HTC 7 Pro (US Cellular)

While HTC’s Android cell phones have stolen the show, the company originally made its name here in the United States on deluxe, full-featured Windows Mobile phones. The HTC 7 Pro on U.S. Cellular continues that tradition, albeit with Microsoft’s vastly improved Windows Phone 7 OS. The HTC 7 Pro is a solid smartphone, and a good choice if you text or email more than the average person, although it lacks the battery life and third-party app catalog of other models.

Design, Call Quality, and Apps
The HTC 7 Pro measures 4.6 by 2.3 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and weighs a substantial 6.5 ounces. It’s made of a complex mix of matte plastic, glass, soft touch rubber, and aluminum surfaces; the effect is bulky, but handsome. The front panel slides back and tilts up at a 45-degree angle, which is great for watching movies or using the phone as a very tiny laptop computer.

The 3.6-inch capacitive touch screen is on the small side for such a bulky phone, but its 480-by-800-pixel resolution looks sharp. The display lacks the vibrancy of HTC and Samsung’s newer panels, though. The slide-out, five-row QWERTY keyboard is an absolute gem. It features large rectangular keys that are well-raised and separated. They exhibit just the right texture and resistance for fast, near-silent typing.

The HTC 7 Pro is a dual-band EV-DO Rev. A (850/1900MHz) device with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi; the phone connected to my WPA2-encrypted network without a problem in tests. There’s no Wi-Fi hotspot mode, though. Voice quality was fine overall, with a clear if somewhat brittle tone in the earpiece, and plenty of available gain. Callers uniformly said I sounded good through the microphone. Reception seemed about average. Thankfully, the HTC 7 Pro doesn’t suffer from the same horrid background hiss as the HD7S ($199.99, 2.5 stars), even though the wide earpiece speaker looks identical on both handsets.

Calls sounded clear through an Aliph Jawbone Era Bluetooth headset ($129, 4 stars) and the TellMe-powered voice dialing worked flawlessly over Bluetooth. The speakerphone was excellent, with plenty of gain for use outdoors, albeit with a touch of distortion at the highest volume setting. Battery life was short, though, at just over four hours of talk time.

By now it’s clear that Windows Phone 7 is a beautiful smartphone OS that’s fun to use. It features smoothly sliding home screen tiles; tight integration with Microsoft Office, Exchange, and Outlook; XBox Live compatibility; and it works just like a standalone Zune for music and video playback. Regardless of the task, the 7 Pro’s 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU keeps things moving at a good clip. That said, while the Windows Marketplace offers a decent selection of apps and games, it’s nowhere near what’s available for Android and iOS devices. Keep an eye out for news on the upcoming “Mango” version of Windows Phone 7, which adds many new features to the OS.

Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions
There is a standard size 3.5mm headphone jack, plus 16GB of internal storage for media files, with about 13.7GB free. There’s no microSD card slot or USB mass storage mode, though; you must sync the phone with a PC or Mac using dedicated Microsoft apps in each case.

Music tracks sounded clear and full through Samsung Modus HM6450 Bluetooth headphones ($99, 4 stars). The Zune-like music app was fun to use, with large album art, clear fonts, and smooth animations and responses?much like the rest of the OS. There’s also an FM radio that uses the bundled, tinny-sounding wired stereo earbuds as an antenna. Standalone videos played smoothly in full screen mode, but audio only played through the phone’s speaker, not over stereo Bluetooth.

The 5-megapixel auto-focus camera has an LED flash. Test photos were okay but not great, with well balanced in bright outdoor sunlight but only modest detail and muted colors. Indoors, some shots exhibited slight graininess and a softer focus, but they weren’t too bad. The HTC 7 Pro’s auto-focus works before you press the button, not after; let the phone focus automatically first, then snap the photo, and you’re golden. The camcorder recorded crisp 640-by-480-pixel videos at a smooth 27 frames per second. But 720p files (1280 by 720 pixel) looked soft and not as detailed, with a more uneven frame rate that averaged 19 frames per second.

U.S. Cellular still trails the four major U.S. carriers in terms of network coverage and high-end smartphones, but it’s beginning to rectify the latter problem in earnest. The HTC 7 Pro is a fine choice if you like Microsoft’s clean slate, Zune HD-influenced mobile OS. But with a paucity of third-party apps, it’s still a niche player next to Android phones like the HTC Merge ($149, 4 stars), our current Editors’ Choice smartphone on U.S. Cellular, and the LG Genesis ($149, 3 stars). Both of those handsets are $50 less expensive up front, offer more features like free, Google-powered GPS navigation and a mobile hotspot mode, and work with a vast selection of third-party apps in the Android market.

Benchmarks
Continuous talk time: 4 hours 1 minutes

More Cell Phone Reviews:
?   HTC 7 Pro (U.S. Cellular)
?   T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide
?   HTC Status (AT&T)
?   Samsung Dart SGH-T499 (T-Mobile)
?   Motorola XPRT (Sprint)
?  more

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Baidu to Pay Record Labels to Offer Beyonce, Lady Gaga Downloads in China

The Baidu Inc. music website, right, is arranged next to the Google Inc. China music website in Beijing. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg

Baidu Inc., owner of China’s most popular Internet-search engine, agreed to pay record labels to offer songs by artists including Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Frank Sinatra, ending a six-year dispute over piracy.

Sony Corp. (6758), Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG) will receive undisclosed fees for allowing their content to be downloaded for free to users of Baidu’s Ting and MP3 services, the Chinese search-engine operator said in a statement today. The four companies will end all outstanding litigation, according to the statement.

The deal paves the way for the Chinese company to ease concerns that led the U.S. Trade Representative to call Baidu a “notorious market” for helping sustain piracy. For the record labels, the accord allows them to capitalize on the world’s biggest Internet market, where almost all music downloads are estimated to be illegal.

“China has a long way to go yet, but the deal serves as a good baseline to work from,” said Ed Peto, managing director at Outdustry, which represents western music companies in China. “Baidu will need to show sustained commitment over the coming few years before this deal can be seen as a proper watershed.”

Bidu rose $3.12, or 2.1 percent, to $151.25 at 10:04 a.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares had increased 53 percent this year before today.

The Beijing-based company, which handles about 80 percent of the country’s Web-search traffic, expects the agreement to lead to a “precipitous drop” in the piracy rate, spokesman Kaiser Kuo said.

“This is a mutually profitable deal,” Kuo said by phone today. Record companies will benefit from sales of advertising linked to their music, in addition to license fees, he said.

Chinese Piracy

China has a music piracy rate of “virtually 100 percent,” the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said in its 2011 report released in January.

One-Stop China — a venture between Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony Music — will license its catalogs and new releases, including songs in Mandarin and Cantonese, to Baidu, according to the statement.

Vivendi SA (VIV)’s Universal, Sony and Warner Music previously lost rulings in Chinese courts when seeking damages from Baidu for copyright infringement.

Baidu was named in the U.S. Trade Representative’s “notorious markets” list published in March for helping sustain piracy and counterfeiting. Google Inc., Baidu’s closest competitor in China’s search-engine market, started a music service in the country in 2009.

Baidu “won’t lose money” from the agreement with One-Stop China, as sales of advertising will more than offset the cost of license fees, Kuo said.

Google, owner of the world’s most-popular search-engine, accounted for 18.9 percent of revenue generated in China’s search-engine market during the second quarter, declining from 19.2 percent three months earlier, according to research firm Analysys International. Baidu’s market share increased to 75.9 percent from 75.8 percent, the researcher said.

Baidu is adding services and bolstering partnerships with technology companies including Microsoft Corp. to lure Web users in China from domestic rivals Tencent Holdings Ltd. (700) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at [email protected]

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Chinese search engine in a deal to pay record companies for music

China’s 470 million internet users will soon be able to legally download more than half a million songs including hits ranging from Lady Gaga’s Boys Boys Boys to Frank Sinatra’s My Way.

The landmark deal between Baidu, China’s version of Google, and three of the world’s largest record labels ends a six-year legal battle about “notorious” piracy in the world’s most populous country.

Under the terms of the deal, Sony, Universal Music and Warner Music will receive an undisclosed fee every time one of Baidu’s millions of users downloads or streams a track online.

The deal comes after the record labels and US officials accused Baidu – which is by far China’s biggest search engine handling almost 80% of the country’s internet traffic – of “deep linking” customers to third-party sites that host pirated music. The US trade representative accused Baidu of providing a “notorious market” sustaining piracy in the world’s largest internet market.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimates that at present 99% of online music in China is pirated. The rampant piracy has made it very difficult for music and film companies to make money in China. The global music industry collected $75m (£47m) in China in 2009 compared with $4.6bn in the United States, according to the IFPI.

Frances Moore, chief executive of the IFPI, said Tuesday’s deal was an “important step forward”.

Under the two-year deal between Baidu and One-Stop China, which represents the three record labels, more than 500,000 songs will be stored on Baidu’s server and made available to stream or download. The companies refused to state how much money the labels will collect from each download. The labels will also collect a share of associated advertising.

The deal, which requires Baidu to remove its links to sites carrying pirated material, ends a legal case pending at Beijing’s Higher People’s Court. Jennifer Li, Baidu’s finance director, said: “Baidu, the Chinese music fans, recording artists and the record companies will all benefit from this win-win partnership.”

Kaiser Kuo, Baidu’s director of international communications, said: “We’ve never wanted to stand there and thumb our noses at the recording industry. This is a watershed moment. It’s a great way for us to deliver the best possible user experience by providing free and high-quality music and brings obvious tangible benefits to all parties involved including the label, artists and advertisers”.

Dick Wei, an analyst at JP Morgan, said: “The deal will be very positive for Baidu in terms of user experience and it also fits in with Baidu’s box computing strategy, which is to make a lot of information available on the Baidu site.”

About 10% of the songs will be in Mandarin or Cantonese.

Baidu’s shares, trading on the Nasdaq in New York, have more than tripled since Google’s partial withdrawal from China in January after a dispute about government censorship in the country.

Earlier this month Baidu signed a deal with Microsoft to provide English-language search results, but they will be censored to meet the Chinese government’s demands regarding controversial subjects, such as political dissidents, Taiwan and pornography.

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iTunes’ New Rival

Spotify isn’t the only company doing this. There are others like Rdio, Pandora, and Last.fm in the space. But Spotify is the biggest, and, according to geeks, the best, thanks to a clean user interface and really fast song streaming. Spotify has 1.6 million paying members and 10 million total users.

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How Spotify Can Challenge Apple iTunes’ Market Dominance

Within the United States, Spotify also enjoys another unique advantage: Spotify’s music streaming service is integrated with Facebook, which means users can easily share songs with friends.

Operating in only seven European countries, Spotify has 1.6 million paid subscribers and more than 10 million registered users. Spotify is seen as the future of digital music business and is billed to eclipse pioneer Apple iTunes.

Instead of selling individual downloadable tracks, Spotify will offer a three-tiered subscription model that lets customers choose between a free, ad-supported service, an ad-free subscription for $5 and a premium service available on mobile devices for $10.

Users can now stream whichever song they like to their computer or mobile phone. “We want to make it simple for people … If you want to take your music with you, you shouldn’t have to worry about 15 different sync programs or anything else. It ought to be as simple as pressing play and it works. And ultimately when you get to that point, that’s when people are prepared to pay. People are prepared to pay for convenience,” Spotify founder Daniel Ek says.

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Pitchfork Day 2: Recap

The second day of the seventh annual Pitchfork Music Festival began under gray skies in a thick, hot, and humid funk as publicists disseminated their emergency heat plan via email—“We have a CTA cooling bus station at the end of Flatstock the poster exhibition and another if needed on Ashland and Washington and we will give away one bottle of water to the first 6,000 people through the gate for both today and tomorrow”—though my favorite source for weather wisdom, Ginger Zee, said this morning that Saturday is supposed to be positively pleasant compared to the final day of the fest tomorrow.

The music on the main stages kicked off at 1 p.m. with Brooklyn vocalist and loop mistress Julianna Barwick, who electronically layered multi-part harmony vocals to create a one-woman female choir not unlike an army of Enya’s, though without the annoying New Age wispiness.

Unfortunately, the first half of Barwick’s gorgeous and lulling set had to compete at near-equal volume with Chrissy Murderbot and MC Zulu over on the second stage; the volume there only subsided midway through, by which point the sun came out, the temperature started to soar, and now it was the weather ruining the intended bliss.

Nevertheless, Barwick’s recent album “The Magic Place” has shot to the top of my list for further listening.

Rating for Julianna Barwick (when she could be heard without distractions): 7.1.

Next up, New York indie-rockers Woods veered between two poles throughout their set, one annoying and one sublime. In more conventional folk-rock mode, the group was sabotaged by band leader Jeremy Earl’s wispy, wimpy, and just plain weak vocals, to say nothing of the uninspired songwriting.

But for the other half of the set, when the band would lock into a trance-inducing groove (my colleague Greg Kot rightly invoked the mighty krautrock legends Can) and stretch out into noisy psychedelic jams that were everything that Animal Collective’s should have been last night but weren’t, the group was nothing short of brilliant. Which means I’m just gonna have to split the difference with my final grade.

Rating for Woods: 5.5.

Imagine a slightly sunnier, marginally less threatening Nick Cave fronting a groovy if unholy merger of the Bad Seeds and the Human League and you’re sort of closing in on what New York-based writer, musician, and publisher Wesley Eisold is doing with Cold Cave, which recently released the impressive “Cherish the Light Years” on Matador Records.

It’s always somewhat painful to see someone who so clearly thrives in the dark and would never be seen not wearing black struggling to create his vibe in the brutal summer sun, but Eisold did his best, and Cold Cave, like the good half of Woods, was a welcome surprise.

Rating for Cold Cave: 7.3.

As for the non-musical doings in Union Park today, I had my third (third!) encounter with a young woman hired by this year’s corporate beer vendor asking to survey me about my hops preferences and collect the data on her iPad (third time I’ve declined, too).

But, at the other end of the spectrum, the activists from Between Friends, Rape Victim Advocates, and several gay rights groups have been a much bigger presence today, handing out their hand fans and anti-violence literature as the crowds enter the front gate, as well as staffing their booth on the midway.

As good as some of the preceding acts were, the beats per minute stayed firmly in the “nod your head and bounce in place” range. But the tempo finally was upped to an inspiring head-banging frenzy with the 3:20 p.m. main-stage set by the L.A. hardcore punk duo No Age, and a sizable portion of the crowd responded in a spirited mosh pit.

On album, Randy Randall and Dean Allen Spunt can indulge in a fair amount of noise-rock experimentation. But like most smart punks, they know to stick to the basics on stage, dishing out adrenaline, adrenaline, and more adrenaline. Oh, and a rip-roaring cover of the Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments” to boot.

There really was just one word for what the band delivered: Ferocious. And, lord, was it needed at Pitchfork Day Two.

Rating for No Age: 8.8.

And then… back to the pointless, clichéd, mid-tempo electronic noodling. Was Manhattan’s arty electronic Gang Gang Dance as bad as Animal Collective in Grateful Dead mode Friday night? Almost. And at least Panda Bear and pals had a light show.

The set started out with about 10 minutes of grooveless beeps, squiggles, and synthesizer farts, and things only got marginally better when the drum machine kicked in. The utter lack of dynamic range, melodic ideas, rhythmic originality, or sonic diversity of any kind made the hourlong set easily seem six times as long.

Rating for Gang Gang Dance: 2.5.

My plan for Saturday had been to spare my intrepid colleague Althea Legaspi from having to leave the shade surrounding the second stage, but after Gang Gang Dance, I just wasn’t up for Destroyer. I didn’t have any expectations for this set being much better than the one at Pitchfork a few years back, especially after “Kaputt,” so I swapped with her for OFF! I desperately needed another dose of No Age-level energy.

Formed about two years ago, OFF! is an L.A. hardcore-punk supergroup comprising singer Keith Morris (Black Flag and the Circle Jerks), Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides), Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From the Crypt), and the great Steven McDonald (Redd Kross). But the key word there is “hardcore,” and unlike pretty much every other supergroup in rock history, this one spends zero time resting on its members’ laurels.

In fact, OFF! spends zero time resting at all.

At past shows, Morris apparently has filled some of the time padding the group’s relatively short list of originals with a lot of stage patter. But that was kept to a minimum in Union Park as the band tore through one fierce but melodic burst of chaos after another. And what stage patter Morris did deliver was pretty funny.

“‘F*ck People’ is about, ‘F*ck people who text people on their cell phones while driving along, too important to show that they’re about to change lanes,’” Morris said, trying to explain exactly who he had been addressing in the pleasant little ditty the band had just played. “It’s about, ‘F*ck people who get in the 15 items or less line at the grocery store with 20 items.’ It’s not, ‘F*ck all you people,’ unless you’re one of those people. Then f*ck you!”

Ah, yes, this is exactly what Pitchfork 2011 needs! And Morris knew it, too.

“I really want to thank all of you for hanging out with us,” he said at the end of the set. “We’re kind of an odd flavor at the Pitchfork party.” Too true, too true.

Rating for OFF!: 9.4.

The problem with festival high points such as No Age and OFF! is that when the rest of the long, long day fails to measure up, the disappointment is all the more intense.

Some of the rest of Day 2 wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t that good.

With its mix of hard-hitting D.C. punk ala Jawbox and Fugazi and hints of R&B and hip-hop, Pitchfork the Webzine has credited the Dismemberment Plan, which broke up in 2003, as progenitors of the dance-punk explosion of more recent years. Hence anticipation was high in some corners for its reunion at the festival, but this was not one of those.

In the past, when it was pushing forward in a straightforward punk way, the group could be perfectly… O.K. But when it would break things down for a lazy beat-box interlude or experiment with more fonky grooves and snaky choruses, it generally lost the plot. The same held true as the band took the stage in Union Park, highlighting tunes from the recent reissue of “Emergency & I,” originally released in 1999, and the rest of its catalog.

Rating for the Dismemberment Plan: 4.1.

Though turntable artist DJ Shadow(Josh Davis) undeniably is brilliant at what he does—perhaps the best—booking him as the penultimate main-stage act was a big miscalculation. For one thing, his hypnotic breakbeats are really an excitement-building, night-ending sound. For another, there just isn’t much for 18,000 people in a hot dirt field to watch.

Shadow tried to make up for this with the weirdest stage set-up yet seen at Pitchfork (and yes, it even was stranger than the Flaming Lips’ sideshow circus). Taking a big cue from Lady Gaga, he started his set hidden behind a giant egg, which only turned around to expose him midway through. The problem was, we were supposed to be entertained by video projections on this large white orb during the time when we couldn’t see him. But at 7:30 p.m., and for quite some time after, the sun still was too bright to fully enjoy whatever images he was showing, so all was for naught.

Rating for DJ Shadow: 5.3.

Finally, it was time for Fleet Foxes to close things out. Though I love their new album “Helplessness Blues,” and was blown away by how their beautiful, multi-part harmonies held the crowd in hushed awe when they played a midday set at the Pitchfork Music Festival a few years ago, I was dubious that they could pull off one of the three key headlining slots. The music is just too intimate.

Some people clearly agreed: There was a steady exodus out the gate and down Ashland Avenue shortly after the Seattle musicians began. But other devout fans had been camped out in front of the green stage since 1 p.m. specifically to claim a prime position for their heroes, and they were rewarded with perfectly spellbinding renditions of the group’s delicate but captivating and haunting yet uplifting tunes.

While current Pitchfork raves Bon Iver deserve nothing but scorn and derision for their modern take on Bread or America, Fleet Foxes are a welcome reminder that not all of the folk-rock of the ’70s should be forgotten. Still, they just weren’t as much fun as OFF!

Rating for Fleet Foxes: 8.5.

Meanwhile, on the second stage, here are the reviews from my colleague Althea Legaspi

Chrissy Murderbot and Sun Airways

G-Side, Destroyer, and the Radio Department

Twin Shadow and Zola Jesus

 

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Pitchfork Music Festival offers everything but the kitchen sink

BY THOMAS CONNER Pop Music Critic

July 16, 2011 9:32PM

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Updated: July 17, 2011 2:24AM

The 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival opened Friday afternoon and quickly established a yin-yang balance to the weekend’s musical offerings.

The annual indie-rock-and-more event at Union Park in Chicago’s West Loop features nearly 50 bands over three days on three stages. More than 50,000 fans are expected to attend over the weekend, culminating in a sold-out lineup today featuring controversial rap group Odd Future.

Shortly after the gates opened Friday, the music began ­— light, blissful tunes on a side stage from electronic duo Gatekeeper vs. dark, enigmatic alt-rock on a main stage from South Dakota native EMA (Erika M. Anderson). The rest of Friday would swing between these extremes: inventive new electronic music and grinding, often classic rock and roll.

The knob twiddlers

Fey young Londoner James Blake not only proved himself, following his curious debut album released in February, he proved to be the night’s most transcendent performance. Influenced by American R&B — and vocally often a dead ringer for Aaron Neville — the 22-year-old Blake made cold beats and fragmented samples come alive Friday evening on the festival’s smallest stage. Seemingly shy behind his keyboard, Blake played a set both graceful and grandiose, reaching surprising heights often with just two or three ingredients.

The intrepid Merrill Garbus, the central figure of tUnE-yArDs, leapt to life with “Party Can (Do You Want to Live?)” on the strength of her insistent looped vocals, a lynchpin of the tUnE-yArDs’ engaging, exciting set. Singing, re-singing and playing her own abbreviated drum kit, Garbus, her face streaked with colorful war paint, wailed and cooed and hollered through a set bristling with punkish spirit and bracing compositions. Each song found dissonance and harmony tugging at war, never finding an easy truce but always a workable and tuneful solution.

Animal Collective closed out the night, making a god-awful racket of their unfocused, rambling electronic jams. Industrial clanking, monotonous rhythms and lengthy, noodling transitions between songs made for a noisy, messy performance. Only a few moments came close to gelling — a frenetic calypso waltz early in the show with wild static noises sliding up and down the scale, and an easygoing “A Long Time Ago” — but most of the music was scattered. I know the Guggenheim has bestowed some art-rock cred on them, but while their drifting, shiftless sounds may constitute art it doesn’t constitute a good time.

The rockers

Somewhere between the knob twiddlers and the hardcore rockers is Battles, a New York trio (down from a quartet) whose members are not averse to describing their music as “math rock.” Mixing loops and ferocious live drumming from former Helmet basher John Stanier, Battles ably re-crated the tunes from their new and acclaimed “Gloss Drop.” Former Chicago guitarists Ian Williams and Dave Konopka worked sometimes together, sometimes at cross-purposes on, under and around the beats. There were moments the music was both punishing and pretty, a strange but exciting experience.

Stubbornly prolific band Guided by Voices returned to Chicago for the fest, still going with its reunited “classic” ’93-’96 lineup. But the longer this rascally band trundles on, the more fun they get. Lead singer Robert Pollard is growing into his natural curmudgeoness, and Friday evening’s set was 45 minutes of pure kicky, catchy rock. Pollard took the stage joined by Neko Case singing harmony and shaking a tambourine on “Echos Myron.” Clutching a tequila bottle, Pollard and his jittery leg led the band — with the rip-roaring twin-guitar attack of Tobin Sprout and Charles Mitchell — careening through an oldies but very good set.

Alt-country queen Neko Case seemed in a relaxed, cozy mood, playing a set of mostly ballads and slow belters. You know, the stuff that best showcases That Voice — songs like “The Pharaohs” with its long, patient phrases about being “your blue, blue baby,” or her tiger empathy in “People Got a Lot of Nerve.”

With squeeze box, banjo and frequent brushes on the drums, Case commanded a steady set and reminded Chicagoans how much we miss her being a resident.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2011: Day 1 in review

4:40 p.m. Tune-Yards’ Merrill Garbus (above) is as volatile as a blindfolded chemistry experiment, her voice a pretty trill one minute, a feral shriek the next. She builds songs from a modest array of clicks, taps and rim shots on a snare drum, a handful of wordless vocal riffs, and then loops them into a mini-orchestra of sound. Pretty soon she’s in the midst of spiraling hurricane, looking to break through, her voice ululating over Afropop rhythms and darting horns. She unleashes a wordless whoop as “Powa” drives to a close, which charges the fans. “You’re a massive bundle of love,” she says with a smile. It’s another punctuation point on what has been a breakthrough year for Tune-Yards. (GK)

4:41 p.m. John Stanier sheds his shirt. Already dripping with sweat two songs into the set, the drummer assumes a hunched-over pose and appears ready to launch into a hardcore punk fury. Yet Stanier, whose contributions form the core of Battles’ kaleidoscopic instrumentals, infuses the pieces with post-bop percussive phrases, in-the-pocket fills and complex time signatures. Recently reduced to a vocal-free trio,Battles suffer no losses, relying on loops and prerecorded samples during moments when singing is warranted. Yet the performance largely concerns the creation and sustain of word-free, jittery jazz-rock that progressively builds in tension before getting broken open and unfolding as cerebral dance gestures. Songs such as “Ice Cream” alternatively march, jump and shimmy. Guitars introduce industrial streaks and scraped accents; calliope-like synthesizers chirp, shimmy and wheeze. Battles enjoys both mechanical precision and off-the-cuff looseness. Festive and in constant motion, it’s music for under the big top of an eclectic circus. (BG)

4:50 p.m. A brutal conflict rages at this hour for music fans, with Battles playing against Tune-Yards, so I hustle across Union Park to catch the last few songs of Battles’ set after Merrill Garbus takes her latest star turn. Battles is, like Tune-Yards, a band that needs to be seen as much as heard, with the shirtless John Stanier doing his Terminator impression on drums. He plays with flair, sticks over head, storming across the kit, putting a palable physicality into the band’s shifting grid of electronics. (GK)

5:12 p.m. Eric and Bronson DeLeon drove fromSouth Bend,Indiana to catch the festival for the first time and, in particular, see Animal Collective, Tune-Yards, TVOTR and Odd Future. They’re extremely impressed. “This is great. It’s nice and small, very personal. It’s unlike any other festival round,” says Bronson. They also plan on going to Lollapalooza, but prefer the cozy vibe here. “Lollapalooza is so big that sometimes it feels that you’re not connected to the performers,” adds Eric. Chalk up another vote in favor of Pitchfork’s capped attendance and manageable layout. (BG)

5:40 p.m. Thurston Moore is on holiday from Sonic Youth, and the master electric guitarist and mayhem-starter is in acoustic mode with violin, harp and brush-stroke drums accompanying him. Moore re-creates the lush, dreamy feel of vintage Nick Drake, but his pleasant strumming is no match for Drake’s strong melodies. (GK)

5:50 p.m. “You own today!” announcesCurren$y after spotting a crowd-surfing fan.The New Orleans rapper is visibly enthused and amused by the large crowd gathered amidst shady trees to watch his laid-back, smooth-paced set. With a majority of his tunes dealing with marijuana and chilling out, the air is fittingly perfumed by the sweet smell of pot. Not that Curren$y isn’t fluent in festival etiquette. He frowns on any bottles of water thrown towards him (“When it gets hot people start fighting”) and, in observing many younger fans, tells them to just say ‘no’ to smoking “no matter how cool it looks.” Dressed in a Michael Jordan Bulls jersey, his physique becomes a human gumby, limbs and joints flexing to unhurried beats. The amicable demeanor suits the largely chorus-free verses, often freestyled and delivered acapella in a measured, homey drawl. “#JetsGo” inspires a sea of hands in which the thumb and pinky finger are extended, and the middle three fingers closed. The flight-referencing symbol acts as a metaphor for getting high, a state attainable without chemical aids thanks to Curren$y’s concise, mellow flow. If there’s ever another “Friday” sequel, consider the role of Smokey cast. (BG)

6:40 p.m. The air is thick with jokes, humidity and weed asDas Racist roll. “It’s a brand new dance/Give me all your money/Everybody, love everybody,” they rap over gangsta-era synthesizer. The MC’s cut sharp and fast, using cultural references as springboards for wild, witty leaps of imagination: They hang with John Phillip Sousa in one verse, play double dutch with Maya Angelou in another. But a cameo by Danny Brown, a Detroit MC, sidetracks the momentum and the set never quite recovers. (GK)

6:44 p.m. Guided By Voices bassist Greg Demos looks like he’s about to drop from exhaustion. Indeed, the gray hair and pudgier physiques of some of the members are telling: The reunited “classic” lineup has lost a step. Years of chain-smoking cigarettes and heavy drinking have taken a slight toll, with the group’s garage-rock coming across lumpier and less urgent than it did in it’s heyday. Still, there’s no faulting the animation of singer Bob Pollard, whose high-leg kicks, hopscotching movements, microphone-cord twirls and one-footed pogoing make it seem like 1994 all over again. Other unironic rock-star poses — windmill guitar-chord strikes, splayed-leg postures — coincide with the band’s catchy, stripped-down take on late 60s psychedelic pop and early 70′s arena rock. Concentrating on 1992-1996 material, GBV get off to a great start, as chanteuse Neko Case lends her distinctive vocals and tambourine hand to “Echos Myron.” Simple and lyrically imaginative, the songs are still melodically great and varied just enough, spanning pensive prog (“Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory”) to radio-friendly rave-ups (“Game of Pricks”). For many, it’s a nostalgic trip, and for the festival, it harkens back to the All Tomorrows Parties concept it entertained several years ago. But for an overly content GBV, it should signal the end. (BG)

7 p.m. Flashback is right. Demos’ striped pants look identical to the ones he wore in ’94, and guitarist Mitch Mitchell’s cigarette is still drooping from his lip while he windmills a chord. Pollard plays the white-haired Godfather of Alternative role to the hilt. “The original classic wino,” he says, with a wink and a bow. He takes great songs on their last go-round by the “classic” Guided By Voices lineup — I suppose there are worse things to be done in the name of a payday. But this feels oddly perfunctory. (GK)

7:19 p.m. When will Pitchfork organizers learn to avoid placing beer-ticket and beer sales right next to the entry to the passageway to the outlying Green Stage? The latter is already over congested due to its smaller size, and adding more, immobile people to the mix creates a logjam. (BG)

7:33 p.m. A barefoot Neko Case sings and trades quips with Kelly Hogan, their banter a necessary counterbalance to songs of murder, dementia and despair. Case’s songs are almost deceptively beautiful — all that heartache and blood wrapped in such graceful melodies. As dusk descends, the duo’s wordless harmonies waft over Jon Rauhouse’s pedal steel guitar — “Star Witness” seems to have been written for exactly this moment. The interplay of Rauhouse and guitarist Paul Rigby is equally nuanced, a delicate but sometimes ornery reflection of the emotional turmoil in the songs. (GK)

8:05 p.m. James Blake ups the tempo and invokes a club atmosphere, complete with waving arms and swaying hips. Where has this energy been for the last half hour? Save for infrequent nods to dubstep, the extremely polite British singer, one of the most anticipated up-and-coming acts on the bill, prefers faint electronically soaked arrangements constructed around his fluttering, delicate voice and lounge keyboard lines. Vocals are filtered through echo devices, treated with wet reverb and layered. Akin to his fractured, melodramatic outpourings — defined not by clearly enunciated words but by fading vowels — abstract percussive effects randomly bounce about a synthetic haze. He’s chasing a minimalist vibe wherein the divide between artificial and organic is bridged, yet the precious approach and pillow-soft nature don’t suit the setting. In an intimate venue, such aural solitude and painstaking patience might work. But not when Neko Case can be heard crooning from a distant stage, and not when, in an already drowsy atmosphere, Blake and company remain seated throughout. (BG)

8:39 p.m. Give Animal Collective this — their keyboards and synths sound vaguely obscene. They evoke burping frogs, burbling bongs, mating jungle animals. The group commands an unlikely niche somewhere between electronic rave cheerleading and jam-band noodling. Structure is a sometime thing, less a performance than a soundtrack for a mass audience hallucination with jelly-like blobs dancing on a massive video screen. The band performs inside a stage that suggests an aquarium, and a lot of the vocals sound like they are emanating from some underwater lair. As for songs — those cool little melodies that dotted the excellent 2009 album “Merriweather Post Pavilion,” for example — they are in woefully short supply. (GK)

9:39 p.m. Animal Collective emerges from a prolonged, aimless, and often amateurish psychedelic mishmash by returning to hyperactive fusion guided by African-oriented pulses and jumpy rhythms. It’s all over in five minutes, and when encore calls go unfulfilled, day one is complete. (BG)

[email protected]

Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune

andbabymakes3 at 12:44 AM July 16, 2011

Where is Jeff191 to tell us all how much he disapproves of this? Perhaps he is on another important thread, expressing his profound displeasure with Obama.

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Pitchfork Music Festival draws smaller crowd than usual

By ARIEL CHEUNG  AND DARRYL HOLLIDAY Staff Reporters

July 16, 2011 12:40AM

• Reprints

.

Updated: July 16, 2011 1:37AM

Pitchfork, the three-day music festival expected to draw 50,000 people to Union Park this weekend, has become an annual rite of summer for many city residents.

But unlike previous years at the seven-year-old fest, Friday night’s crowd did not appear to be a sell-out, and tickets remained for Saturday. Sunday’s show was sold out.

Still, those who attended Friday were just as enthusiastic to be there and were happy they enjoyed mild weather before an expected heat wave wallops the Chicago area.

“The weather today is great,” said Adam Zielinski, 26, who attended the outdoor event with his girlfriend, sister and her boyfriend. “But I can’t say as much for the rest of the weekend.”

This is Zielinski’s sixth time at Pitchfork, who came to see Friday night’s headliner, Animal Collective.

“We’re all just having a great time,” he said. “It’s something that we do every year — get together, listen to some great music and just hang out.”

He added: “What’s great about this festival is that there are so many great types of music and so many different types of artists who are trying to express themselves.”

Many attendees were planning on spending the entire weekend at the festival (three-day passes are sold-out), including John Case, 29, who showed up Friday with some co-workers.

“It’s about being out in the city, meeting people, listening to some great music and just kind of enjoying life,” Case said. “It’s something else great to do on a weekend in Chicago.”

Kate Puckett, 24, broke out in an impromptu dance during Neko Case’s performance.

“This is amazing — there are really good beats,” Puckett said. “I like to feel the music.”

Along with headlining bands Fleet Foxes and TV on the Radio, a number of other popular and critically-acclaimed groups will perform Saturday and Sunday, including No Age, Destroyer, the now-notorious Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All and local favorite Chrissy Murderbot.

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Spotify’s digital music service debuts in US

Sweden’s Spotify digital music service arrived in the U.S. with its catalog of 15 million songs and an operation that is primed to shake up the world’s largest and most lucrative music market.

With 10 million registered users in Europe, Spotify offers limited hours of music for free or streams unlimited songs for a small fee to computers and mobile phones. That model has analysts wondering if its U.S. debut Thursday spells the beginning of the end for the 99-cent download market dominated by Apple Inc.’s iTunes store.

“The download business is basically over,” said Aram Sinnreich, an assistant media professor at Rutgers University.

The digital music market appeared to be stagnating last year with sales volume growing just 1% from the previous year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

But sales of digital tracks regained momentum in the first six months this year, increasing 11% from the same period a year earlier. That gave the industry hope that the $2.2 billion U.S. market for music downloads has not lost steam, as some had feared.

And most industry executives, including those at Spotify, insist that music downloads will continue to make up a big portion of the overall $6.9-billion U.S. music business for years to come.

But other experts predict that consumer momentum will favor subscription services such as Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, MOG, Slacker and others once users discover that it can be cheaper to rent music than to buy it.

Spotify’s U.S. offerings will be largely similar to what it has in Europe, namely a free service supported by advertising and two premium tiers that let users listen without ads on computers and on mobile devices.

The free tier will let new users listen to the company’s catalog from a computer connection for six months. After that, users will be capped at 10 hours a month and up to five spins for any particular song.

Subscribers who pay $4.99 a month can access the service without ads or limitations from a computer connection. A $9.99 tier also lets users listen to the service from a smartphone, such as an iPhone or Android, Palm or Windows 7 device.

For those who aren’t able to score an invitation to the free service, they can let their wallet do the talking. Customers willing to pay for the premium tiers don’t need an invitation.

Among the 10 million registered users in Europe, 1.6 million spring for a premium service.

Such monthly subscription services have been around for a decade. But consumers have been reluctant to try them because the technology seemed daunting or the idea seemed too strange.

That’s starting to change as consumers become accustomed to having access to all manner of digital entertainment on their smartphones.

Spotify, with its generous free option, is expected to accelerate that trend, said Ted Cohen, a digital music analyst with TAG Strategic, a consulting firm in Hollywood. He expects users will discover that Spotify offers the same advantages that watching movies on Netflix’s online streaming provides over buying DVDs at Best Buy.

“There’s a real halo effect around Spotify. The anticipation has been so great that people are going to want to check it out,” Cohen said. “And when they do, they will finally understand … that streaming for music works just as well. In a totally connected world, 99 cents a song is a bad value.”

Still, Spotify executives are among those who disagree with predictions of a demise of the download business, in which Apple currently has a greater than 60% share, according to NPD Group, a market research firm.

“In markets where Spotify operates in Europe, digital downloads actually grew,” said Ken Parks, Spotify’s chief content officer. “People are finding that Spotify is a great way to discover new music that they can purchase.”

Russ Crupnick, a music analyst with NPD Group, agreed.

“I’m not ready to anoint Spotify as the latest in a long series of supposed iTunes killers,” Crupnick said. “For heavy consumers of music, you could argue that services like Spotify leads them to buy even more music.”

For now, Spotify, whose free service is open only to those who receive an invitation from the company or its partners, appears to be off to a good start.

Klout, a social network ranking site that was giving out invitations, nearly crashed Thursday after being flooded with requests. Klout stopped issuing invites, saying it would resume Friday.

“The reception has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Parks, who declined to divulge the number of people who have signed up for Spotify. “But it’s just early hours.”

[email protected]

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Spotify gets ready to eat your iTunes for lunch

Finally. A free cloud-based music service that you’ll want to use.

Skip to next paragraph

Sweden’s Spotify has been well known in Europe for years. Since 2006, 10 million listeners from Sweden, France, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland, and Norway have been tuning in to Europe’s hottest music service using their computers and mobile phones.

Spotify utilizes the high speed internet access many mobile phones and most home computers now have to allow users to stream music from Spotify’s catalogue rather than keep it on their personal devices.

In pictures: iTunes top 25 most downloaded songs

And with a catalogue of 15 million songs, this is not your father’s jukebox.

How it works

Though other services exist that allow users to listen to their choice of millions of songs online, and still more offer personalized online radio stations, Spotify will be the first to allow users to listen to any song, anytime they want. For free.

The service launched in the US on Thursday, and Spotify is ramping up their free service option. For the time being the free plan is invite-only and is expected to be opened to everybody in a few weeks. In the meantime, once Spotify emails users their invitations, they will be able to listen to any of the 15 million songs from their computer.

There are, of course, a few catches. First, you will have to listen to commercials. And after 6 months you will be limited to 10 hours per month.

This is what got 1.6 million users in Europe to opt for Spotify’s paid service plans.

The two plans Spotify offers in the US are a PC plan for $4.99 and a combo PC and mobile plan for $9.99. Both plans remove the monthly limits and commercials, but the combo plan (confusingly named the “Unlimited” plan) allows users to listen to songs on their mobile phones and allows them to download songs onto their devices to be listened to offline.

This is quite possibly what could kill Apple’s iTunes service as we know it, and indeed, threatens the entire music download industry.

On a cloud system files stay on a remote server and are read by users but not downloaded to the user’s computer to be stored. Up until now, services like iTunes made users pay for songs which they then had to download and store on their computer. Many an unhappy computer user has lost his entire music collection due to a hard drive failure or laptop theft. This is one of the benefits of the cloud.

Much like Netflix has been called the video store killer (and now cable killer), the launch of Spotify may mark the beginning of the end of paid music downloads like those sold through iTunes. Apple’s cloud solution, iTunes Match, offers a free service, but it only allows users to listen to songs purchased through iTunes. At $25 per year, Apple’s paid offering is cheaper than Spotify’s, but limits users to their own library of songs.

And because Spotify started in Europe, the service can travel with users when they leave the US on vacation or business.

Representatives at Spotify are plugging the software’s Facebook integration as a major advantage over other services and proprietary services such as iTunes’ Ping.

Not only is this a coup for music lovers, it may also turn out to be the paradigm shift users needed to switch to the cloud, which could have indirect ramifications as far reaching as reduced piracy.

In 2010, Billboard compared Spotify to the iPod. If it’s as revolutionary as the iPod, users have a lot to look forward to.

In pictures: iTunes top 25 most downloaded songs

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Coldplay Launching Samsung AT&T Summer Krush Concert Series

July 12, 2011

By Mitchell Peters, Los Angeles

Coldplay will perform in Los Angeles later this summer to help launch the fourth annual Samsung AT&T Summer Krush, a free concert series designed to showcase the capabilities of the newly released Samsung Infuse 4G, available exclusively through AT&T.

The British rock act will launch the nine-city series with a concert on Aug. 3 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the campus of UCLA. Select songs from Coldplay’s performance will air that same evening on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

Beginning next week, a limited number of free tickets to the Coldplay show will be available through registration at samsungsummerkrush2011.com, a Summer Krush spokesperson tells Billboard.biz. Tickets will also be available to purchase, priced from $45 to $150, on July 15 through ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster outlets.  Net proceeds from the Los Angeles concert will benefit the Grammy Foundation’s Grammy in the Schools music education program (grammyintheschools.com).

Coldplay is expected to release its fifth studio album this fall. The new set’s lead single “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall” has so far peaked at No. 14 on the Hot 100 and at No. 5 on Rock Songs. The band’s last release, “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” (2008), debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 2.8 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The group is currently slated to play numerous global music festivals between July and October, which include London’s iTunes Festival (July 22), Chicago’s Lollapalooza (Aug. 5) and the recently announced iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas (Sept. 23).

Through mid-September, Summer Krush will visit mostly 2,500-capacity venues in Dallas, Nashville, New York, Seattle, Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago and Orlando. The artists for those markets will be announced in the coming weeks, a spokesperson says.

Along with hour-long live music performances, each event will feature interactive activities and the chance to win prizes, including the Samsung Infuse 4G and a Summer Krush-branded guitar. A limited number of free tickets for the concerts will be available through radio promotions and online registration at samsungsummerkrush2011.com.

Since Launching in 2007, Summer Krush has featured performances in select U.S. cities from such artists as Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Kelly Clarkson, Good Charlotte, Gavin Rossdale, Nas, Ludacris, Big & Rich, the All-American Rejects, Nelly, Smashing Pumpkins, Dierks Bentley and T-Pain.

Samsung regional marketing manager Stacey Portnoy recently told Billboard that Summer Krush has helped boost phone sales in markets that the series visits.

“From a sales perspective, we can track by city,” she said, declining to reveal the cost of producing Summer Krush. “We have a strict return on investment process that we have to go through to get this program approved every year. So we do have to provide some sort of quantitative data.”

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Got Tix?
Posted: 12:00 AM
Got Tix?

Concerts and shows currently on sale: 

Tickets for the Foo Fighters’ Nov. 16 concert in Boston go on sale Friday.

Courtesy photo

BUY TICKETS ONLINE

Androscoggin Bank Colisee, Lewiston: www.thecolisee.com

Asylum: www.Portlandasylum.com

Camden Opera House: www.camdenoperahouse.com

Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, N.H.: Casinoballroom.com

Citi Performing Arts Center, Boston: www.citicenter.org

Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland: www.theciviccenter.com

DCU Center, Worcester, Mass.: www.dcucenter.com

Front Gate Tickets: frontgatetickets.com

House of Blues, Boston: www.houseofblues.com

Jonathan’s, Ogunquit: www.jonathansrestaurant.com

The Landing at Pine Point, Scarborough: www.thelandingatpinepoint.com

Live Nation: www.livenation.com

Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion, Manchester, N.H.: www.meadowbrook.net

The Music Hall, Portsmouth, N.H.: www.themusichall.org

One Longfellow Square: www.onelongfellowsquare.com

The Opera House, Boothbay Harbor: boothbayoperahouse.com

Port City Music Hall:

www.portcitymusichall.com

Portland Ovations: www.portlandovations.org

PortTix: www.porttix.com

State Theatre, Portland: www.statetheatreportland.com

Stone Mountain Arts Center: www.stonemountainartscenter.com

Strand Theatre, Rockland: www.rocklandstrand.com

Ticketmaster: www.ticketmaster.com

VENUE Music Bar: www.venuemusicbar.com

Waterfront Concerts: waterfrontconcerts.com

The latest

On sale 10 a.m. Friday — The Pixies with Surfer Blood, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1, State Theatre, Portland. $45. All ages. Statetheatreportland.com; (800) 745-3000; Cumberland County Civic Center box office

On sale 10 a.m. Friday — Hanson, 8 p.m. Oct. 11, State Theatre, Portland. $25. All ages. Statetheatreportland.com; (800) 745-3000; Cumberland County Civic Center box office

On sale 10 a.m. Friday– Umphrey’s McGee, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 17 , State Theatre, Portland. $20/$25. All ages. Statetheatreportland.com; (800) 745-3000; Cumberland County Civic Center box office

On sale 10 a.m. Friday — Lotus, 8 p.m. Sept. 23, State Theatre, Portland. $20/$22. All ages. Statetheatreportland.com; (800) 745-3000; Cumberland County Civic Center box office

On sale 10 a.m. Friday– Gillian Welch, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 27, State Theatre, Portland. $30. All ages. Statetheatreportland.com; (800) 745-3000; Cumberland County Civic Center box office

On sale 10 a.m. Friday — The Dropkick Murphys Sham Rock n’ Roll Fest, with national and local acts, 11 a.m. Sept. 10, Bangor Waterfront Pavilion. $29.50. Waterfrontconcerts.com; 783-2009

On sale 10 a.m. Friday — Foo Fighters, 7 p.m. Nov. 16, TD Garden, Boston. $47.50 to $73.05. Ticketmaster.com; (800) 745-3000

On sale 10 a.m. Friday — Seth Meyers, 8 p.m. Aug. 20, Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, N.H. $37.85 to $48.10. Ticketmaster.com; (800) 745-3000

On sale 10 a.m. Friday — The Pixies, 8 p.m. Oct. 30, Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, N.H. $48.10. Ticketmaster.com; (800) 745-3000

On sale noon Friday — k.d. Lang, 8 p.m. Sept. 26, Wilbur Theatre, Boston. $59.35 to $84.95. Ticketmaster.com; (800) 745-3000

On sale noon Friday — Jackie Greene, 8 p.m. Oct. 16, Paradise Rock Club, Boston. $23. Ticketmaster.com; (800) 745-3000

On sale 10 a.m. Saturday — Widespread Panic, 7 p.m. Sept. 16, Orpheum Theatre, Boston. $43.25 to $48.40. Ticketmaster.com; (800) 745-3000 

The locals

July 21 — Mary Chapin Carpenter, 8 p.m., Stone Mountain Arts Center, Brownfield. $85. Stonemountainartscenter.com; 935-7292

July 21 — Enter The Haggis, 8 p.m., The Landing at Pine Point, Scarborough. $25 to $30. thelanding atpinepoint.com; 774-4527

July 21 — Edwin McCain Acoustic Trio, 8 p.m., Jonathan’s, Ogunquit. $37.50/$41.50. Jonathansrestaurant.com; 646-4526

June 21 — Paul Sullivan, 7:30 p.m., The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor. $16/$20. Boothbayoperahouse.com; 633-5159

July 22 — Mary Chapin Carpenter, 8 p.m., Strand Theatre, Rockland. $70. RocklandStrand.com; 594-0070

July 22 — Rory Block, 8 p.m., Jonathan’s, Ogunquit. $22.50/$25. Jonathansrestaurant.com; 646-4526

July 22 — Mountain Heart, 8 p.m., Stone Mountain Arts Center, Brownfield. $25. Stonemountainartscenter.com; 935-7292

July 22 — Coyote Grace, Sam James and Lloyd Thayer, 8 p.m., One Longfellow Square, Portland. $12/$15. Onelongfellowsquare.com; 761-1757

July 22 — The Heavy Metal Kings, 8 p.m., Port City Music Hall, Portland. $15 to $25. Portcitymusichall.com; 899-4990

July 23 — Martyparty, 8 p.m., Port City Music Hall, Portland. $15 to $25. Portcitymusichall.com; 899-4990

July 23 — Jimmy Webb, 8 p.m., Stone Mountain Arts Center, Brownfield. $30. Stonemountainartscenter.com; 935-7292

July 23 — Leo Kottke, 8 p.m., The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor. $25/$30. Boothbayoperahouse.com; 633-5159

July 23 — Melissa Etheridge, 7:30 p.m., Bangor Waterfront Pavilion. $41.50 to $71.50. Waterfrontconcerts.com; 783-2009

July 23 — Mountain Heart, 8 p.m., Jonathan’s, Ogunquit. $25/$28. Jonathansrestaurant.com; 646-4526

July 23 — The Delta Generators, 8 p.m., One Longfellow Square, Portland. $12/$15. Onelongfellowsquare.com; 761-1757

July 24 — Reel Big Fish, 7 p.m., State Theatre, Portland. $20/$23. statetheatreportland.com; (800) 745-3000; Cumberland County Civic Center box office

July 24 — Marc Broussard, 7 p.m., Port City Music Hall, Portland. $18 to $30. Portcitymusichall.com; 899-4990 

Get outta town

Saturday — Brad Paisley with Blake Shelton and Jerrod Niemann, 7:30 p.m., Comcast Center, Mansfield, Mass. $41.50 to $81.50. Livenation.com; (800) 745-3000

Saturday — Huey Lewis & The News with Entrain, 7:30 p.m., Bank of America Pavilion, Boston. $20 to $50. Livenation.com; (800) 745-3000

Sunday — Lil Wayne with Rick Ross, Keri Hilson, Far East Movement and Lloyd, 7 p.m., Comcast Center, Mansfield, Mass. $22.25 to $125. Livenation.com; (800) 745-3000

Tuesday — Motley Crue, Poison and The New York Dolls, 7 p.m., Comcast Center, Mansfield, Mass. $87 to $119.30 Livenation.com; (800) 745-3000

Tuesday — Goo Goo Dolls with Michelle Branch and Parachute, 7 p.m., Bank of America Pavilion, Boston. $20 to $45. Livenation.com; (800) 745-3000

Tuesday — Miranda Cosgrove with Greyson Chance, 7 p.m., Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion, Gilford, N.H. $26.50 to $96.25. Meadowbrook.net; (603) 293-4700

Wednesday — Jeff Dunham, 8 p.m., Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, N.H. $49 to $80. Casinoballroom.com; (603) 929-4100

July 21 — Furthur featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, 7 p.m., Comcast Center, Mansfield, Mass. $32 to $73.50. Livenation.com; (800) 745-3000

July 22 — Mayhem Festival featuring Disturbed, Godsmack, Megadeth, Machine Head and more, 2:15 p.m., Comcast Center, Mansfield, Mass. $25.25 to $69.75. Livenation.com; (800) 745-3000

July 22 — Eddie Money, 8 p.m., Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, N.H. $24 to $41. Casinoballroom.com; (603) 929-4100

July 23 — Buckcherry, 8 p.m., Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, N.H. $30/$33. Casinoballroom.com; (603) 929-4100

July 23 — 311 with Sublime with Rome, 6:30 p.m., Comcast Center, Mansfield, Mass. $20 to $49.50. Livenation.com; (800) 745-3000

July 24 — Tim McGraw with Luke Bryan and The Band Perry, 7 p.m., Comcast Center, Mansfield, Mass. $39.75 to $100.05. Livenation.com; (800) 745-3000

 

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Beyoncé fired father Mathew Knowles after Live Nation accused him of theft, he …

Beyoncé’s father/former manager, Mathew Knowles, has filed legal papers rejecting Live Nation’s claim that he stole money from the singer, resulting in his termination.

Earlier this year, Beyoncé announced that she had severed professional ties with her father/manager,  Mathew Knowles, a decision said to have been amicable. She would take the reins over her mutliplatinum, Grammy-filled career and he would focus on his roster of gospel artists.

But in a lawsuit filed Monday in a Harris County, Texas, district court, Knowles claimed he in fact had been terminated by his daughter, and alleged he had been fired after Live Nation Entertainment made claims that he had stolen money from her.

Beyoncé announced her seperation from Knowles, who had guided her career since her teenage debut as lead singer of Destiny’s Child,  in March.

“I’ve only parted ways with my father on a business level. He is my father for life, and I love my dad dearly. I am grateful for everything he has taught me. I grew up watching both he and my mother Tina Knowles manage and own their own businesses,” she wrote in a statement. “They were hard-working entrepreneurs and I will continue to follow in their footsteps.” She soon launched her own management company, Parkwood Entertainment.

In the filing, the elder Knowles claimed that the concert conglomerate, which promoted the singer’s past tours, had made false allegations about him to his daughter in hopes of gaining rights to promoting her 2011 world tour.

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If you hate Ticketmaster, read this

June 11, 2011 |(26) Comments

For most concert and sports fans, Ticketmaster is the enemy.

Ticketmaster is the company that tacks on those service fees, delivery fees and mailing fees when you buy a game ticket or a ticket to an upcoming concert. You know you curse them when you buy a ticket.

Ticketmaster happens to be enormously profitable: the company accounts for roughly 70% of all tickets sold for American arenas, music clubs and professional sporting events, excluding all-season sports tickets.

But change may be in the air. Fred Rosen, who built Ticketmaster before leaving years later, wants to take on his old business.

According to this terrific story in the New York Times, Rosen has a new business in which he cuts out the middleman – that would be Ticketmaster – and put ticketing back in the hands of the arenas, concert halls and clubs. His new firm, Outbox Enterprises, helps venues use their own websites to sell tickets.

As the story suggests, it’s not clear Rosen will succeed. But even the big players in the ticketing business say no one should bet against Rosen.

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Ticketmaster Founder Takes On… Ticketmaster

It’s amazing what can happen after non-compete clauses in golden parachute and other high-level executive exit packages expire.

Consider the case of 61-year-old Ticketmaster founder Fred Rosen. Three decades after roiling the fan concert experience with those dreaded service fees, he’s back as partner of start-up Outbox Enterprises, a competitor started by a former Ticketmaster CFO. As he tells New York Times reporter Janet Morrissey, latest in a line of reporters drawn to the Rosen rebound story, the idea is to stick it to his former Ticketmaster-Live Nation front row mates:

Rosen wants to cut out the middleman by putting ticketing back in the hands of arenas, concert halls and clubs, helping venues use their own websites to sell tickets, merchandise, and services directly. For all its success, he says, Ticketmaster seems outdated: “Did I really think the model that I created 30 years ago would last for 30 years? Nothing lasts for 30 years,” Rosen said.

Representatives of Live Nation and Ticketmaster declined to comment.

Although the odds of Rosen unseating Ticketmaster are high, media analysts and even former boardroom foe Barry Diller are unwilling to completely discount the wily industry veteran. He’s already partnered with Cirque du Soleil and Anschutz Entertainment Group, second largest U.S. live performance ticket seller behind Ticketmaster.

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Bacardi and Live Nation debut Best Shared Live programme

09:45 | Thursday June 23, 2011

By Giles Fitzgerald FRUKT

Bacardi and Live Nation are teaming up to celebrate live music, friends and cocktails this summer through a new multi-platform marketing initiative, entitled “Best Shared Live”.

The “Best Shared Live” summer music program is aimed at those in their twenties who enjoy music and nightlife, and will include a number of different elements, including a sweepstakes competition and branded Facebook and advertising integration with Live Nation digital properties.

Bacardi products will also feature on-pack download codes for Live Nation Entertainment Concert Cash, which can be used to purchase tickets and artist merchandise, and a specially created Bacardi summer concert guide will offer up custom video content from a rage of artists.

“Through the Best Shared Live program, we will tap into Live Nation Entertainment’s multi-faceted digital marketing platforms surrounding live music to bring people together and strengthen brand awareness among our target audiences,” said Bacardi USA vice president and category managing director rums Toby Whitmoyer.

News from the world of brands and music by FRUKT Communications. The leading music, entertainment and lifestyle marketing agency. For more information see www.fruktcomms.com, or to contact our editor email [email protected]

Please note: This news reporting does not relate to work undertaken by FRUKT Comms for its clients.

Comment on this story

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Prince keeps his fans guessing

When Prince called into George Lopez’s “Lopez Tonight” TV show in early April and announced that in less than a week he’d play the Inglewood Forum to kick off a string of 21 concerts in the region, some of his staunchest fans wondered whether he’d bitten off more than even he could chew.

The enigmatic singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur is on track to wrap up his extended L.A.-area run imminently, having played 19 concerts at the 18,000-capacity sports arena, plus two smaller-scale evenings with multiple shows each night at the Troubadour and House of Blues clubs in West Hollywood. And he had enough energy left over to sandwich in three Northern California arena dates last week.

FOR THE RECORD:
Prince: An article in the June 2 Calendar section about Prince’s multiple-night stand at the Forum in Inglewood referred to the church that purchased the arena in 2000 as the Faith Central Bible Church. It is the Faithful Central Bible Church. —

The long engagement has ramped up excitement about Prince at a time when he has no new album to sell, gets little to no radio airplay except on oldies and classic-rock radio stations and no movie, TV show or book to plug. Shows have been announced one weekend at a time, usually only a few days before they occurred; for his House of Blues drop-in, where he played three sets in three different parts of the facility, tickets went on sale the day before; ticket buyers didn’t learn the location until the day of the show. Details on the final round of shows still had not been announced as of early Wednesday afternoon.

“Prince walks, eats, sleeps and breathes to his own drum, and in his case it’s a complete rhythm section,” said Randy Philips, CEO of AEG Live, the co-promoter of his 21-night stand at London’s O2 arena in 2007. This run of shows is being handled by AEG competitor Live Nation. “He has earned the right through his musical genius and success and cultural impact to do things the way he wants to do them.

“That can make it hard on those of us at AEG Live, Live Nation or anybody who has a traditional business model to follow him sometimes,” Philips added. “Things like that in more traditional business models can drive you completely crazy trying to keep up with him.”

But Prince has kept fans buzzing online and elsewhere in recent weeks with a parade of guest artists and drastically revamped set lists from night to night, factors that have rewarded those who have taken in multiple shows. He also made repeat visits financially feasible for a broad spectrum of concert-goers by pricing 85% of the seats at each Forum show for $25.

“Doing these shows at the last minute certainly has some drawbacks in terms of being able to maximize what you can sell,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert industry-tracking publication Pollstar. “But he’s obviously not that concerned with wanting to sell out every show…. It’s like he’s stated to his L.A. fans, ‘If you want to see me, it’s not going to be that hard.’ … I can’t think of another situation where somebody’s done that many shows on a spur-of-the-moment planning basis like this.”

There have been reports of a high percentage of empty seats at some shows. One concert industry veteran not affiliated with the Forum shows said attendance has been as low as 6,000 some nights, 10,000 for others, but estimated that probably at least half of the potential 350,000 tickets have been sold. Precise figures, however, aren’t available. Prince declined to be interviewed for this story, as did Live Nation officials.

A key part of his strategy for sustaining public interest during the last seven weeks has been a parade of musical guests such as Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Gwen Stefani, Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Missy Elliott, Esperanza Spalding, Janelle Monae and Faith Evans.

“Prince has always performed live with a great backing band,” said Dale Kawashima, a music publisher who worked for Prince in the 1980s and ’90s and who said he attended two of the recent Forum shows as a longtime fan rather than as a former business associate. “The other thing is each night he’s had some great opening act. The second night I went he had Esperanza Spalding and she did a 45-minute show before Prince went on, and that’s all for $25. He puts on a big, well-produced show, he’s in prime form with a great band, and you also get a set by the Grammy best new artist winner? It’s unheard of.”

Celebrity attendees, many of whom have popped on the Forum stage to dance or simply to glad-hand the star, have included Halle Berry, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nicole Scherzinger, Kirstie Alley and Stefani’s rock star husband, Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale.

Prince has treated the Forum stand like a gargantuan bar gig, supplementing his own hit-rich catalog with a vast array of other artists’ songs.

The engagement also has a philanthropic component: Prince has said he will donate some of the proceeds to the Faith Central Baptist Church, which bought the arena in 2000 and has been struggling to get out from under millions of dollars in debt from years of unprofitable operations. (Church officials are hopeful that a pending sale of the Forum to Madison Square Garden Entertainment will help ease or eliminate their financial burden.)

“He likes to find ways to call attention to himself and he loves to perform live, so this is totally consistent with his MO,” said Jon Bream, author of the 1984 biography “Prince: Inside the Purple Reign.” “”He’s given away two albums in British newspapers. He gave away the ‘Musicology’ album as part of the ticket price for people who went to those 2004 shows.”

Figuring out a way to play multiple dates in a single city makes considerable business sense too, as fuel prices have skyrocketed over the last year.

“It’s significantly cheaper than having trucks running on the highway from market to market,” AEG’s Phillips said. “You can cut costs down enough to lower ticket price scaling, which is a good trend. The consumer perceives tremendous value for the money. Think about it: $25 at some concerts is the surcharge on the tickets.”

[email protected]

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Shaquille O’Neal to bring first comedy tour to the Keswick

Shaquille O’Neal will be bringing his first All-star Comedy Jam tour to the Keswick Theatre in Glenside in November.

O’Neal announced the tour, being presented through his company Shaq Entertainment, on Wednesday.

“I played with many All-stars on the court and laughed with these All-stars off the court,” he says. “I’m happy to present this hand-picked lineup as the first Shaq All-Star tour.”

The tour, which kicks off Sept.9 in Memphis before hitting more than 20 cities, is O’Neal’s first new venture since his retirement from the NBA and is being produced in association with AEG Live.

The tour brings together many of the comedians presented at Shaq’s All-star Comedy Jams shot during NBA All-star Weekends over the last three years, including Aries Spears, Corey Holcomb, Tommy Davidson, Capone, Gary Owen and Tony Roberts. DeRay Davis will serve as host.

The tour comes to the Keswick, Easton Road and Keswick Avenue, Nov. 11.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.

Information: www.keswicktheatre.com; www.aeglive.com; www.shaqallstarcomedyjam.com.

ALL-STAR COMEDY JAM DATES 2011

Date City Venue

September 9 Memphis, TN Orpheum Theatre

September 10 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckherd Hall

September 16 New Haven, CT Shubert Performing Arts Center

September 17 New York, NY Best Buy Theater

September 23 Seattle, WA The Moore Theatre

September 24 San Diego, CA Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay

September 30 Richmond, VA Landmark Theater

October 1 Washington DC DAR Constitution Hall

October 7 Atlanta, GA Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center

October 8 Birmingham, AL Alabama Theatre

October 14 Baltimore, MD Modell PAC at the Lyric

October 15 Norfolk, VA Chrysler Hall Theatre

October 21 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium

October 22 Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium

October 29 Louisville, KY W.L Lyons Brown Theatre

November 4 Hammond, IN (Chicago) The Venue at Horseshoe Casino

November 5 Cleveland, OH The Palace Theatre

November 11 Philadelphia, PA Keswick Theatre

November 12 Pittsburgh, PA Byham Theatre

November 18 Kansas City, MO The Midland by AMC

November 19 Minneapolis, MN State Theatre

SHAQ ENTERTAINMENT founded by NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal is a vertically integrated entertainment and new media company primarily engaged in the promotion and management of live urban themed stand up comedy events. Shaq Entertainment has a partnership with AEG Live to co-promote and produce its live events as well as a partnership with Codeblack Entertainment to produce, film and distribute its properties via Television, DVD, Mobile and Digital outlets.

AEG LIVE

AEG Live, the live-entertainment division of Los Angeles-based AEG, is dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performance. AEG Live is comprised of touring, festival, exhibition, broadcast, merchandise and special event divisions, fifteen regional offices and owns, operates or exclusively books thirty-five state-of-the-art venues. The current and recent concert tour roster includes artists such as Taylor Swift, The Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Flight of the Conchords, Ricky Gervais, Justin Bieber, Leonard Cohen, Wisin & Yandel, Kenny Chesney, P!nk and Paul McCartney. The company is also currently producing shows in Las Vegas including Celine Dion at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos, and Barry Manilow at Paris. Our exhibition portfolio boasts the most successful exhibition of all time, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoaohs, which has attracted more than 7 million visitors since 2005. AEG Live is also the largest producer of music festivals in North America from the critically acclaimed Coachella Music & Arts Festival to Stagecoach and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

 

CODEBLACK ENTERTAINMENT (CBE) is primarily engaged in the business of producing, acquiring, marketing and distributing urban themed content. Codeblack distributes and markets its content across a variety of platforms including: theatrical, cable television, DVD, Mobile and digitally. www.codeblackentertainment.com

CONTACT

Kristen Foster

PMK*BNC

[email protected]

212.581.1111

 

 

© 2011 phillyBurbs.com . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Michael Jackson insurance firm refuses to pay out $17.5m after branding him a …

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 12:39 AM on 8th June 2011

Insurers have refused to pay 10million to the estate of Michael Jackson over his doomed final tour, claiming he lied about his medical history.

Lawyers for Lloyd’s of London argue they do not have to honour a policy taken out by concert promoters AEG Live because the singer failed to disclose his prescription drug addiction.

A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles claims Jackson did not say he was using the drug Propofol to help cure his insomnia and that he lied by claiming he had not seen a doctor since 2005.

Planned tour: Michael Jackson in 2009 when he announced he would play ten live concerts at the London O2 Arena before he passed away

Jackson, 50, was weeks away from appearing at a series of 50 sell-out concerts at the O2 Arena in London when he died.

His personal physician, Dr  Conrad Murray, is to stand trial in September for involuntary manslaughter.

Enlarge  

Court documents: The papers that show Lloyds of London trying to cancel the policy of AEG

The lawyer for the Michael Jackson Estate, Howard Weitzman, told Celebrity website TMZ: ‘This legal action is nothing more than an insurance company trying to avoid paying a legitimate claim by the insured.’

Meanwhile, the red jacket that late pop star Michael Jackson wore in his Thriller video is up for sale. 

But the potential buyers better have some money to spare, as the item is expected to go from anywhere between $200,000 (122,000) – $400,000 (245,000) at  Beverly Hills-based Julian’s Auctions, this month.

For sale: The red jacket that late pop star Michael Jackson wore in his Thriller video is up for sale

The item of clothing is part of an auction featuring over 600 collectibles of music icons.

Auctioneer Darren Julien said the red and black leather jacket with winged shoulder details was ‘the most recognised and significant piece of pop culture’ to come up for sale.

Other Jackson items on the block include his shirt from the Scream video and the battered mailbox from the Carolwood Drive estate, where Jackson died at age 50 in 2009.

High price: The item could go from anywhere between $200,000 (122,000) – $400,000 (245,000) at  Beverly Hills-based Julian’s Auctions this month

Personal: The jacket is signed ‘love Michael Jackson’ by the late pop star himself

It also includes a black glove worn by Michael Jackson to the 1984 American Music Awards, which could fetch up to $30,000, and one of his wigs, which is expected to fetch up to $6,000.

Other items up for grabs at the auction include a bustier signed by Madonna, a tight pair of trousers worn by Gene Simmons, a Jaguar owned by Frank Sinatra and a pair of trainers signed by Britney Spears.

‘The Music Icons’ sale also includes memorabilia from Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.

Available: The auction also includes a black glove worn by Michael Jackson to the 1984 American Music Awards, which could fetch up to $30,000

And it won’t be surprising if Jackson’s jacket fetches the higher end of the price range.

In November 2009 Jackson’s famous diamant item sold for 254,000 at auction at the weekend, soaring far past pre-sale estimates of 30,000.

The buyer was Hong Kong businessman Hoffman Ma who bought it on behalf of the Ponte 16 resort hotel and casino in Macau, China, where it is understood that it will go on display to upmarket holidaymakers and businessmen

Wigged out: One of Jacko’s wigs is expected to fetch up to $6,000

Music and kicks: Guitars featured in the sale were played by Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton and Les Paul, and a pair of trainers signed by Britney Spears are also available

Famous attire: A bustier signed by Madonna and a tight pair of trousers worn by Gene Simmons are also up for grabs

The glove was worn by Jackson when he first staged the famous moonwalk dance at the 1983 Motown 25 television special.

An opening bid of 6,000 leaped quickly to 72,000 before peaking at 212,000 – which worked out at 254,000 with commissions included.

Among other Jackson lots to far-outsoar estimates was the singer’s black strap and zipper-laden jacket which he wore during a 1989 world tour, and which fetched 166,000 (including commission), some 20 times its estimate.

Sweet ride: Bidders have the option of cruising around in a Jaguar owned by ol’ blue eyes, Frank Sinatra

Here’s what readers have had to say so far. Why not debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

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Am I the last person on Earth to learn that MJ wore wigs? Seriously…how did I not knoe that? I figured he had his hair straightened.

- Marbran, Columbia, MD, 07/6/2011 15:06

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I don’t know the terms of the insurance policy, but I am pretty sure they wouldn’t have gotten it, had the company known about the propofol. It was utterly dangerous. I am in support of Michael Jackson always and would not call his desperate measures to get some sleep an addiction, but that doesn’t matter here, those are just facts – you don’t insure anyone who is injected with propofol in a home environment. I rather wish the company had known, so they could have made absolutely clear to Michael he was gambling with his life by trusting Conrad Murray. Insurance-wise, the legal question will be whether AEG knew, or should have known. (I take it they are the beneficiaries.)

- saon, sweden, 07/6/2011 15:01

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It’s a shame this kind of stuff of MJ’s is being sold, I’m sure his kids would appreciate all this when they’re a bit older as they’ve got very little left of their dad now he’s gone?

- fed up, somewhere in this vastly over populated country, 07/6/2011 14:57

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i think facially he was also a fraud.

- Lindiwe , South Africa , 07/6/2011 14:24

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Its down to AEG not disclosing the information, NOT Michael Jackson. So Michael Jackson was NOT a fraud.

- Tom Vjestica, Kettering, 07/6/2011 14:21

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Typical insurance company; anything to wriggle out of their responsibiliies. “I’m sorry, but your accident happened on a day with the letter Y in it”.

- Andy, Warrington, 07/6/2011 14:12

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