Inexplicably, Kanye West and Lady Gaga’s highly anticipated tour “Fame Kills” is cancelled according to a statement released on Thursday by Live Nation. The tour was scheduled to begin on November 10, 2009 in Phoenix and run all the way through at least January.
Two longevity records will be shattered on the Billboard Hot 100 chart to be released on Billboard.biz tomorrow (Aug. 20) morning. With an eighth consecutive week at No. 1 for "I Gotta Feeling," the Black Eyed Peas will have held the top slot for an unprecedented 20 straight weeks, having previously led the list for the prior 12 frames with "Boom Boom Pow," the lead single from its Billboard 200-topping album "The E.N.D." Also entering the record books is Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours," which spends an extraordinary 70th week on the Hot 100. The track debuted on the May 3, 2008, chart and peaked at No. 6 nearly a year ago, on Sept. 20, 2008. The song has resided within the top 40 of the list in all but the first 12 weeks of its chart life, dropping 23-29 on the latest tally.
The Black Eyed Peas' 20-week string atop the Hot 100 surpasses Usher's run of 19 consecutive weeks achieved in 2004 with "Yeah!" and "Burn." On establishing the mark for longest successive stay at No. 1 in the Hot 100's 51-year history, Peas member will.i.am comments, "With this kind of success your ego wants to take all the credit but your heart reminds your soul that it was your heart that had you slaving and creating in the studio making the music; breaking through comfort zones and tradition. In the fight between heart and ego my heart always wins." Fellow Pea Fergie adds, "It's an amazing feeling to know that these songs have connected with so many people who have kept them alive for so long."
For Mraz, his never-say-die single overtakes the weeks-on-chart mark held for nearly 11 years by LeAnn Rimes' signature hit "How Do I Live." That ubiquitous track spent 69 weeks on the Hot 100, with its final frame occurring on the Oct. 10, 1998, chart. Multi-format airplay is one of the reasons for "I'm Yours'" longevity. It is the only track to reach No. 1 on each of the following four radio-based charts: Mainstream Top 40/Pop Songs, Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40, and Triple A. It has also appeared on Latin Pop, Smooth Jazz, and debuts this week at Rhythmic.By Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard.biz, August 19, 2009
Please join me in filling a cup and wishing a resounding Mazel Tov and "L'haim" to our clients, Black Eyed Pea - Taboo and songwriter/producers Keith Harris, Printz Board, George Pajon, Jr. and Tim Ordingreff in a summer celebration to their contributions to the essential sounds of the season: Black Eyed Pea's The E.N.D.
The full length album's two breakout singles rule the airwaves. As of July 30, 2009, The Black Eyed Peas set a record for the longest successive #1 chart run in the Billboard Hot 100's history, with "I Gotta Feeling" in its fifth consecutive week at #1, following twelve weeks at the top by "Boom Boom Pow."
The Black Eyed Peas fifth album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 marking it the Peas largest first week sales in the U.S. to date. The Peas are the first duo or group since OutKast to simultaneously occupy the top two spots on the Hot 100.
Among our clients is songwriter/producer Keith Harris, who co-wrote to five songs on the best-selling CD and produced four songs, including the forthcoming single, Meet Me Halfway. I am also proud to rep The Peas producer, keyboardist, multi-instrumentalist and musical director Printz Board, also the producer of four tracks and co-writer of five songs on the CD. George Pajon and Tim Ordingreff co-wrote our generations next anthem with "Now Generation", a song that already promises to hit the ears, hearts & home of what the now generation wants.
On a personal note, please also join me in conveying additional congratulations to Taboo who in addition to all of the successes of his group, also produced -- with his wife Jaymie, a son- Jimmy Jalen Gomez, born on July 19, 2009.
On June 26th, 2009, in Los Angeles, CA, a “Strike Motion” was filed against the popular gossip guru, Perez Hilton by Howard King, Esq. on behalf of Black Eyed Peas Manager, Polo Molina.
According to King, “Hilton raced to the courthouse with his press release disguised as a Complaint and attempted to disseminate it to the world through his allegedly popular website without bothering to serve it on Molina.”
The “Strike Motion” states that Perez Hilton is attempting to utilize the court system as a means of disseminating additional press releases to garner attention for himself and as a possible defense tactic to avert possible slander, libel and/or defamation claims against him.
By Tatiana McKinney
Urban Magazine
UPDATE: Perez Hilton's attorneys have since contacted Howard King and Brian Bird and volunteered to amend the complaint.
Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D." bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 304,000 -- the hip-pop act's best sales week ever. It's also the first No. 1 album for the group, which had previously gone as high as No. 2. Its last set, 2005's "Monkey Business," bowed in the runner-up slot with a then-best 291,000. It had the unfortunate luck to come out the same week as Coldplay's "X&Y," which kept the Peas' at bay when it started at No. 1 with 737,000.
Believe it or not, "The E.N.D." is only the second top 10 album for the Peas. While "Monkey" peaked at No. 2, its first two releases -- 1998's "Behind the Front" and 2000's "Bridging the Gap" -- both missed the top 50. It wasn't until the group recruited Fergie for "Elephunk" in 2003 did the group break through big time. That album, powered by three top 40 Hot 100 singles (including "Where Is The Love?"), peaked at No. 14 and spent 106 weeks on the chart.
It was hard not to know that the Black Eyed Peas had a new album last week, thanks to heavy promotion from Target. The retailer carried an exclusive version of the album that featured additional tracks and flooded the airwaves with a commercial touting the new set.
Over on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the Peas debut at No. 2 with its new single "I Gotta Feeling" while holding at No. 1 for an 11th week with "Boom Boom Pow." It's the first time any act has occupied the top two slots on the Hot 100 with songs from the No. 1 album of the week since OutKast did it on Feb. 7, 2004. They were Nos. 1 and 2 on the Hot 100 with "Hey Ya" and "The Way You Move," respectively, while "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" spent its seventh (and final week) atop the Billboard 200.
By Keith Caulfield, Billboard.biz, June 18, 2009
Changes in the tax code
from 2006 continue to offer significant advantages for both songwriters and
music publishers. The tax breaks for songwriters were especially
ground-breaking, permitting self-created musical compositions or copyrights in
self-created musical works to be treated as capital assets. And gains on the sale
of long-term capital assets - those held for more than 12 months - are taxed at
the rate of 15%, instead of at higher income tax rates. A related law lets
buyers of such works write off the purchase price over a period of five years,
taking a deduction in each.
Before 2006, copyrights, literary, musical or artistic compositions, letters
or memoranda were not considered "capital assets" in the hands
of their creators. So a songwriter who sold his own songs, like an artist
selling a painting, paid normal income tax, currently up to 35%. But the same
songs were considered "capital assets" if bought by a music
publisher. Not only could a publisher deduct the cost of acquiring the
copyrights (as a yearly percentage of the purchase price), but the proceeds of
any subsequent resale would be taxed as a capital gain (presuming the rights
had been held by a non-corporate publisher for at least a year). Now,
songwriters also get a capital gains break, but not automatically.
Songwriters have to affirmatively elect it - a no-brainer unless they want to
volunteer to reduce the national debt.
Confusingly, the tax law doesn't define a self-created "musical
composition" or self-created "musical work." It seems safe
to assume that these categories would cover compositions created by a lyricist
and a composer. But what if an existing poem becomes the lyrics to a song by
another writer? That song would probably be covered by a single copyright, and
its sale should entitle the creators of both the melody and the original poem
to pay the capital gains tax, even though the sale of the poem alone wouldn't
qualify. The law also doesn't address what music besides self-created songs
qualify as "capital assets," only stating that both
self-created "musical compositions" and "copyrights in musical
works" qualify for elective capital gains treatment. Accordingly,
royalties and other income from musical compositions are still taxed as
ordinary income. But the term "copyrights in musical works" is
intuitively more expansive than "musical compositions," and could
include copyrights in self-created sound recordings (which, of course, would be
recordings of "musical compositions"). That means an artist could
sell a library of existing recordings along with the copyrights in the
underlying musical compositions to a film-TV music production house and argue
that all the proceeds would qualify as capital gains. But the IRS has yet to
issue an interpretive ruling.
Last year the IRS issued proposed, temporary regulations saying that each
election to treat a musical composition or copyright as a capital asset must be
made separately - on or before the due date of the tax return for the year of
sale or exchange (including extensions). Thus, creators of musical
compositions and copyrights in musical works who sold those rights in 2008 need
to declare their intention to take advantage of the lower tax rates on capital
gains. Buyers of eligible musical works and copyrights can also continue
to get "tax bang" for their buck. Before 2006, the cost of acquiring
a musical copyright generally had to be amortized and deducted over the period
that the song was projected to generate income under a frequently complicated
"income forecast." Since 2006, any expenses incurred creating
or acquiring any "applicable musical property" can be amortized over
the 5-year period beginning with the month when it was "placed in
service" (for example, when a song gets exploited). Both songwriters and
publishers can take advantage of this 5-year schedule. If a publisher paid a
million dollars for applicable musical property on January 2, 2008 and placed
it in service on January 31, 2008, by electing five-year amortization, he could
deduct $200,000 for 2008 plus the following four years. But this probably does
not include sound recordings.
Congress has lowered tax rates for songwriters who sell their catalogs and
electively take advantage of capital gains treatment, provided such songs were
held more than one year. This is in stark contrast to the higher
non-capital gain tax rates paid by authors and painters who sell their literary
works or paintings. In addition, music publishers buying songs can
recover the purchase price over an elective 5-year period. Questions
still remain as to what constitutes self-created musical works that are
eligible for favorable capital gains tax rates. Does this include sound
recordings and future reversion rights? Hopefully the IRS will soon
provide rulings that resolve these issues favorably. In the meantime,
songwriters and publishers need to take advantage of these tax incentives,
which should continue to stimulate the music publishing market.
L-R: Brian Lapin, Mike Fratantuno, Terence Yoshiaki
By Dan Kimpel, Music Connection, April 2009
What can musicians do to stay at home? Mike Fratantuno, Terence Yoshiaki and Brian Lapin, three founding members of the Black Eyed Peas, created the Transcenders, a boutique music house specializing in film, television and commercial scoring. The Hollywood- based trio is composing for CW’s teen drama Gossip Girl. They previously created songs for Judd Apatow’s Superbad and Knocked Up, the SenArt film Bonneville, and Chris Rock’s I Think I Love My Wife. They composed the score for the Lionsgate/Element feature film College and the Universal/Beacon Pictures’ DVD feature Bring It on: All Or Nothing, and wrote additional scored music for Universal Pictures The 40 Year-Old Virgin. They are the proud recipients of BMI Composer Awards for their work as episodic composers on the NBC sitcom Joey. “It was a natural progression for us, all based on wanting to work together, thinking about where the industry was headed, and where the future was going to take us,” says Fratantuno. “More bands are figuring out it’s all about getting your music out there, whether on the internet, through TV or film, or licensed for commercials.” Yoshiaki notes that bands are now writing and recording with foresight of the potential marketplace. “They may even tailor specific songs to cover different topics they assume would be picked up for a movie. A lot of bands are creating with that whole other industry in mind. Apple does a good job with their commercials, finding bands that work in that mold. People see those commercials and think, ‘How can I make a tune that Apple would use?’” Brian Lapin says the trio recorded a number of demos the first few years in the company. “We wrote thematic songs. We did everything you can think of for that business and we did a bunch of Target spots. We also had a certain amount of stuff in our catalog that we would add to, to work into the picture.” According to Tom Seufert, creative director of Visual Music, a company that reps the three, what makes the Transcenders distinctive is that they are not only composers, but songwriters. “I call them a ‘composer collective.’ Their originality and diversity are perfect for visual mediums, they can adapt to all kinds of types of music.” Seufert, who began working with the group in January, says that while composers can often morph in many instrumental styles, it is rare for composers to translate as authentic songwriters. “The Transcenders are plugged in to this incredible talent base, so they’ll find a singer who sounds like a Sheryl Crow, or the Eagles; a craggy-voiced guy doing the blues; the Al Green guy doing the retro soul; and then turn around and do quirky alternative-folk — something like Feist — that could be on an Apple spot.” As composers for Gossip Girl, the trio works under the exacting pressures of a weekly schedule. Yoshiaki observes, “Throughout the process, some scenes will tie to each other. There are dramatic pieces of music that work across different scenes. Basically, we’re thinking in terms of the whole arc of the episode and the themes that are built within the show.” Lapin observes, “Hooks are musical themes for us. Our clients usually need it to be 40 seconds long — it’s like writing for the Ramones.” In addition to years spent touring with the Black Eyed Peas, the three members of Transcenders are significant songwriters. Lapin co-wrote the Peas’ first single “Joints & Jam.” Fratantuno cowrote the No. 1 hit “Where Is The Love” featuring Justin Timberlake. Fratantuno and Yoshiaki also co-wrote the Grammy-winning Top 10 hit single “Let’s Get It Started” with BEP, which earned them both 2004 Grammy nominations in the category of Best Rap Song. Visual Music’s Tom Seufert concludes that the Transcenders’ songs span not only genres, but eras. “It could be something that’s on the radio now, or a song that sounds like a hit from 20 years ago, five years ago, two minutes ago or two minutes from now — they’re really diverse.”
While pop, rock and hip-hop are
well represented with screen time in the annual Grammy Awards telecast, The
National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences also takes this annual
opportunity to honor an expansive list of genres, from spoken word to polka.
Included in this notable roster is classical music. Composer/arranger/conductor
Chris Walden's Symphony No.1 The Four Elements recorded
with the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra was nominated for two Grammy Awards
at the 2009 ceremonies, in the categories "Best Orchestral Performance"
and "Best Classical Contemporary Composition." It is the first
CD release of a symphonic concert work by Walden.
The German-born, Los Angeles based Walden has worked extensively since
arriving in the U.S. in the mid-Nineties, scoring more than 40 feature and TV
films, and writing arrangements for artists including Christina Aguilera,
Michael Bolton, David Foster, Paul Anka, Sheryl Crow, Christopher Cross,
and orchestras like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, West Australian
Philharmonic, Boston Pops and many more. Additionally, he has orchestrated
for Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall, and Natalie Cole.
A musical director on many TV shows and series, Walden has
contributed to more than 100 CD’s as an arranger and bandleader. A virtuoso
trumpeter, he has been part on projects with jazz greats including Michael
Brecker, Peter Erskine, Ernie Watts, Tierney Sutton, Bobby Shew, Pete
Christlieb among many others. The Chris
Walden Big Band's 2005 debut Home of My Heart received two Grammy
nominations for “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album” and “Best Instrumental
Arrangement.”
Entertainment lawyer, Helen Yu of
the Los Angeles-based law firm Yu Leseberg represents Walden. Yu,
who provides legal expertise for an award-winning roster of talent that
includes film composers and pop songwriter/producers as well as film producers
and directors, notes that it is Walden’s ability to create across
multiple musical platforms that makes him distinctive. “Chris Walden is
one of the most versatile composers and musical visionaries currently working
in modern music,” say Yu. “From classical music to pop; film soundtracks
to jazz he is the absolute master of an astonishingly diverse repertoire of
music.”
