Dark Star Records is pleased to announce that RIVAL have just released their new full length album PROPHECY and its now available on CD, Digital Download and Streaming Worldwide.
Dark Star Records artist CONQUEST are pleased to announce that they have just launched their latest single NEW AUGUST onto Sirius XM Satellite Radio, as well as iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and all available digital retailers.
This song is one of the bands most radio friendly tracks and it has already been received very well by fans and critics alike. The song follows up the bands mega selling tribute to the Metal Gods album UNDER THE INFLUENCE. And, the band is currently in the studio working on their next full length album due out by the end of the year.
“Conquest” a band that has been around since the 80’s is getting some serious recognition this year. The band has performed shows with some of the greatest metal bands on the planet including: SLAYER, ICED EARTH, SUPERJOINT RITUAL, CHILDREN OF BODOM, QUIET RIOT, TESTAMENT, BULLET BOYS, OVERKILL, DOKKEN, IRON MAIDEN, WASP, POISON, NAPALM DEATH, SLASHES SNAKEPIT, SAVATAGE, MANOWAR, FATES WARNING, ROB HALFORD, MORBID ANGEL, QUEENSRYCHE, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, PRONG, GREAT WHITE, YNGWIE J. MALMSTEEN, GEORGE LYNCH, LACUNA COIL, STONE SOUR, SHADOWS FALL AND MORE… Conquest has had a slew of album releases since the 1980’s including the successful “End of Days” Album released in 2008. But their latest and most triumphant achievement is the critically acclaimed “The War We Rage” Album (2013) Dark Star Records / Sony
Years of hard work have finally paid off for the the St. Louis Missouri based Thrash Metal band known as “Conquest”. Their latest Release “The War We Rage” has been getting rave reviews worldwide.
Dark Star Records is pleased to announce that they have just signed a two album deal with the Indianapolis based metal band “Betrayed With A Kiss.” Dark Star Records in Association with Sony Music will be re releasing a special edition of “Salvation and Ascension” which includes two killer bonus tracks. Then later in 2014 the band will be heading into the studio to lay down tracks for the bands sixth album, yet to be titled.
About the band: “Travis “Wrath” Crider and Rob “Lust” Mason formed Betrayed With A Kiss in late 2004. Both were members of a thrash metal band that was signed to Germany’s Modern Music Label at the time. Recalls Mason, “We felt very boxed in stylistically in that particular project because we were unable to write anything too technical or not considered extremely aggressive.” It was fine for the eight years I was in the band, but both Travis and I wanted to expand on our style to include more technical riffs and more melodic songs as time went on. When the band dissolved in 2004, we decided to move forward with Betrayed With A Kiss.
“Salvation and Ascension is a very deep and detailed album” quotes Jeffrey A. Swanson President of Dark Star Records “You can hear every ounce of sweat and blood that was poured into this metal masterpiece. “This is what a metal band should sound like.” Look for “Salvation and Ascension” the Special Edition to be available worldwide via Dark Star Records and Sony Music Entertainment on January 28th 2014.
Dark Star Records in Association with Sony Music Entertainment have signed a deal with 6519 Worldwide to distribute the hot new single “Strangers” by The Blushing Gun. The new “Strangers” Single will include two killer Remixes that will go straight to Radio.
“STRANGERS” IS SET FOR RELEASE IN OCTOBER DOWNLOAD THE SINGLE FOR FREE RIGHT HERE…
THIS IS A LIMITED TIME OFFER!!!!!!!!
The Blushing Gun is comprised of Ian Moore, Nicholas McClelland and Athan Mireles. Ian leads the band with his unique and captivating voice, and mature acoustic and electric guitar stylings. Nick gives the music a great foundation with his mixing and big bass lines. The smooth yet powerful beats from Athan on drums rounds out this trio. The band’s diversity has allowed them to share the stage with national acts such as Papa Roach, Chevelle, Hinder, In this Moment, Black Stone Cherry, The Venetia Fair, Boy Hits Car, Exotic Animal Petting Zoo, and many more.
Major Label Artists at Dark Star Records will be receiving some of the Highest Royalty Rates for their music on iTunes Radio because of their Partnership with Sony Music Entertainment. Dark Star Records Artists included in the deal are: Black and White, Blackfinger, Bloodstream Parade, Bloody Mary, Conquest, Daisy Chain, DD Rand, Deepest Symphony, Drop, Grigori 3, Hammeron, Herman Ze German Rarebell, House Of Holland, Jeff Swan, Lords of Meat, Low Twelve, Lydian Sea, Matt Mercado, Metal Shop, Pist, Ript, Rival, Sacred Dawn, Shatter Their Illusion, Shooting Hemlock , Slam Bang, Slave Driver, Supermercado, The Projectionists, True Witness and Two Ton Anvil. “This is a Huge Deal for us”. Quotes Dark Star Records Label President ~Jeffrey A. Swanson. “As streaming music will most likely play a key role in the future of digital media”.
Ahead of its launch of an online radio service Apple AAPL -0.56% circulated terms to independent record labels last week, many of them more generous to the music companies than what rival Pandora Media P +2.14% currently pays.
Apple intends to pay royalties to labels based on a blend of how many times listeners hear their songs and how much advertising Apple sells, according to the terms, which were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
During iTunes Radio’s first year, Apple will pay a label 0.13 cents each time a song is played, as well as 15% of net advertising revenue, proportionate to a given label’s share of the music played on iTunes. In the second year, that bumps up to 0.14 cents per listen, plus 19% of ad revenue.
That compares to the 0.12 cents Pandora pays labels per listen on its free service. Apple is also offering music publishers more than twice as much in royalties than Pandora does.
Apple won’t have to pay royalties for some performances of songs that are already in listeners’ iTunes libraries, or songs that might be on an album that a listener owns just part of. Similarly, “Heat Seeker” tracks selected by iTunes for special promotions, are also exempted. Apple also doesn’t have to pay for songs listeners skip before 20 seconds have elapsed. The company only gets to avoid paying royalties for two songs per hour for any given user.
The terms for independent labels are similar but not identical to those given to the three major record companies – Vivendi SA VIV.FR +1.50%’s Universal Music Group, Access Industries Inc.’s Warner Music Group and Sony Corp. 6758.TO +1.70%’s Sony Music Entertainment – which are expected to receive cash advances against future royalties.
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
Pandora was criticized by members of the band Pink Floyd in a recent USA Today opinion piece for complaining it pays too much in royalties to make a profit and asking artists to support its efforts to get a law passed that would cut the fees it pays.
Pandora founder Tim Westergren said Wednesday that it isn’t fair to compare Apple’s royalty rates with Pandora’s because the services work differently, and that different features on the two services could trigger different royalty payments.
“It’s apples and oranges,” said Mr. Westergren, referring to the two services.
The ad revenue iTunes Radio generates might not necessarily be more significant than Pandora’s. People familiar with Apple’s thinking said the company is primarily hoping that iTunes Radio will encourage listeners to buy the tracks they like at the iTunes Store and help the tech giant sell more iPhones, iPods and other hardware.
Though music sales are slipping fast across the industry with the growth of subscription streaming services that offer unlimited music for a monthly fee, Apple is likely to stick for now to its business model of selling songs on iTunes. That business has become marginally profitable in recent years, these people said – as long as that model remains sustainable.
The new radio service gives Apple a venue to develop its iAd system – a mobile advertising platform for Apple devices that allows third-party developers to embed their apps with ads, these people added.
The iTunes Radio licensing document also includes several references to terms for the use of music in talk, weather, sports and news programming on the new service. The agreement said Apple wouldn’t have to pay the independent labels royalties for snippets of music used in the background of those sorts of programs. But it’s unlikely Apple will invest much in creating such programming, given that it has long shied from creating its own content.
Clear Channel Communications Inc. Chief Executive Bob Pittman said recently that only a tiny fraction of the people who listen to iHeartRadio, Clear Channel’s digital service, listen online to such programming.
Watch this Special Promotional Video featuring the Song “Big Green Monster” by Shooting Hemlock
Courtesy of Dark Star Records
Dark Star Records Artists will come standard in the new BMW 5 Series as part of a deal with the U.K. based music streaming service rara.com billed as the first direct-to-car music streaming service in Europe. Major Label Dark Star Records in Association with Sony Music Entertainment is part of a deal with rara.com that includes the labels entire catalog of over 50 titles to be available for streaming direct from the dashboard of the new BMW 5 Series. Unlike most other in-car streaming services currently available throughout Europe, rara.com’s fully integrated offering is built into the vehicle allowing users to instantly stream music without needing to plug in a smartphone. Launched in December 2011, London-based rara.com currently operates in 33 international markets, including U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa. In addition to its new BMW offering, the service is available to access via the web and on Windows 8, iOS and Android devices. “The digital music landscape is always changing” quotes Dark Star Records President Jeffrey A. Swanson. “Right now we are focusing heavily on streaming music services like: Pandora, Rdio, Jango, Spotify, Slacker, Rara.com, Etc. as we see the world is embracing these evolutionary ways to discover and listen to new music”. “The deal with BMW and rara.com is a major milestone in the evolution of digital music distribution, and everyone at Dark Star Records is very excited to be a part of this historic deal.
Dark Star Records Artists are Now Featured on MUSIC UNLIMITED as part of the Sony Music Entertainment Network. This is a Huge Deal for everyone on the Dark Star Records label as they are no longer considered independent bands, but are now Major Label Artists. Congrats to Everyone at Dark Star Records!!!
Search for your favorite Dark Star Records Artist
at Sony Music Unlimited:
Dark Star Records is now a part of the largest most powerful digital distribution company in the world. The Orchard and the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA), the two largest digital aggregators in the United States, have now merged. And, Sony Music Entertainment will be a strategic investor in the combined entity, sources tell Billboard Magazine. As part of the deal, Sony will own at least 50% of the merged company, the sources add. As a result of the deal, the merged company will have revenues of about $130 million.
This deal comes in the wake of the merger between INgrooves and Fontana. Shamrock Capital acquired Fontana from the Universal Music Group and merged it with INgrooves, leaving the major as an investor with a 15%-20% stake in the combined entity. Dark Star Records the hard rock, metal music label who came in on the ground floor with IODA has been a part of the merger since day one. “We now have more options then ever for our artists” Quotes Dark Star Records label president Jeffrey A. Swanson. “And we will even have the opportunity to distribute some of our films through this newly formed company”. This is a major step forward for Dark Star Records and the world of independent media.
Slam Bang release their last and final album “Everyday is a Party” with lead vocalist and co founder Jeff Swan. Since the band was first formed in 2007, Slam Bang have shared the stage with a number of great bands including: LA Guns, Y&T, Jackyl, Stephen Pearcy of Ratt, Faster Pussycat and Others. The band was best known for their simple hard rock party songs like Naked and Stoned and Hit It. The band then became Notorious for offering Free Jagermeister at Shows and bringing girls up on stage to sing backup vocals. The original 2007 lineup included Jeff Swan, Bob Cozza, Bill Gingrich and Bob Groble. Guitarist Bob Groble who gave the band it’s sweet melodic guitar solo’s moved to Arizona and was later replaced by Russ Odean who is now playing for Veilside. Russ had left the band on good terms to go tour with Veilside, and had offered Slam Bang a replacement, good friend and ex Raine guitarist Frank Lenner AKA Frankee Lee. The band continued its duel guitar hard rock party drivin sound long enough to finish their fourth and final release with lead vocalist, guitarist Jeff Swan who moved to California. The new Album is Titled “Everyday is a Party” and is now available worldwide via Dark Star Records and Sony Music. The new release includes: Naked and Stoned, Everyday is a Party, Somebody New, When The Lights Go Down, Hit It, You and I plus the Theme song from the movie “Jezebeth” She’s Calling Out Your Name. Here is the title track from the new album “Everyday is a Party”.