Ghost Media

SXSW 2008: The "Slightly Unclear on the Concept" Edition

OK, so it turned out to be fake, but it's still one of the funniest "press releases" I've seen in a long time:

"This SxSW annouces the arrival of Pangaea as Austin's best venue!
Since opening in fall 2007, Pangaea has been the first and only
place in Austin to really party! Now Pangaea will teach Austin how
to party with class at a live music venue! Pangaea is a full bottle
service club, you can reserve a table and bottle for an average $300
per bottle. Order an expensive bottle and it will be brought out
with a sparkler (so that everyone sees and knows you're a player).
Here's the inaugural SxSW lineup:

Pangaea (409 Colorado St) (21+ & Dress Code Enforced)
No Depression Night
Bruce Robison 9:00 p.m. Austin TX Country
Bonnie Bramlett 10:00 p.m. Nashville TN R&B
Daniel Lanois 11:00 p.m. Toronto ON Singer-Songwriter
Blue Mountain 12:00 a.m. Oxford MS Alt Country
The Felice Brothers 1:00 a.m. The Catskills NY Alt Country

All badge holders are welcome, but please note dress code is
strictly enforced. (Hint no broke people in t-shirts or dirty
converse please!) The dress code also applies for country shows,
this is not the Broken Spoke! To ensure the quality of the guests
and VIP experience, Pangaea will not sell any single admission
tickets and limit wristband entry. Don't have a badge? Reserve a
table ($300 bottle minimum) and get on the private Pangaea guest
list! Badgeholders meeting dress code will get first priority in
line, but Pangaea bottle patrons get guarranteed admission
regardless. Call or email to reserve your table today!"

Breaking News: Major Labels Still Trying to Screw Musicians

The major labels and their pit bull the RIAA always dress up their half-baked copyright witchhunt as "defending the rights of artists", but I don't think anyone will be surprised to find that that is hardly the case.  To wit, the hundreds of millions of dollars won by said labels in lawsuits pertaining to the issue.  According to this article in the New York Post  little or none of that money has ever made its way to the actual artists.  A group of high profile artist managers is considering filing a lawsuit to wrest the artists' share of the money from the companies. 

Perez Hilton Records?

File this under "music industry developments we're not sure we're comfortable with".  Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is in talks with Warner Brothers Records to have his own imprint label, the New York Times is reporting.  We're all for the music industry exploring non-traditional avenues, but this one reeks of pandering.  Was Hilton successful in promoting certain bands because of his golden A&R ear?  Or was he successful because he has 5 million people tuning in to see Brittany's crotch who might listen to a song by accident?  The deal, which reportedly includes a $100,000 advance and 50% of profits, seems like a stab at co-opting that publicity machine for a relatively low price.

SXSW 2008 Schedule is Up!

South By Southwest just posted the showcase schedule for this year's conference.  Check it out HERE

Andrew Bird Playing At Hideout to Benefit Obama

Fresh off of sitting in on a few nights of Wilco's run of shows at the Riviera, Andrew Bird will be playing a benefit show for Barack Obama on February 28th.  100 bucks gets you in the door.  The Chicago Sun Times has the details.

You're Gonna Get Yours

TVT Records is filing for bankruptcy.   Trent Reznor, formerly one of TVT's artists, is entertained.

No Depression Magazine Calling it Quits

Alt-Country music publication No Depression is packing it in after 13 years and 75 issues, citing falling ad revenue among the primary reasons.  They point out that the problem is larger than just the typical "print is dead" scenario.  From the magazine's letter to readers:

The longer answer involves not simply the well-documented and industrywide reduction in print advertising, but the precipitous fall of the music industry. As a niche publication, ND is well insulated from reductions in, say, GM's print advertising budget; our size meant they weren't going to buy space in our pages, regardless.

On the other hand, because we're a niche title we are dependent upon advertisers who have a specific reason to reach our audience. That is: record labels. We, like many of our friends and competitors, are dependent upon advertising from the community we serve.

That community is, as they say, in transition. In this evolving downloadable world, what a record label is and does is all up to question. What is irrefutable is that their advertising budgets are drastically reduced, for reasons we well understand. It seems clear at this point that whatever businesses evolve to replace (or transform) record labels will have much less need to advertise in print.

For the full text of the letter click the "continue reading" link below

If You Can't Beat Em....

Well, as long as the Grammies are going to be stuck in an absurd fixation on The Beatles.....I'll do my part. 

Ronnie James Dio Seems Slightly Less Evil Today

And here we thought Ronnie James Dio was down was Lucifer the whole time.....when really he was just a little spooked by the evil eye. ( via Boing Boing )

But the greatest modern protection against the evil eye was made through the work of an unsuspecting Italian American rocker, one Ronnie James Dio. Growing up in an traditional Italian home, Ronnie was accustomed to seeing the horned hands or “mano cornuta” displayed against the evil eye. All crescent shaped objects ward off evil (hence the lucky Horseshoe) and the horned hand (representing pre-Christian minotaur horns, not devil horns) was yet another way of warding off bad luck and the evil eye. Though it was, on occasion, was deployed at the wrong times. From wiki

“President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone shocked the country when, visiting Naples during an outbreak of cholera, shook the hands of the patients with one hand, and with the other, behind the back, made the corna. This act was well documented, as all journalists and photographers were right behind him, a fact that had escaped President Leone’s mind in that moment.”

Ronnie James Dio’s grandmother often deployed the horned hands and when Dio became the front man for Black Sabbath, he replaced Ozzy Osborne’s peace symbol with the corna or as most of us know it, the metal hand. From an Interview with Dio at Metal-Rules.com

“It was symbol that I thought was reflective of what that band was supposed to be all about. It’s not the devil’s sign like we’re here with the devil. It’s an Italian thing I got from my Grandmother called the Malocchio. It’s to ward off the Evil Eye”

Though not necessarily the first to ever use it in a “rock” setting, Dio was without question the one who turned it into a popular symbol.

The Music Industry Is Even More Fucked Than Originally Thought

As evidence of this headline, I need to do nothing more than point to last night's Grammy Awards broadcast.

To wit:  Morris Day, The Beatles, Tina Turner, Tom Hanks (?), Aretha Franklin, Dave Koz, John Fogerty, Little Richard, Joe Mantegna (?), and and extremely awkward duet between Kid Rock and Keely Smith. And of course.....what music awards show would be complete without an appearance by George Lopez???

It's pretty clear that the people involved with the Grammies are wildly disconnected from the reality of modern times.  They have taken the industry that they entered when they were young and forced it to grow old with them. In the process they have lost any shred of relevance.  It's the same affliction that has taken Chicago's WXRT, once one of the best radio stations in the country, and made it into a classic rock station.