Morning Music Notes – $5,000 for a 24-Hour Song and a Human Skull
Amy Winehouse To Release Post-Death Album
A little Halloween tale for you: Amy Winehouse to release her third album – from beyond the grave (via Telegraph)! However, in a twist unworthy of Halloween, it should be noted that the album was recorded before her July death. The album is called Amy Winehouse Lioness: Hidden Treasures, and is out on December 5 in the UK (and presumably December 6 in North America). Note: the album will most likely destroy the holiday album charts, at least in the UK. The link to the Telegraph article gives a nice track by track rundown of what we might expect from the 12 tracks on the new album. Most of the tracks are demos and outtakes from her Back to Black album, or even from her first album, Frank.
£1 from each copy of the album that is sold will be donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, the charity set up in the singer’s honour.
The tracklisting for ‘Amy Winehouse Lioness: Hidden Treasures’:
‘Our Day Will Come’
‘Between The Cheats’
‘Tears Dry’
‘Wake Up Alone’
‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’
‘Valerie’
‘Like Smoke’
‘The Girl From Ipanema’
‘Halftime’
‘Best Friends’
‘Body & Soul’
‘A Song For You’
No Surprises: Coldplay Hits Number 1 in the UK
As predicted months ago on PHM (and every other website in the web, even the one that is just a webcam of some guy’s goldfish), Coldplay’s latest album, Mylo Xyloto has reached number 1 in the UK (via NME). Noel Gallagher manages to hang onto the number 2 spot though.
Could part of the reason why Coldplay hit number one be their press/release strategy, which did NOT include streaming services like Spotify or Rhapsody (via The Hollywood Reporter)? Coldplay let iTunes have the exclusive pre-release stream, and then hit number one in every iTunes store in the world.
“”The decision for the hot-selling album, released Tuesday, is a blow to such services, which have millions of tracks available but rely on new tunes to keep listeners interested. Consumers typically pay $10 a month for the right to pick any track or album from a library of millions and listen on demand via online streaming. Users can also download songs to mobile devices. Some services offer lengthy trials or free options with ads. Usually, new tracks are available on the services on Tuesday, the same day they are released for sale. The lack of availability of Coldplay’s fifth album on subscription plans could push consumers to buy the album outright.”
“Rhapsody president Jon Irwin said he respects the band’s decision and needs to do a better job explaining the benefits of the subscription system to artists. In an editorial he wrote for Billboard magazine on Monday, Irwin said he agreed that some reported royalties paid to artists – as low as 0.015 cents per play on Spotify and 0.91 cents on Rhapsody – “seem awfully small.” By comparison, recording labels and artists share about 70 percent of the $1.29 per track or $9.99 per album when music is bought on Apple Inc.’s iTunes. Irwin argued that royalties from subscription music plans are recurring, not one-time as is the case with iTunes sales. Thus, he said, revenue will build over time. And in any case, he said it is better than what artists get paid for pirated songs – zero.”
Jon Irwin with the piracy burn at the end! Now that’s end internet piracy
Do You Have 24 Hours to Kill?
The Flaming Lips can be called lots of things (such as weirdos, or that Peach Pit band from 90210), but you cannot call them late for dinner unimaginative. Whether it’s the quadruple album release for Zaireeka, which was four layers of the same album to be played simultaneously through four different stereos to get the full effect, or their recent campaign which included USB keys hidden in gummi bear skulls, these guys are out there. Their latest recent is none more than a TWENTY FOUR HOUR SONG, which you can listen to at flaminglipstwentyfourhoursong.com. The song even has a name, which is called 7 Skies H3. And if you want to buy the 24-hour song on a hard drive which is encased inside an actual human skull (not of that gummi bear crap) and topped with chrome drips, the Flaming Lips have 13 of them for sale, and it’ll set you back $5,000 (via Pitchfork). Hello eBay!
