Global Rock Summit 2014 debuts in Los Angeles

The Global Rock Summit is an international rock music conference aimed at bringing together all aspects of the rock music industry in one annual gathering. The aim of the GRS is to help further stimulate a buoyant but often overlooked sector of the music industry.

The GRS will run from April 4-5, 2014 and will take place in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where the first Oscars ceremony was held in 1928, among many other iconic music and entertainment events.

The GRS will feature a cross-section of expert panelists spanning all aspects of the global rock industry. The event will discuss the future of the industry and look at solutions to further bolster and expand business opportunities. The conference will also discuss key topics with some of the most respected minds and figures within the rock sector, plus a number of keynotes with some of the industry’s most renowned and innovative figures. The evenings will feature key artist showcases from some of the best new rock acts from across the globe.

The GRS also will be inclusive of all areas of rock music, from classic rock and metal to screamo, AOR, alternative rock, black metal, progressive rock, doom, stoner, blues, punk, emo and hardcore.

GRS organiser Seven Webster states: “If it’s heavy and it rocks and you want to network, trade and expand your business opportunities, then the Global Rock Summit will be the perfect community for you to connect with the world of rock.”

SPEAKERS ALREADY CONFIRMED:

Andy Gould – Founder, Spectacle Group (worldwide manager Rob Zombie)
Billy Anderson – CEO, TeamRock
Chris Ingham – MD of Publishing/Content, TeamRock (publisher of Metal Hammer/Classic Rock magazines)
Jim Morewood – Owner, EGO Booking Agency
Jordan Berliant – Partner, The Collective (worldwide manager Linkin Park and Slash)
Michael Chugg – Founder, Chugg Entertainment
Mike Walsh – Deputy Program Director and Head Of Music Xfm (UK)
Ron Burman – President, North America, Mascot Label Group
Steve Strange – Partner/Agent, X-Ray Touring

Conference registration, showcase tickets and more information are now available at www.globalrocksummit.com.

source: classicrockmagazine.com

Phil Ramone, Legendary Producer, Dead at 72

Phil Ramone, one of the music industry’s most famous producers, died today (March 30) at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He was 72. Last month, he was hospitalized for an aortic aneurysm.

In a career that lasted more than 50 years, Ramone was nominated for 33 Grammys, winning 14 times according to Billboard. His discography is a veritable who’s who of the last half-century of popular music, working with such luminaries as Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Tony Bennett, Billy Joel, Ray Charles and Paul McCartney.

His recordings were immaculate and pristine, allowing every musicians’ talents to shine through. But where, in lesser hands, that can sometimes lead to a clinical, sterile sound, Ramone’s productions were perfect, warm aural experiences that sounded equally brilliant on tinny car speakers and the most expensive stereo systems.

Born in South Africa in 1941, Ramone was a childhood violin prodigy who attended New York’s prestigious Julliard School of Music. But he wound up being intrigued by the technical side of the process and, in 1959, opened up A&R Studios in New York.

He made his name as an engineer and producer in the 1960s through albums as diverse as ‘Getz/Gilberto,’ the 1964 sensuous mixing of jazz and bossa nova by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, Barbra Streisand’s live ‘A Happening in Central Park’ (1967) and the original Broadway cast recording of ‘Promises, Promises,’ which was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

But it was in the 1970s and 1980s where he became almost as famous as the artists with whom he worked (see our list of the Top 10 Phil Ramone Rock Albums). He is perhaps most famous for his 10-year association with Billy Joel, producing every album from his 1977 breakthrough ‘The Stranger’ to 1986′s ‘The Bridge.’ He also co-produced a trio of Paul Simon albums, ‘There Goes Rhymin’ Simon,’ ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’ and ‘One Trick Pony,’ as well as Simon & Garfunkel‘s ‘The Concert in Central Park’ reunion album.

Coincidentally, Hugh McCracken, who played guitar on ‘Still Crazy After All these Years’ and ‘The Stranger,’ passed away Thursday following a battle with leukemia.

Over the last 20 years, Ramone mostly produced high-profile albums, many of which were filled with guest stars. The template began with Frank Sinatra’s ‘Duets’ in 1993 and repeated with Ray Charles and Tony Bennett. Simon called upon him again in 2011 to co-produce ‘So Beautiful or So What.’

Ramone is survived by his wife Karen and sons BJ, Simon and Matt.

source: ultimateclassicrock.com

Fans to vote for 2013 Rock Hall of Famers

NEW YORK – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced this year’s nominees on Thursday, including hip-hop pioneers Public Enemy, the late Donna Summer and rock bands Deep Purple and Rush, and it said the public for the first time would be able to vote on who should be inducted.

Music fans will have until Dec. 5 to vote and their ballots for the top five artists will be combined with those from a committee of music experts to decide which artists will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at an April 18 ceremony in Los Angeles.

In the past, that decision has been taken solely by a Hall of Fame committee of some 600 artists, historians and members of the music industry.

Hopefuls on this year’s list include Heart, N.W.A, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Randy Newman, Albert King, The Marvelettes, The Meters, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Procol Harum, Chic and influential German electronic music group Kraftwerk.

Others got their nods after death, including Deep Purple co-founder and keyboardist Jon Lord, who died in July aged 71. British heavy metal rockers Deep Purple released 18 studio albums over their career spanning six decades.

Disco queen Summer also died earlier this year from cancer at age 63. The sultry-voiced singer won five Grammy awards and sold more than 130 million records worldwide.

While some of nominees, such as Jett and California hip hop group N.W.A., have stayed under the radar in recent years, others such as rockers Rush and Public Enemy, are still going strong, releasing albums this year and performing live.

American hard rock band Heart’s new album “Fanatic” was released this week. Singer Randy Newman, 68, has forged a successful career writing film scores, most recently for 2010′s “Toy Story 3″ and for the upcoming 2013 Disney Pixar animation “Monsters University.”

To be eligible for nomination, a band must have released its first single or album at least 25 years before the year of nomination. This year, that meant the band’s first recording was no later than 1987.

Music fans can cast their vote starting on Thursday at websites rockhall.com, hbo.com, CNN.com and rollingstone.com.

The April induction ceremony will be broadcast on cable TV channel HBO later in 2013.

source: interaksyon.com

Billy Corgan promises ‘an emotional, enthusiastic Smashing Pumpkins show’

“We made a lot of people a lot of money just by being weird.”

That’s Billy Corgan pretty much summing up the success of the Smashing Pumpkins, the Grammy-winning alternative rock band that sold over 30 million albums worldwide.

Corgan and company will perform on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. That’s one day later than originally scheduled, courtesy of the massive floods in Metro Manila on Tuesday.

In a press conference at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel on Monday, the outspoken rocker and only remaining original member of the band that helped define alternative rock music in the ’90s gamely talked about a lot of things ranging from the band’s current line-up, their latest album, career outlook, his thoughts on the music industry, his musical heroes and yes, his enormous respect for Filipino family values.

“I grew up in the outskirts of Chicago and I have many Filipino friends,” he revealed. “They respect they give to their elders, their grandparents. For them, family means a lot, it’s real and I have great respect for that.”

And family is how Billy, now 45, prefers to treat his bandmates which currently consists of guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Nicole Fiorentino and drummer Mike Byrne.

“We eat together, we travel together,” he continued. “These guys were fans of the band before they even met me. So there is musical respect. More important than that, there is also personal respect, something that was lacking in my earlier bands. For them, what we mean to people is more important than our commercial value.”

And for Corgan, commercial value is not the reason why he reformed the Pumpkins and continues to use the name after officially breaking up and holding a farewell concert back in 2000. Unlike many other bands who already broke up only to reform again, the Pumpkins did not come back only to make money off their back catalogue.

“We can’t be in the oldies business,” he said in justifying why he continues to make new music. “If I was still 25 years old, I’d be worried about impressing everybody in the room. But I talked to fans in places we have played and people want to value that experience of connecting to us on a new level.”

That Corgan said is what introducing new material is about—to stay relevant, to move audiences, both old and new.

“If we connect to a younger generation of fans, great. If we don’t, then we don’t. But without the young fans, there is no future for the Smashing Pumpkins.”

This also explains why the band had planned to play the 13-track “Oceania” in its entirety for the first half of the concert.

“Because you need it,” he quipped in response to a question. “The basic storyline in that album is reclaiming your innocence without losing your wisdom. The live experiences displays the depth of the work we’ve done on the album. If people connect to it, then I’m doing a good job and that’s all I care about.”

Billy said he expects an “emotional, enthusiastic show” here. “I’m going to make you people cry because that’s part of what I do,” he vowed.

Corgan does not find it ironic that the Pumpkins also continue to cover classic tunes in just about every show. In one of their shows for the ongoing tour, the set list included David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”

“I like covers. I consider it one of the key moments of each show,” he admitted. “When we play the classic tunes of people like David Bowie, Bob Dylan and John Lennon, for me it’s like playing Picasso or Monet. I feel the best way to honor them is to play their songs in the Smashing Pumpkins tradition.”

Although he only listens to Bach and Beethoven nowadays, Corgan talked about many other diverse musical influences over the course of the press conference, including Iggy Pop, Black Sabbath, Queen, Scorpions, Wire, the Velvet Underground and yes, even the Carpenters.

“I was sitting in the pool in the morning and I noticed you play a lot of the Carpenters here in Manila. Is she (Karen Carpenter) like the queen bee here or something?,” he asked smiling. Not that he really minds, of course. “To me, ‘Superstar’ is one of the greatest songs ever written.”

source: interaksyon.com

Music industry upbeat about iTunes Philippines

The music industry is upbeat about the opening of the iTunes Store in the country.

Because Apple’s online digital media vendor is largely identified with music, stalwarts of the industry were the first to react to the news that the service is now available in the Philippines, as well as in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

Yeng Constantino, Barbie Almalbis, Rico Blanco and Ebe Dancel immediately tweeted and retweeted the announcement on Wednesday and urged their followers to buy their latest releases from iTunes Philippines.

Ogie Alcasid

Even singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid, president of the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit, who launched only last March the similar OPM2Go website that allows the purchase of OPM songs for P15 each, welcomed the development.

“Any avenue where our musicians can sell their music is great!!” he tweeted.

Former record company executive Mony Romana believes iTunes will propel digital sales for the music industry as a whole.

“Because the Apple brand is behind it, they have the advantage of an easy buy-in. That will hopefully help change the public’s attitude towards getting music online,” Romana noted.

Toti Dalmacion

Music impresario Toti Dalmacion has been doing business with iTunes US for years through his company, Terno Recordings. That is how selected releases of Terno artists such as Up Dharma Down have found a market in the US, Europe, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.

“Regarding iTunes being here in the country now and other Asian countries, I actually like that because we can now concentrate on one company for the digital side of things as opposed to having so many local third parties or aggregators,” Dalmacion explained.

“It’s also easy to monitor, from our viewpoint as a record company. So it’s good and that way neighboring Asian countries have digital access to the releases as well and not just for Terno but for other local labels and artists,” he added.

Former band manager, events organizer, and now publisher Teddy Dario is likewise upbeat about iTunes’ entry into the Philippine market.

“It will now be easier to purchase Filipino albums, singles, even classics and make it more accessible to a wider international audience. It will also now be easy for Pinoys in the US and Europe to purchase the latest Tagalog hit singles online as well as older music by artists such as Florante or Hot Dog. I just hope that Filipino artists can easily put their work on sale on the iTunes store and explore this opportunity,” Dario said.

Warner Music Philippines executive Anne Poblador immediately gave iTunes Philippines a whirl by downloading Rico Blanco’s new single, “Amats”.

“We should embrace growth. This is something positive for the industry. It’s a sign that we are moving forward!” she enthused.

Dong Abay

Dong Abay, who will launch his new album “Rebulto” on Thursday at Cubao X, was also in a gleeful mood.

“This is great! Mas madaling ma-access ang Filipino music online. I love Apple. Sana bigyan nila ako ng hi-tech gadgets,” he wisecracked.

And hard rock fan Wo Rosete, an executive of Smart Communications who has been sponsoring some of the biggest major concerts in the country in recent years, said, “Finally! Yes, this should be good for the Philippine music industry.”

Rosete sees a boon for unsigned bands and the back catalogue of veteran artists.

“The traditional ‘record contract’ is already a thing of the past. As a distribution channel, iTunes Philippines can also help resurrect classic Pinoy rock in digital format! How about a digital only compilation of ’80s Pinoy punk bands? Asteeeeg! Digital-only recordings are less costly to produce so Razorback and Wolfgang can now release digital-only versions of a full concert,” he elaborated.

But there are others who expressed reservations about the download service taking off in the country.

Former music blogger Jim Ayson said, “99 cents per track charged to credit cards is not for the masses. Apple should open itself to operator billing so you can pay with your cellphone bill or load.”

Similarly, musician and Radio Repulic Philippines content manager Adrian Arcega pointed out, “I’m curious, more than anything. Not a lot of Filipinos own credit cards, so that’s something iTunes has to hurdle. But hey, they changed the purchasing habits of the rest of the music-consuming world, so who knows? The local online music stores have a headstart and an advantage in that sense.”

And former director of programming for MTV Philippines Andrew De Castro (a.k.a. North Andrew for old fans of radio station 99.5 RT) is a little more guarded with his optimism.

“Of course, iTunes opening in the Philippines is a welcome development. But I’m not sure it will positively impact the music industry in a big way — but I hope it does,” De Castro offered.

“For sure, the AB class will patronize iTunes Philippines because it’s convenient. It’s instant and goes straight to their iDevice. The lower classes, though, will probably continue to download from file sharing sites or go pirated. The 50 bucks per track they’d have to pay at iTunes can get them an entire album on CD at a tiangge,” he said.

Nevertheless, De Castro still sees a bright side to an iTunes presence here. “I think it benefits indie artists most. The revenue goes straight to them and they don’t need to tie up with a label for distribution,” he concluded.

At the moment, there are still more Filipino artists on iTunes US than on iTunes Philippines.

article source: interaksyon.com

Band manager Richard Tan passes away

MANILA, Philippines -- Band manger Richard Y. Tan passed away early Sunday due to meningitis.

Tan is the manager of Parokya ni Edgar, Kamikazee, Gloc-9, Franco, Moonstar 88, Typecast, Hilera, The Youth and Chicosci under Backbeat Artist Management.

On June 2, artists took to social media networks to call for prayers for Tan after he was rushed to the hospital and confined to the intensive care unit.

Tan lost his battle at 5 a.m. on Sunday morning, according to a report by MYX.

“The entire music industry is mourning his passing and remembers his valuable contribution to the music scene. He mentored and took care of some of the best rock bands in the industry today and has given his knowledge to a lot of young acts who also aspire to make it in the business,” the music channel said on its website.

Artists took to Twitter to give thanks to Tan.

“RIP Sir Richard Tan. Salamat sa lahat ng naitulong mo sa amin, directly and indirectly. May you rest in peace,” said “It’s Showtime” host and Itchyworms member Jugs Jugueta.

“Woke up on our roadtrip wondering about Richard Tan's condition. Saddened by the news. Rest in peace, sir. We will miss you greatly,” said Rico Blanco.

“You have no idea how much I gained from that little talk we had. Thanks. You will be missed,” tweeted Spongecola frontman Yael Yuzon.

“Prayers for the quiet man behind some of the biggest bands this country will ever see. You'll be missed terribly, good sir,” said former Sugarfree lead vocalist Ebe Dancel.

“Sad and shocking news for the music industry. Another important figure passed away,” said Tanya Markova.

Music industry stalwarts also took time to remember Tan.

Jim Ayson, who pioneered Pinoy music on the Internet, called Tan “one of the nicest guys and gentlest souls in the Pinoy band scene.”

“Richard was a really nice guy, we'll miss him,” Ayson said.

“Thanks for the music. You truly rocked,” said Andrew Santiago, station manager of radio station Magic 89.9.

Gang Badoy, one of the founders of RockEd, said, “Woke up to such sad news. One gentleman I admire passed away. Rest in peace, Richard Tan, nurturer of talent, protector of artists' dreams.”

source: abs-cbnnews.com