From the official White Stripes newsletter:
Hello Children
The White Stripes’ first single, ‘Icky Thump’, will be available exclusively online through the iTunes music stores (US and Canada only) starting at 12:01 am this Thursday, April 26th.
Third Man Records/XL Recordings will also be releasing CD and vinyl versions of the ‘Icky Thump’ single on June 11th in the UK. The formats and track listings are as follows:
White vinyl 7″ (companion to the NME distributed record that will be given away with copies of the magazine on stands June 6th)
A. Icky Thump
B. Etching (no audio)
Standard 7″
A. Icky Thump
B. Baby Brother
CD single
1. Icky Thump
2. Catch Hell Blues
The Stripey love of the UK continues, with a very special release of “Rag and Bone,” the first release of material off of Icky Thump, being distributed free with an issue of NME on June 6.
According to NME:
The track will be pressed onto red vinyl, while the flipside will feature a etching designed exclusively by Jack White and will come in special gatefold packaging featuring more artwork by the band.
Following the exclusive release with NME, the band will then release their album’s title track, ‘Icky Thump’, as a single on June 11…
To get hold of the unique release all readers have to do is buy the NME which hits UK newsstands on June 6. Details of how those outside Britain will be able to pre-order this unique issue will be available nearer the time on NME.COM.
Want to know what the cover of the first single, “Icky Thump” will look like? Check it out on Spinner.com.
Jasper pointed me out to an excellent post that he did today about the release of a remastered edition of The Henchmen‘s album Hentch-Forth along with the four tracks off their “Some Other Guy” 7″ and an alternate take of “Psycho Daisies”…all on (get this!) some newfangled technology they call “compact disc” on Italy Records!
Below are some snapshots Jasper took of his promo copy of the re-release. Notice the once-upon-a-time ironic billing of “featuring Jack White” on the cover of “Some Other Guy”, and also check out the vintage shot of Jackie boy with his mop o’ blond curls.
Meg and Jack White of the White Stripes have confirmed their new home — Warner Brother Records. According to NME:
“The new contract is for a one-album deal and, unlike their V2 contract, does not involve Jack White’s label Third Man”
Poor little Whirlwind Heat.
No word on whether the deal netted the rumored 3-4 million dollar price tag.
What do you think kids? Is this a new beginning, or the beginning of the end?
Thanks to Chris for the head’s up.
Rejoice! You can all go to sleep in peace knowing the fact that Pete Doherty’s band, Babyshambles, has found a new sucker in record label Parlophone, which has agreed to finance and distribute 3 of their future albums for a reported 1 million GBP.
Says Parlophone managing director, Miles Leonard, “Babyshambles, justifiably, have a great reputation for crafting some of the most exciting music around today, and in Peter Doherty they have one of the best songwriters of his generation.”
Uh huh…
According to the Associated Press, “independent record labels behind artists like The White Stripes (on British label The Beggars Group), Deep Purple and Arctic Monkeys announced a global deal Saturday to pool access to their catalogs, seeking to grab a bigger share of online music sales from the major record companies.”
The companies have signed up to Merlin, a nonprofit licensing agency that will now be responsible for making deals with distribution sites like Napster and Apple Music Store. The deal, linking indie and trade groups from over a dozen countries will allow digital distributors to strike ONE deal with Merlin that will open access to selling the digital music of all its members instead of making individual deals with hundreds, if not thousands, of independent labels.
This will potentially flip favor over to the indies in terms of taking their share of total music revenues in the industry. Even though around 80 percent of new releases each year are indie, it only results in 30 percent of industry revenues. Most independents have maintained a tight control over their digital distribution until now–perhaps due to the fact that when they go to deal with online stores like Napster and iTunes, they are asked to comply with receiving smaller royalties than artists represented by one of the four major labels: Universal/Vivendi, Warners, Sony BMG and EMI.
And according to an interview with Beggars Group chairman Martin Mills and AIM rep Alison Wenham with the Register:
Mills told us that the move to a one-stop licensing agency for indies began 18 months ago, but had been accelerated when Universal Music cut deals with YouTube and MySpace as 2006 drew to a close.
Alison Wenham of the UK-based Association for Independent Music (AIM) confirmed that indies would demand the removal of content from sites such as YouTube if they didn’t cut Merlin a similar deal to the one negotiated by Universal Music, the world’s biggest label.
This potentially revolutionizing agreement, making indies the digital “Fifth major”, was announced on Saturday at Midem, a music industry gathering in Cannes, France.
Many of you saw this coming, but now it’s offical–V2 Records as a label distributing new music is NO MORE (link from BV). Artists on its roster like Moby and The Raconteurs will no longer be able to release new music on the label. It is believed that 35 people have been let go from V2 Records in the “repositioning” of the label.
The label will now focus on distributing their catalogue material (which includes The White Stripes first 5 albums), digital distribution, and the only “frontline” material they will issue will be GOSPEL. So unless Jack White plans on making a Jesus record, you will not be seeing another one of his albums with a V2 label on it.
According to Pitchfork:
In the case of the Stripes and the Raconteurs, though, things are slightly different. According to their publicist, the band’s contract with V2 has already expired; Meg and Jack are presently in negotiations with other labels, seeking a distributor for their own imprint, Third Man Records, for future releases.
Please RSVP to the email indicated in the flyer before NOON today.
In other Stolen Transmission news, Ultra is famous. Check out the Marc Spitz-penned profile of her in the music issue of Vanity Fair.
The music industry is such a weird place. Why is it that it’s perfectly legitimate to use your naughty bits to sell records? For most people posing in compromising positions is a way to get yourself fired, not a raise. This totally came to mind when I was reading this New York Times article today.
To quote the Times, “college students often post risqué or teasing photographs and provocative comments about drinking, recreational drug use and sexual exploits in what some mistakenly believe is relative privacy.” The article goes on to say how people’s edgy online personas can get in the way of them getting hired for a job.
Then I also read this great post Brandon wrote pondering the merits of releasing nude photos of himself in order to sell albums. For anyone who think that all these “hacks” and “invasions of privacy” are all random acts of embarrassment, well…maye you’re right–but maybe you’re wrong.
I feel like I can’t even turn on my computer anymore without getting an email or reading a blog post about another eyeliner-wearing Warped Tourer self-releasing a photos where he’s flatteringly caught with his trousers down in front of a camera. I know “sex sells” but really, do we have to go down this road?
When will the insanity stop? Seriously, let’s hope this trend is a show-er, not a grower.
