Vinyl Music Sales Hit 18-Year High in U.K.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Having mostly been written off in the past by a music industry dominated by digital, vinyl is continuing its resurgence in the U.K. after last year racking up its highest sales in years.
So far this year, more than 1 million vinyl records have been sold in Britain, marking the first time this milestone has been crossed since 1996.
“In an era when we’re all talking about digital music, the fact that these beautiful physical artifacts are still as popular as they are is fantastic,” said Martin Talbot, managing director of the Official Charts Company, which tracks music sales in Britain, in an interview with the BBC.
“Only five years ago this business was worth around £3 million [$4.7 million] a year. This year it’s going to be worth £20 million [$31 million].”
This month, Endless River, Pink Floyd’s first album in 20 years, became the fastest-selling vinyl release in Britain since 1997, racking up 6,000 sales in its first week. 2014’s best-selling vinyl album in the U.K. so far is the Arctic Monkey’s AM, followed by Lazaretto by Jack White.
It Costs at Least $500,000 to Break a New Artist
In a study released last week by major label organization IFPI, breaking an artist in a major market requires at least $500,000, and sometimes as much as $2 million. Of course, there’s no guarantee ‘breaking’ will result in the record label, or the artist making money.
Overall, the IFPI counted $4.3 billion in upfront talent-scouting and marketing costs coming from labels last year alone. “Record companies remain the largest upfront investors in artists’ careers,” the IFPI noted. “Common features of contracts signed with emerging artists include the payment of advances, recording costs, tour support, video production and marketing and promotion costs.”
“The burden of risk lies with the record company.”
Morrissey speaks on random subjects presented in sealed envelopes.
In this series of clips from IRS Records Presents the Cutting Edge, Morrissey was given random subjects presented in sealed envelopes, each containing a one-word topic, like “fashion,” “money,” “music,” and so forth. He was allowed to improvise and pontificate. Subjects include art, money and fashion. No band names, unfortunately, were in these envelopes.
Canadian Folk Music Awards winners announced
The winners of the Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMA) were announced this evening at the 10th anniversary gala event in Ottawa, Ontario. Hosted by Shelagh Rogers (CBC Radio) and musician Benoit Bourque (La Bottine Souriante), Canada’s folk community came together after a bustling weekend of public events, which included two evenings of nominee showcases and various workshops.
Twenty awards were presented at the gala. British Columbia’s The Fretless, known for their high energy fiddle tunes, won the Ensemble of the Year award for their self-titled album. PEI’s Lennie Gallant, an Order of Canada recipient and much loved musical storyteller, won the Solo Artist of the Year award for Live Acoustic at The Carleton,recorded at the destination Halifax music venue. The New/Emerging Artist of the Year goes to Manitoba’s The Bros. Landreth (featuring band namesakes and siblings Joey & David Landreth alongside Alex Campbell and Ryan Voth) for their alt-country oeuvre Let It Lie. Manitoba’s exquisite and innovative Tanya Tagaq wins the Pushing the Boundaries award for her captivating album Animism. Saskatchewan second cousins Kacy and Clayton bring home the Young Performer of the Year award for their stunning album The Day Is Past & Gone.
Women dominated the songwriting categories this year. The English Songwriter of the Year was awarded to British Columbia’s Shari Ulrich for her finely crafted albumEverywhere I Go. The French Songwriter of the Year was awarded to New Brunswick-via-Quebec’s Les Hay Babies (Julie Aubé, Vivianne Roy and Katrine Noël) for their heartwarming album Mon Homesick Heart. Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year was awarded to Ontario’s Amanda Rheaume and John Macdonald for Amanda’s album Keep a Fire.
In the contemporary and traditional categories, Ontario’s The Strumbellas wonContemporary Album of the Year for We Still Move On Dance Floors and New Brunswick-via-Nova Scotia’s Matt Andersen won Contemporary Singer of the Yearfor his powerfully sung recording Weightless. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia fiddle supergroup Còig (which is pronounced Ko-ig and means five in Gaelic) formed of Chrissy Crowley, Rachel Davis, Colin Grant, Darren McMullen and Jason Roach won Traditional Album of the Year for Five. Quebec’s Mélisande was honoured with The Sue Goldberg Award for Traditional Singer of the Year for Mélisande [électrotrad] – Les métamorphoses.
The instrumental categories honoured Ontario banjoist Jayme Stone as Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year for his world travel inspired album The Other Side of the Air.Ontario acoustic string band The Andrew Collins Trio was named Instrumental Group of the Year for their album A Play On Words. (This was band member Joey Landreth’s second 2014 Canadian Folk Music Award of the evening as he is also a member of The Bros. Landreth.)
Children’s Album of the Year was awarded to the effervescent Manitoba-based Fred Penner for his album Where In The World. British Columbia supergroup The High Bar Gang, who boasts membership by Barney Bentall, Rob Becker, Wendy Bird, Angela Harris, Colin Nairne, Eric Reed and Shari Ulrich, won Vocal Group of the Year forLost and Undone: A Gospel Bluegrass Companion. (This was Shari Ulrich’s second 2014 Canadian Folk Music Award of the evening.)
The world music categories honoured Ontario multi-instrumentalist Quique Escamilla asWorld Music Artist of the Year whose album 500 Years of Night was influenced by his Mexican birthplace. Quebec-based group Moustafa Kouyaté & Romain Malagnouxwon World Group of the Year. Led by bandleader Romain, of French heritage, the album is a collaboration with Malian artist Moustafa Kouyaté (son of Grammy nominated artist Bassékou Kouyaté.)
The Producer of the Year was awarded to Nova Scotia’s Tom Terrell and Karl Falkenham for their work on City Ghosts by The Modern Grass.
Ottawa’s own Harvey Glatt was honoured by his folk community peers as this year’sUnsung Hero, a special award that highlights the exceptional contributions of an individual, group, or organization to the Canadian folk music scene.
Established by Canada’s burgeoning and internationally recognized folk music community, the Canadian Folk Music Awards is currently its 10th year. The 2015 edition will take place in Edmonton, Canada. For more information, visit folkawards.ca.
Video: Russell Simmons on the evolution of the music industry
GRAMMY U and All Def Digtial teamed up and interviewed Russell Simmons on the evolution of the music industry – a shift he believes has taken the industry away from a royalty based formula.
“Artists are finding all kind of ways to use their brand to earn money. Being a music star is a lot more than selling records, if not at all. If selling records was what the music business is about they would all move onto something else. They’re not counting their royalties as their income, they’re counting all of the things that they influence, all the multibillion dollar business that their branding and building and affecting. Music is still consumed today more than yesterday, still growing in terms of the way people consume it. More music all the time, it just keeps growing in terms of its influence in society and also its influence in various different businesses. So now that we can’t make royalties off of records we gotta go make them pay, that’s what the music business has to learn to do.
“The game hasn’t changed from a content standpoint. We keep creating content. Our ability to create more content at a cheaper price is obviously a very great advantage for us. People have ADD, I mean literally they have ADD, I’m wearing the hat. All Def Digital, to me, is the place that promotes freedom for artists. New directors, new writers, new artists, music artists, poets. It’s a place where people can express themselves in ways that the gatekeepers wouldn’t allow in the past. We curate it so that we give the best of what’s out there ‘cause it’s the Wild West, there’s just so much on the Internet. Someone has to curate. Someone has to produce. Someone has to mix the creative genius that’s on the Internet with more traditional resources and other talent. We gotta a lot of young, smart people. I’m just watching young, talented people who understand new media and that wouldn’t be given a chance at some big stupid company are here running this company and they’re gonna make a big success out of it while the old people watch.”
‘South Park’ Creators Animate the Teachings of Buddhist Philosopher Alan Watts
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have applied their well-known animation to the teachings of Alan Watts, a noted British-born philosopher who helped popularize Buddhism and other tenets of Eastern philosophy among Western audiences.
