Iann Emmeson plays the worlds smallest ukulele accompanied by Phil Dolman at the concert night at the Cheltenham Ukulele Festival of Great Britain in 2013.
Ariana Grande’s ‘One Last Time’ Re-Released in Support of Manchester Bombing Victims
Ariana Grande has re-released “One Last Time,” originally released as a single in 2015, as a benefit track on iTunes. All proceeds from the song’s sales will go to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.
Daniel Glass Of Glassnote On Why Mumford & Sons Broke Big
Daniel Glass had no idea a recession was right around the corner when he launched Glassnote Entertainment Group in 2007.
Ten years later, Glassnote has become one the world’s leading indie labels. Much of that has to do with the quality of the recording artists signed to Glassnote – including Mumford & Sons, CHVRCHES, Childish Gambino and Phoenix.
SoundExchange: You also signed some great bands that just killed it, and that helped. But it didn’t happen overnight. It took a while for Mumford & Sons to gain traction in the U.S. With Mumford & Sons, was it a matter of developing a strategy, putting that strategy into play and then being patient?
Glass: The strategy was simple. What hooked us was their live show. It was these four, passionate people who were playing American music better than many Americans at the time.
All we had to do was invite people to see them live to convince them that this was something different, something fresh and something that could work for their radio listeners.
Then the momentum started.
The industry was scratching their heads thinking, “What are these four English guys doing with a kick drum and a banjo singing alternative folk rock music?”
People had a hard time with it, which usually happens with big records. A few years earlier “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” came out of nowhere and sold millions of copies. No one saw that coming. It was different, and it was great.
With Mumford & Sons, it was a great band that was great live, and their records were made exquisitely with emotion so they resonated. If you look at every success we’ve had, each one of them took a long, patient path.
Not one of those trajectories was a huge spike. People think these things are overnight successes, but it was a long haul and the band worked very hard. I think patience and persistence were the keys.
SoundExchange: What’s the takeaway for executives at a young label? Is it all about good A&R? Is it about having and implementing a good plan?
Glass: I think A&R is the most important part. You’ve got to sign great talent. You’ve got to have hits. I believe in having the best producers, the best mixers and the best engineers.
After that you have to decide what game you want to be in. Do you want to compete? Do you want exposure? Do you want to try to get on Saturday Night Live and the Graham Norton shows of the world and KROQ and KIIS-FM?
Then you have to spend money and hire the best people.
We’ve had some wonderful moments here, and it doesn’t happen overnight. We work really hard to get the feature stories written and the artists to play Madison Square Garden, Lollapalooza, Coachella and Bonnaroo. That’s what we aspire to, but that’s also what we project.
We want to be number one on radio and we also really love headliners. So the band has to have ambition. I look at them before they sign and say “Are you sure you can do this? We’re kind of intense.”
All those bands have the same DNA – they’re great live.
The takeaway for a young executive is great A&R, but you’ve got to work hard and you have to get out of the office and meet with people in person.
Vasyl Lomachenko Shows Off His Freakish Accuracy In Boxing
Vasyl Lomachenko shows off his freakish accuracy with this cool tennis ball technique. Me? I’d just be scared to enter a boxing ring.
12-Year-Old Singing Ventriloquist Is My Life’s Goals
12-year-old Darci Lynne uses ventriloquism to overcome her shyness stuns the America’s Got Talent crowd with a surprising singing act. See her wow everyone and get a Golden Buzzer from Mel B.
Psssst. Wanna Buy The Right To Own Songs From Sesame Street?
This is an incredibly rare chance to earn royalties from of one of the most iconic television shows of all time. Sesame Street has reached millions of children all over the world ever since its debut on PBS in 1969. There’s a new auction that includes songwriting and publishing royalties from some of the show’s most recognizable songs.
The songwriter is the late Tony Geiss. He was a long-time staff writer and songwriter for Sesame Street, and was responsible for co-creating some of the show’s most popular segments. His estate is the seller of this asset, who will donate the proceeds of the sale to charity, as specified in Tony and his wife Phyllis’s will.
The highest earning songs in this catalog are “Elmo’s Song” and its spin-off “Elmo’s World.” “Elmo’s World” is the theme to the massively popular character’s recurring segment on Sesame Street episodes. “Elmo’s World” appeared in every episode of Sesame Street from 1998 to 2009. In 2015, HBO purchased the rights to Sesame Street. The cable network airs new seasons and past episodes are available to stream online. Prior episodes continue to air on PBS in syndication and are available to stream online as well.
Another top earner for the music catalog is the the theme for “Abby’s Flying Fairy School,” another popular Sesame Street segment that ran from 2009 to 2012. Although the two songs no longer regularly appear in new episodes of Sesame Street, they still continue to earn public performance royalties thanks to the show’s continued syndication. In fact, in 2016, “Elmo’s World” made more than $25,000 and “Abby’s Flying Fairy School” made more than $10,000.
But this catalog earns more than just public performance royalties. It also earns mechanical royalties for streams and downloads of the music, as well as synchronization royalties each time the songs are used in a new Sesame Street spin-off, such as a home video release or movie. And the synchronization royalties can be significant. In 2016, sync royalties totaled $14,437. Also, this catalog earns compulsory royalties when new online streaming services license the songs for use on their platform.
In addition to music royalties, this auction also includes screenwriting residuals for Sesame Street and two classic animated films. Film and TV residuals are a bit different from music royalties, but in general they are paid for the “reuse” of movies and TV shows. A “reuse” can be a syndicated airing on TV, a DVD release, or a stream on the internet. Screenwriting residuals are handled by the Writer’s Guild of America. You can learn more about them here.
Tony Geiss’s Sesame Street screenwriting credits begin in 1978 and run through 2007. His other major credits are from two Steven Spielberg-produced animated classics: An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988). Those credits still earn residuals and profit participation shares today, 30 years after the films’ release. (Profit participation earnings are a percentage cut of the film’s profits from theater, TV, and video releases.) For example, in 2016, profit participation earnings from The Land Before Time were $6,384.
In 2016, the total income for all sources including music public performance, mechanical, sync, and compulsory royalties, plus TV and film residuals and profit participation earnings, earned a total of $108,500.
Radiohead Releases Song And Video For OK Computer Outtake “I Promise”
Radiohead’s previously unreleased “I Promise” has been made available to stream and download.
“I Promise” is one of 3 previously unreleased tracks to be featured on the band’s album OKNOTOK, which will be released on June 23 through XL Recordings. The digital version of the album is now available to preorder.
The release of “I Promise” is accompanied by a new video for the song, directed by Michal Marczak who previously directed the vignette for “Identikit” from A Moon Shaped Pool, as well as the clip for Mark Pritchard’s “Beautiful People” featuring Thom Yorke.
OKNOTOK appears 20 years after the release of Radiohead’s landmark third album OK COMPUTER. The new version features the original album, eight B-sides and also the three previously unissued studio recordings “I Promise,” “Lift” and “Man of War.”
All material on OKNOTOK is newly remastered from the original analog tapes.
ONE LOVE MANCHESTER to be broadcast exclusively to Canadians on Bell Media
Bell Media announced today the Canadian commercial-free, live broadcast of Ariana Grande and friends’ charity concert ONE LOVE MANCHESTER on Sunday, June 4 from 1:55 to 5 p.m. ET (check local listing for timing in various markets across Canada) on CTV, CTV GO, Much, VRAK, and presented by iHeartRadio across Canada on Virgin Radio stations.
A benefit concert to honour and raise vital funds for the victims and families who were tragically affected by the Manchester attack after Grande’s show last week, the concert will take place at the Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester. Tickets for the concert sold out in under six minutes yesterday.
The concert will feature performances by Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan, Little Mix, Take That, Usher, Robbie Williams, and Pharrell Williams with additional guests likely to be announced in the coming days. Television coverage of the ONE LOVE MANCHESTER concert is being produced by the BBC, the host broadcaster.
“Music is meant to heal us, to bring us together, to make us happy,” said Grande. “So that is what it will continue to do for us. We will continue to honour the ones we lost, their loved ones, my fans and all affected by this tragedy. They will be on my mind and in my heart everyday and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life.”
All net ticket proceeds of the show will go directly to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, which was set up by the Manchester City Council in partnership with the British Red Cross, in aid of grieving families and victims of the horrific attack. www.redcross.org.uk/LOVE
Wolf, Jerry Garcia’s Legendary Guitar, Was Sold For $1.9 Million
For millions of passionate Grateful Dead fans, there is only one “Wolf”, Jerry Garcia’s legendary guitar. Customized by luthier Doug Irwin, and labeled “D. Irwin 001”, Wolf was delivered to Jerry and first appeared in a 1973 New York City performance the Grateful Dead gave for the Hell’s Angels. Over the following two decades, Wolf became almost as well known as the performer himself as it was played in countless concerts and on treasured recordings throughout Jerry’s fabled career. Indeed, the 1977 film “The Grateful Dead Movie” directed by Jerry features extensive footage of the beloved musician onstage playing Wolf.
Years after the musician’s passing, Wolf returned to Doug and was sold in a 2002 Guernsey’s auction conducted at NYC’s electric Studio 54, where it fetched close to $1 million, more than doubling the then existing world record for any guitar ever sold.
Last night, Brian Halligan, the co-founder and CEO of HubSpot and the co-author of the book Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead, purchased the guitar for $1.9 million, with an anonymous charity matching the pre-premium bid of $1.6 million to make for a total sale of $3.2 million. This makes “Wolf” the most expensive Garcia guitar ever sold, and, according to Guitar Player, the third most expensive guitar ever auctioned.
The Auction
Those interested in bidding should visit www.guernseys.com or contact the auction house in New York at 212-794-2280.
Photos: Roberto Rabanne
For media inquiries or to request an interview, please contact Lori Rosen at 212.255.8910 or email at Lori@rosengrouppr.com
Interested in bidding/tickets to the auction?
Foo Fighters Release New Single And Video For “Run”
Music’s favourite rockers are back. Foo Fighters are senior citizens in the video for Run, a grand gesture of reassurance for those that missed the band.