Music Industry

Universal Music is at the center of a million dollar lawsuit, sparked by The Temptations.

According to court documents, Universal Music group cheated the group out of revenue from digital downloads and ring tones. Don’t believe me.. Ask Otis Williams or Ron Tyson.

Now, the pioneering male vocal 60′s group are the latest to join a growing chorus of musicians who are taking their slave masters to court with allegations of stiffing musicians, by accounting for downloads from iTunes as sales rather than licenses.

The Temptations are not alone in their lawsuit against Universal Music. A long list of superstar musicians have joined them, including James Brown, Eric Clapton, Guns N’ Roses, Kiss, Nirvana, The Police and The Who. Continue Reading…

This is a brilliant piece by Bob Lefsetz:

Forget the money. You’ll never make as much as a banker.

What artists want today is power.

Forget the circle jerk of appearing at SXSW. That’s just preaching to the converted. People who are at the tail end of the dog, yes, the government and the rich are wagging the artists and most don’t even realize it.

Scratch an artist and he’ll complain. About the hoi polloi ripping him off. There’s very little rhetoric about the government, bankers or the rich, there’s just constant rabble-rousing against their brethren. It’s loser upon loser crime. With an occasional stab against the record labels, as if they owed musicians a life. With a twisted turn towards Live Nation, as if Ticketmaster is responsible for all the world’s problems.

I’ll clue you in on something. The executives at the record labels and Live Nation are smarter than the artists. They realize we live in a country of winners and losers and they don’t want to end up with the short end of the stick. Ergo 360 deals and platinum packages and all kinds of ways to make the executives rich.

But none of them are as rich as the bankers. Continue Reading…

Many of today’s singers and rapper think they are true artists (going as far as to claim they are the greatest), yet time and time again they perform with prerecorded track vocals. Don’t believe me.. Ask Jay Z or 50 Cent.

That’s exactly why Jeremih was recently pelted with drinks, during the pop singer’s spring break performance in Texas. It’s evident the crowd wasn’t in the mood for a lip sync act — but, what did they really expect?

Here’s what Jeremih had to say about the incident: Continue Reading…

I love these guys music, they are legends in black music! I am sad to hear their story of being screwed over, but it illustrates exactly what I try to reflect about the industry here on HSK.

So do you still want to be an entertainer?

The Chambers Brothers is a soul-music group, best known for its 1968 hit record, the 11-minute long song “Time Has Come Today”. The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions with modern psychedelic and rock elements. Based on their Southern roots, the brothers brought a raw authenticity to their recordings and live performances that was missing from many other acts of that era. Their music has been kept alive through heavy use in film soundtracks. Continue Reading…

sent to me from a homie!

My Hollywood insider is reporting that actor Laurence Fishburne is paying for his nephew’s Lemar Fishburne’s studio recording sessions. Know why? Because rumor has it that Laurence Fishburne is in the music business and he already has a imprint “LOA Records”. Don’t believe me? Ask Ron Artest.

Here’s what was revealed to me:

“Lamar Fishburne is a pretty good rapper and his uncle is working with him. LOA Records has a distribution deal with Universal Records and Laurence’s nephew mixtape is almost done. Continue Reading…

HSK Exclusive - As tension continues to brew in Angola – concerning Nas’ reported “no show” at a New Year’s Eve bash in the African country in which the rapper is said to have booked – HSK has exclusively learned the lyricist, whose real name is Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, didn’t see a cent of the $300K advance collected for his performance at the event.

That’s because sources say the money went straight into the pockets of the William Morris Endeavor agency. Now, the’ U.S. promoter who booked the event, Patrick Allocco and his son, are being held hostage in Africa with demands Nas cough up the $300K lost plus an additional $50K for expenses.

You may recall Allocco was reported to be kidnapped after allegedly receiving the hefty advance from an Angolan concert promoter before sending it to Nas. THAT’S NOT TRUE. Know why? Because entertainment industry insiders are pointing to talent agency giant, WME as the culprit and receiver of the funds. Continue Reading…