Lauryn Hill sell's art, poems and autographs on her site
Although she hasn't released a studio album in some 4 years, you can buy her new material on her website in the form of art and autographs. Lauryn Hill has taken to her official Web site to sell art prints, autographed posters and a poem titled "The Middle Man." among other things. For $15, visitors can purchase a video clip of Hill performing a new song titled "Social Drugs" on guitar.
Some of the autographed items are selling for $500, while 'The Middle Man' is being sold for $75. Here's an excerpt of the poem on her site reads, "If everyone is a product of this society, who will say the things that need to be said, and do the things that need to be done, without compromise? Truth will never start out popular in a world more concerned with marketability than righteousness. It will initially suffer ridicule and even violence -- yet ultimately it is undeniable. All of humanity is living in a dream world but suffering real consequences."
- - Source: Feedroom.com
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Tasha's World wins prestigious award in Holland
You've probably not heard of her and her band here in the states but in Europe she's blowing up big time. Dome recording artist Tasha's World is to receive one of Holland's most prestigious awards, the Silver Harp. The award is presented annually to three artists considered the Best Newcomers by Dutch music industry organization Conamus. She has become the first soul/R&B artist ever to receive the award.
The Rotterdam-based singer who's given name Natascha Slagtand will perform two songs with a symphony orchestra at the presentation award February 10 in Bussum, Holland, to be broadcast live on national TV.
The video of the song Tasha's World is currently receiving heavy rotation on MTV and The Box in Holland, and is also receiving exposure on MTV Base in the UK.
A second single from the Tasha's World album is due for release in the UK in February.
- Source: soulnotes.cc
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The most popular music sold last year is....
...R&B/Soul (yep you read right - R&B). More R&B music was sold in 2003 than any other genre. According to the figures compiled by Neilsen Soundscan for 2003, R&B CDs sold 150,789,000 units. That beats Alternative music by more than 20,000,000 units.
Rap came in a distant third with sales of around 77 million while Metal followed suit with 74 million albums sold in 2003.
All in all it was a good year for the music industry with the final figure at close of play on New Year's Eve showing the industry was down less than 1% over 2002 just 0.8%.
Indications show that the music industry is on the mend and that the year will be on the upswing in 2004. The forth quarter showed an increase of 10.5% over the same period in 2002. The survey week was even better with sales up 20% on the previous year.
The industry is expected to mend even faster now that it has embraced new media and digital downloads instead of fighting it. 19.2 million digital downloads were sold in the USA since Soundscan started surveying on June 29, 2003.
- Source: Eonline.com
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Destinys Child reunite - Beyonce pospones sophomore set
Destinys Child will reunite and record a new album this year so fans who were expecting to see Beyoncé sophomore album drop this year are going to have to wait for a while.
According to sources, when she recorded her debut, Dangerously in Love, she got into a creative output and recorded in all about 45 songs. There was so much leftover material, she planned on issuing a quick-hit second album early this year.
However, a spokesperson at Beyoncé's record label said last Wednesday (January 7) that she's putting aside her solo aspirations to concentrate on the next Destiny's Child album.
Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams will start recording the group's fifth studio album in March. That will give Beyoncé time to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl (with Janet Jackson as part of the half time show) .
- Source - billboard.com