Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band Dies

Photo: SPIN Magazine

When you think saxophone player, the name Kenny G probably comes to mind; but for rock legends it’s Clarence Clemons, also known as the “Big Man” by Springsteen fans for generations of stellar saxophone blowing. According to numerous reports and blowing up the “Twitter-verse,” the “Big Man” with the big horn has passed away at 69.



Spin Magazine tweeted:

And through the immense response like Coba Stella’s tweet “@SPINmagazine RIP Clarence Clemons. Music saves the soul, and you played a part in that,” and Michael Welch (@MichaelWelchAct) noting in 140 characters, “RIP to The Big Man, Clarence Clemons. If Bruce is The Boss, Clarence was Senior VP of E Street,” Clemons will be greatly missed in the rock world.

Rolling Stone Magazine (@RollingStone) shared a tweet with Bruce Springsteen’s response to the loss of his bandmate:

Clemons and Springsteen
Photo: Rolling Stone Magazine

According to the article in Spin Magazine, Clemons passed from complications from a stroke he had suffered last weekend. Bruce Springsteen told Rolling Stone Magazine, “His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years.”

Clemons was recently featured in Lady Gaga’s new song and video “Edge of Glory” that was released “a few days before Clemons’ actual death—but after he suffered the severe stroke which eventually killed him,” as reported by Spinner.com (@Spinner). In a tweet from a Lady Gaga representative (@hausofjay), during Gaga’s 2011 Much Music Video Award winning speech, Gaga said, “I'd like to dedicate this award to my grandfather, who's in heaven right now with Clarence. I'm on the edge with both of you.”

Although Twitter was able to provide us with instant news on the death of Clarence Clemons, it seems as though his memory will live on forever.

More on Clarence Clemons and other real-time music news can be found here, with reports of Clemons’ death reported by Rolling Stone Magazine (@RollingStone), Spin Magazine (@SPINmagazine) and Spinner.com (@Spinner).

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YouTube—Discovering Talent One Cover Song at a Time

In the age of social media one of the best ways to gain exposure on any venture is through the means of social networking sites like, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube. But what’s the best way for you to make a name for yourself in the Music Industry—start with YouTube, and better yet, cover songs that already have a following.

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Needless to say, it’s becoming more difficult to make it in the music industry. Every generation’s passing sparks more talent, more musical diversity, and more competition. One great way to stand apart from the ‘old-school’ way in getting noticed is to utilize the many tools provided by the age of technology, and in this case YouTube is a safe bet.

According to Rodney Ho for Radio and TV Talk, YouTube has become the source for the rebirth of the music video. It has created a forum for unsigned artists to highlight their talents to the 410 million unique visitors in the United States and 1.4 billion worldwide visitors according to Google Ad Planner.

Ho points out that YouTube is responsible for making the careers of prominent artists like teen sensation Justin Bieber and OK Go, who’s 2006 treadmill video for Here It Goes Again “Was not only a successful video, but it made their career” as stated by Jay Frank, senior vice president for CMT’s music strategy. And what better way to get noticed than featuring videos of yourself or your band playing songs with major popular appeal.

Boyce Avenue is a band made up of three brothers that coined a YouTube following by doing just that. They have covered songs from the likings of Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and The Black Eyed Peas, all of which have very successful music careers and mass followings on every social network. As seen on their YouTube channel, Boyce Avenue posted 52 videos of popular cover songs before introducing the world to their original songs. The following chart displays YouTube views for four of their cover songs and four of their original songs:


As seen in the chart the total views for Boyce Avenues cover songs is over 12 million views which makes up for about 67 percent of their total views compared to their 5 million original song views. Since starting their YouTube channel in 2008 and utilizing the power of cover songs, Boyce Avenue has signed to 3 Piece Records and embarked on multiple tours in the US and abroad.

Furthermore, at home talents have been recognized by their cover song videos by the artists that originally composed the track. Paramore’s newest track Monster has brought forth many cover versions, one of which was posted on Haley Williams’ blog (ran by Williams herself) which led many viewers to Drew Tabor’s YouTube channel that has received 28 thousand views in one week compared to her original track Not My Life that has acquired 14 thousand views in six months time.

Haley Williams from Paramore posted Drew Tabor's cover of Monster on her Tumblr Blog

There are no guarantees when it comes to the music industry. Popular music is always changing with each generations passing. What can be said about the possibilities in “average Joe’s” making it in the music industry is utilizing powerful tools in social media like YouTube to showcase your talents can prove successful. Even further, showcasing your talents in recreating songs that already have a following poses as a strong foundation for a successful music career.

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Paramore--Forever more.

Paramore 2011 (Photo: Paramore.net)

Today is June 12th… doesn’t seem like anything special, right? Well, unless is shares some personal significance in your life, like a birthday or friends birthday. Anyhow, as I don’t have a birthday today [or any friends or family with this birthday for that matter], today is still a very special day.

RIOT! Released June 12, 2007
(photo: Paramore shirts)

Why, do you ask [assuming you might have asked]? Four years ago today, Paramore released their second studio album—RIOT!

personally, this wasn’t my favorite album of theirs [although Let the Flames Begin and That’s What You Get are a couple of my favorite Paramore tracks], but this album really showcased the talent and unique quality to  Paramore, hands down. Crushcrushcrush and Misery Business can take a lot of credit for getting Paramore on the scene. As a matter of fact, I remember seeing the video for Misery Business on MTV [yeah, surprising right, MTV was playing a music video, but I think it was one of those absurdly late night ‘we ran out of reality show reruns’ events] and thinking to myself, “YES! Paramore has made a name for themselves.”

See I was one of those kids that picked up All We Know is Falling out of curiosity to a rock back with a tiny girl vocalist and immediately fell in love with the raw guitars, heavy bass, and incredible vocal ability of a 16-year-old girl no bigger than 5’1”. Pressure became the anthem on my early college years and I can’t really recall when the CD wasn’t in the player of my car.

That my friends, is precisely why RIOT! is an album worth celebration. Whether it is your favorite album of theirs or not, I think it is the album that took this college anthem band to the next level. It highlighted their incredible ability from a young bunch of kids hailing from the humble upbringings of Tennessee straight to the lime-light. And whether you are one of those “they sold out” on the music [see Green Day arguments] I would like you to read some of their interviews, watch their video blogs, and see them live—you’ll change your mind, I can guarantee it.

Single artwork for Monster
remaining 3 members Left-Right:
Taylor York, Haley Williams, Jeremy Davis

Left: Zac Farro Right: Josh Farro
Original members left in 2010

I Love Paramore! I’m sure you could tell that by now… But it’s far more than just loving their music or dreaming to live the life of a girl that get’s to tour with rad dudes, headbang on the regular, acceptably tattooed, doc marten, ripped jeans wearin' kinda life. I love Paramore for making great music, for NEVER forgetting to thank their fans for getting them there, and for overcoming what could have been a bands greatest fall [losing two original members]. Instead, Paramore came back even stronger [seriously, listen to Monster it’s AMAZING] and thanks their fans even more for sticking by them… But why wouldn’t we stick by them? They’re worth it.

I highlight this rant about my love for Paramore with my favorite video of theirs because it’s seriously a video that highlights what they stand for—playing music and hanging with friends.



Paramore - That's What You Get (Official Video)

Pain make your way to me, to me // And I'll always be just so (so) inviting // If I ever start to think straight // This heart will start a riot in me // Let's start, start, hey!


music. passion. friends. family. fans. heart. ROCK… Paramore--forever more!

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Live Nation Entertainment—The Debate of Deceptive Fees

Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and Live Nation Inc. officially joined forces in 2009; yet, are still raising concerns to live entertainment goers over ticket fees that seem contrary to initial promises of lower ticket prices with the merge.

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For many years, Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. has landed at the top of concert ticket Google searches, not to mention controlling the majority of all live entertainment ticket sales over the past 10 years. Live Nation Inc. was it’s only direct competitor until the merge in 2009 that made claims to “expand live entertainment options to audiences throughout the world,” according to chairman of Ticketmaster Entertainment, Barry Diller, which in a sense, wasn’t untrue. The merge of Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and Live Nation Inc. to create Live Nation Entertainment broadened the possibilities of live entertainment worldwide; yet, it also raised concerns over who the direct beneficiaries actually are—the consumers in search of a great live show at a reasonable cost, or Live Nation Entertainment through deceptive ticket fees.

Pearl Jam performing in Spain 2007 (PearlJam.com)

Ticketmaster Entertainment has been to court on numerous occasions over ticket prices, most notably Pearl Jam’s claim against the ticket mogul in June of 1994. Pearl Jam’s case included the claim that, “many of Pearl Jam's most loyal fans are teenagers who do not have the money to pay the $50 or more that is often charged today for tickets to a popular concert.” Going on to explain that, “although, given our popularity, we could undoubtedly continue to sell-out our concerts with ticket prices at that premium level, we have made a conscious decision that we do not want to put the price of our concerts out of the reach of many of our fans.” Pearl Jam went on to hold a live performance for their fans in Indio, California, not under the jurisdiction of Ticketmaster Entertainment, that later coined the idea for the Coachella Music and Arts Festival.

Below is a shot of the fee breakdown from Ticketmaster.com to give an insight from the seller's standpoint:

Ticketmaster Fee breakdown
(boycottlivenation.com)

Contrary to Ticketmaster's "anatomy of a ticket purchase," in October of 2010, Live Nation Entertainment was hit with another class-action lawsuit for it’s deceptive fees. According to AOL reports, The lawsuit out of California was filed in 2003 and in 2010 gained national class-action status challenging Ticketmaster’s “Order Processing Fee” and other fee’s affiliated with purchasing tickets through the Ticketmaster interface. Many defendants have come forward claiming various fee’s tacked onto ticket purchases, including Curt Schlesinger, who was charged $19.50 for a UPS fee for ticket delivery when the actual UPS rate was only $16.35, declaring an extra $3.15 pocketed by Ticketmaster. Furthermore, the Ticketmaster site makes no statement within its fee descriptions of how UPS delivery fees are accessed, deeming the fee deceptive to consumers.

In January of 2011, Ticketmaster settled on the class-action lawsuit and is set to award many previous ticket purchasers with reimbursements via standard mail. The settlement may also issue consumers with discounts for future ticket purchases. However, numerous fees are still attributed to ticket purchases through Live Nation Entertainment (both the Ticketmaster Inc. and Live Nation Inc. interfaces) and are subject to additional claims. As of May 2011, Ticketmaster fees have enraged consumers raising the bar to upwards of $19 in processing and handling fees according to Daniel Bates.

By the looks of it, live entertainment will always come at an extra cost. The choice remains in the hands of the consumer and whether they are willing to pay the extra fee for live entertainment.

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