UPDATE - APRIL 27: Big, huge, fun American Idol liveblog + discussion happening on our new discussion boards.
UPDATE 4.5.07: American Idol Songwriter Contest Rules Now Online
UPDATE 4.4.07: American Idol Songwriting Competition Signups Open!!
Now that’s something I wasn’t expecting.
Along with the routine awful auditions and awkward evolutions of the next round of Idol contestants, we’ll get [...]

Chris needs to send you a fruit basket, or buy you dinner at Morton’s or something, because you totally saved his ass last night by screwing up a familiar song even worse than he did.
Technorati Tags: supernova
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Now that power and cable have been restored to the house, Lori and I can handicap this year’s Rock Star competition. Episode one just wrapped up, and here’s our view from the couch…
Storm
Lori: Good, but missing something. Love that she’s got a deep voice.
Joe: Strong, but maybe her look’s a little too polished?
Ryan
Lori: Trying to [...]

Hem has been honing their sound — a blend of etherial vocals and Americana — for close to seven years now. DreamWorks signed them in 2003, but couldn’t make their records click at radio. Luckily, they’ve moved on to Rounder, and they’re selling all three of their albums at their site.
“Half Acre,” a song from [...]

she can keep rejecting the people who brought her into the limelight. (I’ll let her keep the credit for her Grammy nominations.)
With the 5th season of American Idol under way, Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the first season, has stirred up a bit of trouble, which, after a strong response from the public, she [...]

The only time I usually get to see MTV is at the gym, so I missed last night’s debut of Ashley Parker Angel’s new series, There and Back. The former O-Town singer’s trying to get a solo record made, he’s living with his pregnant girlfriend, and he’s broke because (among other things) he spent too [...]

And he’s right.
The founder of Death Cab for Cutie’s original record label tells The Stranger about the disconnects that you’re already aware of.
Because so many bands submit music to editors and music supervisors at television shows like The O.C., Grey’s Anatomy, and The Real World, the amount that bands and songwriters earn from soundtrack placement [...]

Wired and some other publications are getting around to covering a trend we’ve known about for years. Companies like Pump Audio make blanket licensing deals with independent musicians, then including pre-licensed works in a catalog for use by directors and editors — usually on reality shows and other projects that don’t have the budget for [...]

More and more of our clients and members ask me how to get songs placed in television or film. Because directors and music supervisors need songs that “fit” a scene or a series, they’re not so concerned about whether an artist or a songwriter has a built-in audience. In fact, many music supervisors like to [...]

Here’s exactly the kind of story that I wish I could tell more often. Catching today’s Oprah with Faith Hill, the show opened up the songwriting process and laid it bare as Lori McKenna played a song on the cream sofa that left Oprah in tears. She actually had to command Lori to stop playing. [...]