Music Industry News

Top 10 Jazz Ironies

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
May 14, 2009

Like the music itself, the history of jazz is loaded with irony. Stuff happens for strange reasons, or there are coincidences that are spring-loaded with unsaid meaning and hidden messages. Sometimes it's the space that says more than the notes. If irony is the gaiety of reflection and the joy of wisdom, as French poet Anatole France once said, then let me share with you a little of both. [Photo by Helen Levitt]

Here are 10 jazz ironies:

1. Cool ...

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Peace, Quiet and Pajama-Clad Jazz

Source: Michael Ricci
May 9, 2009

Frankie Foye styles hair for a living, traveling to studios and locations around the world to make models look just right in fashion advertisements for such clients as Bergdorf Goodman and Victoria’s Secret. Since she spends so many days working with big crews in noisy photography studios filled with blaring music and inordinate demands, she has made her large one-bedroom apartment in the West Village a serene, private sanctuary. “I hardly ever have people over,” Ms. Foye said recently, as ...

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Live Nation Attendance Drops 22%. is Live Music in Trouble Too?

Source: HypeBot
May 9, 2009

Conventional wisdom says that live music is exempt from recessions. Even when times are tough - perhaps particularly when times are tough - people want to party. But that didn"t prevent Live Nation's first-quarter losses widened as the company saw a sharp drop in attendance for North American concerts.

Live Nation's quarterly earnings report showed a loss of $102.7 million, or $1.29 a share, compared with a Q1 2008 loss of $37.2 million (.50 cents per share.) The promoter also ...

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Harry James: In a Mist

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
May 8, 2009

Trumpeter Harry James recorded Bix Beiderbecke's In a Mist just twice--once in 1949 and again in mid-1950. One was a studio date, the other a live radio remote. What's interesting here, of course, is that Bix never recorded his own composition on cornet. For Bix, In a Mist was a piano solo recorded in September 1927. What prompted James to apply his trumpet to the piano piece? In 1949, James was fresh off recording the music for the ersatz Beiderbecke ...

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Jazz This Week: Tony Bennett, Umoja Orchestra, Erin Bode, Denise Thimes, a Tribute to Kind of Blue, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
May 8, 2009

There's a nice range of choices over the next few days for fans of jazz and creative music in St. Louis, from the swinging sounds of a classic crooner to the percussive gumbo of a young twelve-member ensemble blending jazz, funk, Latin, African music and more. Let's go to the highlights:Tonight, there's a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue at the Missouri History Museum, with the Legacy Jazz Quintet performing and discussing compositions ...

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Labels Unhappy with MySpace Music Revenue

Source: HypeBot
May 8, 2009

The major label partners who co-own MySpace Music are pleased with the traffic that the service is generating. But during a recent closed door meeting the labels also made it clear that they are not pleased with the revenue they are receiving, according to a variety of sources.

The labels are pushing for more integration with the greater MySpace site, as well as, other changes that might drive sales. The freedom which MySpace offers users to create profile designs has ...

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What the Music Industry Can Learn from Detroit

Source: HypeBot
May 6, 2009

"Companies of the future will see the public as their partner. Rather than suing customers, they'll give them blankets, and a return of all fees when a concert is canceled. There's no service in this industry. And it was the lack of service that shredded Detroit's reputation..." “We've got a long way to go to reestablish music's dominance on the popular culture landscape. It can be done, but only if the execs stop worrying about their ...

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CD Packaging Study: "It Isn't Easy Being Green"

Source: HypeBot
May 6, 2009

"Comparing Packaging Options For Compact Discs - A Environmental & Toxicological Assessment," a new RIAA and NARM joint study of CD packaging highlights the environmental impact of various CD packaging options.

Think moving from less plastic to more cardboard - even recycled cardboard - is the answer to going green? Think again. Some new packaging still uses a bit of plastic to hold the CD in place and that creates a “mixed" recyclable that can be even more difficult to ...

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