Category Archives: Industry

Watershed Featured on NPR Today

NPR’s Weekend Edition is featuring a story about Columbus rock veterans Watershed today.   Joe Oestreich’s recent book Hitless Wonder: A Life in Minor League Rock and Roll serves a launching point for describing the band’s continued efforts at chasing the dream, including the recent new album launch and their ongoing tour.  Audio for the story will be available on the NPR site after 12ET. From the story:

“I’ve got a 2-and-a-half-year-old son and a 3-month-old daughter, and my wife is at home with both of them, single parenting, right now,” he says. “On the one hand, everyone says, ‘Follow your dream,’ and we’re doing that, but is that in fact admirable? Some days it seems kind of pathetic. Maybe we should just pack it in and go home, but, at this point, I think it’s just too late. This is what we do.”

Besides, Gawel adds, “If you love what you’re doing, and you still feel passionate about it, why would you stop?”

 

 

MTV2 Launches New Show “Hip Hop Squares” ft. Ghostface, MGK & More

MTV2 is launching a new show called Hip Hop Squares on Tuesday, May 22nd at 11pm ET/PT. Obviously its a flip of the Hollywood Squares concept. Ghostface, Mac Miller, Bam Mageria, Nick Cannon, MGK, DJ Khaled , Biz Markie, Kat Graham, Fat Joe,LaMarr Woodley and more are scheduled to participate in the human Tic- Tac-Toe game. The show will be hosted by Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg.

Peep the trailer for Hip Hop Squares here.

Apply to be a contestant here.

CMC Hosts Health Care Reform Workshop With National Advocate

Image courtesy of Future of Music Coalition

Think the cost of health insurance really sucks? Think no insurance sucks more? Heads up: The Columbus Music Co-op continues a string of educational programs and workshops this weekend by hosting Alex Maiolo from the Future of Music Coalition, a national non-profit organization working for as a proponent of musicians at “the intersection of music, law, technology and policy.” Maiolo is an accomplished musician in his own right, as well as an advocate, writer, recordist, and contributor to Tape Op magazine. It’s his day job, however, that will form the basis for Sunday’s (May 8th, 2-4 PM) presentation at the Jazz Academy (Lincoln Theater, 769 E Long Street). Since 2005 Maiolo has been working on the FMC’s Health Insurance Navigation Tool (H.I.N.T) program, which directly assists the 33% of musicians who are without health insurance in finding affordable coverage. Programs such as H.I.N.T were part of the inspiration for the CMC’s own CMAP program which provides medical grants to Franklin County musicians. If you would like to hear more about H.I.N.T or CMAP, or the state of the insurance industry as it applies to the self employed, you are encouraged to attend. The presentation will focus on musicians, but is FREE and open to the public. Space is limited so please RSVP through the Jazz Academy here.

In typical CMC fashion, it’s not all work- there’s a party involved too. Saturday May 7th at Kobo, there will be a CMC Volunteer Appreciation Party and New Music Showcase (Alert New London, New Tooth and Energy Clinic!). Details can be found on the Facebook event page.

Curren$y Signs with Warner. Doing Mixtape With Alchemist. Announces Tour Dates.

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The video above has Curren$y performing in Columbus at the end of last year, Curren$y announced today that he is signing to Warner/Asylum.
The New Orleans emcee released two Pilot Talk albums last year on Dame Dash’s imprint BluRoc which sold a total 70,000 units, and allowed him to tour the nation a couple times.
Curren$y will release his 5th and 6th albums the Muscle Car Chronicles and Pilottalk 3 on Warner/Asylum. In the immedate future, Spitta will do mixtape with the Alchemist(producer of Ghostface,Eminem, Nas) entitled Covert Coup which will be sold on I-tunes 4-19 just in time for 4-20. Curren$y has a national tour lined up in support of Covert Coup. .

Tourdates after jump
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The Black Keys Certified Gold in the United States of America.

Earlier this week, Billboard Magazine did a feature on the Black Keys. They stated at press time the Keys were at 481,000 sold. Well, it looks like the Black Keys hit the Gold mark in the USA for 500,000 records shipped.

In sports people often argue about stats put up during expansion seasons vs seasons with less watered down competition.. They  argue about rule changes, and in general, the style of the game and  how can one judge one record vs. another…

So it kinda begs the question, What does a gold record mean in 2011?

I don’t think I even have to explain that this is a dying industry. Didn’t Souljah Boy do like 8,000 last week?

Dipset Working With Dr. Dre?

Well, I guess my theory that Dipset will be part of a new launch of Roc-a-fella is completely off. It looks likes rumors of Dipset on being on Interscope might be a reality?
Jim Jones tweeted today that they just got out of the studio with Dr. Dre?

interesting that appherently as rich as Dre is, he only owns one Nautica shirt, and wore it to both Jay-z and Dipset record sessions?

Kanye Issue of the New XXL is Mos Def a Classic

New Issue of XXL is classic. Especially if you pay attention to Kanye’s, and Mos Def’s career closely.

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Columbus Music Co-op Hosts Legal Workshop + drinks & music

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The fine folks at the Columbus Music Co-op have had a busy winter with all kinds of happenings, but spring has sprung, the Parking Lot Blowout is on the distant horizon, and a few other events are emerging from the CMC winter chrysalis. First one is happening this Thursday the 30th at The Shelf, where they’ll be hosting a workshop titled “Legal Issues for Musicians” lead by attorney and co-owner of All Hail Records Tony Clark . You got questions about whether you should be signing with Universal or Sony? RIAA or ASCAP? Or maybe just about how to establish copyright and digital music distribution? I really have no idea if Tony is gonna help you out with your major deal, but I’m betting this is an awesome place to get some fabulous free info on legal matters large and small, and a few of your basic questions answered.  The workshop is from 7-9 PM on Thursday- shoot ’em an email to let ’em know you’re coming.

As is the case with almost all the CMC events, this serious business is tempered with a healthy dose of fun. The evening will kick off just downstairs from The Shelf with a happy hour at the Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails, complete with the ladies of the CMC spinning a couple hours (5-7PM) of all local music. I swear a few Commit To Be Lit drinks will make all the legalese magically comprehensible. After the legal workshop, The Shelf space will transition from courtroom to concert hall as it is filled with the dulcet voices of Dan Spurgeon (Bush League All Stars) and Sean Gardner’s solo project Winter Makes Sailors. Music should go from about 9 to 11. If you didn’t get enough booze at Tip Top, bring your own to The Shelf for the show, along with a couple bucks for the performers.

Disclosure: I’m a board member of the CMC

Radiohead Signs to Dave Matthews Label

ATO Records, the label started by Dave Matthews, has apparantly signed Radiohead for North American release. Shiv from WOXY got an email from the label about using songs on the station, and there’s a lot of articles popping up in the news.

Rick Rubin to Save the Music Industry?

The New York Times ran a pretty good article on Rick Rubin taking over the helm at Sony/Columbia. It touches on all the ailments of the music industry, and gives some interesting insight on Rubin and Johnny Cash.

Here is a link to the article: The Music Man

I am stealing it for my blog, so I can access it later.

September 2, 2007
The Music Man
By LYNN HIRSCHBERG

Rick Rubin is listening. A song by a new band called the Gossip is playing, and he is concentrating. He appears to be in a trance. His eyes are tightly closed and he is swaying back and forth to the beat, trying at once to hear what is right and wrong about the music. Rubin, who resembles a medium-size bear with a long, gray beard, is curled into the corner of a tufted velvet couch in the library of a house he owns but where he no longer lives. This three-story 1923 Spanish villa steeped in music history — Johnny Cash recorded in the basement studio; Jakob Dylan is recording a solo album there now — is used by Rubin for meetings. And ever since May, when he officially became co-head of Columbia Records, Rubin has been having nearly constant meetings. Beginning in 1984, when he started Def Jam Recordings, until his more recent occupation as a career-transforming, chart-topping, Grammy Award-winning producer for dozens of artists, as diverse as the Dixie Chicks, Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Neil Diamond, Rubin, who is 44, has never gone to an office of any kind. One of his conditions for taking the job at Sony, which owns Columbia, was that he wouldn’t be required to have a desk or a phone in any of the corporate outposts. That wasn’t a problem: Columbia didn’t want Rubin to punch a clock. It wanted him to save the company. And just maybe the record business. (full story)