Melody Plant

Lily Allen recently blogged about the piece of news that she was jealous of Katy Perry, the singer who has since replaced Lily as Capitol Records’ golden girl. Sad to say, Lily was caught in a bunch of lies which were easily debunked. She said “And this is not meant in any way [to be mean] but I’d never heard of Katy Perry before I came here [to L.A.] a few days ago, I didn’t even know she was on Capitol.” Sources close to both singers says that they definitely know each other and have even met. Case in point, the picture for this rant of mine. Liar, liar pants on fire.

When it comes to the music industry, it’s hard to stay on top – you can just ask Lily Allen how that feels. Lily used to be Capitol Records’ golden girl but since she’s been slipping lately, she’s been replaced by Katy Perry. According to a music industry insider “Lily Allen is peeved at Capitol. She feels like they’ve shoved her aside to focus all their energies on their new girl of the moment, Katy Perry.” According to the source, the real insult came when the label “replaced a photo of Lily Allen with one of Katy Perry” in its office main lobby. The only thing that can save Lily from becoming washed-up goods is if she can come up with a great sophomore album. But from what I’m hearing, her new material sucks.

Tori Amos is going indie as the musical genius has left her record label deciding to pursue alternative routes to get her music out to her fans. Tori’s manager John Witherspoon explained the new development to Billboard magazine saying “After 22 years of being in the shackles of the major label system, Tori has chosen the path of independence for her next work. As with many of her contemporaries, Tori is devising new and exciting ways of getting her music to the masses without the boundaries and limitations of the major music companies. This will commence with a project of new music and visuals which is being started in the summer and due for release in Spring 2009.”

The music industry is getting really desperate for cash as the days go on. Universal has just announced that its Island Def Jam branch is going to team up with Procter & Gamble on a hip hop label to be named TAG Records. P&G’s TAG body spray for men is the inspiration behind the name. Also according to the announcement, Jermaine Dupri will act as the president of the new label. It’s a win-win situation if you think about it. P&G has a direct way to market its products and the artists will get loads of support from the marketing gurus. Hurray for capitalism!

It seems that American Idol reject David Hernandez has no problems in milking the publicity he gained from being a former male stripper. He may have gotten the boot early on in the show but the guy is still a hot commodity. Several Hollywood record execs are still dying to work with David. Apparently, the thinking is to strike while the iron is hot and release a quick single rather than wait and release a full album. Whether that is to happen or not is still up in the air. In any case, big publishing companies have already singled David H and David Archuleta early on and have already told songwriters to create songs that would suit the two.