Melinda Newman safaried to the heart of song licensing territory for Billboard, reporting “From the Desk of…” Universal Film Group President of Music and Publishing Mike Knobloch, who presided over the licensing feat of what is believed to be a record-setting 60 songs for the animation motion picture Sing. The Dec. 21 Universal Pictures release […]
Even the BBC is weighing in on a Finnish research study tracing animus Nickelus, the root psychological cause of why people love hating the Canadian rock group Nickelback, which has sold more than 50 million albums. If that’s hate, I’m sure more bands would love to be on the receiving end of some of it! […]
The tunes of awards season got a curtain-raiser courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, which on Nov. 17 presented its first THR Songwriter Roundtable. The “reserved” sign held seats for the formidably talented: Justin Timberlake, Sting, Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams, John Legend and Tori Amos — each lending voice to a major motion picture release. For Keys, it was Queen of Katwe (“Back […]
Vinyl is on the upsurge, so we thought it worth resurrecting this lamentable dissection of music biz economics, courtesy of techdirt.com and theroot.com. Pop artists, read it and weep! The report suggests that “for every $1,000 sold, the average musician gets $23.40,” of which they often see zero after the labels recoup their expenses. Talk about starving […]
Producer, DreamWorks co-founder, longtime Disney animation force of nature and all-around Hollywood good-guy Jeffrey Katzenberg was immortalized Thursday, when his hand- and footprints were embossed in cement outside the TLC Chinese Theater (formerly Grauman’s Chinese Theater). To commemorate the occasion, Variety asked composers with whom the musically-inclined Katzenberg has worked over the years to share their […]
“A San Francisco nonprofit that uses a recording studio to teach at-risk women and girls how to become audio engineers and sound techs, and provides counseling and job placement for women in the music, radio, film, television and new media industries,” reports The San Francisco Chronicle in a fascinating piece that explains how Women’s Audio […]
T-Bone Burnett went on what Billboard called “an anti-streaming warpath.” “As long as any piece of music is available for free on YouTube, then all the dreams of a streaming future where musicians can really make money are pipe dreams,” Burnett said on a panel at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville. The prolific performer-producer […]
Is the country music lifestyle misinterpreted to mean “short shorts and plastic cowboy boots,” or is TasteOfCountry.com just a bit behind on the public perception? Read the article yourself and decide. We think anyone who’s watched the TV show “Nashville” or the Country Music Awards would beg to differ. The fact that it’s based in Greenwich, […]
The Utah Valley Symphony will perform live to screen with the short film The Snowman. The film, with original orchestration scored by Howard Blake, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1982. It is based on the 1978 picture book of the same name. The 26-minute film has no dialogue, using only images, music and one […]
Coverage by Tim Ingham of Music Business Worldwide of a U.K. panel discussion featuring label and legal bigwigs touches on some excellent points, including the effort to negotiate a 50/50 royalty split with artists, the ability to contract for limited-time use of creative product in a label’s catalog and the reality of YouTube: “the biggest way […]
