L.A. Reid, Demi Lovato Needle Simon Cowell, Challenge Artists

'You'd Better Be Great in First 30 Seconds'

 

L.A. Reid and Demi Lovato on stage during their Q&A with Billboard editorial director Bill Werde (right). (Photo: Arnold Turner)

Billboard Editorial Director Bill Werde opened today's Q&A with "X Factor" judges L.A. Reid and Demi Lovato by asking which of their co-judges they'd prefer to be stranded with on a desert island -- Simon Cowell or Britney Spears.

Lovato responded immediately -- "Britney," she said, because "Simon would be the biggest diva on the frickin' island and he'd die in a couple of days because he's so old."

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Reid -- who serves as Epic Records chairman and CEO when not appearing on TV - laughed and declined to answer. "I can't top that," he said.

 Billboard publisher Tommy Page (left) and editorial director Bill Werde (right) flank Reid and Lovato. (Photo: Arnold Turner)

The chat -- part of Billboard's 11th annual Film and TV Music Conference, which concludes Thursday -- found Reid and Lovato sharing plenty of laughs, but also some serious and thoughtful insights into the music industry and its relationship with other media.

Concerning contestants on his reality-competition series, Reid observed that when it comes to music, "The platforms don't bring the magic. The artist brings the magic. If you're going to be there, you'd better be great. If [you're] great, [you'd] better be great in the first 30 seconds. If it takes two minutes to get to great, maybe it's not great. I always say, 'Get to the chorus before you bore us.'"

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Lovato agreed, then upped the ante. "They have to catch you in the first 30 seconds. In the auditions for 'X Factor,' it's even shorter than 30 seconds for me. If they don't grab me in 10 seconds, I think, 'Done.'"

On the current season of "X Factor," Reid is mentoring an older group of contestants. "Adults tend to have given more time to getting to this point," he observed. "Kids give an audition and they're new at it.

 

Reid and Lovato embrace before the Q&A. (Photo: Arnold Turner)

"Adults have a bag of tricks they can turn to -- they've seen more and they can give it their best shot. Kids are more pure and not so thought-out. Adults tend to be more theatrical. It's going to be a hard season for me -- I don't have a lot of advice for them."

Speaking about the recording industry, Reid asserted, "In a strange way, the decline in sales was a blessing in disguise. It forced a complacent industry to become creative and explore other platforms. We were the first to be hit with a decline in sales due to piracy, so we had to respond first. Other industries that made fun of us are now suffering the same fate."

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Lovato contemplated her multimedia career, which includes singing, acting and appearing on "X Factor." "The TV show can help album sales," she said, "but I keep my careers separate. Acting, 'X Factor,' music -- I focus on one thing at a time and hope for the best."

Asked how he balances creativity with his celebrity, Reid replied, "I don't feel like I'm a celebrity. No one's a celebrity when [they're] alone, and that's when you focus on your creativity. That's when it really all happens -- anyone who brings their celebrity into the studio with them is really going to crash. Many people make the mistake of putting themselves on a pedestal. But Bootsy Collins told me at a very early age, 'Don't read your own press because you'll start to believe it.'" He added with a laugh, "Look at the pictures -- just don't read it."

Tommy Page shares a photo with L.A. Reid. (Photo: Arnold Turner)

Lovato agreed: "You become a robot when you do that." She admitted her transition from Disney tyke to what Reid deemed a "superstar" puzzled even her: "I don't know how I did it, honestly. I'm open with issues, which makes me relatable. I didn't do the sexy route because I'm not comfortable with that."

Reid also said that he wished the music industry had an even closer relationship with the film and TV industries. "In film, music tends to be an afterthought," he said. "You come in after the film is shot and deal with licensing fees. I'd love for music to be considered earlier in the process. I hate watching movies where people are fake-dancing because they didn't have the music [secured] at the time. They're not dancing to the beat because there was no beat."

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He continued, "In any creative field -- music, film and TV -- the song, the story is the lifeblood. People think it's the connection -- getting to me [or another high-profile executive] -- but it's first coming up with great material. There's no greater joy than finding what I believe to be a great song."

When an attendee told Reid he had a great song and wanted to get it to him, Reid responded, "There are two ways to respond to that. I can give you the kind, politically correct answer -- please send it to me -- or I can give you the truth: You have to be really resourceful and make sure it gets on my desk. It's not as simple as putting it in the mail or linking it to me in a Tweet. It's how much you want to make music, a measure of whether your business aptitude is as strong as your creativity. So I'm gonna leave that up to you."

Pandora, Clear Channel, Others Form Lobby Group for Lower Web Radio Payments; MusicFirst Pushes Back

Pandora and Clear Channel are among the founding members of the Internet Radio Fairness Coalition, a collection of companies, trade associations and advocacy groups announced today that are throwing their weight behind bills that aim to lower the rates webcasters pay for the performance of sound recordings. 

The group's namesake is the Internet Radio Fairness Act of 2012, legislation that seeks lower webcaster royalties by changing how the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) sets rates. The proposed legislation would replace the "willing buyer and willing seller" standard with the 801(b) guidelines used by satellite radio and cable. Using the 801(b) guidelines would allow the rates to be set using criteria that take into account the public interest, the return earned by copyright owners, the minimization of risk in the industry, and the interplay between creative contribution and capital investment. 

Other founding members of the coalition include Consumer Electronics Association, terrestrial broadcaster Salem Communications, AccuRadio, Small Webcaster Alliance and Computer and Communications Industry Association. 

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Record labels and webcasters have different definitions of fairness. Record labels will be putting their support behind a bill, currently in draft form, by Congressman Jerrold Nadler that proposed to bring satellite radio and cable radio rates up to the level of webcasters. 

Each side should have a chance to speak on the record soon enough. Sources say a Congressional hearing is likely in either late November or early December. 

Clear Channel has already found some market-based solutions. The company has negotiated direct licenses with Big Machine Label Group and Glassnote Entertainment that cover both terrestrial and webcasting royalties. Terms of those deals have not been disclosed. 

"We believe that market-based solutions are the way to go," said Bob Pittman, CEO of Clear Channel. "But in the absence of these agreements, the CRB needs to have and consider more relevant information so they are better  able to develop a rate structure that will lead to a healthy, sustainable Internet radio marketplace." 

musicFIRST quickly came out against the creation of the coalition. Executive Director Ted Kalo said in a statement that supporters of the bill were trying create momentum where none exists. "This bill is now commonly known as the 'Screw Artists Act' because it would produce a windfall to millionaires, mandate a pay cut for artists, and provide no benefits to subscribers." 

The organization says artists, music creators and other people wrote over 11,000 letters to Congress opposing the Internet Radio Fairness Act last weekend.

NY STATE COURT RULES PAYING FOR LAP DANCES IS NOT TAX FREE

Strip clubs may wanna ease up on the bands that make her dance.

A ruling in a New York State Court of Appeals says payment for lap dances is not tax exempt because they do not promote cultural or artistic performances in local communities."A club presenting performances of women gyrating on a pole to music, however artistic or athletic their practiced moves are, was also not a qualifying performance,” wrote the judges in a 4-3 decision that denied Albany's Nite Moves strip club a tax break.

A court filing states that the business owed more than $124,000 in taxes, L.A. Times reports. Most of the club’s revenue came from the $15 it collected on every $25 private dance, with the remaining $10 going into the dancer's pocket. Nite Moves charged guests $10 for entry into the venue.

To support their ruling, the judges pointed out that other forms of entertainment, such as baseball games, carnivals, ice shows and animal acts, are not exempt from taxes in New York. "The people who paid these admission charges paid to see women dancing," said Judge Robert S. Smith. "It does not matter if the dance was artistic or crude, boring or erotic. Under New York’s Tax Law, a dance is a dance.”

Ben Vaughn Named Warner/Chappell's Nashville EVP

 Warner/Chappell Music has appointed Ben Vaughn - an intern for the company at the beginning of his career - to the newly-created position of Executive Vice President of its Nashville office, the company has announced in a statement. 

Shortly after that internship, Vaughn began his executive career at 20 years old, serving as the general manager of Nashville's Big Tractor Music before moving to EMI, where he worked closely with current Warner/Chappell president of creative Jon Platt, running EMI's Publishing County division. Vaughn was responsible for signing Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum and Rhett Akins to EMI, as well as working with Alan Jackson, Jerry Flowers, and more. 

Warner/Chappell has been rapidly renewing itself over the course of this year, consolidating its production properties in April, increasing its focus on R&B and hip-hop, naming Platt -- the man behind EMI's signing of Drake, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Usher, and more --  as their president of creative, as well as nabbing the music rights of Miramax's entire filmography. 

The company said in its statement, "Warner/Chappell songwriters contributed to 34 of this year's American Country Award nominations," as well as scoring a 15.1% share of country radio airplay in the second quarter of the year.

Is Taylor Swift's 'Red' iTunes Exclusive a Play to Prevent Deep Discounting?

In a possible attempt to ensure that Google Play and Amazon don't use Taylor Swift's just-released Red album as a loss leader priced below $3.49, Big Machine Records has not serviced the album to those stores, a source confirmed to Billboard.biz.

In fact, the only digital merchant carrying the album is iTunes, which typically charges full list price on all albums; it has a one-week exclusive on the album's digital sales, Billboard.biz confirms.

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A search for the album on Google Play comes up empty and a track listing of the songs on the album are not featured in the Swift track section on the site. The MP3 album also doesn't come up on the Amazon site either, although that store is carrying the CD version of thealbum.

Google confirms it will have the album next week.

Both Amazon and Google have been known to price albums under $3.49 -- Billboard's pricing threshold (which, when violated in the first four weeks of an album's release, excludes sales for every unit sold under that price, when computing sales totals that determine the Billboard 200 ranking). But since the Billboard policy went into effect, both Google and Amazon have mainly reserved their loss-leader pricing strategy for titles available for more than four weeks, when they are seeking to drive traffic.

Recently, however, Amazon priced Frank Ocean's Channel Orange at $2.99, which means none of the copies sold by that merchant counted toward the Billboard 200 chart that week. That Amazon pricing move was perceived by the industry as a retaliation against the artist and his label, Island Def Jam, for providing iTunes with an exclusive one-week window to sell the album ahead of other outlets.

While the CD is widely available, Big Machine has provided Target with an exclusive version of the album that has six extra tracks and is perceived to be superior to the ones sold to other merchants, something that has riled up the indie-store account sector. Walmart also has an exclusive version, containing a 96-page magazine, stickers and other paraphernalia.

This may also have factored into their decision not to service the MP3 version of the album to Amazon, which is carrying the CD version but usually doesn't violate the Billboard pricing policy in that format.

In any event, it seems that the label is making sure that digital versions of the album priced below $3.49 are not cannibalizing sales from merchants selling the album at a price above that threshold.

Every sales needs to count this week if Red is to going to generate 1 million units in sales in its debut week -- as projected -- and become the first woman artist to do so twice in the SoundScan era.

Reps for Big Machine and Amazon either were not available or declined to comment.

JOIN THE DEBATE: SHOULD MEDICINAL MARIJUANA BE LEGAL FOR ALL?

The legalization of marijuana is an age-old debate, with valid arguments on both sides of the fence.

Daytime medical talk show The Doctors—along with actress Roseanne— took the debate to a live audience to weigh in on the pros and cons of legalizing that good ol' green.

“The larger issue is not just about legalization of marijuana. It’s an end to the drug wars, which are a very destructive thing in our country,” Roseanne says in favor of medicinal marijuana legalization. She continued by adding, “One in six people in jail are in there for marijuana arrests and people are not aware of that. If [law enforcement agencies] catch you with a marijuana joint, they can take your whole house. These laws are unjust and I’d like to see them ended."

On the "against" side, pediatrician Dr. Jim Sears says, “If it’s legal, it’s going to increase the chances of kids getting it. We already have seven percent of 8th graders using it regularly [and] 22 percent of 12th graders, so there are a lot of young people that shouldn’t because kids’ brains are very susceptible [to the effects of marijuana].”

Watch the videos below, and join the debate more on our Twitter (@VibeMagazine), Facebook, (www.facebook.com/vibe) and the comments section on this post:

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Oprah Develops New Family Drama with HBO

Oprah has her hands full these days. Not only are OWN's ratings taking off, but she's now developing a family drama with HBO.

According to theHollywood Reporter, Oprah's untitled project is about a rich academic who becomes the first Black president of a prestigious liberal arts college. However, as great as that sounds, he and his family aren't who they seem to be. In the spotlight they are the ideal family, but behind closed doors they're struggling with many issues and troubles.

So far, the hour-long show will be executive produced by Oprah herself and Harpo colleague Kate Forte. Famed Black playwright Thomas Bradshaw will write the script. 

Speaking of family drama, Oprah's has her own to deal with these days. The former daytime talk show host's father, Vernon, 79, is divorcing his 64-year-old wife Barbara of 11 years. Vernon reportedly cheated on his wife and even chased her around with a handgun several months ago. Barbara is seeking support from Vernon who receives $25K every three months from his daughter.