Columns

Internet radio continues to get screwed. So we’ve asked frequent HT commenter and all-around good guy makeithappen77 from Some More From The Road to break down just how badly these Internet radio stations are getting the shaft…

After learning about the decision of the Copyright Royalty Board to increase the royalty rates for music broadcast on Internet radio, I felt prompted to make a few impassioned arguments against it. But as I did more research, I learned that my initial under-informed reaction was more correct than I dared hope.

As with most far-reaching legal decisions, well, I guess I can sum it up by saying there’s a lot of information on the topic. I’ve got certain information, all right? Certain things have come to light. And, given the nature of all this new shit, you know, it’s not just, it might not be just such a simple…uh, you know?…I’ve got information man! New shit has come to light!

Leave it to me to distill all the legalese and get you to the point. The decision handed down by the Copyright Royalty Board significantly raises the per-play rate schedule for each song broadcast on an Internet radio station retroactive to January 2006. And that’s going to pose significant problems for many Internet radio stations, as well as plenty of non-mainstream artists. Read on for more of makeithappen’s in-depth analysis on why this is a bad shake…

Get the opening torch ready for a run towards Tonic: Marco Benevento and Joe Russo have announced The Duo will kick off April’s three-city Green Apple Music & Arts Festival in New York with two acoustic shows.

The Duo’s on its way back east from three recent gigs in Colorado and Chicago as half of the wonderful Zeppelin super-impersonsators, Bustle In Your Hedgerow. Marco and Joe will re-unite with Scott Metzger and Diamond Dave Dreiwitz for another gig in New Jersey on St. Patrick’s Day, then the duo will kick off the Green Apple proceedings in about six weeks on the Lower East Side:

We’ve heard the rumblings, we’ve heard the requests, and while we aren’t ready to load up the van and hit the road for an extended tour just yet, we do have a treat for the home team. We are doing our part and going GREEN to kick things off at the Second Annual Green Apple Festival. We will be playing two very intimate ACOUSTIC performances at Tonic in New York City on April 19th as part of the Official Green Apple Music Festival Kick Off! Tickets will be available through DuoTicketing beginning on Friday, March 2nd. Tickets will be $15 in advance and $20 on the day of show. There will be TWO shows, one at 8pm and one at 11pm. The shows are an 18 and over. Check out the goings on in your neck of the woods and head over to greenapplefestival.com.

Sir Joe Russo will also close out the Green Apple fest on Sunday, April 22 with his old bandmates from Fat Mama. The now-official reunion of this underappreciated jazz outfit comes on the heels of the A Big YES…and a small no quasi-Fat Mama reunion show at vibraphonist Kevin Kendrick’s 30th birthday, and if that gig is any indication of Fat Mama’s cohesiveness in the face of time off from each other, we’d all be wise to make it to this Sunday gig. In the words of The Duo’s humorous management, this festival “begins and ends when Joe Russo says.”

Read on for more on Marco’s newest live release and newish trio, plus some amazing photos from Bustle’s Chicago show on Friday…

You really gotta love The Roots. I must admit I’m not a huge fan of most of the hip hop genre in general, but how can you go wrong with a

There seems to be no turning back now…How’s that for famous last words? The Police continue to add tour dates to their itinerary at a blistering pace. These guys are

Addison Groove Project‘s 10-year career came to a close on Saturday night. The first concert I ever booked featured AGP playing in front of 50-60 people at Skidmore College in

The week begins with a whiff of giddy anticipation: The First Lieutenant and I are headed southbound for Langerado for three days of headiness in the South Florida warmth. Scotty

Earlier today I quickly posted some videos from last night’s 20th Anniversary of the Old Knit gala event. My running mate Neddy now gives it the full treatment.

What’s that saying about how we all get the face we deserve by the age of 50?

Well, apparently, for music clubs you get the anniversary show you deserve at the age of 20. Last night the Knitting Factory — referred to lovingly as the “Old Knit” — celebrated a couple of decades, less as a jazz club and more as the genesis of the entire downtown aesthetic. Of course, in a production decision that made as little sense as holding an AA meeting at a brewery, this monstrosity of a benefit show was held smack dab in the middle of Times Square, at Town Hall, as far as you can imagine from the Tribeca/Lower East Side roots of the club and the music.

When I think of the music that grew out of that Old Knit scene I think of a messy, experimental goop, occasionally brilliant, occasionally moving, occasionally intolerable. Whether they intended it or not, that’s exactly what they delivered on Thursday night. Read on for more of Neddy’s play-by-play review…

Our friend Marc recently unearthed this music-on-the-web gem, and you’d have to be batshit crazy not to play around with this resource for a little while. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the greatness that is Musicovery.

Flanked by my esteemed colleagues Neddy and Double J, I attended last night’s benefit concert to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Old Knitting Factory. Times Square’s Town Hall hosted