Last week, on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night TV show a music video premiered that was a collective creation by rapper Drake and Jimmy Kimmel. The video centers on the idea of writing Drake’s next hit, which Jimmy comes up with the “genius” idea that it should be made up of tweets. The video is too good to be missed.

According to Billboard, “‘Tweet Tweet’ is a catchy duet in which Drizzy urges fans to “follow me, follow me/ Tweet, tweet” and quotes other celebrities’ frivolous Twitter musings. Among the more notable faces quoted are Larry King, Britney Spears and Justin Bieber. The two also sport matching white suits (and Drake wears a doo rag!), dance and emulate Twitter’s signature Bluebirds for good measure. “Why write a song yourself when celebrities are tweeting so many great things?,” Kimmel asks Drake. Why, indeed.”

Follow the link below to check the video out for yourself.

Drake and Jimmy Kimmel have created their own music video together – and it can’t be beat.  Tweet all about it.  The images of celebrities physically tweeting like the Twitter bird is pretty ridiculously awesome, and just further hits home the point of how status updates are now all the rage – and being that much closer to a celebrity’s every move somehow continues to intrigue us…

In any event, the video is yet another hilarious production and will definitely crack you up.

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Everyone by now has heard of and has most likely seen an episode of “Glee” – the breakout hit just had it’s second season finale the other week and the music used throughout the series just keeps getting better. Many artists have lent their catalogs and provided permission for the show to use their music in various episodes already. However, before everyone knew what Glee was and how amazing the show and the music would be… There was some skepticism. Some bands and musicians were nervous about giving their permission for this, at the time, unknown show to do who knows what with. Some of these skeptics included Coldplay and Bryan Adams.

According to an article by Rolling Stone, “Before Glee became Fox’s newest musical juggernaut, invading shopping malls, concert halls, record stores and the Tony Awards, rock stars weren’t sure what to make of the concept of young theater actors portraying high school students remaking their tracks. And while some artists eagerly let their songs get covered by the members of New Directions, others held back — namely Coldplay and Bryan Adams, the show’s creator Ryan Murphy revealed at the Hollywood Reporter’s Emmy comedy showrunners roundtable.”

Ryan Murphy did not want to provide episode details in advance to the shows airing and stuck to his guns. Unfortunately that didn’t convince a few artists. However, it paid off in the end as Coldplay has come back to Glee and is now granting permission to the show to use their catalog. So many artists have been featured throughout the past two hit seasons already, and each artist has seen a huge bump in downloads of the tunes sung by the cast. In fact, the songs sung on the show have become so popular that “Glee has partnered with Columbia Records to release music from the series, and the resulting albums have been rocketing to the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, including The Power of Madonna , the disc named after the full episode of the show devoted to the Queen of Pop’s catalog, which hit Number One. Digital downloads from each episode have dominated single sales, as well. The cast’s version of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” has gone gold. Total sales for the cast’s singles, according to the Los Angeles Times, tallies up to a massive 4.1 million copies.”

To many artists that’s a lucrative outlet to get their music back in front of a new audience and skyrocket in popularity – whether the tune is an oldie but goody, or simply the new kid on the block. This is a new avenue for artists in the music industry, with this specific type of show. I wonder if the music industry will find a way to screw this up too… Let’s hope not.

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These days ticket prices are continuing to skyrocket and fewer and fewer people are going to shows, or are able to go to shows as frequently as they have in the past. I remember in college, about seven years ago, going to concerts every weekend. Even multiple concerts in one weekend! It was an amazing experience to see a favorite band or listen to new music at one of the best venues in downtown Chicago. The Metro played host to local bands, nationally known bands, etc. All at reasonable prices – even the big guns. Nowadays it costs a hundred plus dollars for a pair of tickets to see a concert. It seems only the monster acts are going on tour these days, and the lesser known are far too unknown to create a draw. Even some of the big timers are having a hard time selling out, and as a result have cancelled shows and even whole tours. When will the music industry get it right and start thinking differently on how to make music and break new artists. There’s too much crap out there now, and so few chances to make an impact. For those artists who have made that impact, for example Lady Gaga, how long will they continue to hold our attention? These artists can only keep shocking us for so long. Don’t get me wrong, I am a Lady Gaga fan – but does she and other artists in the same boat have the sustainability?

According to Rolling Stone,

“This summer has brought one disaster after another for the concert industry with acts from U2 to Christina Aguilera canceling shows expected to rake in big bucks. Not everybody is bombing though: Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and the Carole King/James Taylor double bill are selling out everywhere and grossing around $1.3 million a night. Here’s a look at some of the surprising hits and misses:

• Billboard Boxscore reports that Spandau Ballet,Tears for Fears and Jack Jones grossed $1,509,660 over two nights in Sydney, Australia. Who knew that Aussies were willing to shell out big bucks to hear “True” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” again?

• Pearl Jam usually sell out every venue they play, but their May 13th show in Bristow, Virginia, only moved 13,706 out of 23,385 available tickets according to Pollstar. Shows that same month in Noblesville, Indiana, Kansas City and Cleveland all sold out, though, and the Bristow show still grossed $717,175. The poor showing is more likely a result of fans’ unwillingness to sit on a lawn and shell out big bucks for parking and drinks.

• Julian Casablancas will have a huge payday when the Strokes reunite this month for a European tour, but his solo tour has had its struggles. According to Pollstar, he just sold 49 percent of the house when he played the Houston House of Blues on April 12th.

• Even in Indianapolis, nobody wants to see George W. Bush. He spoke at Canseco Fieldhouse and according to Pollstar he just sold 28 percent of 8,442 tickets — which was pretty much his approval rating by the time he left office in 2009.

• You’d think there would be at least 200 people in the Washington, DC area willing to pay to hear a live version of “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” but according to Pollstar, the Crash Test Dummies only sold 132 out of 200 tickets for their show at the Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Virginia.”

What are your thoughts on the state of touring musicians and concert prices?

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Electronic Dance Music has undergone something of a revolution over the last 15 years. Not least because music production and performance equipment has become cheaper to purchase, and the internet has opened up a heap of tutorials, forum advice and video demos. Being able to set up with an entire ‘software studio’ for a fraction of the price of a ‘traditional’ one, means that more producers are able to experiment and share their creations.

This may result in some under-par productions being out there, but luckily, it is still as easy as ever to tell good music from bad. As I am often working away to a soundtrack of 125bpm or so, I thought I would try and round up some of the biggest names in dance music and share them as a Music Jobs playlist. This is also something for fans of other styles, with modern artists pulling in youths and inspirations from Depeche Mode, Bowie, Disco and more.

Artists include: Fatboy Slim, Dennis Ferrer, Todd Terry, Mark Farina, Mike Monday, Jackson and His Computer Band and more… Go to http://www.myspace.com/usmusicjobs/music/playlists/electronic-1214353 to listen!

Lee Jarvis.

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Looking to make a music video to help promote your music? Well, you could learn a lot from OK Go’s unique work. Here are a few videos that you can also learn from, and by that I mean avoid these mistakes at all costs…

5) Get Technical

Do not adjust your set, this video was filmed in black and white. In a forest. And possibly in the dark.

4) Choreography

If you are going to have some kind of group dance scenes in your video, it may be worthwhile getting some moves choreographed. Or practicing.

3) Flow

Even if you do just slap together random home video clips of you and friends from over the years, it’s probably best to skip the shower scene. (more…)

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There’s a great new website out there for developing artists and bands, although it covers a wide variety of other arts in addition to music. It’s called Indie Go Go.

(Click to enlarge)

The site is unlike anything I’ve seen before, it’s quite a unique concept. The gist of the site is that it allows you to post a project that you need to raise money for. For example, look at this band using this site: http://www.indiegogo.com/shapesstarsmake. The band wants to go on tour, but in order for them to be able to do so they need a van and some additional funds in order to make their dream happen. Indie GoGo aids their efforts by giving them a unique platform to promote their cause to everyone they know and millions of people they don’t know. They customize their tiers of giving, as well as providing rewards and incentives for those who give to their cause. It’s a great way to get the help you need, raise awareness about your band, and ultimately get one step closer to actualizing your dream. (more…)

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This past weekend I hit the road to Detroit to check out the 10th year of the Electronic Music Festival. Now going by the name of ‘Movement’, the event is three days of electronic techno goodness. All photos (c) Lee Jarvis. All Rights Reserved.

DAY 1

Jamie Jones

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Theo Parrish // Matthew and Richie Hawtin // Josh Wink

Plastikman

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Plastikman // Plastikman //Plastikman

(more…)

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