In the Biz....

Get up-to-date on the latest happenings in the industry.
Compiled from various news sources.


The North by Northeast (NXNE) Music & Film Festival and Conference (www.nxne.com) is getting ready to take over Toronto once more! Running June 12-15, 2008, NXNE invites fans of indie music and film (to the table to) feast on some of the freshest, coolest music and film being produced today. NXNE is three events in one: a music festival, a film festival and an industry conference.

Epitaph is proud to announce the signing of Minneapolis-based power-pop rockers Sing It Loud. The group recently entered the studio with producer and labelmate Josh Cain of Motion City Soundtrack to begin work on their forthcoming debut album, which will be released in fall 2008.

The Ft Worth based Sky Eats Airplane is about to release Everything Perfect On The Wrong Day on CD for the first time by Thriving Records & Tragic Hero Records. The band combines warm electronic blips, bleeps and sound effects that would fit well in the old Atari and Nintendo game consoles with churning metal-core weight and intricate melodies resulting in both mosh pit and dance club behavior live. Reaching far beyond their Ft. Worth roots, the band has toured with such acts as Misery Signals, Emmure, Born Of Osiris, The Human Abstract and Gwen Stacy.

Does anyone care that.....FIRST BOOK ON AMY WINEHOUSE RELEASED BY OMNIBUS PRESS; The World's Leading Publisher Of Rock And Pop Books Has Announced The Release Of The First Biography On Troubled Retro Soul Diva Amy Winehouse (note from joelle: barf)

THE STARTING LINE TO HEADLINE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR; Featuring Special Guests Steel Train, Four Year Strong And Bayside

UNIVERSAL MUSIC AUSTRALIA SIGNS XO PUBLICITY'S DUKES OF WINDSOR. Yep.

Trent Reznor is enjoying his post-major label freedom, but independence carries its own baggage. On Sunday, the NIN creator launched an experimental album release, one that includes both free and paid elements. That echoes an earlier, groundbreaking concept by Radiohead, one that yielded mixed results.

EMI Music continued to shuffle the decks on Monday, part of a continuing reorganization. The company minted two new recording-focused business units, and slotted executives to head those divisions. The first is the self-explanatory Catalog, Compilations, Studios and Archives unit; and the other is the Licensing and Synch department.


Warner Music Group downloads are now floating DRM-free throughout Europe, thanks to a deal involving 7digital. The partnership, announced Monday, spreads MP3s into the UK, Ireland, Spain, France and Germany. That is a strong step for Warner, and part of a steady thaw on protected content. The deal, negotiated through Warner Music International, includes both singles and albums.

Beverly Hills-based William Morris Agency is now playing a venture capitalist card, part of an expanding role for the Hollywood powerbroker. Morris has joined forces with Accel Partners and Venrock, and even roped AT&T into the action.

The Honorary Title is looking for a touring guitarist (and ideally back up vocalist) to go on the road with them on a headlinning tour from next week (yikes) to the end of April.