Music supervisor Anastasia Brown plays host to artists, others
The Heretic’s Comment: Before the 13th annual Nashville Screenwriters Conference, held last week, award-winning music supervisor Anastasia Brown hosted a lavish reception at her Green Hills home along with Format Entertainment. The company just expanded its Nashville music supervision division under the direction of Brown and will provide opportunities for local artists to be showcased in film, TV pilots and commercials.

The event, filled with industry insiders, welcomed artists Jo Dee Messina, Randy Scruggs, Chuck Prophet, Jonathan Cain, Damien Horne, Her & Kings County and Elenowen as well as hit-making producer Angelo Petragila, who has worked in the studio with Kings of Leon; music supervisor Julia Michels, best known for her work on the Sex and The City movies; screenwriters John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side), Les Bohem (Taken), Derek Hass and Michael Brandt (3:10 to Yuma); and Music Row executives Rod Essig and Trey Turner.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110530/ENTERTAINMENT03/305300014/Celebrity-Column-Music-supervisor-Anastasia-Brown-plays-host-to-artists-others

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The Official Release of the “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall. On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

EE-Book prices fuel outrage — and innovation
The Heretic’s Comment: An e-book that costs the same as a printed book doesn’t feel right. No trees died to make it. No heavy machinery ran to print it. No planes flew to ship it. You might need to buy one of those new $139 Barnes & Noble Nooks, announced this week, to be able to read it. So why should you have to spend as much as you would for a heavy hardcover book to own it?
Blame the latest phase of the digital content revolution, now more than ten years strong. As first happened with music, then movies, then print news, the book publishing industry is experiencing a shake-up of rules and roles. In particular, the changing relationship between the book publisher (the company that creates books) and the book retailer (the company that sells books) is causing a chain reaction of confusion, mistrust, and price hikes.The good news is that this phenomenon is inspiring enterprising startups to rethink aging models of book pricing.
The bad news is that it’s pissing people off.
Need proof? Look up Emma Donoghue’s Room: A Novel on Amazon. You can get a new hardcover copy for $14.49, while the downloadable Kindle edition costs slightly less at $11.99. Scroll a bit down the product page, and you’ll see that the average customer review out of 829 (at this writing) is a favorable 4.2 stars out of 5. People like the book.

http://www.macworld.com/article/160120/2011/05/ebook_prices_outrage_innovation.html

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The Official Release of the “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall. On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

Youtube Star Kreayshawn Signs Million Dollar Deal Off “Gucci Gucci” Hit [Video]
The Heretic’s Comment: Kreayshawn Signs With Sony
Another overnight celebrity has won big.
According to Miss Info., female rapper Kreayshawn signed a million dollar deal with Sony, off the success of her “Gucci Gucci” video.
The “Gucci Gucci” video, which was released via Youtube in May, has amassed 1.3 million Youtube views, turning the 21-year-old Oakland rapper into an internet celebrity, and inciting a bidding war between major labels.
Kreayshawn is another example of the lack of talent it takes to be successful in the days of internet stardom, where 17k followers on Twitter and a few more thousand of Tumblr will get you a deal.

http://hiphopwired.com/2011/05/30/youtube-star-kreayshawn-signs-million-dollar-deal-off-gucci-gucci-hit-video/

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The Official Release of the “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall. On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

Sympathy for the Devil: Why the Major Labels Might Be Right This Time
The Heretic’s Comment: Jeff Pollack with the Huffington Post speaks about why major recording labels may be correct about the cloud music services.

Pollack says, “Much of the big news in the music business over the last few weeks has revolved around several new on-demand or cloud-based music services. Amazon, Google, Apple and Spotify have all been negotiating with the labels on these new services.

Most of these companies have remained quiet about specifics, but Amazon, and to a lesser extent Google, threw up their hands and decided to launch truncated versions of their cloud-based services, citing label intransigence as the obstacle to creating more robust and user-friendly versions.

We’ve all heard the reasons for the industry’s rapid decline: paralysis, stupidity, greed, overpaid executives, lack of quality new music and loss of control of distribution. There is some truth to all of these. But ironically, this time in saying no to proposals for legitimate on-demand streaming and cloud-based subscription services, maybe the labels (and the publishers) have compelling reasons.
Could it be that the revenue from streaming, subscription and Internet radio that’s been lauded as the new economic model just doesn’t add up?
Given the projected number of subscribers, at even the top end of the scale of $10 per month, subscription revenues are small change given the huge drop-off in sales. According to the RIAA, by the end of 2010 there were only 1.5 million total subscribers in the U.S. So to have real impact, these new subscription services will have to grow to tens of millions of paying subscribers. That looks to be a very tough hill to climb. Perhaps subscription may not be the panacea that so many people think.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-pollack/sympathy-for-the-devil-wh_b_865887.html
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The Official Release of the “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall. On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

Independent films ‘The Tree of Life,’ ‘Midnight in Paris’ do strong business at the box office
The Heretic’s Comment: Despite its lofty subject matter and press-averse director, “The Tree of Life” found success at the box office this weekend.
The movie from reclusive filmmaker Terrence Malick opened in four theaters and collected a strong $488,920 over four days, according to an estimate from distributor Fox Searchlight. On a three-day basis, the film had a per-theater average of $93,230, just slightly less than the $99,834 per-theater average Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” had in its debut last weekend.
“The Tree of Life’s” debut was the best ever in limited release for Fox Searchlight, beating out “Black Swan’s $80,212 per-theater average. It was also the best opening ever for Malick, whose “The Thin Red Line” averaged $56,506 from five theaters in 1998. That film, a World War II drama, was the director’s biggest commercial success, with $98.1 million in ticket sales worldwide. Malick has been absent from any promotional duties for the film, which stars Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Sean Penn and poses questions about family, faith and the creation of the universe.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/05/independent-films-tree-of-life-midnight-in-paris-do-strong-business-at-the-box-office.html

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The Official Release of the “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall. On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

One Documentary, One Thousand Producers: “JUST GIMME INDIE ROCK!”

The Heretic’s Comment: “What is Indie Rock? A sound, a movement, an ideal? After thirty years, why is it still so mysterious? Surely there is more to say about the largest and longest running rock and roll movement of modern times.” So begins the pitch for the feature documentary film JUST GIMME INDIE ROCK! on Kickstarter.com, a DIY fan-funding website. “When I heard about how people are coming out in big ways to donate and support creative projects on Kickstarter.com, it just seemed like a no brainer,” explains JGIR! producer, Brad Katz. “Indie fans gave Radiohead ten million in donations for their album “In Rainbows”… what will they give to see their entire generation’s rock and roll history brought to light?”

Fans can contribute by going to the film’s Kickstarter portal and selecting an amount between $1 and $10,000 to donate. In return for monetary donations they will receive participatory incentives, from T-shirts to actual “Producer” film credits; even an opportunity to appear in the film itself. JUST GIMME INDIE ROCK! plans to use the funds to travel and film the world’s many local indie scenes. “We are scheduling over a hundred original interviews and performances with bands, record labels, famous indie fans, and the rock and roll intelligentsia” ponders Katz. “We are documenting forty years of virgin territory: we have to shoot, acquire, and clear so much to get it done, it’s not going to come cheap or easy.”

JUST GIMME INDIE ROCK! has already ignited the passion and participation of indie bands and fans. Forging ahead as best they could without a budget, they have managed to film performances and interviews with some of indie rock’s biggest names: Henry Rollins, J. Mascis, Lou Barlow, Stephin Merritt, The Submarines.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/321200#ixzz1NVxq08pA

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

Sean Parker Says Music Industry Will Rebound

The Heretic’s Comment: It seems almost odd: the very man who has played a large part in the decline of an industry is now the one most bullish on its future prospects. At the e-G8 conference in Paris, Napster co-founder Sean Parker said that a “bottom” was ahead for the music industry due to new services on the horizon.

Indeed, the industry has lost three-quarters of its value, falling from a $45 billion annual business to about $12 billion. Clearly, a new business model is needed.

Parker is an investor in music service Spotify, and said that the back catalogues that are being made available through services like it are helping to drive growth. While traditional digital music stores were good for selling top-40 hits and singles, they so far have not done well in selling most back-catalogue tracks.

There’s a good reason for that: most of those tracks don’t have the same perceived value that a new song has, thus a user may balk at paying full price for it. However, with streaming services and all-you-can-consume plans now in vogue, suddenly there is a demand for these tracks.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/228806/sean_parker_says_music_industry_will_rebound.html

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

Clive Davis – Music Industry Visionary

The Heretic’s Comment: Over the past four decades, Clive Davis has established and maintained universal recognition as the music industry’s leading visionary. In 2003, his abounding passion for music extended itself to academia, with the establishment of the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University. As a division of the Tisch School of the Arts, the department aids the university with the “development” of aspiring music entrepreneurs in a manner that matches Clive Davis’ professional leadership of the successful artists that have been under his care.

In honor of Clive Davis’ influence and accomplishments, both within and outside the music profession, New York University honored the music mogul with a Doctor of Fine Arts degree on May 18, 2011, during its 179th Commencement Exercise. Shortly thereafter, Clive Davis managed to squeeze some time out of his busy schedule and settle down for an interview with Clayton Perry – reflecting on “the art” of artist development, the founding of J Records, and the cultural impact of LaFace and Bad Boy Records.

Clive Davis says he got into the music business by luck and  was unprepared for it – but  learned the hard way. He said he had a strong work ethic – and studied everything about music. It was then that he miraculously found out that he had something that he did not know he had – an ear for music.

http://allhiphop.com/stories/alternatives/archive/2011/05/26/22774350.aspx

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

A coalition of musicians alleges that ethnic music was unfairly targeted by the changes, which are in effect for 2012 awards.

The Heretic’s Comment: Carlos Santana and Paul Simon are among a coalition of musicians voicing opposition to the Recording Academy‘s elimination of 30 Grammy Award categories. The artists are  demanding the reinstatement of the categories, which were eliminated last month to make the Grammys more competitive, according to Grammy president and CEO Neil Portnow.

The group, led by four-time Latin jazz Grammy nominee Bobby Sanabria, plan to protest the cuts at Thursday’s academy board meeting, notes the Associated Press. The coalition alleges that the cuts unfairly targeted ethnic music and were agreed upon without the input of academy members.

Santana and his drummer wife Cindy Blackman Santana wrote in a letter to the academy, “To remove Latin jazz and many other ethnic categories is doing a huge disservice to the brilliant musicians who keep the music vibrant for their fans — new and old. We strongly protest this decision and we ask you to represent all of the colors of the rainbow when it comes to music.”

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/paul-simon-carlos-santana-protest-192646

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!

Universal Music teams with Tommy Hilfiger for rock ’n’ roll clothing

The Heretic’s Comment: LOS ANGELES — As CD sales have declined, bands have turned to something that was once relegated to the back of the auditorium next to the beer and hotdogs: merchandise.

It’s not just T-shirts. These days, band “merch” includes a host of sometimes bizarre items including dolls, toothbrushes, pinball machines and sunglasses. With major artists such as Madonna and Dr. Dre leading the way — Madonna with her H&M limited-edition clothing line and Dr. Dre with his Beats headphones — dozens of lesser-known bands have found lucre in selling things other than music.

Turning up the volume a notch on this growing segment, Universal Music Group, the label of Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and the Black Eyed Peas, on Wednesday announced it had struck a deal with fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger to develop rock-’n’-roll-inspired clothing for high-end boutiques and department stores.

Hilfiger and Universal, through its Bravado business unit, plan to work with bands and musicians to craft branded merchandise that would hit stores later this year. Terms of the venture, which involves Hilfiger personally and not the clothing company that bears his name, were not disclosed.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Universal+Music+teams+with+Tommy+Hilfiger+rock+roll+clothing/4843857/story.html#ixzz1NVyLhdmU

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The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” a is August 1, 2011. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!