The annual MUSEXPO conference kicked off on Sunday in Los Angeles, bringing its usual mix of high-profile speakers and industry insight. Topping the bill was legendary A&R man Jason Flom, in conversation with Music Week editor Mark Sutherland. Flom, now founder & CEO of Lava Records and Lava Music Publishing, has also run Atlantic,…
Scott Borchetta on ‘The Launch,’ His New A&R-Based Artist Discovery Show
Think you can sing the next hit song? That’s the question on The Launch submission page, open to singers around the globe. Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta, who spent two seasons as a mentor on American Idol, including the final last year, is back at it with the launch of The Launch, which is his spin on a…
‘I HATE THE WORD “RULES”. IT’S THE ANTITHESIS OF A&R.’
It’s not easy breaking artists right now – especially when you’re committed to building careers. Just two debut artist albums went Gold in the US in the first six months of this year: Nine Track Mind by Charlie Puth and Islah by Kevin Gates. Both of them happen to be on the same label:…
@DonCannon Named Vice President of A&R at Def Jam Records
We want to send a huge congrats to Don Cannon. It has been confirmed that he has been named Vice President of A&R at Def Jam Records. According to sources, he will still be based in Atlanta, and work closely to Steve Bartels, President & COO IDJ Music Group. It’s safe to assume that he will…
Myspace Maintains First-Week Momentum
The revamped Myspace attracted 31 million visitors and 995,000 app downloads in the first 14 days after its June 12th re-launch, suggesting the service was able to maintain the level of consumer interest during the week after re-launch. In that first week, Myspace had 450,000 app downloads and 16 million visitors. The redesigned mobile app…
Mark Prendergast & The Odyssey of Ambient Music
This video captures a presentation by music historian Mark Prendergast at the recent AMBIcon 2013, The Odyssey of Ambient Music. Prendergast, author of The Ambient Century: From Mahler To Moby – The Evolution in Sound in the Electronic Age, gives a nearly two-hour presentation, his take on the history of ambient music, with music samples…
How Warner/Chappell, Shine America and FX Made Ryan Bingham’s Demo the Theme Song for ‘The Bridge’
Ryan Bingham has written the main theme song for FX’s “The Bridge,” his first music for film or TV since winning the Oscar and Grammy for his work in “Crazy Heart.” “Until I’m One With You” is released today (June 25) on his Axster Bingham Records; the series, starring Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir, premieres…
Tom Silverman’s Libera Acceptance Speech: From Artists Against Counterfeit Tapes To ‘The Big Six’ To A2IM
One of highlights from last week’s second annual Libera Awards was Tom Silverman’s Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech. Part personal history (he co-founded Artists Against Counterfeit Tapes), thank you note (gave gratitude to mentors Seymour Stein, Chris Blackwell, Mo Ostin, Ahmet Ertegun, Morris Levy) and indie history lesson (a list of major label execs who…
