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Converse Rubber Tracks Unlocks The Doors For Indie Bands To Iconic Studios Around The World

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Today, Converse Inc. announces the global launch of a monumental new Converse Rubber Tracks program that opens the doors to some of the world’s greatest recording studios in music history. Over a two-week period, Converse Rubber Tracks will activate across eight different countries in four continents, offering aspiring musicians the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to record original music at 12 landmark studios, including the two Converse Rubber Tracks studios, at no cost.

Global registration begins today, Tuesday, May 26 and runs through Wednesday, June 24, featuring an online submission process that requires applicants to rank their top three studio preferences, and encourages all to enter a brief artist biography or description via a video or written application. If selected, chosen artists will be notified in early July. Following a thorough planning session with studio producers, artists chosen will be taken to one of their studios of choice in September this year, with most travel accommodations arranged and select expenses covered by Converse.

Starting today, emerging artists, bands, and musicians ages 18 years and older and of all genres across the globe can register for the rare opportunity to record at the following participating studios: Abbey Road Studios in London, England; Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, California; Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany; Tuff Gong in Kingston, Jamaica; Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavik, Iceland; The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, Canada; Avast Recording Co. in Seattle, Washington; Stankonia in Atlanta, Georgia; Studios 301 in Sydney, Australia; Toca do Bandido in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the original brick-and-mortar Converse Rubber Tracks studio in Brooklyn, New York; and the second permanent Converse Rubber Tracks studio in Boston, Massachusetts, slated to open this summer.

“Since we opened our first permanent Converse Rubber Tracks studio in Brooklyn four years ago, we’ve had aspirations to elevate this program even further, hoping to extend this opportunity to artists across the globe,” said Jed Lewis, Converse Global Music Marketing Director. “With this new Converse Rubber Tracks program, we will unlock the doors to some of the greatest recording studios in music history and we’re ecstatic to offer this extraordinary experience to emerging artists worldwide. As a brand so deeply rooted in the next generation of creative spirits, we’re eager to make history while inspiring creativity and self-expression among music communities worldwide.”

This Converse Rubber Track program will serve as the brand’s most innovative music initiatives to date, signifying the exponential growth and global expansion of the Converse Rubber Tracks platform, set to offer a total of 84 recording sessions at 12 different studios within the two-week time frame. Selected artists will have the opportunity to work with world-renowned producers and sound engineers, while being given access to industry-leading technology in studios that have hosted some of the most celebrated acts in music history.

The Converse Rubber Tracks program was born out of the brand’s desire to give back to the music community and provide opportunities for artists who might not be able to afford studio time. Since the flagship studio opened in Brooklyn in July 2011, over 900 emerging artists have had the opportunity to record original music alongside the Converse Rubber Tracks team of experienced engineers at no cost. At the end of their studio time, the artists retain all of the rights to their own music. Over the past three years, the program has expanded beyond the studio in Brooklyn with Converse Rubber Tracks pop-up studios, which has brought the Converse Rubber Tracks experience on the road to vibrant music communities around the globe, including Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Montreal, São Paulo, Beijing, Amsterdam, London, Hamburg, Paris, and Mexico City to name a few.

To find out more about Converse Rubber Tracks, or to learn more about how to register for one of the coveted sessions, go here.

SOCAN Elects New Board Of Directors For 2015-18

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SOCAN has announced the results of its 2015 Board of Directors election, based on votes cast by SOCAN members (music creators and publishers) from April 7 to May 15, 2015.

The Board of Directors consists of 18 people – nine writer members and nine publisher members, with regional, cultural and genre specific representation – elected for a three-year term.

The following people were elected and take office when KPMG, the scrutineer, officially presents the results at the SOCAN Annual General Meeting on June 16, 2015, in Toronto:

Representing SOCAN Music Writer Members:

Jean-Robert Bisaillon
Victor Davies
Ed Henderson
Safwan Javed
Stan Meissner
Ben Mink
Glenn Morley
Marc Ouellette
Gilles Valiquette

Representing SOCAN Music Publisher Members:

Rosaire Archambault (Éditorial Avenue)
Vivian Barclay (Warner Chappell Music Canada Ltd.)
Patrick Curley (Third Side Music Inc.)
Gary Furniss (Sony / ATV Music Publishing Canada)
Craig Horton (Nettwerk Music Publishing)
Jennifer Mitchell (Casablanca Media Publishing Inc.)
Robert Ott (Ole)
Earl Rosen (De Sade Songs)
Denis Wolff (Ho Tune Musique)

“Congratulations to each of our newly-elected SOCAN Board of Directors,” said Eric Baptiste, CEO of SOCAN. “The SOCAN management team looks forward to working to advance SOCAN’s core mandate to raise the bar for music rights, to further our business strategies. These outstanding music creators and industry leaders care deeply about performing rights, and they add value and knowledge as SOCAN tackles issues and forges ahead in the rapidly changing ecosystem of our dynamic music industry.

“I would also like to thank the departing board members Jim Vallance and Neville Quinlan for their service and dedication to SOCAN and the Canadian music industry overall.”

Following SOCAN’s annual general meeting, the new board of directors will hold its first meeting, when it will elect the President and other officers who will serve until the next election in 2018.

Cooking Vinyl’s Martin Goldschmidt Calls For Direct Tax Breaks For Music

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Speaking at the Vote For Music Keynote session at The Great Escape in Brighton, Martin Goldschmidt, Managing Director of the Cooking Vinyl Group explained: “The tax breaks that currently exist to help the music industry actually give the tax break to private investors. As exists for other creative industries, why not also have a scheme that gives the break directly to music?”

“Support would be best targeted as a tax break for recorded music production. Many of the tax breaks offered to film, video games, theatre and now orchestras were designed in part to mitigate the damage done by piracy and market failure. But what creative industry has been hit harder by online piracy than recorded music? Record companies have been hit hard, but recording studios and their workers have been hit hardest.

“This is about putting value back into the whole recording ecosystem of studios, session players and importantly, self-funding artists. Given music’s leading export value, the move would make clear economic sense. More importantly it makes cultural sense – as an industry, we’ve grown very risk-averse in terms of what gets signed, what gets played on the radio. Let’s get help to fund more of culturally diverse, crazy, exciting stuff that so often gains wild popularity.”

For any change to be made though, Goldschmidt believes it is vital that the music industry delivers a clear message “The reason the tax break currently goes to the financial services industry and not the music industry is that we fight among ourselves and are very bad at talking to government. We have to have the discussions behind closed doors, agree the common ground and send a unified message to government.”

Established in 1986, Cooking Vinyl has developed a reputation as one of Europe’s prime artist-focused independent labels, inspiring an enviable loyalty among its artist roster. It is also in the vanguard of music companies offering innovative services-only deals that claim no stake in artists’ copyrights.

Artists signed to Cooking Vinyl include Embrace, Röyksopp, James, Amanda Palmer, The Prodigy, Marilyn Manson and Billy Bragg. Such is the loyalty and affection among artists for the label that the likes of Frank Black have returned close to 20 times to record fresh collections with them. The Prodigy’s Invaders Must Die was Europe’s biggest selling independent album in 2009.

Pop Evil Debut New Music, Album Art, Track List and more

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In what is sure to be the busiest year of their career, POP EVIL have debuted an all new single titled “Footsteps” today exclusively through Billboard.com. “We challenged ourselves creatively to make a different sounding record,” says front-man Leigh Kakaty. “Since ‘Footsteps’ was written we couldn’t wait for this day to get here!”

The new is the first new music we’ve heard from the band off their forthcoming LP called UP due out August 21st via eOne Music. Digital pre-orders are available today and physical pre-orders will be available Friday June 5th via the band’s official website.

Purposefully assembled at Studio Litho, Robert Lang Studios and London Bridge Studios with producer Adam Kasper (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters), UP is the sound of a rock band cementing a powerful identity that’s steadily materialized over the course of three prior full-length slabs. The inspirational soon to be live (June 1st) staple “Footsteps,” – POP EVIL prove their burgeoning success is no accident.

“Now it’s time to step up our game and let people know we can back it all up,” adds Kakaty. “We want to prove we aren’t a one hit wonder. We didn’t just get lucky.”

UP is a bold reintroduction and step forward, with guitarists NICK FUELLING and DAVEY GRAHS, bassist MATT DIRITO, drummer CHACHI RIOT and Kakaty at the top of their game. It’s always a bit cliché, not to mention questionable, when a band says their new album is the best one yet. But in the case of POP EVIL, it’s an absolute fact.

POP EVIL smashes through the odds like a battering ram, weathering the trials and tribulations of paying dues with a steadfast resilience owing much to their blue collar and middle class backgrounds, and building a worldwide audience one fan at a time. As the moniker promises when emblazoned on a CD or radio dial, POP EVIL conjures aggressive riffs and hard charging sing-a-longs with emotional heft and melodic power in equal measure. It’s music by the people, for the people.

The band is gearing up for a truck load of European and Canadian tour dates including illustrious festivals such as DOWNLOAD and GRASPOP. Click here for all tour dates.

1. Footsteps
2. Core
3. In Disarray
4. Take It All
5. Ghost Of Muskegon
6. If Only For Now
7. …
8. Ways to Get High
9. Lux
10. Vendetta
11. Dead In The Water
12. Seattle Rain
13. Til Kingdom Come

Happy Monday! Here Are Baby Goats On A Trampoline

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Daren Weatherby caputures Nigerian dwarf doelings enjoying a fun day of sproinging.

Suit Up, A NASA Doc Narrated By Jon Cryer Detailing 50 Years Of Spacewalks

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“Suit Up,” is narrated by actor and fan of space exploration Jon Cryer. Cryer recently traveled to Star City, NASA Headquarters and the Johnson Space Center to film an upcoming Travel Channel documentary series. This NASA documentary celebrates 50 years of extravehicular activity (EVA) or spacewalks that began with the first two EVAs conducted by Russian Alexey Leonov in March 1965 and American astronaut Edward White in June 1965.

The documentary features interviews with NASA Administrator and astronaut, Charles Bolden, NASA Deputy Administrator and spacesuit designer, Dava Newman, as well as other astronauts, engineers, technicians, managers and luminaries of spacewalk history. They share their personal stories and thoughts that cover the full EVA experience– from the early spacewalking experiences, to spacesuit manufacturing, to modern day spacewalks aboard the International Space Station as well as what the future holds for humans working on a tether in space.

An Animated History of the Hamburger

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Ever wonder how America’s signature dish came to be? Let food historian George Motz and animator Jorge Corona take you on a hand-drawn historical journey, done entirely on burger wrappers.

Dan Talevski Performs “Guilty As Sin” on Breakfast Television, Toronto

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Sometimes, things just click. They certainly have for Dan Talevski. At the tender age of 27, he’s already accomplished more than some artists twice his age. Millions of people have seen him sing on YouTube. He’s been signed to a major record label. Groomed for stardom alongside Justin Bieber. Toured with Backstreet Boys. Worked in the studio with will.i.am. Written songs for Shawn Desman, Danny Fernandes, Keshia Chante and others. And now, with Guilty as Sin, he’s poised to take his rightful place as Canada’s next musical sensation.

Three Days Grace Announce 15-Stop Canadian Tour

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Fresh off the release of their 5th studio album HUMAN, platinum-selling and chart topping Canadian rockers Three Days Grace announce a 15 date Canadian tour starting off on Friday July 3rd at Echo Beach in Toronto, with stops in Vancouver, Montreal, Moncton, Halifax, Quebec City, London, Windsor (Caesars Windsor), Winnipeg, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray and Kelowna. This coast to coast foray is the band’s first full cross-Canada tour in 6 years. Pennsylvania rockers Halestorm added as special guest. Visit http://www.threedaysgrace.com/events/upcoming for on-sale and ticket information.

Members of the Official Three Days Grace Community have access to exclusive pre-sale tickets here starting June 2nd at 10am local time. Fans can join the community for free here.

Since first catapulting on to the scene in 2003, Three Days Grace consistently connected to audiences via hard-hitting, honest, and hypnotic anthems. Matt Walst [lead vocals], Barry Stock [lead guitar], Brad Walst [bass], and Neil Sanderson [drums, percussion, keyboards, programming]—once again continue that tradition on their fifth full-length album, HUMAN [RCA Records]. Their link to listeners is the most natural and human thing of all.

“When Matt joined the band last year, there was not a fleeting moment that we didn’t think we would forge ahead,” agrees Neil. “Life is all about chapters. Matt’s first show was in front of eight-thousand people on a co-headliner with Shinedown, and he came out guns blazing. He brought this fiery new energy to the band. We never looked back.”

“We didn’t give him a choice,” smiles Barry. “We hijacked him.”

With Matt as their new lead singer, the band continued barreling forward full steam ahead. In between touring throughout 2014, they reconnected with producer Gavin Brown who helmed the boards on their platinum-certified 2003 self-titled debut and enlisted the mixing talents of Chris Lord-Alge and Nick Raskulinecz. For the first time, Three Days Grace cut songs during short breaks from the road. They would retreat to a dark, uncomfortable rehearsal space and write everything on acoustic guitars, starkly tightening the melodies as much as possible. On HUMAN, Three Days Grace comes full circle, yet they’re also newly energized with the addition of Matt (Brad’s brother). Closing that circle, Matt incidentally co-wrote two songs on the band’s debut album, also produced by Gavin Brown. HUMAN debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hard Music Albums Chart and at #16 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart in the U.S., and debuted at #2 on the Nielsen Soundscan Top 200 Sales Chart in Canada.

The Three Days Grace machine never stops. 2012’s Transit Of Venus earned the #1 spot on US Billboard’s Hard Rock Chart and went Top 5 on the Top 200, in addition to receiving a nomination for “Best Rock Album of the Year” at the Juno Awards. Both Three Days Grace [2003] and One-X [2006] went platinum, while Life Starts Now [2009] reached gold status, bringing the band’s sales to over 6 million in the U.S. alone. Their catalog of number one hits encompasses smashes such as “Chalk Outline,” “The High Road,” “Misery Loves My Company,” “World So Cold,” “Good Life,” “Break,” “Never Too Late,” “Animal I Have Become,” “Pain,” “Just Like You,” and “Home.”

http://smarturl.it/HumanRaceVid

Canadian Tour Dates w/Halestorm (except Vancouver):
July 3rd Toronto, ON Molson Amphitheatre (w/ Big Wreck and Halestorm)
August 15th Vancouver, BC Hard Rock Casino (w/ The Wild)
November 6th Montreal, QC Metropolis
November 7th Moncton, NB Casino Moncton
November 9th Halifax, NS Multi Purpose Forum
November 10th Quebec City, QC Capitole De Quebec
November 12th London, ON London Music Hall
November 14th Windsor, ON The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor*
November 16th Winnipeg, MB Burton Cummings Theatre
November 17th Moose Jaw, SK Mosaic Place
November 18th Saskatoon, SK Sasktel Centre
November 20th Edmonton, AB Shaw Conference Centre
November 21st Calgary, AB Macewan Hall
November 22nd Fort McMurray, AB Casman Centre
November 24th Kelowna, BC Prospera Place
*On Sale Date To Be Announced

Dire Straits “Money For Nothing” Isolated Guitar Track

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“Money for Nothing” by British rock band Dire Straits is taken from their 1985 album Brothers in Arms. The song’s lyrics are written from the point of view of a working-class man watching music videos and commenting on what he sees. The recording was notable for its controversial lyrics, groundbreaking music video and cameo appearance by Sting singing the song’s falsetto introduction and backing chorus, “I want my MTV”. The video was also the first to be aired on MTV Europe when the network started on 1 August 1987.

It was one of Dire Straits’ most successful singles, peaking at number one for three weeks in the United States, and it also reached number one for three weeks on the US Top Rock Tracks chart. In the band’s native UK, the song peaked at number four. “Money for Nothing” won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1986 at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards.