Search Results for: pop will eat itself

In 1993, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, the Smashing Pumpkins and Pavement brought AIDS activism into the bedrooms of grunge-obsessed teens on the benefit album ” No Alternative” marrying music to message in a way that registered strongly with Generation X. The project, organized by the Red Hot Organization — an international production company dedicated to fighting AIDs through pop culture — and released by Arista Records sold 292,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan and generated several modern rock radio hits. But the success was a mixed blessing; other major labels went out of their way to… Read more »

Three years ago, Cobra Starship weren’t even a band. Two years ago, they weren’t one either, but at least things were beginning to happen. Gabe Saporta – tired of watching his band Midtown being mired in the major-label quagmire – began writing songs on his own, under the name of Cobra Starship (apparently borrowed from a brand of vintage jackets). Somewhere along the way, he got tapped to write the theme song for the Samuel L. Jackson flick “Snakes on a Plane,” which became the first official Cobra release. Since then, they’ve released two full-lengths, kicked out a keytar player… Read more »

You’ve played the iPhone app. Now get the soundtrack. EMI Music has become the first major label to line up multiple artists for an edition of Tapulous’ popular iPhone game application Tap Tap Revenge. The new version of the rhythm game, called Tap Tap Dance, features songs by five EMI acts — Moby the Chemical Brothers Digitalism Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx — as well as independent acts Justice, Junkie XL Soul Magic Orchestra and Morgan Page Tapulous will release all 10 tracks included in the game by the end of the year as a digital soundtrack that will be… Read more »

These days, the old west rail hub of Las Vegas, New Mexico, is little more than a dusty economic dead zone amid a boneyard of bare mesas. In national elections, the town overwhelmingly votes Democratic: More than 80 percent of all residents are Hispanic, and one in four lives below the poverty line. On February 5th, the day of the Super Tuesday caucus, a school-bus driver named Paul Maez arrived at his local polling station to cast his ballot. To his surprise, Maez found that his name had vanished from the list of registered voters, thanks to a statewide effort… Read more »

MySpace, the world's largest social networking site, on Wednesday unveiled a long-expected joint venture with all four major music companies in a bid to compete with Apple Inc's market-leading iTunes store. MySpace Music is designed to win fans with a mix of unlimited free music, comprehensive music catalogs, concert tickets, merchandising and other entertainment features. The launch of the new service had been dogged by speculation on the start date and the ongoing search for a chief executive. But the biggest challenge for the new venture was signing a deal with the fourth-largest music company EMI Music, which had held… Read more »

Coldplay sold 125,000 copies of its new album on the first day of release in Britain, a solid tally industry experts say should be music to the band’s ears and those of its ailing record label EMI. “Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends” now looks “certain” to top Sunday’s album chart, according to The Official Charts Company which tracks record sales, even though it was released on Thursday rather than at the start of the week. “Coldplay are an international act … and these sales figures in the UK are the first indication of how the album… Read more »

As Portishead finished its meticulously sparse evening performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the typically reticent Beth Gibbons suddenly leapt off the stage and ran a 100-yard dash along the fenced-in crowd, exuberantly shaking their hands. Percussionist Geoff Barrow and guitarist Adrian Utley soon exited more quietly. Barrow, though, paused in front of a microphone to say, simply, “Thanks for waiting.” After a ten-year hiatus, Portishead is back. This is not a reunion bow, though, but rather an energized reboot of a band that ten years ago found itself burnt out from a rock ‘n’ roll life… Read more »

As I write this, iTunes ranks as the 2nd largest seller of music in the U.S. — only Wal-Mart’s physical stores sell more. Digital revenue is real, and there is a lot of it being earned. Sales from iTunes alone can provide a band enough revenue to achieve true financial success. Don’t take my word for it, just look at some of the sales by the following unsigned artists utilizing the Net for both digital distribution and marketing: Kelly sold over 500,000 songs in five months, Eric Hutchinson sold 120,000 songs in three weeks, The Medic Droid sold over 25,000… Read more »

When the Redwalls recently performed on David Letterman’s “Late Show,” it wasn’t just a boost for the indie rock band trying to make a name for itself. It was also a point of pride for the band’s label – student-run MAD Dragon Records at Drexel University. “Everyone around the country could see something that we were working on,” said junior Amanda Melczer, 20. At a school more known for engineering and technology, Drexel’s music industry program is an emerging gem. It’s one of the most selective programs at the Philadelphia university, with close to 600 applications for 54 freshman seats,… Read more »

The dream of many kids learning to play guitar or prancing in front of a mirror with a faux microphone is to play in front of a sold out crowd singing along to their songs and chanting their name; Linkin Park has lived their dreams and then some. After a very successful Projekt Revolution tour this past summer, the band was back out on the road with an arena tour bringing Chiodos and Coheed & Cambria along for the ride. For the near sold-out crowd in Baltimore on February 19th, it was a rock show to remember. Probably one of… Read more »