Music News Net

Dave Grohl Delivers SXSW 2013 Keynote Address

MUSIC NEWS- This year at South By Southwest, the keynote address was ably handled  by Dave Grohl the Nirvana, Foo Fighters and, now, Sound City Players member.

Below check out the full speech from Mr Grohl, and as he says, it his “musical life’s greatest honor.”  The speech tracks Grohl’s personal story and his theme, that “the musician comes first.”

Enjoy.

 

Mumford & Sons, Sting, Elton John, Patti Smith and More Headline Springsteen Tribute Concer

MUSIC NEWS- The red-hot Mumford and Sons, Elton John and Neil Young will perform at a tribute concert honoring Bruce Springsteen in Los Angeles next month.  The MusiCares concert event will take place in L.A. on February 8, two days before the 2012 Grammy Awards.  The show will feature performances from Sting, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, John Legend and Tom Morello.  Patti Smith, Jackson Browne, Alabama Shakes, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Kenny Chesney and Juanes will also perform at the show.  The Daily Show's Jon Stewart will host.

The all-star show will celebrate Springsteen, who was previously named as MusiCares Person of the Year for his combination of artistic contributions and charity work.

Speaking about The Boss, MusiCares CEO Neil Portnow said: "Bruce Springsteen is a truly gifted and Renaissance artist of our time, a national treasure, and an exemplary humanitarian. His career is a testament to the power of creative excellence, and his contributions as a philanthropist speak to the tenacity of the human spirit."

2012 Top 50 Touring Acts Chart Released

MUSIC NEWS - Touring database/website Pollstar has released their exclusive 2012 Top 50 Worldwide Tours Chart as a preview to its full year-end research coming in early January. 

All revebye figures have been converted to USA dollars and represent the total face-value gross ticket sales for all dates played. The Pollstar database includes specific sales figures for nearly 90 percent of all shows worked by the top attractions and projections were made for any of the unreported dates. 

Madonna grossed $296.1 million to easily claim the #1 spot on the chart. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band grabbed #2 with $210.2 million. Both acts played to more than 2 million fans in 2012. Pik Floyd's Roger Waters generated a hefty $186.4 million to come in at # 3. He is also the highest ranking hold-over from the 2011 chart where he placed #5 with a gross of $103.6 million.

Legendary Rock Talent Agent Frank Barsalona Passes Away at 74

MUSIC NEWS - Frank Barsalona, a pioneering music agent who began Premier Talent agency in 1964, forever changing the rock music touring business, passed away early Thursday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.  His death was originally reported in a post on the Steve Hoffman Music Forum, saying he 'died peacefully in his sleep".    

Mr Barsalona is credited with revolutionizing the rock concert business which he told the     Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was regarded "lower than the rodeo".   Before he founded Premier Talent in NYC, Barsalona, who was born in 1938, began his career at GAC, a New  York-based talent agency where he booked the first USA appearances by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds.  He launched his own agency with the Who, Herman's Hermits and Mitch Ryder and moved the shows to larger venues with full-length shows.  Before then, most rock  shows were presented as package tours and variety shows with short 15-minute sets by each act.     

Brandi Carlile Announces Fall Tour, "Conan" Appearance

MUSIC NEWS - Brandi Carlile has revealed she'll give her new single, "Keep Your Heart Young," its television debut on "Conan" on Thursday, November 8^th. "Keep Your Heart Young" is the second single from her Top 10 album, Bear Creek (out iva Columbia Records), and follows the Top 5 Triple A radio hit "That Wasn't Me."  

"Hard Way Home," another track from Bear Creek was selected for a recent episode of The CW's "Hart of Dixie" and "Raise Hell" was featured in the Travel Channel's "No Reservations" with host Anthony Bourdain. 

MUMFORD & SONS Tie Chart Record Set by The Beatles

MUSIC NEWS- MUMFORD & SONS have achieved a record set by The Beatles by placing six songs in the Billboard Hot 100.  The band, who this week beat Justin Bieber's 'Believe' by smashing the 2012 US album sales record with their second album 'Babel', have added  another amazing achievement by having six singles in the Hot 100, according to music publication, Billboard.

Mumford & Sons are the first band to chart as many as six concurrent titles in the chart since The Beatles did it 48 years ago. All tracks are from their new album, and include 'I Will Wait' (# 57), 'Babel (60), 'Lover's Eyes' (85), 'Whispers In The Dark' (No 86), 'Holland Road' (92) and 'Ghosts That We Knew' (94).

28th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced

MUSIC NEWS - This year's nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's upcoming class of 2013 were announced today.  This time, with a new twist, as for the first time fans will get a say in who will be inducted.

First-time nominees Deep Purple, Rush, N.W.A., Public Enemy, Albert King, The Marvelettes and Procol Harum join previously nominated acts Chic, Heart, Donna Summer, Kraftwerk, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Randy Newman, Paul Butterfield Blues Band and The Meters.

GOLDENVOICE Buys Eldorado Polo Club; Land Near Coachella & Stagecoach Fests Site

MUSIC NEWS- Concert promoters, Goldenvoice, a division of the music mega-corp AEG and the organizers of the annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Stagecoach Country Music Festival, today announced that the purchased the two hundred and eighty acres of land that comprise the Eldorado Polo Club, Triangle Bar Farms, Fish Creek and Ambassador Glen Holden's property, site near the location of their festivals.  

The terms of transaction were not disclosed and Paul Tollett, president of Goldenvoice, has not said what the property would be used for, but it is land all around the festival site at the Empire Polo Club.  The sale does likely assure the future of Coachella and Stagecoach in the area.

 

 

U2 Tops 2011 Concert Tour List With $231.9M in Sales Worldwide

MUSIC NEWS- Irish rockers, U2 are #1 for concert touring this year! The band won the honor with their highest-grossing tour both in North America and around the globe in 2011.   The band grossed $156M in USA/Canada from over 1.7 million tickets sold, according to the music site Pollstar. The group grossed $231.9M worldwide on 2.39 million tickets sold.

In the top five highest-grossing touring acts in North America were Taylor Swift ($97.7M), Kenny Chesney ($84.6M), Lady Gaga ($63.7M) and at #5, NJ's Bon Jovi ($57.1M).   For the worldwide top five, U2 were followed by the reunited Take That ($224M), Bon Jovi ($148.8M), Ms Swift ($104.2M) and former Pink Floyd man Roger Waters ($103.6M) . Tickets on U2's 360 Degrees tour sold for an average price of $97.15 worldwide and $91.67 in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

BEN KWELLER's Own "Noise Company" Label to Release His New GO FLY A KITE

MUSIC NEWS - After 15 years of releasing records through both major and independent labels, Ben Kweller has announced the formation of his own label, The Noise Company. The Austin, TX-based label will be home to all future Kweller releases, beginning with his infectious new album, Go Fly A Kite, set to hit stores February 7, 2012. The Noise Company has signed on with the Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) to distribute all of its releases.

Signed to Mercury Records when he was 15, and then ATO when he was 20, Kweller, now 30, is interested in being in a situation in which he has complete control. Kiko Velez, Head of A&R at The Noise Company recently said, "Ben has released successful records with a variety of inspiring partners and has gained a great deal of wisdom and experience." Velez continues, "That experience combined with a large and loyal fanbase, puts him in an ideal position to take advantage of the unique landscape of today's music industry."  

THE DOOR PR Firm Looks to Expand Music Efforts

MUSIC NEWS- Ex-Island Def Jam publicist Karen Wiessen has joined New York City based indie PR firm The Door, where she's charged wtth developing the firm's music and entertainment division.  Started up just back in 2007 by experienced record company PR executive Lois Najarian O'Neill and Charlie Dougiello (longtime publicist for Rachael Ray), The Door has music performers Alicia Keys, Il Divo, Natasha Bedingfield, Sean Kingston, and J. Roddy Walston as clients in an interesting mix with food personalities such as Ms Ray and Iron Chef Marc Forgione.

Gibson Guitar Facilities Raided by Feds Again, Company Will Fight Charges

MUSIC NEWS-  The chief executive of Gibson Guitar company has gone on record that the firm would fight a federal investigation of the guitar maker's wood imports.  This comes after federal agents raided the company for the second time in two years.

Agents entered Gibson's facilities in Nashville and Memphis, TN, on Wednesday, seizing wood imported from India and sending company workers home.  In an affidavit, authorities indicated they are considering charges against the company and/or its executives for illegally importing wood under a US law that bars importation of endangered plants and woods. The company's sued to recover its property.

Psssst, Wanna Buy a Stage Owned by U2 ?

MUSIC NEWS - As U2 winds down the most successful concert tour ever, the big question is what to do with their huge stage.  Answer?  Sell it !  Yep, they want to sell their stage, all of it, including The Claw, the device that moved around and resemble one of those arcade game "claw" devices.

If you're in the market, and have lots of cash (no suggested price mentioned, btw), visit PantherManagement.com/theclaw.    A brief description; “Designed by Bono, Willie Williams and Mark Fisher, the massive stage structure is an industry first. Tried and tested at over 110 concerts in 78 cities in 30 countries, the in-the-round transportable structure was designed to support up to 185 tonnes and engineered to withstand high winds while sustaining seismic loads. While on tour, “the claw” carried a cylindrical video screen able to open to a size of 14,000 square feet and designed to provide fans with the best possible concert viewing experience ever. It was an overwhelming success.”

The last stop of the band's 360 Tour is on July 30, 2011 in Moncton, Canada.  Let's us know if you do buy it, and how you plan to put it to use!

Arctic Monkeys Claim Censorship in the USA

 MUSIC NEWS- Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner recently told the UK's Xfm that a "big" American supermarket chain has objected to the title of the band's new album; Suck It and See and will cover the offending word with a sticker. 

The title, Turner explained, "has not travelled very well".  While most folks in the UK are familiar with the phrase "suck it and see", a convenient term for dealing with boiled sweets, those of us in the USA are not.  "They think it is rude [and] disrespectful," Turner said. "They're putting a sticker over it in America in certain stores, big ones."

Songs for Japan Charity Album Released; U2, Elton John, Springsteen and Others

MUSIC NEWS - U2, Bob Dylan, R.E.M. and Bruce Springsteen are some of the performers on the new digitally released charity album,  Songs For Japan, to help the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, which is available now on iTunes for $9.99.  John Lennon’s remastered “Imagine” and U2’s “Walk On” appear along with Dylan’s “Shelter From The Storm”.  Country, pop and rap genres are there too with tunes from Eminem, Elton John, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, and The Black Eyed Peas.  Full song list is below.