1.
Single (music)
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In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
2.
Will Young
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His double A-sided debut single Anything Is Possible / Evergreen was released two weeks after the shows finale and became the fastest-selling debut single in the UK. Young also came in place in World Idol performing his single Light My Fire. As a teenager, Young studied politics at the University of Exeter before moving to London, Young put his studies on hold in late 2001 to become a contestant on Pop Idol. After winning the competition the year, he released his debut album From Now On which went straight to number one. Fridays Child followed and enjoyed success, eventually going platinum five times in the UK. His following albums Keep On and Let It Go and Echoes also went multi-platinum and his albums have spawned many songs that have accomplished top ten positions in the UK, four of which went to the number one spot. Young has also undertaken numerous concert tours and he has also accumulated multiple honours, including two BRIT Awards from 12 nominations, and the estimated worldwide sale of over eight million albums. Youngs net worth was estimated at £13.5 million in April 2012, alongside his music career, Young has acted in film, on stage and in television. For his performance in the 2013 London revival of the musical Cabaret and he has also participated in philanthropy and released books Anything is Possible, On Camera, Off Duty and his autobiography Funny Peculiar. Will Young was born on 20 January 1979 in Wokingham, and is the second-oldest child of Robin Young, a director of an engineering firm, and Annabel Young. Born six weeks prematurely, he is ten minutes older than his twin brother and he also has an older sister, Emma. Young was born into an affluent, middle-class family, whose ancestry has strong ties to the British government. Aretas was later stationed in Trinidad and eventually took charge of the Trinidadian government, aretas became the sixth Governor of Prince Edward Island in 1831, and three years later was knighted by King William IV. His first appearance on stage was at the age of four when he played a fir tree in a production and had one line to speak. At Horris Hill, Young was head chorister in the school choir, at thirteen, Young and his brother were enrolled in Wellington College, Crowthorne, a public boarding school. Young appeared in school productions and often gave speeches in assembly. He became captain of the basketball and athletics teams, and also represented the school in the triple jump, long jump, football. The only sport he says he felt uncomfortable playing was cricket, Young left school with ten GCSEs, but achieved disappointing A-Level results and had to enroll in DOverbroecks College, Oxford, to re-sit his exams
3.
Echoes (Will Young album)
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Echoes is the fifth studio album by English recording artist Will Young. It was released by RCA Records and Sony Music on 19 August 2011, a departure from previous albums which saw him working with a diverse roster of collaborators, Young worked with music producer Richard X and Pete Hofmann on the bulk of the album. A television special, A Night With Will Young, aired on ITV on 27 August 2011 to coincide with the release of the album, upon its release, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, becoming Youngs third album to do so. Jealousy was released as the single from the album on 19 August 2011. Further singles Come On, Losing Myself, and I Just Want a Lover were less successful, Echoes sold 65,000 copies in its first week and has now sold just over 550,000 copies in the UK. In November 2009, Young released his first greatest hits collection, the album was a success on the charts, being certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. The following year, Young collaborated with electronic music duo Groove Armada on their album Black Light, singing vocals on the track History. For his fifth album, turned to music producer Richard X after listening the X-produced Steve Mason album, 2010’s acclaimed Boys Outside, which prompted Young to seek him out in the first place. Having previously claimed chart success with a succession of downtempo pop ballads, Young felt making a record utilizing electronic rhythms and beats was the culmination of a long-held dream. On his vision, he elaborated, Its an album that Ive wanted to do for five years. You have to evolve as a pop artist and its like being a magician, If you show all your best hands at the beginning, you have nothing left to reveal. Aiming for a simple synthpop sound, Young added that changing your sound is a thing to do. Its not a change, and its very genuine. When Richard X joined the project,90 percent of the album had already been written, with his producing partner Pete Hofmann, he finished some arrangements and tweaks on demoes before moving into the studio. Studio sessions were heavily influenced by live recording, a breakaway from previous sessions, the album artwork was revealed on 6 July 2011 on Youngs official Facebook page, and later posted on Youngs official website. Teaser clips of songs from the album were released by Young via Twitter shortly in advance of release. A television special A Night With Will Young was aired on ITV on 27 August 2011, the show featured Young performing a collection of new tracks from Echoes as well as a number of his biggest hits. Beginning October 2011, Young embarked on this fifth headlining tour, Echoes received generally positive reviews from music critics
4.
Dance-pop
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Dance-pop is a pop and dance subgenre that originated in the early 1980s. It is generally up-tempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable, the genre, on the whole, tends to be producer-driven, despite some notable exceptions. Dance-pop borrowed influences from other genres, which varied by producer, artist, such include contemporary R&B, house, trance, techno, new jack swing, funk, synthpop, electropop and some forms of europop. Dance-pop is a mainstream style of music and there have been numerous pop artists. As the term started to go out of fashion by the late 1970s to early 1980s, other terms were commonly used to describe disco-based music, such as post-disco, club. Dance-pop music emerged in the 1980s as a combination of dance and pop, or post-disco, Dance-pop music was usually created, composed and produced by record producers who would then hire singers to perform the songs. In the beginning of the 80s disco was an anathema to the mainstream pop, according to prominent Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Madonna had a huge role in popularizing dance music as mainstream music, utilizing her charisma, chutzpah and sex appeal. Erlewine claimed that Madonna launched dance-pop and set the standard for the genre for the two decades. The staff of Vice magazine stated that her debut album drew the blueprint for future dance-pop, in the 1980s dance-pop was closely aligned to other up-tempo electronic genres, such as Hi-NRG. Prominent producers in the 1980s included Stock, Aitken and Waterman, during the decade, dance-pop borrowed influences from funk, new jack swing, and contemporary R&B. Other prominent dance-pop artists and groups of the 1980s included the Pet Shop Boys, Mel and Kim, Samantha Fox, Debbie Gibson, by the 1990s, dance-pop had become a major genre in popular music. Several dance-pop groups and artists emerged during the 1990s, such as the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Backstreet Boys, during the early 1990s, dance-pop borrowed influences from house music, as well as contemporary R&B and new jack swing. Additionally, also in 1998, Cher released a song called Believe which made usage of a technological innovation of the time. An audio processor and a form of pitch modification software, Auto-Tune is commonly used as a way to correct pitch, since the late 1990s, the use of Auto-Tune processing has become a common feature of dance-pop music. Celine Dion also released a dance-pop song Thats the Way It Is by the end of 1999 and it has a moderately slow tempo but an up-beat song. At the beginning of the 2000s, dance-pop music was still prominent, nonetheless, as R&B and hip hop became extremely popular from the early part of the decade onwards, dance-pop often borrowed a lot of its influences from urban music. Dance-pop stars from the 1980s and 1990s such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Janet Jackson, in Madonnas case, her album Music contained elements of Euro disco, especially the successful eponymous lead single. Britney Spears album Blackout contained influences of Euro disco, the mid-to-late 2000s saw the arrival of several new dance-pop artists, including Rihanna, Kesha, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry
5.
Sony BMG
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Sony BMG Music Entertainment was a record music company, which was a 50–50 joint venture between the Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann AG. The ventures successor, the again-active Sony Music Entertainment, is 100% owned by the Sony Corporation of America, Sony BMG Music Entertainment began in Skem as the result of a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment and Bertelsmann Music Group completed on March 4,2004. The merger affected all Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group companies worldwide except for Japan, financial analysts covering the merger anticipated that up to 2,000 jobs would be cut as a result, saving Sony BMG approximately $350 million annually. The companys chief executive officer is Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, who succeeded Andrew Lack on February 10,2006, in the first half of 2005, the companys share of new releases in the United States declined from 33% to 26% according to Nielsen SoundScan. This, and Lacks negotiation of what called a ill-conceived deal with Bruce Springsteen led to Bertelsmann informing Sony that it would not renew Lacks contract. The company signed a content deal with the video sharing community YouTube. On August 5,2008 Sony Corporation agreed to buy Bertelsmann AGs 50 percent stake in the company for $1.2 billion to get full control. The music company was renamed Sony Music Entertainment and became a unit of Sony Corporation of America, epic Records, one of their labels, was specifically cited for using fake contests in order to hide the fact that the gifts were going to disc jockeys rather than listeners. A scandal ensued over digital rights management software produced and shipped by Sony BMG that automatically installed itself on peoples computers, the scandal and attendant controversy about the practice of software auto-installation spawned several lawsuits. Sony BMG eventually recalled all of the affected CDs, uS-CERT advised, Do not install software from sources that you do not expect to contain software, such as an audio CD. In its Top Flops of 05 issue, the enterprise newsweekly eWeek had to create a new category for the Sony BMG root-kit fiasco, peter Coffee, of eWeek Labs reported, The Sony brand name was already in trouble—it lost 16 percent of its value between 2004 and 2005. Now it has taken a blow among tech-product opinion leaders, weve never done it before, and we hope well never have occasion to do it again but, for 2005, eWeek Labs awards a Stupid Tech Trick grand prize to Sony. EWeek Vol.22, No.50 In October 2007, Sony BMG, alongside other large music firms, successfully sued Jammie Thomas. Ms. Thomas – who made US$36,000 a year – was ordered to pay US$222,000 in damages for making 24 songs available for download on the Kazaa file-sharing network. Thomas had allegedly shared 1702 files in total, the court upholding the award called it a case of willful infringement. Sony did not restrict minor childrens participation in its websites, Sony paid a $1 million fine. Sony Commercial Music Group – Official Site Sony Music Entertainment, Incorporated – Company Profile on Yahoo
6.
Songwriter
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A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as rock or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies, pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own publishers, while others have outside publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees and college diplomas, a knowledge of modern music technology, songwriting elements and business skills are necessary requirements to make a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules, the legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law, song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters. Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity, songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal 9-to-5 hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writers draw, an advance on future earnings, the publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up, unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. In Nashville, young writers are often encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract, songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company, so that he could. keep as much as possible, songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song
7.
Kish Mauve
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Kish Mauve is a British electropop group. The group was formed in 2005 in London, England, and consists of Mima Stilwell, Kish Mauves music has been featured in multiple television shows and advertisements. The group are well known for their collaborations with Kylie Minogue. In 2007, the duo produced Minogues cover version of their song 2 Hearts and it reached number one in Australia and number four in the United Kingdom. Minogue also co-wrote on You Make Me Feel, a recorded and released by Kish Mauve when it did not make the final cut for X. In 2010, they wrote and co-produced a single for Minogue, All the Lovers, released as the first single from Minogues eleventh studio album, Aphrodite. Stilwell and Eliot also contributed to Will Youngs fifth studio album, Echoes, six songs co-written with Young are featured on Echoes, including the lead single, Jealousy, also appearing on the album is a cover of their 2009 single Come On. Kish Mauve worked with Sophie Ellis-Bextor on tracks to feature on her studio album, Make a Scene. Jim Eliot worked with Ladyhawke and Rosie and the Goldbug on their debut albums, Ladyhawke and Rosie and the Goldbug. He has written and produced material for Little Boots, Girls Aloud, Rae Morris, Rosanna Munter, black Heart Kish Mauve EP Modern Love Lose Control Come On / Morphine Official MySpace
