The American Idol finalists have been revealed for the 2010 season.  I’m not huge on the show, but obviously 11 million+ people are, so it’s more than worthy to post here for everyone to see.

Did Benami
Crystal Bowersox
Lacey Brown
Michelle Delamor
Lee Dewyze
Katelyn Epperly
Andrew Garcia
Tyler Grady
Todrick Hall
Aaron Kelly
Casey James
Alex Lambert
Michael Lynche
Siobhan Magnus
Paige Miles
Joe Munoz
John Park
Ashley Rodriguez
Lilly Scott
Jermaine Sellers
Katie Stevens
Tim Urban
Haeley Vaughn
Janell Wheeler

I also heard that someone was actually kicked off the show recently, more than likely for having a prior recording contract.  I thought that didn’t matter because that Irish chick last year had a contract prior to Idol also.  Like I said, I’m not big on the show, but its worth mentioning for the sheer popularity of it.

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Moving on to another largely successful news story.  Aerosmith is planning it’s summer European tour.  Which I had thought that Aerosmith had recently broke up when Steven Tyler left the band, but now he’s back?  That certainly was a quick argument, because he’s back, and without “Steven,” Aerosmith just simply isn’t Aerosmith.  Here’s a snippet from the Billboard.com article describing what’s happening with Aerosmith and their summer ideas:

“There’s no Aerosmith without Steven Tyler,” notes Download promoter Andy Copping of Live Nation U.K. “There’s no point in entertaining anything other than (with) Steven Tyler.” Copping adds that an Aerosmith without Tyler “was never part of the conversation” with the group’s representatives.

The group has also been offered tour dates in South America, but nothing has been announced yet. No North American shows have been mentioned, and there’s also no word on if and when Aerosmith plans to resume work on the new album it was recording in Brendan O’Brien, which was sidelined by Tyler and Perry’s health issues.

Tyler has been in rehab since late December for an addiction to painkillers. Perry has been touring with his Joe Perry Project to support his latest album, “Have Guitar, Will Travel,” while drummer Joey Kramer has been promoting his autobiography, “Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top.” Guitarist Brad Whitford is gearing up for an Experience Hendrix tour that starts March 4 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

So all is well in good in the land of Rock and Roll is seems.  About the only thing that’s frustrating with Aerosmith is that it feels like they break up once every year or so and get back together for a “strong” return.  It’s just them trying to add to a hype that doesn’t even need to get bigger.  They will still sell-out stadiums regardless.

Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith

So news came out today that Michael Jackson will have a never before seen rendition of Earth Song will be broadcast alongside tributes by Celine Dion, Smokey Robinson, Jennifer Hudson and Usher.  The version he recorded was set to be used for his “This Is It” tour before he suddenly passed away.

The producer of the Grammies Ken Ehrlich said:

“To try and imitate him, to try and represent him, it just didn’t feel to me like it was something we should do,” explained Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich. “You just don’t ever necessarily want to see anybody but Michael doing [songs like] Beat It or Billie Jean. This felt to us like it was really a way of representing him. It’s like a tip of the hat.”

With the collaboration of artists set to perform while the video is playing, it should be a good event NOT to miss.  I’m sure it’s going to be talked about heavily as it’s been trending on Twitter for quite sometime now.  Here’s a little bit about the song “Earth Song:”

Earth Song originally appeared on Jackson’s 1995 album HIStory. It is an orchestral ballad, bombastic and eco-friendly, and Jackson planned to make it a highlight of his London residency. “The song was so important to him,” Ehrlich said. Jackson shot a new, 3D music video to accompany the song, but didn’t get the chance to screen it before an audience. Although an excerpt of the footage appears in the posthumous Jackson documentary, This Is It, the Grammy broadcast on 31 January will mark the video’s full debut.

Jackson himself does not appear in the clip. “[The video] starts out with some beautiful images of the world and our environment, and Michael’s child-like love for animals, birds and dolphins,” Ehrlich said. “It introduces a little girl, a beautiful little girl who at one point in the film basically goes to sleep, and when she wakes up – she’s in a forest and it’s very pastoral – and when she wakes up, all of a sudden it’s all changed and it’s bad. The environment is being affected and trees are being cut down.”

To fully appreciate the Earth Song footage, viewers will have to wear 3D glasses. These will be distributed to the Staples Center’s audience and through Target shops in the US.

Sounds like it could be entertaining.  It’s also going to be a good tribute to the King of Pop, because even if he was a little crazy, Michael had heaps and heaps of musical talent.

Michael Jackson - This Is It

Myspace, the ever growing entertainment mogul that it is, looks to enlarge it’s reach by growing into the United Kingom’s music industry.  This is both good and bad for the once mega social media giant.  It’s been rivaled by facebook and was finally beat by them as king of social media networks, so now Myspace is reeling and looking to re-invent themselves to stay relevant.

A quote from the Yahoo article is as follows, detailing what Myspace aims to do in grabbing a piece of the pie in the music industry:

MySpace Music is already up and running in the United States, and aims to combine music content in the form of songs, videos, artist profiles, playlists and charts with social networking allowing fans to share their discoveries online.

Access to the site is free, but News Corp-owned MySpace aims to make money through advertising and by taking a share of sales of concert tickets and merchandise, reflecting broader diversification in the struggling music business.

Users can also purchase and download songs and albums on Apple’s iTunes digital store.

“This is indicative of the direction we want to go,” said Courtney Holt, president of MySpace Music.

“We want to be a social content and media platform and we believe heavily in the socialization of content as core to our future strategy,” he told Reuters in London.

“It’s not about just a passive listening experience. We want you to be active, we want you to go places, we want you to search for music. Music lives in places that require you to work to find it. We know our audience is hungry for discovery.”

The website is a joint venture with the four major record companies — Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music Group and EMI Music — and features catalogues from independent labels and unsigned bands.

As long as it stays free then wonderful.  I personally haven’t been on Myspace in 2+ years, as Facebook is the only relevant thing I use aside from Twitter.  So here’s to Myspace again finding their niche and being innovators of music and social networking/media.

Myspace Logo

of the music world.  Not to mention she’s drop dead gorgeous.  Carrie Underwood, winner of American Idol, mega country star has added a new album to her list of success.  Her album titled “Play On” is expected to top the charts at Number 1 on the pop section, and take a predicted drop on the country album.  However, it’s being regarded as a huge music success and this can do nothing but add more popularity to the hot ticket in town.

The former “American Idol” champ’s last album, 2007’s “Carnival Ride,” topped the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 527,000 copies; it has gone on to sell 2.98 million copies in the United States, according to Nielson SoundScan.The new album’s lead single, “Cowboy Casanova,” peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

Inaugural “American Idol” champ Kelly Clarkson, the only other success story from the TV talent show, topped the Billboard 200 in March with “All I Ever Wanted,” which sold 255,000 copies in its first week.

“Play On” will lead a cavalcade of new albums in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 next week, with the soundtrack to Fox TV’s “Glee” likely as the next-best debut. The album may sell over 100,000 copies in its first week.

Also, as a final note, I must mention  http://www.albertsgifts.com is having a wonderful sale – spend $25 or more and recieve free shipping(ground only).  So head on over and check out all the music gifts!

A recent report that has surfaced regarding various artists music being used to interrogate criminals and prisoners at the Guantanamo prison complex overseas.  Many artists such as Rosanne Cash, REM, Jackson Browne and Pearl Jam have joined a U.S. campaign asking those to come forward to name the music used, and to stop using it all-together.

I for one, don’t see it as a major issue.  Psychological war-fare has been used over the past centuries in a way to break down the prisoner or enemies mind to get the answers needed.  I also don’t know how it would feel if someone said that they were using my music to do that.  Should I be offended, that my music is that bad enough to break a prisoner?

Tom Morello - Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave

According to previously released documents, songs by bands like Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine were used as part of interrogating prisoners.

“Guantanamo is known around the world as one of the places where human beings have been tortured,” Tom Morello, of the bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, said in a statement Thursday.

“The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me,” Morello added.

This is what I don’t understand.  The two bands mentioned above were known for defying the government and speaking out against injustice.  If the reports are true, why use them and how was their music used to alter the minds of prisoners?  It’s  a fascinating world we certainly live in, when Rage Against The Machine is used instead of Roseanne singing the Nation Anthem on repeat.

This is certainly a fascinating tid-bit on the music industry and the cause an effect it can really have on various forms of people who live on this earth.  This story will be developing over the next few weeks, and I’ll surely update you on anything that happens.

Information used from this article: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2009/10/23/guantanemo-interrogate-music-campaign.html

Yesterday a new Michael Jackson song was revealed in anticipation for his new music documentary.   The song is called “This is it,” aptly named for his tour that he was re-hearsing for, before he died of apparent heart failure/drug overdose.  It was to be believed that the song was brand new and recently recorded, however singer/song writer Paul Anka had a different view about the song, and claims he helped write it with Michael.

The song was titled “I Never Heard,” and Jackson and Anka are credited as co-authors on an early 1990s version recorded by the singer Sa-Fire.

The orginial song was actually written 1983 for a duets album Anka was working on.  Paul Anka, broke this story yesterday once he heard word from the music indursty and various radio stations claiming that Michael’s song was brand new and written and recorded before his untimely death. togethor.

Paul Anka however, didn’t want to make it an issue after Michael’s publicity camp quickly corrected the situation and awarded him %50 publishing rights stated:

“They did the right thing,” Anka said. “I don’t think that anybody tried to do the wrong thing. It was an honest mistake.”

“There’s nothing but honorable people here,” said Anka, a former teen idol from the 1950s and ’60s who sang “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and wrote “She’s A Lady”, one of Tom Jones‘ biggest hits.

It’s rather nice to see someone take credit for the mistake and actually fix a situation.  Too many times recordings happen and credit isn’t received.  Glad to hear everything worked out for Paul Anka, and hopefully the music documentary released labeled “This Is It,” benefits Michael’s children and helps proved for them in the future.

Michael Jackson - This Is It

As we’ve heard in the past, the RIAA is supposedly dropping it’s attacks against individual pirates and going after groups.  It’s fairly evident that it’s recent crack down on groups is alarming to members who provide an abundant amount of illegally shared music.

Indicted Wednesday were Adil R. Cassim, 29, of Granada Hills, California; Bennie Glover, 35, of Shelby, North Carolina; Matthew D. Chow, 28, of Missouri City, Texas; and Edward L. Mohan II, 46, of Baltimore. They were charged with being high-level members of the music sharing group called Rapid Neurosis, or RNS, which operated from 1999 to 2007, the DOJ said.

The defendants, led by Cassim for some time, allegedly conspired to illegally upload thousands of copyright-protected music files to RNS, the DOJ said. Many of those files were then reproduced and distributed hundreds of thousands of times, the agency said in a news release.

What this means for the people indicted is a possible maximum sentence of up to 5 years and prison and a $250,000 copyright fine, and three years of supervised vision.  Incredibly harsh punishment for the crime done.  Either way, it’s really worth sending this out to all music fans, because the threat is apparent, if your doing something illegal with music, you have the possibility to still get caught.

Article info taken from : Yahoo Tech!

Yesterday Michael Jackson was finally laid to rest, 74 days after his initial death.  His family and closest friends paid tribute during a service just outside Long Angeles, with invited guests such as Dame Elizabeth Taylor, actor Macaulay Culkin and music producer Quincy Jones.

While it’s unclear at this moment as to where Jackson is buried, it is known that he’s buried among some of the biggest stars in history at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.  Forest Lawn Memorial Park houses a various arrangements of stars including Clark Gable, Sammy Davis, and Jean Harlow.

Also, it’s very unclear as to where these stars are buried due to the cemetery’s strict privacy guidelines, as most cemeteries provide maps to the starts grave, this one does not.  Either way, it seems to be the time has finally come to close the book on one of the most famous pop musicians of all time.

The music world has again lost another intensely valued member of it’s community last week when Les Paul, famed guitar inventor and musician passed away.  He was 94.

Les Paul was solely one of the biggest reasons as to why “Rock and Roll” was created, as his creation and development in a solid body electric guitar created the sounds of a generation.  He’s also credited with various recording innovations as well such as overdubbing (also known as sound on sound), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects, and multitrack recording.  It’s certainly safe to say this man was also one of the first people to create the electric buzz sound and sell millions of records in the 1950’s with his wife.

Also, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as being a “key” inductee, and one of the few artists to actually have a stand alone exhibit dedicated to himself and the music he created.  Les Paul was certainly a genius in the business and his legacy will go down as one of the best musicians and innovators of music ever.  This year has been terrible for the music world, as it’s losing valued members who shaped the industry into the mega billion dollar corporation it’s become today.  While Les Paul may be gone, he certainly will never be forgotten.

Les Paul Guitar

The International Mozarteum Foundation said Thursday it has discovered two more works of music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  It’s rare and highly uncommon that after all of these years that a piece of work let alone two are discovered after all of these years, but it’s happened.

Take from Yahoo music, it does it’s best to give details onto when these works will be shown and preformed publicly for all to hear:

The Web site of the organization said its department of research had identified the works, long in the foundation’s possession, as Mozart compositions.

Mozart, who was born in Salzburg, lived from 1756 to 1791. He played piano from an early age, began composing music when he was 5, and eventually created more than 600 works, ranging from operas to chamber music, choral pieces and piano concertos.

The foundation declined to provide more details Thursday, saying specifics would be made public during a presentation in Salzburg on Aug. 2.

During the event, Austrian musician Florian Birsak will perform the pieces on an original Mozart piano.

It’s going to certainly be a sight and sound to hear compositions that haven’t been played in hundreds of sum odd years.  However, it’s another huge step in history and musical progression, to view and listen to these works in their original format

Original site for content found here