News

One of the compelling threads bubbling up from MIDEM: Major labels have become so obsessed with “classical crossover” (think Josh Groban, Charlotte Church, et al) that they are abandoning traditional classical releases and throwing their budget to these pop-style recording…

Essential reading… “When Hail to the Thief leaked on the Internet,” Frankel says, “I was like, ‘Right on!’ But I still bought the CD. I think it’s wrong to download music and never give anything to the artist. But if…

Wondering what Jason (from Jason & the Scorchers) and Dan Zanes (the Del Fuegos) have been up to? They’re making solid independent records for children, that parents can enjoy, too…

Another example of a band that got burned by a major label, lived to tell the tale, and do better now that they’re on their own.

Double-check your e-mail list this month — if you have anyone on the list that hasn’t specifically opted in, get ’em off! (It’s why we asked our newsletter readers to verify/update their info in January). Read this essential article from…

The band Fitehouse combines their stand against the RIAA with a cleverly executed guerilla marketing ploy to get some column inches. This is a really good example of what Dave Hooper likes to call time-release press kits — the initial…

This keeps coming up. The major labels are falling over each other to release P.R. claiming that the RIAA’s lawsuits are working — that file swapping is down. Trouble is, file swapping’s not down — it’s just moving to networks…

Like a volley at Wimbledon, here’s another report that shows file sharing really is UP… P.S.: I swear I’m going to bed after this. Too much news today to pass up all these mini-posts!

Here’s a team that’s developing an open-source solution to film placement…

Great news from our friends at Sanctuary in the UK, who report a profit in a year when so many other music companies lost their shirts. (I’m looking at you, Antonio.)

I sure as heck didn’t know what Radio CBC 3 was until I saw this report from a Toronto paper. What a delightfully subversive use of tax dollars — the state-funded CBC has a Skunk Works building new web and…

The Cracker Barrel restaurant chain has launched an indie music label! Another example of alternative distribution methods opening up opportunities for independent musicians. And excuses to overindulge at breakfast.