WMG Pulls Music From YouTube

Saturday morning the Warner Music Group pulled all of its music from YouTube as negotiations over payment with Google’s video site reached an impasse. Warner’s move will affect its recordings as well as the songs it owns through Warner/Chappell Music.

“We are working actively to find a resolution with YouTube that would enable the return of our artists’ content to the site,” Warner said in a statement. “Until then, we simply cannot accept terms that fail to appropriately and fairly compensate recording artists, songwriters, labels and publishers for the value they provide.”

Warner, one of the first media companies to strike a deal with YouTube, wants to make more money from online video. Although the nature of the negotiations is unknown, a sticking point could be that YouTube has lagged in monetizing its considerable traffic at a time when competitors, like Hulu, are emerging. Warner still makes videos available to MTV, MySpace Music and other sites.

YouTube also has agreements with the other major labels, which it is now renegotiating. It is not known whether Warner’s move could effect the other negotiations.

“Sometimes, if we can’t reach acceptable business terms, we must part ways with successful partners,” YouTube said in a statement on its blog.

This year, Warner has more than 20 percent market share of albums, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and Atlantic is the No. 1 label in the U.S.

Vayden

When asked what the Phoenix, Arizona based band Vayden sounds like, lead singer Curtis Casey answers, “Everything you’ve ever imagined yet nothing you’ve ever heard.” Influenced by Good and Evil (in no particular order), some of Vayden’s songs come at the listener with an attitude of being confrontational and geared for destruction, while others build from a place you don’t expect until it’s too late.

“We started in the dark and dingy basement of an old music store where our drummer, Bruce, taught drum lessons.” Curtis explains, “I bought a half hour lesson so that I would have 30 minutes to convince Bruce to start a band with me. Luckily for me it only took 5. We started right away looking for the rest of Vayden and after some ups, some downs, and some lost band members we finally found ourselves with Jason and Armin.”

The next search was for a producer. They wanted a person that “got it”, and that’s when they crossed paths with Ryan Greene. Ryan has produced heavy hitters like NOFX, Authority Zero, Lag Wagon, Ten Foot Pole, and Dishwalla to name a few. “We chose Ryan because he understands the importance of melodies, and he’s got a great sense of song direction and arrangement. Infusing that knowledge with his ability to capture incredible drum sounds and raw tones makes him one of the best in the business,” remarks Casey.

Their debut record is entitled “Children of Our Mistakes”.

The name is a play on the fact that every mistake you make spawns a metaphorical child, and that “child” might just grow up to take the wrong path. So in a sense, it’s a reminder to be aware of your actions and whom they effect.

The Album is a combination of hard-hitting rock songs hell bent on destruction (”Karma is a Professional Wrestler”, “Elysium”, “Uniforms”), over the top anthems with gigantic choruses (“Anthem of the Used”, “The One You Left Behind”, “Painted Face”) and melodic introspective songs that will pierce strait to the heart (“Welcome”, “Zoé’s Song”).

Casey explains, “We wanted the whole album to take the listener on a melodic journey, while bringing them home with huge hooks, meaningful lyrics and amazing musicianship. Our goal was to create a very deep record with so many layers that after listening to it 1000 times, you still discover new things that will make you love it even more.”

You don’t have to take our word for it. Listen and you’ll understand.

Ozzy To Perform At Taping Of ‘Osbournes: Reloaded’

Ozzy Osbourne, his wife Sharon and their children Jack and Kelly will film a new episode of their new Fox variety show, “Osbournes: Reloaded“, today (Friday, December 19). They are looking for “Ozzy’s biggest fans” to attend the taping, which will include a “very special live Ozzy Osbourne musical performance.”

Fans who want to attend should come to CBS Television City at 7800 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeeles 90036 (Genesee Gate) at 8:30 p.m. Friday, December 19. Only the first 150 people who show up will be given passes and only those aged 18 years and above will be admitted. Please do not bring cameras or video. Suggested parking is at The Grove.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the first episode of “Osbournes: Reloaded” was filmed on December 7. The program, the first of six in the series, was taped before a live audience of around 600 people at CBS Television City. One source compared the show to British variety programs and said it did not resemble the recent variety program hosted by Rosie O’Donnell, which was a massive ratings dud for NBC just before Thanksgiving.

The same source said the show featured a mix of sketches, stunts, and taped segments, as well as “a ton of audience interaction.” Most of the sketches reportedly parodied the “zoned-out” personality cultivated for Ozzy on the family’s smash MTV reality series, “The Osbournes“.

Ozzy told The Pulse of Radio last year that following the completion of “The Osbournes”, he wasn’t interested in doing another TV show right away. “‘The Osbournes’ was like an experiment that went way over what I ever expected it to do,” he said. “Sharon and I have been offered so much TV stuff, but I can’t stand it, you know. I mean, I don’t like to see me on TV, I don’t like to see me on film or anything, you know.”

“Osbournes: Reloaded” is expected to air sometime in early 2009.

Ozzy is also working on a new studio album to follow up 2007’s “Black Rain“.

Shinedown Announces Lineup Change

Jacksonville, Florida-based hard rock/post-grunge band Shinedown is elevating current guitarist Zach Myers to the role of lead guitarist beginning immediately. Myers is replacing Nick Perri who is leaving the group to explore other projects.

“I’d like to thank Nick for touring with us over the past year,” commented lead singer Brent Smith. “I wish Nick the best in his future endeavors. That being said, I’m pleased Zach is taking over Nick’s role in the group. Zach is one of the most phenomenal guitarists I know. We’re looking forward to all the upcoming touring we’ll be doing in the New Year.“

“Brent offered me an incredible opportunity — one that I am grateful for, one that I have never taken for granted, and one that I will always cherish,” commented Nick Perri. “The truth is, however, after 10 months something inside of me just doesn’t feel right. This is a personal matter and has NOTHING to do with the band, our amazing crew, or inspiring team at In De Goot management and Atlantic Records. They have ALL made me feel welcome, and for that I thank them. On a final note I wanted to thank my brothers — Brent, Barry, Zach, and Eric. You guys are the best musicians I’ve ever known, and are inspiring both onstage and off.“

Shinedown’s latest single, “Second Chance“, kicked off with a blistering performance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on September 5. The single is currently No. 2 at rock and Top 5 at modern rock. The song is now headed to Top 40 radio in early January.

Shinedown’s latest album, “The Sound Of Madness“, was produced by multiple Grammy Award winner Rob Cavallo (Kid Rock, Green Day, My Chemical Romance). Upon its release, it became the band’s biggest debut of their career landing at No. 8 its first week on the charts. The album has remained on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for 24 consecutive weeks.

Shinedown’s first single from “The Sound of Madness”, “Devour“, reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Active and Mediabase Rock charts.

2009 tour dates for the band will be announced shortly.

Interview With Slipknot’s Corey Taylor

A seven-minute interview with Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor conducted backstage on November 7, 2008 at Jäähalli in Helsinki, Finland can be viewed below.

Slipknot has garnered another Grammy nomination — this time for “Psychosocial“, the first single from the band’s latest album “All Hope Is Gone“, released in August 2008. The song is nominated for “Best Metal Performance”.

Slipknot’s forthcoming U.S. tour with Trivium and Coheed And Cambria, which kicks off on January 23 in St. Paul, MN, will hit 33 cities across the country, and include an historic stop at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a first for Slipknot.

Frontman Corey Taylor said of the trek, “2009 is the 10-year anniversary of the world’s first taste of this band. To celebrate we are coming back out with a killer tour, a couple great bands and the same ferocity with which we attack life. We want all of our maggots to come and celebrate with us, because if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t have been here for 10 years. Get ready for chaos!“

Slipknot is currently playing to sold-out arenas on the other side of the globe; including stops in Russia, Japan, Australia, Europe and wrapping in the United Kingdom with three sold-out nights at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. Preceding “All Hope Is Gone”’s #1 debut, the band held the headline slot on this summer’s sold-out inaugural Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, which drew the biggest crowds to a metal festival since Slipknot played Ozzfest in 2004.

Chris Cornell On The Making Of ‘Scream’ Video

Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Chris Cornell’s (Audioslave, Soundgarden) new video for “Scream“, the title track from his forthcoming album, can be viewed below.

Cornell’s third solo album, “Scream“, a collaboration with producer Timbaland, is now due to be released in early 2009. The CD has already caused controversy for ditching Cornell’s hard rock roots in favor of a more pop and urban sound.

“Timbaland’s diversity — in terms of his feels, the ideas he brought in, the beats, the rhythms, the musical themes and auras of the different songs — was incredible,” Cornell told MTV.com last week said. “His focus was very much, ‘I don’t repeat myself, and I won’t let you repeat yourself.’ Being someone that writes songs mainly from an organic platform, I just really didn’t know how much is possible in the musical spectrum until I met Timbaland. What he brought in, every day, was a surprise. He would surprise me with ideas he would bring in or ideas he was working on every time. Timbaland’s music, coming from someone like me who started in rock music, I view it as being psychedelic music more than hip-hop, more than pop, more than beat-based music. It’s atmospheric, like Pink Floyd is atmospheric — he creates a sonic world that you get lost in, and you listen to it and you start to trip out.“

Cornell and Timbaland recently spent time on the road performing the entire album together, with the trek finishing with a November 2 show in Cornell’s hometown of Seattle.

“It was great,” Cornell told The Province of performing an hour solid of “Scream”. “It was one of the best tours I’ve ever been on.“

The songs translate from the studio to the stage, despite being alien to an audience.

“I knew from the obviousness of it all, that it would be different from anything I’d done before,” Chris told The Province. “It’s a clear difference between what you can do in a band and what you can do solo. In a band, you have the guitar player or drummer to consider; solo you can do what you want, even if that means having a track that doesn’t have drums. The biggest difference is that I can do what I want.“

Sevendust Guitarist Clint Lowery’s Side Project Announces Holiday Tour Dates

Hello Demons… Meet Skeletons, the solo project of Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery, has scheduled the following dates:

Dec. 20 - Three Bears, Marietta, GA (with full band)
Dec. 29 - State Theatre, - St. Petersburg, FL (with full band; Morgan Rose on drums)
Jan. 02 - The Asylum - Portland, ME (Clint Lowery solo)
Jan. 03 - Up Or On The Rocks - Hartford, CT (Clint Lowery solo)
Jan. 05 - Hard Rock Café - Boston, MA (Clint Lowery solo)

Hello Demons… Meet Skeletons recently released its debut EP, entitled “Chills“. The six-song, mostly acoustic EP, which was recorded in 10 days in September with Clint’s brother Corey Lowery producing, chronicles Clint’s recovery from personal and addiction problems in 2007. “I had this idea, I just wanted put a few songs down to kind of explain the process and maybe help someone else that kind of went through what I went through, and it’s basically gonna be used for charity,” Lowery told The Pulse of Radio. “I’m gonna sell it on iTunes and it was a good opportunity to kind of put something together that I can help out with and give back a little bit.”

“Chills” track listing:

01. Hell’s Next Door
02. This Day
03. Alive And Well
04. I’ll Keep This Short
05. Devil In A Cage
06. It’s Been Fun

Some of the proceeds from the EP will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with other charities to be named later.

Lowery, a founding member of Sevendust, rejoined the group earlier this year after stints with Dark New Day and KoRN.

Mike Muir Is Very Proud To Wear His Suicidal Tendencies Shirt

Pat Douglas of the Great Falls Tribune recently conducted an interview with vocalist Mike Muir of the long-running Venice Beach, California thrash/punk band Suicidal Tendencies. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On telling a fanzine nearly 30 years ago that he didn’t think the band would be around five years later:

“I said, ‘Well, the only way we’ll still be a band is if I can say I’m proud of everything we did and that it didn’t become a job.’ We don’t have those blackmail photos that a lot of other bands have. We didn’t try to go seven different styles that were popular and (they) didn’t work so then the next thing came and we tried to do that. I think that I can be very proud to wear my SUICIDAL shirt wherever I go.“

On the band’s historical importance:

“We have at least three generations of families at the shows … all the way to a great-grandfather, grandfather, mom and kids. I think that’s a rare thing. Last night, there were these kids and they’re like ‘Can you come take a picture with my mom?’ It was kind of funny.“

On how he wants his current lineup to get as much credit as possible:

“As I tell those guys, I say, ‘Hey, if after the show, if all those people are just talking about me, then it wasn’t a very good show.’ When someone comes up and goes ‘Mike, oh, my god. I can’t believe Steve. I can’t believe the drummer,’ that’s how I know we’re doing good. That’s the biggest compliment I can get.“

On his belief that it’s up to individuals to change the world, not rock bands:

“When they had the elections, I was like ‘I hope for the best,’ but I think a lot of people think ‘Wow, all I gotta do is get up and get my morning coffee and the world’s gonna change. I wasn’t brought up that way. It takes a lot more than just politics.“

On Suicidal’s upcoming single, “Come Alive” (see performance clip below):

“There’s a lot of people … their heart’s beating and they’ve got brain waves, but they’re not livin.’ It’s about taking control and standing up and realizing that you’re always gonna have an excuse to sit back and wait and see what happens. “You’ve gotta take control. I’ve gotta take control. I don’t want someone else to have that control, and I’ll do my best to fight to keep them from having it.“

Read more from the Great Falls Tribune.

Suicidal Tendencies performing new single “Come Alive”:

Distubed ‘Indestructible’ Title Track Is No. 1 At Active Rock Radio

Multi-platinum hard-rock band Disturbed has scored its second No. 1 single on the BDS/Billboard Active Rock chart this year with the title track from its current album, the nearly platinum “Indestructible“.

The CD’s lead-off single, “Inside the Fire“, set a record for the longest-running No. 1 in the history of the Active Rock chart when it spent 16 weeks in the top slot. Disturbed is also riding high with its first-ever Grammy Award nomination in the “Best Hard Rock Performance” category for “Inside the Fire”.

The self-produced “Indestructible” debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart in June and remained in the Top 10 for five weeks. It is the band’s third consecutive No. 1 album, following its platinum-sellers “Believe” (2002) and “Ten Thousand Fists” (2005), making Disturbed one of only six rock bands in history to score three consecutive No. 1 debuts with studio albums.

Formed in Chicago in 1996, Disturbed has sold a collective 10 million albums worldwide.

Disturbed recently announced plans for a winter U.S. tour that will begin in mid-January and serve as a warm-up for the band’s more extensive Music As A Weapon trek in the spring. Frontman David Draiman told The Pulse of Radio that while the first stretch of dates will feature the usual elaborate stage production, Disturbed will go really crazy on the Weapon run. “We’re gonna save big bells and whistles for Weapon,” he said. “That’s always where we kind of pull out all the stops and go full speed. The warm-up run prior to it will still be one hell of a show, still gonna be the big rock show that Disturbed always brings, but when it comes for Music As A Weapon, we always try to take it up a notch or two.”

Disturbed’s “warm-up run,” as Draiman calls it, will begin on January 16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and extend to the end of February. Sevendust will be direct support to Disturbed on the tour.

The fourth edition of Music As A Weapon will kick off in March with Killswitch Engage and Five Finger Death Punch joining the headliners.

Guns N’ Roses ‘Chinese Democracy’ Barely Hanging In U.S. Top 30

Guns N’ Roses‘ new album, “Chinese Democracy“, sold 47,000 copies in the United States in its third week of release to land at position No. 29 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD has shifted 365,000 units since it was released on November 23 as a Best Buy exclusive after a wait of more than 15 years.

Following his two question-and-answer sessions on Guns N’ Roses fan boards late last week, singer W. Axl Rose has responded to further questions about the breakup of the original lineup and other issues in a lengthy, nearly 5,000-word post at MyGNRForum.com. In the post, Rose gives his side of the story, in sometimes hard-to-follow fashion, regarding how he came to own the band name, why all the other original members left the group and whether it’s right for him to keep using the name when he’s the only founding member left.

Rose seems to lay most of the blame for the years of turmoil in the Guns camp at the feet of former guitarist Slash. Discussing a famous incident in which Slash said that Rose refused to go onstage for a show unless the rest of the band signed over the name to him, Rose writes,

“Never happened, all made up, fallacy and fantasy. Not one single solitary thread of truth to it. Had that been the case I would’ve have been cremated years ago legally, could’ve cleaned me out for the name and damages.“

In other excerpts, Rose addresses Slash’s contention that the earliest recording sessions for what ultimately became the new Guns N’ Roses album, “Chinese Democracy”, were stopped because of musical differences. Rose says,

“I have the rehearsal tapes. There’s nothing but Slash-based blues rock and he stopped it to both go solo and try to completely take over Guns … I was specifically told no lyrics, no melodies, no changes to anything and to sing what I was told or fuck off.“

When asked why he still uses the Guns name, Rose replies,

“I’m literally the last man standing. Not bragging, not proud. It’s been a fucking nightmare, but I didn’t leave Guns and I didn’t drive others out … I’m supposed to throw the baby out with the bath water?“

As for the notion of releasing “Chinese Democracy”, which came out after 17 years last month, as a solo record instead of a Guns album, Rose writes,

“This is who I am … I don’t see myself as solely Guns, but I do see myself as the only one from the past making the effort to take it forward.“

Responding to whether the original Guns would reunite if it was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rose says,

“Not to offend anyone but personally I don’t have an interest … It’s a ways away and seems a bit presumptuous to be contemplating being inducted now.“

In other news, Kevin Cogill, who was arrested in August for allegedly leaking nine tracks from the then-unreleased “Chinese Democracy” album online through his blog, pleaded guilty violating federal copyright laws in a Los Angeles court on Monday (December 15). According to the Associated Press, Cogill’s plea deal requires him to cooperate with investigators and may lead to a sentence of up to a year in federal prison, probation and a large fine.

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