What We did on July 10th, 2009
After postponing five shows due to Steven Tyler's leg injury, Aerosmith are set to resume their tour with ZZ Top tomorrow (Saturday) in Tampa, Florida.
Brad Whitford has sat out all of this tour so far after striking his head on his car and undergoing surgery. Whitford is expected back on stage tomorrow in Tampa.
Pearl Jam announced today that they will play a series of select North American tour dates in support of their ninth studio album, Backspacer. Scheduled for release in the U.S. on Sunday, September 20, 2009.
The album will be released in the U.S. through Target, the exclusive mass retail partner, Pearl Jam's own Ten Club and independent retailers, as well as online through digital, and gaming platforms yet to be announced.
The first single, "The Fixer," will be released at radio on July 20, 2009.
Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre (Aug 21
What's with Trent Reznor doing something insanely entertaining every few days? Whether he's quitting his band, trying to save lives or putting douches in their place, the Rez always has something interesting to say. Now, he's dropped some poignant advice on the ins and outs of the music industry for new, fresh-faced bands.
He prefaces the post by saying it was "written on a bumpy Euro-bus ride across the wilderness," worrying that it might ramble on. Instead, it's exactly what up-and-coming bands need to hear.
Here are some small samples of his advice:
- Establish your goals. What are you trying to do / accomplish? If you are looking for mainstream super-success (think Lady GaGa, Coldplay, U2, Justin Timberlake) - your best bet in my opinion is to look at major labels and prepare to share all revenue streams/creative control/music ownership. To reach that kind of critical mass these days your need old-school marketing muscle and that only comes from major labels. Good luck with that one...
- Forget thinking you are going to make any real money from record sales. Make your record cheaply (but great) and GIVE IT AWAY. As an artist you want as many people as possible to hear your work. Word of mouth is the only true marketing that matters.
To clarify:
Parter with a TopSpin or similar or build your own website, but what you NEED to do is this - give your music away as high-quality DRM-free MP3s. Collect people's email info in exchange (which means having the infrastructure to do so) and start building your database of potential customers. Then, offer a variety of premium packages for sale and make them limited editions/scarce goods. Base the price and amount available on what you think you can sell. Make the packages special - make them by hand, sign them, make them unique, make them something YOU would want to have as a fan. Make a premium download available that includes high-resolution versions (for sale at a reasonable price) and include the download as something immediately available with any physical purchase. Sell T-shirts. Sell buttons, posters... whatever.
- Have your MySpace page, but get a site outside MySpace - it's dying and reads as cheap/generic. Remove all Flash from your website. Remove all stupid intros and load-times. MAKE IT SIMPLE TO NAVIGATE AND EASY TO FIND AND HEAR MUSIC (but don't autoplay). Constantly update your site with content - pictures, blogs, whatever. Give people a reason to return to your site all the time. Put up a bulletin board and start a community. Engage your fans (with caution!) Make cheap videos. Film yourself talking. Play shows. Make interesting things. Get a Twitter account. Be interesting. Be real. Submit your music to blogs that may be interested. NEVER CHASE TRENDS. Utilize the multitude of tools available to you for very little cost of any - Flickr/YouTube/Vimeo/SoundCloud/Twitter etc.
BRUNO-- "THIS UNDENIABLY FUNNY, OUTRAGEOUS AND BOUNDARY-PUSHING MOVIE OUGHT TO EARN DECENT NUMBERS AT THE BOX OFFICE. SACHA BARON COHEN WILL DRAW A LARGE SHARE OF 'BORAT' FANS. HOWEVER OTHERS COULD BE DISGUSTED. AMONG OTHER OUTRAGES, THE MOVIE CONTAINS THREE BEDROOM ADULT TOYS, A MALE SEX ORGAN THAT TALKS, AN ANGRY POLITICIAN NAMED RON PAUL AND EXACTLY 61 LAUGHS. OR ABOUT ONE PER MINUTE. THAT'S PLENTY TO MAKE ANY MOVIE PROFITABLE." Sacha Baron Cohen. 1 Hour and 22 Minutes. Rated R.
I LOVE YOU BETH COOPER-- THE CRITICS AREN'T GOING TO LIKE IT. THE WORD-OF-MOUTH PROBABLY WON'T HELP. THE ENTIRE BOX OFFICE RESULT RESTS ON THE SMALL SHOULDERS OF HAYDEN PANETTIERE, WHO WILL ATTRACT DORKY TEENAGE BOYS. Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Lauren London and Lauren Storm. 1 Hour and 42 Minutes. Rated PG-13.
Tom Green says there's no truth to recent Internet rumours that he was seriously injured in a fight. Earlier this week, several blogs reported that Green was in serious condition in hospital after a scuffle at the scene of a minor car accident in Fullerton, Calif., southeast of Los Angeles.
But in a posting on his website, the Ottawa-raised film and TV star assures fans he is "alive and well."
He says the false news was a result of hackers who tapped into his site, sent out a mass email, and distributed erroneous stories online.
Green blames a prank website called fakeawish.com for spreading the elaborate tale.
Raja Gosnell has signed on to direct "Smurfs," a live action/animated movie starring the popular small blue characters created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo.
Those involved with the Columbia Pictures/Sony Animation project have experience working with a hybrid blend of actors and cartoons. Jordan Kerner ("Charlotte's Web") is producing, and J. David Stem and David N. Weiss ("Shrek 2" and "Shrek the Third") and Audrey Wells ("George of the Jungle") wrote the script.
Gosnell's addition complements the team. The editor-turned-director is best known for helming "Scooby-Doo" and "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed," as well as last year's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." The movies combined live actors and settings with photorealistic animated talking animals.
Gosnell also directed the romantic comedy "Never Been Kissed" as well as comedies "Big Momma's House" and "Yours Mine and Ours."
The plot of "Smurfs" is being kept under wraps, but the story is expected to feature well-loved characters such as Papa Smurf, Smurfette and the villainous Gargamel. The film will be released in 3-D and 2-D formats on December 17, 2010.
