AUDIO KORNER

Reason 7 – Product Presentation

kid — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:30:54 +0000

Last week we had a visit from Ryan Harlin – hes the guy behind Propellerheads Music Making Month and also puts together the ongoing video content for Propellerheads. He showed us around the new features in the just released Reason 7, including (finally) the introduction of MIDI, some neat mixer functions – Spectrum EQ, bussing and parallel processing, plus the new audio processing module – Audiomatic.

Andy Biersack Talks About Connecting With His Fans

kid — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:30:54 +0000

Black Veil Brides front-man Andy Biersack talks about connecting with his fans through his music, and expresses his compassion for those who aren’t your run-of-the-mill teenager.

Arturia Minibrute vs Korg MS-20 Mini | Part 1: Oscillator Face-off

kid — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:30:46 +0000

It’s a budget monophonic synthesizer smackdown: How does the new Korg MS-20 Mini compare against the Arturia Minibrute? A veiny arm takes you through the oscillators of these beasts to see just how similar / different they are.

Just Blaze Exec Producing Slaughterhouse LP

kid — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:29:28 +0000

Shady Records’ four horsemen have been spending the past month working on their third album. And today, the group announced that Just Blaze will serve as the project’s executive producer.

“I’m really excited about doing things a different way this time around”, says Joe Budden. This isn’t a send-tracks-around, and everyone-records-in-their-own-studio type of album. Joell Ortiz said that he is happily looking forward to the process as well: “The creative being creative! Fun, fun fun!”

Royce Da 5’9” added that “everyone is in the perfect space, mentally. It feels great to be back in the studio with the guys and I think that I can speak for everyone when I say that we just wanna make an album that will stand the test of time and mean sum’n to Hip-Hop.”

If Crooked I’s attitude towards this project is any indication of where it’s headed, prepare for an onslaught. “God of the Westcoast, I birthed these n!3@@& now I’m about to burry ‘em. Bloody Axe PigFace Slaughterhouse Mafia!”

[RapRadar]

Rap Radar: TDE’s Punch Interview PT 2

kid — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:30:21 +0000

Yeah, it’s hard getting Elliott out that damn office. But anyway, Punch is back. And in the final clip, the TDE President speaks on Kendrick Lamar’s brief Def Jam signing, new artists, and the impact of Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city. Classic? Just maybe. Ha! [RapRadar]

Rihanna Surpasses Justin Bieber as Most Viewed Artist on YouTube

kid — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:30:13 +0000

Some time early Tuesday morning (6/18), Rihanna passed Justin Bieber as the most viewed artist on YouTube. The 77 videos on Rihanna’s official VEVO channel now have a combined 3.784 billion views in total, surpassing the total view counts of the 79 videos on Bieber’s official VEVO channel by roughly two million views.

Rihanna surpassing Bieber’s popularity on YouTube is largely due to the size of her subscriber-base. Rihanna has 8.73 million subscribers on the platform, 3.7 million more than Bieber’s 4.9 million. This means that while the average Bieber fan is much more engaged than Rihanna’s, Rihanna has much broader reach as an artist and is therefore able to secure more view counts to her name over time.

This discrepancy in fan-base stays true on the Facebook platform, where Justin Bieber’s 54.3 million “likes” on the platform dwarfs Rihanna’s 72.3 million. However, it’s not the case on Twitter, where Bieber overtook Lady Gaga back in January as the most followed person on the platform and has just recently became the first person to surpass 40 million followers.

Other artist-specific channels that populate the YouTube viewcount leaderboard are Psy at No. 3, with 3.1 billion views to his name, followed by Eminem (2.4 billion views), Lady Gaga (2.25 billion views), and Shakira (2 billion). [Billboard.biz]

Beyonce Settles $100M Lawsuit With Video Game Company

kid — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:30:02 +0000

Beyonce has wiggled out of a lawsuit brought by a video game company that sued the musician for allegedly backing away from a deal to create a motion-sensing dance game.

Gate Five filed the lawsuit in New York court in April 2011, claiming that the superstar had acted on “a whim” the previous Christmas with an “extortionate demand” for more compensation for Starpower: Beyonce. The demands drove away a financier and caused Gate Five to lay off 70 people
during the holidays, said the lawsuit.

After saying it spent $6.7 million to develop the project, Gate Five looked to recover the $100 million in estimated profit the game was projected to make. But after a grueling court battle that never got to trial, the two sides have found a way to resolve their differences.

Beyonce’s argument in the case was that she had a valid contractual right to exercise termination provisions after Gate Five was unable to fulfill obligations to obtain $5 million of committed financing for the project.

In opposition, Gate Five contended that it was on the verge of closing a $19.2 million financing contract before Beyonce got antsy.

In late 2011, a New York Superior judge denied Beyonce’s motion to dismiss, and a state appeals court later affirmed the ruling on the basis that Beyonce hadn’t objected to the loan at the time, the unresolved question of whether the non-finalized financing agreements constituted “committed financing” under the contract and the possibility that the singer’s own actions contributed to the collapse of financing.

In recent months before the case was settled, the dispute went deeper.

Gate Five looked to investigate whether Beyonce had dropped Gate Five in the interest of scoring a better deal with a competitor. The company sought all sorts of documents including a possible audit conducted by Beyonce’s law firm on the management company run by her father. Beyonce’s attorneys called it a “fishing expedition” and a breach of attorney-client privilege.

There won’t be any trial. Last week, the parties submitted papers in court that discontinue the claims. An attorney for Gate Five couldn’t be reached but has been quoted as saying that the lawsuit was settled amicably on confidential terms. [Billboard.biz]

Business Matters: Why An Artist Like Jay-Z Would Partner with Samsung

kid — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:30:16 +0000

It’s no wonder that Jay-Z signed a partnership deal with the electronics giant Samsung that’s rumored to be worth $20 million. The Korean company spends an incredible amount on advertising every year.

Samsung Electronics’ advertising spending in 2012 was $4.6 billion, an amount higher than that of Pepsi ($3.7 billion), Coca-Cola ($3.3 billion) and Apple ($1 billion). How big is that $4.6 billion figure? It isn’t far off Universal Music Group’s 2012 revenue ($6 billion) and dwarfs the annual A&R spending of record labels globally ($2.7 billion). In other words, no music company has the resources to do what Samsung can do.

Jay-Z and Samsung created an album release plan that leverages the size and scope of the company. His “Magna Carta Holy Grail” album will be available for free download on July 4 to the first 1 million Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S 4 and Galaxy Note II users. With about 70 million smartphones in the global market in the fourth quarter of last year, and with a massive advertising presence to create awareness, Samsung is a large and effective distribution network for the artists it partners with.

Let’s be clear about Samsung’s music spending: the company’s advertising spending goes toward many things other than smartphones. The company also sells such products as televisions, semiconductors, digital cameras and printers. And because Samsung’s advertising spending goes toward products other the smartphones, it’s easy to deduce that music probably may not get much of that huge advertising budget.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi spend a great deal of money on music. As Billboard’s Andrew Hampp noted in his 2012 cover story “The Cola Wars,” Coca-Cola and Pepsi spend $240 million and $330 million annually on entertainment and sports, according to research firm IEC.

But Samsung certainly has the capacity to spend a great deal on music. And there will be more money available for music as Samsung’s revenue grows. Total marketing spending — advertising is just one component — has risen as Samsung’s smartphone sales have exploded in recent years. Marketing expenses were 6.5% of revenue in 2012, up from 5.9% and 5.7% in 2010 and 2011, respectively. [Billboard.biz]

Warner Music Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Interns

kid — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:35:56 +0000

On Monday, a former Atlantic Records intern named Justin Henry brought a proposed class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and others similarly situated against the Warner Music Group. The complaint filed in New York Supreme Court seeks to recover claimed unpaid minimum wages and overtime wages for a class that’s believed to be greater than 100 individuals.

The lawsuit comes less than a week since a federal judge in New York ruled that two interns who worked on Fox Searchlight’s Black Swan were classified improperly as unpaid interns and were really “employees” covered by federal labor laws. That New York judge also certified a class action against the Fox Entertainment Group. Since the ruling, there’s been a proposed class action filed against Conde Nast publications, and now this new lawsuit — what the plaintiffs are touting as the first to be filed against the music industry business.

Henry says he worked at WMG subsidiary Atlantic Recording Corp. between October, 2007 and May, 2008. According to the complaint, he typically worked five days each week from 10 a.m. until 5 or 6 p.m., but was sometimes required to stay later.

During his work weeks — which allegedly ran past the 40 hours per week that might trigger overtime pay obligations — Henry’s duties “primarily consisted of answering the phones, faxing papers, filing papers, and retrieving lunch for paid employees,” says the lawsuit.

This case is a tad different from the one brought against Fox and highlights some of the potential dangers on the internship front, particularly for companies based in New York.

Unlike Alex Footman and Eric Glatt, the two interns who sued Fox, Henry isn’t alleging any violation of the federal Fair Standards Labor Act. Instead, Henry is now in state court and leading a proposed class action that alleges that New York labor laws were violated.

That’s an important distinction because according to one of Henry’s attorneys, Maurice Pianco, the statute of limitations over violations of New York labor law is a whopping six years. The specific labor law cited by Henry’s attorneys also raise the possibility of recovering costs and attorney’s fees. Pianco has been leading an outfit called “Intern Justice” that has been attempting to spearhead unpaid internship cases.

The lawsuit contends that Warner and Atlantic are the “employer” of Henry for purposes of applying New York’s minimum wage standards.

Warner Music could not be reached for comment at press time. [Billboard.biz]

Sound Designer Chris Scarabosio of Skywalker Sound (2003 Interview)

kid — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:30:50 +0000

Chris Scarabosio works as a sound designer at George Lucas’ Skywalk Sound. In this clip, Scarabosio supplies an abundant amount of useful information into the creative world of sound design. Scarabosio touches on topics such as creating new sounds, working with directors, the latest technologies, his production credits, and more!