Astronauts of Antiquity Release "Rocket Science For Dummies"

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Hollywood, CA-June 15, 2009-The Astronauts of Antiquity sport a very unique name and to their credit the music they produce is fitting and true to their moniker.

The sound of AOA has been described as urban-electro-organica to a jazzy, neo-soulful, electronic exploration. Think of it as musical Art Nouveau in constant motion.

The meeting of India on vocals and B. Rhyan on guitars was a chance encounter at an airport one day and that moment in time spawned an alternative rock band that would eventually morph into what it is today.

The new CD Rocket Science For Dummies, an oxymoron that truly applies in every way to their creations, will tantalize the electronic-dance-mix followers and entrance lovers of pop and rock with underlying jazz tones that weave a hypnotic web in and out of their sound. India’s breathy sexy vocals invite Rhyan’s guitar licks to challenge her to push every track to new heights of mixing creativity. All of the elements blend effortlessly to make their enticing sound.

Rocket Science For Dummies refuses to be clearly defined and its appeal transcends the normal avenues of acceptance and rejection that any new release must go through. It is as though they received a pass go and no jail time to be crowned the winner. Not an easy accomplishment by anyone’s standards but their music remains so unique in and of itself, it simply defies categorization.

Visit the media rich Astronauts of Antiquity for more information and step into their world for a few minutes, only then will you understand that this life really is just Rocket Science For Dummies.

Reggie Calloway Releases First Solo Album "Bring Back The Love"

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Reggie Calloway Releases First Solo Album Bring Back The Love

Bring Back The Love Will Climb The R & B And Crossover Charts With A Bullet To The Top

Hollywood, CA-June 2, 2009-The founder of chart topper’s Midnight Star Reggie Calloway is poised to release his new album Bring Back The Love to great success and praise from listeners and critics from every corner of the globe.

While Reggie is accustomed to success this is his first solo outing, and with that comes a certain amount anticipation of how it will be received. The personal nature of the tracks on Bring Back The Love will pull listeners in quickly and they will find how easy it is to become immersed in the words and music. The bar is set very high and the expectations are nonetheless as would be expected by such a respected veteran of the music industry as Reggie Calloway.

The Grammy nominated Reggie Calloway has worked in the music industry as Songwriter/Producer/Artist since the early 1980’s. While his past includes the timeless party songs such as the #1 hit, “Operator” and party anthems like “Freak-A-Zoid” and “No Parking on the Dance Floor” on the Solar Label, Bring Back The Love is set to stake its claim to many more timeless classic hits. This time it will not be for parties, these are love songs that you will hear playing on easy listening, contemporary and adult contemporary stations that reach out to the crossover audience and indeed will find places prominently situated in the Top Ten of R & B and Pop’s traditional and internet radio stations. The tracks have such universal appeal you may find them creeping into smooth jazz listings as well. This is a testament to the staying power of Calloway penned compositions.

Calloway’s experience as a producer and vocalist goes a long way to making Bring Back the Love the consistently solid success that it is and will be for some time to come.

With 11 tracks of smooth grooves and dim the lights sensuality, Bring Back The Love has success written all over it. Visit Reggie Calloway’s MySpace page for more information and updates.

Bring Back The Love Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTc0aS3DNAo

Erika Jayne Scores "Breakout Artist Of The Week" Status On Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Chart With "Give You Everything"

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Los Angeles, CA (May 21, 2009) – International Dance music sensation Erika Jayne has once again rocketed to the top of the Billboard charts with her new single, “Give Your Everything,” taking its place at #1 on this week’s Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Breakouts chart. The latest hit from her hotly anticipated debut album Pretty Mess, “Give You Everything” follows up “Roller Coaster” and “Stars” as Jayne’s third time atop the Billboard Dance charts. Jayne will also get fans ready for the August release of Pretty Mess on E1 Music with multiple appearances during this year’s LA Pride weekend in June.

With 33 ads in its first week, “Give You Everything” stormed past hitmakers Lady Gaga and the Pussycat Dolls to secure Jayne’s spot as “Breakout Artist of the Week.” Jayne recently kicked off the launch of the single with the release of remixes from some of music’s hottest talent including DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious, Moto Blanco, Mike Rizzo and Dave Audé and a video that paired her with Grammy-nominated director Marty Thomas. Both the single version and remixes of “Give You Everything” are currently available on iTunes.

No stranger to the Billboard charts, both of Jayne’s previous singles have had similar success with “Roller Coaster” hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and “Stars” topping both the Billboard Club Play and Dance Radio Airplay charts. All three hit songs will be included on her debut album, Pretty Mess, which showcases Jayne’s talent as both a singer and songwriter in a collection of Rhythmic Pop, Dance tracks and chill Electronic ballads. Produced by Peter Rafelson and Eric Kupper, Pretty Mess is scheduled for an August 11 release on E1 Music (formerly KOCH Records).

Fans of Jayne will also have the chance to experience her spectacular live show as she takes the stage for multiple appearances during this year’s LA Pride weekend. On Saturday, June 13 she’ll join Deborah Cox and American Idol’s Fantasia on the main stage at the 2009 LA Pride Festival presented by Christopher Street West. Jayne will return to the stage on Sunday at Playhouse, Hollywood’s newest entertainment venue, where she’ll perform as part of the club’s grand opening.

More information on Erika Jayne is available at both www.erikajayne.com and www.myspace.com/erikajaynemusic.

Roy Rogers "Split Decision" Album Review In Billboard

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Slide guitar whiz Roy Rogers has a strong album with "Split Decision," and it's a signature project. Rogers produced the record and authored or co-authored all the songs. His Delta Rhythm Kings bandmates Steve Ehrmann (bass) and Billy Lewis (drums, percussion) constitute his studio rhythm section, and Rogers is joined by such guests as guitarist Ottmar Liebert and sax man George Brooks. The album opens at a furious pace with "Calm Before the Storm," a wall-of-sound number punctuated by Rogers' stinging slide guitar. In a quieter vein, Rogers teams with Liebert on the instrumental "Your Sweet Embrace," a little slice of guitar romanticism that provides a nice mood shift. Another notable instrumental track, "Rite of Passage," affords saxophonist Brooks an opportunity to shine on a bluesy jazz piece. For something with more blues grit, listen to Rogers put the buzz in "Little Queen Bee." -- Philip Van Vleck

Source: Billboard.biz Album Reviews

San Diego Rap Artist Young Jawz Releases New CD, “The South West”

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Hollywood, CA-May 6, 2009-The New West Coast sound has some young blood flowing through it these days with new sounds and styles. San Diego based rapper Young Jawz is making a name for himself and opening for such world renown artists as Ice-T, Too $hort, Lil’ Flip, Crooked I, Glasses Malone, Mistah Fab, San Quinn, Andre Nickatina, and others so far this year.

Young Jawz is creating a buzz with his live performances playing in such established venues as House of Blues and along the way is eliminating the competition winning talent shows, street battles, and local radio battles (San Diego’s Battle of The Beats Blazin' 98.9). The big push is on and the young rapper is now receiving airplay and pushing mix tapes on the West Coast.

With all of that momentum behind him, Jawz is currently preparing to hit the road to promote his latest CD release The Southwest. Some of the scheduled tour stops include Phoenix, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and more.

Besides the excitement of The Southwest released nationwide, Jawz is also launching his new record label Prospect Records and finalized a new distribution deal with City Hall Records. Young Jawz will have the streets rapping for many years to come once word is out about his captivating and exciting live performance shows and the new album.

The South West is now available in stores and online and features some of the most well known names in the industry (The Game, Glasses Malone, Lil' Flip, J-Diggs, I-Rocc, T-Nutty, Cricet).

Visit the Young Jawz Myspace page for more information, news and sound samples http://www.myspace.com/youngjawz.

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New York, NY: Kristine W’s highly anticipated fourth full-length studio album, The Power of Music, will be available on i-Tunes, Masterbeat.com and in retail stores nationwide on June 9, 2009. The CD has already proven its power on the dance scene with four of its singles - “Walk Away”, “The Boss”, “Never”, and “Love is the Look” - landing the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play List. “Be Alright”, Kristine’s next single from the album, will be released commercially and to terrestrial and internet mainstream radio as well as satellite radio on May 26^th.

“This album was truly a labor of love,” explained Kristine W from her home in Las Vegas. She describes it as a musical journey through a kaleidoscope of musical styles mixing dance, pop, R&B and rock styles together to capture and express the myriad of emotions that people are feeling at this turbulent time in history. “The songs on the album explore universal human emotions like joy, fear, love, strength, life and death. Woven together, they show the emotional power of music and represent the rollercoaster of emotions most people are experiencing today. At a time when people all around the world are feeling more vulnerable than ever, I really wanted to create an album where I could perform songs that capture those universal emotions. We need to stay connected and music is the great communicator that gives us the medicine we need right now - the hope and optimism we need as we all move forward in seemingly uncertain times.”

The next single, “Be Alright” tells of how hope will triumph over difficulty and recaptures the essence of what this album is about with lyrics - “When hard times bring us to our knees, we stand in the shadow of blind faith and we say ‘Hey, it’s going to be alright.’” The song ”Never” preaches inner strength and joy. “Groove’s Inside” tells us “this is your life, get up and live it, you know the clock won’t wait, leave your cares behind” because the groove’s inside your mind – each person’s attitude dictates how they view life and ultimately live it. In the title track, “The Power of Music” Kristine sings “the power of music speaks louder than words, you hear it all around the world, it’s fueling your soul” – music powerfully connects you to people, gives you hope and creates optimism for positive change.

The 16-track album features some of the music industry’s most influential players including Grammy-nominated producers Love To Infinity UK (Madonna, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Will Smith), Grammy Award winning producer Hex Hector (Donna Summer, Patti LaBelle, Diana Ross, Mariah Carey, Shakira), guitar legend George Lynch (of Dokken and Lynch Mob), and a performance by the world renown rapper, Big Daddy Kane, who lends his talents to the album’s title track, “The Power of Music.”

Hailing from Washington State, Kristine is a fourth generation musician. She won the title of Miss Washington and placed first in the talent and swimsuit portion of the Miss America pageant. Kristine then moved to Las Vegas and earning her bachelor’s degree at UNLV. She headlined her own show at the Las Vegas Hilton. Kristine performed more live shows at the Las Vegas Hilton than any performer including Elvis. In fact, June 28th was officially sanctioned Kristine W day in the state of Nevada. Kristine also received several Las Vegas “Entertainer of the Year” awards.

In the late 1990s, Kristine hit the top of the national dance music charts with the now classic “Feel What You Want.” She signed with RCA Records and released the 1997 critically acclaimed album, Land of the Living, featuring the #1 Billboard smashes “One More Try,” “Feel What You Want” and the album's title track, “Land of the Living.” “One More Try” made into the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 charts and remained at the top of pop radio play lists in major cities such as Los Angeles and New York for several months.

In 2000, she released her second album from RCA Records, Stronger. The album's title track and the timeless single “Lovin’ You” added to Kristine's vault of number one singles.

“Some Lovin” became her sixth #1 record. It was also the lead off single for the hit Showtime television series, QUEER AS FOLK, which produced a music video featuring Kristine and the cast from the show.

In 2004, after overcoming her three-year battle with leukemia, Kristine released her third album, Fly Again, with Tommy Boy Records. The album yielded an additional three #1 hits: the title track, “Save My Soul” and “The Wonder of It All”.

Four years later, in 2008, she achieved two more #1s with “Walk Away” and “The Boss”. This year, Kristine has already added two new #1s to her arsenal of hits: this winter’s “Never” and most recently, “Love is the Look”; her thirteenth #1 Billboard single. With her newest No. 1, Kristine edges out Whitney Houston to claim fifth place among artists with multiple #1s on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play List. Madonna tops the chart with 39 #1s, followed by Janet Jackson with 18. Donna Summer is third with 15, followed by Mariah Carey with 14, and then Kristine with 13. Houston now ranks in 6^th place, behind Kristine, with 12 #1s.

Kristine’s albums and singles have over produced 300,000 Soundscan units scanned to date. Kristine’s songs have also been licensed to over 150 compilations CDs and Kristine is consistently touring to promote her latest projects. Her upcoming tour will take her to New York, St, Louis Mo, Orlando Fl, San Diego, Seattle WA, Minneapolis MN, Des Moines IA, Salt Lake City UT, among other places. New dates are being added all the time – visit the tour page at kristinew.com for exact dates and locations.

Kristine W’s fourth album, Power Of Music, will release on June 16^th, 2009.

KRISTINE W’s official website is www.kristinew.com.

Chip Interviewed by Emusician

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Industry Insider: Chip Schutzman
May 1, 2009 12:00PM, By Michael A. Aczon

AN EXPERT'S ADVICE FOR MARKETING YOURSELF ON THE WEB

With all the media attention given to file sharing and the travails of the major labels, the Internet's role in the distribution and sale of music has been highly visible in recent years. But what's been left out of the conversation — something that's equally if not more important for independent musicians — is the use of the Net for marketing and promotion. Chip Schutzman is the president of Miles High Productions, an L.A.-based Internet marketing firm, and has a great deal of expertise on the subject of promoting indie musicians on the Web.

Chip, why don't you start by telling the readers what your company does.

Miles High Productions is an online marketing and promotions company for music artists and brands. We work with hundreds of artists — both independent and established — in all popular music genres and from all walks of life. I started the company in late 2002 and early 2003 after observing that so many record labels at that time were downsizing their staffs. I thought it would be a good idea to support both major and independent labels with cost-effective online marketing services to supplement their marketing endeavors.

How would you describe viral marketing and how it developed?

Viral marketing is the [Internet] equivalent of word of mouth, and it developed in community forums and chat rooms whenever someone mentioned, rated, or gave an opinion about a product and was reinforced by others.

Was there a groundbreaking viral campaign — maybe a key artist or recording project — that sparked the viral/Internet marketing revolution?

I'm sure there are many, but Phish and Dave Matthews Band are two bands that come immediately to mind, primarily due to the timing of the Internet boom and the popularity these two bands had around 1998, when fan communities were emerging online. Pearl Jam's 10 Club is another example of loyalty and a brilliantly executed and operational fan club.

What are the most important elements in an online marketing campaign?

Each artist and each online marketing company have different opinions of what the key elements are. The Miles High Productions method is to ensure that all our artists have press coverage in Webzines, online and satellite radio stations, online press wires by way of press release and early prerelease buzz on tastemaker blogging sites, and with Podcasters worldwide. Another large percentage of concentration we handle for the artist is our social-network marketing program; keeping the social sites updated on an ongoing basis as opposed to solely for the term of the online marketing campaign.

Are there basics that every artist and label has to take care of at a minimum?

By all means, yes. The more content an artist, manager, or label can contribute to their fan base online, the more traffic and return visits will occur to create a stronger loyal fan base. Song descriptions, blogs, new photos, and keeping social-networking sites refreshed all help. Artists and labels should ensure that any releases of music have been entered into the music databases (Muze/All Music Guide) and to all digital retailers on their distribution partners list.

Becoming known to a lot of people is one thing, but making money is quite another. Are there basic strategies musicians should employ to get people to hit the buy button?

Every artist should have two elements on the front page of the site: (1) an email opt-in sign-up list for future news, updates, tour date announcements, and any other news the artist wishes to promote, and (2) some form of promotional advertisement on the front page of the current product or item the artist is promoting (usually tour date links or merchandise or CD links to their online store). If the fan enjoys it, they will buy it and support the artist, in most cases.

Is there a way for artists to incorporate special products, prizes, giveaways, and contests into their promotional efforts? Have you seen specific effective uses of these methods that independent artists have used to develop their audience?

Lately I have seen artists offering a free download in exchange for signing up on their mailing list, which I feel is a great way to build up their potential consumer base over the course of their career and develop an initial relationship with the potential fan or consumer. This is cost-effective and efficient to set up as opposed to finding a sponsor for a grand prize giveaway.

When developing an online marketing and audience relationship strategy, it seems that the long-term approach of getting a potential audience to receive multiple impressions to attract them to your home page followed by getting them to return to that page is the key. Do you have advice on how to do that?

My position is that content is key. So is the interactivity the artist will have when connecting to their fans. The more photos, songs on social-network-site playlists, artist blog updates, and news that can be dispersed and updated to these pages, the more fans will revisit the page to look at new content and/or hear new songs and provide feedback to the artist.

How far in advance should an independent artist be planning their Web site and online campaign?

I always advise independent artists who are doing marketing on their own to first and foremost create a marketing plan and start working on their sites anywhere from 3 to 12 months in advance of a CD release date. For online marketing and online presence, an artist should start reaching out to bloggers and Podcasters approximately six to eight weeks in advance of the CD, while mailing out press kits to media about three to four months in advance of a CD release date.

The YouTube video is now being tossed around by industry people as the new introduction point for an emerging artist, much like the radio single was in the past.

Videos in general are becoming increasingly more popular with music fans wanting to find new music on the Web, as there is a visual element attached to the music which can help drive interest towards a particular song or artist. Viral marketing by using the YouTube embedded links has become popular on music blogs and personal music fan pages, and they help attract new audiences. Nowadays videos are much less expensive to produce due to lower-quality standards for Internet use and artists [see “You Ought to Be in Pictures.”]

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Michael A. Aczon is a 25-year veteran of the music industry, teaches music-industry courses at two colleges in California, and is the author of The Musician's Legal Companion, 2nd ed. (Cengage Publishing, 2008).

Source: Chip Schutzman, Industry Insider