New York – The drummer of indie punk band Fugazi has created a new DVD series that spotlights live performances from notable rock acts in a given city, all recorded in a single day. The catch: the bands play one song each in an empty house that faces imminent destruction. In the initial installment of “Burn To Shine,” taped Jan. 14 in Washington, D.C., the house was burned to the ground at the end of the day as a training exercise by the Montgomery Fire Dept. “In D.C., bands always break up and disappear before their time, but the artists… Read more »
Last winter, Vans Warped tour founder Kevin Lyman attended the Consumer Electronics Show to learn more about setting up backstage wireless Internet connections. The connections he made, however, were of a different type. Technology companies, eager to tap into the Warped tour’s young, tech-savvy fan base, have jumped on board as tour partners or sponsors. The 10th annual roadshow kicked off June 25 in Houston with a lineup including such bands as Bad Religion, Good Charlotte, NOFX, Thursday, New Found Glory, Simple Plan, The Vandals and Taking Back Sunday. The tour’s extensive sponsor list includes Memorex, Samsung, Cingular Wireless, Apple… Read more »
When Britney Spears fell down during a video shoot for “Outrageous” earlier this month, the impact was immediate. Her fall has set off a chain of events that’s resulted in the cancellation of her summer tour – something insiders are estimating will cost her as much as $1 million a week in lost revenue from ticket and merchandise sales. But what of the fall itself? Still pictures from paparazzi showed a play-by-play of the incident but failed to capture the essence of the moment – the onset of injury, the expression on the singer’s face, her puzzled dancers’ reactions as… Read more »
It’s been 2-1/2 years since the Island Def Jam Music Group acquired a 50% stake in Roadrunner Records. However, the longtime rock-metal independent label still feels like an indie despite its major label parent, president Jonas Nachsin says. “In terms of the Roadrunner’s indie spirit, I don’t think we’ve lost any of that,” Nachsin says. “When the partnership was done, I think the first thing that was decided was not to do anything, which was a very sage and important game plan because when something is working, the last thing you want to do is start to mess with it.”… Read more »
Just a month after opening its doors, the Apple iTunes store is looking to expand. With content already available from all five major labels, the online music service is reaching out to independent labels in hopes of offering the broadest, deepest catalog of downloadable music. Apple has invited hundreds of indie label representatives to a private presentation on Thursday at the computer giant’s Cupertino, California, campus to discuss hopping onboard and adding their content to the more than 200,000 songs already available through the service. “The plan was to go out of the gate with the five major labels, but… Read more »
Songstress Sheryl Crow is on track to be the highest debut performance when the latest pop album charts are released Wednesday, challenging reigning Universal Music labelmate Ashanti for the top spot. But Crow’s latest effort, “C’mon C’mon,” her first studio release since the platinum “Globe Sessions” four years ago, also leads a sizable roster of artists bowing this month that have had a rocky history with the rapidly consolidating major-label system. Crow herself was one of several artists to question her future with Universal Music after the label giant acquired her alma mater, A&M Records. While the star and her… Read more »
Facing a fusillade of legal attacks from an irate entertainment industry, free file-sharing Netco Streamcast Networks – like Napster before it – is seeking legitimacy by reaching out to independent artists with technology to help them distribute their music themselves. Franklin, Tenn.-based Streamcast says its new digital rights management software, dubbed Content Into Application, or CIntoA, will let artists choose the level of access that users will have to songs that they upload into the company’s Morpheus file-sharing network. The tracks can be programmed to offer a limited number of plays before a fee is required, or only a snippet… Read more »
No Doubt are taking their Rock Steady to the streets, beginning in mid-March. The ska-turned-reggae rock quartet will launch its first proper tour in support of its latest album, Rock Steady, with two offshore dates in Puerto Rico and Venezuela, on March 14 and 16, respectively, according to an Interscope Records spokesperson. The Venezuela show is part of the Caracas Pop Festival II. Twenty-one other dates have been confirmed at press time, ending with May 10 in Dallas. Additional shows are expected to be announced later. Twenty-one other dates have been confirmed at press time, ending with May 10 in… Read more »
Privately-held online music company Listen.com said on Monday it secured licensing agreements from several independent record labels for a subscription service it plans to launch this fall. Through the deal, Listen.com joins a growing list of smaller independent subscription service providers, including FullAudio and Streamwaves, that have quietly been clinching licensing deals for content to compete with services like MusicNet and Pressplay, which are being backed by the giant recording companies and also plan to launch this fall. MusicNet’s backers are RealNetworks Inc., AOL Time Warner Inc’s Warner Music, EMI Group Plcand Bertelsmann AG’s BMG. Zomba, a giant independent label,… Read more »
DAYTIME TV are back with some fresh Scottish indie rock in the form of “Jessica”. It’s going to be stuck in your head for weeks.
