Music News and Discussion Thread

[The Love Song Writer]

I too would recommend checking it out. Max Bemis is a genius

Good to see Used for GLue on there

[Subspace]

American Idiot Coming to Broadway

Just as the characters in Green Day's rock musical American Idiot search for meaning in a chaotic world, so do the fans of that show's score seek an answer to a larger question: When is it coming to Broadway?

A casting notice made public on Nov. 9 indicates that producers are indeed planning a Broadway move for the hot-selling, critically-praised American Idiot, currently playing an extended world-premiere run in Berkeley, CA, through Nov. 15. Until the appearance of this industry casting alert, there has only been mention of a hope for a commercial life for the Michael Mayer-directed musical. "There is a Broadway future for the show, but at this time no dates or theatre are confirmed," spokesman Michael Hartman told Playbill.com on Nov. 9.

The casting notice does not indicate a production schedule or timeline for the dark-hued rock musical, which borrows songs from the punk album of the same name, plus numbers from Green Day's latest album, "21st Century Breakdown."

From the videos I've seen, the musical looks awful. Eh.

Australia Calls for Laws to Disclose Lip-Synced or Live Concerts

Words of warning to all singers: Australia does not appreciate lip-syncing one bit.

Australian critics and fans have blasted Britney Spears for lip-syncing on her Circus tour.

Now John Mayer, who is promoting his own album in Oz, is getting into the mix.

He tweeted: "If you're shocked that Britney was lip-syncing at her concert and want your money back, life may continue to be hard for you."

About 100 angry fans reportedly stormed out of Britney's Friday concert in Perth, saying they were disappointed by her performance – and lack of singing — during her show.

Spears also gave Perth fans a generic welcome, never mentioning their city's name.

"What's up, Australia?" she asked from the stage. "How you feeling tonight? It's so good to be here tonight. Your country is beautiful."

Politicians in three Australian states – Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales – have now called for new laws to force music promoters to disclose whether a concert will be live or lip-synced.

I'm not wishing to see a lip-synced concert (I'll know one when I hear one) anytime soon. If I wanted to pay to hear Britney Spears, I'd rather just buy an album for my own instead of listening to it over an arena while she prances around stage.

Myspace Music to Turn into Subscription Service?

2008 was the year of free streaming music. When MySpace Music entered the fray a little over a year ago, it seemed like the music labels had finally relented, and were willing to experiment with free streaming music to users. The future looked bright.

2009 is the year of reckoning. The European launch of Spotify, which offers users free streaming music on demand, was an affirmation of the trend. Soon Spotify would launch in the U.S., too, the company said.

Things are changing.

Spotify is now saying that they must delay their U.S. launch. They don’t want to launch here with a paid-only model, and the big labels are signaling that they won’t have it. From the NYTimes last month, quoting Sony Music: “We like Spotify as our partner in Europe, but we would like them to move more toward a paid subscription environment.”

And that isn’t the only bad news. MySpace Music is “almost certainly” going to severely restrict free streaming to users, say multiple sources, and move to a paid model. “They are spending $20 million/month on streaming royalties, and that just isn’t sustainable,” said one source with knowledge of MySpace’s relationships with the labels. Other sources have said that MySpace’s royalty payments are much lower, but don’t deny that the service is a cash hole.

MySpace won’t comment on this story, but they have a deadline to all this. The Google search deal is up next year, and $300 million/year in revenue will evaporate. Changes need to happen soon. The last payment of $75 million is due on June 20, 2010.

Myspace's grave was bad enough as it is. If they turn this into a subscription service, it will be the end for them. If they take this away from everyone, then the site's numbers will just drop dramatically. Sure there are still other ways to find music, but no one can say this or that is better than Myspace. That being said, I hope Spotify doesn't turn into a subscription service either.

[boutitbenza699]

well Rupert Murdock is trying to turn News Corp's Fox Interactive (Myspace's Parent company) into a haven of pay me now, since News Corp is hurting in a bad economy and they need to regain all they lost in the last 14 months thanks to the recession.