No American Idol Songwriter Competition for 2009

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Andy Dehnart at Reality Blurred confirmed with both Fox and with American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi that there will be no American Idol songwriting competition this year. In fact, Andy’s report indicates that Kara herself will be taking on the finale songwriting duties, much like Cathy Dennis did in earlier seasons.

Steven Bacon’s Best Gig Ever

See what happens when your biggest new fan has a fan base of their own.

Lou Pearlman Can Buy His Way Out of Jail

All of Lou Pearlman’s crazy schemes have finally earned him something — 25 years in jail. Here’s someone who was, at best, a shrewd but successful music manager who bilked artists out of earnings and sought to get his company name or logo on just about every building in Orlando. And it would have actually [...]

Country Music Star Darryl Worley: 15 Years of Digging

He’s singing the National Anthem at the Coca-Cola 600 this weekend, so the Sporting News checks in with Darryl Worley about how he got to where he is today. He converted a degree in organic chemistry into a successful business, then used the proceeds to fund his full-time music career. Then he lost it all, [...]

Alison Wenham cordially invites you to a flame war.

Writing for The Independent, Ms. Wenham finds it ludicrous that anyone would be insulted by the British music industry’s proposal to require a surcharge every time a listener transfers a music file from device to device. Furthermore, anyone blogging about the music industry in this business climate can hope to achieve little more than “repetitive strain [...]

Music Business Education Reaching High Schools

After hearing so much great response from our profile of Drexel’s campus-based music business program, I’m noticing more stories about schools that model their student-run record labels and booking agencies along the same principles. This week, the Los Angeles Times profiles a school that’s offering the same kind of real world experience, only at a [...]

My Favorite Links for 04/17/08

Top 10 Mistakes Bands and Musicians Make

My Favorite Links for 04/16/08

Jay Z’s $150-million deal shocks record labels – Ottawa Citizen What’s really keeping you from where you need to be? (It’s not piracy.) I quit being a musician because I couldn’t play without drinking Get ready for Record Store Day

My Favorite Links for 04/15/08

Top 10 Mistakes Bands and Musicians Make The Buzz puts off alternative listeners with mainstream lineup change – Independent Florida Alligator