Vincent James & Keep Music Alive!

Friday's Feature - "Replay" by Iyaz

Well I have to admit I thought he was saying "Charlene's like a melody...." but actually its "Shawty's like a melody..."...glad I looked that one up :) This is definitely a catchy song that you just want to play again and again. Born Keidran Jones, the artist known as Iyaz. Sean Kingston found Iyaz's music online and tried unsuccessfully to contact him a few times, then finally Iyaz responding just incase it really was Kingston's email :) Well the rest as they say is history...Iyaz signed with a Warner Brothers affiliate..his debut CD "My Life" came out in 2009 and "Replay" went all the way to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (not a bad debut :)). More music is on the way from "My Life" listen for it on radio..for now check out this infectious tune and video:

"Replay" - YouTube

Record Label Giant EMI lost 1.7 Billion Pounds (as in $$$)

In the past year, UK record label giant EMI REcords lost a staggering 1.7 Billion pounds. Not sure what that exactly translates to in dollars (about $ 2.5 Billion Dollars I believe) but its huge. Home to Katy Perry, Coldplay, David Bowie and many other successful artists. Currently they have 4 albums in the Top 10 charts in the US and have about 18% of the market. But illegal MP3 downloads are continuing to take a big bite out of EMI and other companies as they try to stay relevant in the digital age (would have helped if they had jumped on the Itunes/paid Napster situation much sooner). Check out the full article here: EMI Records loses 1.7 Billion Pounds

That's all for Friday nite folks - BIIGGG snowstorm coming in tonight to Philadelphia area - 12-18 inches should be a long white weekend. Be back tomorrow with an Indie song favorite and some more music news!

~Vincent