INDIE NEWS BEAT
April 26, 2007 Edition
* Unsigned Artists Welcomed by BETA Records
* Happy Springtime (Bush Is Over)
* New Label, American Profile Presents, Announces First Releases
* Rose Beach To Perform MusicDish NMW 2007 Showcase
* Karlex Launches First High-Speed TGV Train Tour In France
* Cevin Soling's Musical And Loving Memories Of Don Ho
* The Media in Transition Conference - From Gutenberg to Google
* Charlie Souza and The New Tropics CD Release on MusicWorld3D.com

Unsigned Artists Welcomed by BETA Records

If you are an unsigned music artist, BETA Records invites you join with tens of thousands of musicians, singers, songwriters and bands. BETA Records is THE online record company, doing more for indie artists than anyone.

One example is the networking event held May 1, 2007 evening at the Sunset Strip Key Club as part of MUSEXPO 2007, the annual gathering of the world's leading music executives, producers, managers, and new media content experts.

BETA Records founders Chris Honetschlaeger and Georg van Handel invite all unsigned artists to visit the BETA Web site and join using promo code #90500.

"At BETA Records, we're bringing modern distribution and interactive tools to every indie artist across the music community," Honetschlaeger states. Artists joining BETA Records receive ongoing opportunities to have their work exposed to decision-makers in the fields of music, motion pictures, television, radio, and live venues.

The May 1st BETA Records event begins at 6 p.m. with networking among label executives, talent managers and artists. Artists scheduled to perform include Finland's Rubik, Canada's Losing Focus; UK's Four Day Hombre, and China's The Honeys. The Key Club is located at 9039 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA, 90069.

"MUSEXPO consistently brings together the leading executives of the recording, touring, broadcasting and Internet industries, and BETA Records is pleased to be one of the event sponsors," van Handel states.

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Happy Springtime (Bush Is Over)

Justice Through Music, a non-profit organization dedicated to the support of civil and voting rights, has teamed up with Op-Critical to remake the John Lennon song, "Happy X-Mas - (War Is Over)". We updated the lyrics to fit the times, and have launched it coupled with a video aimed at starting a Peace movement. The choral parts are performed by the Harmonic Angels, and is breathtaking.

Please check out the video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jco4etlHwaE

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New Label, American Profile Presents, Announces First Releases

On Tuesday, April 24, Wal-Mart and Target stores, as well as major Christian Bookstore chains, begin selling the first release in an ambitious partnership between the country's fourth-largest magazine (American Profile) and one of the country's largest and most successful independent labels (Sheridan Square Entertainment). Called Country Gospel Favorites, the debut two-CD set from American Profile Presents includes such favorites as Roy Clark singing, "In the Sweet By And By," "How Great Thou Art" from Lee Greenwood and "Dear God" sung by Patsy Cline. A two-CD compilation of Roy Clark's greatest Country Music and Country Gospel work, entitled Heart To Heart, will follow in June, and at least two more releases are planned for fall.

In a unique model, all of the releases by American Profile Presents will be tied to feature articles in American Profile‹Country Gospel Favorites is tied to stories on Pat Boone, Roy Clark, Donna Fargo and others‹and supported by magazine and Internet advertising that reaches more than 25 million people every week. The advantage is a direct connection to a desirable audience: an under-marketed, high-volume segment of music consumers that frequently live far from music retail outlets and likely do not download music files online.

"Major magazines don't have music labels, and major music labels don't have magazines," said Steve Minucci, PGA director of business development. "We're doing something that no one is doing‹integrating the editorial with the product and being in both retail and direct-response markets. This comes from listening to our readers and providing things for them that they have told and shown us they enjoy"

Sheridan Square Entertainment Inc. (SSE) retail distributor KOCH Entertainment Distribution is handling the distribution and marketing of American Profile Presents through mainstream retail and such alternate channels as religious bookstores, department stores, and truck stops. American Profile parent Publishing Group of America and SSE will share in revenues generated by both retail and direct response sales.

"This opens up a whole new market for us," said Mick Lloyd, Vice President and General Manager of SSE. "American Profile has respect with millions of consumers, many of whom are music buyers, and their name will generate instant credibility and respect at retail. With traditional commercial outlets declining, the music industry needs new opportunities like American Profile Presents to put its product in front of the buying public. This is a win for both of us."

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Rose Beach To Perform MusicDish NMW 2007 Showcase

Tokyo-based Canadian singer-songwriter Rose Beach will performing MusicDish's '10th Anniversary' showcase during New Music West 2007, the largest and most influential new music festival on the west coast. Being held at Vancouver's Bar None on Saturday May 5, Rose will be joined by jazz fusion act Greenlaw and pop rock duo blueVenus.

MUSICDISH '10TH ANNIVERSARY' VANCOUVER SHOWCASE
Official New Music West 2007 Showcase
WHERE: Bar None
1222 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
tel: 604-689-7000
http://www.barnonenightclub.com
LINE-UP: Blue Venus, Greenlaw, Rose Beach and Amy Speace

Starting in the underground streets of Vancouver and Tokyo, Rose Beach is rising into the musical mainstream in Japan where she has sold more than 50,000 records and performs weekly at many of Tokyo's famous clubs such as Club Asia, as well as corporate events for brand names ranging from Lush and Diesel to Asahi and Mac.

"It's not often that a foreigner can rock the club scene in Japan, but that is what Canadian singer-songwriter Rose Beach is doing," noted the Hiragana Times.

In addition to her heavy independent CD sales, Rose Beach has been interviewed and received heavy airplay on Co-op Radio in her home base of Vancouver. She has also been interviewed and played on Inter-FM Radio in Tokyo.

Rose Beach's debut CD "Family Love" boasts mature songs that blend a folk singer's lyrical depth, a pop singer's catchy melodies, and a hip hop diva's sultry yet raw vocal power into a unique sound. Rose started her career In Vancouver where she fronted a trip hop band called The Loxley Project. At the same time, she began to build a love affair with Japan, developing on her solo work in the energy of the Tokyo music scene.

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Karlex Launches First High-Speed TGV Train Tour In France

IDTGV, a part of the SNCF which runs France's high-speed TGV trains, has selected Afro-Groove singer-songwriter Karlex to perform it's first musical tour. The seven day tour will bring Karlex on the Paris-Perpignan TGV train line, where he will perform tracks from his new album "Ghetto Fabulous" at the respective stations as well as at the "Bar iDZinc" in the lounge car during the voyage.

The concert is part of IDTGV's strategy to create a 'new' travel experience, including on-board entertainment. As part of the tour, Karlex will be featured on the iDTGV.com website, on over 80,000 specially printed ticket holders as well as on posters throughout the trains. The IDTGV tour follows a five-day tour in the Netherlands, where the album was recently released, and performance at La Foire de Paris / Festival Tropiques en Fetes in Paris on April 29.

Karlex soulfully fusses the vibes of his native island with funky guitar sounds and heavy bass, in a unique blend called Afro Groove. "Ghetto Fabulous" has been making waves in France since its release in September 2006. The album was selected by "Arte TV" as an October Event and by "Radio Africa No 1" as Album Of The Week leading up to the release. Karlex was invited to perform on his song "I've Got News For You..." France 2's 'Live Acoustic', while also being chosen by Acoustic Fuel as a 'Daily ReFill - In Celebration of Black History Month.'

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Cevin Soling's Musical And Loving Memories Of Don Ho

Cevin Soling was devastated to find out he lost a friend and music acquaintance with a true legendary singer, Don Ho. The singer, who is synonymous with the exotic yet relaxed aura of America's 50th State, Hawaii--is spotlighted on Cevin's 2002 anthology album, When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear.

"Don recorded Peter Gabriel's 'Shock the Monkey' for this compilation. My band backed him. He was a very sweet man and really loved by everyone around him."

When Cevin promoted WHEN PIGS FLY, Don Ho received the most interest from the media, "Most of the journalists wanted to interview him," even though the album features other incredible stars: Jackie Chan, Ani DiFranco, Devo, Roy Clark, the late Billy Preston, The Box Tops featuring Alex Chilton, and Lesley Gore.

"Originally I asked Don to sing 'Firestarter' by Prodigy, and as he studied the lyrics, he said, 'No, I can't sing "I'm the bitch you hated--filth infatuated." It would upset my fans.'" So they selected Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey," and created an animated video to go with the song.

Cevin flew to Hawaii to record Don's vocals, and he also took in the local scenery courtesy of Don and the rest of the Ho family. They showed him around a number of the island, and gave Cevin a primo seat at a table "practically on stage" at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel, in Honolulu, for a Don Ho concert. "Afterwards, he autographed a ukulele for me. It was obvious all the extra effort he and his family made to make me feel very welcome."

"Of all the musicians on the record, I wanted most to work with him again and we were talking about doing a rock covers album with songs like 'Whole Lotta Love' for my label (Xemu Records)."

The video for "Shock the Monkey" can be seen on www.youtube.com. And the music is available for downloads at i-tunes.

Cevin's band, then, was called Neanderthal Spongecake. Now his group is the love kills theory, and their new album, Happy Suicide Jim is being worked at commercial triple AAA radio.

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The Media in Transition Conference - From Gutenberg to Google

This annual event focuses on content and technology specifically in the entertainment, media and communication industries.

This year's confirmed speakers are:
* Annet Aris, Professor of strategy and management at INSEAD, Paris
* Martin Stiksel, founder of Last Fm, London
* Matthew Gertner, cofounder and CTO of allpeers.com, Prague
* John Buckmann, founder of magnatune, member of the board of directors of Creative Commons, San Francisco
* Paul Pod, cofounder of Tioti.com, Tape it off the Internet, London
* Les Ottolenghi, founder and CEO of Intent Media Works, Atlanta
* Alexander Wolf, CEO of CELAS, Managing Director of GEMA, Munich

The first Media in Transition Conference opened its doors last year on September 7th and 8th and attracted many early adopters of the digital media world.

Speakers of the 2006 event included top creatives and entrepreneurs such as Simon Willison, Yahoo!, co founder of web framework Django, Martin Stiksel, founder of Last.fm, Horst Weidenmller, founder !K7-Records, Santiago de la Mora Strategic Partner Manager for Google Booksearch in Europe, Afrika and the Middle East, John Buckmann, founder of Magnatune, Genevieve Kunst, Head of European Business development of Amazon, Steve Turnridge, founder of SML Inc., Tom Dyson, R&D Director Torchbox, XML Expert and Python Developer, and many more.

The Media in Transition Conference 2007 will be accompanied by a networking event in the evening of September 12th and offers exclusive sponsoring opportunities

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Charlie Souza and The New Tropics CD Release on MusicWorld3D.com Video Jockey Netcast!

Ivy's Indie Vine VJ Show, is more than a radio show. Airing on MusicWorld3D TV every Wednesday at 9PM ET, VJ Ivy entertains her fans with great new Indie music, trivia contests and more, all while interacting with the listeners in the Virtual Reality Music Community. She welcomes to her show Charlie Souza of The New Tropics who will attend the event in the 3D World in avatar form and also via telephone interview on April, 25th.

How it works ­ Those who are in the 3D world simply click the video screen and enjoy a live video stream. On the screen they see VJ Ivy and other graphics such as a playlist and colorful visualizations. Ivy also appears in avatar form "in world", and interacts with the audience via the 3D Virtual World built in chat. The show is completely emmersive and entertaining, providing a unique experience for her viewing fans.

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Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © MusicDish LLC 2007 - Republished with Permission