Welcome to the new world that is re-configuring the way we listen, use and purchase (hopefully) music.

Moderator Jay Cooper will question a stellar panel of experts on how the new breed of digital music services has already dramatically altered the lay of the land, how business is coping, and where we may be headed. Also, are rumors of SOPA’s death premature?

Moderator:

• Attorney Jay Cooper, Vice-Chair of the Global Media and Entertainment Practice at Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Panelists:

• Mark Goldstein – Associate Professor, Practice, Music Business @ Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California/Adjunct Professor @ Gould School of Law, University of Southern California
• David Ring – EVP, Business Development & Business Affairs, Global Digital Business @ Universal Music Group
• Gary Stiffelman, Esq. – Partner, Ziffren Brittenham LLP

friends at CCC dinner meeting

Tuesday February 21, 2012
6:15 PM Check-In ● 6:30 PM Cocktails ● 7:00 PM Dinner

SPORTSMEN’S LODGE HOTEL, 12825 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91604 (Coldwater Canyon & Ventura Blvd)

Entree: Grilled Salmon with Dill Sauce, Medallions of Chicken Breast with fresh lemon herb caper sauce or Pasta Primavera

Appetizer: Caesar Salad and Apple Tart Tatin for dessert.

CCC Members/College Students $45 per person / Non-members $55 per person

All Students MUST show College ID at the door, if paying at the member rate.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW

PLEASE RSVP BY 10AM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH
Please help us make this an enjoyable experience for everyone by using the reservation system. A failure to reserve by the deadline may result in not receiving your preferred choice of dinner entree.

Register online with your credit card at www.theccc.org

Or use our voicemail system (818-379-3312)

Dinner is payable at the door by cash or check only. No credit cards.

Please RSVP by 10am Friday, February 17, 2012

By Keith Murphy

Billboard.biz article

Like most music industry veterans touched by the inalculable influence of “Soul Train” producer and television hocst Don Cornelius, Michael Bivins has his own memories of the stoic and baritone man who passed away on Wednesday morning. “You couldn’t just call up Don and just ask to speak to him,” recalls the founder of legendary vocal group New Edition, currently on the tour celebrating their 30th anniversary. In 1991, the well-connected music mogul, who in addition to being a member of the multi-platinum N.E.-offshoot group Bell Biv Devoe, was eager to showcase his chart-topping acts as Boyz II Men and Another Bad Creation. And the best place to do it was on Cornelius’ highly rated ‘Soul Train” Music Awards.

“I would be the one calling Don when it came to setting us up to appear on the shows for New Edition and my side acts,” continues Bivins. “But the crazy thing is every time I would call Don he would say to me, ‘Michael Bivins, what the f— do you want now?’ That’s how he would address me,” he laughs. “And I would say, ‘Well, I’m trying to book New Edition and BBD — I got the hottest acts in the industry.’ And Don would respond, ‘You know what, man? You little piece of sh–. I don’t understand why you always want to call me and suggest what you want to do on my show. You remind of P.T. Barnum. I’ll call you back and let you know what slot you have.’ And he would hang up in my face, but I would be booked on the show.  That was Don’s way of showing me he liked me.”

Don Cornelius (AP photo)

That was Don Cornelius: Brash, cantankerous, no-nonsense, protective and above all ambitious.

Not even his apparent suicide at the age of 75 can eclipse the overall impact he has had on African-American music, culture, style, business and beyond. Starting off as a local Chicago program on WCIU-TV, Cornelius’ “Soul Train” went on to gain massive national syndication, eventually moving its production to Los Angeles and hitting over 100 markets during its peak. But for an African-American man stepping on the historically white turf of television production, Cornelius was an unlikely success story.

Don Cornelius: The Billboard Interviews

“My experience of producing the show in Chicago gave me confidence of almost knowing what the viewer reaction to the syndicated version of ‘Soul Train’ would be even before it was aired,” Cornelius told Billboard during a September, 28 1974 interview. “Because of “Chicago, I knew something that most of my doubters didn’t know and when they smirked, I smiled. As I look back I realize that my insistence on perfection occasionally people.”
Indeed, when the Chicago native launched his local music variety program on August 17, 1970 — a show geared primarily toward African-American youth — it was truly groundbreaking. No one knew what to make of “Soul Train.” Who wants to sit around and watch black kids dance to R&B songs? white television broadcasting execs would ask Cornelius.

Undaunted, the former disc jockey and news reporter secured a sponsorship deal with Sears, Roebuck and Co. and launched his black and white live show on WCIU-TV. Not only were local high school kids recruited to dance on the show, Cornelius tapped into his Chicago music contacts and pulled Jerry Butler, the Chi-Lites, and the Emotions to perform on its first broadcast. “Soul Train” was on its way.  There was the “Soul Train” line, a sweat-inducing fixture in which dancers were given free reign to cut loose and unleash the hottest moves of the day, from the funky chicken to the robot. There was the “Soul Train” Scramble Board, a segment in which two contestants were given 60 seconds to unscramble letters to spell the name of a notable person in African-American history. There was the iconic performances: Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, the Jacksons, Rick James, and in later years Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Erykah Badu and the Backstreet Boys. It was often, as its mantra proclaimed, the hippest trip in America. And a brazen Cornelius, mic in hand, was at the middle of it all.

“Don Cornelius was a pioneer,” Cash Money Records founder and CEO Bryan “Birdman” Williams tells Billboard. ” ‘Soul Train’ was a big part of Saturday mornings…for [all] music fans across the nation and his belief in giving artists a platform was inspirational.”

For former Def Jam executive Chris Hicks, Cornelius sits at the same table with another genre-shifting figure in entertainment. “To me he’s in the mode of a Berry Gordy,” Hicks says of the larger-than-life Motown founder. “For Mr. Cornelius to create his own individual television platform where he introduced artists from his own culture and then create a platform where white performers like David Bowie and Elton John wanted to cross back and touch the urban market place was incredible. ‘Soul Train’ wasn’t just for African-American people. It was being watched by everybody.”

Kenny Gamble Remembers Don Cornelius, Origins of ‘Soul Train’ Theme

Grammy-winning soul singer Betty Wright, who performed on “Soul Train” during the ’70s, says as a door-opening television change agent (he owned the syndication rights to “Soul Train,” an aberration for an African-American), Cornelius does not get enough credit.

“What Don did was unheard of,” Wright glows. “No one could imagine that there would be a show with black people dancing as the primaries and not the secondary, and that it would practically last forever. Don had a vision, which was a huge undertaking for a black man. He was giving you real soul music. Nowadays when they say ‘soul’ you don’t know what you are going to get. But with ‘Soul Train,’ you knew what you were getting every time.”

Cornelius would end his history-making duties as host in 1993. By that time, “Soul Train” had already branched out to an awards show in the late ’80s, cementing its status as a cultural institution. The show’s 35-year run ended during the 2005-2006 season, but publishing vet Kenard Gibbs wanted to keep the party going. As one of the principle partners of the MadVision, Gibbs led a deal to purchase the entire rights to the “Soul Train” library in May of 2008.

“I’m a ‘Soul Train’ baby,” Gibbs says. “Just having grown up with the brand and being close to the culture, myself and my partners just decided to see if Don would entertain the notion of selling the ‘Soul Train’ brand. We we’re very fortunate that Don was open to the idea that we would treat the brand with the dignity and respect that it deserved. We want to keep Don’s legacy alive.”

Since then, classic “Soul Train” episodes have found a home on the Centric cable network. Gibbs says there are plans for another “Soul Train” awards show in 2012, a movie based on the program and a theatrical musical. But as always, the conversation goes back to the man who rolled the dice on a vision.

“In terms of the impact Don has had on the sheer number of people’s lives both as entertainers and the viewing public-he touched everyone. Don was everything…he was the talent, the producer, the executive producer, the visionary. It was all him. So many artists and business executives have been very clear about the impact Don had on them. He was huge for everyone’s careers. There are few in this business like him.”

By Gary Graff, Detroit

Etta James, the singer who turned “At Last” into a multi-generational standard and was an acknowledged influence on singers from Janis Joplin to Melissa Etheridge and Christina Aguilera, is gone not long after her voice was quieted.
James, who was 73, died on Friday (Jan. 20) in Riverside, Calif., after a long period of declining health, including kidney failure, leukemia and dementia. The singer has been hospitalized since mid-December, and on Dec. 23 her longtime manager Lupe De-Leon announced she was placed on a respirator.

James has been inactive since early 2010, when it was announced she was suffering with Alzheimer’s disease. She announced that she was formally retiring from music just before the Oct. 25 release of her final studio album, “The Dreamer;” in a statement James said that, “I wish to thank all my fans who have shown me love and support over all these years. I love you all.”

Etta James Terminally Ill From Chronic Leukemia

Aguilera cited Etta James as a crucial influence on her own singing style “because she was so emotional and soulful but at the same time very elegant and classy.” Aguilera adds that James also gave her some sage career advice.

“She said, ‘Don’t pay attention to any of the negativity out there. You keep doing what you’re doing and don’t care what other people think,’ ” Aguilera remembered. “She was so down to earth and so real. She called me an old soul and said that my voice reminded her of almost a Janis Joplin to a Diana Washington. She made my life wtih her compliments and the things she had to say.”

Beverly McClellan, Aguilera’s protege on NBC’s “The Voice,” told Billboard.com that, “I got turned on to Etta James in, probably, 2003 and I got a chance to see her under the starts at this quaint thing with about 250 people. I bought her barbecue and was like, ‘Man, this is the best day of my life.’ Her voice was so inspiring…”

James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, to an unknown father (she once speculated it was billiards great Rudolf “Minnesota Fats” Wanderone) and an inattentive mother who left her to a variety of others to raise, sometimes in abusive domestic situations. James started singing when she was five years old, in the Echoes of Eden choir at Los Angeles’ St. Paul Baptist Church

James moved to San Francisco when she was 12 and soon became part of a doo-wop group called the Creolettes. The group changed its name to the Peaches and, through the patronage of Johnny Otis scored a No. 1 R&B hit with “The Wallflower (Dance With Me, Henry)” — an answer song to Hank Ballard’s “Work With Me, Annie” — in 1955.

James left the Peaches shortly thereafter, signing with the Argo imprint of Chess Records in 1960 and starting a string of hits that included a pair of duets with Harvey Fuqua — “If I Can’t Have You” and “Spoonful” — and her own “All I Could Do is Cry” and “My Dearest Darling.” She also sang backup for other Chess artists, including Chuck Berry on “Back in the USA.

“At Last,” her signature song, was the idea of Chess co-founder Leonard Chess, who felt that James’ voice was suited for a ballad. “I wasn’t sure about that at first — shows you what I knew,” she remembered with a laugh during the early 90s. “At Last” — originally written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the 1941 film musical “Orchestra Wives” — hit No. 2 on the R&B chart in 1962 and went No. 47 pop and went on to be covered by scores of artists, including Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Liza Minnelli, Ella Fitgerald, Nat King Cole and Miles Davis. It remained her best-known musical moment, though she logged more hits such as “Trust In Me,” “The Fool That I Am,” “Something’s Got a Hold on Me,” “Stop the Wedding” and “Pushover.”

James remained with Chess until 1978 but began battling heroin addiction during the mid-60s, not kicking it until 1974. She was also treated for substance abuse at the Betty Ford Center in 1988 and for painkiller dependence in 2010, and she battled obesity throughout her life.

James kept the music coming, however, with highlights that included opening for the Rolling Stones during the mid-80s and winning rave reviews for her 1989 Jerry Wexler-produced album “The Seven Year Itch,” which was her first studio album in seven years. She also recorded a version of Muddy Waters “I Just Wanna Make Love to You” for a popular Coca-Cola commercial, which gave James a Top 10 hit in the U.K. during 1996.

Bobby Murray, James’ guitarist since 1988, said that even in later years James’ talent remaiend “exceptional. What she does with a song is…amazing. And she’s seen so much from different eras. She was kind of around for the birth of rock ‘n’ roll and the early years of R&B, certainly the golden age of soul. She even did a gig with the Grateful Dead. It’s quite a history.”

at Hall of Fame induction

James, who published her memoir “Rage To Survive: The Etta James Story” in 2003, received one of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s first Pioneer Awards in 1989 and an NAACP Image Award in 1990. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Rockabilly Hall of fame in 2001, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and the Billboard R&B Founders Award in 2006. She won three Grammy Awards plus a Lifetime Achievement honor in 2003, as well as nine Soul/Blues Female Artist of the Year awards from the Blues Foundation. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her No. 22 on its list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, and No. 62 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists.

James made headlines in 2009, following a performance of “At Last” by Beyonce — who portrayed her in the Chess Records film “Cadillac Records” — at the inaugural ball for President Barack Obama. Eight days later James trashed Beyonce on stage in Seattle, threatening that the younger singer would “get her ass whipped.” She later explained she was joking, though she was genuinely hurt that she wasn’t invited to perform the song herself. Her son Donto later attributed the comments to the early onset of Alzheimer’s.

Donto and his brother, Sametto, played drums and bass, respectively, in their mother’s band. The two recently reached an agreement over management of the estate with their stepfather, Artie Mills, who married James in 1969 and is her estate’s conservator.

Members of the Senate are rushing for the exits in the wake of the Internet’s unprecedented protest of the Protect IP Act (PIPA). At least 13 members of the upper chamber announced their opposition on Wednesday. In a particularly severe blow for Hollywood, at least five of the newly-opposed Senators were previously co-sponsors of the Protect IP Act. (Update: since we ran this story, the tally is up to 19 Senators, of which seven are former co-sponsors.

The newly-opposed Senators are skewed strongly to the Republican side of the aisle. An Ars Technica survey of Senators’ positions on PIPA turned up only two Democrats, Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who announced their opposition on Wednesday. The other 11 Senators who announced their opposition on Wednesday were all Republicans. These 13 join a handful of others, including Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), who have already announced their opposition.

Marco Rubio, a freshman Republican Senator from Florida who some consider to be a rising star, withdrew his co-sponsorship of the bill, citing “legitimate concerns about the impact the bill could have on access to the Internet and about a potentially unreasonable expansion of the federal government’s power to impact the Internet.” He urged the Senate to “avoid rushing through a bill that could have many unintended consequences.”

Another co-sponsor, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) echoed that sentiment. He blamed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for “pushing forward w/ a flawed bill that still needs much work.”

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), one of the chamber’s longest-serving members and another co-sponsor, described the Protect IP Act as “simply not ready for prime time.”

Bill's author Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex)

The partisan slant of the defections is surprising because copyright has not traditionally been considered a partisan issue. Before Wednesday’s protests, PIPA had 16 Republican co-sponsors and 23 Democratic ones. The bill lost a quarter of its Republican co-sponsors on Wednesday, while we know of only one Democrat, Ben Cardin (D-MD), who dropped his support.

Those who dropped their support were most likely bolstered by strong opposition from conservative think tanks and blogs. On Tuesday, the influential Heritage Foundation announced that it would include SOPA and PIPA as a key issue on its voter scorecard. And the popular conservative blog redstate.com, whose founderthreatened to mount primary challengers to SOPA supporters last month, has been hailing Senators who come out in opposition.

Neither side is close to having a majority. A whip count by OpenCongress found 35 supporters (including 34 co-sponsors), 18 opponents, and 12 more Senators leaning toward opposition. About 35 Senators have not committed to a position, perhaps reluctant to do so for fear of angering either deep-pocketed Hollywood campaign contributors or their constituents back home.

Here is the full list of new opponents. An * indicates a former co-sponsor.

• Roy Blunt (R-MO) *
• John Boozman (R-AR) *
• Scott Brown (R-MA)
• Ben Cardin (D-MD) *
• John Cornyn (R-TX)
• Jim DeMint (R-SC)
• Orrin Hatch (R-UT) *
• James Inhofe (R-OK)
• Mark Kirk (R-IL)
• Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
• Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
• Marco Rubio (R-FL) *
• Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

Update (7 PM): David Vitter (R-LA) is now also opposed. He was previously a co-sponsor of the legislation.

Update (9 PM): Three more opponents, all Republicans: Tom Coburn (R-OK), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Mike Johanns (R-NE).

Update (10 PM): Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) is jumping on the bandwagon. She was a PIPA co-sponsor.

Update (Thursday): Mark Begich (D-AK) also joined the opposition on Wednesday.

By Karen Bliss, Toronto

Brooklyn, NY-based TuneCore has expanded its music and video distribution service into Canada. The site, www.tunecore.ca, is exclusive to Canadian artists. The music is priced in Canadian currency and there is no currency conversion on domestic sales.

The site, which advertises “keep all your rights; get 100 percent of the royalities [and] and exclusive iTunes artist ping page,” now offers all Canadian artists the opportunity to get their music out worldwide on various digital sites, such as iTunes, Amazon and Spotify.

Artists upload their music and art to www.tunecore.ca, select their stores and pay an annual flat fee of $9.99 (CDN) per single. For albums, they can choose to pay $49.99 (CDN) annually or $4.99 (CDN) a month.

Canadian digital distributor IDLA (Independent Digital Licensing Agency), which was organized by 20 Canadian independent labels, charges all its members a 9 percent administration fee and pays royalties monthly.

Hundreds of Canadian artists already use TuneCore, either via the U.S. site or the new Canadian site. Drake distributed the single “Best I Ever Had” through TuneCore, and Barenaked Ladies, Martha Wainwright, Joel Plaskett, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Melanie Doane and David Usher (of Moist) are all clients.

According to the press materials, TuneCore is the world’s largest music distributor, placing more music into iTunes and other music services in one month than Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI combined in a year.

Among that music are songs by Aretha Franklin, Nine Inch Nails, Jay Z, Joan Jett, Beck, Cheap Trick, Moby and Frank Zappa, but TuneCore artists also represent over 60 percent of all new artist sales in the US, according to the press release, selling over half a billion songs and earning over US$250,000,000 in 3.5 years.

Worldwide, TuneCore has more than 700,000 account holders.

Canada’s Cherelle Jardine with Indie band Stone Poets

EARGASM! 

The Explosion of Music in TV,

Film and New Media

Are you expanding your music into other realms? If you’re hearing music in Games, Advertising, Webisodes and other areas of digital media and it’s not yours, you might be missing your next wave. Our panel will explore various opportunities to place music in media which is now becoming more mainstream and monetized (and utilizing music more than ever!) We will also explore the insurgence of Social Media (YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reverbnation, Twitter, Jambase, Sonicbids, TAXI, UPlaya, Music Xray, etc.) and their pitfalls.

The panel will include experts in various areas of music “crossover” including:

Amos Newman, Head of Music for Visual Media Dept. at William Morris Endeavor

Cecilia Harvey, Manager of Film and TV at Warner/Chappell

Chandler Poling, founder of White Bear PR.

Jordan Passman, founder of ScoreAScore.

Jason Jim Dooley

Leo Z.

Jody Whitesides

Jason Miller

(and others to be announced)

A “must see” panel for composers, publishers and other industry professionals!

Tuesday January 10, 2012 –

6:15 PM Check-In ● 6:30 PM Cocktails ● 7:00 PM Dinner

SPORTSMEN’S LODGE HOTEL, 12825 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91604 (Coldwater Canyon & Ventura Blvd)

The Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel has been one of the most popular Los Angeles hotels for social events in Southern California for decades. And now…our meeting rooms and grounds are an even better venue for your next function! Our event space and lavish landscape deliver even more fabulous service, comfort and hospitality.

Entree: Medallions of Chicken Breast with fresh lemon herb caper sauce, Sliced Tri Tip with mushroom sauce or Pasta Primavera

Appetizer: Sportsmen’s Salad (California Greens, Tomato and Shredded Carrots and Apple Tart Tatin for dessert.

CCC Members/College Students $45 per person / Non-members $55 per person

All Students MUST show College ID at the door, if paying at the member rate.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW – PLEASE RSVP BY 10AM FRIDAY, JANUARY 6TH

Please help us make this an enjoyable experience for everyone by using the reservation system. A failure to reserve by the deadline may result in not receiving your preferred choice of dinner entree.

Register online with your credit card at www.theccc.org, Or use our voicemail system (818-379-3312)

Dinner is payable at the door by cash or check only.  No credit cards. IF YOU CURRENTLY DO NOT RECEIVE EMAILS FROM THE CCC, PLEASE EMAIL INFO@THECCC.ORG
Officers

Eric Polin
President
Eric Palmquist
Vice President

Cheryl Dickerson
Treasurer

Robin Schwartz
Secretary

Diane Snyder-Ramirez
Assistant Secretary

Cedar Boschan
Anne Cecere**
Jeremy Blietz
James Leach
Ken Freundlich

Kent Liu
Jean Montiel
Dan Rimas
Marrsha Sill**

Alternates: John Bitrick and Robert Linden

Jonathan Rosner
Stephan Pasternacki
Robert B. Marks
Robert S. McCluskey
Alfred W. Schlesinger
Harold Spina
Estelle Radin
Herbert N. Gottlieb
Arthur Hamilton**
Herbert N. Eiseman**
Averill Pasarow
Bruce M. Ramer
Keith Williams
Ron Anton
Jay Cooper
Jay S. Lowy
Helen King
Irwin Pincus
Terri Fricon
A. Kim Guggenheim
Kim Espy
Gary Wishik
Gaylon Horton
Seymour M. Bricker
Gerald F. Rosenblatt
Marv Mattis
Charles Sussman
Ron Gertz
Gary Culpepper
Ronny S. Schiff **
Scott Holtzman
John Braheny**
Evan M. Greenspan
Steven Winogradsky
Georgett Studnicka
Randy Poe
Dan Kirkpatrick
Susan Slamer
Ellen Burke
Teri Nelson Carpenter**
Michael R. Morris
Dan Butler
David Hirshland
Cheryl Hodgson