On Tuesday, Coran Capshaw, manager of the Dave Matthews Band, said the group had agreed to set up a downloading site with Nugs.net. While other bands following a similar model have focused on selling concert recordings, the Dave Matthews Band intends to begin in March by selling downloads of its album catalog, to be followed shortly by sales of concert recordings. (RCA, the band’s record company, is to receive part of the proceeds from the sale of albums online.)
Even Phish’s record company, Elektra, which receives a small cut of the Live Phish Downloads proceeds, has embraced the band’s online marketing of its music.
“We always thought it would be nice for there to be a happy medium where the band gets more involved with the fans, and this seems to us to be a perfect way to do it,” Brian C. Cohen, Elektra’s senior vice president for marketing, said in a telephone interview. “It gives the fans access to officially sanctioned recordings. It conditions the fans to not expect to get these things for nothing, and I personally think it’s a model, both for the record business and for bands, whether signed or not, to make money from valuable content and at the same time seed the relationship in a very positive way with the fans.”
Source nytimes.com.
Vocalist Art Garfunkel was charged with possession of marijuana over the weekend after police pulled over his limousine for speeding in upstate New York. Garfunkel, 62, of Manhattan, was caught with a small amount of marijuana in his jacket pocket and was charged with possession, a violation, reported the Daily Freeman of Kingston, N.Y.
Police said Garfunkel was riding alone when a state trooper stopped the limo around 12:20 p.m. Saturday in Hurley, 55 miles southwest of Albany. The trooper smelled marijuana after approaching the vehicle.
State police Capt. Louis Barbaria Jr. said the trooper didn’t realize who he arrested until later, although Garfunkel told him he is a celebrity. Barbaria didn’t know why Garfunkel was in Ulster County.
Garfunkel is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 28 on the charge, or he could respond by mail or have a lawyer appear for him. He faces a $100 fine, unless he has had a conviction within the past three years; police did not say whether he has.
Garfunkel recently completed a hugely successful U.S. concert tour with longtime partner Paul Simon, their first in 20 years.
Source billboard.com.
Universal Music International (UMI) is to rerelease the early work of Bob Marley & the Wailers through a 10-year exclusive licensing deal with JAD Records, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based label established in 1967 by Danny Sims, Billboard Bulletin reports.
UMI says the deal covers 211 tracks recorded from 1967-72. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. “It is thrilling, both personally and professionally, that Universal is now able to present to fans virtually the entire recorded works of one of the most prolific and influential artists of the 20th Century,” Universal Music International’s Julian Huntly said in a statement.
Sims is recognized as one of the first label executives to spot the potential of Marley. In their five years with JAD, Marley and the Wailers recorded such notable songs as “Stir It Up,” “Small Axe,” “Guava Jelly” and “Concrete Jungle,” plus material that was never released.
The first release will be a three-CD set, “Grooving Kingston 12,” due March 8 internationally. Named after the postal code for the Wailers’ Trench Town, Jamaica, homebase, it will include the first-ever CD release of the tracks “Music Gonna Teach” and “I’m Still Waiting,” plus the original version of “Concrete Jungle” and an extended version of “Trench Town Rock” with an extra scat verse.
The third disc begins with an eight-song acoustic medley featuring “Stir It Up,” “Cornerstone,” “This Train” and “Dewdrops.”
Source and track list visit billboard.com.
David Byrne, Ray Davies, Bright Eyes, Yo La Tengo, Keb’ Mo’, Nawang Khechog and artistic director Philip Glass will perform at the 14th annual Tibet House benefit concert. The event will be held Feb. 25 at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Tickets can be purchased by calling the venue at (212) 247-7800; tickets that include a fundraising reception with the artists can be obtained by calling Tibet House at (212) 807-0563.
Tibet House is dedicated to the proposition that the wisdom and arts of all human civilizations vitally enrich the emerging global culture and its many cultural and educational programs. The organization’s primary goal is to preserve and restore Tibet’s unique cultural and spiritual heritage. The concert also commemorates the Monlam Prayer Festival, which was established in 1409 but canceled by the Chinese government after it took over Tibet.
Last year’s event featured performances by David Bowie, Davies, Laurie Anderson, Rufus Wainwright and Ziggy Marley, among others.
Source billboard.com.
Neil Young’s latest album, “Greendale,” will be re-released Feb. 24 by Reprise with a bonus DVD featuring behind-the-scenes footage of its creation. Issued in August, the original edition of “Greendale” was bundled with the DVD “Live at Vicar St.,” which found Young performing the new material during a solo concert in Ireland.
The Young-directed “Greendale” film, which brings to life the characters described in the album, will be rolled out nationally around the album’s re-release. Screenings begin Feb. 27 in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, with new locations added through late April. For a full list, visit Young’s official Web site .Young and Crazy Horse are also planning to return to the road, beginning Feb. 19 in Vancouver. Eighteen dates are on tap through March 21 in Amherst, Mass., including a March 17-18 stand at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
The “Greendale” film is tentatively scheduled for a summer release.
Source billboard.com.
Modern rock acts Grandaddy and Saves The Day will co-headline a spring tour due to launch March 1 in Santa Cruz, Calif. The six-week journey will also feature the Fire Theft, the Seattle-based group featuring three former members of Sunny Day Real Estate. The 41-date trek is scheduled to wrap April 17 in Los Angeles.
The tour is Grandaddy’s fourth major outing in support of last year’s V2 album, “Sumday,” which peaked at No. 84 on The Billboard 200. Grandaddy has recently toured with Pete Yorn and the Super Furry Animals.
The upcoming dates will be promoted with a free downloadable limited-edition EP available through Apple’s iTunes Music Store. A track list and release date for the EP will be announced shortly, and the digital songs will be available to fans that have purchased “Sumday.”
Saves The Day is touring in support of its DreamWorks debut, “In Reverie,” which peaked last year at No. 27 on The Billboard 200. The Fire Theft’s 2003 self-titled Rykodisc debut reached No. 11 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart.
For a complete list of dates visit billboard.com.
