the radio isn't because they are good, or unique for that matter. Its because they fit some kind of trend that was probably stolen from kids trying to not follow a trend, then reproduced for mass-consumption. Its all a big marketing scam. Nothing is sacred to them. That's why when you cant keep up with the 18 yr old airbrushed pop star who had million dollar songwriters writing super formula hits, with 110% label backing, you get dropped and the money they spent on you gets to be a tax write off.

Some of the bands, more than you think, get studio musicians to lay down tracks and do backing vocals. They also utilize new technology that will basically make anyone sound good. A lot of bands even take this "studio magic" on tour with them. Remember Ashlee's SNL goof. Yea, she wasn't lipsyncing in the pure sense, well maybe, but her defense was back up tracks. Which probably included her autotuned voice, 3 other back up singers voices, percussion and additional guitar and keyboard tracks. This arrangement is almost standard for many live acts. I saw it first hand on a couple tours I was on. This doesn't necessarily mean the band cant pull it off live. I'm just saying don't always believe what you hear live.

Sometimes these are choices by the artists, but most of the time, and especially in cases like Ashlee and the like, they are forced too by the labels. If they've spent millions putting you up on a pedestal, they cant take a chance fucking it all up by showing the world you really suck. Stupid 14yr old girls and their parents don't want to find out that the star they saw on TV and just paid $150 a ticket to see in concert is really a 2 bit hack with nice boobs, or hard pecs.

So I'm here, hoping that you will think about what I've said next time you listen to the radio or watch MTV or say "wow this song is really good". There is a world of independent music out there that is just waiting to be discovered by you. Music that still has artistic integrity and meaning. Music that still retains the heart and soul of the person performing it. Dare I say REAL music. If we get enough people to stop feeding the beast and find new music that hasn't been homogenized for public consumption then maybe all of this real music will bubble to the surface and the general music buying public will get just a little bit smarter for it.

payola

Back in the early 00's my former band Fingertight put out a CD on Columbia Records. With that release we got a shot to have a song or single on the radio.  We did a press tour where we went around to all the major radio markets giving our song and dance to the radio folk to introduce ourselves and try to make some friends at the stations who we'd hoped would play our song when it was released.  It seemed like we made an impression.  We received a generally good response. In certain markets we would kick ass at concerts sponsored by the radio stations. In some cases the DJs would actually wear our t-shirts to work. Needless to say we were pretty confident that we'd get added to their radio playlists, even possibly some airtime.

But that totally didn't happen. In the markets we did get an add, we got played at 3:00am twice a month.  After a few weeks we started to notice a trend. We'd get about one or two plays a week for each market. We realised it was because stations have a weekly hour long cage-match show where the DJs, got forbid, actually pick the music they play. They would pick several lesser known bands and they would go head-to-head tournament style with one song each. People would call in and vote for the one they liked and the winner would go on to the next week's cage match.  Consistently we'd get played and we'd usually win. Which was why on our Soundscan listings it showed those spins regularly.  Soon after it started to slow down and then went to nothing. We chalked it up to just not being good enough, took it with stride and eventually ended up where we are now. Dead. Being the sceptic, and conspiracy theorist that I am, I knew there was something more to it. We didn't suck that much did we? I mean we still have thousands of fans all over the country. As it turns out, we just didn't get the "push"as they say in the industry. What is the "push"? Well, its part of the major label shit machine I'm always bitching about. Thats what this post is mostly about. What a big part of the"push" really is and why the label says it costs so much to "promote" a new band. Once you're chosen for "the push" there's more to it than just making posters and getting your CD's in major retail chains.

I heard this blurb about our former parent label; SONY Music/BMG on the radio and  Googled "SONY BMG" "Payola" and "lawsuit" and found this article.

***
Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein is calling for a FCC investigation of payola practices uncovered by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, based on the $10 million settlement with Sony BMG announced today. "It's a real tribute to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that he has blown the lid off a potentially far-reaching payola scandal," said Adelstein."We've seen a lot of smoke around payola for a while, but now we know it's coming from a real fire. It's time to dump a bucket of cold water on it," Adelstein continued.

"It's unfair to listeners if they hear songs on the radio because someone was paid off, not because it's good music."

Adelstein wants an "immediate investigation" and has asked Spitzer to share all of the evidence that he has uncovered with the Commission. (07-25-05)

***