Music Industry News

Languages Are Dying Around the World

Source: All About Jazz
February 20, 2009

Only one native speaker of Livonian remains on Earth, in Latvia. The Alaskan language Eyak went extinct last year when its last surviving speaker passed away.

Those are just two of the nearly 2,500 languages that UNESCO says are in danger of becoming extinct or have recently disappeared. That's out of a total of 6,000 world languages.

In a presentation Thursday of a new world atlas of endangered languages, linguists stressed the list is not restricted to small or far-flung ...

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Take Charge of Your Own Promotion

Source: HypeBot
February 19, 2009

Never leave promotion to someone else.

Is it realistic to believe that the guy who counts the beer is also going to do the best job of promoting your next gig? Or is the overworked indie label staffer always going to make you their #1 priority? You certainly should empower your fans to help, but is there any guarantee that they'll always do it?

“Do it yourself or it may not get done" has it limitations, but it's absolutely the ...

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Some Broadcasters Reach Net Royalty Deal

Source: HypeBot
February 19, 2009

SoundExchange and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) have reached agreement on internet streaming rates for broadcast radio stations that simulcast programming over the net or that create new internet stations.

Under the agreement, rates for simulcasts or web channels operated by local radio stations are reduced 16% in 2009 then gradually increase through 2015 - from $0.0015 per streamed sound recording in 2009 to $0.0025 per stream by 2015. Additionally, the NAB has reached agreements with individual record label ...

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Jessica Lurie Ensemble:Shop of Wild Dreams

Source: JamBase
February 18, 2009

By: Dennis Cook

Artists that offer one tremendous satisfaction and surprise throughout their career are rare. The temptation to embrace a profitable rut is strong, especially in these downturn days. So, with a quiet smile glued to my face, I can report Jessica Lurie is such a rarity, a composer and instrumentalist of gliding power and true invention. Case in point, Shop of Wild Dreams (released in January on Zipa!Music), which begins with the post-bop electricity of the early '70s ...

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A Message from Adam Niewood

Source: All About Jazz
February 18, 2009

Adam Niewood posted this on Facebook: We are all deeply saddened by the loss of Gerry Niewood, Coleman Mellett, all the passengers and crew on flight 3407, and the poor innocent man who died in his own home. It is tragic and surreal. The outpouring of phone calls, emails, text-messages etc is truly overwhelming. All I can say is, it’s too bad Gerry isn’t around to witness the impact he made on all of you. I plan on getting ...

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Correspondence: On Niewood and Mellett

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
February 18, 2009

Gap Mangione writes from Rochester, New York, about the deaths of saxophonist Gerry Niewood and guitarist Coleman Mellett in last Thursday's plane crash near Buffalo. The three were to have played a concert that night in Buffalo with Chuck Mangione:We gathered at the hotel Thursday night. Chuck flew in from Florida to conduct and play a concert with the Buffalo Philharmonic. Janet and I drove in so that we could have a Valentine's dinner that night and so that ...

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"Men at Work" Guitarist Jailed (Update)

Source: All About Jazz
February 17, 2009

“It’s a mistake?”

One of the founders of the Australian ‘80s band “Men at Work” was jailed over the weekend in LA for a bench warrant on a charge of making criminal threats, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Ronald Strykert, former guitarist in the group who rose to fame with the song “Who Can It Be Now?” allegedly threatened to kill the band’s lead singer, Colin Hay in Dec. 2007.

LA County sheriff’s deputies locked up Strykert, 51, on Friday. ...

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Men at Work Guitarist Threatened to Kill Singer, Police Say

Source: Michael Ricci
February 17, 2009

Aussie band Men at Work hit it big in the 1980s with such songs as “Who Can It Be Now?" and “It's a Mistake." Now the lead guitarist for the band may want to call on those titles for his defense.

Ronald Strykert, 51, one of the founders of the band, was arrested Feb. 13 by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies on an outstanding bench warrant on a charge of making criminal threats.

Strykert threatened to kill the band's lead ...

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