Good Charlotte Scrap New Album, MGMT Stuggle With Fame and Some Concert Industry News…
The scoop on MGMT’s unlikely new album inspirations and a massive proposed merger in the concert industry after the jump, but first…
Good Charlotte have spent two months in the studio working on an album they’re throwing out.
Singer Benji Madden writes on the band’s Web site he heard the rough cuts of the album and felt they weren’t right.
He called a meeting with the band and was relieved when the rest of them agreed.
Madden says they were working with one of the biggest producers in the business, but the producer was focused on the commercial success of the record.
Madden says he was focused on the quality of the songs.
Good Charlotte have now hooked up with Don Gilmore, who worked with them on previous albums, and they’re starting over in Vancouver.
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MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden says the band’s new album ‘Congratulations’ is partially influenced by Lady GaGa and Kanye West.
The album has been mixed and mastered and is set for release this spring. VanWyngarden said that some songs on it are about the duo’s reaction to fame. He admitted that as the band found success they became “the people we were making fun of” on 2007 debut album ‘Oracular Spectacular’.
“We were a group of guys in their mid-20s touring around the world and of course we are going to party. But after a while we all learned that you can’t just keep doing that over and over, and the new record addresses those issues,” VanWyngarden told Spin.com.
“On some of the new songs, I found myself thinking about Lady GaGa or Kanye West, and what their ultimate goal is,” he added. “This sounds cheesy, but for us it’s really just about the music and getting people to hear what we have to say. I’m sure it’s about the music for those people, too… but fame… it’s an interesting career.”
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The proposed merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation can go ahead, as long as Ticketmaster sells some of its assets first.
The U.S. Justice Department and Canada’s Competition Bureau want Ticketmaster to sell Paciolan, its subsidiary ticketing business, to Philadelphia sports and entertainment company Comcast-Spectacor or another approved buyer, according to the Associated Press. Comcast-Spectacor owns the Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia 76ers and numerous venues throughout the United States and Canada.
The Associated Press also reports Ticketmaster must additionally license its ticketing system to Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). It is the second-largest live events promoter in Canada and the U.S. and is also Live Nation’s main competitor.
According to Canoe, AEG will be able to buy the ticketing software, make its own or team up with another ticketing company within five years.
Critics of the proposed deal had said it would result in the two companies attaining a monopoly over the concert industry.
Ticketmaster is the world’s largest retailer of entertainment events tickets, while Live Nation is the United States’ largest concert producer. It started selling tickets last year to compete with Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster was severely criticized last year after there were allegations it was diverting tickets to its TicketsNow resale site, where it was reportedly forcing consumers to pay higher prices for them.
Tags: Good Charlotte, Live Nation, MGMT, Ticketmaster
