Hellogoodbye Playing On The Streets Of Manchester, UK

hellogoodbye "LP & EP/DVD Re-release" Contest

hellogoodbye "LP & EP/DVD Re-release" Contest

Enter by: February 25th

The Loot:
2 winners will both get the hellogoodbye LP & EP/DVD re-releases, a hgb tshirt, sticker, button and poster:
hellogoodbye re-release out in stores February 19th
Enter Here

The Future of the Music Industry & Deep Elm Records statement on illegal file sharing

""Illegal downloading is killing indie rock. The signs are everywhere: bands are giving up, indie labels are shutting their doors, mom and pop record stores are closing, new artist development opportunities have dried up and touring is way down. Why would anyone steal music...especially from independent bands and labels that only survive on selling very few records in the first place? Illegal downloading is not right...and it's against the law."

Deep Elm's owner John Szuch, along with label representatives from Revelation, Lookout, 31G and Ninja Tune, were recently interviewed by the Norwegian music press regarding illegal file sharing."
You can read the entire statement and interviews Here

Personally I think Labels need to grow up and prepare themselves for the future. Illegal downloading is just not going away. The major labels have spent millions on the RIAA and they have still been unable to stop illegal downloading.

Indie labels need to find ways to make illegal downloading work for them. The future for Labels will be in Merchandising & Concerts and the future for Bands will be in both Merchandising & Concerts.
Here is an example:

Drive-Thru Records signed Hellogoodbye in 2004 and released their EP free. The EP had millions of downloads from both the Drive-Thru Records site, countless music sites, blogs and illegal downloading sites. The band became huge in the emo pop punk scene and went on to appear in the MTV Austin Real World, won the MTV2 "Dew Circuit Breakout", recently headlined the Myspace Tour.

The label & the band made a ton of money off all kinds of Hellogoodbye apparel and the band went on to release a successful album that reached the top 20 on the Billboard and a single that dominated the latter half of 2006 and the early part of 2007. The artist has made more money off apparel and concerts then they probably have lost due to illegal downloading.

A more recent example would be Radiohead. The band made more money off there recent self release then they would have through a label and now they will go on to tour & play all the big festivals which will pay them top dollar to perform.

A label needs to learn to view the free downloads as not lost business but free marketing. Your going to have consumers who pay for the album and go see the band live and your going to have free marketers which will be those that downloaded the album illegally, shared it with their friends and in the end become consumers by going to see the band live and maybe buy a shirt.

In the future your going to see more deals like the Livenation/Madonna deal. This quote from LiveNation CEO Michael Rapino pretty much sums up the future of the music industry

"(talking about the Madonna deal) will be "cross collateralized" across dozens of products -- ticket sales, DVDs, books, t-shirts, clothing lines, streaming videos, private concerts. "Anything you can think of we can do," said Cohl, who runs tours for the Rolling Stones, among other acts.

"Make no mistake," said Rapino. "We are not getting into the record business. We are not building a system to sell 6-inch discs....We're a marketing and distribution company.""

MySpace's Rock For Darfur Series

32 concerts to raise awareness of Darfur on November 10th
Some of the bands participating include
Hellogoodbye
Fall Out Boy
The Academy Is
Nofx
Hot Hot Heat
Maroon 5
Coheed & Cambria
Decemberists
And More

Check out the Myspace Page for a list of nation wide concerts on Nov 10th
http://www.myspace.com/RockForDarfur

Sherwood To Tour UK With Hellogoodbye & Say Anything

Sherwood will be supporting Hellogoodbye, Say Anything and Go Audio (Epic UK) on a string of UK dates starting 11/27 in Cardiff.

Tue 11/27 Cardiff, UKUni Great Hall
Wed 11/28 Exeter, UKLemon Grove
Thu 11/29 Portsmouth, UKPyramids Centre
Fri 11/30 Cambridge, UKCorn Exchange
Sat 12/1 OFF
Sun 12/2 Sheffield, UKLeadmill
Mon 12/3 Newcastle, UKAcademy
Tue 12/4 Glasgow, Scotland
Wed 12/5 Leeds, UKCockpit
Thu 12/6 OFF
Fri 12/7 Brixton, UKAcademy
Sat 12/8 Folkstone, UKLees Cliff Hall
Sun 12/9 Norwich, UKUEA
Mon 12/10 Birmingham, UKAcademy
Tue 12/11 Manchester, UKAcademy

Sherwood's A Different Light is in stores now on Myspace Records.

The band is currently touring the U.S. as part of the mtvU presented Sleeping With Giants Tour with The Academy Is, Armor For Sleep and The Rocket Summer.

For tour dates visit:

www.myspace.com/sherwood

Hellogoodbye and the Myspace Music Tour

MySpace Music Tour dates with Say Anything, Mika, Polysics:
10/16 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo
10/17 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
10/19 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Great Salt Air
10/20 - Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
10/21 - Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion
10/22 - Milwaukee, WI
10/23 - St Louis, MO @ The Eagles Ballroom
10/24 - Chicago, IL @ Congress Theatre
10/25 - Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
10/26 - Covington, KY @ Madison Theatre
10/28 - Atlantic City, NJ @ House of Blues
10/30 - New York, NY @ Hammerstien Ballroom
10/31 - Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock
11/1 - Providence, RI @ Lupos Heartbreak Hotel
11/2 - Gettysburg, PA @ Union Ballroom (Gettysburg College)
11/3 - Emmitsburg, MD @ Knott Arena (St. Mary's University)
11/4 - Raleigh, NC @ Disco Rodeo
11/6 - Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
11/7 - Miami Beach, FL @ Jackie Gleason Theatre
11/9 - Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theatre
11/10 - Dallas, TX @ Palladium
11/11 - San Antonio, TX @ Sunset Station
11/13 - Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
11/14 - Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee
11/16 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield
11/17 - San Diego, CA @ SOMA
11/18 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern (with An Angle)
11/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern (with Socratic)
11/20 - Anaheim, CA @ The Grove (with Socratic)
11/23 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues (with Socratic)