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Why Records (Vinyl, That Is) Are Making A Connection With More And More People
May 24, 2013
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"Vinyl is the real deal. I've always felt like, until you buy the vinyl record, you don't really own the album. And it's not just me or a little pet thing or some kind of retro romantic thing from the past. It is still alive."
-- Jack WhiteThe Huffington Post's Music Critic, Dave Tomas, wrote a great article this week titled "Records Aren't Just For Hipsters Anymore.'
From the article, "Maybe audiophilia is not the reason that vinyl has gone mainstream again. Perhaps it has more to do with the simple feeling that what you hold in your hands cannot be taken away from you. What's more, this thing in your hands is a cultural artifact with its own story beyond the sweeping cover art, song sequencing and wax grooving."
It's a great read, and gives us many insights about vinyl records and how they engage the audience. (And what happens when your iTunes collections blows up)
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 2
FROM CNN: 'DO YOU REMEMBER ROCK'N'ROLL' RADIO?'"Do you remember lying in bed, With your covers pulled up over your head, Radio playing so no one can see ... " - The Ramones, "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?"
CNN's Todd Leopold has a great article about radio that covers a whole lot of ground, and there are links to other great articles about radio on the article's page as well.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 3
YOUTUBE USERS ARE UPLOADING TONS OF CONTENTIn honor of its eighth birthday, YouTube has released some viewership data worth celebrating.
"Most staggeringly, over 100 hours of video are now uploaded to YouTube each and every minute," The Verge reports. "One year ago on this day, that figure stood at 72 hours per minute (it was 48 hours in 2011)." More broadly, more than 1 billion users now visit Google's video hub every month.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 4
THE COEN BROTHERS NEW MOVIE ABOUT THE EARLY 60'S FOLK SCENE IS GETTING RAVESBefore it even had its official Cannes premiere, 'Inside Llewyn Davis' became the most acclaimed film at the festival
"The Coens have made what is likely to be one of the best films of the year, and certainly among their own best work," wrote Sasha Stone at TheWrap.
Full story at TheWrap.
And read the review link on the page as well.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 5
STILL MORE ON THE ONGOING SAGA OF NETWORK TV's DECLINEThe day has come when TV networks not only have to compete with fellow networks with scripted and reality shows but now they must compete with nontraditional rivals with original programming, like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Netflix is launching new episodes of "Arrested Development" soon, while Amazon Prime released 14 pilots for viewers to vote on.
"Ultimately, the appeal of Netflix and Amazon Prime is the absence of advertising, said Christopher Vollmer, partner-leader of Booz & Co.'s global media and entertainment practice, which makes it unlikely they will move toward an advertising model."
And read how Netflix's "Arrested Development' redux and "House Of Cards" are becoming real Emmy contenders at TheWrap.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - BONUS TRACKS
* Song Premiere: John Fogerty Revives 'Fortunate Son' With Foo Fighters
* Pandora now lets you listen to albums before they're released
* The Best Summer Concert Bargains
* Coachella Sets Dates for 2014
* How To Collect Music in These Overwhelming Times
* Kings of radio: All-time great DJs
* Here comes the thinner, lighter iPad?
* Get 10 free movies from CinemaNow
* Gates Is Off Base With Surface vs. iPad Tablet Claims
* 10 new tech innovations we love right now
* Apple hits record revenue per store visitor, says analyst
* Kim Dotcom threatens to sue Twitter, others over patent
Short News Items ...
I GUESS THE SOAP DIDN'T PAY THAT WELL:
Soap opera actor Dylan Michael Patton faced a judge last week on charges he sold cocaine out of his Los Angeles home. Patton, 20, played Will Horton for a year on NBC's 'Days of Our Lives', according to his Internet Movie Database biography.
IT'S GOOD TO BE "THE KING OF ALL MEDIA" DEPT:
Howard Stern is the likely buyer of a $52 million home in a private sale in Palm Beach. The sale marks the highest-dollar deal recorded this year in Palm Beach.
CAROLE KING HONORED:
Carole King was presented with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at the White House this week by President Obama, who called the singer-songwriter a "living legend," The Associated Press reports.
THE CONTINUING SAGA OF THE DECLINE OF THOSE SINGING TALENT SHOWS:
NBC won Tuesday's ratings race with the lowest-rated Tuesday edition of "The Voice" this spring. At 9p, "The Voice" fell 11% from last week to a 3.1/9. That made it the lowest-rated Tuesday edition of the show this spring
WELL, IF YOU STILL DON'T KNOW, OR REALLY CARE, DEPT:
The third time was the charm for Candice Glover, who tried out twice for -- and was cut from "American Idol" before winning Season 12 last week in a performance-heavy finale. The "American Idol" finale numbers were an all-time low.
HUEY TELL IT:
Huey Lewis was so big in the '80s that when Pepsi signed Michael Jackson, Coke countered by making him a million-dollar offer. "Our 15 minutes were a real 15 minutes," says the singer as his band celebrates the 30th anniversary of their blockbuster album Sports. Read More
AGAIN?
Last Friday, George Michael was airlifted to a hospital after he was involved in a car crash. According to the BBC, the 49-year-old singer suffered a head injury, though his spokesperson insists he's doing "fine" and only suffered "superficial cuts." This marks another in a long line of driving-related incidents for the former Wham! singer.
CRAZY HORSE NEWS:
Neil Young and Crazy Horse will return stateside from their European tour to headline a new festival in Virginia this fall. Young will lead the Interlocken Festival, a four-day event that will take place September 5th through 8th at Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, Virginia.
NOT PREGGERS AFTER ALL:
Turns out that Beyoncé isn't pregnant after all, husband Jay-Z says. The rapper, responding to a congratulatory e-mail from the program director of New York radio station Hot 97, said talk last week that he and Beyoncé were expecting their second child was false.
BEATLES GUITAR BRINGS BIG BUCKS:
A custom-made electric guitar played by Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison sold for $408,000 at auction over the weekend. The customized VOX guitar – which sold for double the expected amount – was part of the annual Music Icons auctions held on May 18th at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square, Billboard reports.
BEACH BOYS 50th TOUR ALBUM OUT:
The Beach Boys set out on a massive 50th anniversary tour last year, and this week they'll celebrate the journey with the release of 'Live – The 50th Anniversary Tour', a two disc collection featuring 41 recordings taken from last year's tour.
IF YOU WATCHED THE SHOW, THEN YOU ALREADY KNOW:
Justin Bieber got booed, and Taylor Swift and her 3.7 million-selling "Red" dominated the 2013 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night (May 19), taking home eight trophies as Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" swept four major song categories and Rihanna ruled R&B. Swift was honored as Top Artist, Top Female Artist and Top Billboard 200 artist.
'X FACTOR'S' NEW JUDGES:
Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio will join returning judges Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell on "The X Factor" this Fall.
THERE ARE FANS, AND THEN THERE ARE SPRINGSTEEN FANS:
Ridley Scott's fan-generated Bruce Springsteen film will be showed in a theatrical event on July 22nd. Directed by music video director Baillie Walsh, "Springsteen & I" will be shown in theaters around the globe; tickets go on sale June 4th. Arts Alliance Media is handling the event. "This beautifully crafted film allows us a unique and powerful insight into the relationship between a recording artist and the impact he has on those who connect so profoundly with his music," Scott writes on the film's website. Read More
THERE ARE FANS, AND THEN THERE ARE THOSE CRAZY FANS:
An American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York was forced to make an emergency stop in Kansas City, MO, last week, in order to eject a woman who was disrupting the flight, in part by singing Houston's "I Will Always Love You." According to the blog "Crazy Days and Nights," the woman sang the song incessantly throughout the flight, until it made its emergency landing. A video taken by a passenger on the plane shows the woman belting out the title line as she's escorted from the plane.
SURE, WE'LL LOOK AT HER LIKE A REAL ARTIST, DEPT.:
Paris Hilton is signing with Cash Money, co-founder Bryan "Baby" Williams confirmed in the L.A. Times after Roger Friedman broke the news last Sunday on his Showbiz 411 column. (Editor's note: Seriously?! Are you kidding?!)
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LEAVING US
Ray Manzarek, whose keyboard playing was a central element to the sound of '60s rock group The Doors, died at the age of 74 this week. Manzarek had been battling bile duct cancer. You can read a complee bio of Ray and about his passing at TheWrap.
Bassist Trevor Bolder, who played with David Bowie's Spiders From Mars, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash, died this week after a long fight with pancreatic cancer. He was 62. Uriah Heep announced Bolder's death on their website.
Romanthony, the house producer and DJ who sang the hook on Daft Punk's 2000 single "One More Time," died on May 7th at the age of 45. According to Spin, Romanthony's family confirmed that he died from complications of kidney disease.
Leaving Us
Ray Manzarek, whose keyboard playing was a central element to the sound of '60s rock group The Doors, died at the age of 74 this week. Manzarek had been battling bile duct cancer. You can read a complee bio of Ray and about his passing at TheWrap.
Bassist Trevor Bolder, who played with David Bowie's Spiders From Mars, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash, died this week after a long fight with pancreatic cancer. He was 62. Uriah Heep announced Bolder's death on their website.
Romanthony, the house producer and DJ who sang the hook on Daft Punk's 2000 single "One More Time," died on May 7th at the age of 45. According to Spin, Romanthony's family confirmed that he died from complications of kidney disease.
Quotes of the week
"It can absolutely feel like one big popularity contest, and you know what? I can't be bothered."
-- Nicki Minaj, comparing the music business to high school, in Teen Vogue. (It's quite obvious you "can't be bothered" Nicki, and that's why so many people don't like you.)"We felt nothing could touch us. Except Napster ... I felt this stealing thing could really catch on!" He went to speak with one of Intel's founders, Les Vadász, to try to reason to him. And after he spoke for 20 minutes, Iovine said Vadász finally responded, looking him in the eye, saying, "'Wow Jimmy, what a nice story. But you know what? Not every industry was made to last forever.'"
-- Jimmy Iovine, in his commencement speech to this years USC grads."Every generation has guys that do that, none of that is new. They run the risk of disrespecting their audience members who have worked hard to pay for their ticket, to give you the permission to take two or three hours of their lives - or in that kid's case, 80 minutes of their lives. Do it once, you can be forgiven. Do it enough times and shame on you. They won't have you back. Then it just becomes a cliché. It's really not cool — you're an a–hole. Go to [bleepin'] work!"
-- Bon Jovi in the London Evening Standard, talking about Justin Bieber who in March was met with a chorus of boos after he turned up nearly two hours late for his London O2 Arena concert."I might get the bug [for new music]. Kanye's been pushing me a little bit."
-- Will Smith (Editor's note: Oh God, please no!)
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Justin Bieber Recovering In Intensive Care Unit After Being Badly Booed
LAS VEGAS—Doctors at Valley Hospital Medical Center are reporting that pop sensation Justin Bieber is in critical but stable condition today after being admitted to the facility's intensive care unit Sunday night with severe booing-related trauma sustained at the Billboard Music Awards...At press time, Bieber's condition had taken a turn for the worse after the performer was booed by one of his nurses.
Read the rest here and laugh: Click Here.
The Music Industry Past, Present & Future, And The Internet I answer questions on EconTalk
I did an interview about the industry and the Internet at EconTalk with host Russ Roberts. Russ is also a professor of economics at George Mason University, blogs at Cafe Hayek, and has written three novels that teach economics. He's also the co-creator of the Keynes-Hayek rap video. (And if your understanding of the economic meltdown that occurred needs to be enlightened, this video will do it)
In the interview we talk about the evolution of the music industry, the impact of the digital revolution, and I give my reasons for believing in the virtues and potential of the Internet in enhancing the music industry. I point out, as I have many times here in the newsletter, that the internet allows numerous artists to make money from their music and it can enhance revenues from live performances by expanding an artist's base. We also discuss the challenges facing record companies and I suggest that the full potential of the Internet as a distribution channel has yet to be fully exploited. There's a lot of ground covered, but based on the comments already posted of those who have tuned in, they've enjoyed it.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Smart Marketing Consulting Services
Smart Marketing Consulting Services has been in business sixteen years, and consults clients in the music, entertainment, attraction, media, and technology industry on branding, marketing, online exploitation, maximizing new media, and more.
"And the beat goes on, the beat goes on ... drums keep poundin' rhythm to the brain."
"Work is life, you know, and without it, there's nothing but fear and insecurity." -- John Lennon
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