That’s right!

You didn’t read the title wrong and no, this is not a joke.

Daddy Yankee has publicly endorsed John McCain.

Over the weekend, the presidential candidate John McCain made a campaign stop at Central High School, a dominantly Latino school located in Phoenix, Arizona. While attempting to encourage the group of students to “be involved”, McCain softly acknowledges the real reason any Latino student would stand to listen to him. He begins to introduce his “special friend”, whom he describes as an “all American success story” and list this guest’s credentials, but falls short of mentioning the house with the white picket fence and the little dog in the backyard.

Right after miserably failing to make a joke out of Yankee’s hit song “Gasolina” and the rise of gas prices, McCain introduces Daddy Yankee to a number of screaming and excited Latino high school students.

Now beside the obvious shock of Yankee endorsing John McCain, there is only one thing I find very curious about this whole video. Right as Daddy Yankee makes his greeting, he is quickly interrupted by a man in a blue collared shirt (obviously a man who works for the McCain camp). After stopping Yankee’s speech for about 20 seconds, Yankee gets back on the mic and proceeds to continue his speech. But alas, Yankee is once again interrupted by the presidential candidate himself. McCain, quickly grabs Yankee’s arm and directs him to the group of students behind him.

Yankee, always being the crowd pleaser, proceeds to greet every single one of the Latino students. Once he does finally get to speak, Yankee begins to slowly state how he chooses “him [McCain] as the best candidate”.

Now I don’t know about you, but I just find this whole scenario a bit odd. I mean, whats the deal with all the interruptions! If your going to bring out someone to endorse you, wouldn’t it be a good idea to let them TALK!

And honestly, how much did they pay Daddy Yankee for that endorsement? Or did they threaten to revoke his passport or something. I dunno, maybe it’s just me. But I don’t really picture McCain drinking a Corona and shouting CAPICU at the Domino table.

-Jacklyn Mendoza | J.FRESH

Netmix Global House Podcast

We’re back with a new podcast, Global House Sessions - August 2008. All tracks are available through Beatport.com. Subscribe to the podcast to download.

Download

Track Listing:

• Rock To The Beat - Kevin Saunderson - Christian Smith & John Selway Remix
• Reynosa - Emilio Fernandez - Original Mix
• Diablo - Oliver Huntemann & Dubfire - Original Mix
• Chime - The Shapeshifters - Martin Ten Velden Remix
• Born Slippy - DJ Joe K and Beto Dias Remix
• I Begin To Wonder 2008 - Jean Claude Ades - Jerome Isma-Ae Remix
• Solid - Sweno N - Original Mix
• Space Time - Deadmau5 Vocal Mix - Mike Di Scala, Colin Airey
• Get Wild - Sharam - Steve Agnello Remix
• Deep Down feat. Shirley Davis - J Nitti - Original Mix

On August 9th and 10th, the Virgin Mobile Festival returns to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland

“The response from the first two festivals has been extraordinary,” said Virgin Group Founder and Chairman Sir Richard Branson, “and we’re thrilled that Virgin Mobile USA is putting on the event for the third time. Fans of all ages love our comfortable festival grounds, the great food and drinks, the vibe, and of course the brilliant talent. They want to plan their summer break around the festival and have asked us for details, so we’re letting everyone know to mark their calendars for August 9 and 10.”

[Show as slideshow]

In just two years, the Virgin Mobile Festival [previously called Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile] has earned a reputation as a monster event, with such impressive artists as Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who, The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, The Raconteurs, Modest Mouse, LCD Soundsystem, M.I.A, Spoon, Wolfmother and Amy Winehouse, and world-renowned DJs such as Sasha & John Digweed, Carl Cox and Deep Dish. Last year, there were 44 bands and DJs on three stages with 20 hours of non-stop entertainment.

The Virgin Mobile Festival will be produced for the third year by I.M.P., one of the country’s leading independent concert promoters. “Last year was an amazing experience for the fans and we’re planning a killer show this year that will top it,” said I.M.P. Chairman Seth Hurwitz. “The entire line-up will be must-see acts.”

The line-up for this year’s event is as follows:

• Andrew Bird
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
• Bloc Party
• Cat Power
• Citizen Cope
• Duffy
• Foo Fighters
• Gogol Bordello
• Iggy & The Stooges
• Jack Johnson
• Kanye West
• KT Tunstall
• Lil Wayne
• Lupe Fiasco
• Nine Inch Nails
• Paramore
• Rodrigo y Gabriela
• Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
• She & Him
• Stone Temple Pilots
• Taking Back Sunday
• The Black Keys
• The Go! Team
• The Offsrping
• The Swell Season
• Wilco

DJs

• Armin Van Buuren
• Chromeo
• Ferry Corsten
• Moby
• Richie Hawtin
• Underworld

Netmix will be on hand to cover the event. Pics and video will be posted upon conclusion of the event. Of course, we’ll pay special attention to the DJ sets.

You can purchase tickets to the Virgin Mobile Festival through Ticketmaster.com.

Ringtones have been all the rage in recent years, generationg tens of millions of dollars in revenue for a music industry seeking new ways to squeeze water out of a rock. Okay…just kidding, of course.

Ringtones really have become an important sales tool and revenue driver for both artists and labels alike. Once considered a fad, master ring tones can sell upwards of a million units as over-the-air, direct downloads to mobile phones. Because the mobile service providers networks are closed, it’s pretty hard to share ringtones, which makes these digital shorts of popular music an attractive, legal revenue opportunity for labels being hurt by p2p over the web.

At first, ringtones were predominantly the domain of major label partnerships with mobile phone companies. However, over the past few years, we’ve seen a rise in software that allows anyone to create a ringtone and some phone companies are allowing users to add ring tones to their own phones.

The software to create these ring tones was rudimentary at first and desktop based. You could create a ring tone, but if you didn’t have a phone that could connect to your computer or  one with a flash drive, it was pretty difficult to get what you creatd onto your phone. Fast forward a few years later and now with better web technologies in place, companies like ToneMine.com are enabling aspiring DJ/Producers with the ability to create ring tones right in the browser window using DJ-Tutor, an Adobe Flash (or is it Silverlight? I’m not even sure), browser-based mixer (as shown below).

Tone Mine have partnered with Blackberry to host a “Battle of the Ringtone DJs” contest on the site, which can be accessed at http://www.tonemine.com/djtutor. Anyone can access the contest, download the pre-selected sample packs directly into the DJ-Tutor mixer and create unique ring tones. Once your ringtone is posted, you can tell your friend to come listen and even download. Winners of the contest will receive Blackberry smartphones.

In Should Music Startups Give Equity to Copyright Holders?, Wired’s music industry blogger, Eliot Van Buskirk, shines a light on the often implemented but rarely discussed trend of Internet music start-ups ceding equity in exchange for the right to exploit rights holders music copyrights.

I agree with Van Buskirk’s assessment on how something like this would work. He writes:

“Why go through the heartache? This lengthy, complicated process is scary for startups, clumsy for copyright holders, and tends to leave indie bands and labels out of the equation.”

Of course, there’s always someone willing to offer up a new idea as to how start-ups might be able to achieve their objectives without having to pay royalties while building their businesses. Van Buskirk discusses this option, saying:

“Will Page, chief economist for the MCPS-PRS Alliance (a U.K. royalty-collection group), and David Touve, a Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt and former Lycos/Sony/AOL employee, have proposed a novel solution (.pdf) to the problem: a music license specifically designed for startups that would give copyright holders an equity stake in the businesses.”

I caught this discussion on the Pho List, of which I am a long-time member. The Pho List is a digital music industry list-serve. What’s a list-serve? It’s a Web 1.0 era technology based on group communication by email. A person may send an email to the main list and everyone on the list receives it. If one person responds to the list address, all list members receive the reply, and so on.

Proper list etiquette dictates that one should ask other list members if it’s alright to post their responses to a blog. In this case, I haven’t haven’t done that, but I will do so in future. I’ve also gone to the trouble of deleting email addresses in my replies for privacy reasons.

In the meantime, I will start to post my comments to the list here. It’ll probably be a bit difficult to follow if I’m not posting other responses to the subject matter. My responses without context may seem a bit hard to follow, but rest assured, I’ll try my best to briefly give a synopsis of the discussion, so that you’ll be able to follow.
Here are two of my responses to the discussion about whether start-ups should give equity to copyright holders in exchange for the right to exploit their content.

from Tony Zeoli <djtonyz@netmix.com> to Fred W <address_deleted@gmail.com> cc address_deleted@pennydistribution.com, Pho List<address_deleted@onehouse.com> date Sat, May 24, 2008 at 10:57 PM subject Re: Pho: The Record Industry Innovation Prize mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 10:57 PM (2 hours ago)

Reply

This is nothing new and its already happening, especially at UMG. They have an investment arm that takes a look at fledgling start-ups. I’ve gone through this process personally. It’s not that simple. UMG, or any label for that matter, has to believe that the business is going to be viable to invest the time and energy into doing the deals. Record labels can’t just let anyone and everyone use their catalogs, because there have to be some controls in place.

According to the writer, the record labels should set up some kind of independent entity where new start-ups can register. The problem with that is who decides amongst the labels who gets the right to exploit my catalog? Each major label has a competing philosophy. And, if I’m the start-up and most of my success comes from two out of the four majors, why should I give equal equity to all four, when only 2 our of the 4 should be rewarded for giving me content that grows my business.

Also, if I’m the business development executive at UMG (or any label for that matter), I’m definitely going to keep a watchful eye on how the companies catalog is being exploited. Remember, the artists control their image, not the label (although it seems so). And if an artist finds out that he or she is being misrepresented or improperly exploited on a 3rd party web site, all kinds of problems can ensue.

I went through this at StarStyle.com with Gwen Stefani’s management, because Interscope simply didn’t notify Jim Guerinot that we were working on a co-promotion with Gwen’s brand Lamb, which was in conjunction with Interscope’s Strategic Marketing. Someone in business affairs at Interscope didn’t realize that we had a deal with UMG or that we’d gotten approval from the SM department. Instead of checking on the rights, that person went straight to management, they complained and we were subsequently asked to take down the video and the promotion. Because we were so small, we had to oblige lest we cause problems and word spread throughout UMG that we weren’t “doing the right thing.” All this, even though we had a deal with UMG corporate and we got approval from Strategic Marketing. It’s all highly political. And in fairness, if I were Jim Guerinot, I would have done the same thing.

Artists like Gwen Stefani command heavy upfront minimum guarantees to exploit their image beyond what the record label can or can’t control. So if I was running a promotion with Gwen Stefani through the label’s Strategic Marketing department, because I didn’t clear it with management, it becomes problematic.

So, although the intent is admirable, the execution is more difficult than one would think. Once you do the deal with the label, you’re on your own to deal with the individual artists both through the label and through management. The politics of this is extremely volatile and needs to be handled with extreme care.

–
Best regards,

Tony Zeoli, Founder
Netmix Media
• Web 2.0 Design & Product Development
• Digital Strategy & Online Marketing

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aim / msn: djtonyz | yahoo: anthonyzeoli | skype: tonyzeoli

from Tony Zeoli <djtonyz@netmix.com> to John Mitchell <address_deleted@interactionlaw.com> cc Fred W <address_delted@gmail.com>, address_delted@pennydistribution.com, Pho List <address_delted@onehouse.com> date Sat, May 24, 2008 at 11:52 PM subject Re: Pho: The Record Industry Innovation Prize mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 11:52 PM (1 hour ago)

Reply

We’ve all heard the complaints about it being “messed up,” but if I’ve got 100 start-ups trying to engage my company to do business, the right decision has to be made about which companies I believe will grow help grow the value of my catalog, for that’s my bread and butter. I see your point, where you say “king makers,” but we have to remember that labels invest millions of dollars (both wisely and unwisely), have thousands of employees who’s livelihood depends on future success, and who have the right to profit from the commercial exploitation of a product (music) they’ve invested in.

If I’m a label, I need to make sure that anyone who comes to the party can execute against the strategy collectively set internally, and that each independent entity is on board with that strategy. If I just list the pricing and let anyone come to the party, control is lost. I’ve worked for and run music-centric businesses and have been on both sides of the equation. As I get older, wiser and infinitely more knowledgeable about how to run a business, control is crucial. No one yells at Apple for their tight control of the iPod ecosystem, but everyone gets pissy with a major label for not allowing other companies to come to the party. I’m sure that Belkin pays a pretty penny for the right to exploit their after-market products to Apple. You never hear about that, you only hear when people (like me…lol) complain that a label won’t do business. In corporate America, you have to exploit your products while keeping control of the image you want out there.

I’ll give you another example of control. I know that Beatport is actually turning down new labels with few releases who want to market themselves through the site, because they want the perception to be that they’ve got the best underground dance and urban music. That is a form of control. They are gatekeeping the new jacks who need distribution to sell their products. Now, what if that music doesn’t really sell? Many of Beatport’s users would be turned off by the overpopulation of sucky music on the site. So, some sort of control is necessary.

For anyone reading this, I am not getting into the debate of whether artists should or shouldn’t get their just rewards. This is absolutely NOT about that. The point I’m simply making is that if you are a business, you have the right to control your distribution and reach so that you can shape the message to the market. That is business 101. If I’m a singer songwriter, I don’t want to be on a head bangers ball web site. If I’m hip hop, don’t put me on a gay dance music site. So, control goes both ways. The artist want to control their image just as the labels wants to control their distribution. That’s not “messed up,” it’s simply good business.

Tony Z.

Music Industry Downfall, Part II: The Rise of Social Streaming Written by Alex Patriquin (contact - e-mail) — May 12th, 2008 | If any industry has felt the brunt of the internet as a disruptive technology, it’s the music industry, which has been dealt a heavy blow by the onset of digital music distribution.

According to Compete’s measurements, the majority of activity for online music are free streaming music services. A distant second is legal downloads, then subscriptions followed by P2P downloading.

read more | digg story

Wired interviews Muxtape founder, Justin Ouellete, but the issue of legality is skirted around like an 8-year old running from the rubber ball in a game of playground bombardment.

I’ve tried out Muxtape, but it’s too eclectic for me. Most of the programmers (regular Joe’s and Susie’s) who are creating their Muxtapes are pretty esoteric. I haven’t yet had the chance to find a Muxtape with the latest tech house vibes, nor can I easily find one because the site doesn’t break out any genres or any other filters for that matter.

It’s great for music discovery, but if you’re not into the broad discovery category, than it may fall short for you. However, if you’re like most Muxtapers, you’ll appreciate the high level of sophistication that goes into making the most obscure mixes possible. Good luck finding what you want to listen to. You pretty much have to sit back and let it be presented to you. Sort of like that good’ol standby…the RADIO! Remember that technology? Well…it’s coming back in more ways than one.

read more | digg story

When my girlfriend, Missy, and I first started dating over two and a half years ago, she knew a little about my DJ background, but had never really gone out to nightclubs. So, we didn’t have much in common in that regard. In fact, the first night we talked, she’d been working at a wedding and hanging around the DJ. Now, no offense to all you wedding DJs out there, but she didn’t realize I was a club DJ and had graduated from the wedding circuit many moons ago.

in an attempt to connect with my musical sensibilities, she told me about this guy, Javier, her friend Pablo’s brother. Missy said something like, “you’ve gotta hear my friend Pablo’s brother…,” etc…etc… I thought, yeah, I’ve heard this before. She told me that Javier was “awesome” and that his music is “so beautiful” and that I would just love it. Always the skeptic, I thought to myself that that it was cute she was trying to impress me by offering up some commonality she thought we might have. Of the hundreds of people who have approached me to tell me about an amazing artist they know–their brother’s sister’s uncle’s neighbor’s nephew’s daughter’s friend from high school–truth be told, only a very, very few have moved me. So, I just nodded my head to appease her and told her I’d take a listen.

So, Missy pulls out this guy’s album, which is actually on Capitol Records. I’m a little taken aback–like, how does this girl who lives in Carmel, NY (Putnam County, for all those who are curious as to where that is) know an R&B singer/songwriter on a major label? I was a little bewildered, to say the least. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and took a listen. Much to my surprise, what was emanating from the speakers was an incredibly talented young man who would later blow me away during a live performance at New York City’s Cutting Room.

Humbled, I gave the CD back to Missy and scoffed, “yeah, he’s not bad…not bad at all.” That was before the live show and after I’d learned that the label kind of directed him into this Pop and R&B mold to sell him to black radio, where he had no business being in the first place. Once I saw the live show, I discovered that Javier is one of the most talented singer/songwriters I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing live. He absolutely blew me away. Listening to Javier is like listening to the male version of Sade, combined with the Latin tinge of Luis Miguel, while mixing in a bit of R&B balladeer, Brian McKnight. His humble attitude is endearing and he warms up the stage quickly with soft, witty asides that connect with the audience. His opening notes, along with the strumming of the guitar are as sweet and smooth as the best Godiva chocolate. His ability to hit notes and sing every song from an emotive, heart felt place makes you realize you’re listening to something so powerful and extremely rare. In this day and age of pop overload, I thank God that singer/songwriters like Javier are finding a space to bring their brand of music to the fore.

Now that Luther is gone, I’m glad to at least have Javier. He may not quite fill the shoes, but he’s pretty damn close.

I’ve wanted to share Javier’s music here on the blog for some time. I know I wrote about him a while back, but I just checked his MySpace tonight and found links to a few YouTube videos of recent performances in Cologne, Germany, where he opened for Joss Stone. I wanted to share this with you, because this is a guy you should know, follow and support. Check out the video below or visit Javier on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/javiermyspace.

You can purchase Javier’s last album through I hope you will enjoy Javier as much as i do.

In December, we sat down for an interview with David Porter, CEO of a new online radio service, 8tracks.com. The company provides music fans, amateur DJs or seasoned professional DJs and music programmers alike, tools to create their own, unique Internet radio stations. Users who register with the service can upload any track they wish, sort and create play lists, and then publish those play lists to a streaming radio player. The Flash-based player can then be ported to a blog, web site, or social network like MySpace. One of the best features is the ability to attach other users play lists to your own, creating a viral opportunity for great programmers to have their mixes heard across the network. Initially, listeners will be able to purchase tracks through Amazon’s download service (when available), but the company hopes to integrate with independent and niche download stores as well.

At this point, the service is in its Alpha testing phase. A beta launch is planned for late Q1 or early Q2 of this year. Netmix has partnered with 8tracks.com and will be switching streaming radio services at the end of the month. For the time being, you’ll be able to listen to both until January 31, when the switch will be complete. Netmix will also be advising 8tracks on adding first-to-market innovations for professional and amateur mix shows DJs to incorporate into their stations.

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