"Not to be dramatic but Chavez is kind of blowing me away. Also, brodeo up in Parkside." - gillianmae

"look, if you were not at the chavez show at parkside lounge last night, you were somewhere not good enough. and that's final. #chavez" - coolingpie

"Holy Cobra is Chavez really playing at Parkside Lounge right now?
Anybody there?" - Oksana Baiul

"Chavez show ruled. So glad I paid hundreds to fly to Vegas instead of $7 at Parkside Lounge #oppositeofthat" -uhhAnnie

Chavez @ Parkside Lounge, 9/29/2010 (photo by Jen Barzyk)

Thank you to the helpful people who pointed out that Chavez were playing a secret show at Parkside Lounge in NYC last night (9/29). It was a warm up for the (much more expensive) Matador 21 Festival happening in Las Vegas this weekend.

If you missed it, and you can't make it to Vegas, don't fret. The Vegas sets by Chavez, along with Pavement, Sonic Youth, Belle & Sebastian, Guided By Voices, Liz Phair and others will be streamed live (and on repeat) courtesy of MySpace Music at myspace.com/matador21.

The full stream schedule, Chavez's NYC setlist, and a few more pictures (thanks Jen and Quilty) including one of the setlist (which replaces parts of song names with "Marsh"), below...

Continue reading "Chavez played a warm-up gig in NYC (pics, video & setlist), Matador 21 streaming online this weekend (schedule)"

The Washington Post reports, that "MySpace will acquire most of the assets of iMeem for a purchase price of around $1 million in cash."

Meanwhile, as the NY Times points out, "Hulu, the joint online venture between NBC, Fox and ABC that mostly offers free TV shows and movies, is about to start singing a different tune: music videos. On Wednesday the company plans to announce a somewhat limited deal with EMI, the smallest of the four major music labels, to give a 'channel' on Hulu to the crooner Norah Jones."

EMI is also in the news for another reason today, and that's because of their sucess in getting rid of rogue Beatles music sellers (or something like that)...

Two Web sites that sold songs by The Beatles for 25 cents apiece should remain shut down indefinitely, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge John F. Walter issued a preliminary injunction against BlueBeat.com and Basebeat.com at the request of music company EMI Group. The injunction prohibits the sites and their owner, Hank Risan, from streaming or selling songs by the Fab Four and other popular artists, including Lily Allen and Coldplay. [AP]

Which brings me to those cool green apple things pictured above. THOSE are "exquisitely crafted, apple-shaped USB drives loaded with the critically acclaimed re-mastered audio for The Beatles' 14 stereo titles, as well as all of the re-mastered CDs' visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes." I want.

Continue reading "MySpace buys Imeem, Hulu makes a deal w/ EMI, Beatles (now on an Apple USB) song sellers to remain shut down"

"Speculation arose this past week that News Corp.-owned MySpace Music (NWS) is considering moving to a paid model, since the cost of free streaming is making its current model unsustainable. News Corp. digital chief Jon Miller expressed some interest in such a move in an onstage interview conducted by paidContent's Rafat Ali in Monaco on Thursday, noting that he believes in the "freemium" music model conceptually, even if a practical and sustainable version hasn't appeared yet." [Business Week]

TechCrunch says that MySpace can't afford all the royalty payments it has to pay labels to stream music. Which bands get paid when their music is played on MySpace? Britney Spears? If anything, I would have thought it was the other way around (MySpace trying to charge bands for the free service) (though I understand it is a mutually beneficial relationship).

Every day we get millions of search queries about music. You want to know more about your favorite artists, find that new album or iconic song or figure out the name of that tune stuck in your head. In fact, according to Insights for Search, two of the top 10 queries in the U.S. are music-related. But often, if your answer is in a song, it can take a while to get there. We call this "time to result" -- and we're always looking for ways to reduce it.

Today, we're rolling out a search feature that does just that by enabling you to search and more easily discover millions of songs, all via a simple Google web search. If you're searching for music, "time to result" is really "time to music." Now, when you enter a music-related query -- like the name of a song, artist or album -- your search results will include links to an audio preview of those songs provided by our music search partners MySpace (which just acquired iLike) or Lala. When you click the result you'll be able to listen to an audio preview of the song directly from one of those partners. For example, if I search for [21st century breakdown], the first results provide links to songs from Green Day's new album. MySpace and Lala also provide links to purchase the full song. [Google Blog]

Video instructions below...

Continue reading "Google launches Music Search"

photos by Brian Ach/WireImage

"It was 09.09.09, a date burned into the popular consciousness as an almost astrological convergence of music and technology marketing. The date had been set, the branding tie-ins had been tied in, and the product was all set to go on sale to a salivating public.

No, not The Beatles: Rock Band. And not Apple's latest iTunes tweaks, either. Rather, it was time to promote "The Blueprint 3," the latest release in the ever-expanding franchise known as Jay-Z.

For the occasion Jay-Z performed a guerrilla show on Wednesday night at the Blender Theater at Gramercy, a 600-capacity club on East 23rd Street in Manhattan, with help from MySpace Music and DJ Hero, a new video game that adapts the Guitar Hero model for hip-hop. It was announced barely 24 hours before, and 250 fans were given free tickets. (The other 350 or so in attendance were assorted V.I.P.'s from the companies involved, and from the news media. They didn't pay, either.)

Jay-Z's 74-minute, 25-song set, played with a 10-piece band that included two drummers and a three-part horn section, was a muscular, virtuosic and totally satisfying performance, both in older hits like "Big Pimpin'" and "99 Problems" that are now hip-hop standards, and in material from "The Blueprint 3." But that was only part of the experience. Before his set the audience was held captive to a demonstration of DJ Hero -- its controller resembles a turntable and crossfader, and the player scratches virtual vinyl..." [NY Times]

9/9/9 also marked a performance of Boadrum 9 by the Boredoms and the opening of the new Knitting Factory in Brooklyn (not to mention the date of a Motorhead concert at Roseland Ballroom). There was also a spotting of the mysterious Jeff Mangum on that date (last night) which is a nice addition to the overall mythology (apparently he was in the crowd, but unfortunately not on stage, at the Circulatory System show at Le Poisson Rouge) (he appears on their new album) (more on that later).

More Jay-Z show pictures below...

Continue reading "Jay-Z (and DJ Hero) @ Gramercy Theatre in NYC - pics "

Jay-Z's new album, The Blueprint 3, is out today (September 8, 2009). Jay-Z is playing a free MySpace Music Show tomorrow (September 9th) at Blender (Gramercy) Theatre, presented by the video game DJ Hero. Entry for the public is being limited to 200 tickets, which will be available tomorrow at 10am, if you want to wait in line. Full details are below.

Jay-Z plays a charity show on 9/11 at the considerably bigger Madison Square Garden. Tickets for that went on sale this morning. A few hours before that, Jay appeared on Hot 97's morning show with Cipha Sounds & Rosenberg. Video from that appearance with the Gramercy show info, below...

Continue reading "Jay-Z - new album out - playing NYC' Gramercy Theatre Wed."

Morrissey @ Coachella 2009 (more by Darren Kim)

We Will Resume

I am very pleased to confirm that we will resume at Luxembourg this coming Friday (5 June), absorbed and collected. I have been reconstructed by a Wiltshire hospital and I am as close to good health as I'm likely to get.

I apologize to everyone caught up in the to-ing and fro-ing, but the disappointment of postponement is less than the disappointment of hearing me sing on one engine.

I should stress that nothing has been canceled. The four London concerts are repositioned in July, and both Birmingham and the Royal Albert Hall are October fixtures. I've endured a titanic struggle against an intolerable virus lately, and although Hull, Hartlepool and Manchester were nights that comprised a whole life, the physical limits were reached. False notes crush the soul.

Besides Luxembourg and beyond, I am excited about the October release of Swords, which is an 18-track compilation of b-side of singles from the last three albums. This will be a Polydor release.

Thanks to everyone who bought 'Years of Refusal'. We were the number one seller in the UK for the week of release, but, as with 'You Are The Quarry' and 'Your Arsenal', we were booted off the number one spot on the last hour of the final day. We cried.

I would like to point out that some passable creature is using my name and sending sharply chiseled replies to people via Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. This person is not me. Not enough happens in my life that I would wish to share it with others. I do not scan these sites - or whatever they are - so I can only hope that whoever is posing as me is at least worth talking to. Beware of false imitations.

Thanks for reading these unvarnished facts, and thanks for giving us some greatly enjoyable nights on the Refusal tour.

Absolutely Yours,
Morrissey.

Long story short, right after he turned 50, Morrissey (born 22 May 1959) had to cancel/postpone a bunch of European dates because he got sick. All upcoming, cancelled, rescheduled dates, etc, HERE. Videos from some of Morrissey's 50th birthday parties below...

Continue reading "a letter from Morrissey who is now 50 & doesn't use Twitter"

MySpace Music the world's premiere online music portal, is excited to announce Lily Allen performing 3 Secret Shows on 3 continents. The British singer will put on intimate concerts for her MySpace fans in New York, Tokyo and London at no charge. Lily will kick off the global Secret Show series with a performance at The Bowery Ballroom in New York City on February 10th. The concert marks the first time a single artist will take part in multiple MySpace Secret Shows on a global level. The New York show, sponsored by TurboTax® Federal Free Edition, signifies Lily's debut concert celebrating the release of her new album, It's Not Me, It's You. Secret Show performances are exclusively for MySpace users who friend the MySpace Secret Shows profile and are then notified of all details via a MySpace bulletin. In addition, beginning February 10th, Lily's new album will be available to purchase for $3.99 for a limited time on her MySpace Music player through Amazon MP3.

The free NYC show also features Trouble Andrew and Matt & Kim on the bill. That is obviously a much better option than the show happening at the much larger Roseland Ballroom in April (that just went on sale). All tour dates HERE. MySpace show flyer below...

Continue reading "Lily Allen playing MySpace Secret Shows (1 in NYC w/ M&K)"

Black Lips = "Fueled by Toyota" (more by Leia Jospe)

"NEW YORK - December 8, 2008 -- This spring Black Lips will return with the follow up to the widely successful Good Bad Not Evil with 200 Million Thousand, out February 24th on Vice Music. In addition, MySpace Music, the world's most popular and most trafficked music platforms, will be presenting a spring North American tour beginning March 4th in Carrboro, NC. Teaming up with MySpace Music empowers Black Lips to connect intimately with fans by enabling artists to upload video content, blog, post tour dates, lyrics, and make their music available to fans for stream or download.

The NYC dates are March 9th and 10th at Bowery and Music Hall. They're also playing SXSW. All dates below...

Continue reading "Black Lips - new album, 2009 "MySpace" Tour Dates"

The last picture I posted was taken slightly before Neil's MySpace Secret Show in NYC last night. Here's some more officially-released photos from inside and out, and a review posted on the Neil Diamond Homepage.com Blog...

Tonight's show rocked!! The setlist was comprised of seven songs (see below) and both Neil and the crowd were rocking!

Neil was introduced by Paul Colby, a former owner of the Bitter End. For the show Neil wore black slacks, shirt and a brown leather jacket. Neil played guitar the entire show. Tonight's band was composed of Alan, Doug, Reine, Smokey Hormel and Matt Sweeny.

This was truly a memorable day for our man on the streets and for the other fans who were able to attend this once in a lifetime show. I am sure that all those who attended are truly grateful to Neil for giving them this special evening. All patrons received a numbered Home By Dark/Bitter End poster at the end of the show. Our man on the street received number 296 out of 300.

Final setlist for the show was as follows:

Solitary Man
Don't Go There
Home Before Dark
Pretty Amazing Grace
Kentucky Woman
Cherry, Cherry
Sweet Caroline

Footage from the show will be streaming on MySpace next week, but in the meantime check out the rest of the photos and YouTube videos from the show below.....

Continue reading "Neil Diamond @ the Bitter End - pics, video & setlist"

...at the Bitter End! Strange, but true....

Legendary singer, songwriter and performer Neil Diamond (http://www.myspace.com/neildiamond) will perform at a special free MySpace Secret Show, Wednesday, May 7th at New York City's The Bitter End exclusively for the MySpace community. For more information about this show visit the official MySpace Secret Shows profile at http://myspace.com/secretshows.

Neil Diamond's new Rick Rubin-produced album Home Before Dark is out now (and streaming at Spinner).

Neil Diamond is also playing three nights at Madison Square Garden (a venue just slightly bigger than the Bitter End).

P.S. That Bitter End show is tomorrow!

Three of the four major labels have become partners in MySpace Music, which will extend MySpace's current musical offerings to merchandise, song downloads and more. Listening Post cited concern on the part of The Orchard, an aggregator of indie bands and labels, that the indie bands who built MySpace as a music destination would not be made partners in MySpace Music. Money generated from advertising on indie bands' profile pages will flow, in part, to the major labels. Wasn't the internet supposed to be about routing around this sort of damage? [WIRED]

News Corp's (NWSa.N) MySpace, the world's largest social network Web site, said it has formed an online music venture with three major recording companies in a challenge to Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) dominant iTunes Music Store.

Vivendi's (VIV.PA) Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group (WMG.N) have minority stakes in the new MySpace Music venture announced on Thursday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

MySpace Music will offer free music and video streaming supported by advertising, paid-for MP3 downloads, ringtones for cell phones, concert ticket sales and merchandise. [Yahoo News]

I present to you two lame videos by confused "artists" - both using lame stereotypes. The first song is supposed to be about "emo bitches", and the second one was.... performed by some....

Continue reading "Emo Bitches vs. Williamsburg"

Would you still watch a video like this if there was an ad embedded in it? Would you still post a video like this if Google put an ad into it?

Now Google believes it finally has found the formula to cash in on YouTube’s potential as a magnet for online video advertising and keep its audience loyal at the same time.

The company said late Tuesday that after months of testing various video advertising models, it was ready to introduce a new type of video ad, which it said was unobtrusive and kept users in control of what they saw.

The ads, which appear 15 seconds after a user begins watching a video clip, take the form of an overlay on the bottom fifth of the screen, not unlike the tickers that display headlines during television news programs.

A user can ignore the overlay, which will disappear after about 10 seconds, or close it. But if the user clicks on it, the video they were watching will stop and a video ad will begin playing. Once the ad is over, or if a user clicks on a box to close it, the original video will resume playing from the point where it was stopped. [NY Times]