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Tuesday, June 2

Elektra Relaunches With Justice, Cee-Lo

Also Little Boots Elektra Relaunches With Justice, Cee-Lo

Elektra Records, the Warner Music subsidiary that went dormant back in 2004, is about to return under new management. And from the looks of things, Elektra will be a pretty cool place to hang your hat.

The label's first three signings are EQ-happy French house duo Justice, helium-rasping Gnarls Barkley frontman and hall-of-fame Southern rapper Cee-Lo, and adorably mystique-free British electro diva Little Boots. And while there's nothing too inherently interesting about major labels' continuing practice of splitting their companies up into various subdivisions, this Elektra relaunch is encouraging news because it might mean we'll get new Justice and Cee-Lo albums soon.

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Monday, June 1

Pearl Jam Partner With Target

It's not quite as lame as it seems, though. Pearl Jam Partner With Target

When rumors about Pearl Jam filming a Target commercial directed by Cameron Crowe started swirling around the web yesterday, it seemed like a troubling possibility. Would the same independent-minded band that challenged Ticketmaster back in the day go with an exclusive Target deal for the release of their next album now that they're no longer signed to Sony? Well, yes and no.

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Monday, May 18

Independent Record Stores Band Together to Sell Downloads on Thinkindie.com

On Thinkindie.com, every day is Record Store Day. Independent Record Stores Band Together to Sell Downloads on Thinkindie.com

The music business's ongoing economic apocalypse has been hell on record stores both big and small. And while the demise of fluorescent-lit megaliths like Tower Records and Virgin Megastore is sad, we have a special place in our hearts for our endangered local indie stores. Annual Record Store Day spending sprees won't be enough to keep these stores alive. So we're happy to see that the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, a network of mom-and-pop emporiums, is trying to figure out a way to adapt to a climate in which everyone downloads music.

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Thursday, May 14

Paste Magazine Needs Your Help

Decemberists, Neko Case, Of Montreal, Jamie Lidell pitch in <i>Paste</i> Magazine Needs Your Help

With many music magazines getting frighteningly thin or disappearing all together nowadays due to lack of ad revenue, us music fans have to take care of the few that are left. Independent mag Paste is not immune to the troubles caused by the recession. (Full disclosure: Paste has featured writing from many Pitchfork contributors over the years.)

Paste is currently asking for donations to help stay afloat. As an incentive, the mag is offering rare tracks from more than 70 bands including the Decemberists, Neko Case, She & Him, Jamie Lidell, Of Montreal, Robert Pollard, Bob Mould, and Passion Pit to those who can spare some dough.

Interested parties can contribute to the Save Paste campaign here.

Posted by Ryan Dombal on May 14, 2009 at 11:35 a.m.

Tags: Industry News, Paste

 

Thursday, April 23

Pirate Bay Lawyer Demands Retrial

Claims judge has a conflict of interest Pirate Bay Lawyer Demands Retrial

Last week, we reported that the dudes behind the Swedish BitTorrent hub the Pirate Bay had been found guilty of assisting the distribution of illegal content online. Judge Tomas Norstrom sentenced site founders Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom, and Peter Sunde each to a year in prison and ordered them to pay 30 million kronor (or about $3.54 million) in damages to various entertainment companies.

But Norstom may have been the wrong judge for this particular case. The Associated Press reports that early this morning, Sunde's lawyer Peter Althin said that he would demand a retrial. His reason: Norstom owned up to being a member of two copyright protection organizations, the Swedish Association for Copyright and the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property. (He's a board member for the latter.) The AP reports that Althin's case for conflict of interest was further bolstered by the fact that one of those groups also includes as members three people who represented the entertainment industry during the trial.

The AP quotes Althin as saying, "This is completely new to me. It is reasonable that we should have known about this before. It is a clear case of bias."

Norstom disagrees: "I don't think there are any circumstances that have made me biased in this case."

In a blog post last week, the Pirate Bay founders wrote that they have already appealed the verdict.

In the meantime, the Pirate Bay still exists.

Posted by Tom Breihan on April 23, 2009 at 11:10 a.m.

Tags: Legal, The Pirate Bay

 

Tuesday, April 21

Matador Hit by Pressing Plant Shutdown

Matador Hit by Pressing Plant Shutdown

Just as I start to enjoy my shiny new Record Store Day Pavement Live in Köln LP comes some troubling news from Matador about the future of their vinyl releases. 200 gram nerds, this one's for you.

According to Comcast's Blinded by the Hype blog and confirmed by a Matador spokesman, the label behind some of the greatest indie rock records of the last 20 years recently lost some of their vinyl masters when 33 1/3, the vinyl pressing plant responsible for manufacturing their LPs, went bankrupt back in 2006. Don't worry-- it's not like they won't be able to reprint Slanted & Enchanted LPs for the next 100 years or anything. But it does mean that the label may be forced to be a little pickier when it comes to what they re-release on big black discs in the future.

UPDATE: According to Matador, 33/13 closed its doors in 2006, and any problems resulting from the shutdown have mostly been resolved.

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Monday, April 13

Radiohead to Testify Against RIAA?

One for the "Big Ideas (Don't Get Any)" file. Radiohead to Testify Against RIAA?

Earlier this month, several reports claimed that Radiohead were possibly going to testify against the RIAA in the case against crusading Boston University graduate student Joel Tenenbaum, who was accused of downloading seven songs from a popular file-sharing network and is being sued for over a million dollars according to his website. And while notions of Thom Yorke ripping into an RIAA attorney from the stand is cool in a "screw the man" sorta way, it's not exactly, um, true.

According to a Radiohead spokesperson, "No member of Radiohead has any plans to testify in this trial, [but] there was an informal meeting between the defense attorney and one of the band's managers." Sorry to blow the courtroom fantasy, guys.

And is it me or does this sound like an absolutely riveting episode of "Law & Order"?!

The guys are still signed up with the Featured Artists' Coalition, which fights for musicians' rights in this slippery digital era of ours. So they're doing something to help out. Just not testifying. Which is probably smart since rock stars usually don't look that great while testifying.

Posted by Ryan Dombal on April 13, 2009 at 1:05 p.m.

Tags: Legal, Radiohead, RIAA

 

Friday, April 10

Universal Music Group Teams Up With YouTube

No more video-blocking! At least for a little while! Universal Music Group Teams Up With YouTube

When Warner Music Group pulled its music videos from YouTube late last year, it basically ruined the site's usefulness as a comprehensive music video library. More and more, we're finding ourselves scurrying to Dailymotion when we get a sudden urge to rewatch some half-remembered mid-90s Buzz Bin staple. But according to an L.A. Times report, a forthcoming joint venture between YouTube and Universal Music Group might keep YouTube jammed with music videos.

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Monday, April 6

Sen. Charles Schumer Introduces Legislation Targeting Ticket Resellers

Ticketmaster is on board Sen. Charles Schumer Introduces Legislation Targeting Ticket Resellers

TicketsNow, the scalping service that Ticketmaster owns, has put its parent company in hot water lately. When people attempting to buy tickets to Bruce Springsteen's summer tour were redirected to TicketsNow in February, the Boss himself released an enraged statement. And at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about Ticketmaster's proposed merger with live music leviathan LiveNation, New York Senator Charles Schumer got all up in Ticketmaster's grill, asking if Ticketmaster shouldn't just sell TicketsNow. Now, Schumer has announced via a press release that he plans to introduce legislation targeting resellers like TicketsNow. And he's got the support of at least one industry figure: Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff. OK then.

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Wednesday, April 1

Diplo's Mad Decent Label Teams Up With Downtown Recordings

Diplo's Mad Decent Label Teams Up With Downtown Recordings

Created by one man party machine Diplo, Mad Decent has been responsible for putting out music by Bonde do Role, DJ Blaqstarr, Rye Rye, and others since its inception in 2006. Now, the taste-making and beat-friendly label is looking to expand its reach thanks to a new partnership with Downtown Records, home to acts including Gnarls Barkley, Justice, Santigold, and Major Lazer-- Diplo's upcoming collaboration project with producer Switch. (Downtown is an independent label with ties to majors Interscope and Atlantic.)

And since Downtown already partners with A-Trak's Fool's Gold imprint and Steve Aoki's Dim Mak, this deal puts pretty much every Fader-approved dance act on earth under one roof. Upcoming Mad Decent releases include the label's first compilation along with material from UK "funstep" artist Rusko and unshaven Philadelphia punk trio Popo.

In other Diplo news, the man recently fired off this Twitter missive: "Went 2 a bookshop yesterday.. What's the best book here? After a lil debate I ended up with a 80yr old version of lord jim and I'm like huh?" This is one of the best things I've ever read on Twitter for several reasons.

1) The notion of Diplo walking into a "bookshop."
2) The notion of anyone walking into a "bookshop" and asking an employee "what's the best book here?"
3) The notion of Diplo having a "lil debate" with anyone over the best book ever.
4) Some might say the "I'm like huh?" is Diplo admitting to not knowing what Lord Jim is, but I'm going half full and saying he was just pulling for Ulysses.

If anybody taped this bookshop interaction, please e-mail us, thanks.

Posted by Ryan Dombal on April 1, 2009 at 11:40 a.m.

Tags: Diplo, Downtown, Industry News, Mad Decent

 

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