Google is involved in everything we do everyday including the regulatory front.  How could they with one swift ten million dollar lobbying effort destroy two pieces of legislation (PIPA & SOPA)?  Simply put, these bills would’ve regulated the search-engine-giant similar to what happened to them for showing illegal ads for fraudulent Canadian pharmacies.  (They ultimately settled with the U.S. government for $500,000,000.) They don’t want to be regulated (you wouldn’t either) because it will ultimately cost them a portion of the $28,000,000,000 (billion, number typed out for EFFECT) in advertising revenues Google earned in 2011.

You’re probably asking yourself “Does Google does this for real?”

Go to google.com and search for “your favorite artist your favorite song mp3 free”

Example: “Fun. We Are Young mp3 free” (I will not post this link, rather point you here.)

Click the top link.

Here is a picture of what that might look like:

Note the ads that are on this site that you clicked on for the free mp3.

NOTE:  Its rumored that Google has been working with labels to help suppress some of these links.  

Most probably, although not always, Google helped to facilitate these ads on this website.  Google pays the site for the ads if/when they are clicked on by you and me, while retaining a portion of the revenue. They are in business to sell ads placed on websites.  This is the primary revenue generator for Google.

How much does the artist make out of the above deal?  $0.00  Zero dollars and Zero cents.  It should be noted that although this technically is a revenue loss for artists, what would prevent the user from going to YouTube to listen to the song once, or Spotify/Grooveshark, etc. etc. getting their “fill” on these other free-use services and moving on (Yes VEVO is doing SOME good so far)?  Its the ease of consumption that works for the user here.  The great dilemma is, are some or all of these channels creating new fans which ultimately adds to the artists bottom-line (concert tickets, merchandise, valuable data for future marketing, etc. etc) or does piracy hurt the revenue and growth of the artist?

The early position is although YouTube and Spotify are generating super small revenues (~.003 for each spin/play) its better than piracy which earns the artist zero.  Spotify and YouTube are limited by the countries where their services are available.  Piracy networks are everywhere and its yet to be proven one way or another if it ultimately helps or hurts an artists bottom line.  If kids can access your music in China, how can you turn a profit on all those ripped albums unless you can actually go there and tour? Conversely, if you have 5k digital albums stolen in St. Louis, played there last year to 100 and are now playing to 1000, didn’t it all work out?  To live or die with piracy has not been decided, yet.  It might take decades of data before we can quantify to what degree piracy is as a support-arm or downfall of digital music.

Were the labels themselves foolish for how they reacted to Napster and piracy? Yes, they mishandled this, as they traditionally have new technologies. The music industry is a business and exists to make money.  This is often forgotten by the artists that make the music and the fans that don’t understand the machine. A business has to make money to perpetuate itself, often leading to very tough decisions. Decisions that almost never please the infrastructure of a company or the masses it services.

The bottom line was the PIPA/SOPA legislation wasn’t ready for the major leagues, yet is a precursor to something inevitable.  Google, Facebook, Tumblr and the internet community may of flexed their temporary-muscles but the RIAA, MPAA, UNIVERSAL MUSIC, SONY MUSIC, WARNER MUSIC and EMI (or is it UNIEMI now?) are not going to let this go until something is done to give a bit more control back to the copyright holders, and the companies that financially enable those copyrights (ie. the labels). This might not be the next step either, as the latest rumors have the RIAA and IFPI suing Google for file sharing results.

Part II, on Friday, will discuss some of options that make sense, so far that is.

matt

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com

Knife Party is a side project of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen of the Australian band Pendulum.  Its an interesting mix of electro, house and dubstep.  Kinda like the best parts of club nights in the 90′s mixed with latest crazy world of dub-step.  They just finished an aggressive 5 day tour that started in Sweden and took them through Sweden, L.A., San Diego.  Parts of the UK and Australia are up next. These guys remind me of Ratatat on steroids.

They are giving away their EP on facebook here.

They tweet here.

This is a new breed of rip-your-face-off-seizure-inducing music.  Check them out and don’t be scared.

matt

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com

Saturday night I saw Ryan Adams at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Yes, its this crazy building you see in this above picture.  The L.A. venue houses almost perfect sound, comfortable seats and high-quality entertainment on the regular.  Even if you aren’t a fan of Ryan, you should check the schedule and go see a show here.  Just walking up to the building gives me goosebumps.

The opening act was a complete shocker!  Gary Shandling did about a 20 minute stand-up routine. The star of “The Larry Sanders Show” was hilarious at times often making fun of Los Angelians, twitter and owning a smart phone.  Now it was time for the main act.

It was a pretty simple setup.  Ryan had two guitars, a piano, a mic/seat setup and two other mics setup for him.  One facing the front of house and one facing the back of the house.  For some reason, I thought he was playing with the LA Philharmonic, but on this night I’m not sure they would’ve added much.

Ryan started out his set with “Oh My Sweet Carolina” from his album Heartbreaker.  In my opinion the night was only better on one other moment.  (I’ll get to it)  He had the crowd in complete control, you could’ve heard a pin drop and he was flawless.  I remember thinking to myself, if he got sick and had to leave I’d have a 3 minute memory for the rest of my life.  #amazing

Thankfully he didn’t get sick and in between sips of tea, piano stops and some funny banter he kept rolling through what I guess are now considered “classics”.  My favorite of the night was “Lucky Now” off his last album Ashes & Fire.

Chris Brown

I’m not a Chris Brown fan, but this latest media lashing is unjustified.  He served his time in accordance with the law and does not deserve to be persecuted twice.  What he does deserve is the crap he should receive for the under-produced Grammy performance and lip-synced performance with Lil Wayne/David Guetta later in the night.  Flat out poor bro!

Spotify

Its important to understand, as I should have, that Spotify is in its infancy.  When this service becomes a ubiquitous solution to consuming music and artists stop creating art, then I think its fair to persecute them.  They do not consider themselves a savior to the music industry, merely an inevitability.  My original thoughts are unjust and now that I understand the service a bit better, I’m telling my artists to use it as a promotional machine as long as you employ a proper strategy.  What I’m waiting for is Apple to flick the competition light switch on.

Music Box in Hollywood

This is one of my favorite venues in the United States and ever since two of the owners left without reason, causing an eviction and subsequent closing, I’ve been left wondering who would come in to clean up the mess.  The bottom line is monster promoter Goldenvoice looks to swoop in, liquor license and all, with a 12 month lease and start putting live shows back in the storied venue. STAY TUNED!

Adele

I commend her label and management for handling her rise to stardom.  It will be very difficult for anyone to duplicate her last 12 months in 2012.  Her album 21 was released about 13 months ago and has sold, last I checked, 17+ million albums. She didn’t have the Justin Bieber-effect, didn’t have a major press push like on Lady Gaga‘ Born This Way (or the millions of monsters who helped support her and Amazon’ .99 album push either) and because of illness didn’t get a chance to tour which would’ve only helped push her obscene sales numbers even higher.  Just this past Sunday she picked up 6 Grammys and was a big reason 39,000,000 tuned in to watch.  Can we start getting excited for 23, 24 or 25?  Congrats Adele!

Happy Friday!

matt

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com

by Charissa Lock @charissalock

You’re 10 years old and are in line for the Space Mountain ride at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.  There are “stars” encompassing you from every direction in the tunnel you are waiting in, with planets, asteroids and other items in space captivating your attention.   Not even realizing the line has moved, you’re next to take a seat in the spaceship.  While making twists and turns it seems that you are lost in a world of the unknown, where recess and homework are inapplicable.  The feeling of awe, intrigue, and forgotten connections with our world is powerful.  The French duo Air (Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel) is able to tap into this area in your mind and leave you catching yourself looking up at the stars for moments longer than usual.  Le Voyage Dans Le Lune certainly is a trip to the moon, and a sometimes dark, other times hopeful journey at that.

Before discussing the album, I urge you to spend ten minutes of your very busy and very stressful life to watch the 1902 silent French film bearing the same title as Air’s 2012 release (Le Voyage Dans La Lune Movie).   Not only can you pick up on musical connections between the two, but it brings a whole new (or should I say old?) view on what Air wants the listener to experience.  The idea of our solar system and things we hold uncertain to be adventurous, beautiful, and good versus evil.  What we are slowly loosing as a species with science explaining everything and people telling us what to think, our imagination is left to Cymbalta and Avatar (disregarding neither).    We need songs with titles like “Astronomic Club” and “Moon Fever” to stretch our creativity, imagination and wanting more to our daily lives than a Medium Hazelnut Ice Coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts (or Starbucks for all you West Coasters).

Le Voyage Dans La Lune is broken up into different types of astronomical sections.   There are some great beats created in this album.  Starting off with the first track “Astronomic Club,” there’s a darker, more nervous approach along with the upbeat nature.  Another is in “Seven Stars” (Hooray For Earth’s “True Loves”?) and a Daft Punk-type sound appears in both “Parade” (one of my favorites on this album) and “Sonic Armada.”  As we get into the latter tunes, we get the space as represented in something like “Tron” where flashing lights are everywhere and you’re running up the side of a building in a fluorescent bodysuit (no, not Chairlift’s).  You then have your Space Mountain ride type in “Cosmic Trip,” where a building of tension in a relaxed and airy atmosphere leads to a preparation for lift off being spoken by female vocals and later a typical 1950s advertising male voice.  This is not done in a cheesy and ridiculous way, but more in a somehow suspecting and wanting it to happen, way.  The most eerie and unsettling track is “Who Am I Now?”(vocals by Au Revoir Simone) which is also different with there being more of a focus on lyrics than the music.  The other songs are worth noting for their musical composition, even the 18 second “Homme Lune.”   Finally we have, “Lava” a wonderful way to end your musical journey with a soft beginning and a heavier build up (the guitar melodies sound awfully familiar to the score in “Le Voyage Dans La Lune”…) completed with an unbuckling your seat belt and stepping off the spaceship finality.

Air has created an original score for Georges Méliès’ “Le Voyage Dans La Lune” restored version of the film that is in film festivals worldwide.  Making perfect sense, artists with this ability to create an atmosphere captured over 100 years ago is respectable and reminds you that even though we know there cannot be life on the moon, we are still able to use our imagination.  With so many things blocking our creative minds (and not all on purpose), it is important to listen to something like Le Voyage Dans La Lune to exercise this necessary, and often neglected, part of our brain.

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com

How is the music business doing through the first six weeks of 2012?  The short answer: Pretty good!  The long answer:  You wait, just wait!

Touring is up over 15% across the board.  More bands are streaming live events than ever before.  Proof from Sleigh Bells right here.

Breakthrough artists like Lana Del Rey and Fun are starting to make waves on charts and tours across the U.S.  Madonna announced an ambitious world tour that takes her from the Tel Aviv to Yankee Stadium To Australia and ends up in Atlanta, starting in May.  Van Halen released a new album and also has a huge tour upcoming with Kool and the Gang.  All look to be a huge boost to the touring industry.

Spotify is making serious headway.  Although, I believe its still just a promotional vehicle for artists, with windowing and proper strategy you can still maximize your music sales without cannibalizing iTunes or Amazon.  This will be an interesting year to follow the Spotify growth line closely in both users, consumption and revenues.  With the licensing barrier entry-point being more difficult than ever, Spotify is positioned correctly to grab exponential growth in 2012.  The number 1 retailer is still iTunes and Apple is mum on the streaming word.  What will Apple do?  Wait, just wait.

One thing I do agree with Daniel Ek is that we’re entering a special time to be in the music business.  Its never been a better time to be a creator, producer or business in the music industry.  There is more music being created and more ears listening than ever before.

“…I am more bullish on the future of the music industry than ever before, and I think we’re kind of entering a golden age in music.” – Daniel Ek, Spotify CEO 2/10/2012

The Grammys had many highlights including emerging stars Foster The People’ performance of the Beach Boys “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, Jennifer Hudson’ cover of the late Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You” and the fact that this was the highest rated Grammys (39 million people tuned in) in 28 years!  Adele continued her wild ride into super stardom by picking up 6 Grammys.  Congrats!

MySpace added 1,000,000 new users after debuting its new Music Refocus, thats up 4% since December.  Fresh off debuting its baked in music applications, Facebook announced an IPO to raise five billion dollars.  This money will surely be spread to improve the music portion of the social media giant.

Keep writing, stay motivated, finish that song, finish that album, take care of your self on the road. Off to a great 1st quarter in 2012, lets keep up the momentum!  Wait, just wait.

More Music Means More Everything!

matt

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com

They hail from Oklahoma City and call themselves The Defining Times.  I found these guys on a search for local talent that might be performing at SXSW in 2012.  They consist of Chase Kerby, Alex Coleman, Alberto Enrique Roubert Jr., Michael Trepagnier and Zach Zeller. TDT has been a band for a little over a year and put out a self-titled EP thats available on bandcamp here: The Defining Times. They sound a little bit like Morning Parade (out of the UK) and Ryan Adams.  Three pretty good songs to break out of the gate with.  stay tuned…

matt

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com

The 54th Grammy awards were kicked off with heavy hearts with the sudden passing of Whitney Houston in the Beverly Hills Hilton the day before, merely hours before mentor and guide Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy party.

The show kicked off at 5pm sharp and was hosted by LL Cool J who manages to have not aged a single bit in the last 20 years.

New Jersey rock legend, out of my hometown Freehold, Bruce Springsteen kicked off the show with a performance of “We Take Care Of Our Own” off his forthcoming album Wrecking Ball. Then Bruno Mars performed followed up Bonnie Raitt and Alicia Keys dedicating “A Sunday Kind of Love” in memory of Etta James.

Adele wins the first on-tv Grammy with Best Pop Solo Performance for her tune “Someone Like You”, and its her third of the evening as she already collected Best Short Form Video and Best Pop Vocal Album.

Chris Brown performed “Turn Up The Music” to what felt like a direct rip off lyrically to LMFAO‘ “Sexy and You Know It”.  First time hes been at the Grammys in three years since his infamous legal woes and his performance was just “meh”. Kid can dance though, but I’m feeling like we need more from Chris.

The next award was Best Rap Performance and that went to Jay-Z and Kanye West, both not at the Grammys, for their song “Otis”.

I was thoroughly bored with Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson‘ peformance.  Sorry.

I loved the Foo Fighters performance of “Walk”, but I’m not a fan of the song!

Rihanna did ok with what she did sing and Coldplay seemed to put on a “B” performance if I ever saw one.  Rihanna’ choreography and Coldplay’ stage were pretty rad though!

Best Rock Performance goes to the Foo Fighters (who had 4 awards to this point) for their song “Walk”.  Jack Black introduced them to their performance earlier as a band that hasn’t lost their indie cred and in classic tv call-back Dave Grohl said “We made this at home in my garage”.  Whats more Indie than that?

Maroon 5 performed “Surfer Girl” followed up by the best performance of the night, in my opinion, from Foster the People who covered the Beach Boys classic “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”.

These were lead-ins to Ryan Seacrest announcing the return and performance of the Beach Boys who sang “Good Vibrations”.  They did a great job, new album and tour up next!

The next performance was a ballad by Paul McCartney with Joe Walsh (of the Eagles) with a full orchestra.  I understand his attachment to quite possibly the greatest pop band ever, the Beatles, but his solo accomplishments are just boring in my opinion.   Paul was introduced by Stevie Wonder who did an impromptu and short harmonica performance of “Love Me Do”.

Taylor Swift who had already won two awards to this point for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance performed “Mean” with a banjo.  Cut me now.

Song of the Year went to Adele for her song “Rolling In The Deep”.  Deserved!

Katy Perry kicked off with “E.T.” and had the track purposely melt down into a new tune called “Part of Me”. Was this a song about Russel Brand?  Lots of fire and pretty good vocals for KP.  I actually liked this performance!

The next award was for Country Album Of The Year which went to Lady Antebellum. #great

Fresh off throat surgery, the diamond selling Adele performed “Rolling In The Deep” almost flawlessly. A very comfortable and controlled live performance.  A proper follow-up ad by Target claiming to have retail-exclusive tracks!

Country people did more country stuff.

The, Rhinestone Cowboy, Glen Campbell (who is suffering from early Alzheimers disease) fresh off his Academy Lifetime Achievement Award win had an inspired performance!

Best New Artist goes to Bon Iver, who beat out nominees The Band Perry, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj, and Skrillex.  Although, Bon Iver is the only artist I actually have music for in my iTunes, I do believe that Skrillex should’ve won this award for his sheer determination in 2011.  He created a genre, made millions of new fans and seems to really love what he’s doing.  This is what the music industry is about in 2012.  Put your nose down, carve out a niche and share your music with the masses.

Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow talks about MusiCares.  We also help artists with a plethora of service through our foundation (The Project Matters).

In a last minute performance, Jennifer Hudson performs the late Whitney Houston’ “I Will Always Love You” changing the lyrics from “I’ll always, I’ll always love you.” to “Whitney we’ll always love you”  Nice touch Jen.  I had goosebumps for the first time tonight.

———————————24 hours later———————————-

Our review would’ve continued, but our websites got attacked.  So, in honor of Whitney Houston our Grammy wrap up will end here.

P.S. R.I.P. Whitney

matt

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com

Au Revoir Simone - “Shadows” (Special thanks to Air for showing me this band)

Air - “Seven Stars” feat. Victoria Legrand of Beach House

Nada Surf = “No Snow On The Mountain” (Special thanks to Ben)

Grouplove – “Tongue Tied” (Gigamesh Remix)

M. Ward – “First Time Away” (Special thanks to Ben)

Sky Sailing – “Brielle” (Thanks to NoiseTrade)

Don’t forget to support these artists any way you can. Buy their albums, merch or go see them live!!!

matt

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com

by Charissa Lock @charissalock

With Valentine’s Day approaching (and yes, I know 90% of you hate such a blasted holiday for various reasons), I felt reviewing something upbeat, fun and filled with strong female vocals would be appropriate.  The electronic pop duo, Chairlift, from New York fits these requirements nicely.  You may remember their hit “Bruises” (Does You Inspire You) that appeared on an iPod commercial back in 2008.  If not, that song is definitely something to check out.   Something [Columbia], is their latest album (released January 24^th, this year) and is a bit more electronic and less indie than what you may assume from their “Bruises” days.

Chairlift’s newly developed look that stems from their sophomore album can be seen in their music video for “Amanaemonesia.”  Actually if a female (singer/songwriter Caroline Polachek) in a bodysuit making silly and strange hand/body movements for five minutes isn’t your thing, I suggest you wait until you at least hear some of their better songs on Something.  At first listen, some of the songs sound a bit Tori Amos and may fog your judgment (“Take It Out On Me,” the title even sounds like a Tori Amos song).  However, there are more modern tracks than there are of the 90’s sounding ones.   You may even start comparing Polachek to Grouplove’s Hannah Hooper (“Ghost Tonight”) and The Bird and The Bee’s Inara George (“Frigid Spring”).  When comparing Chairlift to bands that are held in such high regard, it’s worth your time to give it a few more listens.

The album has a dark, eerie feel, even with the fun electro-pop keeping you bopping your head along.  Polachek is able to mold her voice into the mood and ambiance of her story and many songs have this dystopian outlook, with a touch of irony in “Guilty As Charged.”   This happens to be my favorite song on the album, a well-written story where Polachek assumes first person point of view, being held in court for breaking and entering a lover’s home with a sexual innuendo play on words.   Not only is there a creative and unique storyline, but the music and melodies have a stronger and more updated feel than other tracks.  “Guilty as Charged” is polished and includes all the necessary factors for a personalized sound that I find myself desperately wanting Chairlift to present in other tracks.

This is not to say the other tracks are meaningless to listen to, because with tracks like the intro “Sidewalk Safari” you get the witty songwriting as well as “Met Before.” There is a lot musically going on in Something, but it tends to stay in this level of “good,” and not frequently leaving that zone.  I would typically think it’s the ambiance of the band, but being familiar with “Bruises,” as well as “Guilty As Charged,” I know they can get to that higher level.   Let’s hope on their next release they get out of their bodysuits and go beyond mediocre to fill their songs with the perfected Chairlift sound I know they have.

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com

Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel are the two main members of the band Air.  Air is a fine blend of electronica influenced by Pink Floyd ramblings and moog synthesizers.  I was a bit behind on Air as I became a fan late in their career, that spans back to 1995.  Being turned on to Love 2 [Astralwerks], released in 2009, I fell in love with the two tracks “Tropical Disease” and “Love”.

Freshly released is Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon), released on February 6th through Astralwerks.  This is their 7th studio album and its absolutely sublime.  Its quick, ringing in at just over 31 minutes and features tracks highlighted by Brooklyn Dreampop band Au Revoir Simone and Beach House‘ Victoria Legrand.

Anxious for a tour update as they perfectly blend the studio versions of their songs with improvisation in their live show.  I’m a sucker for synthesizers and they’re very good at manipulating them.

Go pick up Le Voyage Dans La Lune, its a keeper!

Matt

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com

January kicked off with two killers performances by M83 at Club Nokia in the middle of January. Excited to see more great live music in February.  Here’s some of our picks:

February 8th has Coldplay at Club Nokia for the IheartRadio Benefit Concert (tickets are sold out)

February 9th Joss Stone supported by Dave Stewart at the Troubadour in West Hollywood.

February 10th has Cut Copy headlining the Avalon / Bardot in Hollywood or the Driftwood Singers at the Echo Country Outpost.

February 11th Los Campesinos at the Echoplex or Young the Giant at the Wiltern or White Denim at The Satellite.

February 16th G. Love and Special Sauce with Scott H. Biram at the House of Blubes in West Hollywood or Lenny Kravitz at the Nokia Theater.

February 17th and 18th has Ryan Adams storming the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the LA Philharmonic.  Two special nights!

February 18th – Cake is at the Hollywood Palladium and MaydayParade/We The Kings at the El Rey Theater.

February 19th – The Darkness with Foxy Shazam & Crown Jewel Defense at the House of Blues in West Hollywood.

February 20th brings the enigmatic Sinaed O’Connor to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery

February 21st  Sleigh Bells supported by The Black Bananas at the Music Box

February 22nd has Big Black Delta at the Bootleg Bar, Surfer Blood at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana and Ra Ra Riot at the El Rey Theater.

February 24th has Cursive with Ume at the Troubadour (sold out) and Die Antwoord at Club Nokia

February 25th Unknown Mortal Orchestra with White Arrows at the Echo Plex

February 27th Cate Le Bon at the Avalon / Bardot in Hollywood.

February 28th Terraplane Sun with Kitten at the Bootleg Theater

Its a short month, so get your tickets and make plans today.

Don’t forget about great shows in Anaheim, Pasadena and the surrounding areas of Los Angeles!

Anything I missed that you already have tickets too?  Tweet at us here: @madktc

matt

ktcmgmt.com, killingthecabinet.com