With all the talk of  the demise of the music industry, EMERGE's trip to Coachella a couple weeks ago had us thinking that music is very much alive and well. Hundreds of thousands of music lovers gathering for a weekend in the middle of nowhere was pretty inspiring...

Yet, it also got us thinking about the role brands play and will play in this evolving space. Sure, Starbucks has it's label and few tours happen without some corporate underwriting, but a recent article suggests that this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Will we be seeing more partnerships like that between UK chart-toppers Groove Armada and Bacardi?



Or are we going to see something even more unprecedented. Some folks are pursuing new integrated deals in which investors advance money to artists through partnerships with management, taking a stake in 270 degrees of their output (everything but publishing), thus avoiding conflicts of interest and promoting higher rates of return for both artists and management on physical and digital releases, licensing, sync placements, touring and merchandising. Radiohead sort of set the tone for this by doing deals in various territories and selling In Rainbows online as well, but expect much more to come from the likes of This Is Music, who have just sold a share to ie:music, best known for their integrated deal on behalf of Robbie Williams a couple years ago.


Posted by James Friedman

A few years ago Diddy (aka P Diddy, Puff Daddy, etc) made a big splash at the annual Miami Winter Music Conference by making a few surprise appearances alongside legendary producer Felix Da Housecat and DJ Hell. There was a song called "Jack U" that Felix and Diddy had produced together and rumors were swirling around the industry that the hip-hop impresario was making a foray into dance music. No album seems to have materialized (though some videos on YouTube that appear to depict Diddy trying to buy ecstacy on the dancefloor in Ibiza have), but Diddy is heading back to the WMC this year after a two year absence. And best of all, he's posted a ranting and bizarre clip on YouTube announcing his party, which is couched as a battle between Diddy himself and a range of talents including big room dancefloor don Steve Angello, San Francisco tech funk phenomenon Claude Von Stroke, and the Bronx-based teen duo Martinez Brothers. It's an impressively tasteful lineup and a bizarre collision of the blindingly commercial ends of pop and dance music (Diddy and Angello) with some really significant underground talents (CVS and Martinez Brothers). Wish we were heading down to check this out on Friday...




Posted by James Friedman

Trendy hotels doing creative installations, hosting fabulous openings and parties, and even releasing CDs is nothing new. Hotel Costes in Paris might have been among the very first, but it is by no means alone in working to transform from a hospitality brand into a lifestyle brand. The latest, Nordic Light Hotel, which bills itself as "Stockholm's design hotel," has taken the concept of a private-label CD release to new heights by commissioning not simply a compilation, but an all original composition from the acclaimed electronic musician Axel Willner aka The Field. Willner is just the first artist in what promises to be an adventurous series translating the experience of Nordic Light into music. Best of all, the Sound Of Light disc isn't just available to guests at the hotel, but can be found on iTunes and in discriminating shops such as London's Phonica Records.




Posted by James Friedman

But we're just digging through the deluge of emails we got yesterday (YES! We heard about Heath Ledger and it's indeed terrible... Please direct your condolences to his family and friends. EMERGE didn't know the guy personally...)

Our good buddy Shara over at Oh Have You Seen This!? blew our minds with this clip of the Bubblegum Sequencer, a really clever and simple demonstration of how electronic drum machines operate using (you guessed it) gumballs.

Check dis:




Posted by James Friedman

It was a sad day in 2003 when beloved cult reissue label Strut Records closed up shop, anticipating the ever-intensifying downturn in the music industry that has been roiling all levels of the business over the intervening 5 years. The imprint had risen to underground renown thanks to an unbroken string of classic compilations ranging from their Block Party Breaks series of rare groove classics and rarities to exhaustively researched compilations of African dance music including Club Africa and Nigeria 70. Adding to the label's stable of instant classics were compilations highlighting the influences and inspirations for groundbreaking DJs including Grand Master Flash, Bristol, England's Wild Bunch (aka Massive Attack), disco legend Danny Krivit, and house maestro Ashley Beedle. Strut had labored to produce expertly curated and assembled packages shining a light onto obscure corners of the music universe and it seemed that the emergence of iTunes and the continued popularity of illegal filesharing subverted their agenda, making just about anything available to those dilligent enough to seek it out. And without much fanfare, the label drifted into the obscurity it was seeking to rescue music from.

Yet five years on, Strut has announced that it is relaunching. Thanks to a partnership with vanguard German independant label !K7 Records, who have made a successful business out of helping smaller labels stay afloat through creative partnerships and distribution deals, Strut is relaunching in 2008 with a third edition of their highly sought-after series Disco Not Disco. Copies of the earlier editions regularly change hands for over $50. Soon to follow will be follow ups to Strut's earlier Grandmaster Flash comp as well as a look at the pioneering recordings made at Compass Point, the legendary recording studio in Nassau, Bahamas founded by Chris (I discovered Bob  Marley) Blackwell of Island Records.
















































Given the consistently terrible news about the state of the record industry, we're tempering our excitement here at EMERGE with a bit of wait-and-see pragmatism. While we know first hand how good !K7 is (we used to work there if you must know...),  so much of this stuff is no longer as obscure as it once was thanks to mp3 blogs and podcasts, which didn't even exist in any meaningful way back when Strut collapsed under pressures which to our eyes have only intensified. But then again, in this new world defined by the Long Tail, perhaps there is more room than ever for an ultra premium niche outlet that relies more on curation and context than simple marketing hype to sell music. Only time will tell...




Posted by James Friedman

Perhaps you heard about the scandalous advertorial insert in Rolling Stone's 40th Anniversary issue last November in which around 90 indie bands were featured in a large pull out sponsored by and endorsing Camel brand cigarettes. If not, check the EMERGE-approved site The Daily Swarm to read the article that broke the story and see loads of follow up info.





                                                                                                                       










Even if you  haven't been following this story, which has been big big news within the independent music scene for nearly two months now, the latest development is pretty fascinating. According to a an article in Toronto's weekly EYE newspaper, two of the bands featured in Camel's advertisement without their knowledge or prior consent have filed a massive class action lawsuit against both RJ Reynolds and Rolling Stone for uauthorized use of artist’s names for commercial advantage (right of publicity) and unfair business practices. The artists in the suit,  art-punks Xiu Xiu and hardcore noisemakers Fucked Up have retained renowned intellectual property attorney Christopher J Hunt and are gunning for more than a simple apology from the corporate forces they believe took their names in vain.



                                                                                                                        While EMERGE certainly respects the rights of these and other artists to ensure that their names and likenesses are used only with their permission, the conflict over the blurring lines between content and advertising does highlight some difficult ambiguities. It can be argued that any advertising-supported medium is at its core a vehicle for delivering commercial messages and information. If Rolling Stone and Camel must seek approval before featuring artists in an advertorial section like the one in question, why do they not need to seek the same clearance to simply write about a band opposite a full page ad for Camel or any other product? Don't get us wrong here... We're not saying Fucked Up is wrong for feeling aggrieved. We're just wondering if this sort of suit will ultimately limit what can and cannot be published by setting a precedent requiring prior consent for anything that is underwritten through the sale of advertising. Comments are welcome, so please, don't be shy and chime in!


Posted by James Friedman