AXL ROSE versus IRVING AZOFF

Axl Rose slams Irving Azoff in $5 million countersuit

Tue May 18, 2010 @ 12:08PM PST

By Eriq Gardner

EXCLUSIVE:

Axl Rose says his former manager tried to implement a scheme to force him to reunite with the original Guns N' Roses band members and, as part of the plot, failed to properly promote the "Chinese Democracy" album, lied about a prospective Van Halen super tour and mishandled the band's tour dates.

The claims are part of a bombshell countersuit filed yesterday against Irving Azoff's Front Line Management.

In March, Azoff sued Rose, claiming the rocker violated an oral agreement to pay 15% of earnings, or nearly $2 million, from a lucrative concert tour.

Not since the G'N'R song "Get in the Ring" has Rose struck back at a foe so forcefully, alleging antitrust concerns about Front Line's parent company, Ticketmaster, to drive home a major claim that his former manager is up to no good in the music business.

Azoff is CEO, director and majority shareholder of Front Line, whose roster of artists include the Eagles, Neil Diamond, Jimmy Buffett, Christina Aguilera and John Mayer.

In 2008, Front Line was acquired by Ticketmaster.

Rose claims that through Azoff's control of the "trifecta" of artist management, concert and touring promotion, and ticket sales, Azoff has been able to gain wide influence and power in the music industry.

Azoff allegedly decides what artists he wants to promote through favorable touring deals and uses his power to punish artists and harm their careers if they don't follow his orders.

When informed of the myriad allegations in the countersuit, Azoff's lawyer Howard King quipped to us: "He didn't accuse Irving of being on the grassy knoll in Dallas on November 22, 1963?"

The countersuit invokes the U.S. Justice Department's recent antitrust lawsuit that sought to stop a proposed merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation over concerns about the new entity having too much control over artists and venues.

Afterwards, Ticketmaster entered into a consent decree with government regulators to allow the merger to continue under certain operating provisions.

Axl's counter-complaint says that Azoff is violating the consent decree by coercing and bullying artists to do what he wants.

What Azoff wanted, the rocker says, was the reunion of Guns N' Roses.

To execute this, he would sabotage Rose and his new band so that Rose would have no option but to reunite.

According to the filing, "Upon realizing that he couldn't bully Rose and accomplish his scheme, Azoff resigned and abandoned Guns N' Roses on the eve of a major tour, filing suit for commissions he didn't earn and had no right to receive."

Further, Axl says the botched tour cost him money in production startup and rehearsal expenses.

Claiming breach of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud and breach of contract, the singer wants at least $5 million in damages.

The cross-complaint was filed by Skip Miller and Sasha Frid at L.A.'s Miller Barondess.

ALICE COOPER'S -----...that 3 Minute Musical Boundary......

If I were to take a young band, I would have them listen to four people:

Burt Bacharach, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and Paul Simon, or maybe Laura Nyro.

Listen to the construction of those songs. I mean, the Beatles - so simple, but I get everything they're saying to me.

When I hear these new bands, I don't get it.

And it's because they don't know how to tell a story within those musical boundaries.

That three-minute musical boundary.

Alice Cooper

Christopher Columbus.......living in HIS Grace and Mercy...............

LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS:

I am a most noteworthy sinner, but

I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy,

and they have covered me completely.

I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy

His marvelous Presence.

Winner of American Idol 2010.....BIG MIKE............?????????

BIG MIKE..........at least a Finalist.........???????????

Luther Vandross incarnate??????

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By JOHN ADAMS:

A desire to be

observed,

considered,

esteemed,

praised,

beloved,

and

admired

by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the

heart of man.

LBN-QUOTE:

"Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends." -

H. L. Mencken.

IFPI claims Artists still need Record Labels.....?????

Tuesday March 9, 2010


By Ben Cardew





Record companies around the world invest $5bn (£3.3bn) a year in developing and marketing artists, according to a new report from the IFPI which aims to debunk the myth that artists no longer need labels.





The report, Investing In Music, claims that it costs around $1m (£663,000) to break a new pop act.



Of this, typically $200,000 (£133,000) goes on the advance,


$200,000 on recording,


$200,000 on filming three videos,


$100,000 (£66,300) on tour support and



$300,000 (£199,000) on promotion / marketing.



However, at a briefing to launch the report Columbia managing director Mike Smith says that this $1m figure is “a minimum to get an act up and running and moving somewhere towards platinum”.




But, he adds that companies can easily double that if they are looking to get 1m-plus sales.



“If you add the international picture and add in tour support and other things it could be $2m.



It can be more,” explains Decca managing director Dickon Stainer.



And of course this investment is no guarantee of success, but IFPI chairman and chief executive John Kennedy says the record lables are more efficient nowadawys.



He adds that 10 years ago around one act in 10 would re-coup their initial advance; now “there is a general feeling that has come down to one in five”.



This $5bn figure means that record companies spend around 30% of their sales revenues on developing and marketing artists.



Of that, a global average of 16% is spent on A&R, although this is higher in certain countries, including the UK where A&R investment totalled 23% in 2007.




The IFPI says this figure shows record companies are global leaders in investing in new product.



In the UK the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, for example, invests around 15% of its gross revenues in R&D.



But, the IFPI warns that this high level of investment from record companies is under threat from falling revenues from recorded music.



“A&R spending in some countries has stayed strong, for example in the UK,” says Kennedy.



“But it becomes more and more difficult to sustain that given some of the problems that we face.



The levels are at risk down to piracy.”



Kennedy adds that investing in music is the “core mission” of record companies and they should be respected as such.



“No other party can lay claim to a comparable role in the music sector.



No other party comes close to the levels of investment committed by record companies to developing, nurturing and promoting talent,” he says.



“One of the biggest myths about the music industry in the digital age is that artists no longer need record labels.



It is simply wrong.



The investment, partnership and support that help build artist careers have never been more important than they are today.”



Kennedy also claims that, despite the proliferation of fan-funded websites, there is “no evidence” of artists succeeding in the long-term by going direct to the consumer.



“Creative energy can be wasted on business problems,” he adds.




Looking beyond recorded music, the report claims there is an economic “ripple effect” from this record company investment, which helps to benefit a broader music sector that includes live music, radio, publishing and audio equipment, thought to be worth $160bn (£106.1bn ) annually.



The IFPI estimates that more than 2m people around the world are employed in this broader music economy.



However, the report also aims to disprove the myth that artists can survive just on live income.



“You probably won’t see the level or earnings of Madonna or U2 again,” Kennedy adds.



“But a successful band in the music industry could still become a millionaire.”



The IFPI estimates that there are more than 4,000 artists on major label rosters around the world, with thousands more on indies.

MICHAELANGELO ------- 1475

LBN-TODAY'S BIRTHDAY:

Michelangelo (1475).

Among the world's most celebrated artists, Michelangelo was one of the foremost figures of the Renaissance.

The marble David, which he completed before his 30th birthday, set a new standard in nude sculpture, and his paintings in the Sistine Chapel are among the most influential frescoes in the history of Western art.

A true "Renaissance man," he also was an architect and poet and wrote more than 300 sonnets.

***P.R. firm 42West has appointed veteran music publicist

Dvora Vener Englefield to head their newly created music department.

Happy Birthday SONG earns USD $ 1 Million a year for Warner Chappell.................and ISRAELI Model Bar Rafaeli.........

LBN-DID YOU KNOW:

***Warner Chappell Music owns the copyright to the song ''Happy Birthday''.

They make over $1 million in royalties every year from the commercial use of the song.

LBN-COMMENTARY BY GEORGE MICHAEL:

Amy Winehouse is one of the most gifted singer-songwriters to emerge in Britain in the last few years.

And Lady Gaga has my full attention. She's a unique songwriter with an original overall package.

And Bjork - she just gets better. Her voice is amazing.

LBN-COMMENTARY By KIM ELSESSER:

The Academy Awards should allow men and women to compete for one Oscar for best actor.

WHAT IT'S LIKE TO WORK FOR ZUCKERBERG:

The Wall Street Journal profiles the working habits and aspirations of one of Silicon Valley's most-watched men in Thursday's paper: 25-year-old Facebook founder

Mark Zuckerberg.

One of the games he likes to play is to imagine what he would do if he had $1 trillion dollars to work with.

He says he is in no hurry to turn his social networking behemoth into a public company.

Dont expect much praise, if you work for him.

But do expect movie quotes: Zuckerberg is particularly fond of Troy, which he screened for employees once.

He even delivered a gong to the office so workers could announce new developments with added authority.

ISRAELI model Bar Rafaeli