Malaysia BOND Girl Michelle Yeoh.................

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By VIRGINIA WOOLF:

Life for both sexes and I looked at them, shouldering their way along the pavement is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle.

It calls for gigantic courage and strength.

More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion as we are, it calls for confidence in oneself.

Without self-confidence we are as babes in the cradle. (1929)

LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:.....Adam Lambert Goes Hetero.....

DID YOU KNOW:

*** There have been seven American Bond Girls, four English , three French, two Swedish and one each from Japan,

Malaysia, Switzerland , Italy, and Poland.

***Roger Moore was the oldest Bond actor at 58.

***10% of all the fish caught in the world are sold in Japan. ***Jellyfish as a species are actually older than dinosaurs and sharks.

***Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia make combined.

LBN-HISTORY:

On Oct. 21, 1879, Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.

Google CEO Schmidt: We paid $1 billion premium for YouTube........

October 6, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

Schmidt: We paid $1 billion premium for YouTube

by Greg Sandoval


Since 2006, many observers have scratched their head over what prompted Google to


pay $1.65 billion for the video site YouTube.


We're now a little closer to the answer.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in May, "I believe YouTube was worth somewhere around $600 million to $700 million."

The blockbuster acquisition for the 18-month-old start-up played a large role in sending valuations in the tech sector skyrocketing.

Although YouTube made little revenue, the all-stock transaction gave Google control of a company many believed would change the face of mass entertainment.

It also led to criticism from skeptics who thought that Google would never get its money back.

Google has revealed little about how it decided to pay $1.65 billion but CEO Eric Schmidt said under oath last spring that he was willing to pay a premium--a big one--for YouTube.

Leading up to the acquisition, Schmidt told Google's board of directors that his estimate of YouTube's worth was somewhere between $600 million and $700 million, according to court records reviewed by CNET.

A Google representative declined to comment about Schmidt's valuation.

Schmidt had his reasons for asking his board to OK an offer of $1 billion more than what he thought the site was worth.

The CEO made the comments during a deposition he gave in May as part of the copyright lawsuit Viacom filed against Google and YouTube in 2007.

In short, he believed that Google had to offer that much, or competitors, presumably Microsoft or Yahoo, would walk away with the increasingly popular video site.

"This is a company with very little revenue," Schmidt said while being questioned by Stuart Jay Baskin, a Viacom attorney.

"(YouTube was) growing quickly with user adoption, growing much faster than Google Video, which was the product that Google had.

And they had indicated to us that they would be sold, and we believed that there would be a competing offer--because of who Google was--paying much more than they were worth...

We ultimately concluded that $1.65 billion included a premium for moving quickly and making sure that we could participate in the user success in YouTube."

"In the deal dynamics, the price, remember, is not set by my judgment or by financial model or discounted cash flow.

It's set by what people are willing to pay."

--Eric Schmidt

Three years later, that user success continues:

YouTube has grown from 12 million unique users (in May 2006) to more than 100 million users just in the United States.

Every minute, more than 10 hours of video is uploaded to the site.

But Google is also fighting a $1 billion copyright lawsuit with entertainment giant Viacom, which claims that YouTube encouraged users to violate its copyright.

On top of that, the company is still trying to figure out how to turn its prize acquisition into a profitable business.

YouTube managers have toiled to find the right way to generate revenue, experimenting with a wide range of advertising methods and models--everything from prerolls to overlays.

Perhaps most importantly, managers changed their approach to copyright owners.

Whereas Hollywood executives once called YouTube a "rogue company," the video site can now boast numerous partnerships with top entertainment companies, including as Walt Disney, CBS (publisher of CNET News), Sony Pictures, and Metro Goldwyn-Mayer.

YouTube also has deals with all four major music labels.

And YouTube's finances may finally be turning the corner:

company representatives have hinted in the past several months that it's on the road to becoming the kind of revenue generator that Google always envisioned.

Whether Google paid too much for YouTube then is a sort of barroom debate among media analysts, not unlike arguing whether the New York Yankees overpaid on free-agent ballplayers in the off-season.

James McQuivey, a digital-media analyst at Forrester Research, said that if he were in Schmidt's shoes, he would have made the same deal.

"It actually becomes worth the additional value because Google can tie all of its advertising expertise and search traffic into YouTube," McQuivey said.

"It's not like it's going to pay back that $1.6 billion any time soon, but what it does is, it ensures that these millions and millions of viewers are coming to a Google-owned site rather than someone's else's site...

As a loss leader goes, if it never makes its money back, its still going to be worth it."

McQuivey acknowledged that those focusing only on hard business numbers are probably not going to agree with him.

Count Josh Martin among them.

Martin, a research analyst, was an early skeptic of YouTube's profit potential, arguing on behalf of Yankee Group Research that Google overpaid.

"I don't think Schmidt is wrong in assuming that someone would have overpaid for YouTube.

If Google was willing to overpay for it, then someone else would have too.

But it was a bad business decision for Google."

--Josh Martin, research analyst and early YouTube critic

"I don't think Schmidt is wrong in assuming that someone would have overpaid for YouTube," Martin said.

"If Google was willing to overpay for it, then someone else would have too.

But it was a bad business decision for Google.

We said it at the time, and three years later, we have been proven right."

Martin said that when Google priced YouTube, it should have deducted heavily for the legal liabilities, as well as for the company's ability to draw an audience, if it couldn't offer pirated content.

"You go back to the reason why YouTube was popular, and it was because of (the 'Saturday Night Live' skit) Lazy Sunday," Martin said.

"That is what put YouTube on the map.

So it was popular because it had access to content that it shouldn't have had and that you couldn't get elsewhere because no one else was willing to put it up illegally...

Clearly, (Google's leaders) needed to understand what was driving momentum behind YouTube."

The following is an edited excerpt of Schmidt's deposition:

Stuart Jay Baskin, a Viacom attorney: And what was management's valuation?

Schmidt: Much lower than we paid for it.

Baskin: And how was that communicated to the board?

Schmidt: I told them.

Baskin: So why don't you tell us what you remember telling the board in connection with the valuation?

Schmidt: I believe YouTube was worth somewhere around $600 million to $700 million.

Baskin: And you communicated that to the board?

Schmidt: I did.

Baskin: Of Google?

Schmidt: I did.

Baskin: What methodology did you use to come up with that number?

John P. Mancini, an attorney working for Google, objects.

Schmidt: My judgment.

Baskin: Was it based on cash flow analysis? Comparable companies? What were you using as the basis for your judgment?

Mancini objects.

Schmidt: It's just my judgment. I've been doing this a long time.

Baskin: So you orally communicated to your board during the course of the board meeting that you thought a more correct valuation for YouTube was $600 million to $700 million; is that what you said, sir?

Mancini objects to characterization of the testimony.

Schmidt: Again, to help you along, I believe that they were worth $600 million to $700 million.

Baskin: And am I correct that you were asking your board to approve an acquisition price of $1.65 billion; correct?

Schmidt: I did.

Mancini objects.

Baskin: I'm not very good at math, but I think that would be $1 billion or so more than you thought the company was, in fact, worth.

Mancini objects.

Schmidt: That is correct.

Later...

Baskin: Can you tell us what reasoning you explained?

Schmidt: Sure, this is a company with very little revenue, growing quickly with user adoption, growing much faster than Google Video, which was the product that Google had.

And they had indicated to us that they would be sold, and we believed that there would be a competing offer--because of who Google was--paying much more than they were worth.

In the deal dynamics, the price, remember, is not set by my judgment or by financial model or discounted cash flow.

It's set by what people are willing to pay.

And we ultimately concluded that $1.65 billion included a premium for moving quickly and making sure that we could participate in the user success in YouTube

Diana Dodi and Child......Gordon Sting Sumner and FRAGILE......

LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:

DIANA, DODI AND CHILD ?

LBN-LYRICS

OF LIFE

By STING:

If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one

Drying in the colour of the evening sun

Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away

But something in our minds will always stay

Perhaps this final act was meant

To clinch a lifetime's argument

That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could

For all those born beneath an angry star

Lest we forget how fragile we are.

DID YOU KNOW:

***The can opener was invented 50 years after the invention of the can.

*** 50 gigabytes of information can hold up to 3 piles of single spaced typed pages that is taller than the Eiffel tower.

***Leonardo Da Vinci could also draw with one hand and write with the other simultaneously.

***The Dalai Lama enjoys collecting and repairing watches.

***The Dead Sea is 365 m below sea level.

LBN-QUOTE:

They say an old man is twice a child.Hamlet, II.II.385.

LBN-HISTORY:

On Oct. 6, 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot to death by Islamic militants while reviewing a military parade.

Regime Change in Hollyw'd: Unh-Uh ... It's About the Basics

Analysis: The new group of movie executives will need to embrace more than Twitter.

By Sharon Waxman

Published: October 05, 2009

In a single day, two major studios ushered in regime change.

The message: A different day has arrived.

By replacing a respected, long-standing veteran in Dick Cook at Disney, and by dismissing two sharp, younger executives at Universal -- Marc Shmuger and David Linde -- the takeaway was the same.

New people are needed at the helm to forge the path toward a new Hollywood. (Read TheWrap's full coverage of the executive shuffles.)

In the case of Universal, it was by promoting two internal candidates, marketing chief Adam Fogelson and production head Donna Langley (which readers of Waxword would already have known since last week).

And in the case of Disney, it was by bringing in a talented executive from the Disney Channels, Rich Ross, who has built a reputation for understanding international markets and grasping the family-friendly brand.

But is change what will really happen?

Everyone talks about the transformative moment in which the entertainment industry finds itself.

Many throw the word "Twitter" into every conversation, as if invoking this phenomenon will in itself stop the deadly slide of DVD sales.

But as the industry faces the fundamental challenges of a contracting economy, the infidelity of audiences, the shortening of attention spans and elusive revenue streams of the Internet -- the mandate for change is far from clear.

Interviewed by TheWrap on Monday, Fogelson was asked about his vision for change.

“In terms of my vision, it’s our vision,” he responded vaguely.

“Donna and Rick (Finkelstein) and I have spent a lot of time over the past few days making sure we all felt good about something we could accomplish together. “

He added: “One of the goals is to redouble our efforts to make sure every time we greenlight a movie we are taking a responsible risk.”

In other words, focus on the bottom line.

Well, that’s not new.

Langley told TheWrap that they were excited about bringing marketing ideas into the pre-greenlight process.

That’s not new, either.

At Disney, Rich Ross was not giving interviews.

He was still -- an executive explained -- getting up to speed.

He met with his new staff on Monday afternoon.

What will it take to guide the studios through the shoals of the current maelstrom, other than just squeezing the price of marketing, cutting producer deals and making A-list actors take their money on the back end?

If the movie industry is headed toward crisis, it is not at all clear that the new group of executives have some secret insights about how to forge Hollywood’s future.

Indeed, the fundamental skills of a movie mogul may not be about understanding Twitter at all.

It may instead be about re-embracing the fundamental skills that go into making and selling entertaining movies.

For the talent agencies, that means an emphasis on cultivating relationships with the talent.

That was clearly missing in the Universal equation.

And independent producers, who are struggling as never before, will tell you that it’s about teasing out the right stories, and making them for the right price.

Anyone with common sense will tell you that many movies have gotten too expensive, and that audiences are less easily fooled today by schlock.

Clearly, tapping the global nature of Hollywood’s brand -- the one true area of growth in the moviemaking industry -- is going to be critical.

That’s not actually new, either.

It’s those fundamental skills that will make the difference for these major studios as they face the next period of change.

“Everything is being revamped and changed, but what is really changed?” asked one leading talent agent, who declined to be identified.

“This notion of ‘change’ is just for change’s sake,” he said.

“It’s not really changing anything.

It goes back to --

if you put talented people in who appreciate artists,

you’ll do well.”

Refugee Wyclef Jean going back to school...Plans to earn degree from Berklee College of Music

Wyclef Jean going back to school




Plans to earn degree from Berklee College of Music


Associated Press


Oct 2, 2009, 05:57 PM ET



BOSTON --

After having sold and produced about 31 million copies of albums,


Wyclef Jean is going back to school to earn a degree from Boston's Berklee College of Music.



The former frontman for the Fugees said Friday that the school has a program flexible enough for his needs and plans to attend his first class Monday.



Jean's first class is on Monday.



His curriculum this fall includes ear training, theory, improvisation and guitar.



The Haitian-born hip-hop artist said he left college after only one semester to pursue his career and that going back to school has always been a goal.



The 36-year-old is scheduled to release a remix album Nov. 10.


TILA TEQUILA



Remember the whole thing about whether or not Shawne Merriman beat her up ?


Well she has finally cracked because she has been asking her followers to write either #TilaDontKillYourself or #TilaCommitSuicide and whichever one got on the trending topics first she would do.


As well as this, she is saying that she is one of gods chosen people and she knows when the world will end, why it will end and what has happened to people in their past.


Here are some of her tweets:


I will live if I see that mankind is anything worth fighting for…unfortunately…God is VERY disappointed in mankind right now.


I know SO much about why the world is ending in 2012.


God has given up on you humans U only get worse.


He has lost faith in you…


When I had my death experiences, I actually died twice and saw the light.


My life never been the same since..


I saw God & he told me lots of things.


When the docs brought me back to life.


I never saw the world the same again.


Im telling u now.


I am God’s Messenger.

Lady Gaga named Billboard's 'Rising Star'...so well deserved....

Lady Gaga named Billboard's 'Rising Star'

Rewards artists achieving success in early stages of career

By Mariel Concepcion, Billboard

Sept 28, 2009, 05:19 PM ET

Lady Gaga (Getty)NEW YORK --


Billboard announced today that pop sensation Lady Gaga will be named its "Rising Star" at the 2009 Billboard Women In Music event, taking place on Oct. 2nd in New York City.


The Billboard Rising Star Award rewards artists that have achieved a level of success and proven to have vast potential in the early stages of their career.


Lady Gaga is the undisputed break-out star of the year for many reasons, including the success of her debut album, "The Fame" (Streamline Records), which has spawned four Billboard Hot 100 hit singles like "Just Dance" and "Poker Face," both which reached No. 1 on the tally.


"Just Dance" and "Poker Face" are also the Nos. 2 and 8 best-selling digital songs of all time, with 4.6 million and 4 million downloads, respectively.Gaga recently became the third artist in the history of the Mainstream Top 40 Airplay chart to have three No. 1 singles from a debut album.


"The Fame" is also the best-selling album from a debut artist for 2009, with 1,441,000 copies sold in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.


In addition to writing all the tracks on her album, Lady Gaga has previously written for Britney Spears, the Pussycat Dolls, and New Kids on the Block.


"Lady Gaga is one of those rare examples of a truly unique artist with mass appeal," says Bill Werde, Editorial Director of Billboard. "


She has established herself as one of today's top songwriters, and the whole world is waiting to see what her next outrageous but brilliant move or style will be.


It is that ongoing anticipation, combined with her success that makes her a rising star."






The Billboard Women in Music Event celebrates the most powerful and talented women in the music business, and is held in conjunction with the much-anticipated publication of Billboard's Women In Music Power Players List -


recognizing the top female music executives who are leading the industry with their artistic and business vision.


Billboard will also honor Grammy Award-winning artist and pop culture icon Beyonce with the coveted Billboard Woman of The Year Award at the event.
.

Queen Barbra Streisand......

Streisand Admits At Historic Show:

“Singing ‘People’ Is Boring”

By: Roger Friedman

Sunday September 27, 2009

Barbara Streisand, perhaps the greatest performer of her generation, made history last night for her fans as she returned to her Greenwich Village roots after almost 50 years.

As a promotional effort for her latest album, “Love is the Answer,” the eternally youthful looking Streisand brought a four-piece jazz band into the Village Vanguard, a downstairs club in the West Village where she got her start almost five decades ago.

Among the guests were fans who’d won a lottery for the available 78 seats.

But the other fans were also pretty remarkable:

former president Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with daughter Chelsea and her fiancee,

actor James Brolin (Streisand’s husband),

Jessica Parker, Nicole Kidman, Donna Karan, famed theater actress Phyllis Newman who is also the widow of Adolph Green, lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman, mogul Barry Diller (solo–wife Diane von Furstenberg was away, he told me), the New York Times’s Frank Rich and Alex Witchel, Deborah Lee Furness aka Mrs. Hugh Jackman, Columbia Records chief Rob Stringer, and longtime Hollywood manager Sandy Gallin.

The brilliant record producer Tommy LiPuma, who made “Love is the Answer” with Streisand and Diana Krall, was also there.

Of course, not everyone could fit into the Village Vanguard, so Sony Music, the parent of Columbia Records, arranged for a closed-circuit feed to the Louis XVI suite at the Waldorf Astoria.

That’s where yours truly watched the show on large TV screens, along with about 50 more of Streisand’s friends and family including Joy Behar of ”The View,” another longtime Streisand associate and music exec Charles Koppelman (now CEO of Martha Stewart’s company), and even the rabbi who’s head of the Conservative Jewish movement in Israel!

Streisand started the hour long show, which can be seen on AOL Broadband this evening, introduced by her devoted manager of 48 years, Marty Ehrlichman.

She also introduced Jimmy Cobb, the legendary (now 80 year old) jazz drummer who played her early albums (and was Miles Davis’s drummer), as well as the waiter who gave her career tips all those years ago.

From our vantage point in the Waldord, Streisand looked like “buttah” in the most intimate setting she’s performed in for years.

Maybe because of that, she was a little too relaxed.

Speaking off the cuff, Streisand introduced over a dozen songs with many reminscinces.

Some of them were telling: “When I sing songs like ‘People’ over and over, I get a little bored,” she admitted.

So “People.” one of her signature numbers, was not in the show.

Instead she sang “My Funny Valentine” at the suggestion of a friend, after not singing it for years.

She included Jacques Brel’s “If You Go Away” including the anecdote of how and she and her husband (Elliot Gould, presumably) and another couple flew to Marseilles years ago to see Brel, only to have him not sing it himself.

She performed her own hit, “Evergreen,” because she said it was President Clinton’s favorite.

“I feel Virginia’s here, too,” she said, referring to the president’s late mother.

“She was one of my surrogate mothers.”

Some of the other numbers included one by the Bergmans (”I’ve recorded 52 of their songs”), “Bewitched Bothered, and Bewildered,” “My Heart Belongs to Me,” “Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” “Gentle Rain,” “Spring Can Really Hang You Up,” “Make Someone Happy,” “Where Do You Start?” and then through the room a big bone, as it were: the Bergmans’ (with Marvin Hamlisch), “The Way We Were.”

On the screen, you could see Sarah Jessica Parker tear up, like half the room.

It was a night bathed in nostalgia, but it wasn’t always perfect.

The first thing Streisand asked yours truly (of all things) after she and most of the guests transferred up to the Waldorf was:

“Was I okay?

Did my voice sound alright?”

Yes, for real, she was verklempt.

We told her she said, “People” was boring.

“I did?” she exclaimed, “Oh my god!”
The answer is: she told the audience, “I haven’t sung since January.”

She and the band only rehearsed for this gig for two days.

If she were anyone else, Streisand would get an A plus.

But with that little preparation, maybe we’ll say A minus.

She missed some high notes.

Sometimes, toward the end, you could a little hoarseness.

She was not the usual Streisand the perfectionist.

It’s incredibly ingratiating to find out she’s human, taking chances, and real.

It didn’t quite bring her down to a mortal level, but made her accessible in a new way.

Now, if she “practices, practices, practices,” she knows what her next stop will be.

“What about Carnegie Hall?” she asked us, in all seriousness.

She should try it!

LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:.....

Tupac's mother donates writing for research

Drafts of lyrics and poems included in the items

Associated Press

Sept 25, 2009, 06:15 PM ET

ATLANTA --

Tupac Shakur's mother has donated a collection of the rapper's writing to the Atlanta University Center's main library.

Afeni Shakur has handed over more than 150 of her son's items, ranging from rough drafts of lyrics and poems to a photocopy of his contract with Suge Knight and Death Row Records.

The rapper's collection will be part of the archives at the Robert W. Woodruff Library on the campus of the Atlanta University Center.

The library also houses The Martin Luther King Jr. Collection at Morehouse College.Shakur was one of rap's best-selling artists, becoming an even bigger star after his release from prison in 1995 with his multi-platinum selling album "All Eyez on Me."

He was shot to death a year later.

Tupac's mother donates writing for research

Drafts of lyrics and poems included in the items

Rhino Records Lays Off 30-40.........

Rhino Records lays off 30-40


WMG unit attempts to change with the times


By CHRISTOPHER MORRIS


In the latest indication of the shrinking market for compact discs, Warner Music Group's catalog arm Rhino Records laid off between 30 and 40 staffers on Thursday.


Job losses came in all departments, including A&R, marketing, promotion and publicity.


A statement from Rhino cited a "fundamental transformation of the physical new release and catalog business" as a reason for the cuts.


Company said Rhino will evolve into an entity that "handles WMG's global digital catalog initiatives, film, TV, vidgame and commercial licensing, and name and likeness representation for legendary artists."


Move comes as sales of physical recorded music continues to decline steeply.


Rhino has long been considered the industry standard for boxed set retrospectives, but demand for such high-ticket items has been strangled by the music market slump and shift to digital sales.


The Warner unit has been trying to change with the times, placing more emphasis on digital-only offerings, including a recent virtual boxed set devoted to the U.K.'s Factory Records,


and name-and-likeness pacts, such as those made with Frank Sinatra's estate and the Grateful Dead.

Eminem Publisher Takes Apple to Court Over Rights.....

Eminem Publisher Takes Apple to Court Over Rights

DETROIT (AP) --

An attorney for Apple Inc. defended the company's use of Eminem's songs on iTunes in court on Thursday, as a trial got under way to determine who had the right to offer digital downloads of the rapper's music.

Eight Mile Style LLC, Eminem's music publisher, and an affiliated company, Martin Affiliated LLC, say their contract with Aftermath Records, which controls the recordings, did not entitle it to strike a deal with Apple to sell 93 songs over iTunes.


The case involves millions of dollars and the creative rights behind the hip-hop star. But the issue for the judge here in the rapper's hometown is narrow:


What do contracts between Eight Mile and Aftermath say about the ability to peddle songs beyond traditional compact discs?


In his opening statement, Apple lawyer Glenn Pomerantz said it's a case of ''common sense.''


''Nowhere does it say only compact discs.


Nowhere does it say ... not digital downloads,'' he told U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor.


Record companies like Aftermath have rights to use the recordings and the compositions -- ''otherwise they couldn't sell records,'' Pomerantz said.


Apple pays Aftermath 70 cents for each iTunes download, and


Eight Mile gets 9.1 cents of that share as the music publisher, he said.


Despite the legal dispute, Eight Mile cashed royalty checks and hasn't asked Apple to stop selling Eminem's songs, Pomerantz said.


''They've been paid a lot of money.


We don't begrudge them that,'' he said.


''But they're not entitled to that money and Apple's profits.''


Eight Mile's lawyers claim Apple has wrongfully gained $2.5 million through iTunes downloads, including $466,915 from Eminem's biggest hit, ''Lose Yourself.''


They say Aftermath has collected $4 million off his songs on iTunes.


Eight Mile attorney Richard Busch said the publisher has a history of making legal distinctions between digital downloads and other ways to distribute Eminem's music.


He referred to an agreement with Universal Music Group to offer ''Lose Yourself'' as a download before iTunes was created.


''The publisher owns these compositions, not Aftermath. ...


If Eight Mile had a direct licensing relationship with Apple, this kind of nonsense would not happen,'' Busch said.


Pomerantz said Apple doesn't make that kind of deal.


The first witness was Eight Mile manager Joel Martin, who said the publishing company can't protect itself financially without a download license with Apple.


''We can't look at their records.


We can't look at their books.


We can never make a claim against Apple -- ever,'' he said.


Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, was not in court.


He is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit and is not listed as a trial witness.


''He's well aware of what's going on,'' said Mark Bass, a songwriter and producer who, with his brother Jeff, is credited with launching Eminem's career.


''It's important to all songwriters across the board.''


The trial could last a week or more.


The judge is not expected to hear any music, but Pomerantz held up an unusual prop during his opening statement:


a 1940s album by late crooner Bing Crosby.


He used it to explain the history of a music ''album'' and how song delivery has changed over decades.

5 Reasons for Optimism in the Music Industry.....

5 Reasons for Optimism in the Music Industry

By Mitch Bainwol

Published: September 20, 2009

The Wrap.com recently published a list of “5 Ways to Save the Music Industry.”

Hey, we’re always happy to hear of any wise perspective, but a few of the recommendations slightly missed the mark, or were unnecessarily pessimistic.

So, in the spirit of the column and a friendly debate, here are five reasons for optimism:

1. Our product, music, remains as popular as ever.

While other businesses may scrap to generate consumer interest in their product, music remains as popular as ever, according to our surveys, and is an economic catalyst for many other industries.

Think about some of the news in recent weeks: leading technology company Apple rolls out a new line of its phenomenally popular music-listening gadgets as well as a major upgrade of the iTunes music store.

Videogame developers Harmonix and MTV Games introduce a seminal version of its Rock Band franchise featuring the iconic Beatles.

Meanwhile, two of the most popular television programs, "American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars," are about music.

And music is an essential, distinctive part of many hit shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and “Gossip Girl.” Last spring ABC even launched an online “Music Lounge” for fans to locate and purchase music played on its most popular programs.

The common thread is that all are platforms for music.

We no doubt continue to confront serious challenges to fully monetizing the value of music, but the fundamental relevance of music to the human experience remains as powerful as ever.

2. Long live the album.

The album’s demise is exaggerated.

CD sales may continue to decline (though the success of the Beatles’ remastered catalogue demonstrates an enduring appetite for compelling music in physical form),

but so far in 2009, growth in digital album sales is again outpacing digital singles

(17.5 percent vs. 11.7 percent).

Digital music is still a maturing marketplace, and fans are becoming increasingly comfortable buying not just the latest single online, but the entire album.

Throw in the recent iTunes LP initiative from Apple and the major record companies and the album’s unparalleled significance is taken to the next level.

3. But it’s more than just the album.

Too often, observers assess the health and vitality of the music business simply by comparing year-over-year unit sales.

But that narrow analysis of yesterday’s music business fails to capture the whole story.

The modern music company is an

increasingly diversified,

full-service entertainment firm

deriving revenues

from a variety of different streams.

The success of a new album is not simply based

on unit sales,

but the cumulative revenues earned from

album and single track downloads,

online music videos,

ringtones and other mobile phone content,

digital radio performance royalties,

video games downloads and licensing fees,

background music to television shows and films,

audio streaming sites, and

countless other ancillary revenue streams.

One example?

Revenues from digital platforms like satellite and online radio grew more than 70 percent in 2008 and should experience continuing significant growth this year and beyond.

4. Record labels make or break the day.

A handful of well-known bands have elected to distribute their latest albums without the help of a record label.

More power to them.

But, interestingly and tellingly, what connects the few oft-cited examples is that virtually all are established acts, with a devoted fan base and an established brand.

That notoriety and fan support exists in the first place because of the unique marketing and promotional expertise of a record label.

Digital technologies have indeed made it easier for an artist to “DIY.”

But more often than not, it is the music label that can uniquely help the artist cross the bridge between anonymity and artistic and commercial success.

There were more than 100,000 different albums released in 2008 alone, yet only 950 of them sold more than 25,000 copies.

There are more than 2 million hip hop artists on MySpace and more than 1.8 million rock acts.

It’s a sure bet that most of these acts are hoping that a label will pluck them from the mass of aspiring, unsigned artists online and take their careers to the next level.

Breaking through, developing and cultivating an audience, working with the most talented musicians and top notch equipment, leveraging opportunities in a cluttered multi-platform digital media world -- all are the invaluable and irreplaceable functions of a modern record label.

5. Great music.

TheWrap rightly plugged Jack White’s phenomenal musicianship.

He’s worthy of the accolades, but he’s hardly alone.

This fall, fans will hear another great slate of albums from the world’s most talented bands and artists, including Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado, Pearl Jam, Norah Jones, Bon Jovi, KISS, Leona Lewis, Tim McGraw, Shakira, Rod Stewart, Carrie Underwood and countless others.

This is yet another encouraging sign of a music business that is energized, vital, relevant and here to stay.

Description

Mitch Bainwol is

Chairman & CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),

the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry.

Its members are the leading record companies that create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 85 percent of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States.

Bainwol is based in Washington, D.C.

Kim Kardashian Shows Off Her QuickTrim Bikini Body.............

Amanda Holden Strips For Cancer

Paul @ Gone Hollywood

Many of you probably don’t know who Amanda Holden is, she is a judge on

Britain’s Got Talent.

Well she has decided to strip down to nothing but her panties and a pair of shoes covering her boobs, all for a charity campaign to raise money for cancer.

If you get past her surgery – Amanda Holden is pretty hot, I think it should be a law that every hot women should be forced to wear their shoes like this.

source:

Make sure you Holden to those shoes!

Cheeky Amanda uses stilettos to cover her assets [Daily Mail]

THE WORLD'S LONELIEST MAN:

At least eleven delegations to the United Nations, including France, Canada and the United States, walked out during a speech given by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wednesday night.

Although Ahmadinejad said that his country is ready to shake all hands "that are honestly extended to us,"

he said of Israel,

"It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics,

economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks,

and establish a new form of slavery to attain its racist ambitions."

CHARGED UP TO $80 TO STRIP DOWN WHILE FIXING COFFEES:

Five Washington state baristas charged customers to touch their breasts and buttocks at an espresso stand where servers wear bikinis to draw business, police said.

The five were charged Wednesday with prostitution.

Charging money for that kind of touching falls under the city's definition of prostitution.

The Everett Herald reports the women were charging up to $80 to strip down while fixing lattes and mochas.

NEW OIL:

New oil discoveries have totaled about 10 billion barrels this year, on a pace to reach the highest level since 2000.

LBN-HOLLYWOOD INSIDER:

***"Adventureland" star Jesse Eisenberg will portray Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and singer Justin Timberlake will portray Silicon Valley mainstay Sean Parker in "The Social Network," director David Fincher's film adaptation of Ben Mezrich's book "The Accidental Billionaires."

Karina Smirnoff Dances Naked For PETA

Roberta @ Gone Hollywood Wednesday, September 23, 2009

You hear that, Maks?

Karina Smirnoff would rather dance naked than wear fur!

In a new PETA campaign, “I’d Rather Dance Naked Than Wear Fur”, Karina takes it all off.

The “Dancing With The Stars” dancer, who recently broke things off with Maksim Chmerkovskiy has donned nothing but her dancing shoes for the new PETA ad campaign.

The photo was shot by celebrity photographer Robert Sebree.

In a new interview with PETA, she said, “I did wear fur, especially when I was growing up in the Ukraine.

But there are ways of being warm and being fashionable without being cruel.

She joins a long list of celebrity endorsements for the animal rights group.

Among those are Christina Applegate, Sophie Monk, Kimora Lee Simmons, and Nia Long.

I bet Maks is kicking himself right about now!

source: PHOTO: Karina Smirnoff Goes Naked in New PETA Ad – [us magazine]


LBN-MUSIC INSIDER:

***A new Michael Jackson single and album will be released in the next few weeks, in advance of the fallen pop star's performance movie.

The "This Is It" single will be the first new music released since the singer died last summer, Sony Music said.

The song, which comes out Oct. 12, features backing vocals by Jackson's brothers.

The double-disc album will contain several versions of the new song and a spoken poem by Jackson.

***Things are looking bright for three-time Russian Grammy winner and recent U.S. transplant Irene Nelson.

Her first single, Sunrise, has been named the #3 most added single on radio stations across the country.

***Legendary rock band KISS inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

LBN-BUSINESS INSIDER:

***The administration dropped plans to require that banks offer simplified plain vanilla loans and credit cards.

***9 leading executives of Starbuck read this LBN E-Lert daily.

They understand that information is power and the LBN E-Lert is a power-tool.

***Coupon use has caught on among young and well-off shoppers, though digital versions havent gained much according to media expert and author Michael Levine.

LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:.....

LBN-MEDIA INSIDER:

***With just a 1.5 rating, "The Jay Leno Show" could make $300 million a year for NBC -- and probably spark other networks to follow suit, according to television execs speaking at a Producers Caucus panel.

Broadcasters are likely to further reduce their reliance on scripted dramas.

***Craigslist founder Craig Newmark is offering advice to the mayor's office of San Francisco on DataSF.org, a new Web site promising up-to-date city government data for public viewing.

The site will post data such as crime statistics, restaurant inspections and street fixes.

***Criminals flooded several online advertising networks with malicious ads over the weekend, causing popular Web sites such as Drudge Report to inadvertently attack their readers.

Malicious ads were placed on networks managed by Google's DoubleClick, among others.

Kim Kardashian Shows Off Her QuickTrim Bikini Body

Roberta @ Gone Hollywood Friday, September 11, 2009

I’m not buying a word of this QuickTrim BS.

Kim Kardashian wants us all to run out to our nearest GNC and pick up some of these magic pills so that we can all look like her....

She tweeted, “Quick Trim DOES A BODY GOOD!” along with “Don’t kill me @NickSaglimbeni 4 posting snapshots of our shoot, they aren’t photoshopped yet, but who needs it!


Quick Trim baby! Go get it!”

She’s really shilling for this stuff, they must’ve lined her pockets with some serious cash.

She tweeted:

U can get Quick Trim now http://tinyurl.com/nqbjuq

It works!

Check out my twitpics!

I lost my last 6 lbs fast & toned up!

Loving QUICK TRIM

The photos both look overexposed and Photoshopped, but she does look good.

What do you think guys?..........................and..................Ladies.............