Spotify Signs A Deal With Universal. Only Warner Left To Go Now.

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

By The Looks Of It, Spotify Might Be Coming To America Sooner Than Expected

Spotify’s much-touted disembark on American shores finally picks up some pace. The company has managed to sign a deal with Universal Music. This means that the one and only company that stands between Spotify and America is the typically-conservative Warner Music Group. By now, Spotify has already managed to nail deals with UMG, EMI and Sony.

The Warner deal itself might not be that hard to sign, actually. All four major labels have recently signed with Apple for its iTunes to the Cloud and iTunes Match services. This is a clear indicator that the majors are opening up to the concept of digital music. I know, I know – the European streaming service and Apple are in entirely different leagues. But that is something of a precedent all the same.

One thing’s for sure: if the Warner deal comes through, it will involve some kind of heavy compromise. Let’s see how Spotify can handle that – remember, it has already angered punters by cutting on the amount of music that can be streamed for free.

Stay tuned for the latest developments. This might as well turn to be one of the hottest stories of the year as far as digital music is concerned.

The Les Paul Google Doodle Will Live Forever On Its Own Page

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

The Les Paul Google Doodle

Google’s Doodles were implemented by the search giant as a direct response to the random backgrounds that one gets when using Bing. Doodles conmemorate the birth of famous people, the date in which discoveries and inventions were made, and the date in which remarkable products were issued. And just last week, one of the most interesting Doodles ever was featured on Google’s homepage.

I’m obviously talking about the Les Paul Doodle. It celebrated the 96th anniversary of the birth of Les Paul, unarguably one of the biggest names in guitar history.

This Doodle proved so popular during its original run that it was left online for two full days (Doodles are only left there for 24 hours at most). And the immense popularity of the Les Paul Doodle was confirmed when Google announced the musical logo would live forever on a page of its very own.

So, the Les Paul Doodle will remain accessible for perpetuity here. You will be able to create songs and have them recorded and shared with all of your chums. Just check the video featured below in case you have not seen what this latest Doodle is capable of.

The Official Video For Kanye West’s “Monster” Is Finally Released

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

After Having Leaked In December 2010, The Official Video For Kanye West’s “Monster” Has Finally Been Issued

Way back in December, the video for Kanye West’s “Monster” was mysteriously leaked online. People immediately complained about the gory nature of the clip for what is unarguably one of the strongest cuts on “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” (it features Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Justin Vernon).

Well, the clip has finally been released in its official form. And you can watch it below. But if you found the leaked video hard to stomach, just keep your distance – the finished video for “Monster” is even gorier than the clip we all had watched last winter. Heads falling from shoulders are the least shocking thing you will see here.

In fact, Kanye went as far as to add a disclaimer that goes “the following content is in no way to be interpreted as misogynistic or negative towards any group of people. It is an art piece and it shall be taken as such.”

OK, you’ve been warned. If you’re not the faint-hearted kind, check the video now:

Is Spotify Coming To Facebook?

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

Despite What Some Think, Spotify Isn't Coming To Facebook Yet

The rumor that Spotify and Facebook have become partners has been spreading like wildfire. And it has also been written off for what it is – a rumor. According to what some people have been saying, Spotify has partnered with Facebook, and users of the social network will shortly be able to stream music right from their profiles by merely clicking a button.

Sounds good, right? Well, but it is something that is not happening until Spotify launches in the US. As you know, Spotify is striving to appease record companies in the States so that it can (finally) bring its services to Americans. It has begun taking measures that have met with acrimony such as limiting the access people can have to music for free, for example. But that hasn’t been enough – it is said that two major record companies are still reticent to give the European streaming service the go-ahead to land in America.

Until that happens, you can rest assured Spotify isn’t coming to Facebook.

And believe me, it isn’t happening in a hurry.

NADIEQUIERE Discos, A New Uruguayan Record Label Launches

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

A new Uruguayan record label has launched. It is named NADIEQUIERE Discos (official page here, Facebook fan page here), and it has some bands I already covered on MusicKO (such as Casablancas), and other bands like The Bear Season that I’ve always meant to review but that are still on the pipeline because I’m as peripatetic as Ryan Adams. You know, I actually look a lot like Ryan – the only differences are that he has tons of hair, that he can sing and that he can play guitar. Oh, and that he has dated Winona Ryder.

The label also has a good handful of artists that are completely new to me, which isn’t surprising because (as those fabtastic Swedes sang) “I’m living in a box but I come out when opportunity nox”. I hope to get to know them better soon…

In the meantime, give NADIEQUIERE Discos a look (official page, Facebook fan page – whatever excites you more). Of course, you need to understand Spanish to read these pages. But if you don’t, that shouldn’t be that much of a problem. I mean, how many people who are regular opera-goers know Italian? Eh? And how many people could make sense out of the wreck that Tommy was narrative-wise when it was first issued? Poor Pete Townshend, I read he did almost 1,000 interviews to cover those narrative deficiencies. Lessons learned, kids? Do things right the first time around.

MusicKO Is Now 2 Years Old!!

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

It fills me with joy to announce that today MusicKO has become two years old.

An enormous “thank you” to all the readers and to all the these bands that are a never-ending source of inspiration, and which motivate me to keep on writing and writing even when my job and other activities take up most of my time.

Special thanks to all the Uruguayan artists that contact me and ask to be included on the blog. You always thank me warmly for the posts afterwards, but you have no idea how much I get out of it, the feeling of joy and realization that washes over me whenever I manage to cover a new Uruguayan act.

To quote Richard Thompson… “I’ll never give it up”.

How To Sell Your Music On iTunes

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

How Do You Sell Your Own Music On iTunes?

To think that once upon a time the dream of every musician was to have his own CD on the racks of record stores all over the country… now, his aim is to have it featured on iTunes. Yet, how many stop to think of what would it take to make it happen before doing anything? How many understand how it really works? I hope the text below answers that, and gives anybody something of a direction when thinking about selling his own music through iTunes.

The first thing to realize is that you are not going to work directly with Apple – the requirements for doing that rule most people out (IE, you must have 20 albums in your catalog – that is more than bands like The Who put out in their actual time together). No, what you are going to do is to work with Apple through an aggregator such as TuneCore or CDBaby. These are companies that work with Apple in order to ensure that the content which is featured on iTunes meet its actual quality standards, and they also take care of marketing/promotional duties.

In the case of the two that have just been mentioned (TuneCore and CDBaby – they are easily the two most popular aggregators around), you retain the rights to your music, and you also retain more than 90 % of the royalties for every sale (TuneCore actually lets you retain 100 % of every transaction). Aggregators also let you sell your music on other stores and services such as Amazon MP3, Spotify, MySpace Music, Zune, Rhapsody, Nokia, Amazon On Demand and (in the vast majority of cases) you are also allowed to market your music physically, and have it sold on record stores. Continue reading →

YouTube Now Has An Official Music Chart

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

Last week YouTube launched its Top 100 chart for music. It basically combines official videos from the likes of Lady Gaga and Jessie J. along with clips that have gone viral after being uploaded by users.

The chart (which is found on YouTube’s music page) is updated weekly, and the data is going to be stored. So, those of you who are up for tracking trends will have it made.

Right now, the chart offers no real surprises – Jennifer Lopez s at number 1 with “On The Floor”, Lady Gaga is at number 2 with “Judas”, Bruno Mars is at number 3 with “The Lazy Song”… and Rebecca Black is at number 10 with “Friday”.

Yeah, sure. As if she were going to have another hit song anytime soon…

youtube music chart

Lady Gaga Is Now On Farmville

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

Lady Gaga Comes To Farmville!

Lady Gaga keeps on reminding us why she is called “The Internet Artist”. Her newest venture has her claiming ownership of a portion of FarmVille. It is aptly-called GagaVille, and people who get there can grow jewels and get her new album (“Born This Way”) when they purchase $25 in Zynga game cards.

Zynga is certainly not strange to partnerships with musicians and entertainment companies, as it has previously worked with Snoop Dogg, Dreamworks and Nickelodeon to drop a few names. But the Lady Gaga partnership is unarguably its largest entertainment deal.

GagaVille wll be open until the 26th of May.

Promo clip attached below:

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