Music Industry News

Ask Aretha Franklin

Source: All About Jazz
February 3, 2010

She hardly needs an introduction -- in fact, she doesn't even really need a last name.

Aretha -- also known as the Queen of Soul -- burst onto the scene in the 1960s, when she signed on with Atlantic Records to release hits like Chain of Fools, “Respect" and “Natural Woman." In 1987, she became the first woman to ever be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She has won 18 Grammy awards and performed at three ...

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Best Original Song Nominee List Missing a Few Songs of Note

Source: Michael Ricci
February 3, 2010

ORIGINAL SONG U2, Paul McCartney and Mary J. Blige are among those who miss out on the short list.

By most criteria, Paul McCartney and U2 have little reason to regard French composers Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas with envy.

But Tuesday, Wagner and Thomas scored an Oscar nomination for best original song -- for “Loin de Paname" from the little-seen French movie “Paris 36" -- while neither “Winter," U2's contribution to the soundtrack of Jim Sheridan's “Brothers," ...

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Michael Jackson's Doctor Prepared to Surrender

Source: Michael Ricci
February 2, 2010

A lawyer for Michael Jacksons personal physician said Tuesday that the Houston-based doctor is in Los Angeles and prepared to surrender if authorities file charges against him in the pop stars death.

I dont have any specific information that leads me to believe he is going to be charged this week," said lawyer Ed Chernoff, “ but if he is, weve made it clear hes available to turn himself in. The arrival of Dr. Conrad Murray and Chernoff, his lead ...

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Trapped in Cognition: The Plight of the Digital Age

Source: HypeBot
February 2, 2010

\Kyle Bylin (@kbylin), Associate Editor

If there is one thing to be learned from the last decade in the history of the record industry it's this -- that smart people make bad decisions. But, had you kept up with and read through the numerous books, essays, and news articles published during these times the conclusion you would've likely arrived at is that these weren't smart people at all. That, in fact, these music executives were 'out of touch' and struggling ...

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Sony Pictures to Lay off 450 Employees

Source: Michael Ricci
February 1, 2010

Sony Pictures Entertainment is laying off 450 people, more than 6.5% of its global workforce, as part of a studio-wide belt-tightening move blamed on the growth of piracy and changing media consumption patterns, particularly the ongoing downturn in DVD sales. In a memo sent to Sony Pictures' approximately 6,800 employees Monday, Chairman Michael Lynton and Co-Chairman Amy Pascal said most of the layoffs would affect the home entertainment and information technology divisions. But all divisions will be affected, they said, ...

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Swedish Rapper Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder in Road Rage Incident

Source: Michael Ricci
February 1, 2010

David Jassy, a rapper and record producer from Sweden, was found guilty Monday of second-degree murder in the death of a pedestrian he was accused of assaulting in a fit of road rage.

He faces 15 years to life at a sentencing next month.

Witnesses said Jassy, 35, punched, kicked and then ran over John Osnes, a 55-year-old jazz pianist, during the November 2008 incident. Osnes, who did not own a car and was an advocate for pedestrian rights, had ...

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Grammy-Winning Composer Says Games Were His Big Break

Source: All About Jazz
February 1, 2010

Composer Michael Giacchino won two Grammys this weekend for his work on the Pixar animated feature Up. After his victory, he said that he had Steven Spielberg to thank for giving him one of his first gigs: Scoring a Videogame.

Giacchinos career got a kickstart when the famed film director hired him in 1996 to score the Lost World: Jurassic Park video game. J.J. Abrams played those videogames, Giacchino told Variety, then called him up out of the blue. That ...

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Grammys: That's Not My Music Industry

Source: One Working Musician by Jason Parker
February 1, 2010

Watching the Grammy Awards tonight I was struck with one thought: they might call that the Music Industry, but that has nothing to do with what I do as a working musician. I have been a professional musician for 15 years, and it's been my sole job for 9 of those years. But whatever that was on the TV tonight, that's not even close to my world.

And you know what? Rather than that thought being depressing it is actually ...

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