Rock of Ages // Owl City

Hey everybody!

So last night Patrick and I went to see Rock of Ages, the musical featuring all 80s rock songs. I admit it is not the most intricate or moving plot, but it sure is one of the most enjoyable shows on Broadway. Excellent singing and choreography and it keeps you constantly laughing. We noticed how the audience was made up of mostly middle-aged women who quite enjoyed singing along and swooning over Constantine Maroulis. Overall, a very entertaining show leaving you with several songs stuck in your head.

Also, since we all love to discuss Owl City - this week I found out about their ground-breaking deal with Universal. Normally artists receive bonuses when they hit a given benchmark of album sales. And since albums simply aren't selling like they used to, very few artists ever receive these bonuses. However, Owl City's lawyer negotiated that their benchmark be counted in downloads of the album's single. I believe the details are that at 1,000,000 downloads, Owl City gets a $100,000 bonus from Universal. Their single "Fireflies" has already been downloaded over 400,000 times and we expect them to hit the 1 million benchmark by Christmas. As we've discussed in class, everything is negotiable, so here's an example of how an artist can actually put their leverage to use.

Until next week -
izh