The New Mafia: (Music And Film Independent Artists)

This is part 1 of a 2 part series on music and film and the new indie artists that have taken both by storm, for the good and bad of both industries.

THE NEW MAFIA: MUSIC

In 25 years, the music industry has moved from LPs to CDs to MP3s. But that doesn't begin to describe the utter turmoil the music industry finds itself in. As CD sales plummet and the big labels fret about the Internet, bands are seizing control of the means of distribution, releasing their music as free downloads or throwing it up on social networking sites. This has led to an explosion of indie bands and live performance.

But who's really making any money in music today?

Digital revenue will NEVER make up for the losses in physical revenue, at least not in the career lifetime of any of the executives running these companies, and it’s not just because of the mathematical difference between a $.99 download and an $18.99 CD.

- If a band moves to a major label, it does not necessarily guarantee the band's success. Only about 1 in 10 CDs released by major labels make any profit for the label. It is possible for an artist to make more money producing and promoting their own CDs than signing with a major label. However, an independent label that is creatively productive is not necessarily financially lucrative. Independent labels are often one-or two-person operations with almost no outside assistance and run out of tiny offices. This lack of resources can make it extremely difficult for a band to make revenue from sales. A testament to this could be the fact that since 1991, only twelve independent records have been able to reach the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart; although a few have been able to reach Platinum status in the U.S.

The difference among various independent labels lies with distribution, probably the most important aspect of running a label. A major-label distributed independent label allows the independent label to find, sign, and record their own artists. The independent label has a contract with a major label for promotion and distribution. In some cases, the major label also manufactures and releases the album. Independent labels that are owned by a major label distribute their records through independent distributors but are not purely independent. A purely independent label is not affiliated with a major label in any way. Their records are distributed through independent distributors. - (wikipedia)

Most major label artists earn a 10-15% royalty rate. However, before a band is able to receive any of their royalties, they must clear their label for all of their debts, known as recoupable expenses. These expenses arise from the cost of such things as album packaging and artwork, tour support, and video production. An additional part of the recoupable expenses are the artist's advance. An advance is like a loan. It allows the artist to have money to live and record with until their record is released. However, before they can gain any royalties, the advance must be paid back in full to the record label. Since only the most successful artists recoup production and marketing costs, an unsuccessful artist's debt carries over to their next album, meaning that they see little to no royalties. So the majority of artists signed to a major deal today, never collect one single royalty, because they find themselves stuck in a non-recoupable status.


PAYOLA IN RADIO STILL EXISTS

Although the business model of the radio business has changed as direct result of the change in the music industry, payola, however has not changed. Radio Broadcasting companies now control large blocks of what were formerly independently owned stations. These stations are in turn controlled by corporate boards who send out radio consultants to direct what is programmed on that Broadcasting companies stations.

Payola is still adrift in the business as well, evidenced by record company documents obtained in the investigation of Sony BMG and Warner, both of which have settled with the attorney general, revealed payments for songs that became major hits, including Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" and John Mayer's "Daughters."

Other artists whose songs are named in the documents obtained include Jessica Simpson, Celine Dion, Maroon 5, Good Charlotte, Franz Ferdinand, Switchfoot, Michelle Branch and R.E.M.

Last night Simpson's father and manager told ABC News, "All I know is we worked really hard to get the record on and it was as honest as I could be. So whatever happened above us, you know I have no answer for."

Much of the money went directly to corporate bottom lines, unlike payola scandals of previous decades when individual disc jockeys and program directors received the money. People in suits are coming in with documents rather than cash payments under the table to a DJ.

The nine radio conglomerates that have received subpoenas from the attorney general are Clear Channel, Infinity (now CBS Radio), Entercom, Emmis, Citadel, Cumulus, Cox, Pamal and ABC.

The nine companies together control several thousand radio stations across the country. In statements to ABC News, five of the companies said they are cooperating with the attorney general's investigation and take the matter seriously. The other companies did not respond to requests for comment.

So how are indie artists from the new MAFIA going to compete with these broadcasting companies that now dominate radio?

SOLUTIONS

The major labels' fate were in their own hands, and they could have set the learning curve for others to follow, yet their greed and insatiable appetite for profit margins led to them singlehandedly cause the change in the business model of the industry. Their MAPS agreement did more damage than any other single thing that caused the industry to lose revenue over the past decade. The digital revolution was inevitable, however, the file sharing and piracy that has been a direct result of their greed, was due to the MAPS agreement.

Another result of this has been a downward spiral in the quality of music that is now available to the consumer. Now anyone with the means to record, can in just a few short hours, be up and running on the internet, be their own distributor, label, booking agent, manager, publicist, etc., but definitely at the expense of having the ability to know what is good music or what is really bad music.

There really is no one way to determine what solution may work in changing the current business model, and if it will be a good thing or further ruin the industry. There have been numerous ideas from savvy entrepreneurs, but none have been enough to completely turn things around. Most have been after profits just like the major companies were, at the expense of the unknowing artists, who think that by uploading their music to one of these online distributors, that it will bring instant fame and wealth. The truth is that these entrepreneurs are usually the only parties to these agreements that will see any profit, from collecting submission fees and uploading fees from these artists that will probably never break even and will operate at a loss their entire careers.

Consumers really have the ability to demand change, but with all the file sharing that is going on around the world, I think they truly would prefer things to remain as they are. Although artists now control their own destiny and the way their music is shared, distributed and promoted to the public, they ultimately will continue to suffer.

-DJ Giovanni Nsane-

c. 2010 Earth Brothers Entertainment LLC, All rights reserved

KIA (Corporate America) Utilizes Rapping Hamsters To Push Company To Record Sales

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Rapping hamsters and unemployment near a 26-year high are helping Kia Motors Corp. log record sales in the U.S. even as its cars plummet in quality surveys.

Kia’s U.S. sales gained 15 percent this year through October, outpacing General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. That rate would push Kia, whose lineup sells for about $8,000 less than the industry average, to its highest annual U.S. sales ever.

South Korea’s second-largest carmaker is defying a drop in quality rankings by J.D. Power & Associates as 9.6 percent unemployment spurs demand for inexpensive cars. Commercials featuring rodents driving the boxy Soul and characters from the children’s show Yo Gabba Gabba! have also raised the company’s profile in the U.S.

Is This What Rap Has Been Watered Down To? - Shawty Mane's Video (Justin Bieber's Rap Alter Ego To Release Mixtape w/ Lil Twist of Young Money)

According to MTV, Biebs is working on a mixtape with Young Money rapper Lil Twist.

Trust that as an industry veteran and a lover of this industry, there is room for me to give praise to any teen sensation that comes along and garners the attention like Justin Bieber has, but one thing I can't get passed is the fact that when others try to exploit these young artists and are willing to let them be involved in anything that looks, smells, and seems like easy money, often at the cost of that teen sensations loyal following, or worse their career.

I'm sure that he will be fine with his allegiance of fans (mostly young smitten girls), but this is just not sitting good with me. Rap has had it's hard knocks over the past decade, with all the garbage that has infiltrated the genre, and the seemingly overnight sensations like Drake, Nicki Minaj, etc.., who have stepped in the game and taken it by storm, but this is taking it much too far.

JB came up with an altar-ego Shawty Mane for his latest project—a rap song called “Speaking in Tongues,” originally a track recorded by NYC heavyweights Cam'ron and Vado.

JB talked about how he came up with his rap name, saying, "I don't know, me and my friends were just messing around and they were like, 'Shawty Mane,' and I was like, 'Yeah, that'll be my nickname.'

Music Licensing: The Breakdown

When a song (in any recorded form) is licensed for TV, film, games, ringtones. Even a small 10 second usage in a major TV show will result in a lot more money than you can make just selling the record.

There are two rights ("sides") that need to be licensed:

M

aster-use license

The right to use the recording.

Synchronization Rights

The right to use the song (in any recorded form).
If you are the song writer and self-published (which you are by default) then these licenses may be combined into a single contract ("All-in"). These rights will be licensed for an agreed upon sum and for an agreed upon duration.

You also get money through your RoyaltyOrganizations when the composition/recording is played. Make sure you have registered with a PRO, that you have registered the song in question and that they have your current address. The TV/film production company will send you cue sheets, which they will also submit to the PROs. This is eventually used to calculate your earnings.

Direct Licensing

Some TV/film broadcasters seek to directly license your music for a one-time purchase price, bypassing the PRO. This could result in much less money in the long run, depending on how often its likely to get repeat broadcasts.

Sub-licensing

When a record is re-released on another label. This includes compilations, mix CDs, re-presses (of old out of print recordings), pressing in a different market (US vs Japanese vs European version). In the initial contract in independent music it is commonly stated that sublicensing will be split 50/50 after label costs. This means that the label might spend money to convince someone else to license something, and whatever money is generated will then be split 50/50.

My Name Is Prince, And I Am Fu..... (The Importance Of An Artist Being A Brand Whore)

Don't think for one second when you have seen or heard of Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, changing his name several times over the past decade to "Puffy", "P-Diddy", "Diddy". or a host of names he has chosen to call himself, that he has not protected his brand by trademarking each name change so that no other would be able to use it for their financial benefit. He is the ultimate brand whore and everyone should take a stern lesson from him, and follow his example on how to protect and promote your "brand". This is exactly why Rick Ross and others have contracted with him to manage their individual brands.

I also think Mike Jones had one of the best promotional gimmicks to come along in the past decade in this business, and a lot of artists jumped on the bandwagon after doing so. He would constantly repeat his name and a phone number to download a ringtone and get other pertinent information in one of his first releases, to the point of irritation, until it was engrained into your memory. Even though you tired of hearing this over and over again, I bet you were one of those called that number, right?Although other artists that came before him like Prince with his song "My Name Is Prince", also took advantage of their brand, no one quite capitalized off his brand as a new artist in the business like Mike Jones did. You can argue that Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Myley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, and others have transcended the way artists should look at their brands today, but Mike Jones was one of the few new artists that knew what to do out of the gate, to insure his brand was in the eyes, ears and minds of the masses.

Why are brands so important? Just look at the brands of "The Beatles", Michael Jackson, "Nirvana", "The King Of Pop", "Bob Marley", "Prince", etc., and when you see the millions of dollars of revenue that is generated yearly off of these brands alone, from music, images, names, etc, you will see the importance of protecting your brand. Don't wait for a major distributor, your attorney, or other entity to protect it for you, own it before you make these deals and/or agreements. You are the responsible for taking charge of your music business career, and you will face the consequences of not doing so, in the long run.

I now see so many artists using the same moniker aka "So and So", "Lil So and So", The Real So And So", etc. It does not matter how much you claim you had the name first or that your brands is hotter and more relevant than the other artists who also share your moniker and brand name, if you did not trademark it, and someone else did, guess what, you do not have the rights to it, period, case closed.

According to the United States Trademark and Patent Office, a trademark is a brand name which includes any word, name, symbol, or device used, or intended to be used, in business to identify and distinguish the goods of one company from the goods of another. They are also seen as a pathway to riches by a misguided few.

Just like with patents, questionable trademark applications are routinely filed. They may simply be phrases that are commonly used to refer to a company or product. They may be a slogan used to describe a sound, word, or experience. These are, usually, an overreaching of trademark rules. They are an attempt by companies or people to “own something” which is essentially owned by the public.

Beyoncé's Racy Perfume Ad Is Banned From Daytime TV

A perfume commercial featuring Beyoncé has been banned from daytime TV amid concerns over its sexual imagery.

The commercial, which begins with an image of the singer lying naked in a room, has been deemed ‘too sexually provocative’ to be seen by young children and will not be shown on British TV before 7.30pm.

The Advertising Standards Authority investigated the advert – which appeared on ITV and Channel 4 as well as music channels – after it received 14 viewer c

Beyonce's I AM...WORLD TOUR DVD Available On November 26

Music World/Columbia Records announce the upcoming release of Beyonce's I AM...WORLD TOUR, a full-length concert film DVD lensed during the artist's record-breaking international concert tour.

The concert film, with its never-before-seen, intimate footage of the star around the world, will play on the big screen in select cities for one night only on Thursday, November 18. Beyonce's native city, Houston, Texas, will get a preview on Wednesday, November 17. New York City will welcome fans to the School of Visual Arts Theatre for a special screening on Sunday, November 21. A complete list of theaters can be found at www.beyonceonline.com.

Beginning Friday, November 26, a home DVD edition of Beyonce's I AM...WORLD TOUR will be available exclusively through Walmart.

The deluxe edition of Beyonce's I AM...WORLD TOUR---including the concert DVD, a live soundtrack, an exclusive, intimate documentary and explosive travelogue, and a 40 page collection of never-seen photos--will be available on Tuesday, November 30.

Go here to enter sweepstakes to win a pair of tickets: http://www.beyonceonline.com/us/iamworldsweeps

Will.i.am Calls New Michael Jackson Release 'Disrespectful'

Will.i.am is far from excited about the release of "Michael," the first posthumous Michael Jackson album set for a Dec. 14 release on Epic. In fact, the Black Eyed Peas frontman says that the album is "disrespectful" to the pop singer's legacy. "Whoever put it out and is profiting off of it, I want to see how cold they are… to say that what [Michael] contributed during his life wasn't enough," says Will.i.am, who plans on never releasing the music he made with Jackson in 2006.

All this from a man who has stolen music from other artists and is currently being sude for doing so.

The New Music Industry - (P2P, e-Commerce, Digital Technology, Industry Pimps)

I see three type of artists today:

1. Still obsessed with the old model of getting a deal and having their music heard by that one person that can change your life.

2. Pure artists that have no knack for business and unfortunately will not break through today’s market.

3. Artists that get it, or at least want to get it. They realize the business model has changed and still have a viable chance to succeed. They want to know the business and learn as much as they can before venturing out into the volatile world of the new music industry.

Artists have numerous outlets available to them to get their music out to the consumer, but for just as many legitimate web portals to market their music through, there are even more file sharing cess pools, awaiting to have the artist's intellectual property uploaded to their servers, and cause the artist to be cheated out of the little revenue they are already bringing in as an employee of the major distributors and their affiliate record labels.

It's never been cheaper to distribute music, and recording costs are now fantastically inexpensive. That's old news, but it looks like marketing costs are actually increasing, and the number of artists making ends meet remains depressingly slim. In fact, the latest finding shows that less than 30,000 artists are actually earning a living.

Meanwhile, the costs of actually marketing music effectively is increasing. Topspin CEO Ian Rogers at New Noise Santa Barbara over the weekend said that, "Technology has allowed the cost of production to come down, and the cost of distribution has come down," Rogers relayed. "But the cost of marketing has come up, because you have empowered consumers and unlimited choice."

Not only that, successful marketing is extremely time-consuming, resource-consuming, and the results highly unpredictable. Welcome to the new music industry, one whose real dynamics are just starting to come to light - and forcing entirely new approaches and expectations.

In fact after doing a little research, there are actually over 100 companies from the dawning of the digital age of the new music industry that actually bit the dust along the way as the business model has transformed, and became deformed. It seemed that at the beginning of the digital age, there would be companies that came along that would help push the new music industry into a new era of ideas and opportunity, but then file sharing monstrosities passing themselves off as legitimate companies sprung up overnight, at least it seemed, and have literally destroyed the business, just as the major distributors had years before with their MAPS agreement.

Here are the top 100 P2P and E-Commerce sites that bit the dust along the way via the RIAA or through it's own mishandling.


1. Napster (I, that is...) 2. LimeWire
3. Spiralfrog 4. Overpeer
5. Ruckus 6. TotalMusic
7. AllofMP3 8. Amp'd Mobile
9. Imeem 10. MediaDefender
11. Snocap 12. Muxtape
13. Uplister 14. Mercora (Social.fm)
15. Angry Coffee 16. Aron's Records
17. Spaceland 18. Coolfer
19. Tower Records 20. Passalong Networks
21. Weedshare 22. Kazaa
23. mp3.com 24. Qtrax
25. iMesh 26. Helio
27. BurnLounge 28. AudioGalaxy
29. WebNoize 30. Cdigix
31. ICast 32. Clickradio
33. iCast 34. Nareos
35. StreamCast Networks 36. MusicIP (Predixis)
37. Waxie Maxie's 38. CuteMX
39. Blender 40. Radio & Records (R&R)
41. SDMI (Standard Digital Music Initiative) 42. Creem
43. RIP (magazine) 44. eDonkey
45. Scour Exchange 46. Odeo
47. Sonific 48. PlaysforSure
49. Reciprocal 50. Kick.com
51. Pressplay 52. MediaNet I
53. SkreemR 54. DigiPie
55. Lumberjack Distribution 56. Sony BMG Music Entertainment
57. WorldSpace 58. Musicane
59. MyStrands 60. Xingtone
61. Imesh 62. VoyMusic
63. Musicrypt 64. Liquid Audio
65. Echo 66. Reboot Music
67. Muse.net 68. Radio Free Virgin
69. Zingy 70. 411-Song
71. Oink 72. Virgin Megastores (North America, Asia)
73. Morpheus 74. Torrent Entertainment Network
75. LiveUniverse 76. P2P United
77. Circuit City 78. Pinnacle Distribution
79. Neuton 80. Songbeat
81. Amiest 82. Fusion Distribution III
83. MusicGiants 84. Millennium Music
85. The Box 86. CBGB's
87. Digital Entertainment Network (DEN) 88. PluggedIn
89. Soundbuzz 90. OOiZiT
91. Mulve.com 92. WinMX
93. MediaSentry 94. Topspinner
95. Colombo-BT.org 96. Relatable
97. Cashbox 98. Musicland
99. Sony Cassette Walkman 100. FatBeats

100 legal sites that stream and download free music.
http://blog.merrycode.com/100-legal-sites-to-stream-and-download-free-music/

Of course Garage Band, ITunes, CD Baby, Tunecore, and numerous others are making inroads to what the new music industry can possibly be in the near future, but even these portals for both indie and major artists can prove to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. There are millions of songs loaded up to these companies web portals, but very few if any of these artists are making a sizable profit from their music uploaded to these sites, yet these web portals rake in millions from sign up fees, uploading fees, etc.

There are over 200 Million blogs online, along with hundreds of social networking sites, and although social media has become a part of promoting an artist's product to the masses all in one single click. How many of these clicks are actually targeting a certain geographic, and utilizing the marketing tactics that actually generate consumer interest in that product? I see tons of so called "promoters", selling services to artists offering eBlasts of a list of individuals that they more than likely never had any contact with, and have no clue or are familiar what their listening habits might be. There is only a 1% to 2% chance that those that receive the eBlast will even open up their email. So many artists are duped into spending thousands of dollars believing that these "promoters" know what they are doing, and the promises of radio airplay, marketing and promotions on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc., are just not an end all to reaching those consumers that will eventually be interested in purchasing or supporting that product. I've witnessed with my own eyes, some of these "promoters" charging for "duplication", and actually going to Staples, Costco, etc., purchase a 100 pack of cd', thermal print on the cd's, burn the music from a cd the artists has given them and then charge the artist thousands of dollars for those "duplicated cd's.

Even promises of radio airplay is not telling the truth of the current business model of radio. This was formerly the practice of radio; walking product into a station, talking with the program director, and then making subsequent calls to see if that product was being played and/or added to the playlist. Now stations that were previously independent have been gobbled up by radio broadcasting networks such as Beasley Broadcasting, Cox, CBS, Fox, Clear Channel, etc., and have corporate boards that hire radio consultants to determine what should be included on their entire network of radio stations' playlists. So program directors and even mix show dj's now have very little wiggle room when it comes to adding to or playing outside of that playlist sent down by the corporate board, yet these "promoters" make these outlandish promises to artists only to persuade the artists to pay an extravagant amount for their services.

Also there is the issue of the "ticket touting" which has become a plague. This is the practice of purchasing a large block of tickets, then reselling them via EBay, etc. at often more than double the price they were being offered on the ticket retailers site. mobile ticketing will soon eradicate this practice, I believe, but until then the artist pays a heavy price if they are depending on part of the gate for their performance fee. The promoter doesn't feel any pain, because even if the touters don't sell any tickets, they have made their money from the original sale.


Here is a clip of XZibit on the Mo'nique show speaking on the old music industry and adapting to the new music industry:

"Kush", Detox New Single ? Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Akon

Could this be the long awaited single from the Detox album that Dr. Dre has been working on forever and century? Sit back and enjoy the ride with Dre, Snoop and Akon on "Kush"

Download: http://usershare.net/l73ieb3lxtjo

Ne-Yo's Girlfriend Gives Birth, New Album "Libra Scale" Drops On November 22

Ne-Yo's girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl on Friday night named Madilyn Grace Smith. The singer then took to Twitter on Saturday to express his excitement. "As my life transforms due to the new life that sprung up on me last night, it's good to know my folks support. Luv y'all," the singer/songwriter wrote to Twitter followers. "Much luv to my twit fam and everybody showin' luv to my new addition! She's healthy and happy. Feels like I'm in luv for the first time."

Will this finally put to rest the rumors of Ne-Yo being gay to rest??

Ne-Yo's new album, Libra Scale, drops on November 22.

Has Rap Been Innovative With Auto Tune & Singing Rappers (Fad Or Career Booster?)

Hip-hop has gradually shifted away from the asphalt assault of hard-core '90s rap toward more melodic, tuneful fare. Ja-Rule, 50 Cent, and Pharrell Williams' rock/rap/R&B fusionists N.E.R.D. were at the vanguard, followed by Andre 3000 of Outkast and Gnarls Barkley's Cee Lo Green (formerly of rap group Goodie Mob). Previously acclaimed for their rap skills, the latter two's hybrid efforts, respectively, "Hey Ya" (2003) and "Crazy" (2005), respectively, became two of the '00s' top-selling records. Eminem has even tried his hand at crooning over a few of his hits, including his recent smash single "I'm Not Afraid".

Kanye West's largely Auto-Tune crooned "808s and Heartbreak" paved the way for Drake and Kid Cudi, two of the most popular artists of Generation Y, who balance singing and rapping in equal measure. Even Lil Wayne, who boasted of being "the best rapper alive," briefly abandoned the craft for this year's much-maligned rock-rap Frankenstein, "Rebirth."

No small label better signifies this shift than Stones Throw. Releasing contemporary jazz, soul and funk records, its output expanded to include anything with a deep groove. Camu Tao (deceased) and DJ Nobody are two other notable artists that have taken on this trend and made a shift in their music.

But the question still is, should everyone be using this technology on their albums just to support what otherwise would be a very weak project? Jay-Z's release of DOA (Death Of Autotune), proved that even Mr. Rock-A-Fella himself couldn't even put a dent in the current trend in the business.

With technology continually increasing the number of tools available to musicians, the ability to switch between styles is getting easier. Auto-Tune allows everyone to be the singer they want to be. I totally support change and innovation in the rap industry, but even with the success of Flo-Rida, T-Pain, Akon, and numerous others who have followed in the footsteps of the aforementioned artists, is it a trend that will fade away, or a career booster that will help further an artist's audience?

Only time will tell....

by
DJ Giovanni Nsane
c.p. 2010

Michael Jackson ftg. Akon - "Hold My Hand" World Premiere

The lead single from the late King of Pop's upcoming "Michael" album will be "Hold My Hand," a duet with Akon, which will debut as a stream on michaeljackson.com this coming Monday (Nov. 15), at 12:01 a.m. EST. The news comes after this week's premiere of "Breaking News," a track that has fostered a chorus of criticism and controversy.

Written by Akon, "Hold My Hand" was recorded by the Senegalese singer/rapper and Jackson in Las Vegas in 2007. An unfinished version of the song leaked in 2008, but Akon completed the final production of the track after Jackson's death.

"The world was not ready to hear 'Hold My Hand' when it leaked a couple years ago," Akon said in a statement. "We were devastated about it. But its time has definitely come; now in its final state, it has become an incredible, beautiful, anthemic song. I'm so proud to have had the chance to work with Michael, one of my all-time idols."

According to the release, it was Jackson himself who wanted "Hold My Hand" to be the first single on his next project, as expressed in a handwritten letter that is now is the hands of his estate.

Akon's contribution to "Michael" is not the album's only collaboration. The tracklist reveals that Lenny Kravitz is featured on the song "(I Can't Make It) Another Day," while 50 Cent makes an appearance on "Monster." Jackson served as a co-producer on the album's ten tracks.

The initial U.S. shipment of "Michael" is 900,000, according to retail sources. Sony is projecting first-week CD sales of 340,000 and digital album sales of 60,000. That projection is similar to debut-week sales of Jackson's album "This Is It," though that album had the marketing strength of a major motion picture behind it as well. "This Is It" sold 373,000 units in its first week and has sold 1.6 million units since its release in October 2009, according to Nielsen SoundScan.



DOWNLOAD HERE: http://www.mediafire.com/?jznydlyefgd

Pink To Release G.H. Set On November 16

P!nk's career has spanned for the last 10 years, releasing five studio albums since 2000. On Nov. 16, she will release "Greatest Hits…So Far!!!"

The new single, "Raise Your Glass," is the rocky, up-tempo lead to the album with hot lyrics such as, "so raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways, all my underdogs." Produced by Max Martin, the track is bursting with her carefree attitude and huge mainstream potential. The song fills all the categories of what makes a great pop song. Electric guitar accompanied by a strong, pulsing beat, with P!nk's crisp, unforgettable vocals, it is bound to become a classic P!nk hit.

The album is available in three versions: explicit, edited for language and a CD/DVD deluxe edition. The only downside is there will be only one new song on the record.

MTV India Hit 1 million fans On Facebook

MTV India says it has generated over one million friends on Facebook, seemingly successfully engaging its youth audience in the social media space as well as through the TV screen.
“Getting a million thumbs up from this generation means we have evolved along with our audience,” said Aditya Swamy, head of MTV India. “Our social media marketing has been a constant learning process and I am delighted by the support we have got from our FB fans. This just goes to prove that MTV does have a vibrant parallel universe beyond TV.”

The channel’s Facebook page covers music and entertainment, but also social reform, politics and sports, and provides a platform for fans to air their opinions.


Read more: MTV India hits 1 mn friends on Facebook | News | Rapid TV News

Warner Set To Lodge EMI Music Bid

LONDON (Reuters) - Warner Music is contemplating a $750 million (464.6 million pound) bid for EMI (LSE: EMI.L - news) 's recorded music division and could lodge a bid with private equity owner Terra Firma within weeks, the Observer newspaper reported on Sunday.

After breaching the terms of its debt, Terra Firma, run by Guy Hands, has been fighting to keep EMI out of the clutches of its main creditor bank, Citigroup. Warner has long been rumored to be interested if Citigroup assumes control of EMI.

If the deal goes down this would be yet another major distributor casualty of the MAPS agreement that slowly has eroded the music business.

How Greedy Major Distributors And Their MAPS Agreement Killed The Music Industry

On January 15, 2009 Tommy Silverman said at a seminar, " in 2008 out of the 1,500 obscurity-breaking releases, 227 artists broke the “obscurity line” for the first time ever. Out of the 227 first-timers, 14 artists did it own their own; approximately 106 were signed to a major; the rest were signed to indies. Those left were not even breaking even on their music releases".

Over 15 years ago, all 6 majors at the time, CEMA, SONY, WEA, MCA, PGD, and BMG got together and agreed on MINIMUM ADVERTISED PRICE PROVISIONS (MAPS) on new release, front line and back catalog product, as a means to curtail piracy. The FTC took them to court (http://elr.lls.edu/issues/v21-issue3/elahi.pdf) because it was believed that this move was a direct violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Distributors settled with the FTC by agreeing to postpone MAPs for seven years, but the FTC's findings had discovered long held suspicions of price gouging of consumers by the major conglomerates, only to pad profit margins. This caused a change in the infrastructure of the business model at that time. Companies became afraid that with such a move this would monopolize the infrastructure of the business, so larger wholesale distributors began to gobble up their smaller competition. Record labels began to merge. Radio broadcasting stations concerned of loss of ad revenue started to buy up radio stations by the hundreds. The only result of this MAPS agreement was that it didn't curtail piracy but actually encouraged it, and delayed the digital evolution in the industry.

Numerous "physical" distributors, jack robbers, one stops, and small specialty labels became afraid that this would cause them to lose business or go out of business altogether, so they began to merge in order to survive. In turn, independent radio stations also afraid of advertising revenue loss began to change formats and eventually joined large broadcasting networks like Beasley, ABC, Cox, Fox, Clear Channel, etc.., which changed their business model, because now the broadcasting companies would have the ability to dictate and control radio playlists nationally in a block group of stations owned by them. No longer would indie artists and companies be bale to just walk into a radio station and expect to have a sit down with a radio program director, now those decisions would be left up to independent "radio consultants'.

As the majors remained defiant to change their business model, more and more online digital companies began to spring up, Napster, LimeWire, Download.com, Bearshare, MP3.com, CDBaby, Itunes, Garage Band, Reverbnation, Amazon, and more recently Tunecore. This cut deeply into the revenue of the majors, and actually forced the former 6 majors to merge with one another because of profit losses.

They could have jumped on at the beginning of the digital revolution and struck deals with all these fledgling companies that have now reaped millions of dollars off the backs of artists, and now the majors have been forced to shut them down in court, but still work out agreements to allow them to operate as "pay" services.

It became apparently easier for independent record labels like Bell Mark, Tommy Boy, KOCH, TVT, and numerous others to operate freely of the broken major distribution system, by signing artists and small record labels to deals that were marginal at best, and then undercut the majors by lowering their prices on product, because they were not held to the MAPS provisions. It worked for a while until the age of digital ingenuity provided a means for artists and companies to produce, distribute, market and promote on the internet with very little cost, and slowly eroded the need to have a major distribute your product, although it is still a viable resource if you take care of your business first, and come to them with leverage on your side to negotiate the best possible deal.

Although cd's entered the pre-recorded market in the 80's, and became the primary medium for the delivery of pre-recorded music by the early 90's, cd prices have steadily increased. This paradoxical "trend" occurred despite increasing retail competition, and despite other factors that suggest decreasing prices, as in the digital revolution online.

So again trends can either be beneficial or hurt the business. If the major distributors had embraced the digital evolution instead of running from it, afraid that it would cut into their almighty profits", then the business would not be in a death roll like it is today. This is the direct result of them now willing to make deals with Limewire, Napster, and numerous other file sharing portals by shutting them down and allowing them to relaunch as "pay for" music services, and sign any garbage out here and be damned if they develop the artist, or even pay them. They are trying to play "catch up", and it's way too late in the game for that!!

By DJ Giovanni Nsane
Copyrights reserved 2010

Ke$ha's First Headlining Tour, Set For Feb 11 - May 6 in 2011.

Ke$ha has announced her first-ever headlining tour, set for early in 2011. Dubbed the "Get $leazy" tour, it kicks off in Portland, OR on February 15 and winds up in Los Angeles on May 6. Ke$ha is about to release Cannibal, the companion EP to her hit debut record Animal, on November 22.

Cannibal will also be available bundled together with Animal in a deluxe package.
Tickets go on sale for the "Get $leazy" tour on November 19. Fans that pre-order Cannibal or Animal + Cannibal on www.keshasparty.com will have access to presale tickets for the "Get $leazy" tour from November 10-18.

Ke$ha revealed the "Get $leazy" tour in a video announcement, seen below:



Ke$ha "Get $leazy" 2011 tour dates:
2/15/11 Portland, OR
2/16/11 Seattle
2/19/11 Denver
2/20/11 Kansas City
2/22/11 St. Louis
2/24/11 Chicago
2/26/11 Detroit
4/05/11 Dayton, OH
4/06/11 Toronto
4/12/11 Boston
4/13/11 New York City
4/16/11 Clarion, PA (Clarion University)
4/19/11 Charlotte, NC
4/20/11 Atlanta
4/22/11 Orlando
4/26/11 Dallas
4/29/11 Houston
5/03/11 Reno
5/04/11 San Francisco
5/06/11 Los Angeles

Lil Wayne Facing Paternity Suit

Lil Wayne is facing a paternity suit from a women alleging that the Rap superstar fathered a child with her in 2002. According to TMZ, the child's grandmother obtained a court order to determine if Weezy is the father, with a court date set for December 9. In other news, to no one's surprise Wayne returned to the studio almost immediately following his recent release from jail. Mack Maine, President of Young Money, tweeted that Weezy hit a Miami recording studio on Tuesday and "laid his 1st verse!!!!"

Rhianna Clinches Rare Billboard Achievement As Single “What’s My Name” Jumps 59 Spots To #1

Rihanna has clinched a rare Billboard Hot 100 chart achievement, as “What’s My Name” made the jump to #1 (a 59-point leap from #60-bullet last week) to become her eighth #1 single. Meanwhile, “Only Girl (In the World)” is still ranked at #4. Rihanna’s Top 5 duo of “What’s My Name” and “Only Girl (In the World)” puts her in the rare spot of acts who have managed two Top 5 singles at once.

Both songs are from Rihanna's new album, Loud, which drops on November 16. "Rihanna is a true original, a gifted hitmaker, with a style and a musical flair all her own," said Island Def Jam Music Group Chairman L.A. Reid. "In our collaborations on this project, we really honed in on songs and expressions that would bring out the best in her already incredible gift. So I am especially proud of this project, as I feel it perhaps best captures the spirit and essence of Rihanna."

The singer also will open this year’s 38th annual American Music Awards on November 21.

Twitter hooks up with Apple's Ping music social network

Unveiling Apple's new music-focused social network Ping in September, chief executive Steve Jobs described it as "sort of like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes."

Facebook and Ping have yet to meet but Twitter and Ping got together overnight.

Twitter announced an integration with Ping that allows users who link their accounts to share previews of their favourite tunes with their followers on the micro-blogging service.

Jobs unveiled Ping in September as part of iTunes 10, the latest version of its online entertainment store.

Ping lets users view photos and videos of their favourite musicians, receive information about concert dates and connect with other users to discuss albums and songs and make musical recommendations.

An expected Ping integration with Facebook has never materialised, however, despite months of negotiations between the technology titans.

Michael Jackson Projected To Sell 400,000 In First Week: Can He Help Turn The Industry Around?

Can Michael Jackson posthumously help continue to turn the music business around along with the promising success of female artists this quarter like Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Rhianna?

While the rest of the world debated the authenticity on whether Michael Jackson's voice is actually present on the posthumous single "Breaking News," most music merchants say the controversy should stoke awareness and sales for the new album "Michael," due Dec. 14 on Epic Records.

Indeed, the debate on song quality and authenticity will likely be a moot point by Nov. 15. On that day, the Jackson website is scheduled to debut the first commercially available single from "Michael," a duet with Akon for the song "Hold My Hand," which is noticeably stronger and is clearly identifiable as Jackson. That track will be available for sale the same day at digital stores like iTunes.

Merchants hope the lead commercially available single will provide a stronger introduction to "Michael," which will carry a $10.25 wholesale cost and a $13.98 list price.The initial U.S. shipment of "Michael" is 900,000, according to retail sources. Sony is projecting first-week CD sales of 340,000 and digital album sales of 60,000. That projection is similar to debut-week sales of Jackson's album "This Is It," which sold 373,000 units in its first week and has sold 1.6 million units since its release in October 2009, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Charlie Murphy Gets Booed Off Stage At Grambling State University And Disses Crowd

This is the problem that a lot of entertainers are having today, connecting to the youth of today. They only want to hear garbage that they call music, denigrating women, glorifying drug use and drug dealing, and chasing celebrities, rappers, singers and actors alike who keep getting locked up, caught in numerous crimes, abusing women, etc....

T.I. in more trouble?? - T.I. Sued After Man Assaulted, Held Captive Over Killer Mike's Chain

Rapper T.I. has been sued by a recording studio technician who blames the artist for not stopping an attack inside a studio that T.I. owns.

The lawsuit filed by Norris Gresham names the rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, and five others as responsible for a Sept. 8 assault at Echo Studios. Gresham said T.I. was not there at the time, but he received electronic messages about the attack while it was ongoing.

Gresham alleges that a dispute erupted when one man named in the suit couldn't find a necklace. Gresham said he was held captive for 12 hours, threatened with a gun, then pushed down stairs and beaten.

T.I. publicist Sydney Margetson declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Norris Gresham, who is employed at Echo Studios, claims he was attacked on September 8th by a variety of men associated with Grand Hustle, including Killer Mike aka Mike Bigga, rapper Spodee, Mac Boney and Cortez "C Rod" Thomas, who was with T.I. when he was arrested in Los Angeles a few weeks prior to this altercation. Although T.I. was not in the recording studio when the assault took place, Gresham claims that the rapper was aware the assault was taking place because he was sent emails, text messages and videos of the incident as it unfolded.

Gresham says that Killer Mike lost a diamond encrusted necklace and pendant, resulting in the the 12-hour-ordeal. When the necklace and medallion were found hidden in the ceiling, Spodee allegedly produced a gun and threatened to Kill Gresham. Instead of shooting him, Gresham was pushed down stairs and beaten, resulting in two of his teeth being knocked out.

R. Kelly's New Album "Love Letter" Drops On December 14

R. Kelly will release a new album, Love Letter, on December 14 via Jive Records. Kelly's 11th studio album will include the current single, "When a Woman Loves," and the title track will hit radio as the second single on November 22. Meanwhile, a holiday-themed remix called "Love Letter Christmas" will also be released.



Download the single "When A Woman Loves" At This LInk: http://www.mediafire.com/?1cuyesjr8czrjyk

Women Dominating Music Industry In 4th Quarter On Charts And Awards Shows

With Rihanna’s Only Girl (In The World) moving 2-1 (134,540 sales) to secure her a number one hit for the fourth straight year (Umbrella in 2007, Take A Bow in 2008 and Run This Town in 2009), Cheryl Cole’s Promise This falling 1-2 (77,453 sales), Alexis Jordan’s Happiness debuting at number three (60,153 sales) and Katy Perry’s Firework improving 6-4 (58,353 sales), female solo stars occupy all of the top four places for the first time ever.

Seems the ladies are holding their own when it comes to keeping up the bright hopes of the music industry recovering. Could these be signs of things beginning to change for the better? Taylor Swift's "Speak Now"release last month also had industry heads believing that things are starting to turn around.

With the ladies leading the way, the 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards kicked off in the Spanish capital of Madrid last night. 46 million voters favored the girls, as the nominees for best female dominated the charts, but once again it was Lady Gaga who stole the show winning best pop category and best song for Bad Romance. Although the queen bee wasn't there to accept the awards in person, she still accepted in style via video link from Budapest, Hungary, where she is on tour. The superheroesque styled super-star saluted her fans saying "Europe, I love you."

Katy Perry took away best video for "California Gurls," in her first public appearance since being "Branded" to a very lucky Englishman, Ke$ha won for best new act, while Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and Shakira performed. "It's great to see women representing the music industry, especially women that carry themselves so well like Katy Perry, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. They have really made their mark in pop culture and crossed music barriers, tonight is such an exciting night for women," commented the show's host Eva Longoria.

T.I. Goes In On People Being Negative About Latest Legal Trouble.

After T.I. re-entered a low-security federal prison in Arkansas on Monday to serve an 11-month sentence for probation violations, the Rapper posted a message on his website to address his actions.

"To all of you who say, 'He should practice what he preaches,' and 'How could he do something so stupid... AGAIN?'

You're absolutely right, and I couldn't agree with you more," wrote T.I. "But you know what? As history has shown us before, I find my greatest inspiration during my darkest hours. So all fans of music, T.I. or not, should be able to agree that No Mercy will surely be my best work yet. After all, isn't that what it's all about?

If I never went to prison, never did drugs, never f'ed up again, did everything right and never made great music... would you even care enough to comment on T.I.? Doubt it, so bear that in mind while you jump to your conclusions. Martin Luther King once said, 'Notice not the comments of your enemies but the silence of your friends.' So although I'm still in touch, watching, reading and listening, I'm not concerned with what negative people say more than I am with what positive people don't."

Portland, Oregon: Strip Club Capital of America

Who would have known? With the hype surrounding the "Magic City" of Miami, "Sin City" Las Vegas, Tampa Bay, and ATL, you would think that no other city would morph these denizens of desire when it comes to gentlemen's clubs, but little known to most, Portland, Oregon has more strip clubs per capita than anywhere else in the US.

"With 63 breweries and brewpubs Portland has just overtaken Munich as the beer capital of the world."

Another guide boasts that due to the unparalleled proliferation of strip joints, "you can satisfy any number of naked girl desires".
It also points out that local laws allow men to ogle exotic dancers while boozing and dining.

So with this little secret, I kind of figure that this must be one of the favorite stops on the road of a large majority of NBA teams. Yet, Portland, Sacramento, Toronto, Memphis and Oklahoma City are the only current NBA cities that have not yet hosted an NBA All-Star Game. Hmmmmmm? I wonder why the current NBA commissioner David Stern hasn't agreed to allow an NBA All Star Game to hit Portland yet?

Jamiroquai Singer Jay Kay Goes In On Lady Gaga and Music Industry

Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay quit the music industry because stars were manipulated by record labels. The singer said he found being a pop star “unfulfilling” by the time he left music behind in 2006, and said his group can’t be compared to stars like Lady Gaga, who he sees as a “money making freak”.

I think a lot of the angst that musicians and artists show towards the business, would not be if they only would learn the business before they sign these contracts weighted in the record distributors favor.

Rihanna to Open the 2010 'American Music Awards®' November 21 on ABC

LOS ANGELES, PRNewswire/ -- dick clark productions (dcp) president, Orly Adelson, announced that Rihanna will perform at the 2010 "American Music Awards®," as the show's opener for the 38th annual event. This will mark Rihanna's fourth time performing on the AMAs as she will join other previously announced acts including Diddy-Dirty Money, Ne-Yo, Bon Jovi, P!nk, Christina Aguilera, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Ke$ha and Usher. Rihanna is nominated for an AMA in the Soul/Rhythm & Blues category for Favorite Female Artist.

Katherine Jackson Goes In On TMZ For Mistaken Story On Unreleased Songs Of Jackson's

TMZ has gotten chastised and corrected by Michael Jackson‘s mother, Katherine, via her JacksonSecretVault website.

They’ve posted what they claim is a “new” unreleased Michael Jackson song that they called “Opis None.” But it’s just a remix of a 1978 recording by the Jacksons, their single, “Destiny,” from the album of the same name.

You can hear the lyrics remixed into the track, particularly the word “confusion” from the first line of the song.
“Destiny” is credited on BMI’s website to Michael and his brothers Jermaine, Marlon, Tito, and Jackie.

Michael Jackson: Deal For New Album Cut

This “Breaking News”–also the title of the first single from Michael Jackson‘s new album, written and produced by Eddie Cascio.
Sony Music just sent out a cover picture for Michael Jackson‘s album — called “Michael”– set for December 14th.

Here are the likely titles of the Cascio songs for the album called “Michael,” which will be released on December 14th: “Breaking News,” “Monster,” “Water,” “Keep Your Head Up,” and “All I Need.” There were 10 original Cascio songs Michael sang on. The finished ones chosen, aside from “Breaking News,” are still pending.

No deal has been brokered yet between all the fractious parties in the Jackson camp. Co executor John McClain was still claiming that the vocals on some of the tracks weren’t Michael’s.

Sony seems to disagree. They’ve made their move.

MORE: The album will include at least four or five of the “Cascio” tracks, produced mostly by Teddy Riley, including the single. Apparently the estate settled all internal political issues, as outlined here first and exclusively (thanks TMZ for mucking around in our area).

Note: A teaser of the album can be heard on http://www.michaeljackson.com and the new single "Breaking News" should already be getting airplay.

Lil Wayne is free!!! Baby of Cash Money calls Big Boys Neighborhood

Ministry Of Sound abandons net piracy cases after BT deletes data

British dance music publisher the Ministry of Sound has called off plans to pursue legal action against thousands of people accused of illegally distributing the firm’s music catalogue via file sharing services.

Legal representatives of the company had been pushing for a court order to release the details of ISP customers so that further action could be taken against them. However BT has apparently deleted 80 per cent of the data requested on the basis of laws that require the company to hold such data for 90 days before destroying it.

BT destroyed 20,000 of the 25,000 details requested by the Ministry of Sound legal team according to a BBC News report. Last month BT called for a suspension of court orders to release customer details following revelations that ACS Law leaked thousands of confidential details following lax security measures.

Prince-Good Morning America Interview on "Owning Rights To Your Masters And Avoiding "Con"-tracts

"I'm blessed to have a job that I love. I think of myself as music, so it's hard to go to sleep at night, because I'm always hearing music. I could be watching a tv program and I hear them talk about music and my ears perk up, because music is as natural to me as breathing. It's necessary to have your business together, we do quite well, but it's two different avenues, music is natural to us, but business was taught to us, and we're constantly learning new ways to approach it."

It took Prince years to learn that he was getting ripped off, and he doesn't own the rights to most of his extensive early catalog. But he shows that he is concerned of other artist's perils in the business and stresses that ownership of your music is very important.

Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" Rides A Tsunami Of One Million Records Sold In First Week

When Taylor Swift released her latest album last week, I along with millions of others in the industry, fan clubs, and every other alternate business medium, knew it was going to be a success, but no one knew just how big. It is the fastest-selling new album in five years, so now now all have that answer they were seeking for months on end..

How did Taylor do it? According to her label boss, through a combination of clever, wide-net marketing, a key exclusive contract with Target, a blitz of high-profile media appearances and, perhaps most importantly, that unique bond with her fans, and possibly a "little" help from Kanye West..

"For the most part, Taylor hasn't been out in the marketplace for the past year," her Big Machine Label Group CEO Scott Borchetta told MTV News.

Even after the Kanye West incident at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Swift gave few interviews and mostly avoided walking the red carpet, even at awards shows where she was performing and winning trophies. Borchetta said that was all part of a plan to avoid the perpetual press cycle and allow fans a breather from reading chats with Swift when she didn't have new songs to talk about.

Man what a few year's difference, an awards show flub and Kanye West make to a fellow artists career, right??

“Speak Now” (Big Machine), the third release by Ms. Swift, sold 1,047,000 copies in the United States in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan; selling more than a million copies has become extremely rare as the market for recorded music has shrunk. The last album to sell a million copies in its first week was Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” in 2008 (with 1,006,000), and the opening sales for “Speak Now” were the most since 50 Cent’s album “The Massacre” had 1,141,000 in 2005. (According to Billboard, only 16 CDs have ever sold more than a million copies out of the gate.)

Seems that Taylor Swift has set the bar very high for others to follow including Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and others.

"THANKS KANYE, FOR ALL YOUR HELP", Taylor should be screaming through the phone at him!!

The Reason SONY MUSIC Wants To Release Alleged Fake Michael Jackson Album

It's just amazing how the vultures come swinging down from the sky and try to capitalize off an entertainment icon's untimely demise. Michael Jackson has left behind quite a legacy for his kid's to inherit, and it's a shame that the same label, SONY, which tried to derail and undermine him by paying off debts behind his back would now stoop as low as putting out a "Milli Vanilli" type album of what seems to be Michael's work.

You have to first understand why the vultures are flying high. Michael has in some estimates the largest stake of any artist, business mogul, etc. in some of the largest publishing catalogs in the world. He is the single most ingenious artist of all time, by gobbling up numerous publishing catalogues of the majority of the more prominent music artists both past and present, he single handedly is the pulse of music publishing in this industry.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing is a music publishing company co-owned by The Michael Jackson Family Trust and Sony. The organisation was originally founded as Associated TeleVision (ATV) in 1955 by Lew Grade. Jackson owns a %50 stake in the company. In 2002, Forbes magazine estimated Jackson's 50% stake in the company, along with other music publishing ventures, to be worth $450 million. Today, Sony/ATV Music Publishing owns and administers more than 600,000 song copyrights.

In December 1995, ATV Music Publishing was merged with Sony and renamed Sony/ATV Music Publishing. The company became the second largest music publisher in the world,[citation needed] owning the rights to songs by The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Eminem, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Charlie Pride, Gretchen Wilson, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Black Eyes Peas, Rick Ross, 50 Cent, Celine Dion, Cher, Brooks & Dunn, Leonard Cohen and a "who's who" of numerous other artists on SONY and other distributors and publishing firms. The value of Sony/ATV Music Publishing has varied in reports. Industry experts have estimated the company to be worth as much as $1.5 billion.

TO SEE FULL LIST OF SONY/ATV ARTISTS AND THE NUMBER OF SONGS OWN BY BOTH THEM AND MICHAEL GO TO LINK BELOW:
http://www.michaeljackson.com/my/node/713540

ATV Music Publishing and Grade acquired the rights to the Lennon/McCartney song catalogue, Northern Songs, in 1968. The catalogue featured nearly every song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney until The Beatles' split in 1970.

Grade's fortune began to dwindle as the 1980s approached and by the mid-1980s, ATV Music Publishing and Pye Records were both up for sale. The companies were bought by Australian businessman Robert Holmes à Court, who disposed of them quickly and to his great profit. They were sold to Jackson for $47.5 million in 1985. This upset McCartney—who had told Jackson about the importance of owning publishing, and his own plans to purchase The Beatles catalog—who felt Jackson on purpose outbid McCartney.

After Jackson's acquisition of ATV Music Publishing, his record label, CBS, were negotiating the sale of their record division in an unrelated deal. Following hurriedly arranged meetings and disagreements over the selling price, a deal was sealed by Jackson during a concert in Tokyo. Upon seeing the success of this sale, Japanese corporation Sony sought to break away from its core business of hardware manufacturing and diversify into music, films and games. Looking for further opportunities, the company aimed to expand its music publishing interests. The Japanese corporation offered Jackson $90 million for 50% of ATV Music Publishing in 1995. Jackson gladly accepted; he had essentially acquired half ownership of the Beatles' songs for a large profit. Jackson's own songs were not included in the deal.

In May 2001, Jackson denied rumours that he was planning to sell the Beatles' song catalogue. Rumours had circulated that the singer was to sell them in order to finance the upkeep of Neverland Ranch and to cover legal bill expenses. The singer announced in a statement, "I want to clarify a silly rumour - The Beatles catalogue is not for sale, has not been for sale and will never be for sale." Sony/ATV Music Publishing continued to acquire song catalogues in the 21st century.

Another company acquisition was made in 2007, when Famous Music, a music publishing business with song catalogue of more than 125,000 songs including "Moon River" and "Footloose", was sold to Sony/ATV Music Publishing. The deal, sought by Viacom, included the assumption of around $30 million of debt. The company purchased the business for $370 million. The song catalogue also includes the hits of Eminem, Akon, Linda Perry, Bjork, Shakira and Beck. With this acquisition, Sony/ATV acquired the rights to publish music from films released by Viacom's Paramount Pictures subsidiary, which had founded Famous Music in 1928 to publish music from its films (this also included films released by DreamWorks, which Viacom acquired in 2006).

SIMPLE AND PLAIN!! SONY wants to capitalize off of Michael's Demise like every other vulture out there coming up with every gimmick in the world to financially benefit "BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY".

Going in on Hammer;'s Diss Of Hova!!!

Here it is the anticipated "DISS" of Hova by Hammer. My opinion is far far far to the left, so I'll leave it up to others on this one. All I can say is if hammer was going to do this, he should have at least got a ghost writer..

Ciara Unleashes Her 'Basic Instinct' on Dec. 14

NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum recording artist Ciara gets back to basics pursuing her creative vision on Basic Instinct. Executive produced by Ciara, Tricky Stewart, The Dream and Mark Pitts, the singer's anticipated fourth LaFace/Jive Records album is due in stores December 14.

Basic Instinct features the new uptempo single "Gimmie Dat" (Click on link to stream). The track, produced by Tricky Stewart & Soundz, will be available at iTunes November 2 and impacts urban mainstream and rhythm radio November 9. Its video (click to view video), directed by Melina and Ciara, is in steady rotation at MTV Jams, MTV Hits, VH1 Soul and BET.

Initially heightening anticipation for Basic Instinct was the sexy, sensual first single "Ride" (Click on link to stream). The mid-tempo track, produced by Tricky Stewart and The Dream, features frequent Ciara collaborator Ludacris, who adds a devilishly clever verse to the song. "Ride" rolled out several impressive stats. The single peaked to No. 3 on the Urban Mainstream chart and marked the singer/dancer's twelfth top 10 on Billboard's Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop radio airplay charts as well as the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart. On the Rhythm chart, the track peaked to No. 11 while accumulating combined digital and mobile sales of more than 680k to date. The sultry video—set off by Ciara's unparalleled, lithe dance moves—boasts more than 15 million YouTube views.

LISTEN TO THE NEW SINGLE HERE:
http://jive.sonymusic.com.edgesuite.net/prod/mps/catalog_69/f7/e4/ab/01_Ride_feat._Ludacris_(Clean).mp3

Nicki Minaj Has Star Lineup On Upcoming Nov. 22 Cd Release

Considering that Nicki Minaj has done guest verses on hit songs by so many other artists, it's no surprise that many of them would return the favor and appear on her debut album, Pink Friday, which is due on November 22. When the track list for Pink Friday hit iTunes over the weekend, it revealed that Kanye West will be featured on "Blazin," Rihanna will appear on the song "Fly," will.i.am shows up for the single "Check It Out," and labelmate Drake guests on "Moment 4 Life." British singer Natasha Bedingfield also lends her vocals to the track "Last Chance," and Eminem can be found on "Roman's Revenge."

Of course, the album also will be filled with Minaj's signature voices and multiple alter egos, such as the gruff "Roman Zolanski" character and the delicately voiced "Barbie," both of whom pop up on Minaj's verse on Kanye West's "Monster." In fact, the rapper also will unveil a new character on her debut album.

"There is a person introduced on Pink Friday — it's Roman's mother," Minaj told MTV News. "Roman has a mother" but "you gotta wait for November 22 to meet Martha, but you're gonna love her. You're gonna absolutely adore her."

Here is the track list for Pink Friday, according to iTunes:
1. I'm The Best
2. Roman's Revenge (featuring Eminem)
3. Did It On 'Em
4. Right Thru Me
5. Fly (featuring Rihanna)
6. Save Me
7. Moment 4 Life (featuring Drake)
8. Check It Out (featuring will.i.am)
9. Blazin (featuring Kanye West)
10. Here I Am
11. Dear Old Nicki
12. Your Love
13. Last Chance (featuring Natasha Bedingfield)
14. Super Bass
15. Blow Ya Mind
16. Muny
17. Girls Fall Like Dominoes [Bonus Track]