SONG CONTEST BLOG

Anyone who has randomly surfed through YouTube has eventually landed on a video of a teen guitar virtuoso with millions of accrued views.  Search a little further and a vast world of amateur instructional guitar ‘how-to’ clips will reveal themselves with tantamount popularity.  Guitar is a massive interest category on YouTube and, with it, a traditionally unrepresented musical niche has emerged to the fore: Guitar Virtuosos.  Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Nuno Bettencourt, and alike, were popular long before YouTube unveiled itself as the premier video portal, however, a new breed of guitarists have caught the attention of the dotcom generation with unique styles that, until now, experienced only nook-and-cranny exposure.

Enter CandyRat Records, the most visible alternative acoustic guitar label on YouTube – or anywhere, for that matter.  The boutique-sized label, founded by Rob Poland, has capitulated extraordinary guitarists through a series of low-budget video clips of their music, the most successful of which include some form of tapping, odd tuning, or any other unconventional manner of playing their instrument.  Although CandyRat represents a whole slew of talented guitarists and singer/songwriters, the company’s most notorious roster of YouTube maestros includes the likes of Erik Mongrain, Antoine Dufour, and, of course, Andy McKee, who has garnered just under 20 million views for his video performance of “Drifting“, an original composition, and over 8 million views for an innovative version of “Africa” by Toto.  And then there’s Don Ross.

Don Ross was Rob Poland’s first signing, even though Don remained contractually independent.  In 2005, Don released an album through CandyRat which marked the label’s investiture as an acoustic aficionado.  In a recent communication with Jill Katona of Paperwork Media, Don’s booking agent and Andy McKee’s former rep, I learned that it was Don who brought Andy to Poland’s  attention, who later signed him and released two of his CDs under CandyRat.  Old friends, Don Ross and Andy McKee collaborated for the label and enjoyed mutual exposure online.  However, it was McKee’s video performance of “Drifting” that truly put CandyRat on the map and significant offshoot traffic in Don’s direction, as well as the other artists on the label’s growing roster.

Don Ross and Andy McKee’s styles are comparable.  The two masters of their trade govern the art of percussive, finger-picking, neck-hammering guitar techniques which make their solo guitar compositions sound as if there are multiple instruments omnipresent.  Considering Don Ross’ lengthy tenure as an acoustic guitar performer, I can only assume that he is one of the pioneers of this style – he has certainly become renowned for it.

Don is currently on tour with Brooke Miller, a 2007 finalist in We Are Listening’s Breaking the Band, and their aggregate talent should make for an excellent series of live show.

Epic Records, part of Sony’s Columbia/Epic Label Group, has appointed singer/songwriter, Amanda Ghost, as its new President, replacing Chris Walk who left the label after his contract ran out last year.  With 25 million record sales in the last three years under her belt, Ghost is one of the leading commercial songwriters in today’s music market, responsible for major cuts including “Beautiful Liar” (Beyonce/Shakira), “You Are So Beautiful” (James Blunt) and “Tattoo” (Jordin Sparks), to name a few.

Ghost’s appointment, somewhat unconventional for the label behemoth, comes as surprising news.  Perhaps it’s part of a new game plan to denote a new positioning in the record industry; putting the ‘creatives’ at the very top of the ladder.

Rob Stringer, Chairman of Columbia/Epic Label Group, statement:

“I am delighted that Amanda has chosen to bring her creative vision and flair to the Epic label. In the changing environment of the music business, record labels undoubtedly need to be complete partners with the artistic community and Amanda will be the perfect executive to meet that challenge.”

The much-talked-about 360 music deals give labels the traditional percentage of CD and MP3 sales in addition to a cut of ticketing, merchandise, licensing, publishing, and sponsorship opportunities.

In the Web 2.0 Summit, Warner Music Group CEO, Edgar Bronfman, outlined that new artists will have to sign 360 contracts, and that about a third of their signed artists are under such contracts already.

Bronfman expressed that it’s is no longer feasible to pour money into artists when CD sales continue to diminish. Without a stake in the other aspects of an artist’s career, WMG will simply avoid going to market altogether.

It seems like eons ago that Madonna seeded file-sharing sites with MP3s of her voice scolding fans about the evils of music downloading. Well if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. In Early October, 2007, Madonna walked away from her 25 year relationship with Warner Music and signed a new 10-year contract worth $120 million with Live Nation, an LA-based concert promotion firm. In a released statement Madonna explained, “the paradigm in the music business has shifted and as an artist and a business woman, I have to move with that shift.”

So what does a concert promotion firm have that Warner Music doesn’t? Live Nation offers a complete marketing package for the Madonna label and recognizes, like Madonna now does, that music is the least of what she sells. The deal covers every aspect of the Madonna music brand including touring, merchandising, fan club, DVDs, website, music related TV and film, licensing and sponsorship agreements, and of course, record albums.

This mega-deal with the US’s largest concert promoter is the first step in which Live Nation aims to set itself up as a new breed of record company by appealing to mega-stars and offering them one-stop shopping benefits to market and sell their image, which, for an established artist, constitutes so much more than just their music. It combines two industry powerhouses into one efficient revenue stream that can more effectively promote the Madonna label and dramatically increase revenue for both parties.