hypebot

Karmin Goes From Covers On YouTube To Originals On Saturday Night Live

I've previously written about both Karmin and Walk Off The Earth using unique covers of popular songs to attract attention. Karmin has taken things to the next level with an appearance on Saturday Night Live featuring their original music and an album on the way.

Plus, Walk Off the Earth recieved over 50 million views for its music video cover of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know."

Trent Reznor Joins BBC Musicians' Masterclass 2012

BBC Introducing is an awesome resource for indie musicians in the UK. It connects artists to performance and publicity options and includes a special offering, the Musicians' Masterclass. In its second year, this live event brings together music industry professionals and established musicians to offer workshops, interviews and masterclasses. Taking place January 19th, the sessions will be streamed live online.

Active vs. Passive Fans: Why Radio & TV Still Rank Tops For Music Discovery [Best Of Hypebot]

All week we'll be featuring the best and most popular articles that appeared on Hypebot in 2011. This one is by regular contributor Hisham Dahud.

The data presented in a recent NPD Group/NARM study found terrestrial radio and syndicated television among the main influential sources of music discovery (60% and 49% respectively). With all the new avenues for music discovery out there, why are the majority of people still choosing to shape their musical tastes through premeditated and controlled media sources?

The Voice Project: Rescuing Child Soldiers

Music has been a central element in The Voice Project's ongoing program to rescue child soldiers from forced conscription in the Lord's Revolutionary Army in Uganda. Combatants are welcomed home with messages in music by women of northern Uganda who have experienced the upheavals of war. The Voice Project is currently building an FM radio network to continue spreading the word.

Active vs. Passive Fans: Why Radio & TV Still Rank Tops For Music Discovery

The data presented in a recent NPD Group/NARM study found terrestrial radio and syndicated television among the main influential sources of music discovery (60% and 49% respectively). With all the new avenues for music discovery out there, why are the majority of people still choosing to shape their musical tastes through premeditated and controlled media sources?

Despite Obscene Lyrics, 8-Year-Old Performs Nicki Minaj Song On National TV

8-year-old YouTube sensation Sophia Grace Brownlee has hit 21 million views of her rendition of Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass”. The video became so viral, that it even attracted the attention of Ellen Degeneres, who brought Sophia and her cousin onto her television show, and surprised the two with a special meeting with Nicki Minaj herself.

While it was certainly a touching moment that made for great television, let’s add some context here in order to complete the story:

MTV's European Music Awards: Good Music TV or Great Marketing Platform?

The February launch in the UK and Ireland of MTV Music, an MTV channel devoted to music, is a fitting coda to the now mundane recognition that MTV is an entertainment network and music is simply one aspect of their operations. Given the lineup and impact of this weekend's MTV European Music Awards (MTV EMA), it doesn't even sound cynical to claim that MTV, a channel that helped turn "promo videos" into a monetizable art form, has now fully transformed itself into a marketing platform.

New Google TV To Launch With 13 Music Channels

Guest post by Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

We’ve learned more about Google’s exciting plan to launch third-party Android and web apps for Google TV, available in the Android market. Google spokesman Jacques Hebert tells Evolver.fm that the following apps will be included when the new Google TV rolls out starting next week. We can’t wait to try it out, because television will be an excellent platform for music and other apps:

Is Heart2Heart's 'Facebook Official' The Intro To Lance Bass' Boy Band Reality TV Show?

The new boy band Heart2Heart is puzzling music pundits with its "kinda like a parody but maybe it's not" music video "Facebook Official." Given that any kind of boy band action would seem like a parody to pretty much any highly visible music writer, it's not surprising that this K-Pop influenced bit of cotton candy seems like a joke. But isn't it quite possible that this is Lance Bass' entry in his upcoming boy band reality tv show?

Facebook F8 Future of Digital Music Panel w/ Troy Carter, Daniel Ek & Bob Pittman

The Future of Digital Music panel at Facebook's F8 conference was a bit disappointing due to the fact that they didn't actually address the future till the last question and that's when things got a bit more interesting. It was quick and fragmented but I've gathered some of the highlights.

The Future of Digital Music panel was moderated by Justin Osofsky, Director, Platform Partnerships at Facebook. Panelists included Troy Carter, Lady Gaga's manager, Daniel Ek, Spotify Founder and CEO, and Bob Pittman, who is now at Clear Channel but has a long history in music and media.

Odd Future's Adult Swim Show, Loiter Squad, Continues the Process of Mainstreaming Chaos

The announcement that Odd Future's show, "Loiter Squad", will appear in 2012 on the Cartoon Network confirmed last week that however difficult Odd Future seems, even they can be packaged for mainstream consumption. And given that Adult Swim has a lot of indie hip hop cred and Odd Future's industry supporters like Johnny Knoxville have much jd cred, such a move seems capable of happening without the extensive cries of "sellout" one might have expected.

The Echo Nest To Help Power Clear Channel's Pandora-like iHeartRadio

In what may be the music intelligence platform biggest deal to date, The Echo Nest today announced an agreement with Clear Channel Radio to help power their iHeartRadio digital music platform.  Some in the industry believe that iHeartRadio - which allows listeners to build custom radio stations - is the biggest threat yet to slow or even reverse Pandora's meteoric rise.

AM News: Income Diversity Mantra, UK Blocking, Social Music Charts, MTV vs. Songkick & More

The need to diversifying revenue streams is the mantra coming from every corner of the industry from indie music marketers to Edgar Bronfman Jr. on last week's WMG earnings call."Diversity, Not Just Digital Sales, Will Save the Recording Industry"  offers a strong analysis by Glenn Peoples of Billboard. But too few stats exist, making it essential that as many artists as possible participate in the Future Of Music Coalition's Artist Revenue Streams study which launches soon.

• Website Blocking - Off The Table in the UK (EFF)
• Facebook: We’ve Got ‘Smoking Gun’ Evidence Against Paul Ceglia (paidContent)
• MTV takes on Songkick with MTV Live & Local mobile music app. (Music Ally)

Mark Cuban Has Big Plans For Music On HDNET

Outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner and serial entrepreneur Mark Cuban has big plans for music on his HDNET network.  "Traditionally music hasn’t worked on television but now that sets are high def, big screens, stereo sound, 5.1 or better sound, we decided on HDNET all Sunday was going to be nothing but music," Cuban said recently. "So all day long we just program all different types of concerts. From Beyonce...to the North Texas State choral group, classical, as many different genres as we can."

MTV Digital EVP McCormack On Content, Connections & Snookie [VIDEO]

Yesterday's post by Alison McCarthy, "MTV Tries Music Discovery: New Tune Or Catch-up?" looked at recent changes in MTV programming.  Today an insider weighs. Content is still king, according to Dermot McCormack, EVP of Digital Media for MTV Music and Logo Group at a recent Beet.TV Video Strategy Summit at Bloomberg. "Snooki is Snooki," said McCormack referring to the star power of the cast member of MTV's highly MTV show "Jersey Shore."  Watch the video:

MTV Tries Music Discovery: New Tune Or Catch-up?

Thirty years ago, MTV gave teenagers access to a world of new music through its musical programming 24/7/365. But over the last decade, the network has gotten further and further away from music, picking up love-to-hate yet hugely popular shows like Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant, I Used to be Fat, Skins and My Life as Liz. The yearning for a time when the “M” in MTV stood for “music” has been rehashed and recounted over and over again - and it seemed that there was no going back for the network - until recently.

White House to Radio Stations: “Pay to Play.”

In a new White House report, IP Czar Victoria Espinel comes out in favor of radio stations paying artists when their music is played on-air. Espinel recommends "creating a right of public performance for copyright owners for sound recordings transmitted by over-the-air broadcast stations." Depending which side of the issue you stand on, this suggestion can be taken either way, abosolutely great or bad.

Slacker Introduces Exclusive Plain White T's Station

Slacker is now featuring a Plain White T's curated radio station, and even if you're not a fan of the pop rock group, it's worth checking out. On this "Spotlight" station, music selected by The Plain White T's plays, as well as, song introductions from the group and a few exclusive songs from their newest album The Wonders of the Younger.

Having a well-known artist create a playlist isn't a new idea, but the way that Slacker does it is refreshing.

Clear Channel Remains Ignorant of Pandora Appeal

Pandora is the most well-known and loved online music brand. At a time when many services are struggling to gain recognition among listeners, Pandora has established itself as the Google of music, i.e. the easy-to-use, go-to place for personalized radio.

Clear Channel, having recently acquired the subscription service Thumbplay, has since announced plans to compete with Pandora. Chairman Bob Pittman believes it can create a better product than Pandora. According to him, what makes radio better than Pandora is that it's "curated and dynamically changes."

Why Clear Channel's Web Radio Will Fail

Clear Channel has made it evident many times over the years that it's not in the business of music or news. No, it's in the business of consumer marketing. If Clear Channel's attempt at a web radio service can't sell the masses cars, beer, and fast food while still doing nothing to compete with its regular programing, it will fail.