Facebook has officially entered into the fore for networking musical successes. The friend networking site played an integral role in bringing together members of Blake , the first band to sign to a major label through the site, sealing a 5-album deal with Universal for £1 million (approx. 2 million USD). Built around a love for classical music, the mid-twenties music and drama major graduates Stephen Bowman, Jules Knight, Dominic Tighe and Oliver Baines ...

Ken Lombard , CEO of Starbucks' record label Hear Music , spoke at the MusicMeetsBrand conference on Wednesday (7/18), stating that Prince is an ideal candidate for the company's next signing, proceeding the opening success of Paul McCartney's latest full-length Memory Almost Full . The royal pop artist recently gave away his newest album Planet Earth for free weeks before the offical release date via the Mail on...

In concert with their announcement of a new course starting this Sunday, July 22, 2007, Point Blank Online Music School has announced a new competition: Submit a track for the chance to win a half-price online course and the chance to have your track published with Universal Music Publishing. To enter, simply send them a track (in MP3 format) that shows off your production skills. All tracks will be judged by Point Blank's panel of expert producers and whoever shows the most...

The Netherlands' North Sea Jazz Festival , which was held in Rotterdam this past weekend, played host to a myriad of live performance treats from the likes of Maceo Parker, Roy Hargrove, The Cinematic Orchestra, Christian Scott, Sleepwalker, Sly & The Family Stone, Ornette Coleman, Paul Anka, Al Green, e.s.t., The Roots, Ojos De Brujo, Al Green , several of the world's premier jazz orchestras and ensembles, Raul Midón and India.Arie . The latter two paired up for an...

Cee-Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley told Billboard that the duo (with partner Danger Mouse ) will be delivering their second album by December of 2007. However, in contrast St. Elsewhere , Gnarls will refrain from any promotion or tour (!). Cee-Lo preached, “Gnarls is something we want to salvage. It's not to be exploited or auctioned off to the highest bidder. It will be revered and sought after. Somebody from my generation has to be the Dylan ...

Last night Mark Ronson performed with a full band to a rammed Highline Ballroom, NYC. It was his first ever live gig in America and despite his years of experience DJing, Ronson openly confessed to the crowd that he was "sh*tting himself." The record release party for his album Version included Ronson on guitar with a 7-piece band and various guests Daniel Merriweather, Kenna, Tiggers, Santo Gold, Saigon, Wale , and Alex Greenwald . For those who missed...

A couple of our favorite artists at the moment are finding success in the online retail front. Both Mocean Worker's Cinco De Mowo! and Sara Bareilles' Little Voice have sold well on iTunes , the former rising to #1 in the electronic chart and the latter acheiving the coveted #1 album. Mocean Worker's record also ranked #5 in overall sales at Amazon.com . Numbers aside, a zany music video for Mowo's song "Shake Ya Boogie" was...

Andre 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast have agreed to postpone their next LP together for what could be up to "two years" in order to focus on their own solo albums, projects and remix work. Andre Been-Jammin's recently produced the soundtrack and starred as the voice of lead character Sunny Bridges in a Cartoon Network animated TV show called Class of 3000 . Each season's songs will be released as separate CD packages for the "young" fans of...

Zap Mama , the Belgian group fronted by Marie Daulne , is returning next month with a brand new album Supermoon (out in the US Aug. 7 and Europe Sep. 3) and a set of American tour dates. Of the album which features Tony Allen, Meshell Ndegeocello, Michael Franti, Bashiri Johnson, David Gilmour, Daniel Feiberg and more, Daulne confessed the release is "very intimate, beginning with [her] choice of the picture on the cover of the album. You're seeing me very...

Matthias Heilbronn (Pata de Perro) and DJ Moni (Ubiquita) will be gracing the decks at Giant Step's fourth Private Park party inside the Hudson Hotel (NYC) this coming Monday from 6-10pm. Call it an early Independence Day getdown if you wish. Our summer series is heating up - the King Britt event (6/18) was a serious dance party. And although the last two were held inside at the bar, this...