Weekly Round Up (23 Mar 2009)

Hi and welcome to another week of musical wonder.

Top Stories

With U2 keeping their gobs shut this week, I've had to look elsewhere for some newsworthy items, but there's always something to write home about. George Harrison's son, Dhani, says The Beatles estate is considering bypassing iTunes and setting up a standalone download site offering the band's music. Not content with the 'Rock Band' deal set to hit the market in September or Steve Job's paultry 99 cents a download, Dhani is clearly intent on making the most of his father's talent - has he not got any of his own, we ask ourselves?

"We're losing money every day," Harrison told Blender.

"So what do you do? You have to have your own delivery system, or you have to do a good deal with Steve Jobs. But he says that a download is worth 99 cents, and we disagree."

Maybe Dhani should start doing covers of his father's work. Read on....

Will Page, Chief Economist at music royalties agency PRS, says revenue from ticket sales, performance royalties and VAT has now overtaken that from recorded music. He calculated that across all facets, the live industry was worth £904m in 2008. This overtakes recorded industry's trade value of £896m, as published in the BPI's January newsletter with the gap expected to widen in the future.

At the same conference, promoter Stuart Galbraith of Killimanjiro Live pointed out that Michael Jackson has sold 800,000 concert tickets, all major festivals have sold out and Take That are looking at seven-figure ticket sales on their current campaign.

To me, this seems a logical development in today's download society.

One band who definitely won't be adding to this trend, are The Stone Roses. Amid tabloid rumours the band were going to reunite and play a 21 gig tour this summer, Ian Brown's publicist denied any truth in the matter, telling the Daily Mail that he is instead concentrating on his next solo album at the moment.

"We know nothing about a reunion," the publicist said. "Ian is working on his new studio album which is due out later this year."

John Squire also said they same later on in the week, so best not get too excited by that whole idea.


Myspace Magic
Pittsburgh's finest, Meeting Of Important People are counting the days to the release of their self-titled debut album. They'll be one of the featured bands on nme-europe this week.

Elsewhere, there are plenty of bands uploading new tracks this week. In no particular order of preference, then:

Liverpool quartet Sky Lounge offer '7Teen', a hard-hitting track which, as they self-proclaim "...mostly draws upon catchy pop chorus and prominent dance rhythms."

Fellow Scousers, Buzz Radio, win the week's prolific prize with no less than FOUR new tracks appearing on their page. 'So Sad About Us', 'Judgement Day', 'Don't Make A Fool Out Of Me' and 'One Too Many' are easy on the ear for all pop/rockers.

Just up the M62, Mutineers most recent track, 'Hyde Road' is a real grower and well worth a listen.

Last, but not least, Loveday Fools, who hail from Scarborough also have new tracks on their page, with a demo version of 'In The Backyard' the latest to arrive. If you like well thought out melodies, you're gonna like these gents - my particular favourite is 'The Morning', although I won't tell you who I think they sound like...

Check 'em all out. It won't do you any harm!

Finally, not content with a bandbacker battle, Page 44 are also set on the Road To V. Couldn't resist giving them my vote. You should do too.

Reviews

With reviews of Starsailor and The Rakes on the horizon, this week's pick of the new stuff must surely be The Decemberists' fifth album, 'Hazards Of Love'. Following the commercial success of 'The Crane Wife' it'll be interesting to see which direction they take now.

Festival Fever
Without going into too much detail on the UK festivals, the main announcement Spain-wide this week comes from the SOS 4.8 festival. Spanish indie legends (and I don't use that term lightly), Los Planetas, won't be able to make it in the end as they're concentrating on recording their new album. However, the organisers have, so-to-speak, pulled a rabbit out of the hat by confirming Newcastle boys Maximo Park as a replacement. While Los Planetas is an unfortunate loss, Maximo Park is certainly an exciting prospect and increases the quality of the line-up. There's still a bit of uncertainty as to when they'll appear with one local paper indicating it's a straight swap while another stated they'll be on the main stage on the Friday (which balances things up a little).


That's about it then. Have a good week.


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