Pay To Play On Lower Broadway

A stink is brewing up in the entertainment district downtown; clubs charging bands to play at their venues. That is a trick used often on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. New artists just want to be seen and they will pay for that privilege ... A free-market economy, so anything goes. The venues need to pay their bills and if some hotshot wants to play, there they can pay.

Never been easy to get started in any form of the entertainment world. I would have paid my bosses early on probably. It's just about been that way anyway.

The streaming folks at the labels and the digital companies all rubbing each other's backs this week at a local conference. Country fans have been a tough nut to crack in the streaming world. It's probably one of the reasons the labels have little interest in so-called traditional Country music. Those fans still buy CDs ... The digital fix is in ... There are many reasons for the popification of Country ... Many are trying to push that pickup truck audience to the side ... (hope they fail)

Midland is a modern Country act but they sure are good ... Their new video is called " Burn Out," shot at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth.

With Memorial Day weekend in a few days, the Summer tours are on the road ... Justin Timberlake and Jason Aldean got a head start. Chris Young has been playing the upper Northwest this week. This weekend is a long weekend for our Canadian friends, who are happy that Keith Urban is coming up in September for the CCMAs.

Yes, that was Carrie Underwood in Napa this week ... and Kane Brown is on a roll! He's at the Billboard Music Awards Sunday Night in Las Vegas.

Darius Rucker joins Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and others for the American Idol finale Sunday and Monday. The show's 18-49 rating is now ahead of The Voice! The Voice has a larger overall audience; 57.3 is the Voice audience's average age.

See where they are talking but not yet doing ... Cutting off the FM radio band in England ... digital is the new normal. One of the countries in Scandanvia has already done it. Our Internet is still a mess ... some places still can't get decent service. Can't stream with crappy Internet ... just a fact. Still it is reality for the big cities. Sat radio ... digital ... better get on the Love Train!