Ain't Going Back To Barton Hollow

Who was that? Was the question that everyone asked themselves, when this man that looks a lot like Johnny Depp and a woman went on the Grammy stage this year to present Taylor Swift, and sang a bit of their own song to give everyone a taste of their own music.

I am happy to say, I already knew who “they” were. There sound is a little bit country, a little folk, and a little bit indie. Now, watch them perform their song “Barton Hollow” which at the Grammy’s left everyone asking for more:

Yes, of course I am talking about The Civil Wars. Joy Williams and John Paul White make up this outstanding duo who’s modest and minimalistic approach to music is what makes them stand out.

There song “Poison & Wine” has been featured on Grey’s Anatomy as well as in the movie Something Borrowed, and has made fans of both the show and movie go on a Google hunt to find out ‘who just sang that song.’ Even Taylor Swift is a fan of the duo, which led to a collaboration on the song “Safe & Sound” for the recently released movie, Hunger Games.

Their lyrics, their music, their voices give life to their songs, and people have taken notice. In the same Grammy awards that for the very first time many people were learning about The Civil Wars, they took home the award for Best Country Duo/Group. Now The Civil Wars have over 100K followers on Twitter and Facebook and over 500k views on their video for “Barton Hallow.”

At this moment this duo is up-and-coming, but mark my words, they are going to be HUGE!

Now go to your Spotify, go on YouTube, or simply watch the following videos, and start experiencing the wonderful music by The Civil Wars. 

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That's The Way This Wheel Keeps Working Now...

There is something about a man with a guitar that makes all the girls go crazy. It may be their sensual voice, their smooth guitar skills, or even just the way they look in your eyes as they sing you a song. Whatever it may be, a guy with a guitar often equals great music.

My knees become a little weak, my heart beats a little faster as I close my eyes and listen to his voice. His lyrics range from singing a “Love Song For No One” to letting us know he is “In Repair.” His sound may be considered a bit pop, but you can definitely hear the blues influence in his music. Who is he? Don’t you know? If so, go ahead and “Say” who it is and listen to this while you are at it.

Yes, it is John Mayer. He is just a man with his guitar making beautiful music. Yes, he’s had a bit of controversy surrounding him, especially when he put his foot in his mouth various times when he posted random things on Twitter, but that’s all behind him now. Actually, none of that ‘Twitter drama’ should matter. His music really speaks for himself.

I have to admit when he first debuted, I was not a huge fan. Yes, I listened to a few songs here and there, but he caught my eye when I heard his song “Comfortable.” Perhaps my heart had just been broken, but I found comfort (pun DEFINITELY intended) in his lyrics. It was a simple song that highlighted his voice and unique songwriting skills.

Then I really fell in love when his album “Continuum” was released. I believe I had this cd on repeat for a good amount of time. I will have to say my favorites songs off this album are, “In Repair,” “Gravity,” and “I’m Gonna Find Another you.” This album really highlights John Mayer’s blues style. The lyrics are not only the words he is singing. I believe his guitar is also singing its pain. The quote “where words fail, music speaks,” applies here.

I was very happy to hear a few weeks ago that he going on tour, since I previously saw him perform in Jacksonville, Florida, and I was left wanting more. I soon after found out he had to cancel the tour due to health reasons.  I hope that soon he’ll be able to continue sharing his music with us, but until then I will leave you with his latest single “Shadow Days.”

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Chicken SOPA For The Piracy Soul

Being sick with pneumonia for the past few weeks I’ve heard a lot about “sopa.” Probably not the “sopa” you’re thinking about. The “sopa” I’m talking about is the delicious soup my mother makes (Sopa is soup in Spanish). Although my mother’s “sopa” can sometimes be elaborate and a bit complicated to understand its ingredients, I will have to admit it does not compare to trying to understand SOPA, the antipiracy act.

It was not until last week when Wikipedia had a 24-hour blackout and Google censored its own logo that many people actually heard about SOPA, but what exactly is SOPA. Luckily the article an Amy Schatz from the Wall Street Journal, answers all our questions. There are two bills against piracy, SOPA and PIPA. SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act, and PIPA stands for Protect Intellectual Property Act. Both bills have been created to stop the problem of foreign-based websites that sell pirated products such as movies and music. The bills are trying to stop the foreign-based websites from being funded by advertisement from U.S. companies.

Our government will take action against these websites by blocking users from accessing the sites, as well as requiring search engines to disable links to the sites. Ads will not be allowed on pirated websites and all credit card transactions will be stopped. Both bills will also allow Hollywood studios to seek private legal action against websites with pirated material.

Personally up to this point this act sounds great to me. It is something that needs to happen, but why exactly is everyone so against this act. According to the article, many believe that the language in the House bill is too broad that it will affect websites that aren’t knowingly hosting pirated material. These bills can even lead to the end of Facebook, Wikipedia, and Twitter, and that is enough for people of all ages to be against this bill.

With the backlash these bills have received I don’t believe either of them will pass any time soon. If the houses do pass the bills, the next step is for President Obama to decide if he wants to sign or veto the bill. Again, with all the negative reaction the bills have received, I find it hard to believe that President Obama would choose to sign a bill that many potential voters are against, especially during an election year. 

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The Year Of Adele!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you know, don’t own a radio, or watch TV then you have heard of Adele. Honestly even if for some reason you were living under a rock the moment you stepped out to read this blog you were bombarded by her music. If you turn on a radio you will hear one of Adele’s big hits.  If you turn on a TV you will see the Glee kids performing her songs, or see an SNL skit about how you can’t help but cry when you hear her songs.

Adele has taken the states and pretty much the whole world by storm. Adele’s “Someone like you” has spent 44 weeks on the top 10 of the Billboard charts, and it only left the top 5 spot for one of those weeks. Her album is the highest grossing album since 2004, and her single “Rolling in the Deep” had over 5.81 million downloads which has made it the biggest selling digital song of any year since SoundScan started tracking digital sales in 2003.

Although Adele had such an amazing year in 2011, and she will probably take home every Grammy she’s nominated for, she had to face her biggest fear. She lost her voice. Well actually she did not just lose her voice, she had to have surgery on her vocal chords because she had a benign polyp. That is truly a singer’s biggest fear. Adele had to cancel many of her tour dates, and finally just had to cancel the rest of her tour. Luckily she is now in the healing process, and we can’t help but ask, how is her voice going to be when she’s all healed. Will she have her same amazing voice? Did she learn her lesson, and take better care of her voice?

As a fan, I am hopeful that Adele will continue to perform and share her beautiful voice and amazing music with us for many years to come. I believe this past year we all learned that there really is not “Someone (else) Like You,” Adele! 

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All I Want For Christmas is Buble

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we’ve no place to go, let us listen to Christmas music! You turn on the TV, the radio, or even step into a mall, and you know the holiday season has arrived. It is a time for Christmas music, and it’s the time for Christmas CD’s.

Michael Buble, who is one of my favorite singers, came out with a new Christmas album, and I believe it is fantastic. Here’s his rendition of “Santa Clause Is Coming To Town:”

What did you think? His jazzy sound just melts my heart. His voice gives traditional Christmas music something extra.

The album begins with “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” where he keeps it simple and sticks to the traditional version. It’s a great rendition and tells the listener they are about to embark on a musical Christmas journey.

In this album, Michael Buble has three duets, one with the Puppini Sisters, another with Shania Twain, and finally a bi-lingual duet with Thalia. “Jingle Bells” with the Puppini Sisters is fun and lighthearted. His duet with Shania Twain gives the song “White Christmas” a bit of a jazz country fusion mix. Michael Buble shows that he can sing in Spanish during his duet with Thalia for “Mis Deseos/Feliz Navidad.”

I know many people are very excited over Justin Bieber’s new version of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” but not me. I love Michael’s version. It’s slow and seductive. It is as if he was whispering in the ear of the person he loves and letting them know how much he needs them.

I will have to say that my favorite song on this album is “Santa Baby.” Normally this song is sung by a woman in a flirtatious/sexy way. Michael Buble changed it up. He made it seem as if he was asking his buddy Santa for some pretty great gifts. Women are not the only ones that one expensive gifts for Christmas! If you have to choose just one Christmas album to listen to I recommend is Michael Buble’s “Christmas” album. 

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The End Of An Era = New Possibilities

For the past few months there have been plenty of rumors about EMI being sold. On November 11, 2011, all the rumors were settled when the announcement was made that the EMI record label is going to be sold to Universal Music Group and EMI Publishing is being sold to Sony/ATV Music Publishing. The first step in the process of this sale is that EMI will have to fully separate the record label from the publisher.

This news definitely affects my life since I currently work for Sony/ATV Music Publishing. We were all in the office waiting around for the announcement to be made, while hearing all kinds of rumors. Finally we received an e-mail from our CEO, Marty Bandier, and we were all knew that our company had purchased EMI Music Publishing. It was a day of uncertainties, but also a day that began a journey of endless possibilities. Two amazing companies are coming together for greatness.

In the article by Ed Christman, “It’s Official: Sony-Led Group Purchases EMI Music Publishing for $2.2 Billion,” he discusses how Sony/ATV bought the publishing side of EMI from Citigroup for $2.2 billion dollars. During the weeks after the announcement there has been a lot of speculation about what exactly will take place, and how the two companies will merge. The article states that Sony/ATV and EMI Music Publishing will share their services and others believe that the A&R would remain separate.

EMI Music publishing is the leading popular music publisher. Its roster includes great artists such as Queen, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Usher, Arcade Fire, and many more. Sony/ATV Music Publishing has great artists such as The Beatles, Lady Gaga, Neil Diamond, and Oasis. In the latest reports about the sale, Marty Bandier said that he plans on keeping the EMI name. 

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Copyrights, Tweets, and Kanye West?

We are lucky to live in an era where all the information we need is just a click away. We can hear access all kinds of news and commentary to learn from other people’s mistakes. A great place to be able to learn from the mistakes made in the entertainment industry is www.entertainmentlawupdate.com. On this website we can access different podcasts that can give us insight on different lawsuits.

The first podcast that caught my eye was titled “What’s with all the Zombies?” During this podcast they discussed the 80’s Hair Band Poison who is being sued for allegedly stealing songs from twenty-five years ago. The Billboard.biz article “Hair Band War! Did Poison Steal ‘80s Hits From Another Band?”  states that guitarist C.C. DeVille was part of the Chicago band Kid Rocker before joining Poison. Billy McCarthy and James Stonich is suing Poison because they feel that DeVille copied their songs which became Poison hit songs. In the podcast they discuss that the big issue is the fact that it has been twenty-five years since the Poison album in which McCarthy and Stonich state their songs appear, and the main argument has been the statute of limitation. One of the points given is that the band Poison continued the wrong by performing the songs for many years after their release, but many courts have not agreed with this argument. This particular case shows us two different things. First, DO NOT STEAL OTHER PEOPLES MUSIC OR ANYTHING for that matter. Second, if someone steals your music or anything else, make sure you sue them before years have passed.

“Monkeying Around with Copyright Law” obviously discusses copyright law.  Marcie Cobbaert, a photographer, sued Lifetime and A&E for improperly featuring her copyrighted photographs on the most recent season of Project Runway. Cobbaert never consented for her photos to be used on the show or the show website, and she was against the photos being used. Marcie Cobbaert is asking for statutory damages, but according to the podcast she will not receive the statutory damages, because she did not file the copyright before the photos were used, instead she filed right before the law suit. The lesson learned from this case is that you must copyright your works immediately!

The final podcast that caught my eye was “Can Kanye write songs 140 characters at a time?” They discuss how Jimmy Kimmel and Josh Groban did a skit about Kanye West’s tweets. The question that arose from this skit was if tweets are protected by copyright. This skit was not a dispute, but according to the podcast it can potentially be. New technologies bring new types of lawsuits. During the podcast discusses what could potentially be copyrighted. The argument presented during the podcast is if Josh Groban had gone and recorded an actual album to sell, would they have to get copyright permission from Kanye West. I believe that if another person is using someone else’s tweets to gain monetary income, then the original tweet should be considered a copyrighted work. I strongly believe that if Josh Groban made money off Kanye West’s tweet, Kanye should receive royalties. This particular podcast brings to light the potential for new lawsuits. Our world and our industry is ever-changing, and we must always be on the look out for the next potential liability. 

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