Search Results for: something corporate

In the career path of a rock star, playing in a cover band typically comes near the beginning, somewhere between discovering your parents’ vinyl and winning a battle of the bands at the county fair. Lately, however, some rock stars have been forming ironically named cover bands after making it big. In fact, what used to be considered somewhat lame has suddenly become chic, with Dave Navarro’s Camp Freddy leading the way. “Everyone’s jumpin’ that train, man,” said Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, whose cover band Chevy Metal has been playing around Los Angeles for five years. So why the… Read more »

One sunny afternoon not long ago, Dick Copaken sat in a booth at Daniel, one of those hushed, exclusive restaurants on Manhattan’s Upper East Side where the waiters glide spectrally fro table to table. He was wearing a starched button-down shirt and a blue blazer. Every strand of his thinning hair was in place, and he spoke calmly and slowly, his large pink Charlie Brow head bobbing along evenly as he did. Copaken spent many years as a partner at the white-shoe Washington, D.C., firm Covington & Burling, and he has a lawyer’s gravitas. One of his bes friends calls… Read more »

For many college seniors, extracurricular activities are limited to mailing out résumés, organizing rallies in the campus quad and hitting up the occasional nickel-beer night. But for 20-year-old Emerson College senior Pearl Wible, her after-school schedule included directing a music video for bombastic Texas rockers… And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, which, as fate would have it, just happened to fall during exam week. “It was pretty much the week from intense hell,” Wible laughed. “I’m also an RA on campus, so in addition to exams and shooting the video, I also had to help a… Read more »

Before they became flush with major-label cash, Jimmy Eat World had to rely on good old-fashioned ingenuity to make things happen. Everything they did – from booking shows and studio time to hawking merch and demo cassettes – they did on their own (believe it or not, some bands actually work this way). So it should come as no surprise that they’re taking that same DIY approach to their videos. While on tour in Japan earlier this month – in support of last year’s Futures album – frontman Jim Adkins picked up his camera and PowerBook and started making short… Read more »

“SYNERGY AND OTHER LIES” would be a good first reading assignment for Sir Howard Stringer, Sony’s new chief executive, to be followed by “The Synergy Myth.” Then Sir Howard should recognize that the Sony he inherits is constitutionally incapable of making one (electronics) plus one (entertainment) equal three. Both books were written by Harold Geneen, the number cruncher who directed International Telephone and Telegraph during its heyday in the 1960’s. He engineered 350 mergers and acquisitions, which brought such names as Hartford, Avis, Sheraton and Madison Square Garden under one roof. Mr. Geneen, however, harbored no illusions that ITT’s individual… Read more »

Mike Patton probably owns a Blackberry. The former Faith No More and Mr. Bungle frontman has always juggled his many musical whims like the finest project manager, but in 2005 his personal digital assistants might need their own personal assistants. The 37-year-old musician has recruited Oakland, California, DJ crew the X-ecutioners for his latest project, General Patton Vs. the X-ecutioners. Released February 22, Vs. is a characteristically varied affair, featuring the general’s vocal acrobatics, skittish needle-dropping and quick cut-and-paste genre changes. And, like a growing number of musical collaborations, most notably the Postal Service, the songs were all completed via… Read more »

Record labels are embracing new technologies in search of music’s next big thing Joe Berman looks for new bands. Typically, that means hanging out in dive bars, enduring hours of unlistenable music by groups whose rock-and-roll dreams far exceed their talent, praying for the occasional act that shows promise. About 16 months ago, however, the Los Angeles-based talent-finder sat at home scouting the globe for groups. He typed “New Zealand indie rock bands” into his computer search engine and found Steriogram, five lads from the town of Whangarei in New Zealand. They had a song and a video posted on… Read more »

Los Angeles – Vanessa Carlton is realistic. She knows today’s musical environment is not always friendly toward pop-oriented artists who play their instruments and write their songs, as she does. In fact, Carlton says she is gladly straddling the fence between “being true to myself as a musician and being embraced commercially” with her sophomore album, “Harmonium,” due Nov. 9 from A&M/Interscope Records. “It’s nice to be back and be the alternative to the more calculated, poppy acts out there,” the 24-year-old artist says. “I feel lucky that I’m able to appeal to real music lovers, and it also somehow… Read more »

The success of the Black Eyed Peas flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that the music business sacrifices long-term artist development in favor of quick hits and short-term corporate profits. Signed to Interscope Records more than six years ago by chairman Jimmy Iovine, the progressive hip-hop group’s first two albums, “Behind the Front” in 1998 and “Bridging the Gap” in 2000 earned rave reviews but failed to go gold (shipments of 500,000 copies). The first album peaked at No. 139 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 197,000 units, according Nielsen SoundScan, while the sophomore set stalled at… Read more »

With the music industry looking to cut costs amid lower profit margins, record companies see fewer incentives to investing in artist-run label projects. Twelve years ago, Madonna decided to apply the business instincts that made her a superstar toward finding and developing new acts for her own music label. Maverick Records flourished early on. It generated hits by the likes of Alanis Morissette and Prodigy, validating the decision by Warner Music to form a partnership with its biggest star. But Maverick’s good fortunes started to turn during the industrywide sales slump that began in 2000. The label-parent relationship soured, landing… Read more »