What were the 80 most important musical recordings, artists, trends, events, and performances of 2008? What were the eight things this year that broke our hearts—or, at least, our ears? We're happy to announce 80 '08 (and Heartbreak), Idolator's year-end overview. The list is below the jump.
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The record industry's attempts to throw spaghetti at the wall and see if it stuck, no matter how rancid the pasta or listeria-laced the meat sauce, resulted in guttersniping blogger Perez Hilton getting courted for an A & R by major labels who were confused about that maxim regarding all press being the good kind. But then his dreams of record-industry riches were torpedoed by the company formerly known as Sony BMG, who sued his brightly clad ass for streaming Britney Spears tracks on his site without permission. Because he had to get all "this means war" about it!
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11:00 AM on Tue Dec 16 2008
By Maura Johnston
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Latest by sydbarrett05: I have always thought that he was a very meanstreaked guy who has no positive agenda except his own self-building... Fuck him...but then...our culture made him... Kinda makes you want to go to sleep... more »
The rise of the artist blog as official mouthpiece in 2008 may have been in part because record labels can't afford to hire decent PR staff anymore, but hey, you take the good with the bad. And there was a lot of good to come out of artists hitting up Tumblr, MySpace, et al; these blogs were really effective at humanizing the vacuum presented by endless paparazzi shots and press releases, whether through "clarity posts," in which artists put gossips on blast, or posts explaining what life is like when bands graduate to bigger tours, or just posts about how they liked shoes. After the jump, nine examples of why more artists should make a tour stop in Blogtown. Not only is the trip entertaining, its fruits give people like me great material!
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10:00 AM on Wed Dec 10 2008
By Maura Johnston
513 views,
4 comments
Latest by bcapirigi: Who would have thought Tracey Thorn would have been so into Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend? Hmmm... Although I do like that the Unbending Trees replied to her in a blog comment. more »
Like most people trying to fill in the gaps left in their lives by the 2008 elections being done, I was interested in keeping up with yesterday's MTV Europe Music Awards. However, the no-talent tag team of Katy Perry and Perez Hilton kept me from paying attention to the proceedings online. Instead, I just went through photos of the event looking for an alternate storyline to distract me from the more nauseating aspects of the show. Idolator readers, meet Best Adriatic Act award winner Elvir Lakovic, better known as Laka.
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Is Rolling Stone preparing on launching a "Perez Hilton-esque" music blog—with "look at me and all the famous people I drink with" correspondent Austin Scaggs as figurehead, and six unpaid interns who will reportedly "have to work 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday" doing the actual legwork—within the next month or so? And what on earth might "Perez Hilton-esque" mean in the context of RS, anyway? Will Scaggs be photographed on red carpets wearing shower caps and ill-fitting hoodies? Is minimal competence at MS Paint required of the interns? The mind reels. [Gawker]
Following in the hallowed tradition of Ultragrrrl and, uh, Ultragrrrl, blogger Perez Hilton is still planning to use his acclaimed pulse-fingering talents by starting his own label. "Obviously I have an ear for talent and obviously I have a track record of getting that to translate into sales," says the music industry's very own Superman, who promises to do "whatever it takes" to rescue the CD format. What are his novel ideas? Lower prices and "interesting partnerships with companies!" Woah, woah, woah, Perez! Are you sure the music industry is ready for this?
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Perez Hilton Breaks Sony BMG Embargo After 24 Hours In Interest Of Self-Promotion
You just know that the "news" of the Sony BMG-signed John Mayer making out with the rainbow-haired gossipeuse is going to result in a directive from the VP of publicity at the company to all the promoters dealing with its male artists, telling them to get their tongues wagging in Perezzers' general direction ASAP in an effort to work around his "ban" on the label's artists. (And maybe Beth Ditto, since she seems like she'd be up for some gender-bending.) [Perez Hilton]
It's on now, Sony BMG! Perez Hilton is planning to boycott all Sony BMG artists in response to the lawsuit they've filed against the professional canker sore. Perez is unable to understand why Sony BMG is angry that he streamed Britney Spears songs on his site, as the attention he's given her obviously has helped the sales of Blackout, which has currently sold a quarter of what 2003's In The Zaa-own pulled. As much as it will pain him not to scribble on the faces of artists such as Britney, R. Kelly, Leona Lewis, and Kenny G, he swears their faces will grace his blog no more. Gasp!
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Dubious SXSW branding opportunities, part one of an unfortunately ongoing series: "Göt2b, the hair product company, will have a barbershop on site. Fake ads of [Perez] Hilton will be throughout the space and stylists will give attendees that essential rock-'n'-roll look and a Polaroid snap of the new 'do." The regret that you feel the next morning, when you realize that your hair's been dyed fake-raspberry-blue because you decided to get your hair did at a freakin' Perez Hilton party, is complimentary. [Austin American-Statesman / Photo: AP]
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