INDIE NEWS BEAT 
June 8, 2005 Edition
* Supporters Urge NYC To Declare CBGB An Official Landmark
* KiraKira Disc Records Releases New Album From Minikon
* Onlinegigs & ICON Magazine Announce Partnership
* Nip, Tuck: Indie-Music.Com Undergoes A Facelift!
* U.S. Label City Canyons Records Goes Down Under
* The Next Melodic Rock Diva
* Music Talent Scouts Sought
* Singer Magazine Becomes Singer & Musician
* WARCON Enterprises Partners With Taste Of Chaos Tour To Release Compilation CDs
* Tunesmith Looking For Amerca's BEST Uncut Songwriters!
* CSEGames.com - Tailgator 2005 - Independent Music Contest
Supporters Urge NYC To Declare CBGB An Official Landmark
What do Jonathan Demme, Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye, Juliette Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Tommy Ramone, Charlotte Lesher (mother of the late Joey Ramone), Arturo Vega (artistic director for the Ramones), Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads, Richard Lloyd of Television, Little Steven, Legs McNeill, Richard Hell, Fab 5 Freddy, Seymour Stein of Sire Records, Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys, Bob Gruen, the Bullys, Richard H.D. Manitoba, Dennis McNamara, Daniel Wolff, John Holstrom of Punk Magazine, John Foxworthy of Garage Radio, cultural sociologist Dr. Donna Gaines, Rockefeller University Professor Dr. Sanford Simon, an entrepreneur and survivor of spina bifida, and a teacher in Honolulu all have in common?
They are supporting efforts currently underway to help CBGB & OMFUG stay on the Bowery and are backing a campaign to preserve the club's legacy with an official New York City landmark designation for 313-315 Bowery. The club currently faces a rent dispute and lease expiration on August 31, 2005.
CBGB's is already featured as a New York icon and destination location in ads by NYC2012, Continental Airlines, and real estate developments such as Avalon Chrystie Place; club t-shirts have been worn by television stars on shows such as "ER" and "Gilmore Girls."
"CBGB is a treasure of New York culture," says Tommy Ramone, "It was the original magnet that drew people from every corner of America to come to New York and participate in its rebirth."
And, in a statement to Project Save CBGB, Seymour Stein of Sire Records said, "At all costs, CBGB's must be preserved. It is more than a landmark. CBGB is an international treasure!"
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KiraKira Disc Records Releases New Album From Minikon On June 28th
KiraKira Disc Records is a Florida based label whose goal is to release quality electronic/IDM music with a strong sense of melody. The label's next release from Minikon, entitled Super Minikon, has been announced for release on June 28th, 2005.
Denty One is at it again with his latest album entitled Super Minikon. The Florida based musician "speaks" volumes with his second advance into the electronic scene and pushes the envelope by offering a small taste of video game romance, tropical island pleasure and unforgettable melodies.
While "Classic" Minikon celebrated the joy of melody and happiness without apology, Super Minikon remembers from whence it came, expands those boundaries and delivers more of an emotive response. As Denty says "I believe this new album will cross over more than the first one did. There is a little something for everyone here." Though his debut album's vibe is still in check, Super Minikon embodies more lush layers of detail.
Haroumi Hosono (founder of Yellow Magic Orchestra) is a major influence on Denty's latest musical adventure, and his love for past and current Japanese pop culture also adds to this most entertaining style of music that he has crafted.
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Onlinegigs & ICON Magazine Announce Partnership
Onlinegigs and ICON Magazine are proud to announce a brand new partnership. The two companies will join forces to organize the necessary tools and resources for running an independent music career. The power of the internet and modern database systems now provides equal access to all that seek it out. Both companies have a huge wealth of data and resources that will compliment each other.
Onlinegigs virtually automates the administration of booking and promoting a band or multiple bands. It provides an easy to use, step by step guide to finding booking and promotional opportunities, tracking correspondences, issuing contracts, creating itineraries and generating press releases to the local media in any market in the country. Much of this functionality happens with the click of a button or even automatically. In the past this kind of administration was only achievable with a large staff or an extremely organized team of agents, managers, interns and publicists.
ICON Magazine is an online publication as well as a community and search engine/directory that helps to network, educate, and inform talent and industry professionals in the film, television, and music industries.
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Nip, Tuck: Indie-Music.Com Undergoes A Facelift!
After a nip here and a tuck there, Indie-Music.com is ready for a close-up and kicks off summer 2005 with a facelift! In an effort to provide even more exposure to all Indie-Music.com members and independent artists, the Indie-Music.com home page (http://www.indie-music.com) now prominently features a rotating multimedia artist profile for all annual members who have uploaded their music for public consumption. You told us what you wanted to see and hear and we listened! Indie-Music.com members are producing some of the most vibrant and exciting music in the independent music industry, and we proudly showcase these artists front and center where they belong. Although the home page appearance may have changed, Indie-Music.com still offers the latest news, CD reviews, articles and contact directory updates you know, use and love.
Suzanne Glass, founder and owner of Indie-Music.com, weighs in, "Connecting with our audience is Indie-Music.com's number one goal, and our new navigation layout makes it easier to access popular areas of the website, thereby allowing fans to quickly access new music, and giving artists faster, more-intuitive access to our DIY and promotional resources."
Over the years, Indie-Music.com has strived to provide one of the largest DIY databases available to musicians, fans and industry veterans, recognizing the need to house as much information, advice, and exposure in one place as possible. Musicians, labels, studios and venues have long recognized our commitment to our audience. We invite all indie music lovers to visit the site, check out new music and build a buzz with their own material.
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U.S. Label City Canyons Records Goes Down Under
City Canyons' artists Jen Elliott and Bluestruck, Peter Ulrich (former percussionist of the legendary Dead Can Dance) and Valerian are now being distributed in Australia and New Zealand through an exclusive distribution deal with Indie-CDs.com. Under the arrangement, Indie-CDs.com is providing both online and "brick and mortar" distribution.
"New York label City Canyons is a relatively new kid on the block," said Malcom Fielding of Indie-CDs.com. "But while it may be small, it has high quality titles. We're really happy that City Canyons has given us Australia/New Zealand distribution for its releases." Fielding also pointed to the "very tight and rocky album of blues based pop ballads" in Elliott's "The Secret's Out," the delightful "hard, punchy rock with lyrics with meaning" of Valerian's "Intimations Of Sorrow" and the mystical journey "that will surprise and please darkwave fans" in Ulrich's "Enter the Mysterium."
Manhattan-based City Canyons Records released its first album, Elliott's "The Secret's Out," in November 2003, followed by UK rocker David Steele's "Underneath the Ice" and Finnish band Valerian's "Intimations Of Sorrow" a year later. Since then, the fast-growing indie has expanded its reach across the globe. Through a recent licensing agreement with Music&Words, a record label based in the Netherlands, City Canyons' latest release, Peter Ulrich's "Enter the Mysterium," is being distributed throughout Europe.
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The era of rock presents, Mandi Perkins, a Canadian female vocalist that has exposed unlimited artistic potential. Many are eagerly anticipating the release of Mandi's second CD "Broken Window", which will come on the scene in mid-May for the first time in the United States. The magnetic and attractive singer/songwriter has put together her hottest collection of songs to date.
When Mandi Perkins came onto the music scene 3 years ago, no one could have guessed how much success the young woman would have. With request from industry affiliates such as XM Radio and Indie 103.1... the next melodic rock diva is sure to leave her mark as one of the preeminent singer/songwriters of her time.
Mandi is now one of alternative music's most popular artists, and her unique look and sound have made her a very well respected artist in the independent music industry. Her album goes nationwide May 17, 2005 and more than the distributors can handle have been pre-requested.
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Individuals seeking alliance with ItsFun.com would be expected to be on the lookout for performers of all kinds of music, songwriters, independent labels and publishers. Suggested places to look for such talent include; night clubs, concerts, festivals, music schools and conservatories, local recitals, churches, new music societies, competitions and public concert halls.
Scouts will be expected to have expertise in one or more genres of music so as to be able to differentiate between the good and the mediocre or even bad. They should also have the ability to articulate to the prospective talent the advantages of putting their music on ItsFun.com for sale to the public.
Each person would devise their own unique approach, but there are some basic pieces of information that should be passed along. Included in that area would be the fact that ItsFun.com generates over 3 million visitors daily, most of them are buyers of music. The site offers sales of individual pieces of music as well as complete CD's. Payments on sales are made every 30 days.
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Singer Magazine Becomes Singer & Musician
Since it's inception five year ago, singers and musicians have looked to Singer Magazine for tips that have helped them become better singers and players and more successful songwriters and performers. From product features and reviews of new indie artist CDs to new products, stage presentation and business skills Singer Magazine has become a respected resource for over 50,000 independent artists with a passion for turning their talents into a respectable source of income. (Is this number limiting?)
"The legends who have graced our coversRay Charles, Jimmy Buffett, Heart, Al Green, Van Morrison and all the others are musicians as well as singers," said publisher Robert Lindquist. "In Singer, the emphasis has always been on following the passion to have a career in musicto that end, knowing how to play an instrument is just as important as improving vocal quality, health, and endurance. We were finding, however, that those jazz, folk, country and pop are (need word Americana here and probably jazz shouldn't be first on the list), who are vocalists but don't consider themselves singers were missing some very good content. We believe that with the broader title, the publication will be better perceived for what it isan artist based publication, that emphasizes all aspects of building a musical career."
"None of what has made Singer Magazine so popular with the independent musician and fans of independent music is going to change," adds managing editor Greg Tutwiler. "We're just better defining and expanding what we already know has become a valuable resource to so many."
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WARCON Enterprises Partners With Taste Of Chaos Tour To Release Compilation CDs
WARCON Enterprises, the new teen and young adult entertainment venture launched earlier this year by Kevin Lyman (Warped Tour) and Bob Chiappardi (Concrete Marketing), has announced that it is experiencing significant growth in all areas of business operations.
WARCON secured compilation CD rights to this year's highly-successful Taste of Chaos Tour. Co-President Bob Chiappardi explains, "TOC is a very exciting entity. Creating records under this brand hit right into the pocket that WARCON is all about. It is a perfect marriage."
Created and run by WARCON partner Kevin Lyman, Freeze Artist Management's John Reese, and CAA's Darryl Eaton, the Taste of Chaos Tour was this winter's hottest live event featuring bands like The Used and My Chemical Romance. Expected to sell 100,000 tickets, nearly 200,000 kids attended the 38 dates across US and Canada.
The record will feature bands from this year's TOC Tour as well as bands that fit into the WARCON/TOC post-hardcore scene. The concept is to stay focused on our audience and to keep delivering lifestyle content, whether music, visual or fashion, that is meaningful to their world.
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Tunesmith Looking For Amerca's BEST Uncut Songwriters!
TUNESMITH "On the Road" will be at the Clermont Inn, 180 E Main St Batavia, OH May 20-22 thanks to local coordinators, Kenny Hart and Greg Althammer.
Marc Alan Barnette will be putting attendees thru Songwriters Bootcamp WHILE they write a song from scratch in 2 days! Michael Peterson will be there with inspiration and encouragement AND will also be doing an acoustic show Saturday Evening, FREE to Camp Attendees, General public tickets 15.00 at the door. Nan will tell you all about "Team Tunesmith".
Tunesmith plans to visit 12 cities in 12 months and choose a winning song from each location The winning song and songwriter/songwriters will recieve a fully produced demo of the song AND be featured in the Tunesmith Spotlight and the song will be posted on our jukebox. In June 2006 all the winners will come to Nashville for the SUPER Song Write-Off. The Super Song Write-Off Finals will be held at the Wild Horse Saloon and filmed by "The Nashville Show". The winning song will be performed LIVE on The Nashville Show with Ralph Emery and Shotgun Red. The overall winning songs songwriter/songwriters will recieve ONE 10 song fully produced CD.
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CSEGames.com - Tailgator 2005 - Independent Music Contest
Card Sports & Entertainment, Inc. is proud to present "Tailgator 2005", a contest designed to provide international Indie bands a great opportunity to get some extreme exposure.
We are looking for high-energy, exciting songs that will complement the excitement of CSE's new product releases. We will consider all submissions, but generally looking for music appropriate for sporting events or with a sporty/action/high intensity feel to it.
Here's what you can win:
Prominent exposure of your band's tunes on the Card Sports & Entertainment website (CSEGames.com). There, your MP3 tracks will run regularly with captions indicating your band's name, the song title and a contact link to your band's website or email address.
The top bands selected by the CSE judges will receive recording time with an engineer at a professional recording studio.
Bands will get the opportunity to appear at future events held by CSE (arrangements will be made for travel as necessary).
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Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission