SRI Goes Latin With New Label, Flamingo Jazz
We are proud to announce that we now have a new label as part of the SRI family with the launch of our new Latin label, Flamingo Jazz.
The first signing to Flamingo Jazz is Ecuadorian singing sensation Egberto Garcia. This talented singer has long been a favorite of Central and South American audiences and he is the perfect artist to help us debut our new Latin label. Mr. Garcia has been a fan favorite for many years and we are very proud to be able to finally present him to American audiences. We know that fans of Latin music and Jazz fans will all enjoy the talents of Egberto Garcia.
Flamingo Jazz will showcase the best of new Latin Jazz. We will be announcing other Flamingo Jazz signings shortly
The Future of the Music Club
I remember back in the 60's when I would get my monthly mailer from the Columbia Record Club and a few years later the RCA/BMG Record Club, I was always anxious to see what the monthly offer was. You would decide to accept the monthly selection or pick out a different one then wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive in the mail.
That was back then and now we live in the digital age so it was only a matter of time until the Music Club evolved digitally. SRI Records and SRI Jazz have just created the Music Club of the future. The SRI Music Lovers Club allows everyone to pick a genre (jazz, blues, rock or country) and then receive an mp3 each month in their inbox from the vast SRI catalog of music by major stars. This means no waiting for snail mail to arrive and this is a much less expensive way to collect your favorite music.
The SRI Music Lovers Club offers a 2 year subscription for only $19.95 but during their introductory launch period the cost is only $15.95 for 24 songs. Typically when you buy digital songs they cost 99 cents each so The SRI Music Lovers Club is a much less expensive way to fill out your music collection. The SRI catalogs contain everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Johnny Cash and from Etta James to Little Richard plus the best new artists in each genre allowing everyone to pick their favorite genre and then receive a great classic track each month.
The launch period pricing is only for a limited time. Enjoy all the music you love, get all those tracks you have always wanted for your digital collection, now is the time to fill up your mp3 player or i-pod. The future of Music Clubs has arrived and it's called The SRI Music Lovers Club.
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Pandora, Satellite and Terrestrial Radio All Need To Pay A Fair Rate.
It amazes me that the major PR campaigns of broadcasters is working. Pandora, Satellite and terrestrial radio are all posting major profits yet they make everyone think that they can't afford to pay artists.
For the past 50 years the music industry has been trying to have artists compensated for their work since without music none of these companies could exist. It was a major breakthrough when the law was passed to have internet broadcaster pay a licensing fee - yet terrestrial and satellite radio still doesn't have to pay. Now Pandora and other rich companies are trying to have the rates lowered which is unacceptable. .
Restaurants, bars and clubs have to pay a licensing fee to play music and have for many years. They said they could not afford to pay and it would either force them all out of business or to just stop playing music. But isn't it amazing that after all these years they are still in business and still playing music. .
As a music producer and a record company owner I am tired to being screwed. Broadcasters make enough money from their advertisers and subscribers to pay a fair royalty to music creators. This should not be just another free lunch. .
Everyone should be paid fairly for their work and that includes artists, songwriters, producers and record companies. Stop buying the bullshit that Pandora and the rest of the broadcasters are peddling saying that they can't afford to pay. .
Elvis Presley's Letter to President Nixon
What if you fell upon a piece of Elvis Presley history? After all, he was just a mere mortal, right? Well, to millions around the world he is as much as a magical being as he ever was when he first began his career as a musician and actor in the '50s.
Recording artist, label owner and producer Shelly Liebowitz, (his interview is here) tells me, "I have been contacted to sell an amazing letter from Elvis Presley to President Nixon. It was handwritten aboard an American Airlines flight on AA Stationary introducing himself to the president -- it is five pages long and the signature has been authenticated."
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Music Creator's Should Be Compensated For Use Of Their Work
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property is holding hearings to decide on the rates that Pandora and other webcasters pay music creators for the use of their music. The thought of lowering rates is just another attempt to legally steal from the people who make their services viable.
The Internet Radio Fairness Act will be re-introduced to Congress next year. They should not lower rates being paid by Pandora and they need to make cable and satellite radio pay the same rates, at this time they pay less.
This is a fairness issue. The songwriters and record companies deserve to be paid fairly because without them these broadcasters would have nothing to broadcast. It's time for fairness. I urge you to add your voice to this discussion by calling your Congressman or Congresswoman and tell them that music creators should be paid fairly
Help Larry Help The Animals
My friend, Larry Battson, is a wild life educator and animal rescuer. For quite some time Larry also was hosting a radio show called "Larry Battson's Wild World" on Blog Talk Radio (Thursday evening at 10PM EST). His show features a variety of guests, explorers, scientists, authors and various people from the entertainment industry. I have been a guest on Larry's show several times. Aside from his regular listening audience, his shows get around 30,000 downloads a year.
"Larry Battson's Wild World" is a way to raise funds for Larry's wildlife education and rescue work. His non profit 501C3 corporation is Wildlife Educational Services, Inc. The website about his wildlife work is www.larrytheanimalguy.com. The link to his radio show is www.blogtalkradio.com/larry-battson. All of the funds he raises goes to his animal family and the cost of care, feeding and facilities.
I really hope that you will consider being a contributor. The work that Larry does is remarkable. His educational programs that he brings to schools depends solely on contributions. Become a sponsor of "Larry Battson's Wild World" or send you donations to Larry Battson Wildlife Educational Services, Inc 4140 North 600 West, Greencastle, Indiana 46135.
The animals count on Larry and I hope we can also count on you.
Great Harmonies Are Alive And Well
I grew up with great harmonies and wonderful vocal groups. Nowadays its not very often when I hear anyone who understands 4 part harmonies or who understands how they are done.
Well I have been happily shocked after hearing Street Corner Renissance. These 5 guys are throwbacks to the Do Wop age, they know what great harmonies are and they do it to perfection. Listening to them made me smile knowing that this great musical art form is not dead.
Street Corner Renissance is not on my label and I have nothing to gain by writing this. I just really enjoy listening to these guys and I think many of you might as well. So stop by their website and give them a listen and if you book talent I think you should consider booking them.
Check out "Street Corner Renissance
A Solution To Budget Cuts To Education
In this time of massive budget cuts to our educational system a new and innovative company has found a way to fund the programs that have been cut in music, the arts, sports and for after school programs. We all know how important these programs are and it has become obvious that government cannot afford to fund all of the programs that are needed. It is up to all of us to find a way to make sure that our children get the education that they deserve. Enter: Swipe4thekids.
Swipe4thekids enlists local and national companies to show their support for our children. Each time anyone purchases anything using a credit card at a Swipe4thekids merchant money goes to education in their local community. The amazing part of this program is that it does not cost the consumer or the companies anything. Swipe4thekids has partnered with Eclypse Solutions, a merchant services company, and a portion of the fee that is normally paid for credit card transactions by businesses is donated by Eclypse to the Swipe4thekids program. Local merchants will have a Swipe4thekids logo in their window showing their support for their local schools. The response to this program by local and national companies has been amazing and any school can apply for a grant for any of these programs.
For more information please visit Swipe4thekids.
The education of our children is very important to me and I am proud to be Director of Music and Arts Enhancement for Pomeroy Equitable Solutions, the parent company of Swipe4thekids.
Is It Right To Make Money Off A Hologram Or Robot Show Of The Dead
It was announced in Billboard that the estates of Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Jim Morrison are considering hologram shows following all the publicity surrounding the Tupac hologram performance at the Coachella Festival.
First of all, I doubt that any of these artists would have wanted anything like this. It basically is a performance produced and controlled by computer programmers not the artists. Secondly, they have to take an existing recorded live performance and sync it to a computer generated hologram which may not move or accurately represent how the artist actually performed. You have to remember that these artists never did two shows alike, each was a unique experience.
I understand the novelty of this but is it worth you spending your hard earned money on something like this? I know why the estates want to do this - simply to make more money off the dead. In my opinion it's up to the fans to show their disapproval and not line the pockets of these wealthy estates by purchasing tickets.
Let's honor the legacy and memory of these and other great artists by purchasing real recorded performances which are available on DVD not some fake computer generated "live" shows only produced to make extra money off these great artists.
Is Internet Radio The Future of Great Radio?
Years ago radio was the source for being exposed to the new music that the radio personality (DJ) that you liked thought was worth playing. Back then the DJ would pick the songs and spin the discs (play the records) himself. We had personalities like Alan Freed, Cousin Bruce Morrow, etc. who played what they liked and thought we would too. Major corporations did not have stations pre-programmed, but that was then not today.
Today we have a few major companies deciding what you hear on the radio. This is why independent labels and artists are not heard. As a major of fact, if Rock & Roll started today you would never have heard it at all. Today we have the alternatives such as Pandora where you create your own playlists but that does not expose you to great new music that you might like. We now have satellite radio but to be honest, it’s not much better than commercial terrestrial radio.
It’s not that there are not great radio personalities, we have many but they are not allowed to play what they decide their listeners will enjoy. There are truly great radio personalities like Bob Collins of WRHU in New York and Bubba Jackson of KJAZZ in Los Angeles. These guys love music and respect their listeners. The problem is that they are on NPR stations and their audience is not as large as it should be.
I hope that internet radio is the new frontier bringing back radio personalities who listeners will identify with and can be exposed to great new music by, not just what the major labels are pushing. Internet radio has the ability to be independent and yet reach a worldwide audience. I know that there are quite a few internet stations but we still do not have any break out personalities whose taste can shape the future of music while embracing the roots of great music.
Talent Is Not Enough
I am in the fortunate position to meet so many talented people every day. Real talent is such a rare commodity; they have the ability to create what we can only wish we could. The problem is that it takes a lot more than just talent to be successful in the entertainment industry.
You must have the drive to succeed but you also need to be able to take direction from a producer and learn the rest of the craft of being an entertainer because talent is not enough. There are thousands of very talented artists out there who never make it. It takes more and the ones who make it learn from professionals who are willing to teach them.
Getting signed is just the beginning for an artist, its when the hard work begins. You need to learn how to best use your talent, how to work a stage, how to structure a show, how to connect with your audience, how to deal with the media and so much more. It takes time to learn it all plus the desire to learn and the patience and understanding that you can’t learn it all overnight.
There will always be artists who achieve some success without learning to be a real entertainer but they tend to come and go quickly. The ones who last, the artists who are always in demand know how to entertain, with or without current hits. You need to learn how to ‘wow’ an audience so they leave feeling that they want to see you again.
Dick Clark Has Died
My friend and a pioneer in the music industry, Dick Clark passed away this morning.
From his early days as the host of American Bandstand, Dick brought the new music known as rock and roll to a mainstream television audience. He also was one of the few television personalities who actually let black artists on his show to perform their songs instead of white acts doing cover versions.
He was often referred to as “the world’s oldest teenager” since it looked like he never aged and he also knew the music as well as anyone. Dick’s love of the music and the artists never changed. Dick Clark will be missed.
Why Our Children Need Music Education
Years ago every child had music education classes as part of their school day. It was music appreciation, band, or chorus but we all had some music as a part of our education. That is until recently. In recent years school budgets have been cut and one of the first things to go was music in our schools.
For so many years our schools were the standard by what schools around the world was judged against. So starting in the 1960’s and 1970’s schools in China, Japan, India and the rest of the world all required their students to have music education.
The interesting thing is that all of the research done on the effects of music education on children’s ability to learn has shown one thing, that kids who have music as part of their education tend to do much better in math and science. So why do we eliminate music for our children? Isn’t it interesting how our children now lag far behind children from the rest of the world in math and science scores.
We need to take a hard look at our education system and if cuts need to be made I suggest we look at the school board salaries, perks and overhead, not teachers or our children’s educational needs. If we do not do the right thing by our children we will be raising a generation that will only need to be taught to say “do you want fries with that?”.
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