From June 16, 2009

Irving Azoff is a Complete Tool:

The Curious Behavior of  Dinosaurs, Part 5

First, this story from Billboard...

At a time when artists are looking for ways to forge deeper connections with fans, Front Line and Clear Channel will use ad-supported a.p.e. radio to market albums and tours by offering fans exclusive content as well as an inside look into the musical taste of their favorite artists.

"We feel that the old model of trying to get radio airplay and some video play is broken," says Front Line founder/CEO Irving Azoff, who also serves as CEO of Ticketmaster Entertainment and chairman of a.p.e. "We were looking for a seven-days-a-week, 24-hour artist online venture, and the radio channel seems to make real sense."

The a.p.e. radio channels, which also will be open to acts not represented by Front Line acts, can be heard on Clear Channel's local radio station Web sites, through the company's iheartradio iPhone and BlackBerry application, and through widgets placed on the artists' Web sites.

"We want artists to host the channels, tell stories and turn new fans on to new music," says Evan Harrison, president of Clear Channel's digital division and CEO of a.p.e. radio. "It's really a different approach, and we wanted to give the artist the foundation and infrastructure to let them do their thing."

SHARING STORIES

In recent weeks, Clear Channel programmers went into a studio with Aguilera for a three-hour session during which the singer discussed motherhood, fashion and music. Aguilera's playlist will feature songs from Santigold, Black Sabbath and Etta James, Harrison says.

"I am so excited to be one of the first artists on a.p.e.," Aguilera said in a statement provided to Billboard. "Fans always write to ask me what I like and listen to, which makes this such a great opportunity for me to share my musical inspirations with them. My channel is going to be a special place for my fans to find out about my new music, upcoming tours and lots of other news and original content. It's going to be fun."

Each online channel will feature about 1,000 songs, plus stories and comments from the host. The channels will be updated weekly with new music and content.

"When you talk about an Eagles-hosted radio channel, most people would assume they're going to hear Eagles music all the time," Harrison says. "The truth is, you'll hear an Eagles song every hour or so, with a story around it. But what's really exciting is that Joe Walsh will invite his friends to help participate, talk about destroying a hotel room or tell a more personal insight about where he was during the Kent State shooting."

Azoff points out that Clear Channel can reach more than 22 million online users per month through its digital platforms. "Our job as managers, and part of the service we offer to artists, is bigger distribution channels that nobody else can get them," he says. "And bringing Clear Channel in as the partner here is the big play." An artist's channel also "becomes an entry point off of which you can go to the artist's Web site and buy tickets, merch ... and hopefully engage them in some kind of social networking," he says.

In addition to programing the channels, artists will share in the profits they generate from ads. "Is it going to make a lot of money? No. It's more of a marketing tool," Azoff says. "But what is recorded music? It's mostly a marketing tool, right?"

Now, my rant-It's tools like Azoff who run the Recording Industry Association of America-people who think it's a good idea to sue your biggest fans. People who have never created anything original in their lives.  People who think that music is "a marketing tool".  People who have presided over the wanton destruction of more than one source of entertainment (movies, Tv, radio and music) in the name of "marketing", which is really "fleecing as much money out of consumers pockets as possible".

I know it's a matter of time before these horrid ghouls burn their own offices out in the quest to make more money, and that, given the state of the music industry, their crash and burn will happen sooner rather than later, but there are a lot of good people (i.e. everyone from musicians to djs to artists to secretaries) who suffer while these fucking knobs play their stupid games.