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Red Urban Music launches web site the right way: by giving away cool stuff

February 18, 2009 /

To coincide with Black History Month, our friends at Red Music have launched Red Urban Music, a new site that covers exactly what you think it covers: their urban artists. They just rolled the site out, meaning it’s not exactly swarming with content yet (a temporary problem, we assure you), so they did what all awesome web sites do in order to attract attention: they’re giving away cool stuff.

What kind of cool stuff, you ask? How does a digital camera, an iPod and a USB turntable grab you? If we weren’t forbidden from entering the contest, you can bet that we’d be going for that USB turntable so we can convert all of our old wax. Entering the contest will also net you some new tunes, so whatcha, whatcha, whatcha waiting for? Go here and get yourself a USB turntable.

Artists, Downloads, Funk, giveaway, Hip Hop, R&B, Rap, Songs, Soul

Liberty Media saves Sirius XM Radio

February 17, 2009 /

Just when everyone thought Sirius XM Radio was headed for bankruptcy, John Malone and Liberty Media come in to save the company with a significant investment.

Sirius XM Radio won’t have to file for bankruptcy after Liberty Media Corp. agreed to invest $530 million to rescue the satellite radio broadcaster, the companies said Tuesday.

Engelwood, Colo.-based Liberty, the media and entertainment company founded by John Malone, will immediately loan Sirius XM $280 million, about $171 million of which will to pay off debt Sirius had coming due this week.

A second round of $250 million from Liberty (NASDAQ: LCAPA) will also be available to Sirius XM to help it pay its debts and ward off a potential takeover of Sirius by Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network Corp., the Englewood, Colo.-based satellite TV company.

In return for the investment in Sirius XM, Liberty will own 12.5 million shares of preferred stock in Sirius XM (NASDAQ: SIRI), which Liberty can convert into common stock.

That would give Liberty a 40 percent ownership stake in the radio company.

I love having satellite radio and it appears to be a solid business. It just had a terrible balance sheet with way too much debt. Howard Stern can now breathe a little easier.

News, Satellite Radio

Anne Weiss: Concrete World and the Lover’s Dream

February 16, 2009 /

Anne Weiss finds herself sitting comfortably in a blues folk style on this new release. On the quieter songs here, her voice often recalls that of Joni Mitchell’s, and at other times it’s gritty and soulful, making a unique contrast. This is well-played, well-produced music, but at times Weiss tries to hit a few notes that her delicate voice can’t quite muster, as on the opening track “Ain’t Got No Reason to Lie to You.” But then she turns it all around with something like “The Song About the Affair That I’m Not Having” and it’s hard not to want to hear more. Of course, there are also some seriously funky grooves on “Special Delivery,” which features beatboxing and a sweet brass arrangement. This is where Weiss becomes her own person and sheds the sounds of others. On the title track and “Write Me a Few of Your Lines,” Weiss hits a bluesy groove that is pretty strong as well, if only her voice didn’t seem to start losing it’s power on the latter track. Overall this is pretty good stuff that’s a refreshing break from the usual thing we hear from artists like Weiss. (Potter Street Records)

Anne Weiss MySpace page

Blues, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Funk, Pop, Soul

Jon Fine argues against the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger

February 15, 2009 /

Does anyone like Ticketmaster or Live Nation? Will anyone shed a tear if the government steps in a prevents a merger? Jon Fine argues in BusinessWeek that opposing the merger is a political lay-up for the Obama administration.

If there is a political downside to doing so, neither I nor anyone I talked to can discern it. Here you have not one but two companies that are despised, be it for high ticketing fees or tight control of what was once an exquisitely local business, by a large portion of their key customers. (That group includes a sizable contingent of youngish music fans who likely skew Obama-ward in their politics, to boot.) How despised are these companies? One is commonly referred to as TicketBastard, as a simple Web search shows. Historically, this is possibly the one that was hated less. Live Nation changed its name from Clear Channel Entertainment in 2005, when that name was provoking frothing at the mouth. (It’s telling that the combined entity would be called Live Nation Entertainment; representatives declined to make Michael Rapino, the CEO of Live Nation who would maintain that role in the proposed new company, available for comment.)

External Music, News

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