Thursday, February 12, 2009

Free Hiphop Now Syndicate

Free Hiphop Now Syndicate

* Lecha Dodi Vs. Akon

Posted: 11 Feb 2009 01:40 PM PST

Right before we release the "Shir Ha Shirim" album by Benyamin Brody, Diwon & Dugans, we thought we would give you a free remix by Diwon, of Benyamin Brody Vs. Akon singing Lecha Dodi. To download the remix click, here ( http://shemspeed.com/daily/lecha-dodi-vs-akon ). Be on the look out for a free download of the "Shir Ha Shirim" album which will be out in iTunes in March.

DOWNLOAD NOW FOR FREE
http://mediafire.com/?irnnz0zmtnm

* "i heart mixtape" (free download for V-day)

Posted: 11 Feb 2009 01:37 PM PST

DOWNLOAD

Diwon is influenced heavily by his family's roots in Yemen, Ethiopia, and Israel. His musical taste seems to also have been subconsciously influenced by the the different countries in which he lived while growing up as a Navy brat, including Japan where he lived for 3 years as a child.

This multicultural maestro is always full of surprises, and his latest release is no exception. The fresh aesthetic of the Asian region has somehow stuck with him since and so, for February 14th, Diwon presents a mix devoted to what pop music is made of, LOVE...just in time for the day devoted to it. In this mix, Diwon mixes various languages and genres as well as some of his own sounds into the music of which love is made.

Included on the mix are sounds from; The Concretes, Cat Power, Finley Quaye, Buju Banton, Blur, Smokey Robinson, and Anounshka Shankar to name a few. DOWNLOAD NOW FOR FREE

A Full Schedule in 2009 For Interdependent Media

Posted: 11 Feb 2009 01:33 PM PST

(February 11, 2009 - Brooklyn, NY) With 2008 already a fading memory, there's a good chance you're going to need a fresh supply of music to hold you down in 2009. Interdependent Media has you covered with a full slate of brand new releases, including albums from Finale, Tanya Morgan, Truthlive, K'Naan, and Canibus.

First out of the gate, Detroit up-and-comer Finale is charged to set the rap world abuzz with his debut effort A Pipe Dream & A Promise. Dropping April 7, A Pipe Dream & A Promise finds Finale spitting vocal barbs over elite production from the likes of J Dilla, Black Milk, Nottz, Oddissee, and more. Following on Finale's heels is the much-anticipated sophomore LP, Brooklynati, from Tanya Morgan. Comprised of Brooklyn's Von Pea and Cincinnati's Donwill and Illyas, Tanya Morgan has received critical acclaim for their debut LP Moonlighting as well as 2008's The Bridge EP. Closing out the year are exciting new releases from Truthlive, K'Naan, and Canibus. Truthlive, the emcee work of iM founder Evan Phillips, will be releasing Patience, an album produced entirely by Jake One (50 Cent, De La Soul, Freeway), while Somalia-born K'Naan, set to release his major label debut Troubador on EMI in late February, will be releasing the live album The Dusty Foot On The Road, which documents recent performances from around the world including Paris, London, New York City, Edmonton, Brisbane, and Djibouti. Finally, iM will end the year with Canibus, one of the most ferocious emcees to touch a mic, who will make a triumphant return with The C Of Tranquility.

Interdependent Media is no ordinary record label, and iM's innovative and interactive marketing and promotion methods for 2009 continue to raise the bar. To help promote the new Finale album, iM will be releasing a Super Mario Bros. themed online video game, complete with an 8-bit version of the song "One Man Show," produced by Black Milk. Featuring Finale as the Mario of the Hip-Hop world, players who beat the game will receive an exclusive remix track. The setup for Tanya Morgan's Brooklynati release will be driven by one of the most involved and intricate marketing campaigns ever for a hip-hop release; the virtual city of Brooklynati will become a reality. The city will have an extensive website, video newscasts, a Chamber of Commerce where fans can apply for and receive Brooklynati drivers licenses, menus to the local Chinese restaurant, and its very own fledgling record store. Finally, thanks to the amazing work of artist Jamar Nicholas, fans will have the opportunity to channel their inner-child with a brand new limited-edition coloring book featuring the label's entire roster - get those crayons ready!

About Interdependent Media:

Founded in 2006 in the Bay Area by Evan Phillips, Interdependent Media has built unique strengths in the development, production, and marketing of recorded music via new methods of marketing and promotion. Armed with a comprehensive understanding of both traditional and emerging methods of marketing, iM has successfully created multi-faceted methods of raising awareness and interest in their projects. Industry veterans Ian "ID" Davis and Dominic Del Bene head operations at iM and are credited with discovering and/or developing artists such as 9th Wonder, Little Brother, Tanya Morgan, Blackalicious, Del the Funky Homosapien, the Hieroglyphics and more. In 2009, iM will be releasing multi-media projects from artists Finale, Canibus, K'naan, Truthlive, and Tanya Morgan. For more information, please visit http://www.imculture.com

'Vibe' Retrenches in Face of Recession

Posted: 11 Feb 2009 11:56 AM PST

Reduces Circulation, Frequency; Staff Gets Pay Cuts, Four-Day Workweek

by Nat Ives

Published: February 11, 2009

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Vibe magazine is cutting its paid circulation 25%, reducing its frequency to 10 issues a year from 12, and merging its print and digital editorial operations, all in the magazine industry's latest response to the twin attacks by recession and new media.

But Vibe is also departing from the standard playbook by introducing a twice-a-year newsstand-only celebrity tabloid. It plans to increase the subscription price for its flagship. And it is avoiding layoffs by adopting a four-day workweek accompanied by 10% to 15% pay cuts for its employees. The new day off, at least to start, will be Friday, though some staffing will be organized to keep the office open five days a week.

"Based on the financial climate and based on what's going on, we needed to make a tough decision," said Steve Aaron, CEO of Vibe Media Group. "We decided not to follow the old-school textbook of restructuring and instead look for ways to keep the talent in place." Employees were told of the changes in a meeting this afternoon.

The Wicks Group, a private-equity firm, bought Vibe in 2006. It quickly laid off more than 25 employees. It shuttered Vibe Vixen, a 2-year-old spinoff focused on women, the following year. (It now plans to publish Vibe Vixen and Vibe Prodigy, a parenting title, as occasional specials.)

Once a sign of weakness
Cutting paid circulation -- in Vibe's case, to 600,000 from 800,000 -- was once a sign of weakness in the eyes of advertisers and marketers, but the ad pages that bloated circulations used to attract aren't flowing like they used to. "If you're not getting as many ad pages anymore and you have less-profitable circulation that you're trying to maintain, the equation doesn't make sense anymore," said an executive at one big magazine advertiser. "Magazines would be better off getting rid of their unprofitable circulation and managing to a level where it's more profitable on a bottom-line basis. And advertisers would understand the reduction if it's told to them in the right way."

Many magazines are still expanding or maintaining their current circulation levels. But many others have decided to chop some down, resulting in circulation cuts for titles including Time, Playboy, Reader's Digest, TV Guide and others. Newsweek said on Monday that it will cut circulation twice more in coming months.

"I really am surprised that a lot of other magazines aren't doing this now," the executive said.

Vibe's ad pages dropped 17.7% last year, worse than the industry's overall decline of 11.7%, after falling 19.9% in 2007, when magazines as whole held the line, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. Unique visitors to Vibe.com, however, increased 35% to 443,000 in December from 328,000 in December 2007, according to ComScore.

at 5:46 AM