Notable Benefit Concerts

Benefit concerts have always been very popular. Due to the very nature of these concerts, where all proceeds go to helping some worthy cause, people have always flocked to them. Usually the performing artists accept very little in terms of remuneration and most do not accept any payment at all. The largest of these in recent times was the Live 8 concert of 2005. But there have been other notable concerts over the past few years and the following is a list of a few of them:

The 1967 Monterey Pop Festival can be considered the Grandfather of all benefit shows and was put together to raise funds for the MIPF Foundation.

This year saw tremendous devastation (the worst since the Asian tsunami disaster) in Haiti. Wyclef Jean has organized three benefit concerts in New York, Los Angeles and London to help the victims.

The Top Five Christmas Songs of All Time

By the time Christmas comes and goes it takes a lot out of us. The shopping, the cooking, the eating, etc all take a toll on everyone. But what keeps everyone going throughout the whole season and sometimes after that, are the good old Christmas songs. It’s no wonder that some of the oldies have been voted the best of all time.

“Santa Claus is coming to town” - It debuted in 1934 on Eddie Cantor’s radio show and has been with us since. It was penned by Coots and Gillespie with an infectious melody that has lasted for almost a century.

“Let it snow” - Ironically, this song was written on one of the hottest days that was ever experienced in California. Written by Sammy Cahn and composed by Jule Styne, the song came into being in 1945. To add to the irony, both the writer and composer were Jewish.

“Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer” - Originally this was a story written by Robert L. May, which was published in 1939. Later on Johnny Marks turned it into a hit song which has been covered by a myriad of artists. Since then Rudolph has gained prominence and is almost as well known as St. Nick himself.

“Jingle Bells” - Being the oldest song on our list, it was written in 1857 by James Lord Pierpont. Initially, the song was registered under the name “One horse open sleigh”, but through the ages the name gradually changed to the one we are familiar with now.

“Feliz Navidad” - From the oldest to the youngest, this José Feliciano hit was penned in 1970. It carries a simple message with an infectious tune.

How Artists Use Social Media

Social Media is the rage these days and it has enabled interaction between online users at a level that has never been seen before. Information exchange, opinions, polls, link sharing, calls to action, etc the list goes on as to how social networking is transforming lives of people around the world. Social networking involves the use of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc.
The use of social media can be very beneficial to artists, especially those who are waiting to be discovered. Let us look at four ways in which artists can use social media to promote themselves.

YouTube - The revolutionary video sharing service that began it all is the perfect place to display your talents. Whether it is playing an instrument, singing or producing tracks you can put it on YouTube for the world to hear and see.

Twitter - This is a great way to stay in the spotlight while helping you to showcase your talent as well. By providing links to your YouTube videos, you can make sure that more and more traffic is generated.

Facebook - This provides an excellent way to gather fans, keep them informed of your achievements, interact and receive feedback on your material.

Blogs - Maintaining a blog will allow fans to get to know you more in detail and to understand your thought process. Blogs allow you more freedom of expression than most other social media, so use it carefully.

In using these methods, a few things must be kept in mind.

1. Never be too pushy
2. Always listen and interact
3. Maintain a uniform image across all mediums

This will ensure your success and increase your chances of being discovered.

Anticipated Rock Albums of 2010

This year looks good for fans of veteran groups who are emerging once again, hopefully, with great albums.

Blink 182 is almost guaranteed to put out an album this year following their inability to do so last year due to logistical issues. Fans will be happy to know that drummer Travis Barker will also be releasing an album; his solo debut will take place in spring.

Since Rock N Roll Jesus, Kid Rock has been silent and with good reason. The success of Rock N Roll Jesus was such that the pressure for its successor to be a smash has been great. Kid Rock has been in the studio working and reworking the material for the follow up album throughout the year 2009.

With the wild success that the Kings of Leon have been experiencing in recent times, it is only natural that they would want to experiment a bit more. According to the drummer, Nathan Followill, the band will sound “more adventurous” in their upcoming 2010 release.

It is titled Korn III and it could be here sooner than you think. Korn is back in the scene, reunited with producer Ross Robinson who put together the first two albums. The expectation is for an album similar to those previous hits.

After the massive success of Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water in 2000, Limp Bizkit and guitarist Wes Borland parted ways. Now they are back again in the studios recording a 2010 release album. Expect an early release as the initial target was December 2009.

Victoria Beckham’s £500,000 Shopping Spree

Apparently, Victoria Beckham forked out £500,000 for a recent shopping spree in Milan, Italy. Wow! Choosing the top designer boutiques in Milan for her shopping Victoria picked up 20 pairs of Dolce and Gabbana shoes, a £400,000 Rolex watch and 12 pairs of Versace sunglasses, based on reports by the Daily Star newspaper.

Admitting that overspending has become a habit during constant visits to Milan, Victoria said, “I’ve spent too much. Shopping is like a drug. The more you have the more you want. When I am in Milan I don’t know how to resist it. ‘The things in those wonderful boutiques are saying, ‘Come and buy me, come and buy me.’ Anyway, it helps the economy.”
Victoria has many top designer friends including Giorgio Armani, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who all ensured their stores were closed - so she could shop undisturbed by fans.

Victoria also appears on the latest season of American Idol, but was not a favorite of the audience. Brought in to take up the spot left void by Paula, Victoria did little to live up to the challenge of being the ‘new judge’. Critics were also not impressed with her at American Idol with a Los Angeles Times reviewer stating, “The night’s saddest failure, however, was guest judge Victoria Beckham, who actually made plenty of appealing comments… but whose gaunt appearance was so off-putting it might have cost her the slot DeGeneres eventually won.” Another comment, which appeared on the Village Voice, stated: “[Victoria’s] face is just too crazy for the close-up, and she has nothing to add to the commentary… I always thought a British accent made people sound smart but I guess I was wrong.”