First Annual Pensado Awards Winners Announced

The Pensado Awards is a grand opportunity to celebrate the uncelebrated, as their website says. Best pros, amateurs, brands and press came together on June 28 in Los Angeles for what seemed like a reunion of sorts.
Mixer and A&R man Jack Joseph Puig (left) was interviewing VIPs on the red carpet - here seen with Grammy-winning mixer engineer/producer Rafa Sardina 

2014 winners!  

H.R.4079 - Songwriter Equity Act of 2014

This bill was introduced by Rep. Doug Collins (202- 225-9893) at a press conference which included ASCAP's Paul Williams, NMPA's David Israelite, BMI's Michael O'Neill, and The Recording Academy's Daryl Friedman. It amends federal copyright law regarding the exclusive rights of sound recording copyright owners to remove a provision that prohibits license fees payable for the public performance of sound recordings, by means of a digital audio transmission, from being taken into account in any administrative, judicial, or other governmental proceeding to set or adjust the royalties payable to copyright owners of musical works for the public performance of their works.

1. Songwriters are paid a royalty when someone buys a recording of the songs they write, a band performs them, or they're played on a radio station or through an online streaming service. Under U.S. copyright law, the government relies on a complicated, decades-old system to figure out how much writers are entitled to. Songwriters complain the current fee of 9.1˘ for the sale of a recorded song, for instance-up from 2˘ in 1909-is pitifully low and makes it hard to earn a living. 

2. The Songwriter Equity Act, introduced in the House in February and the Senate on May 12, aims to fix this by changing how the government calculates songwriter pay. Currently the Copyright Royalty Board sets the amount writers get for recorded song sales. The bill directs it instead to base the royalty on "fair market value." A federal rate court sets royalties for songs played live, on radio or Pandora (P), or as background music in a store. The bill removes restrictions on evidence the court can consider in determining that amount.  

3. The bill leaves out important details, such as how the government is supposed to figure out fair market value for songs, not easy given all the entities involved in selling music across so many platforms. Songwriters-and organizations such as ASCAP and BMI, which track music use and take a cut of the royalties-praise the bill.  

Groups representing royalty payers, such as the National Association of Broadcasters, are fighting it. The Council of Music Creators supports the Songwriters Equity Act and encourages all music creators to join us in helping to control the use of our work and to share fairly in its exploitation.  

The C Word  Sound, Image, Text, Action!   

Content is king.  Web content, press release, blog, articles...Creating and managing content has become a big task.  The same rules apply to all content creators - photographers, film makers, musicians....Keep in mind that a smaller device doesn't mean content is any less important.
Here's a few things to remember when you design your content.
Who are you writing for? What is your personality? What tone do you need?  

Thomas Hawk's hauntingly beautiful - and often gritty - photography is admired across the world. He calls himself a "photography factory" and aims to capture 1 million photos before he dies.
He has been offered $6,000 to write three blog posts about this or that lens.  "I have no interest in that. But if you can provide me access to create interesting content, I'm all for it," says Hawk.  Photography is becoming a language unto itself. People talk back and forth to each other with photos (facebook, Instagram, Pinterest), even more than words!  

Music affects our feelings and energy levels. Without even thinking about it, we use music to create desired moods-- to make us happy, to enjoy movement and dance, to energize, to bring back powerful memories, to help us relax and focus. Music is a powerful tool for our personal expression within our daily lives-- it helps "set the scene" for many important experiences. Advertisers use these qualities to launch new brands or products. Stores and hotels use background music to connect or influence their customers. Films take advantage of the power of music to tell a story.  So, what are some things to keep in mind when you're given the task to create content? 

1.    Keep it Relevant - create content that suits the intended audience  

2.    Prioritization Method. A good rule of thumb to follow is to target tasks based on priority, deadline and time needed for completion.  

3.    Cross Media Marketing Strategy. Consider teamwork. Whether you are working with online, print or email campaigns, your marketing team should (hopefully) be executing a "divide and conquer" approach across the different channels.

Each social media platform-whether it's Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+ reaches range of potential customers that would otherwise likely stay untapped  

5. Cure for Creative Burnout.  Way to ward off writer's block: Try exercising regularly (it will release endorphin levels) and also attempt to improve your diet for better mental and physical wellness. Before the end of the day nears, make an effort to do things you enjoy. You have to mentally clock out of work and have some down time. When at home, try to avoid checking email or work-related texts. All of these combined will help recharge your mental vigor.     

Hint. Just look at Silicon Valley. These titans still see themselves as conduits for other people's content. But they understand that the best opportunity to grow on the Internet is to offer scripted video - especially fare that advertisers like.    

The Pink Pistol
A Country Duo's Growing Empire 

Did you know Country music is now America's most popular genre (outpacing classic rock for the first time last year, according to research firm NPD Group)? In the decade since her first album made its debut at the top of Billboard's country charts, Miranda Lambert has been successful in branding herself and building an empire.  Her husband, singer Blake Shelton is a judge on NBC's "The Voice."  Lambert, 30, and Shelton, 38, have risen to become the industry's most powerful couple. Lambert earned $8.8 million in 2013, according to Billboard , placing her 36th among all musicians. Shelton took in $10.3 million
    

"I've always said I want to build an empire," she says.  We kept the brand clean," says Marion Kraft, her manager. After turning down contracts with an acne treatment and a soft drink, Lambert did her first commercial in 2007 for cotton. ("Endorsing cotton is like endorsing fresh air," Kraft said.) Published on Mar 25, 2014 "Automatic" (co-written with Nicolle Galyon and Natalie Hemby) appears on Miranda Lambert's new album, Platinum, now available in stores and on iTunes  

She's only the 11th female since 1956 to top Billboard 200. 

Top 10 Music Blogs  

How music is made and discovered Today. Like studioexrpesso these blogs are editorially independent. They cover, news, album reviews, gear, releases, events, music trends. Traditional media picks up story ideas from us. Our ethos are simple: we're music fans first and foremost with a genuine love of music and a desire to share that love through words and pictures.  Some of us even have labels or products!    

Made in America is a two-day music festival curated by Jay Z. This year, the festival expands from Philly to Los Angeles. The Budweiser sponsored fest benefits United Way. Who picks the artists? JAY Z personally curates the eclectic mix of artists. The L.A. lineup will be headlined by Kanye West (new album release later this year, first single due early August), Imagine Dragons and John Mayer. It will also featur  sets from Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Afrojack, Rita Ora and Chance the Rapper. You get super hungry at concerts, what kind of grub are you gonna have? Fans can enjoy a variety of appetizing food choices from traditional festival and fair food to gourmet food trucks + free filtered water. 

Aug 30 - Aug 31 2014

Los Angeles, California (Grand Park)

$185 (GA)

Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com or LiveNation.com 

New Beatles Doc By Ron Howard
Director Ron Howard and rock-doc veteran Nigel Sinclair ("No Direction Home: Bob Dylan"), will re-create previously unseen concerts using original sound recordings, material from the Apple Corps archives and amateur footage. Beatle's holding company, Apple Corps Ltd has full cooperation of  surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono Lennon, and George Harrison's widow, Olivia Harrison. All will be interviewed by Howard, according to Rolling Stone. The movie will focus on the Beatles' intensely active early years, from 1960 to 1966. According to the press release issued jointly by Apple Corps and the film's producers, the documentary "will seek to explain what it was about that particular moment in time that allowed this cultural pivot point to occur.  It will examine the social and political context of the time, and reveal the unique conditions that caused technology and mass communication to collide. The film will also explore the incomparable electricity between performer and audience that turned the music into a movement - a common experience into something sublime." This film will focus on The Beatles ' journey from the early days of the Cavern Club in Liverpool and engagements in Hamburg to their last public concert in Candlestick Park, San Francisco, in 1966. The production team also includes Imagine Entertainment, Howard's producing shingle. Howard, one of Hollywood's most successful directors, won an Oscar for directing 2001's "A Beautiful Mind."   The Howards were also in real estate news when they sold their 32-acre property in the gated Conyers Farm community of Westchester, NY for the asking price of $27.5 million in an all-cash deal.

Chadwick Boseman plays another iconic American. In theaters
August 1, Get On Up takes a fearless look inside the music, moves and moods of grandfather of soul, James Brown. From his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, the film aims to inspire. The drama co-stars Viola Davis (as Susie Brown, James Brown's absentee mother) and Dan Aykroyd (as Ben Bart, Brown's longtime, at times contentious manager), as well as Octavia Spencer, Nelsan Ellis, Lennie James, Tika Sumpter and Jill Scott.

Directed by Tate Taylor, Get on Up is being produced by Academy Award winner Brian Grazer with Mick Jagger and Victoria Pearman (Shine a Light) producing under their Jagged Films banner. Watch the official trailer here 

 

    

Sandy Robertson of Worlds End reports that 18-year-old Anja Nissen won the Australian Voice, seen with her coach Will.i.am (right).

Her single "My Girls" was written by Worlds End client Vince Pizzinga with Delta Goodrem & Mitch Allen. It's released on July 25th.

    

  

  

RIP  Richard Nichols