This week in the State Of Affairs: Fun times at the top of the ARIA singles chart, the Unsigned Only finalists are announced with a few local talents getting through to the final stage, many new signings from the musical to the hard edged, plus are Australians paying too much for music?
ARIA WRAP UP
This week’s ARIA singles charts sees no new entries from any Australian artists, but we see yet another new number one. Fun.’s (yes, I have to put the full stop there apparently) track ‘Some Nights’ has grabbed the top spot from the debuting P!nk last week who herself drops to number two. Other significant movements include ‘Everyone’s Waiting’ by Missy Higgins jumping up twenty places to number eleven, ‘Both Of Us’ by B.O.B. and Taylor Swift going up twelve spots to number fourteen and Train’s ’50 Ways To Say Goodbye’ heading up seventeen spots to be at number sixteen.
New entries include tracks from Florence + The Machine (#30), Pitbull featuring Shakira (#31), Labrinth (#40), Flo Rida (#44) and Cheryl (#49). As a side note, couldn’t these people get more extravagant artist names? The highest selling Australian single of the week remains Justice Crew’s ‘Boom Boom’.
There is more Australian action on the albums chart as contestants from The Voice start releasing their own albums. The winner of the show Karise Eden remains at number one with My Journey. Other releases by the contestants have debuted not too far behind in the top ten – Darren Percival (formerly Mr. Percival) with Happy Home debuts at number three, Rachael Leahcar with Shooting Star debuts at number five while Sarah De Bono’s album No Shame is in at number seven.
Beating all of these reality show contestants to the highest debut in the chart this week is Angus Stone’s solo record Broken Brights debuting at number two. Melbourne band House vs. Hurricane round out the Australian debuts coming in at number twenty with Crooked Teeth. Other debuts by Hellyeah (#32) and the Zac Brown Band (#38) also debut within the chart as well this week.
WAGRAM BILLY BAM BAM WOO HAA
Fuse Group Australia have announced that they will manage the exclusive distribution of Wagram Music throughout Australian retail. The music group is one of the largest music groups in Europe who run various sub labels that cover the spectrum of music from rock, to hard rock, to pop to electronic (if the media release is anything to be believed).
UNSIGNED ONLY FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
International songwriting competition Unsigned Only is very have announced the list of finalists for their 2012 competition. A total of 100 finalists were selected from more than 7,000 entrants, representing solo artists and bands from 80 countries worldwide. Winners will be announced in August, 2012. All finalists have been sent to the judges who will select the winners.
Australian nominees include Lee'Mon (in the AAA category), Skipping Girl Vinegar (also in the AAA category), Worldfly, Kate Vigo (both in the Adult Contemporary category), Nathan Ironside & The Stirring, Anna Weathercup (both in the Christian category), Luke O’Shea, Timothy Nelson & The Infidels (both in the Folk category), Adam Katz, Radio Ink (both in the Pop category), Stone Parade (Rock), and Liam Burrows (Vocal Performance).
Judging Criteria includes: originality, songwriting, vocals, performance, and overall likeability (which could be anything really - good luck with those likability lessons fellow musicians). More info on who the winners can be found here: http://www.unsignedonly.com/winners
NEW INKINGS
Lucy Durack, one of Australia’s leading ladies of screen and stage is now adding the title of recording artist to the already extensive list of achievements. She’s signed to have ABC Music release her new album is Dream A Little Dream is a collection of covers of easy listening classics (plus a few originals). It’s sure to let your uncle with the beard relax in his armchair after an afternoon’s worth of shouting at the TV when it’s off. Her first single, a beautiful rendition of Renée Geyer’s ‘Heading In The Right Direction’ is released digitally on July 27th.
In other signings, Brisbane indie pop duo, The Phoncurves, have signed a management deal with manager Dominic Miller of Bluebeard Music and hard rock act Coveleski have joined the stable of the record label, Gun Fever.
CIRCLING AROUND THE FENDER
Sydney-based indie-pop oufit, Circle have been announced as band ambassadors for the upcoming Fender Music Foundation campaign, a charity that aims to uphold integrity of music education in schools. Following in the footsteps of previous supporters including OK Go, Circle’s video will depict the importance of music, the primary focus of the organisation. The song ‘All The People’, will be featured as part of the campaign.
STEVE EARLE TO DELIVER KEYNOTE AT BIGSOUND
BIGSOUND have announced Steve Earle as the opening keynote speaker at the industry event which will be occurring during September 12-14 in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley. Earle will join artists Ben Lee, Ian Haug (Powderfinger), Clare Bowditch, David Bridie, Henry Wagons and Alexander Gow (Oh Mercy) along with industry speakers including Ben Swank from Jack White's Third Man Records, EMI Australia Chairman Mark Poston and Spotify's Rene Chambers. All of whom will give their perspectives on the state of the industry in various panels and talkfests. The conference will also include hundred’s of performances from outfits from all over the country in what is known as our own little SxSW.
WORKING HARD FOR THE MONEY
There are a few positions going for those keen on working with music in Western Australia. WAM, the over-arching organisation representing music in the state, is looking for a Marketing and Communications Officer. More info can be found here. At the same time Fairbridge Festival is seeking a Promotions Coordinator to join a dedicated team of employees and volunteers to raise the profile of this well-established event, dedicated to folk and world music. You can find out more about that position here.
CROWD THOSE FUNDS
More music and arts folk are turning to crowdfunding as a quick and effective way to fund projects. In 2011 almost $1.5 billion was pledged on platforms all around the world. These crowdfunding figures incorporated sites like Kickstarter and Pozible in a study that was commissioned by The Australia Council and undertaken by the Queensland University of Technology Creative Industries (that’s a mouthful of a name, isn’t it?). Caroline Vu of the company’s philanthropy arm Artsupport and it’s digital content officer Elliot Bledsoe will be hosting a forum in the State Library of Victoria for those who wish to run successful campaigns of their own. It alls happens on the 1st of August and registrations are required. You can sign up for the sessions here.
ARE WE PAYING MORE FOR DOWNLOADS?
Consumer watchdog Choice have submitted to a parliamentary enquiry into IT pricing which has stated that Australians pay 52% more than Americans for downloaded music and video games. Choice states that Australians have been discriminated against with the pricing structure and those living in regional and low-income households suffer the most. They’ve also dismissed arguments from retailers that local factors like wages and transportation cause prices to go up while in the digital realm, iTunes existence allow for local companies to have no overhead.
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