CHINGY REUNITED WITH DISTURBING THA PEACE/DEF JAM ON NEW ALBUM HATE IT OR LOVE IT, IN STORES DECEMBER 18th . (New York, NY) The spirit of St. Louis lands at Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam Recordings with the return of double platinum-selling rapper Chingy, who rejoins the label where it all began for him in the summer of 2003. HATE IT OR LOVE IT, Chingy’s fourth album in as many years, will arrive in stores on December 18th. The hypnotic debut single from HATE IT OR LOVE IT is “Fly Like Me,” featuring platinum R&B singer (and VIBE ‘Club Banger of the Year’) Amerie. “Many of my fans are women,” Chingy says of “Fly Like Me,” “so I wanted to create a track that spoke directly to them.” The single, co-written by Disturbing Tha Peace CEO and fellow DTP/Def Jam artist Ludacris and producer L.T. Moe, was released November 13th. The video, directed by Jessy Terrero, made its debut last week on BET ... [ read more ] »
Chingy web site »

Critics Claim 'The Very Best Of Diana Krall' Is Right Now
National TV Performances Surround Release Of First Career Retrospective. As the release date for Diana Krall's first ever career retrospective, 'The Very Best of Diana Krall' (9/18, Verve), approaches, the pianist and vocalist enjoyed praise from journalists all along her national tour route. Pulling out many tunes from the 'Best Of' during her sets, some of which she hasn't played in 5 years, critics raved, "Krall is the best thing that ever happened to American song" ... [ read more ] »
Diana Krall web site »

MYSPACE ANNOUNCES FIRST NATIONWIDE CONCERT TOUR
LOS ANGELES—August 29, 2007—MySpace, America's most trafficked website, today announced the official launch of the ‘MySpace Music Tour,’ a new series of MySpace produced and branded concert events. The first MySpace Music Tour, presented by Extreme Style by VO5, will kick off Oct. 16 in Seattle, WA, and will be co-headlined by artists Hellogoodbye and Say Anything. Other bands will include MySpace Records artist, Polysics, and to-be-announced special guests. The Tour will include more than 30 shows across the United States throughout October and November 2007. "MySpace has served as a platform for countless bands and musicians around the ... [ read more ] »
MySpace web site »

RIVER: THE JONI LETTERS IN STORES SEPTEMBER 25
“At this point in my career,” Hancock says, “I want to do something that reaches into the lives and hearts of people.” River: The Joni Letters is a collection of songs, Vocal and Instrumental, composed by or Influential to Joni Mitchell. Featured Guest Vocalists: Joni Mitchell, Corinne Bailey Rae, Leonard Cohen, Norah Jones, Luciana Souza, Tina Turner.
Herbie Hancock - River: The Joni Letters [ read more ] »
Herbie Hancock web site »

Queen Latifah’s new album Trav’lin’ Light will be released by famed jazz label Verve Records in conjunction with Flavor Unit Entertainment on September 25. Produced by three-time Grammy® winner Tommy LiPuma and by Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair, the album is the long-awaited follow-up to Latifah’s critically-acclaimed and Grammy® nominated release The Dana Owens Album (2004).
Trav'lin' Light is Latifah's second foray into the realm of jazz, soul, and blues. Once again, she embraces a sultry and saucy mix of fabled female vocalists who've inspired her. Exploring the songbooks of PeggyLee, Etta James, Sarah Vaughn, Nina Simone, Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae, Roberta Flack, Mary Wells, Phoebe Snow, and more, Latifah adds her warm vocals and playful personality to a hand-picked mix of familiar classics and forgotten jewels. Like its predecessor, the album features ... [ read more ] »
Queen Latifah web site »

SCREAMFEST '07 MAKES MUSIC HISTORY WITH STELLAR NEW YORK CITY SHOW AT MSG
SCREAMFEST '07, one of this summer's hottest concert series, hit an all time high last night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, as the tour's stars made music history with several over the top performances from some of today's musical giants. SCREAMFEST '07 has successfully proven to be a much needed injection of pure energy and enthusiasm among music fans. The New York City show made music history last night, as very special and surprise guests took the stage throughout the evening. New comers Maleek and Yung Berg kicked off the night's festivities. The magic started when P. Diddy made a stellar cameo during Yung Joc's performance of "It's Goin' Down." During Ciara's second set, the songstress brought out 50 Cent ... [ read more ] »
SCREAMFEST '07 web site »

Current TV Brings Daily Music News Back to TV With the Launch of 'The Daily Fix' on August 15
San Francisco (August 13, 2007) – Current TV, the world’s peer-to-peer news and information network, today announced the launch of “The Daily Fix,” – the first music blog for television, premiering Wednesday, August 15 on Current TV. “The Daily Fix” will bring daily, dedicated music news back to television six times a day with timely coverage on artists and the music industry from around the world. “The Daily Fix” will help to break emerging artists from a slew of genres by shining a spotlight on formerly underground and unreachable artists worldwide – before they hit the mainstream. Dan Deacon, Dizzee Rascal, Josh Ritter, Saigon and St. Vincent are among the TV music blog’s first picks for feature coverage ... [ read more ] »
Current TV web site »

Mount Saint Helens : OF OTHERS RELEASE DATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2007 mt.st.helens third album Of Others offers a more refined and concise version of their compelling, guitar driven sound. Having cut their teeth in the early part of the 21st century at Chicago’s Fireside Bowl, Empty Bottle, Schubas and Bottom Lounge (and many stateside tours); mt.st.helens have stuck it out and cultivated a small but devoted following. Of Others draws from influences as diverse as Unwound, Shudder to Think, Ride and Boards of Canada but the result is far from derivative. Guitar player Michael Sprague has constructed ... [ read more ] » mt.st.helens web site »

Microsoft Launches Ignition Program to Help Recording Artists Reach an Audience of Millions of Zune, MSN and Xbox Fans
New promotional program presents artists to a combined audience of more than 30 million consumers, who will benefit from discovering new music.
REDMOND, Wash. -- June 4, 2007 -- Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of Ignition, a new program that gives recording artists with new releases a unique channel to reach tens of millions of consumers, whether they are browsing music online, playing games or catching up on the latest news. For the first time, Microsoft has packaged promotional opportunities across Zune(TM), Xbox® and MSN® to help artists more efficiently reach consumers in all three audiences.
In a world where high-impact promotional opportunities for new music can be limited, artists look for ways to make direct connections with their audience and leave a lasting impression. Ignition maximizes exposure for artists by engaging consumers with interesting content and reaching them frequently over a monthlong period through prominent placement on Zune Marketplace, Zune.net, MSN entertainment properties and the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace. For consumers, Ignition provides a steady stream of new music through online access to exclusive content, free song and video downloads, streaming video, editorial features, and artist playlists.
"The Ignition program is designed to help artists connect with a substantial consumer audience," said Christina Calio, director of Music Marketing for Zune. "Consumers are looking for ways to find new music, and Ignition helps connect artists with potential new fans by giving them multiple opportunities to listen to, watch or read about the artist across Microsoft's online platforms."
The Ignition program launches with the U.K. band Maxïmo Park (Warp Records/Caroline Distribution), whose current album, "Our Earthly Pleasures," debuted at No. 2 on the U.K. charts in April and is receiving significant radio airplay for its single "Girls Who Play Guitars." Throughout the month of June, Ignition will introduce new U.S. fans to this popular U.K. band through free and exclusive music downloads and features on Zune Marketplace and Zune.net, video downloads on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, and promotional video and music streams on MSN Video and MSN Music. Specific Maxïmo Park promotions include the following:
Zune Marketplace and Zune.net

Live Earth Germany revealed
Live Earth Announces Official Partnership with smart
Tickets for the Hamburg leg of the 7/7/07 Concert to Combat Global Warming On Sale Thursday, May 24, 2007
STUTTGART (May 23, 2007) – Live Earth Founder Kevin Wall, DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche, and singer Katie Melua joined with smart’s Global Marketing and Sales Head Anders Jensen at a press conference in Stuttgart today to announce details of Live Earth’s partnership with smart, the world’s only automaker serving as an Official Partner of Live Earth. The announcement also included the artist line-up and ticketing information for Live Earth Hamburg, which will be staged at the HSH Nordbank Arena ... [ read more ] »
LiveEarth.MSN.com - Web site »
LiveEarth.org - Web site »

New Spinal Tap film from Rob Reiner at LiveEarth.msn.com
New York – The new Spinal Tap film directed by Rob Reiner that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival is available at LiveEarth.MSN.com. Reiner also announced at the festival that Spinal Tap has reunited and will play Live Earth's London Show on 7/7/07. The 15-minute film chronicles Marty DeBergi's (Rob Reiner) efforts to reunite Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) to play Live Earth. The film also reveals what the band members have been up to since they were last together. Ferrets, tiny horses, rehab and hip hop play prominent roles.
Please see the clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxSvF8iNEPg and the entire film at LiveEarth.MSN.com.
Live Earth is designed to trigger a mass movement to combat our climate crisis.
On 7/7/07, Live Earth will be a defining musical event with more than 100 headliners performing live on all 7 continents and being broadcast globally through television, radio, web, wireless and other media platforms. These music artists will inspire an audience of more than 2 billion people worldwide to make meaningful and lasting changes in their lives to turn the tide on global warming.
Live Earth's proceeds and the audience it engages will be the launch for an ongoing campaign to combat the climate crisis that will be led by The Alliance for Climate Protection, which is chaired by Al Gore, and international environmental NGOs.
Live Earth will provide simple actions and tools that, if applied on a mass scale, will have a massive impact on combating the climate crisis. A global movement of people making meaningful changes in their lives will give the companies they do business with, and the governments who represent them, no choice but to enact positive long-term themselves.
Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall – the Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8, which brought together one of the largest audiences in history to combat poverty. Wall formed a partnership with Al Gore and the Alliance to ensure that Live Earth inspires behavioral changes long after 7/7/07.
Live Earth will stage concerts at Giants Stadium in New Jersey; Wembley Stadium in London; Aussie Stadium in Sydney; Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro; The Cradle of Human Kind in Johannesburg; Tokyo Dome in Tokyo; and a to be determined venue in Shanghai.
Live Earth will be broadcast to a live worldwide audience by MSN at www.LiveEarth.MSN.com and in the U.S. on NBC, Premiere Radio networks, XM and Sirius. Live Earth is a project of the SOS campaign, which is a variety of media platforms – films, television, radio, Internet, books, wireless and others – to move people to combat the climate crisis. [ read more ] »
LiveEarth.MSN.com - Web site »
LiveEarth.org - Web site »

NME announces BREAKING BANDS contest today
New York, NY – May 3rd, 2007 – Today NME.COM kicks off their first ever U.S. Breaking Bands initiative. Unsigned emerging artists from all over of the United States will vie for the chance to join the ranks of other critically acclaimed musicians such as Nirvana, Hole and Coldplay who have found their start in the pages of NME. Artists can visit NME.COM and submit their music, which will be reviewed by a panel of music industry music experts from the UK and US. The expert panel will consist of select NME journalists including Ben Perreau, NME.COM editor, Conor McNicholas, Editor of NME, and James Jam, NME New Bands Editor as well as other music industry professionals such as Alan McGee, the man responsible for discovering Oasis. All entries must be received by June 1st when they will be reviewed ... [ read more ] »
NME.com - Web site »
New Musical Express [ magazine ] »

Visual Music Marathon
Northeastern University is accepting submissions for the Visual Music Marathon, a 10-hour showing of works that reflect the convergence of musical composition and moving images. The event will be held on Saturday, April 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. as part of the Boston Cyberarts Festival, in the University’s Raytheon Amphitheater. Approximately thirty minutes of footage from this event will be selected for national cablecast on the Harmony Channel’s Mood Zones, available to subscribers of digital cable on the Comcast network. Northeastern University professor Dennis Miller, the event’s curator and director, describes visual music as “fine art, animation, video, or film, in which the visual elements are informed by musical processes.” Artists seeking to submit works can visit www.music.neu.edu/vmm, or call 617-373-2671. The deadline for submissions is January 22. [ read more ] »
Northeastern University - Web site »
Visual Music Marathon - Web site »

Loud.com and Battlerap.com - Hip-Hop Community Site
NEW YORK--March 7, 2007--Hip-hop finally has its own version of successful online communities like YouTube, MySpace and various game sites with the debut of Battle Rap, a contest which will be launched on the legendary www.loud.com site as well as www.battlerap.com. The project is a Joint venture with SRC Records and Pure Games. Entrepreneur Joseph Safina, along with hip-hop legend Steve Rifkind and Rich Isaacson will spearhead the site.
LOUD.COM is a free competition open to all registered users that offers the ability to download professional beats from some of today's leading hip-hop producers at 99 cents apiece and overlay rap tracks while going head-to-head with other DJs and MCs from around the world. The series of battles will be judged by celebrity hip-hop producers such as Cool and Dre, Zukhan Bey, DJ Khaled and Teflon, with the ultimate winner of the Showdown given $100,000 in cash and a recording deal with SRC Records, Steve Rifkind's Universal Music Group-distributed label that is home to such platinum-plus, Grammy-nominated superstars as Akon and David Banner. Additional judges will be announced soon.
"Loud.com and Battle Rap will revolutionize the way records are made, marketed and sold," said Safina, founder and CEO of Pure Games. "Loud.com is an online community, competition, A&R site and marketing company all rolled into one. We have assembled a great team to execute our plan and are eager to get started."
Said Rifkind, who revolutionized grass roots marketing with his patented Street Team: "The resurrection of Loud.com and Battle Rap is the latest step in providing a vibrant, growing on-line hip-hop community with not only compelling user-generated content, but also the means to create and sell their own product to like-minded fans."
Added Isaacson, a Harvard-trained attorney who formed Loud Records with Rifkind: "Our vision is to create a place where all with a shared passion can come together to meet, share, create, express and battle, where creativity, aspiration and competition melds into something fresh. It combines the interaction of social networking communities, the competition of online gaming and the thrill of creation."
Battle Rap puts the user at center stage, providing them with professional "beats" from leading hip-hop artists along with powerful online editing tools which will allow them to create their own raps and compete with other aspiring MCs and DJs around the world. There is no charge except the 99 cents for the downloaded beats. Each battle is officiated by a panel of celebrity hip-hop producers, with a 10-round head-to-head elimination resulting in a Battle Rap Showdown final. The final winner will receive $100,000 in cash and a recording deal with Rifkind's SRC label, home of Akon and David Banner, among others.
The Battle Rap portal at www.loud.com and www.battlerap.com includes original beats by celebrity producers, educational forums on making demos, engineering and production tips, ringtone creation, bulletin boards, a real-time data base, chat rooms and a comprehensive grass roots marketing program, including posters, flyers, T-shirts, hats and other gift items. [ read more ] »
Loud.com - Web site »

Neil Young "Live at Massey Hall" set for release March 13th
January 17, 2007 - Burbank, CA - On January 19, 1971, Neil Young performed at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada. In many ways, this was a major homecoming event. He had left Canada in 1966, soon becoming a member of Buffalo Springfield in Los Angeles, then recording his self-titled debut solo album in 1968. That was followed by "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" with Crazy Horse, then Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Déjà vu" in 1970 and his best-selling album "After The Gold Rush." By the time Young came back to Canada for the Massey Hall concert, he had become one of the most exciting and successful singer-songwriters in rock. [ read more ] »
Neil Young - Web site »
Live at Massey Hall (W/Dvd) »

open call auditions for MTV Making the Band 4
On January 13th Candidates Can Post Their Videos On-line Viewers Can Also Visit Makingtheband.mtv.com To Vote For their Favorites & Help Select The Finalists Auditions To Be Held in Los Angeles, Houston, Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and New York City Beginning January 17th
New York, NY January 16, 2007 – MTV: Music Television and Sean “Diddy” Combs today announced open call auditions for MTV’s hit returning series “Making the Band 4” to kick off on January 17th in Los Angeles. And for the first time ever candidates who are unable to make the open calls can post their audition videos on-line via makingtheband.MTV.com allowing viewers the opportunity to vote for their favorite “Making The Band 4” candidates. The series is scheduled to premiere in Q2 ’07 and will chronicle Diddy as he sets out to form an all new boy band. In the last season of “Making the Band 3,” Diddy created the successful all girl band ‘Danity Kane’ whose album debuted at number one. The show documented the journey of Aubrey, D. Woods, Aundrea, Dawn and Shannon as they recorded their first album together under the guidance and expertise of Diddy. ‘Danity Kane’ is scheduled to go on tour with Christina Aguilera. Now Diddy is about to do it all again with “Making The Band 4!”
Starting January 13th aspiring superstars can log onto http://makingtheband.mtv.com and upload their singing audition for the world to see. Viewers will have until January 27th to vote for their favorites. 25 candidates will be selected to move on to Round Two, where they’ll upload a dance audition. Round Two voting concludes on February 6th. Producers will reward 3 finalists with the opportunity to audition in person for Diddy.
[ read more ] »
Making The Band 4 | MTV - Web site »