Russian Band Sentenced To 2 Years

Yesterday I was listening to the Billy Joel interview on Here's The Thing. It's incredibly entertaining.  Billy talked about playing Russia.  After his performance he knew the iron curtain would fall. He said they didn't even know how to make toilet paper.  Well it looks like there is still a censor curtain that is raised high. 

Three members of the band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in jail by a Moscow judge (who is female).  They were charged with  hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.  Seems like it was more a staged protest against the re-election of Vladimir Putin, then religious hatred.  They spontaneously performed in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.   What better way to get attention then to perform in a church. No wonder Madonna has shown support for them. 

The NY Times reported that after the sentence was read, there was anti-censorship rioting.
Riot police officers arrested dozens of them, including the former chess champion Garry Kasparov, who is active in the Russian political opposition. Mr. Kasparov fought with the police and appeared to be beaten as he was bundled into a police vehicle. 

Pussy Riot being held before their court sentencing today. 

The saga began in February when the women infiltrated Moscow’s main cathedral wearing colorful balaclavas, and pranced around in front of the golden Holy Doors leading into the altar, dancing, chanting and lip-syncing for what would later become a music video of a profane song in which they beseeched the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Mr. Putin.  Security guards quickly stripped them of their guitars, but the video was completed with splices of footage from another church. 

Punk Prayer is not much of a song or a video, but it's apparent protest is the key here. The nuns do look panicked.  They may have feared for the church and it's sacred contents.  MTV noted that on the same day Pussy Riot was sentenced, a Moscow court also upheld a controversial "100 year ban" on Gay Pride marches in the city.  Free Pussy Riot.org  is staging protests around the world, including two in NYC that should be going on as I write this. 

BORING

Madonna Halftime = Boring Performance

Kudos to the staging. That was amazing.

The Live Nation Deals: Where Are They Now?

The following AP release is very telling. Apparently U2 has cashed in their stock options on their Live Nation deal. This happens before they have performed one show under the new contract. See piece below:

U2 Divests LN Stock - Promoter Takes A Hit
Posted: December 18, 2008
Irish rock band U2 made a killing in the stock market after they moved to sell the 1,556,386 shares in Live Nation stock. U2 acquired the shares as part of the 12-year 360 deal they signed with Live Nation in March of 2008.
At the time, the company touted the stock holding as evidence of the band's faith in the business model. As a part of the agreement, Live Nation guaranteed that the band would receive at least $25 million for the stock. Unfortunately for Live Nation, their share price has dipped precipitously in recent months and company's shares were trading at $3.80, clearing just under 6 million, leaving the promoter holding the bag for the remaining $19 million.

Despite the sale, the U2's manager took pains to restate the band's commitment to the pact. "We're very much in business with [Live Nation] and we're planning to tour in 2009." Paul McGuinness, the band's manager told the Wall Street Journal.

U2's deal with Live Nation has yet to be very profitable for the promoter as the band hasn't toured since 2006. The Irish rockers have stated that they plan to release an album next year with aforementioned tour to follow and the band has a proven track record of moving tickets so it remains very likely that Live Nation will still post a profit from the U2 deal in the long-term.

Unfortunately, however the other shoe may be ready to drop for the promoter in April, as Madonna becomes eligible to sell the $25 million in stock holdings she acquired from her own 360 agreement with Live Nation. Unlike U2 however, Madonna has been an earner this year, pulling in more than $120 million (and counting) from her "Sticky & Sweet" tour.

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino tried to offer some perspective to the sale, noting to the WSJ that "Madonna and U2 are the only two deals that did contain this provision. The Madonna business is great, and we look forward to monetizing our investment in U2 next year."

At time of publication, Live Nation's shares were trading slightly higher at $4.07.

80's Music in Today's Music

Bruises by Brooklyn's own Chairlift is the music behind the recent iPod Nano commercial. I would have guessed them to be a British band as their music is 80's derivative. There is the underlying beat ala Phil Collin's version of You Can't Hurry Love. Thompson Twins and Berlin come to mind. I heard a piece on All Songs Considered which stated that the 80's were the worst time for music. They picked apart songs like Let's Hear It For The Boy, which of course is a very obvious target. Then they proceeded to gang up on Hall & Oates, which is so misguided. The problem in the 80's was not with the music, but with the production. Electric keyboard, drum machine heavy production masked the actual beauty of the songwriting. Say what you will about Rick Springfield, but early on he wrote great pop songs. They will never be timeless because of the production. You can say the same about Madonna. If the 80's were so bad, why are so many young musicians deriving their music from the records of that time?

Live Nation: Spend? Wait? Exit the Chairman?

Is the buying spree at Live Nation coming to an end or just starting? Michael Cohl who sold his concert promotion company to Live Nation and then became it's Chairman thinks the deals need to cease until they can prove the formula a winner. Chief Executive Michael Rapino thinks more 360 deals should be happening. 360 deals are those in which an artists puts all his/her eggs in one basket. In most cases the company that makes the deal with you gets a piece of record royalties, touring, merchandise, etc. essentially anything that you make money from, possibly publishing being the only exception. Live Nation has taken a financial leap by signing Madonna and Jay-Z to deals totaling $270 million in guaranteed money to those artists. These seem like two crazy deals in the current music atmosphere. Since Live Nation announced the Madonna deal, their stock has fallen 44% and that of course is the number everyone looks to. Give me the days when Warner Brothers signed an act they liked and took two to three album cycles to develop the act. Careers were made, the acts had fans and fans could afford to attend numerous shows. I heard somebody say the other day that Madonna tickets were $400 a piece. I guess Live Nation has to try and make the money back somehow and justify the signing to their shareholders. Younger people can't afford those prices! Most people can't afford that number! If she had a faithful audience, this is a great way to lose them. Randy Meisner, one of the original Eagles and the author of their classic, Take It To The Limit, was quoted in Rolling Stone last month as saying how much money do you really need?

StubHub and Madonna Deal to Resell Tix

I guess any news that is music business related should not surprise me, but it still does. Years ago you would not see the artist getting into bed with the scalpers, but I guess Madonna feels if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

According to an article in today's Wall St Journal, Madonna will get a a percentage of sales as well as a flat fee from StubHub. This is her first tour under her new $120 million deal with Live Nation. She is doing 18 dates in the US this fall. Several of them will be stadium shows including Dodger Stadium. I've only seen Madonna once and it was at Radio City. It might have been the Like A Virgin tour. I can't image her show translating to a big stadium where she has to connect with at least 45,000 people. Even though Madison Square Garden isn't intimate by any means, you can still see the dancers. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling her fans will not want to see her in a major league ballpark. So Madonna plays bigger venues than ever, gets into the scalping business and is releasing her last record on Warner Brothers. It was also reported in the Journal that the Warner Music Group's losses widened. Some things will still surprise me, others won't.

Live Nation Scooping It Up

According to the NY Times, Live Nation is now signing Jay-Z for a $150 million dollar deal. He was president of the record label he was on. He now signs with a tour promoter. JayZ is not know as a road warrior.

The deal includes financing for his own entertainment venture, in addition to recordings and tours for the next decade. The pact, expected to be finalized this week, is the most expansive deal yet from Live Nation, which has angled to compete directly with the industry’s established music labels in a scrum over the rights to distribute recordings, sell concert tickets, market merchandise and control other aspects of artists’ careers.

As it's been stated, it appears Live Nation is just bulking up the assets to sell it again. Nothing like regifting. As Bob Lefsetz said, who do you want to be in with Michael Jordan or the hottest young basketball player. He also points out that when David Geffen started his own label he signed Elton John, John Lennon and Donna Summer. Not until he signed a new act, Guns N Roses, did he start printing money. Three veterans now signed to 10 year deals with Live Nation. Jay-Z wil be 49/50 years old when the deal expires. Madonna will be 60/61 and U2 will be close to Madonna. I'm not throwing stones as I could have gone to school with Bono. I just know that touring is not for the faint of heart. The older you get, the less important it is prove yourself or take on the road. We'll see if Live Nation gets the big payday. We'll see if it's worth the money to these acts.

Hillary and Madonna? Obama and Pitt? Family ties

As seen in NewYorker.com

When did genealogy become the silliest science? This week, researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society climbed up into the family trees of the leading contenders for President, and what they found was surprising—and risible. Hillary Clinton, whose mother is of French-Canadian extraction, is distantly related to such luminaries as Angelina Jolie (ninth cousin, twice removed), Madonna, Celine Dion, and Alanis Morissette. Obama, through his white Kansan mother, is related to six U.S. Presidents, including George W. Bush, and Brad Pitt (ninth cousin). McCain’s origins are less well known, but he is a sixth cousin of First Lady Laura Bush. Below is a classic skit about family trees from 1965, starring Julie Andrews and Gene Kelly, either of whom may well be related to the candidates.—Ben Greenman