-
It's Academic
October 27, 2006
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
"The next generation, remember, wants the fun job I always loved -- program director. They want to be in control. The thing that will drive music and whatever model emerges in the future is social networking, not just the mere existence of a place to download one's music."
-- Jerry Del CollianoThis week, Disc & Dat chats with Professor Jerry Del Colliano, the Director of Executive Programs and Clinical Professor of Music Industry & Recording Arts at USC's Thornton School of Music.
Jerry has been a Disc & Dat reader for some time, and we frequently "dialogue" via e-mail on a variety of industry topics and issues. I thought it time to share some of his insights and thoughts with you here in the newsletter.
SM: First off, tell us a little about your background before you joined USC?
JD: I was the publisher and founder of Inside Radio until I sold it to Clear Channel in 2002. Before that, I was on the air at Channel 6 (the ABC affiliate) in Philadelphia and numerous Philly radio stations. I was also PD of WIBG and WIFI (great call letters, eh?) in Philadelphia. Another little known fact: I was a Dale Carnegie instructor as an avocation for 11 years, and I am a graduate in communications from Temple University.
SM: What led to you the position at USC? Tell us more about the course(s) you're teaching at USC and what students can learn by taking them.
JD: I was hired by USC as Professor of Music Industry and Director of Executive Programs, a position I took after I sold my company.
I teach two courses: "Music, Broadcasting & the Mobile Future" and "Music Media Solutions Lab." USC has given me the opportunity to do some innovative programs that are beginning to get noticed nationally. The "Music Media Solutions Lab" works for clients who underwrite the program each semester. Warner Bros. Records sponsored the first one in which my lab members developed new business models for their business. Emmis Broadcasting is sponsoring the present lab, and in this one we are developing mobile content ideas for them, coming up with ways to mitigate the decline in terrestrial radio, and developing new ad revenue streams.
The client outlines the goals, and I work with the students to deliver the results. My friend Dave Van Dyke, Pres. of Bridge Ratings, has been donating a 2,000-sample study each semester. We present a blueprint action plan and deliver it to the sponsor at a working breakfast. The sponsor owns the ideas, and USC retains the academic rights. (By the way if any companies are interested in learning more, please have them contact me at jdelcolliano@earthlink.net ) This program has been called the MIT Lab for the music-related media.
SM: What are your thoughts on the state of the industry today? I imagine all the dramatic changes that are happening daily affect what you're teaching your students.
JD: I think it's obvious that traditional media is in decline and interactive media is on the ascent. Our media world will be mobile in the future. But the decline of traditional media is not necessarily 100% at the hands of interactive use.
Radio was the first business to feel the effects. Like a diabetic in a candy store, the consolidators bought up the best properties without any knowledge of how to run them. Worse, they were forced to pander to investors every quarter rather than listeners. When I arrived at USC I knew how badly radio was slipping, but that said, I was shocked how students held radio in utter disregard. Most hate it. Many tolerate it because it is free. I have since come to learn that many of radio's wounds are self-inflicted. It's true radio cannot be interactive like the Internet, but it wasn't the Internet that killed a lot of radio. It was radio.
Now I see the same thing happening in television. They blame DVRs (digital video recorders) and fight technology until they are forced into offering "Desperate Housewives" and other popular shows online. Too little too late, with not enough imagination to be a significant growth business at this time. YouTube is to TV as to what iPods were to radio -- their wakeup call. So far they (the networks) are sleeping through the alarm. NBC Universal's 2.0 plans are the first step in television's platform-wide decline. Cutting back is not the answer. The next generation, which is now my area of expertise vis-a-vis media, is making its peace with video clips. It is redefining what TV is and can be. They like to be the program director or network executive. There will be no more men with the golden gut in TV, instead it will be the men with no guts -- the inability to embrace technology with resistance and create content that will be later monetized.
The record industry, as you already know, is in a similar decline. They've consolidated and slipped. Sound familiar? Watch the pattern here. They fought and continue to fight technology, they sue their most passionate market and become knee-jerk reactors to other Internet successes. The CD will be around for a while but will never again reflect growth in that segment of the industry. P2P should have been embraced and not fought. You can't stop piracy. Everything can be hacked. (You've written about that frequently as well.) You have to make illegal downloading a poor option to buying as witnessed by Steve Jobs with his 99-cent downloads. Labels don't fully understand the market.
There is a possibility that music may very well be free in 10 years or cost next to nothing. DRM (digital rights management) will fail. Indies will help artists sell their songs without DRM pressuring labels further. Labels fail to see the management and merchandising potential ahead because they desperately want to be in the manufacturing business, a business they know that has been traditionally good for them. They've got to stop the suing, stop the stewing and go out and lead. They must grasp the concept that all interest in their artists is a good thing. It's a new world, but building popularity (even with non-DRM P2P sharing) is their game if they want to succeed.
Mobile is the future, but not quite as some think. I don't think the world will be squinting at their little screens atop their mobile devices, but their mobile devices will store their music, podcasts, radio (when terrestrial radio figures out how to do 30-minute custom podcasts the right way), TV, movies -- everything. The world will adapt, and we will bluetooth our content to screens in public places and bring our mobile phones to life.
Another possible trend: there is no more radio as it exists today. No more television. No more print. The next generation wants content when they want it and when they want to see it. They are simply too accustomed to viewing. Hearing is a given, and all these functions are seamless as we look to the future.
SM: It seems to me like so many problems today come from labels not building rosters with potential long-term artists for the most part. So much music is disposable, and not many artists of the moment will be around in five or 10 years. Do you agree?
JD: That's the least of their problems. It may not be the labels that will be around in five to 10 years. My graduates will be inventing the next YouTube or Pandora or iTunes. Consolidation has put a damper on roster building for sure, but when the labels don't know what their platform is going to look like down the road the point is moot.
SM: Radio has also changed over the past decade. There no longer seems to be a platform for developing new artists as there once was when labels had AOR (Album Oriented Radio) stations in every market that concentrated on artists and songs more and weren't worried about those artists selling massive quantities of records in a short span of time. If the music fit the format and was what their audience liked, they played it. That's gone today, and it's created an environment where artists have to sell much quicker for labels to recoup investments. Your thoughts?
JD: Making a traditional hit via radio the way it used to be done is like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack today. Radio used to be the workhorse of the music industry. But radio -- long before it could blame the Internet, iTunes or P2P -- stopped making hits. The labels relied on independent promoters -- their security blanket -- and while all this was happening consolidation came along. The big groups tried to muscle the labels, and all along the next generation was getting happily involved with the Internet. Clear Channel puts out a report pointing out all the variety their stations playlists contain. So why are stations less important every day to the hitmaking process? Payola scares, fines and overly cautious radio companies have had a chilling effect on stations and programmers when it comes to jumping on new music.
As you can see the "Record/Radio Titanic" is listing, and no one on the bridge can see the tip of the iceberg. Of course there are some bright spots in radio as well. The Triple A format stations seem to be song- and artist-intensive, and it seems the people who listen to them are incredibly loyal. The same with many Country radio stations. There are pockets of success in various formats. But if radio can recreate the excitement it once possessed in the past that captured audience, then maybe things could change dramatically -- but it would mean a big change from what's currently being programmed on most stations.
SM: YouTube, MySpace, and other similar websites are giving new artists exposure online and creating online communities for hordes of active music fans. I see this as a positive -- people actively looking for and finding new artists and music they like. Do you think we'll see even more online destinations like this in the coming years?
JD: Yes. Social networking is the new radio, and radio finds itself unable to compete. What's significant here is that YouTube isn't just about hearing artist songs or seeing their videos, it's all about "do-it-yourself media."
The next generation, remember, wants the fun job I always loved -- program director. They want to be in control. MySpace is on probation with a lot of my students. They are not sure they are going to like the commercialization that they know is coming. Facebook.com has already peaked. This generation loses attention span in media as easily as it is does in other areas of their ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) life. Perhaps the most significant thing I can say is that the ability to interact in social networks has broken up for good the concentration of power for labels and radio stations, and it is not ever going back. For radio and the labels it is a holding pattern. Delay the inevitable. The thing that will drive music, and whatever model emerges in the future, is social networking, not just the mere existence of a place to download one's music.
SM: Jeff Tweedy of Wilco has said the people downloading "are not the enemy," that the Internet creates a global environment where music is exposed to more people than ever before, and where many artists can actually get exposure they can't get from traditional radio and media. Hence, they can actually sell more music (and concert tickets) as an end result. What are your thoughts?
JD: Tweedy is right. The Internet is actually the labels' friend. It inexpensively builds critical mass like nothing else can. Can you even imagine how a couple of kids could start YouTube and see it proliferate into a billion-dollar profit in less than two years? I can. Through the power of the Internet. The exposure that artists can now garner in all different genres is the power of music on the Internet is not necessarily the power of the record labels. There could be no "long tail" without the Internet. And the long tail will likely be replaced by no tail at all as mass media loses its ability to focus on a very limited number of "projects" for a less influential traditional media. Dare I say, picture it as a flat line?
SM: I'm surprised that there aren't more people in the music industry seeking ways to innovate methods to generate new revenue streams online and off. Have you any insights into possible developments the readers might not be aware of?'
JD: To be honest, the labels are trying. They tend to work with the obvious.
Example: building artist power on MySpace (and similar social network sites) just as unsigned bands do. Labels are not presently capable of maximizing innovation because they don't want to believe, or can't accept, the power the Internet has put into the hands of the next generation. They couldn't go out to the garage and build the thing that comes after YouTube because they'd fill the garage with product. Again, labels are also manufacturers, and manufacturing is not necessary in a P2P online world.
Labels are used to making the next Mariah Carey, the next Usher, etc., but this generation (and the ones that follow) votes on what it wants now. For the most part, labels resist becoming new-age marketers. Outside of T-shirts and caps, they are missing the boat on the revenues they could make from the merchandising businesses that are presently a sideline. Until the four majors take control of the RIAA and stop fighting the inevitable, how can you expect meaningful innovation? Nothing is worse than innovating in an analog world when all your future customers live in a digital world.
SM: Without a doubt the iPod has changed the way we listen to music forever. At the same time, many music purists lament the loss of people listening to great music on great home systems. Your thoughts?
JD: Audiophiles still have those great sound systems and they will always be around, but tomorrow's generation, with their compressed music files, shows little demand right now for higher fidelity. The mass market will continue to value convenience over fidelity, and I see no signs that this is going to change in the foreseeable future.
SM: Downloading is never going to go away, and just recently professional hacker Jon Lech Johansen cracked Apple's FairPlay DRM. In spite of all this, there's plenty of revenues that can be generated in the music industry via new media. What are some suggestions you would make to the industry at large to better their future?
JD: Del Colliano's Rules
- Cooperate with the inevitable -- stop resisting change
- Rapidly embrace new technology. Fighting it puts you behind the proverbial eight ball, and in this technology driven world, the market will go on without you.
- Raise prices for "product" -- new format discs, etc. You have to pay to hold it in your hand and own it, and consumers will pay for something better is they see it has real value.
- Resist the temptation to push for variable pricing of downloadable music. Mind Steve Jobs. He knows your business (online) better than you do. After all, he stole it away from you once with your cooperation (you licensed his right to sell 99-cent songs!). Variable pricing will only further promote piracy. The difference between stealing and owning stops at the right price. Currently, it appears to be 99 cents per song, but it won't be 99 cents forever. Eventually, it will be even lower.
- Learn how to think out of the box (USC's Music Media Lab can help). Labels can't stay ahead of this generation unless they understand this generation, navigate around their fickle nature and employ them -- lots of them. Rent lots of garages.
- Back off on DRM -- you're going to lose this battle. Not worth the money and distraction from the real goal of adapting to the future.
- Stop suing customers -- you've already lost this one, and you're wasting time.
- This is a big one: You control the biggest, best, most desirable acts. Sit down with any misguided management and enter into new agreements to build the new music business together. If you can imagine a social network your young entrepreneurs built for you with Green Day and the likes participating, you can have what the other social networks could only dream of.
- Send your lawyers and business-affairs people back to their offices, and foster the next generation of real MUSIC men and record label management before they eat you for lunch as Internet entrepreneurs.
- Repeat after me: Any and all interest in your acts is your goal. P2P, free sharing and even piracy -- there, I've said it. The Internet is simply interactive radio and an interactive record store with millions of titles in stock. Vinyl was stolen out of record stores and music was taped in the past, but the overall benefit of exposure and the new promise of social networking word of mouth makes this a small price to pay.
- Consumers will pay a fair price for convenience. They are not out to put you out of business. You (labels) were doing this to yourselves when you overcharged for CDs too long. In today's marketplace current CD prices are just too high and unrealistic. Now is the time to take a page from Apple, the computer company with less than 5% of the market, that did what you should have done in partnership with radio -- moved your business online. You can even borrow their slogan: "think differently."
SM: Thanks for your time, Jerry!
JD: Anytime, Steve.
If you wish to contact Professor Del Colliano, e-mail him at: jdelcolliano@earthlink.net.
You can check out Professor Jerry Del Colliano's commentaries and opinions by clicking here: http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com.
The iPod At Five
In the half decade since its unveiling, Apple Computer's iPod has grown up but not out. It has gotten smaller in size and more powerful in performance, both as a digital music player and as a force in the marketplace. Here's another look at one of the most successful and, among its competitors, envied gadgets in the history of consumer electronics.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Don Henley To Be Honored As 2007 MusiCares Person Of The Year During Grammy Week
SANTA MONICA, CA. (Recording Academy) - Multi-GRAMMY-winning recording artist Don Henley will be honored at the 2007 MusiCares Person of the Year dinner and concert; it was announced this week by Neil Portnow, President of the MusiCares Foundation and The Recording Academy, and Les Bider, Chairman of the MusiCares Foundation. Proceeds from this annual GRAMMY Week gala - to be held on Friday, Feb. 9, 2007, at the Los Angeles Convention Center two days prior to the 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards - provide essential support for MusiCares, which ensures that music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical and personal need.
Read more about it by clicking here.
TVUPlayer: Another Napster?
By streaming video of popular television programs over the Web, a self-described peer-to-peer service called TVUPlayer has begun to draw a loyal worldwide following.
The service, however, could also become an enticing target for Hollywood legal eagles with an eye out for copyright infringement.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Weird Watch: Weirdest iPod Accessories Ever
Chances are, if you own an iPod, you probably also own at least one accessory. But would you ever break from the norm and buy an iPod accessory that's completely out there? From iPod breathalyzers to click-wheel gloves to bra-friendly iPods, PC magazine found the strangest, if not the stupidest, iPod accessories.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Dick Clark Plans Auction Of Memorabilia
Fifty years after his first appearance on the show that became known as American Bandstand, Dick Clark is ready to let go of the microphone.
The famed host is auctioning off a number of items from his personal collection of musical memorabilia, including the microphone he used beginning July 9, 1956 - his first day on the rock 'n' roll show that made him famous.
"It's tough to part with that one," Clark said of the microphone, which was valued by Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey's auction house, at between $10,000 and $100,000.
Other items to be sold include a bass guitar that Paul McCartney played when he was a Beatle, a beaded glove that Michael Jackson wore in his moonwalking phase and the harmonica that Bob Dylan played in The Last Waltz.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Artists Fight To Be Heard..The Line-Up For Fall Releases
Fall's superabundance of superstars is rushing in to rescue the music industry's sagging bottom line. Or maybe not.
Year after year, the record business unleashes its fall harvest in hopes of reaping record revenues from holiday spenders. Statistics suggest the outdated strategy is backfiring. For fans, it means slim pickings during earlier seasons and a year-end glut too dense to process.
Read more about it by clicking here.
How Google's Garden Grows
Its stock rally is being fueled by increasing optimism that Google will finally succeed in branching beyond search-related ads.
Those predictions that Google's stock would hit $600 aren't looking quite so outlandish any more. Not after a blockbuster third quarter and optimism that buying video downloading site YouTube will help Google conquer a whole new area of Internet search. The stock price has surged 11% in the past five days alone, closing at $473.31 on Oct. 24.
Still, there's reason to ask exactly what's driving the stock and how much further it has to go. After all, Google, valued at about $145 billion, dominates a market-online advertising-that will generate only $16 billion this year. Analysts at Standard & Poor's, which like BusinessWeek.com is owned by McGraw-Hill Cos., on Oct. 23 cut Google to "hold" from "buy," citing "potentially excessive enthusiasm regarding the company and stock"
Read more about it by clicking here.
Personal Videos Get $tar Billing
The YouTube revolution will be televised. Carson Daly is making sure of that.
The host of NBC's "Last Call" has been a pop culture arbiter since turning MTV's "TRL" into a staple of the GenY vernacular. Now he's giving a generation of amateur video artists a major platform on broadcast television - and some cash.
"It's Your Show TV" (www.itsyourshowtv.com ) - the brainchild of Daly and financed by NBC - is asking viewers to submit short videos throughout October and early November. There's a cash prize of $1,000 for the winners of each of 18 challenges, and a chance to compete for the big payday: $100,000 and the opportunity to get their video on NBC.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Clear Channel Considers Sale, Hires Goldman Sachs
Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Clear Channel Communications Inc., the largest U.S. radio broadcaster, is considering a possible sale of the company and hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. as an adviser. The shares jumped 9.7 percent.
The board is evaluating alternatives to increase the share price and can't assure that a transaction will occur, San Antonio-based Clear Channel said today in a statement.
The hiring of Goldman Sachs brings the Mays family, which controls Clear Channel, closer to a possible leveraged buyout. Chief Executive Officer Mark Mays has spun off the company's live entertainment unit, Live Nation Inc., and sold shares of its outdoor advertising unit, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., in an IPO. The stock has been hurt by slow growth in the radio industry.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Breaking Through Apple's FairPlay
DVD Jon is at it again. But this time, he's in it for the money.
Jon Johansen, the 20-something hacker widely known for helping crack the piracy protections on DVDs several years ago, is taking on Apple Computer again. He has reverse-engineered Apple's FairPlay, the digital rights management technology used to make iPod and iTunes a closed system.
The Norwegian has started DoubleTwist Ventures to license his work. The technology will make other online music stores work with Apple's iPod device and let iTunes songs play on gadgets other than the iPod, said Monique Farantzos, Johansen's business associate and DoubleTwist co-founder.
Read more about it by clicking here.
The Doors 40th Anniversary Begins November 8th On The Sunset Strip
The launch of a yearlong celebration of the 40th anniversary of The Doors, one of the most important and influential American groups in the history of rock, is set for the famed Sunset Strip on Wednesday, November 8, 2006.
Along with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum conferring historic landmark status on the Whisky a Go Go (the nightclub where The Doors first gained notoriety) and unveiling a teaser version of a Doors exhibit that will be the museum's major presentation of 2007, the evening will feature a memorial reading of Jim Morrison's poetry, by Perry Farrell and others, the debut of a retrospective coffee table book and a preview of a massive boxed set of their music.
Read more about it by clicking here.
THIS WEEK'S 'WHO CARES?' NEWS ITEMS
ITEM#1: Madonna won't be getting on the cross (as she did in her recent concerts) when her NBC special airs next month. The network elected not to show images of the star mock-crucifying herself. She doesn't have to do that because the critics crucify her often enough.
ITEM#2: Paris Hilton (a permanent resident of the "Who Cares" section) topped a Harris Interactive Survey of horror fans as the celebrity they would most like to killed onscreen. Paris captured 39% of the more than 2,500 votes. They don't care, we don't care, so who does really cares about her?
ITEM#3: Supermodel-diva-cell phone-throwing-bad tempered Naomi Campbell was arrested this week in London after her drug counselor made allegations of assault. Obviously, the drug counseling is not working.
ITEM#4: Nicole Richie deciding to undergo diagnostic treatment in order to determine why she is unable to gain weight. Um, Nicole...want to know how to gain weight? EAT!!!!!
ITEM#5: Duran Duran releasing a statement on the band's official website indicating that guitarist Andy Taylor was no longer a member of the band due to an "unworkable gulf" that made it impossible to "effectively function together." And of course that begs us to ask the question, when was the last time that Duran Duran did "effectively function together"? Twenty years ago?
CONGRATS
CONGRATS #1 TO: Melissa and Tammy Etheridge on the birth of their twins, son Miller Steven and daughter Johnnie Rose, last week.
CONGRATS #2 TO: Don Henley, who will be Honored As 2007 MusiCares Person Of The Year During Grammy Week.
CONGRATS #3 TO: Strokes guitarist Nick Valensi and his wife, Amanda de Cadenet, who welcomed twins this week, one boy, one girl.
CONGRATS #4 TO: Toby Keith, named the Nashville Songwriter Association International's 2006 Songwriter/Artist of the Year.
IT MUST'VE BEEN ROUGH AFTER THE HONEYMOON
Keith Urban voluntarily entered rehab last week with wife Nicole Kidman at his side, according to a statement released by his rep. "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me," Urban said in a statement. "One can never let one's guard down on recovery and I'm afraid that I have."
SPITZER STILL ON THE CASE
CBS Radio Inc. agreeing to pay $2 million last week to settle New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's payola investigation. And it's still tougher than ever to break a new record. Thanks, Eliot.
WHEN YOUR BOX-OFFICE RECEIPTS GO DOWN, AND YOUR REAL ESTATE GOES UP, TIME TO SELL
Nicolas Cage putting his Bel Air home on the market for $35 million. Cage purchased the residence eight years ago for $7 million.
HE SAID, SHE SAID, AND LIKE I SAID, THIS ONE'S GONNA GET UGLY
Last week I told you about Sara Evans filing for divorce from her husband, whom she alleged was adulterous, porn-loving and abusive. This week, her estranged husband, Craig Schelske, alleges that Sara had an affair, according to court papers filed Friday at the Williamson County Chancery Court in Franklin, TN. Schelske claims the day before Evans filed divorce papers, he "discovered Wife's intimate relationship with another man not her husband and an argument ensued between the parties."
YOU KNOW THAT OLD SAYING 'IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE'? MORE PROOF IT'S PROBABLY TRUE
This week, a woman filed court papers in Los Angeles claiming she is actually the mother of Michael Jackson's three children and asked to have a say in the child custody settlement that has been reached between Jackson and his ex-wife Debbie Rowe. The woman, who signed herself "dudu," also claimed that she is currently sexually active with Jackson. You decide which claim is more whacko: that she's the mother of his kids, or that she's sexually active with Jacko.
ELVIS DETHRONED -- AT LEAST THIS YEAR
Elvis Presley has dropped to #2 on Forbes.com's annual list of top-earning dead celebrities. Kurt Cobain is #1 this year on that Forbes list.
MACCA DVD COMING
"Paul McCartney: The Space Within US," a concert DVD, is due out November 14, featuring live performances and previously unreleased footage from his sold-out 2005 tour. Cable network A&E airs an hour-long special this Saturday, October 28 (10p ET/PT) featuring footage from the DVD.
AS ANTICIPATED
Janet Jackson's boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri, quit his position at Virgin Records this week amid disappointing sales of Janet's latest record, 20 Y.O, which he executive-produced. "I was not forced out of the company," Dupri told the Associated Press. "I made a decision that it was in my best interest to leave." Translation: I wanted to get out of here before the finger pointing started.... And I'd like to keep Janet as my main squeeze.
COMING SOON!
- My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade (10/24)
- John Legend, Once Again (10/24)
- Nellie McKay, Pretty Little Head (10/31)
- Frank Sinatra, Sinatra: Vegas (11/06)
- Damien Rice, 9 (11/14)
2006 Industry Conferences
Date Name Location CMJ October 31 - November 4 New York P2P Media Summit LA October 23, 2006 Santa Monica, CA Digital Hollywood October 23-26, 2006 Santa Monica, CA Streaming Media West October 31 - November 2 San Jose, CA Miami Digital Music Conference November 16-17 Miami, FL
Quotes of the week
"It's a good thing I had a bag of marijuana instead of a bag of spinach. I'd be dead by now."
-- Willie Nelson in the Globe, talking about his recent bust. Who can argue with him?"There's not another drug in life that I'm glad I took but grass. I think my life might be somewhere else if I'd chosen another avenue. Alcohol for instance. Christ, if I drank as much as I smoked, my God, I'd be like Keith Richards."
-- George Michael, talking about his use of marijuana in the London Daily Mirror"Whitney Houston has now officially filed for divorce from Bobby Brown. She cited irreconcilable similarities."
-- Jimmy Kimmel"In my man Tony's bed, I'm like an octopus. I just don't let him go."
-- Desperate Housewives' Eva Longoria in Star, on her relationship with San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker. Careful Eva, some men don't like being smothered."Aside from looking as though she's just been dragged out from under a truck...she always looks like she's in need of personal hygiene. The whole package to me is just repugnant."
-- Project Runway's Tim Gunn in Us, talking about Britney Spears. Don't hold back now Tim, speak your mind."We pulled up to the stoplight, and all these girls came up to the car and were like, 'Baby, want to party? You want to party with me?' And I was like, 'Girls love me, man!' And my cousin Miguel goes, 'They're hookers, you idiot.'"
-- George Clooney in Us magazine, talking about his first day in L.A."You have Green Day and 'American Idiot.' Where do they film their DVD? In England. A bunch of kids screaming 'I don't want to be an American idiot.' I saw it as a very negative thing towards Americans. It really lit a fire in me. You have the right to say what you want to say and what you want to write about, and I'm sure they meant it in the same way that Bruce Springsteen meant 'Born In The USA' and it was taken wrongly, but I was really offended when I saw them do that. I just thought it was really cheap. To go to a place like England or Germany and sing that song -- those kids aren't taking it the way he meant it."
-- Killers lead singer Brandon Flowers in the NME.com website in the UK"Rapper Fabolous was shot early Tuesday after leaving a Manhattan restaurant. His condition was just upgraded from Criticolos to Stableos."
-- Amy Poehler, on "Saturday Night Live"
The B-Side - 'Blips'
I BET HE DOESN'T PARALLEL PARK SO WELL EITHER: HOUSTON -- A Continental flight set to leave Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport for West Palm Beach was delayed when the pilot backed the jet up and crashed its wing into another jet's tail. Flight 1830 returned to the gate Monday and passengers disembarked to wait nearly two hours for another plane, an airline spokesman said. There were no injuries.
Want More Music News? Check These Sites Out...
The Blogs
Check out a great blog by Jerry Del Colliano, the Director Executive Programs, Clinical Professor Music Industry & Recording Arts, at the Thornton School of Music,University of Southern California, by clicking here: http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com.
The Charts
Check out the weekly top album and singles charts from around the world at: http://top40-charts.com.
Box Office
Check The Daily & Weekly Box Office (and more film info) at: www.boxofficemojo.com.
-
-