Music Industry News

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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Flow Returning to St. Louis on February 5 and 6

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
February 1, 2010

Saxophonist Kim Bock's organ-driven trio FLOW (pictured) will be returning to St. Louis next weekend for two events - a performance at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, February 5 at The Gramophone, and a concert/clinic at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, February 6 at Saxquest.In addition to Bock on saxophone, the group features organist Soren Moller and drummer Peter Retzlaff.Their last trip to St. Louis was in April, 2009, and you can see pictures from the clinic that Bock ...

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Broken Record: Music and Money in the Download Era

Source: Michael Ricci
January 31, 2010

The path to success is no longer labeled. Hunting for a record deal won't cut it anymore. Modern bands are focusing more on the Internet, looking for film soundtrack opportunities and piggy-backing album sales on designer T-shirts.

The Troubadour, awash on a recent night in indigo light and chiming guitars, doesn't look all that different than it did in the 1970s, when music history plugged in to the club's stage amps and earned the tiny West Hollywood venue the audacity ...

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Pasadena Playhouse Will Close Feb. 7

Source: Michael Ricci
January 29, 2010

The Pasadena Playhouse will close Feb. 7 after the final performance of its current production of “Camelot," leaving its future in jeopardy as company leaders explore ways out of its financial woes, including a possible bankruptcy filing.

Stephen Eich, the executive director hired last June to run the theater, said 37 employees learned at a staff meeting Thursday that they would be out of work. The playhouse is essentially out of cash to continue running, he said, and faces more ...

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