Le blog du Baron

TEQUILA SUNRISE: CAN MYSPACE GET A #1 ON iTUNES ? (3)

Another take on the Tila Tequila story from Coolfer here: although her first single only sold 5,200 units in 2 weeks (not  even enough to feature in the 200 best-selling digital tracks), this is in fact all about building a 'Tila Tequila' brand and generate revenues through side-products and merchandising.

From this angle, things certainly make a lot of sense: how many copies 'I love U' sells is actually irrelevant (even more if you consider the investment in money and time - in fact Tila admits in an article by the Washington Post here that she has written the song in 10 mn) in comparision to the exposure this gets her. What she does with that fame willl be her real talent.

technorati tags: Tila Tequila MySpace FutureMusic I love U
keotag tags: Tila Tequila MySpace FutureMusic I love U

A TIP FOR A CUP: WILL RADIOHEAD SIGN WITH STARBUCKS' LABEL ?

Last week Paul McCartney was announced as the first artist to sign a deal with Starbucks label, Hear Music - as reported here. This week's hot tip is that Radiohead might also be in talk with the label - more details at Buzznet here.

PS: I got the illustration from ProductShopNYC.

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keotag tags: Radiohead Starbucks Hear Music Paul Mc Cartney

GREAT ADVERTISING: UNIVERSAL SHOWCASES CALOGERO'S BASS IN THE CENTER OF PARIS

Seen last week as I was strolling down rue de Rivoli in the center of Paris:

Very creative idea by Universal Music France to advertise the launch of Calogero's new album "Pomme C".

The bass guitar is actually a real one and can be won on the band website ... assuming, of course that nobody stole it in the meantime !

technorati tags: bus shelter music marketing Calogero Universal Music
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TEQUILA SUNRISE: CAN MYSPACE GET A #1 ON iTUNES ? (2)

... well, so far the answer seems to be a loud NO as shown by Tila's low sales on iTunes and as reported by FutureMusic here:

"If the track was quality, she probably would have seen a solid conversion rate from her MySpace fan base. But since that's just not the case, we'll have to wait until another artist can test the Web 2.0 waters by offering content with more substance. Unfortunately, the powers that be at MySpace are not exactly rooting for her either...".

technorati tags: Tila Tequila MySpace FutureMusic I love U
keotag tags: Tila Tequila MySpace FutureMusic I love U

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD: STOP THE DOLPHIN MASSACRE IN JAPAN

This is absolutely horrifying: killing animals is one things, killing animals so highly intelligent and sociable as dolphins is another but the way the Japanese fishing industry catches them by the thousands to let them gasp for air and die slowly by suffocation is quite simply unbearable.

glumbert.com - Dolphin massacre in Japan

If like me you feel revolted by what you have seen in this video, join the online petition here. Do it now.

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keotag tags: dolphins Japan online petition animal massacre

WHITER DEAD: RADIOHEAD RELAUNCH OFFICIAL SITE

DeadAirSpace, Radiohead's official website, has been revamped last week. As white as it was previously black  but no change with regards to the content: photos of the band current recording sessions, quotes from JG Ballard and cryptic messages from Thom Yorke. Check it out for yourself here.

technorati tags: Dead Air Space Radiohead official site Thom Yorke
keotag tags: Dead Air Space Radiohead official site Thom Yorke

TEQUILA SUNRISE: CAN MYSPACE GET A #1 ON iTUNES ?

Tila Tequila is famous for being the "friendliest" MySpace users, with about 1.7 million registered friends on her page here (obviously the fact that she is a former stripper/ Playboy model and seems to enjoy posing in bikini could explain this).

As reported in the NY Times here, Tila is now trying to leverage her network of buddies to launch her first single "I love U". Says her manager: "This is really new territory, we’re about to find out what the connection is between social networking and music sales." Interesting one to follow in any case.

technorati tags: Tila Tequila MySpace New York Times I love U
keotag tags: Tila Tequila MySpace New York Times I love U

BONO SEEING (RED): IS COLLECTING $25m A FAILURE ?

More than one year ago, I wrote in this blog about (RED) the initiative launched by Bono to generate funds to fight AIDS - see here.

A recent article in Advertising Age (mentioned in Product Shop NYC) has apparently branded (RED) a failure for "only" raising $25m in more a less one year of existence. I'll admit I did not get a chance to read the article but I have a lot of sympathy for (RED) and I think its CEO Bobby Shriver's answer is seeting things straight - see here.

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HOW TO AVOID HOME RECORDING GIVEWAYS: 10 TIPS FROM HOMETRACKED

An excellent post from Hometracked on the biggest home recording giveaways that independent musicians should try and avoid: here. And it is definitely worth checking the blog regularly since it is a goldmine for any kind of recording tips, for instance here.

I also take the opportunity to recommend the Pandora podcast here, with useful tutorials aboout home recording.

technorati tags: Home recording tips Hometracked independant musician
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ONE MINUTE REVIEW: TIME TO BE MERCIFUL

I came across a post on the Sisters of Mercy (as I was happily wandering on Hype Machine looking for  some new tracks for forthcoming Zerocast #6) which sent me straight down memory lane. They used to be one of my favourite bands in the 80S, the voice of Andrew Eldritch inspiring me to try and go down several octaves in the process.

After a series of EPs and an LP 'First and last and always', the Sisters of Mercy split around the mid 80s, one half forming the "Sisterhood" to be sued by the other half (Eldritch) for use of the name. Eldritch snatched it away, leading the rest of the gang to call themselves "the Mission", produced one brilliant album as the Sisterhood along the way, before renaming his band the Sisters of Mercy and releasing a few LPs. Anyway, enough talk: you can check some early tracks here. 

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