LONDON (Reuters) - Singer-songwriter Ebony Day has been named MTV's act to watch in 2013 before even signing a record deal, underlining how up-and-coming artists are increasingly using the internet and social networking sites to build a significant fan base.
Inspired by the viral success of Canadian teen sensation Justin Bieber, the 19-year-old Briton posted a series of online videos performing cover versions, and quickly amassed a sizeable following - 18 million views on her YouTube channel and 156,000 subscribers to date.
She mobilized that support to vote for her in MTV's annual Brand New poll, topped in the past by Conor Maynard and Bieber.
The 92,000 votes were enough to put her ahead of several signed nominees, including Gabrielle Aplin, who already has a number one British single to her name, and Haim, the LA sister act widely tipped for the top this year and beyond.
'I think it shows that to get a fan base before you make it is really important,' Day said in a telephone interview.
'That's been something I've been focusing on for three years. What the fans have done is to show how things are changing, and it is not just the record labels picking artists, but the actual public.'
The ability of musicians to reach an audience long before stepping into a recording studio or on to the stage is changing the way artists and labels interact, giving singers greater say and reducing some of the risks for music companies.
Wannabe stars like Day still gravitate towards labels, believing they can only go so far on their own no matter how large their fan base.
'For me at the minute, I have got the fan base and got probably enough to do a little tour and things like that.
'Now I need backing, mostly in terms of money, because I'm a student and have no funds to make merchandise and go on tour and make an album,' she said.
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
Day could resort to making music from fan contributions via websites like Pledgemusic.com, but said she did not feel comfortable asking her supporters for money.
Yet having built up a following, she will have a greater say over the terms of any deal, which today frequently covers revenue streams outside record sales such as live performances, commercial use of songs, merchandising and branding.
'I think that does happen and is happening with me,' she explained. 'I think now I've got such a backing it does make it more difficult (for the labels) because they know I'll probably want a better deal.'
For record companies - three 'majors' Sony, Vivendi's Universal and Warner Music Group plus hundreds of others from 'mini-majors' to household outfits - there can be advantages.
They do not have to build a fan base from scratch and are less likely to pay out large and risky sign-on fees, which went out of fashion a decade or so ago as revenues from music sales began to plummet.
Labels blame rampant online piracy for their woes - global recorded music sales fell from a peak of $28.6 billion in 1999 to $16.6 billion in 2011 - but there is cautious optimism that digital music revenue could return the business to growth soon.
This willingness to engage the digital revolution rather than fight it has changed the way companies unearth new talent.
A&R (artists and repertoire) managers spend more time now trawling the internet than they do traipsing from pub to club to see bands live, although most still want to see an act performing before taking the plunge.
Music managers see both upsides and downsides to the shifting models.
Nigel Templeman of Trust Management, who co-manages bands including Dexysm and Howler, believes music risks becoming a secondary consideration for A&R scouts.
'Bands are being signed if there is the necessary market research being done such as YouTube views, Twitter followers and all of that,' he told Reuters.
'The idea that bands are being signed just on the merit of the material is not the truth anymore.'
But he also argued that bands had begun to understand it was not about making a killing overnight.
'If you are going to be a musician these days, you've got to look at it in a different way to how you did even five years ago,' he said. 'It's about having ambition, but also about being realistic. It's a career choice versus getting rich quick.'
'DON'T GIVE IT AWAY'
Matt Wilkinson, New Bands Editor at music magazine NME, warned up-and-coming acts to resist the temptation to give too much music away for free to earn fans and industry attention.
'I think that is the model now, undoubtedly, but I can't say I think it's a particularly positive thing. It makes things more difficult for record labels and the bands themselves.
'It's quite disheartening to find a really good band and six of their songs are already out there online,' he told Reuters.
'It's sort of giving themselves away. My advice is keep stuff back. Your fans don't need to hear all of your material. Record labels do.'
Day, who has played covers rather than her own music, has avoided that particular pitfall.
Her music 'career' started three years ago when she learned to play the guitar during a long absence from school caused by allergies which were undiagnosed at the time.
Initially she was nervous about posting videos of herself singing, but took inspiration from Canadian chart topper Bieber, an early viral sensation who was picked up by a talent agent in 2008 on the strength of his YouTube postings.
'I saw his (Bieber's) videos right from the start when he was at home, without much money,' said Day. 'He's gone from an unknown person over the years to worldwide fame. I wanted that too.'
Day is studying at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, southern England, but aims to build her pop career in 2013.
'In the next year I would like to release my own music, because I've only been doing covers and want people to see what my music is like.'
She expects to release a debut single in April, and, depending on its reception there will be an EP and a British tour to follow.
For fans, being part of an online community can be appealing, be it Lady Gaga's 'little monsters', Bieber's 'Beliebers' - both of which number more than 33 million on Twitter - or the more modest 44,000-odd 'Ebonerds'.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White)
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Court to probe singer Chris Brown's community service records
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prosecutors on Tuesday asked a court to find R&B singer Chris Brown in violation of his probation because they say community service records stemming from his 2009 assault on girlfriend Rihanna contain 'significant discrepancies.'
Brown is scheduled to appear at a hearing on Wednesday in Los Angeles, at which time a judge could decide to revoke the 'Don't Wake Me Up' singer's probation.
But Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, told Reuters the allegations are 'scurrilous, libelous and defamatory.'
'The prosecution has lost their collective minds,' Geragos said. 'I'm going to seek sanctions against the (district attorney's) office for bringing a frivolous motion.'
Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to beating and punching R&B singer Rihanna and was sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of community service and domestic violence counseling.
The community service involved tasks like cutting grass, picking up trash and removing graffiti. He was allowed to complete it in his home state of Virginia.
'After a thorough review of all documents and evidence submitted to the court it appears there are significant discrepancies indicating at best sloppy documentation and, at worst fraudulent reporting,' Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray said in a court filing on Tuesday.
Murray cited three occasions when she said Brown was not at the recorded location of his community service and instead performing or traveling, once on a private jet bound for Cancun, Mexico.
Brown, in another instance, never stripped or waxed the floors at a Virginia community center as a report said he did, according to the 19-page court document.
Murray also accused Virginia authorities of poor and incorrect management of the singer's service and records, and said his community service case should be transferred to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg in November praised Brown for 'actually working diligently to complete all the things the court has required of you.'
R&B singer Rihanna and Brown have recently rekindled their romance and are dating again, Rihanna told Rolling Stone magazine last week.
Brown was in a brawl last month with fellow singer Frank Ocean outside a West Hollywood recording studio. A police report indicates he punched Ocean in the face but Ocean said over the weekend he did not want Brown prosecuted.
(Editing by Xavier Briand and Eric Walsh)
Brown is scheduled to appear at a hearing on Wednesday in Los Angeles, at which time a judge could decide to revoke the 'Don't Wake Me Up' singer's probation.
But Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, told Reuters the allegations are 'scurrilous, libelous and defamatory.'
'The prosecution has lost their collective minds,' Geragos said. 'I'm going to seek sanctions against the (district attorney's) office for bringing a frivolous motion.'
Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to beating and punching R&B singer Rihanna and was sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of community service and domestic violence counseling.
The community service involved tasks like cutting grass, picking up trash and removing graffiti. He was allowed to complete it in his home state of Virginia.
'After a thorough review of all documents and evidence submitted to the court it appears there are significant discrepancies indicating at best sloppy documentation and, at worst fraudulent reporting,' Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray said in a court filing on Tuesday.
Murray cited three occasions when she said Brown was not at the recorded location of his community service and instead performing or traveling, once on a private jet bound for Cancun, Mexico.
Brown, in another instance, never stripped or waxed the floors at a Virginia community center as a report said he did, according to the 19-page court document.
Murray also accused Virginia authorities of poor and incorrect management of the singer's service and records, and said his community service case should be transferred to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg in November praised Brown for 'actually working diligently to complete all the things the court has required of you.'
R&B singer Rihanna and Brown have recently rekindled their romance and are dating again, Rihanna told Rolling Stone magazine last week.
Brown was in a brawl last month with fellow singer Frank Ocean outside a West Hollywood recording studio. A police report indicates he punched Ocean in the face but Ocean said over the weekend he did not want Brown prosecuted.
(Editing by Xavier Briand and Eric Walsh)
Monday, February 4, 2013
NFL says no indication halftime show caused Super Bowl outage
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The National Football League, the Superdome and a utility investigating the cause of a power outage at one of the world's most watched and meticulously planned events, on Monday exonerated the halftime show from blame in the Super Bowl mishap.
With more than 108 million Americans watching along with television viewers in 180 countries, about half the stadium lights went dark early in the second half of the game, in which the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31.
The 35-minute disruption came moments after performer Beyonce lit up the Superdome with a halftime spectacular that officials said was powered by generators and would not have sapped the stadium's electricity.
'There's no indication at all that this was caused by the halftime show,' NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters on Monday. 'I know that's out there, that Beyonce's halftime show had something to do with it. That is not the case from anything we have at this point.'
The Super Bowl ranks with the Olympic Games and soccer's World Cup among the most planned sporting events in the world, and viewership is so intense that advertisements costing $4 million for 30 seconds on U.S. TV are considered part of the show.
'It (the outage) was on an epic scale for them (organizers) across the board. They start planning Super Bowls approximately four to six years out. It's the same thing with Olympic committees,' said Dave Longwill, vice president for special events at TBA Global, which stages large events and worked on the game in New Orleans.
'I'm sure they're already looking at reviewing what's our contingency plan if this happens at the next one,' he said.
Entergy Corp, the utility providing power to the Superdome, said its distribution and transmission feeders were serving the Superdome at all times.
A piece of equipment designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system where the Superdome equipment intersects with Entergy's feed into the building, triggering an automatic cut in power, Entergy said in a joint statement with the Superdome's management company, SMG.
'The halftime show, as the commissioner said, was running on 100 percent generated power, which means it was not on our grid at all,' said Doug Thornton, senior vice president of SMG.
'There were no injuries, people remained calm, we had a pre-programmed announcement that was actually played. These are things that we actually drilled for,' Thornton said.
None of the players or coaches said the stoppage had any impact on the game, and Goodell said the power problem would not adversely affect future bids by New Orleans to stage the Super Bowl.
Such power interruptions are often not caused by a power supply issue, said Jeff Spence, president of Atlanta-based Innovolt Inc, whose products help protect sensitive electronic devices from a variety of power disturbances.
The grid is just fine, but any building or facility built more than a few years ago is unlikely to be able to keep up with current power demand and the complexity of the power system in use, Spence said.
'We would not have been able to get the lights on sooner,' once they were knocked off, Spence said. 'Ideally, what you want to do is make sure the lights don't turn off. That's a bad thing; it takes a long time for them to get going.'
(Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta, Eileen O'Grady and Liana B. Baker; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Christopher Wilson)
With more than 108 million Americans watching along with television viewers in 180 countries, about half the stadium lights went dark early in the second half of the game, in which the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31.
The 35-minute disruption came moments after performer Beyonce lit up the Superdome with a halftime spectacular that officials said was powered by generators and would not have sapped the stadium's electricity.
'There's no indication at all that this was caused by the halftime show,' NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters on Monday. 'I know that's out there, that Beyonce's halftime show had something to do with it. That is not the case from anything we have at this point.'
The Super Bowl ranks with the Olympic Games and soccer's World Cup among the most planned sporting events in the world, and viewership is so intense that advertisements costing $4 million for 30 seconds on U.S. TV are considered part of the show.
'It (the outage) was on an epic scale for them (organizers) across the board. They start planning Super Bowls approximately four to six years out. It's the same thing with Olympic committees,' said Dave Longwill, vice president for special events at TBA Global, which stages large events and worked on the game in New Orleans.
'I'm sure they're already looking at reviewing what's our contingency plan if this happens at the next one,' he said.
Entergy Corp, the utility providing power to the Superdome, said its distribution and transmission feeders were serving the Superdome at all times.
A piece of equipment designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system where the Superdome equipment intersects with Entergy's feed into the building, triggering an automatic cut in power, Entergy said in a joint statement with the Superdome's management company, SMG.
'The halftime show, as the commissioner said, was running on 100 percent generated power, which means it was not on our grid at all,' said Doug Thornton, senior vice president of SMG.
'There were no injuries, people remained calm, we had a pre-programmed announcement that was actually played. These are things that we actually drilled for,' Thornton said.
None of the players or coaches said the stoppage had any impact on the game, and Goodell said the power problem would not adversely affect future bids by New Orleans to stage the Super Bowl.
Such power interruptions are often not caused by a power supply issue, said Jeff Spence, president of Atlanta-based Innovolt Inc, whose products help protect sensitive electronic devices from a variety of power disturbances.
The grid is just fine, but any building or facility built more than a few years ago is unlikely to be able to keep up with current power demand and the complexity of the power system in use, Spence said.
'We would not have been able to get the lights on sooner,' once they were knocked off, Spence said. 'Ideally, what you want to do is make sure the lights don't turn off. That's a bad thing; it takes a long time for them to get going.'
(Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta, Eileen O'Grady and Liana B. Baker; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Christopher Wilson)
NFL says no indication Beyonce show caused Super Bowl outage
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The National Football League was still working with New Orleans officials on Monday to determine what caused the power outage at Sunday's Super Bowl at the Superdome, so far dismissing any connection with the Beyonce halftime show.
With a record U.S. television audience watching along with viewers in 180 countries, about half the stadium lights went dark early in the second half of the game, in which the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters on Monday an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the 35-minute disruption but one possible explanation had already been eliminated.
'There's no indication at all that this was caused by the halftime show,' Goodell said. 'I know that's out there, that Beyonce's halftime show had something to do with it. That is not the case from anything we have at this point.'
Entergy Corp, the utility providing power to the Superdome, said its distribution and transmission feeders were serving the Superdome at all times.
Early indications were that the outage resulted from an abnormality in the Superdome's power system but it was too early to speculate on what went wrong, said Doug Thornton, senior vice president of the Superdome's management company, SMG.
A piece of equipment designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system where the Superdome equipment intersects with Entergy's feed into the building, triggering an automatic cut in power, SMG and Entergy said in a joint statement.
There was never any concern the power could not be restored, but it took time because of the size of the stadium and the complexities of the power system, Thornton said.
'We had people in place that could quickly work to restore power. We had experts on site, as we normally do when we have big events like this, our electrician, our electrical consultants were there and we were able to quickly work on that,' Thornton said.
'There were no injuries, people remained calm, we had a pre-programmed announcement that was actually played. These are things that we actually drilled for.'
None of the players or coaches said the stoppage had any impact on the game, and Goodell said the power problem would not adversely affect future bids by New Orleans to stage the Super Bowl, the United States' most-watched sports event.
'I fully expect that we will be back here for Super Bowls,' Goodell said. 'I hope we will be back. We want to be back ... I don't think this will have any impact at all on what I think will be remembered for one of the greatest Super Bowl weeks.'
(Editing by Daniel Trotta and Dale Hudson)
With a record U.S. television audience watching along with viewers in 180 countries, about half the stadium lights went dark early in the second half of the game, in which the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters on Monday an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the 35-minute disruption but one possible explanation had already been eliminated.
'There's no indication at all that this was caused by the halftime show,' Goodell said. 'I know that's out there, that Beyonce's halftime show had something to do with it. That is not the case from anything we have at this point.'
Entergy Corp, the utility providing power to the Superdome, said its distribution and transmission feeders were serving the Superdome at all times.
Early indications were that the outage resulted from an abnormality in the Superdome's power system but it was too early to speculate on what went wrong, said Doug Thornton, senior vice president of the Superdome's management company, SMG.
A piece of equipment designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system where the Superdome equipment intersects with Entergy's feed into the building, triggering an automatic cut in power, SMG and Entergy said in a joint statement.
There was never any concern the power could not be restored, but it took time because of the size of the stadium and the complexities of the power system, Thornton said.
'We had people in place that could quickly work to restore power. We had experts on site, as we normally do when we have big events like this, our electrician, our electrical consultants were there and we were able to quickly work on that,' Thornton said.
'There were no injuries, people remained calm, we had a pre-programmed announcement that was actually played. These are things that we actually drilled for.'
None of the players or coaches said the stoppage had any impact on the game, and Goodell said the power problem would not adversely affect future bids by New Orleans to stage the Super Bowl, the United States' most-watched sports event.
'I fully expect that we will be back here for Super Bowls,' Goodell said. 'I hope we will be back. We want to be back ... I don't think this will have any impact at all on what I think will be remembered for one of the greatest Super Bowl weeks.'
(Editing by Daniel Trotta and Dale Hudson)
Beyonce kicks off world tour in Belgrade in April
LONDON (Reuters) - Hot on the heels of her Super Bowl half-time performance, U.S. singer Beyonce has announced a world tour kicking off in Belgrade on April 15 and wrapping up in New York on August 3.
The tour, which so far includes 19 European cities and more than 20 in North America, is part of the 31-year-old's carefully crafted comeback since giving birth to her first child with rapper and husband Jay-Z in January, 2012.
Some online media reports said a second wave of performances would be announced for Latin America and Asia, but there were no such details on her official website.
'The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour' will stop in Paris for two performances on April 24 and 25 and in London for a four-date 'mini-residency' at the O2 Arena on April 29 and 30 and May 1 and 3.
The European leg ends in Stockholm on May 29 and the tour travels to North America where it kicks off in Los Angeles on June 28.
Beyonce was watched by a television audience of more than 100 million people on Sunday in New Orleans for the Super Bowl, performing hits like 'Love on Top', 'Crazy in Love' and 'End of Time'.
Her comeback was temporarily derailed when she admitted that she sang along with a pre-recorded track of the national anthem at President Barack Obama's inauguration in January.
But reviews of her appearance on Sunday, which included a reunion with former Destiny's Child bandmates, were largely positive. It will be followed by the premiere of her self-directed documentary, 'Life is But a Dream', on HBO on February 16.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)
The tour, which so far includes 19 European cities and more than 20 in North America, is part of the 31-year-old's carefully crafted comeback since giving birth to her first child with rapper and husband Jay-Z in January, 2012.
Some online media reports said a second wave of performances would be announced for Latin America and Asia, but there were no such details on her official website.
'The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour' will stop in Paris for two performances on April 24 and 25 and in London for a four-date 'mini-residency' at the O2 Arena on April 29 and 30 and May 1 and 3.
The European leg ends in Stockholm on May 29 and the tour travels to North America where it kicks off in Los Angeles on June 28.
Beyonce was watched by a television audience of more than 100 million people on Sunday in New Orleans for the Super Bowl, performing hits like 'Love on Top', 'Crazy in Love' and 'End of Time'.
Her comeback was temporarily derailed when she admitted that she sang along with a pre-recorded track of the national anthem at President Barack Obama's inauguration in January.
But reviews of her appearance on Sunday, which included a reunion with former Destiny's Child bandmates, were largely positive. It will be followed by the premiere of her self-directed documentary, 'Life is But a Dream', on HBO on February 16.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)
Friday, February 1, 2013
Whitney Houston anniversary to be marked with TV Grammy special
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Grammy organizers plan to mark the first anniversary of the sudden death of Whitney Houston with a behind-the-scenes TV show on how they scrambled to honor the singer just 24 hours after she died.
The Recording Academy said on Thursday that the hour-long special entitled 'The Grammys Will Go On: A Death in the Family' will air on February 9, the day before the 2013 Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Houston, who sold hundreds of millions of records and scored the mega hits 'I Will Always Love You' and 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody,' drowned in a bathtub at a Beverly Hills hotel room on February 11 2012 - the eve of last year's Grammy Awards show.
Houston's unexpected death at age 48 cast a shadow over the event, which quickly changed its program to pay homage to the soaring voice that had dominated the Grammys in decades past.
Singer and actress Jennifer Hudson performed a medley of Houston's hits at last year's Grammys, and rapper and host LL Cool J opened the show with a prayer.
The TV special on broadcaster CBS features rehearsals and interviews with artists - including Hudson, Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift - and the show's producers in the hours before and after Houston's death.
The Recording Academy produces the annual Grammy awards.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and David Brunnstrom)
The Recording Academy said on Thursday that the hour-long special entitled 'The Grammys Will Go On: A Death in the Family' will air on February 9, the day before the 2013 Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Houston, who sold hundreds of millions of records and scored the mega hits 'I Will Always Love You' and 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody,' drowned in a bathtub at a Beverly Hills hotel room on February 11 2012 - the eve of last year's Grammy Awards show.
Houston's unexpected death at age 48 cast a shadow over the event, which quickly changed its program to pay homage to the soaring voice that had dominated the Grammys in decades past.
Singer and actress Jennifer Hudson performed a medley of Houston's hits at last year's Grammys, and rapper and host LL Cool J opened the show with a prayer.
The TV special on broadcaster CBS features rehearsals and interviews with artists - including Hudson, Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift - and the show's producers in the hours before and after Houston's death.
The Recording Academy produces the annual Grammy awards.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and David Brunnstrom)
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Justin Timberlake launches music comeback with Grammy performance
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Justin Timberlake, making his pop music comeback with a new single and album, will perform at next month's Grammy Awards for the first time in four years, Grammy organizers said on Wednesday.
Timberlake, 31, will take the stage at the music industry's biggest night in Los Angeles on February 10, ahead of the scheduled March release of his first album since 2006.
'The 20/20 Experience' marks Timberlake's return to music after several years in which he has focused more on acting and business ventures, including a clothing line and a partnership in social networking site Myspace.
At the Grammy Awards ceremony and show, Timberlake will join performers and country music nominees Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley, singers Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, and bands Mumford & Sons and FUN.
Elton John will also duet with rising British singer Ed Sheeran, and the Grammy ceremony will be hosted by rapper LL Cool J. Other performers will be announced in the next 10 days.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Will Dunham)
Timberlake, 31, will take the stage at the music industry's biggest night in Los Angeles on February 10, ahead of the scheduled March release of his first album since 2006.
'The 20/20 Experience' marks Timberlake's return to music after several years in which he has focused more on acting and business ventures, including a clothing line and a partnership in social networking site Myspace.
At the Grammy Awards ceremony and show, Timberlake will join performers and country music nominees Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley, singers Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, and bands Mumford & Sons and FUN.
Elton John will also duet with rising British singer Ed Sheeran, and the Grammy ceremony will be hosted by rapper LL Cool J. Other performers will be announced in the next 10 days.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Will Dunham)
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