Capitol Music Group and Producer Rodney Jerkins Enter Label Partnership

Grammy winner's Evolve Music Group roster includes Diana Ross’ son Evan Ross.

By Gail Mitchell

Capitol Music Group (CMG) and Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producer Rodney Jerkins have signed a multi-year, worldwide agreement on behalf of the latter’s Evolve Music Group (EMG). 

Under the new partnership, the companies will develop, market and promote releases overseen by Jerkins.

The current EMG roster includes R&B/pop singer Evan Ross (Diana Ross’ son), soul singer Keta and YouTube discovery Sara Forsberg. The label’s operations will be based at the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood. Evolve will also house a spiritual music division, Evolve Inspirational. The imprint will be distributed through CMG’s Nashville-based Capitol Christian Music Group. Joy Enriquez and Tim Bowman Jr. are the first artists signed to Evolve Inspirational.

In a statement announcing the new alliance, CMG chairman/CEO Steve Barnett said, “Rodney possesses a keen eye for talent and a great vision for what he wants to accomplish with Evolve.” Added Evolve chairman/CEO Jerkins, “I’m excited for this partnership, confident that Evolve will play a major role in the future of our industry.”

Jerkins’ production credits include songs by Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Justin Bieber, Destiny’s Child, Toni Braxton, Brandy and Monica.

 SOURCE: http://www.billboard.com

Remy Ma Will Be Released In 10 Days

Talks prison, Nicki Minaj, and return to the rap game with Angie Martinez.

After serving 6 years at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, Remy Ma will finally be a free woman on July 31st. The Bronx rapper, who’s ten days out from being released, decided to call into Angie Martinez on Power 105.1 on Monday, and despite serving her time, sounds like the same ole Remy.

“I can’t say that I was one of those people that went to prison and I had this dramatic life change and I had this newfound outtake on life,” she said. “In a lot of ways, I’m the same.”

During their phone conversation, Angie and Remy talked about several different topics going on in her life, including her time in prison, marrying rapper Papoose, reconciling with Fat Joe, getting offers from major labels, her thoughts on Nicki Minaj, a reality show, and more.

Remy tells Angie that she’s been fielding offers from various labels (“More than I can count on one hand”) and is working on a reality show as well.

Check out some highlighted excerpts from the phone call below, and take a listen.

On her marriage to Papoose: “After six-and-a-half [years], it’s kinda serious. You gotta respect that. That’s official. … He’s an official dude. Nobody can ever front on that.”

On Fat Joe: “That was one of my epiphanies that I had. I was like, ‘OK, now I see why he wanted to kill me.’ I understand that. … I can never hate him. I’m the type of person that if I ever loved you, even if you make me mad, I’ma love you to death. I’d never be able to stand there and watch somebody do harm to him.”

On signing a new deal: “I didn’t want to sign anything as major as a deal from [prison]. A lot of things have changed since I’ve been gone, so I wanted to come home.”

On female rap: “I’ve always repped for the chicks orwhatever, but I can stand next to the best of the dudes that’s out there. That’s what I intend to do again.”

On Nicki Minaj: “Nick has always been a supporter and vice versa. I like what she does. She’s done wonderful things for females, but I just wish there was more of them. I don’t know what they’re doing letting these guys take over.”

On her reality show: “They’re making me do it. I keep telling them no. It’s too real.”

Copyright Alert System to Launch in U.K., Warning Potential Infringers

By Marc Schneider 

People in the U.K. suspected of pirating copyrighted material online will soon be getting a light slap on the wrist as part of a new consumer awareness program between the nation's leading Internet service providers, U.K.-based creative industries, and the government.

The two-tiered campaign will be run by Creative Content U.K., a newly formed partnership between ISPs and rights-holder groups. 

Phase one will launch sometime before Spring 2015, when the group rolls out a multi-media awareness campaign that "aims to create wider appreciation of the value and benefits of entertainment content and copyright," according to a press release. 

The second phase, which does not have a date attached, will be driven by a new alert system in which ISPs send out warnings to subscribers when it is believed "unlawful filesharing may have taken place" on their Internet connections. Possible abusers will be gently advised -- up to four times per year, according to Gigaom -- on where to find legitimate sources for legal content.

"Education is at the heart of this drive so people understand that piracy isn’t a victimless crime -- but actually causes business to fail, harms the industry and costs jobs," said Business Secretary Vince Cable.

The alerts program does not have a law enforcement component and will not lead to termination of service for suspected freeloaders. In 2010, Parliament passed the Digital Economy Act, which directly addressed digital media and conceivably could have led to website-blocking on grounds of copyright infringement, but much of its implementation has been delayed or repealed.

A similar "Dear Pirate" system of sending alerts to potential infringers was launched in the U.S. in February 2013 by the Center for Copyright Information and their label partners. Dubbed the Copyright Alert System, the service sends a series of notices via ISPs to customers suspected of piracy. Like in Britain, there are no criminal penalties or fines for serious offenders.

In July 2013, France revoked a controversial law that gave authorities the green light to unplug offenders who repeatedly downloaded copyrighted material. The system sent millions of warnings and was unpopular.

SOURCE: http://www.billboard.com

Sony Music Fights Lawsuit Alleging Cheating of 'American Idol' Stars

Are artists like Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson getting their share of money from Spotify, iTunes and the music industry's fight against piracy?

AP Images

Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson

Five months after the record company founded by American Idol creator Simon Fuller brought a blockbuster lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment for allegedly cheating artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Carrie Underwood, a New York federal judge is being asked to make an early determination about the claims.

The litigation explores quite a bit of ground in the modern music business, from the way in which a music major like Sony accounts for revenue off of platforms like Spotify and iTunes to how advertising expenditures are treated. One topic that was largely overshadowed when 19 Recordings filed its claims this past February was Sony's alleged duty to share the spoils of its proceeds from big battles on the copyright front. For example, three years ago, Sony was among the record majors that extracted $105 million in settlement from file-sharing LimeWire. Does the money trickle down?

In a motion to dismiss filed late last month, Sony argued that it isn't obligated to credit 19 such money.
Sony says its contracts pertaining to Idol alumni "provides for 19 to share in excess recoveries only from legal proceedings that SME institutes 'in the name of [19] and/or Artist.' It does not apply to proceedings that are brought in SME’s name, including those aimed at stopping broad-based copyright infringement of a substantial portion of Sony’s catalog."

The plaintiff's attorneys responded on Thursday that the contract gives Sony the right to sue in the artists' names and compel cooperation from them. The plain meaning of the contract, it's argued, necessitates that artists be compensated from the proceeds of copyright infringement lawsuits.

"Sony has multiple ways to bring suit," says the plaintiff. "The manner in which Sony brings suit is of no consequence as to 19’s right to receive a portion of any money which is attributable to Artist’s Masters."


Here are some of the other topics in the case:

Streaming Money
In the lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges that Sony stiffs musicians by paying the lower of two royalty rates on streaming income. Specifically, Sony treats music exploited on services like Spotify as "sales" or "distributions" rather than "broadcasts" or "transmissions." The effect of doing this, says the plaintiff, is to account for such deliveries as no different than downloads purchased.

"19's claim that all streaming services must be accounted for as a 'broadcast' or 'transmission' simply seeks to rewrite the plain terms to which it agreed over and over, in agreement after agreement," responds Sony.

Sony says artist royalties are "unambiguously" tied to the language used in the music major's licensing deals with third party services. If that wasn't so, Sony argues that there would be no purpose in setting up a contract with two different royalty rates as Sony simply would be obligated to pay the higher rate. The defendant adds that in negotiating the contract, "19 was clearly sensitive to the possibility that it would disagree with the characterization contained in the streaming agreement," and so limitations were made for any streaming service operated by Sony or its affiliates.

In other words, Sony says the limitations would be meaningless if never had the possibility of treating streaming income as distributions.

In opposition, the plaintiff maintains that Sony can't in good faith "mischaracterize" what's happening in streaming. "This robs 19 of the fruits of the Recording Agreements by purposefully avoiding using the correct operative words when Sony knew a 'broadcast' or 'transmission' was precisely what was occurring," states the plaintiff's legal brief.

Royalty Escalators
The lawsuit addresses what happens when consumers go to iTunes and buy individual tracks off an album. Though many of the songs weren't released as "singles" per se, Sony treats them as singles to allegedly avoid having them count towards album sales that would trigger royalty escalators for the recording artists.
Again, Sony points to the "unambiguous language" of the agreements. "If the parties intended multiple separate sales of Records that are not Albums to count as an Album, they would have said so," says the defendant.

The parties have a huge disagreement in math.

Sony says the interpretation that multiple individual tracks sold should be grouped as partial album sales "leads to absurd results," calculating the economic consequences being at most just "two dollars and change" no matter whether millions of records were sold. 19 Recordings, though, says that its audit calculated an underpayment of $960,000 thanks to this practice, and further, "It's easy to see that the labels can come out 20 percent to 40 percent (or even more) ahead if they sell 11 to 13 tracks individually to the same or multiple buyers, rather than the entire album in a single transaction to a single buyer."

The plaintiff is alternatively looking to bring a claim against Sony for breaching its duty of good faith and fair dealing by allowing iTunes and other download providers to permit the "disaggregation of the Album format," allowing individual tracks to be sold for the alleged benefit of Sony and to the detriment of 19 and its artists.
But according to Sony, "19’s assertion that the Agreements did not contemplate the changes to the music industry caused by the rise of individual track downloads is refuted by the fact... that all of the Agreements were executed after individual track downloads became a fixture in the music industry."

There's more! The lawsuit also addresses other topics like how advertising expenditures are deducted in royalty statements. For this, read the full memorandum supporting the motion to dismiss as well the brief opposing dismissal.

Meek Mill Dealt Setback in Getting Out of Jail

Rick Diamond/BET/Getty Images for BET

Earlier this month, Philadelphia-born Maybach Music Group rapper Meek Mill was sentenced to three to six months in jail for violating probation. His chances of getting out early were dealt a blow two days ago, when a judge rejected his lawyers' request for an emergency hearing. 

Instead, it appears that Meek Mill -- born Robert Williams -- will not receive a hearing until September.

"All I'm asking for is a hearing to learn why (his jailing) is constitutional and they won't even give me that," defense attorney Christopher Warren said July 19. Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley has said her court schedule does not permit a hearing until September and rejected a request to let another judge hear the case. 

Warren and fellow attorney Dennis Cogan plan to file a writ of mandamus, which asks a higher court to hold an emergency hearing. The defense claims that Mill did nothing to have his probation revoked and that his jailing is unconstitutional because Brinkley failed to hold two hearings and provide its client with a written notice of his violations before jailing him. 

On the flip side, Brinkley claims Mill failed to provide his probation officer with a working phone number, booked out-of-town shows without permission, was disrespectful to officers and prosecutors and posed with a gun for a picture on Instagram.

Mill was originally on probation for a 2008 gun and drug conviction, for which he served eight months in jail and began five years of probation in the fall of 2009.

To complicate matters, Meek Mill's sophomore studio album, "Dreams Worth More Than Money," is scheduled for a Sept. 9 release. 

 SOURCE: http://www.billboard.com

Donald Sterling Meets With Steve Ballmer Over Pending Clippers Sale

Getty Images

The Clippers owner and the former Microsoft CEO had a "friendly conversation" on Monday afternoon to discuss the stalled $2 billion deal for the team, according to ESPN's sources.

With the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers still in limbo, Donald Sterling met with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Monday, according to reports.

Although no settlement was reached, the pair had a "friendly conversation" in their first face-to-face meeting since Ballmer negotiated the record-setting sale with Shelly Sterling on May 29, according to ESPN sources. 

The original deadline for the sale was July 15, with a possible extension until August 15. The NBA has the option of resuming termination proceedings and subsequently selling the team itself if the sale is still in limbo by September 15, according to ESPN.

The meeting came after NBA commissioner Adam Silver's announcement last week that he doesn't know if a deal will be in place by the start of the 2014-14 season in October. 

It also came in the wake of recent explosive emotional outbursts in court from 80-year-old Sterling during the trial to determine whether Shelly Sterling has the right to sell the team. 

Along with calling the NBA "the worst corporation in America," Sterling promised that he "will never, ever, ever sell this team, and until I die," when he testified on July 9. He also called his wife a "pig" and told the Los Angeles courtroom that she deceived him. "I never thought that a woman wouldn’t stand by her husband," he said.

Monday's meeting between the current owner and the potential future owner was reportedly arranged on Sunday night following a three hour conversation between Donald and Shelly.

Earlier on Monday, the Associated Press reported that Sterling may be forced to sell a large portion of his real estate empire to cover $500 million in loans if he persists in refusing to sell the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion, according to the chief financial officer of Sterling's properties. 

Darren Schield, who oversees the finances of The Sterling Family Trust, testified Monday that three banks are ready to recall their loans to Sterling because of his decision to dissolve the trust.

His move was designed to rescind his signed agreement for the sale of the Clippers, a team he bought for $12 million. Schield said if Sterling has to dump $500 million worth of apartment buildings he could destabilize the Los Angeles real estate market.

Sterling attorney Maxwell Blecher suggested that Sterling could take the company public in order to raise funds, however, when Schield was asked by Shelly's lawyer, Pierce O'Donnell, if it would be easy to go public, he replied. "There's huge reputation issues. I don't know if anyone would want to go into partnership with him."

Shelly Sterling is due to testify in the civil case again on Tuesday, with closing arguments scheduled for July 28. 

SOMETHING EXPLOSIVE: Hip-Hop Artist, Marack, Talks About His Music

SACRAMENTO, CA. (7/21/14) — Kentucky hip-hop artist, Marack, sells thousands of copies of his first full-length album, “Wake Up”.

 

“We sold about 4,300 CDs in at home in Hopkins County,” said Marack. “I was not able to go anywhere else outside here because I sold out. I wasn’t expecting the great feedback like I received. But I can say, ‘I am a Madisonville artist, who did halfway decent.’”

Marack said, "I was able to pay back his investors and start on his second album".

Marack is a a multi-talented American rapper from Madisonville, Kentucky and is becoming popular in his hometown.. Looking back on his early life, Marack has been known as a proficient lyricist and storyteller and his skills gained him a reputation. After debuting on six mix tapes producers were eager to work with Marack. He rose to his prominence as a rapper after releasing several solo mix-tapes, Marack Presents-P.I.F.F/L.E.G in 2010 and Marack- Before I Wake Up in 2014 and it wasn’'t long before many acknowledged his depth and he rose to countywide popularity. Marack capitalized on this forward momentum and launched his professional music career by releasing his first album called, "WAKE-UP".  

As we all know in recent years, critics, fans and artists alike have lamented the turning tide in hip hop. It is commercially successful, it is the voice of a generation and it is the world’s music—all positive things. But, despite its diverse audience, it often seems like the artists themselves are not as diverse. How often have we read this bio: said emcee was raised in the projects, hustled drugs to make ends meet, got shot, learned his life lesson and pursued music as an alternative? How many times can we hear about rim size, candy paint, big booties and pushing weight? How many more rap videos will be shot around a pool filled with half-naked women? Hip hop can make you dance, yes. But can it make you think? What happened to the days when rappers had distinctly different personalities and styles? Has hip hop just become a parody of itself?

 Justin Doster, Willie Beamin, Marack, Michael Camacho and De'Shawn Reynolds.

Marack claims, "I'm not afraid to tackle subjects like self-empowerment, love, the importance of education and being aware of world issues. These are the kinds of questions up for debate on my latest album 'Wake-Up'".


Marack said that since he was able to tell his story in his latest album, he’s now looking to fulfill the void in hip-hop, with his next album.  

“My forthcoming album is called ‘Eargasm,’” said Marack. “Eargasm basically means anything that stimulates or provokes your mind… something that gets you hyped or something that just gets you through things in general.”

Marack has built a career on combining nimble, braggadocious and largely autobiographical rhymes and he is interested in pushing his style of hip-hop forward and garnering some chart hits.

“Now that my story has been told,” said Marack, “I feel like I can go in any direction I want to. I want to be able to fulfill that void in hip-hop. There is a lot of that club music going around, which is music that’s not really going to stand out for years to come, but music that is here today and will be forgotten tomorrow.”

Marack said he had some help from local talent for his new album.

“I had some help from local talent,” said Marack. “A North Hopkins High School student, Chasity Britt helped me, with a song called, ‘Cruise Control.’ She sings the chorus and the bridge.”

Marack said he guarantees his first single, “I Can’t Worry About It,” will break some necks, and be a crowd favorite.

“The whole purpose of the first single is get heads bobbing, that you almost break your neck,” said Marack. “This new song is basically about anyone who has said anything negative about you. The song is meant to inspire people to say, ‘Look, if you don’t like what I am doing, then walk away… If you’re not going to be here for me, don’t be against me.’”

Marack said ‘Eargasm’ should be out later this fall.

“We will be putting the songs on Reverb Nation,” said Marack. “As far as how many songs that will be on this new album, varies. We are looking between 14 to 16 songs. I will be recording back and forth between Louisville and Nashville. Then after that, we will dress it up and put it out.”

 He continues be a positive influence in his professional life because he developed a keen sense of self preservation and used his bright mind to learn the ins and outs of street life.

"On sheer verbal skills, I want to garner both sales and critical respect" Marack states, "I have a story to tell and I feel obligated, above all, to be honest about that experience. And trust me everything is rooted in the truth of the experiece".

“Anything, that you say in music is important,” says Marack. “It will influence someone, so don’t waste anyone’s time with nonsense. Say something that will mean something.”

 In his native Madisonville, and throughout the south, Marack has created nothing short of a movement. Now the world will get to find out what insiders have been buzzing about when his sophmore Album, ‘Eargasm’ drops. 

Currently,  you can follow Marack on Myspace and Facebook at the following links: 

Myspace  Facebook

Like any style of music, hip hop has roots in other forms, and its evolution was shaped by many different artists, but there's a case to be made that it came to life precisely on this day in 1973, at a birthday party in the recreation room of an apartment building in the west Bronx, New York City. The location of that birthplace was 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, and the man who presided over that historic party was the birthday girl's brother, Clive Campbell—better known to history as DJ Kool Herc, founding father of hip hop.