10 Compelling Reasons You Can Never Trust The Mainstream Media

A poll last year showed that trust in the mainstream media is increasing, which should worry all of us who value truth, integrity and press freedom. Why? Here are 10 disturbing things everyone needs to know about the global media giants who control our supply of information, wielding immense power over the people- and even over the government.
1. Mainstream media exists solely to make profit

Murdoch: Evil wizard
Image Credit: ♥ photofairy

What´s the purpose of the mainstream media? Saying that the press exists to inform, educate or entertain is like saying Apple corporation´s primary function is to make technology which will enrich our lives. Actually, the mass media industry is the same as any other in a capitalist society: it exists to make profit. Medialens, a British campaigning site which critiques mainstream (or corporate) journalism, quoted business journalist Marjorie Kelly as saying that all corporations, including those dealing with media, exist only to maximize returns to their shareholders. This is, she said,  ´the law of the land…universally accepted as a kind of divine, unchallengeable truth´. Without pleasing shareholders and a board of directors, mass media enterprises simply would not exist. And once you understand this, you´ll never watch the news in the same way again.

´journalist´ Andrew Ross Sorkin and the Goldman Sachs connection
Flickr / WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick

2. Advertisers dictate content
So how does the pursuit of profit affect the news we consume? Media corporations make the vast majority (typically around 75%) of their profit from advertising, meaning it´s advertisers themselves that dictate content- not journalists, and certainly not consumers. Imagine you are editor of a successful newspaper or TV channel with high circulation or viewing figures. You attract revenue from big brands and multinational corporations such as BP, Monsanto and UAE airlines. How could you then tackle important topics such as climate change, GM food or disastrous oil spills in a way that is both honest to your audience and favorable to your clients? The simple answer is you can´t. This might explain why Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times-  sponsored by Goldman Sachs-  is so keen to defend the crooked corporation. Andrew Marr, a political correspondent for the BBC, sums up the dilemma in his autobiography: ´The biggest question is whether advertising limits and reshapes the news agenda. It does, of course. It’s hard to make the sums add up when you are kicking the people who write the cheques.´ Enough said…
3. Billionaire tycoons & media monopolies threaten real journalism

Image Credit – Flickr / Mike Licht

The monopolization of the press (fewer individuals or organizations controlling increasing shares of the mass media) is growing year by year, and this is a grave danger to press ethics and diversity. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch´s  neo-liberal personal politics are reflected in his 175 newspapers and endorsed by pundits (see Fox news) on the 123 TV channels he owns in the USA alone. Anyone who isn´t worried by this one man´s view of the world being consumed by millions of people across the globe- from the USA to the UK, New Zealand to Asia, Europe to Australia- isn´t thinking hard enough about the consequences. It´s a grotesquely all-encompassing monopoly, leaving no doubt that Murdoch is one of the most powerful men in the world. But as the News International phone hacking scandal  showed, he´s certainly not the most honorable or ethical. Neither is Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB spy and politician who bought British newspaper The Independent  in 2010.  With Lebedev´s fingers in so many pies (the billionaire oligarch is into everything from investment banking to airlines), can we really expect news coverage from this once well-respected publication to continue in the same vein? Obviously not: the paper had always carried a banner on its front page declaring itself  ´free from party political bias, free from proprietorial influence´, but interestingly this was dropped in September 2011.
4. Corporate press is in bed with the government

British Prime Minister David Cameron partying with Rebekah Brooks
Photo: Dafydd Jones (telegraph.co.uk)

Aside from the obvious, one of the most disturbing facts to emerge from Murdoch´s News International phone hacking scandal (background information here ) was the exposure of shady connections  between top government officials and press tycoons. During the scandal, and throughout the subsequent Leveson inquiry into British press ethics (or lack of them), we learned of secret meetings, threats by Murdoch to politicians who didn´t do as he wanted, and that Prime Minister David Cameron has a very close friendship with The Sun´s then editor-in-chief (and CEO of News International) Rebekah Brooks. How can journalists do their job of holding politicians to account when they are vacationing together or rubbing shoulders at private dinner parties? Clearly, they don´t intend to. But the support works both ways- Cameron´s government tried to help Murdoch´s son win a bid for BSkyB, while bizarrely,  warmongering ex Prime Minister Tony Blair is godfather to Murdoch´s daughter Grace. As well as ensuring an overwhelming bias in news coverage and election campaigns, flooding newspapers with cheap and easy articles from unquestioned government sources, and gagging writers from criticizing those in power, these secret connections also account for much of the corporate media´s incessant peddling of the patriotism lie-  especially in the lead-up to attacks on other countries. Here´s an interesting analysis of The New York Times´s coverage of the current Syria situation for example, demonstrating how corporate journalists are failing to reflect public feeling on the issue of a full-scale attack on Assad by the US and its allies.

Image Credit: heavy.com

5. Important stories are overshadowed by trivia
You could be forgiven for assuming that the most interesting part of Edward Snowden´s status as a whistleblower was his plane ride from Hong Kong to Russia, or his lengthy stint waiting in Moscow airport for someone- anyone- to offer him asylum. Because with the exception of The Guardian who published the leaks (read them in full here), the media has generally preferred not to focus on Snowden´s damning revelations about freedom and tyranny, but rather on banal trivia – his personality and background, whether his girlfriend misses him, whether he is actually a Chinese spy, and ahhh, didn´t he remind us all of Where´s Waldo as he flitted across the globe as a wanted fugitive? The same could be said of Bradley Manning´s gender re-assignment, which conveniently overshadowed the enormous injustice of his sentence. And what of Julian Assange? His profile on the globally-respected BBC is dedicated almost entirely to a subtle smearing of character, rather than detailing Wikileaks´s profound impact on our view of the world. In every case, the principal stories are forgotten as our attention, lost in a sea of trivia, is expertly diverted from the real issues at hand: those which invariably, the government wants us to forget.
6. Mainstream media doesn´t ask questions

Image Credit / web.archive.org

´Check your sources, check your facts´ are golden rules in journalism 101, but you wouldn´t guess that from reading the mainstream press or watching corporate TV channels. At the time of writing, Obama is beating the war drums over Syria. Following accusations by the US and Britain that Assad was responsible for a nerve gas attack on his own civilians last month, most mainstream newspapers- like the afore-mentioned New York Times- have failed to demand evidence or call for restraint on a full-scale attack. But there are several good reasons why journalists should question the official story. Firstly, British right-wing newspaper The Daily Mail actually ran a news piece back in January this year, publishing leaked emails from a British arms company showing the US was planning a false flag chemical attack on Syria´s civilians. They would then blame it on Assad to gain public support for a subsequent full-scale invasion. The article was hastily deleted but a cached version still exists. Other recent evidence lends support to the unthinkable. It has emerged that the chemicals used to make the nerve gas were indeed shipped from Britain, and German intelligence insists Assad was not responsible for the chemical attack. Meanwhile, a hacktivist has come forward with alleged evidence of US intelligence agencies´ involvement in the massacre (download it for yourself here ), with a growing body of evidence suggesting this vile plot was hatched by Western powers. Never overlook the corporate media´s ties to big business and big government before accepting what you are told- because if journalism is dead, you have a right and a duty to ask your own questions.
7. Corporate journalists hate real journalists
Michael Grunwald, senior national correspondent of Time, tweeted that he ´can´t wait to write a defense of the drone that takes out Julian Assange.´ Salon writer David

Image Credit / intellectualrevolution.tv

Sirota rightly points out the irony of this: ´Here we have a reporter expressing excitement at the prospect of the government executing the publisher of information that became the basis for some of the most important journalism in the last decade.´ Sirota goes on to note various examples of what he calls the ´Journalists against Journalism club´, and gives several examples of how The Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald has been attacked by the corporate press for publishing Snowden´s leaks. The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin called for Greenwald’s arrest, while NBC’s David Gregory´s declared that Greenwald has ´aided and abetted Snowden´. As for the question of whether journalists can indeed be outspoken, Sirota accurately notes that it all depends on whether their opinions serve or challenge the status quo, and goes on to list the hypocrisy of Greenwald´s critics in depth: ´Grunwald has saber-rattling opinions that proudly support the government’s drone strikes and surveillance. Sorkin’s opinions promote Wall Street’s interests. (The Washington Post´s David) Broder had opinions that supported, among other things, the government’s corporate-serving “free” trade agenda. (The Washington Post´s Bob) Woodward has opinions backing an ever-bigger Pentagon budget that enriches defense contractors. (The Atlantic´s Jeffrey) Goldberg promotes the Military-Industrial Complex’s generally pro-war opinions. (The New York Times´s Thomas) Friedman is all of them combined, promoting both “free” trade and “suck on this” militarism. Because these voices loyally promote the unstated assumptions that serve the power structure and that dominate American politics, all of their particular opinions aren’t even typically portrayed as opinions; they are usually portrayed as noncontroversial objectivity.´
8. Bad news sells, good news is censored, and celebrity gossip trumps important issues

Justin Bieber – Image Credit / Wikimedia

It´s sad but true: bad news really does sell more newspapers. But why? Are we really so pessimistic? Do we relish the suffering of others? Are we secretly glad that something terrible happened to someone else, not us? Reading the corporate press as an alien visiting Earth you might assume so. Generally, news coverage is sensationalist and depressing as hell, with so many pages dedicated to murder, rape and pedophilia and yet none to the billions of good deeds and amazingly inspirational movements taking place every minute of every day all over the planet. But the reasons we consume bad news are perfectly logical. In times of harmony and peace, people simply don´t feel the need to educate themselves as much as they do in times of crises. That´s good news for anyone beginning to despair that humans are apathetic, hateful and dumb, and it could even be argued that this sobering and simple fact is a great incentive for the mass media industry to do something worthwhile. They could start offering the positive and hopeful angle for a change. They could use dark periods of increased public interest to convey a message of peace and justice. They could reflect humanity´s desire for solutions and our urgent concerns for the environment. They could act as the voice of a global population who has had enough of violence and lies to campaign for transparency, equality, freedom, truth, and real democracy. Would that sell newspapers? I think so. They could even hold a few politicians to account on behalf of the people, wouldn´t that be something? But for the foreseeable future, it´s likely the corporate press will just distract our attention with another picture of Rhianna´s butt, another rumor about Justin Bieber´s coke habit, or another article about Kim Kardashian (who is she again?) wearing perspex heels with swollen ankles while pregnant. Who cares about the missing $21 trillion, what was she thinking?
9. Whoever controls language controls the population

Flickr / Jason Ilagan

Have you read George Orwell´s classic novel 1984 yet? It´s become a clichéd reference in today´s dystopia, that´s true, but with good reason. There are many- too many- parallels between Orwell´s dark imaginary future and our current reality, but one important part of his vision concerned language. Orwell coined the word ´Newspeak´  to describe a simplistic version of the English language with the aim of limiting free thought on issues that would challenge the status quo (creativity, peace, and individualism for example). The concept of Newspeak includes what Orwell called ´DoubleThink´-  how language is made ambiguous or even inverted to convey the opposite of what is true. In his book, the Ministry of War is known as the Ministry of Love, for example, while the Ministry of Truth deals with propaganda and entertainment. Sound familiar yet? Another book that delves into this topic deeper is Unspeak, a must-read for anyone interested in language and power and specifically how words are distorted for political ends. Terms such as ´peace keeping missiles´, ´extremists´ and ´no-fly zones´, weapons being referred to as ´assets´, or misleading business euphemisms such as ´downsizing´ for redundancy and ´sunset´ for termination- these, and hundreds of other examples, demonstrate how powerful language can be. In a world of growing corporate media monopolization, those who wield this power can manipulate words and therefore public reaction, to encourage compliance, uphold the status quo, or provoke fear.
10. Freedom of the press no longer exists

Flickr / watchingfrogsboil

The only press that is currently free (at least for now) is the independent publication with no corporate advertisers, board of directors, shareholders or CEOs. Details of how the state has redefined journalism are noted here and are mentioned in #7, but the best recent example would be the government´s treatment of The Guardian over its publication of the Snowden leaks. As a side note, it´s possible this paper plays us as well as any other- The Guardian Media Group isn´t small fry, after all. But on the other hand- bearing in mind points 1 to 9- why should we find it hard to believe that after the NSA files were published, editor Alan Rusbridge was told by the powers that be ´you´ve had your fun, now return the files´, that government officials stormed his newsroom and smashed up hard drives, or that Greenwald´s partner David Miranda was detained for 9 hours in a London airport under the Terrorism Act as he delivered documents related to the columnist´s story? Journalism, Alan Rusbridge lamented, ´may be facing a kind of existential threat.´ As CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather wrote: ‘We have few princes and earls today, but we surely have their modern-day equivalents in the very wealthy who seek to manage the news, make unsavory facts disappear and elect representatives who are in service to their own economic and social agenda… The “free press” is no longer a check on power. It has instead become part of the power apparatus itself.’

18+/21+ P3E, Arctic & VOLUME Presents: Hard Sessions 001:TECHNOBOY

Phase 3 Events, Arctic Productions & Volume Nightclub are teaming up to bring you one of the biggest names in HARDSTYLE, the man credited as the inventor, & pioneer of the genre. the one and only....

Hard Sessions :001
TECHNOBOY

When you randomly ask some Technoboy fans to describe their idol in one sentence, you can be sure the line “he is the King of hardstyle” will be spoken. That’s quite something, being compared to one of the biggest legends in the music industry. But the ones that have heard and seen Technoboy perform during the ten years of his still-going-on-strong career will understand why. Maybe his clothing style is less extreme than how we know the King of rock ‘n’ roll; it’s also flamboyant, trendy and something that goes hand in hand with his personality. His enormous collection of Nikes in all shapes and colors will most probably contain some blue and suede ones. And although the hip shakes of Elvis will never be beaten, when the Italian hardstyle DJ is performing he doesn’t stop moving behind his DJ-booth. But the most important similarity is that both icons ARE their music. When you say hardstyle, you say Technoboy.

The story of Technoboy starts in Bologna, Italy in the second half of the 80’s, when a hard-working schoolboy named Cristiano Giusberti stepped into a local discotheque for the first time. What was nothing more to his peers than a night out without having to bother about books and teachers, appeared to be a life-changing event for Cristiano. It was like every fiber of his body soaked up the music and he knew after that night what his destiny was: to be that guy on the podium, making people feel the same as he just experienced. Some years, much practicing and a lot of money spent on dance records later, Cristiano became that guy.

In 1992 Cristiano’s musical career started. As DJ Gius he was offered a residency in an Italian club and in the following years many other clubs, like Pachito Club, Elixer Vitae, Escape, Station and East Side were added to his curriculum. In 1992 Giusberti also started working as an A&R manager for 'Route 66 Music Market for DJ's' and four years later also for ‘Arsenic Sound’. That’s where a new chapter in Cristiano’s life emerged: next to playing music, he started producing it. Again, his musical talents didn’t stay unnoticed: in 1999 he achieved worldwide fame with his DJ Gius remix of the track ‘Kernkraft 400’ by the German techno/electro project Zombie Nation. It was an important year for Giusberti: he also joined ‘Alternative Sound Planet’, that is part of one of the biggest record companies in the world: The SAIFAM Group. After finishing two tracks for the ‘Titanic’ label in October, Cristiano needed a cool and catchy alias for his production work. In Italy, ‘techno’ was a generic name for the different styles in dance music. It sounded good together with ‘boy’: Technoboy was born.

Technoboy gave a name and face to a musical style that took the dance scene by storm. Hard, energetic and banging dance music, but always supplied with a touch of Italian class and style: there couldn’t be a better name for it than hardstyle. In 2001, after almost a decade of performing as DJ Gius, Cristiano stepped into a plane to Holland, the dance capital of the world, where he played his first gig as DJ Technoboy. He injected his beats into the crowd and within a couple of years, the whole country was infected by the Italian hardstyle virus. And not only Holland: Technoboy made people in countries like Germany, France, Italy, South-Africa and Australia shake their hips, stomp their feet and clap their hands. He was a headliner at every major hardstyle event on the globe: famous Dutch parties like Mystery Land, (45,000 visitors), Hard Bass (12,000 visitors), Decibel Outdoor (20,000 visitors), Qlimax (25,000 visitors), Defqon.1 Festival (30,000 visitors) and Sensation Black (40.000) and parties like Tomorrowland (Belgium), Sonic (Switzerland), Planetlove (Ireland) and Airbeat One (Germany) are on his résumé. In 2009, X-Qlusive Technoboy was added to this list and this night, where everything revolved around Cristiano Giusberti and his music, was a crown on his career and a night he and his fans will never forget.

With more labels than any other hardstyle artist under his belt (Dance Pollution, Red Alert, Titanic Records, Bonzai Italy, Green Force and BLQ), Cristiano released an uncountable amount of tracks under more than 30 different aliases, such as Pacific Link, The Hose, Giada, The KGB's, Citizen, TNT, Hardstyle Masterz, Tuneboy, 2 Best Enemies and, of course, Technoboy. He did remixes for the biggest names in the hardstyle scene, mixed CD’s and has a discography that one easily could fill a book with.

Technoboy, the King of hardstyle: the comparison may be clear. And the good news is that Cristiano didn’t intend to leave the building yet: his main goal for the future is to spread his hardstyle-word all over the planet and share his unconditional love for his music with as many people as possible!

more info soon to come.

Presale tickets available at brownpapertickets.com
$20 Tier 1 GA
$25 Tier 2 GA
$30 Tier 3 GA Door

$40 VIP Tier 1
$50 VIP Tier 2 Door

There are a LIMITED number of tickets available for this event.

What Does The Government Shutdown Mean For NASA?

The MAVEN Mars mission launch is among those activities that could be affected by the U.S. federal government shutdown. Credit: NASA/GSFC

A forthcoming NASA launch to Mars could be in danger of losing its launch window should a shutdown in the United States federal government that began today (Oct. 1) continue for a while. That’s just one of the ways in which NASA is affected amid a lapse of funding that is affecting all government agencies and an untold number of government contractors.

Around 97% of NASA’s 18,000 employees are off the job. Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and other social media accounts are going dark. NASA’s website is being pulled offline. NASA Television has also ceased broadcasting.

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Beyond the agency’s public face, activities ranging from certain commercial crew payouts, to conference attendance, to scientific work will cease. Awards and scholarship approvals will be delayed.
“NASA will shut down almost entirely,” said President Barack Obama in a speech late Monday (Sept. 30).

In addition to the agency’s public relations activities, NASA is planning to launch the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft to Mars in November to examine the Red Planet’s atmosphere. There are all sorts of questions vexing scientists concerning that planet, with one of the most prominent ones being why the atmosphere thinned over the years.
Media reports indicate that if the shutdown is lengthy, MAVEN could miss the launch window and have to try again in 2016.
“A shutdown could delay the pre-launch processing currently under way with a possible impact to the scheduled Nov. 18 launch date,” Dwayne Brown, a NASA senior public affairs officer at NASA, told The Planetary Society in a story published yesterday (Sept. 30). The launch window extends for several weeks beyond that time, however.
The 3% of NASA employees who are deemed essential will work without pay until the situation is resolved. These are some of the things that will continue:

The International Space Station. Credit: NASA

• International Space Station monitoring will be maintained, but with the bare minimum of ground crew. (NASA will cease regular updates of the astronauts’ activities during the furlough, although we presume if something urgent happened there would be an update.)
• Robotic missions that are already in operation — think the Cassini spacecraft circling Saturn, or the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) winging its way to the moon — will have small crews making sure that they are functioning properly. No scientific analysis will be conducted, though.
• Certain other programs will continue if a shutdown would be detrimental to their performance. Space News reports that the much-delayed James Webb Space Telescope will be among them, as some of its instruments are undergoing cryogenic vacuum testing at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
• Update, 1:09 p.m. EDT: Several missions run out of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Applied Physics Laboratory are running as usual for at least the next week because these facilities are running under contracted money from NASA and still have funds in the bank. According to the Planetary Society’s Emily Lakdawalla: “At JPL, that includes: Curiosity; Opportunity; Odyssey; Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; Cassini; Dawn; Juno; Spitzer; the Voyagers; and WISE, among many others. At APL, that includes MESSENGER and New Horizons. It also includes the Deep Space Network.”

Additional Update, 2:09 p.m. EDT: The HiRISE twitter account just replied to inquiries from several space journalists that they will be “open for business” as usual, which is great news since the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter made an audacious attempt to take images of Comet ISON during the comet’s closest approach to Mars today. We’ll provide any news and updates on images as they become available, but the HiRISE team said getting the images back to Earth and processing them may take a day or two.

Many observers noted that NASA is marking its 55th anniversary today by shutting down its activities. There’s no word yet on when the deadlock in Congress will be resolved. The last two shutdowns in 1995 and 1996 (which began in the middle of the STS-74 shuttle mission to Mir) lasted several weeks.

Tom Clancy dies at age 66

Clancy died on Tuesday in Baltimore, Maryland.

Best-selling US author Tom Clancy has died at the age of 66, his publisher Penguin has confirmed.

Clancy wrote a string of best-selling spy and military thrillers. His 17th novel, Command Authority, is due out in December.
Several of his books featuring CIA analyst Jack Ryan have been adapted into successful Hollywood films.
The former insurance broker died in a Baltimore hospital near his Maryland home, according to reports.
Clancy, who died on Tuesday, was remembered as "a master of his craft" by Tom Weldon, chief executive of Penguin Random House UK.
"Tom Clancy changed readers' expectations of what a thriller could do," he said. "He will be greatly missed by millions of fans in the UK and around the world."
'Real gentleman' Written in his spare time, The Hunt for Red October (1984) was Clancy's first published novel and sold more than five million copies.
President Ronald Reagan helped to fuel the success of the book when he called it a "perfect yarn".

Archive: Tom Clancy talks about his prophetic '9/11' plot

The novel was made into a film in 1990, starring Alec Baldwin as Ryan and Sir Sean Connery as Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius.
Baldwin paid tribute to "the great writer Tom Clancy" on Twitter, remembering him as "a real gentleman of the old school".
Harrison Ford went on to play Ryan in film versions of Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, while Ben Affleck played him in 2002 release The Sum of All Fears.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, a new film to feature the character directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh, is set for release this December.
Clancy usually wrote a book a year, making him one of the wealthiest authors in the world.
In 2002 he was ranked at 10 in Forbes magazine's Celebrity 100 list with estimated earnings of $47.8m (£33m).
As well as a successful writer, Clancy also became closely associated with the world of video gaming.

Continue reading the main story

TOM CLANCY IN BRIEF

• The Hunt for Red October was Clancy's first published book, launching his career as a successful writer in 1984
• Red October spawned a Hollywood film as well as a naval war game
• In all he wrote and co-wrote 20 books, including 17 New York Times number one best-sellers
• In 1993 he joined a group of investors to buy the Baltimore Orioles baseball team
• Clancy wrote about commercial airliners being used as missiles several years before the attacks in the US on 11 September 2001
• The French video game manufacturer Ubisoft purchased the use of Clancy's name for an undisclosed sum in 2008
• Clancy's final novel, Command Authority, is due to be published in December 2013

In the 1990s he founded Red Storm Entertainment, later bought by Ubisoft, which developed games based on Clancy's ideas.

Blockbuster video game titles bearing his name included Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six.
"Tom Clancy was an extraordinary author with a gift for creating detailed, engrossing fictional stories that captivated audiences around the world," said Ubisoft on its Facebook page.
"We are humbled by the opportunity to carry on part of his legacy through our properties that bear his name."
British author Barbara Taylor-Bradford also paid tribute to Clancy on her website.
"I'm stunned to learn of the sudden passing of [a] legendary novelist," she wrote. "A remarkable talent whose books and movie adaptations held me captive for many enjoyable hours."
Clancy was known for his technically detailed espionage and military science storylines. One, written in 1994, told of a crazed Japan Airlines pilot who flies into the Capitol building in Washington.
In a 2003 interview, CNN presenter Wolf Blitzer suggested his precise accounts of the US military techniques were giving away secrets to terrorists.
"I never got any fan mail from Osama bin Laden, and I don't really know how many books I sold in Afghanistan," the author replied.
"You have to talk to the marketing people about that. But I'm not really concerned about it."
"He was ahead of the news curve and sometimes frighteningly prescient," said Ivan Held, president of Penguin imprint G P Putnam's Sons.
"To publish a Tom Clancy book was a thrill every time."

Fedde Le Grand Rocks Amsterdam - beamed live around the world!

One of the true highlights of ADE week, Fedde Le Grand’s annual road-block event is back for 2013, boasting a stellar line-up of established and upcoming talent and this year, for the first time ever, linking up with the might of global broadcaster MTV.

MTV Presents: Fedde Le Grand Rocks Amsterdam, at Escape Venue on October 18^th in the heart of the Dutch capital, will see the international house titan back on home ground, delivering fans who flock from the four corners of the planet a jaw-dropping showcase in immense beats and earth-shattering electro lines.

Teaming up with Fedde on the night will be a host of musical stars, including Dutch rock stars DI-RECT, who have something particularly special lined up for the night. With 15 years behind them, a new album set for release in 2014 and hits including ‘Times Are Changing’, ‘This Is Who We Are’ and ‘Young Ones’, DI-RECT will prove instantly recognizable to Fedde’s home crowd, as will Fedde’s wing man MC Gee who, alongside host Kubik LeFunk – the voice of ‘Rockin’ N’ Rollin’ – will be on hand to introduce the likes of F-Man, ‘Lion’ collaborator Michael Calfan who jets in from Paris for the occasion, rising stars and Fedde-favourites Roul and Doors and London’s Tim Cullen (MOS) for a night that, with Fedde’s track record and reputation, is guaranteed to supersede expectations.

For those that can’t make it to Amsterdam or indeed through the doors of Escape, fear not. Streaming live on both UPC and YouTube, the event will also be broadcast across a network of radio stations around the world, including Brazil, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Belgium, Greece and the Ukraine, with more to be added over the remaining weeks.

Tickets for MTV Presents: Fedde Le Grand Rocks Amsterdam are available now at (LINK). For more information, visit  

www.feddelegrand.com/ade

www.feddelegrand.com

www.facebook.com/feddelegrand

www.twitter.com/feddelegrand

www.soundcloud.com/feddelegrand

www.youtube.com/feddelegrand

NEW UDG Partners for Czech, Slovak Republic & Japan

DISK Multimedia s.r.o & High Resolution Co. Ltd appointed New UDG Gear Distribution partners for Czech, Slovak Republic & Japan respectively.

UDG Gear proudly presents 2 new distributors to represent UDG Gear in Czech, Slovak Republic & Japan. Being a manufacturer of high-quality, specialist travel gear for DJ and Producers and renowned for our huge range of custom-sized bags, trolleys, MIDI controller cases and accessories, we are confident with the forging of these partnerships, our presence & availability in these emerging markets will be further extended. Endorsees who have trusted UDG GEAR include Tiesto, Carl Cox, Armin van Buuren, Nicky Romero and Fatboy Slim;
DISK Multimedia is a well-established company with over 15 years of operation & is amongst the largest suppliers in the field of image and sound in Czech & Slovak Republic. DISK Multimedia team of experienced professionals are experts in the design and implementation of complex multimedia systems. The experienced & accredited teams of professional have rich technical expertise in offering excellent product support. Other important brands in their portfolio include Ableton, Akai Professional, KRK, Native Instruments, Numark & Røde.

DISK Multiomedia sro. (Czech & Slovak Republic): http://www.disk.cz

Tokyo based High Resolution Co Ltd will be reintroducing UDG GEAR into the Japanese market with greater penetration & reach. The Company has more than 10 years of experience as a distributor of exclusive Producer & DJ equipment in the Japanese audio market having successfully marketed brands like Ableton, Allen & Heath, Focusrite & Novation. “We are confident that with the new partnership, the visibility, presence & availability of our range of merchandise in the Japanese market will be improved” commented UDG founder and CEO Michael Schmeitz.

Website High Resolution (Japan): http://www.h-resolution.com

Amsterdam Dance Event completes festival line-up

With less than three weeks to go, the preparations are in full swing for the eighteenth edition of the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), the world's biggest club festival, and leading conference for electronic music. Today the organization has finalized the already impressive festival line-up with the addition of new names. The five-day ADE Festival, which takes place from 16 to 20 October, includes a record number of national and international artists preforming, no less than 2000 artists taking part in 300 events in 80 locations throughout the city of Amsterdam.

The biggest club festival in the world
Calvin Harris (GB), Carl Cox (GB), Culoe De Song (ZA), Danny Tenaglia (US), Jackson and his Computer Band (FR), Martyn (NL), Nina Kraviz (RU), Seth Troxler (US), Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano (NL), The Martinez Brothers (US), Tiësto (NL), Tom Trago (NL) and many others added to program

In the past three years the ADE Festival has almost doubled in size. This year’s program covers a record number of 80 locations across the city. From traditional venues like Melkweg, Paradiso, Trouw, Escape and Studio 80, to major locations such as the Concertgebouw, the Westergasfabriek, the Convention Factory, Heineken Music Hall, Ziggodome and the RAI Centre, the ADE Festival is truly the biggest club festival in world.

From emerging talent to the absolute world top

An expected 300,000 dance music lovers from around the world will get the chance to spoil themselves with an overwhelming array of national and international artists. For five days, they can choose from over 300 different events where almost every music genre is represented .

The organization is very proud to announce the last selection of artist to perform at the festival:

Adam Beyer (SE), Afrojack (NL), Agoria (FR), Alesso (SE), Alle Farben (DE), Âme (DE), Andhim (DE), Andy C (GB, Armin van Buuren (NL), Awanto 3 (NL), Bakermat (NL), Ben Klock (DE), Ben UFO (GB), Bicep (GB), Black Coffee (ZA), BoeBoe (NL), Calvin Harris (GB), Carl Cox (GB), Carl Craig (US), Chris Liebing (DE), Christian Smith (SE), Chuckie (NL), Cristian Varela (ES), Culoe De Song (ZA), Danny Daze (US), Danny Tenaglia (US), DARKSIDE (US), Dave Clarke (GB), David August (DE), David Guetta (FR), Dennis Ferrer (US), Dixon (DE), DJ Koze (DE), DJ Shadow (US), Dosem (ES), Dubfire (US), Fedde Le Grand (NL), Ferry Corsten (NL), Florian Meindl (DE), Goldfish (ZA), Greg Wilson (GB), Gui Boratto (BR), Guy Gerber (IL), Guy J (IL), Henrik Schwarz (DE), Hernan Cattaneo (AR), Hobo (CA), ISIS (NL), Jackmaster (GB), Jackson and his Computer Band (FR), Jamie Jones (GB), Job Jobse (NL), John Digweed (GB), Joost van Bellen (NL), Joran van Pol (NL), Joris Voorn (NL), Joseph Capriati (IT), Joy Orbison (GB), Julio Bashmore (GB), Kaiserdisco (DE), Karenn (GB), Kollektiv Turmstrasse (DE), Kölsch (DK), Kraak & Smaak (NL), Laurent Garnier (FR), Len Faki (DE), Loco Dice (DE), M.A.N.D.Y. (DE), Maceo Plex (US), Magda (PL), Mano Le Tough (DE), Marcel Fengler (DE), Martin Buttrich (DE), Martin Garrix (NL), Martyn (NL), Mathew Jonson (CA), Maya Jane Coles (GB), Michael Mayer (DE), Midland (GB), Moderat (DE), Moguai (DE), Moodymann (AR), Motor City Drum Ensemble (DE), Nic Fanciulli (GB), Nina Kraviz (RU), Oliver Huntemann (DE), Pachanga Boys (DE), Paco Osuna (ES), Patrice Bäumel (NL, Paul Oakenfold (GB), Pete Tong (GB), Quintino (NL), Ricardo Villalobos (CL), Richie Hawtin (CA), San Proper (NL), Sander Kleinenberg (NL), Sander van Doorn (NL), Seth Troxler (US), Shermanology (NL), Sidney Samson (NL), Solomun (DE), Soul Clap (US), Speedy J (NL), Stefano Noferini (IT), Stephan Bodzin (DE), Steve Angello (SE), Steve Bug (DE), Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano (NL), Tale Of Us (IT), The Darkraver (NL), The Martinez Brothers (US), The Partysquad (NL), Tiësto (NL), Tiga (CA), Todd Terje (NO), Tom Trago (NL), Vato Gonzalez (NL), Wolf + Lamb (US), Yellow Claw (NL) and many others.

The full program can be found at www.a-d-e.nl

Steve Aoki: "I am not a Real Dj and my Dj career is an absurd joke"

Fans of " DJ " Steve Aoki are in a state of shock when he learned that Mr. Aoki is actually a performance artist who has participated in a finely orchestrated masterpiece and prolonged performance has encapsulated all aspects of his life. The news comes after it emerged that Mr. Aoki has been awarded a Special Prize of the American Council for the Performing Arts ( ACPA ) for the project that has taken almost the entire adult life of Mr. Aoki .Speaking for the first time about the revelations , Mr. Aoki , receiving his award from Professional selfish , Kanye West , tried to explain the motivation behind the project." I wanted to explore the fickle nature of popular music trends by designing a public figure and the scenario that would push the boundaries of ridiculous behavior at one end and still do to get away with it . "
" For me it's about trying to be as absurd and ridiculous as possible without any of the attendees to be aware , or be deliberately ignored, the sheer absurdity of what they are witnessing. The explosion EDM for me was the perfect vehicle to explore that idea because it seemed that the audience was able to accept without thinking coarser tricks and personalities , "said Aoki ." The show and my life as " DJ " Steve Aoki has evolved over the years," he said. "I had to live every moment as this guy without breaking character. This has always been the hardest part , seeing this clown make and not be able to say 'Hey guys, it's not real " ."I kept adding more and more unnecessary vulgarity in the show , flashing lights, topless entertainment , fool , Indian headdresses , trampolines . I kept thinking that at any time people realize that this was not dance music, but it was an absurd pantomime and the game would be up. But no one has ever suspected . "" Even when I started throwing cake at the hearing, which is intended as a not so subtle reference to the circus that had become my show , the audience just lapped up. Nobody thinks to themselves " oh , look, he began to throw pies in the face of people like a damn clown, surely this can not be the legitimate dance music ? " .ACPA spokesman , Arnold Trumball , described his admiration for the draft Aoki , " is a tour - de-force performance in the method . He has been living as consciously stupid DJ for the past 15 years without breaking character. imagine living every moment as DJ Steve Aoki character? Producing fucking track after track . Attend concert after concert? "Questioned Trumball . " Not being able to keep their hands up to even his closest friends and admit my career as a DJ is an absurd joke ." This is true dedication to their art. "

WALL STREET WHITE PAPER VALUES EDM INDUSTRY AT $20.0 BILLION

Electronic Dance Music (EDM): The Digital Pangaea, the first annual Massive White Paper written by Wall Street veteran John Langdon and his company Massive Advisors, LLC shows the current reach, influence and true value of the global EDM Industry. It's an econometric market study of the global electronic dance music market and culture. Despite its growing popularity, studies on the macroeconomic impact of EDM are rare. Much less an all encompassing report that combines public and proprietary data to show the true figures of the industry.

The findings of the Massive White Paper show the EDM industry still is often completely ignored or misunderstood by governments and businesses worldwide -- from traditional music distributors, to apparel brands, to acoustics manufacturers.

The EDM market is a $15.0 to $20.0 billion global industry, with the major players in the global festival market achieving $4.5 billion in sales for 2012. Digital music revenues grew an impressive 9.8% in 2012. This compares to a 17% increase in festival attendees at five top

global festivals and an increase of 33% in the total number of festivals thrown yearly worldwide. The attendance at 20 top global festivals evaluated by Massive Advisors, LLC increased from 1.9 million in 2009 to an estimated 3.4+ million for 2013.

John Langdon and representatives of Massive Advisors will serve as panelists at the Amsterdam Dance Event Radio Forum speaking alongside the world's number one DJ Armin Van Buuren (Amsterdam, October 16 – 20). They will discuss the state of the dance music industry, DJing, producing, and technology and the future of dance music.

John Langdon has over 23 years of middle-market private equity experience on Wall Street, and most recently was Managing Director of the $2.8 billion private equity fund Platinum Equity, as co-head of PLMM, Platinum Equity's lower middle market investment group.

Please find the full Chairman's Letter to the comprehensive Massive White Paper at

www.massiveadvisors.com

ALESSO Announces November North American Tour

ALESSO—real-name Alessandro Lindblad, a Stockholm native of Italian ancestry and Sweden's hottest new export--has announced his first full North American Tour.  After selling out the famous Brixton Academy in London and teasing the internet with CCTV footage, an Uprising will be coming across the Atlantic this November.  Pre-sale tickets will be available this Wednesday, September 18 starting at 10 am at www.alessoworld.com/wanttickets.com with general on sale starting this Friday, September 20 at 10 am via www.alessoworld.com. 

Launching November 2 with his residency show at LIGHT at Mandalay Bay in Los Vegas, ALESSO’s tour covers most major North American cities with stops at such landmark venues as Sound Academy in Toronto, The Shrine in Los Angeles, The Park at Petco Park in San Diego and Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.  There is alsoa major New Years Eve show at Pier 94 in New York City.

The producer, who just wrapped filming a video in Los Angeles with Calvin Harris and Theo Hurts for their new and as yet unreleased song, “Under Control,” explained what the tour was about:

''I have only been DJ'ing in front of crowds for just over two years.  My fifth show was main stage EDC in Vegas and now I am playing huge venues and writing with legends like Calvin Harris and Ryan Tedder. Throughout the tour I will be giving away and premiering music that maps my two year journey, which has been the best two years of my life, thanks to all of you.

At the same time while I have travelled all around the world I have watched the scene I enjoy so much see the same rise. I have seen crowds from Asia to India to all across Europe and America as well as in my home country of Sweden, grow so fast it’s incredible. I never fully understand how the music travels so fast to every corner of the globe so when I land crowds are singing my brand new music right back at me…there is no feeling like that in the world….and it inspires me all the time.

I felt like this huge explosion was as amazing for everyone else as it was for my own personal journey, like we were all in this together, taking to the dance floor, hands in the air, like it was an Uprising. Electronic music has re-written the rules on how we all go out, and every time I look a crowd in the eye I feel part of something.  I feel like we grew up together while the world watches! And so Uprising will take to the streets in November, I hope you will join me, and I will announce more dates as soon as I can for the rest of the world''

ALESSO has had a massive year with main stage shows at Ultra, Summerburst Sweden, Electric Zoo NYC (listen here: http://smarturl.it/AlessoEZoo), Creamfields, Dance Valley Holland, Tomorrowlands, Radio 1 Ibiza and Departures Ibiza, supporting Swedish House Mafia on One Last Tour  and residency at The Light Vegas.  Next he will appear at Tomorroworld at the end of September in Atlanta and the Stereosonic Festival in Australia in November.

From his debut single “Nillionaire” and breaking through with the dark and energized “Raise Your Head,” ALESSO has had successive Beatport chart toppers via Refune Records label of Sebastian Ingrosso of Swedish House Mafia who signed the artist to his label and management company two years ago. His discography is one to be desired, with “Calling” alongside Sebastian Ingrosso, “Years” ft Matthew Koma, the 2013 summer anthem “If I Lose Myself,” a One Republic remix to his latest collaboration with Calvin Harris featuring  Theo Hurts, “Under Control.”  Expect all these tracks and new material on the tour and ways to download them via his website.

ALESSO’s North American Uprising dates are as follows:

DATE		CITY	VENUE
Sat	11/2	Las Vegas, NV	Light
Fri	11/8	Toronto, ON	Sound Academy
Sat	11/9	Montreal QC	New City Gas
Sun	11/10	Vancouver, BC	PNE
Wed	11/13	Las Vegas NV	Light
Thu	11/14	Seattle, WA	Showbox at Sodo
Fri	11/15	San Diego, CA	Petco Parking Lot of Baseball Stadium
Sat	11/16	Las Vegas, NV	Light
Wed	11/20	Boston, MA	House of Blues
Thu	11/21	Detroit, MI	The Fillmore
Fri	11/22	Los Angeles, CA	Shrine
Sat	11/23	Chicago, IL	Aragon Ballroom
Sat	12/28	Washington, DC	Echostage
Tue	12/31	New York, NY	Pier 94

www.alessoworld.com

Steve Aoki admits using pirated softwares

Several weeks ago jumped the controversy. In the video presentation of the collaboration between Linkin Park and Steve Aoki, an image of the American betrayed laptop using pirated software belonging to a famous pirate website.

Steve Aoki letter to his personal blog:
"It has come to my attention that some of my followers have done with a screen capture pirated software in the Youtube video I did with Linkin Park. To clarify, I have registered the software properly, Sylenth, for more than four years in the computer in my study. Herewith the receipt and a screenshot of the connector, recorded by my trusty assistant Jacob Lee. This is the computer I use in all my productions, including 'a Light That Never Comes with Linkin Park.

But to be honest to the truth this screenshot belongs to my laptop (with which ground punch). Use five or six of them a year, often bought on the way. After my latest purchase, I asked my team if he could help me to install my software team and apparently Jacob asked the authorization code and installed a pirated version.

So I apologize to all the good people of Lennar Digital and I have to thank my fans that reported the error, which has now been rectified. "

World-renowned Italian producer and DJ Benny Benassi is releasing a brand new “Basic Edit” of his latest single “Dance The Pain Away” featuring multi Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter John Legend 6th October via Ultra Music. The new edit has warranted a remixed version of the original “Dance The Pain Away” video (featuring both Benny Benassi and John Legend) and can be viewed on YouTube

 

Co-produced with his production partner and cousin Alle Benassi, “Dance The Pain Away” is a bona fide summer anthem that will ignite the crowds this festival season. The duo unveiled the original version of “Dance The Pain Away” to the world at this year’s Coachella (Saturday, April 13) when Legend made a special surprise appearance during Benny's stellar performance at the Sahara Tent. Featured by CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Fuse and USA Today, who highlighted the performance as one of Saturday’s best surprises, the set was one of the most memorable moments at Coachella 2013. 

 

To accompany the single, Benny also unleashed special remixed versions of the track from some of the world’s top producers in electronic music today, including Daddy's Groove, Alex Guadino and Jason Rooney, Dyro, Jimmy Carris,Tom Swoon and DEVolution, as well as a special mashup from Gaudino and Benassi himself. You can pre-order the single package on iTunes here: http://bit.ly/19aaZJK.

 

The official music video was directed by Cameron Duddy. The video brings the song to life as it takes fans on a scenic drive along the famed Pacific Coastal Highway in Los Angeles with Benny Benassi behind the wheel of a classic Porsche 550 Spyder. Featuring John Legend and Benny Benassi, the video grips the gut of the track and captures the essence of searching for escape.

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syxZ_vUKDFU&feature=player_embedded

 

www.bennybenassi.com

www.facebook.com/bennybenassi

Armin van Buuren wins 5 years in a row at DJ Awards

Amsterdam, September 30th 2013 – Last night, at the DJ Awards show in Ibiza’s famous club Pacha, Armin van Buuren was awarded for ‘Best International DJ’ and ‘Best Trance DJ’. It is the fifth year in a row that the Dutch DJ returns home with the prestigious award for ‘Best Trance DJ’, and third year for ‘Best International DJ’ – as voted by ten-thousands of EDM lovers from all across the globe.

‘Best International DJ’ & ‘Best Trance DJ’

The DJ Awards is a non-profit organisation, created to recognise and celebrate the talents of the greatest DJ’s since 1998. The annual award show is a highlight of the summer season, held in Ibiza, the dance music capital during the summer months.

Armin is currently preparing for his Armin Only – Intense world-tour that kicks off in November, as well as the A State of Trance 650 world-tour of early 2014. Armin just released 'Beautiful life' the second single of his album 'Intense'. 

For more information, check www.arminvanbuuren.com, www.arminonly.com or www.astateoftrance.com.

‘Major EDM venue’ Q nightclub prepares for first dance on Broadway

Your tour guide: Scott Smith (Image: CHS)

As Capitol Hill nightclub Q wraps up construction in preparation for its debut on the dance floor next week, it’s pretty clear the partners behind the project Scott Smith and Andy Rampl have one aspect of the business down pat: hype.
Last week, Smith began leading a series of tours including media, neighbors and curious parties from neighborhood businesses through Q’s construction zone to show off the new space and help stoke the fires of excitement as the new electronic music-focused dance club is readied for its first weekend of business.
The converted auto garage on Broadway just off Pike (during one of our first visits, a potential customer drove into the space and asked for an estimate) is being transformed into a 12,000 square foot dance, bar and lounge space designed by project architects Bohlin Cywinski Jackson.  20-foot ceilings rise above. Walls will be lit with digital color washes and the club can be sectioned off to a 5,000 square-foot venue by sleek aluminum curtains on slower weeknights. A duo of DJ booths and a major investment in bleeding edge equipment round out the spend.

BEFORE: A 2011 visit to the space (Image: CHS)

AFTER: The view from the floor DJ booth (Image: CHS)

Powerful power (Image: Q)

Q’s investment in electronic dance music will be pushed forward by Seattle DJ Kevin Kauer. DJ Nark as he is known was hired this summer to be the creative director at the club. Ken Batali and Ryan Schmitt are in charge of the food and drink end of things and are working out partnerships with local caterers for happy hour action as well as hoping to connect with a few nearby restaurants. By the way, if you’d like to work at Q, they’re hiring.
DJ nights and the works are still being sorted out as are cover charges, we’re told. The construction budget for the project is listed at a modest $500,000. We suspect Smith and Rampl are shelling out a touch more beyond the buildout — though Smith told CHS that his contractors at Dovetail (a CHS advertiser) came up with a lot of solutions that saved him money along the way.

Putting the finishing touches on Q’s bar (Image: CHS)

We originally told you about the first plans for Q back in summer 2010. At that point, the club was planned for a subterranean space beneath 12th Ave at Pike. “It’s going to be big,” Smith told us way back then. “We have a lot of space. But I’ve done this before in New York. It’s not going to be for everybody but it’s going to be done right.”
Back in Chelsea, Smith says he was a part of the creation of XL, a gay club that came and went and came again. XL’s gloss is now history. Here’s what Seattle’s media had to say about their Q tours:

• The Stranger: “As you enter Q, you walk down a long corridor before countenancing the 1300 square foot main dance floor, which has an odd, curvaceous shape to it. There will be elevated spots on which to shake moneymakers, and the Funktion One sound system, fitted with huge bass bins, promises to make said shaking easy to do. There are two DJ booths, both of which are inaccessible to trainspotters. SJ Lighting—which has illuminated huge dance fests like Ultra and Electric Daisy Carnival—will be responsible for the lighting. One odd fact about this system is it can be controlled and/or troubleshooted (troubleshot?) remotely by smartphone.”
• Seattle Gay News: “Smith and Schmitt have not been nauseating in their posturing, have not been publicly venomous to already existing LGBTQ-owned and operated businesses on the Hill, and have really put a lot of work into Q. Isn’t it amazing how a business owner and manager can actually accomplish something when they aren’t worried about everyone else? “
• Seattle Times: “About the size of a roller rink and with speakers lacing the ceiling the whole way back, the almost-finished Q Nightclubl looks to be a massive addition to Seattle’s music life at night.”
• Seattle Met: “At 12,000 square feet and with a capacity of 700, Q is expansive, to say the least.”

A design rendering from the planning days at Q (Image: Q)

Q hits the dance floor as Capitol Hill’s other new nightclub venue is working to find its rhythm on E Olive Way. The Social debuted in May but has already seen some big changes. Smith said he’s pulling for his rookie counterpart. “A high tide raises all boats,” he said.
Meanwhile, some of the Hill’s veteran dance venues have also faced challenges in recent times and mostly overcome them. CHS reported on the challenges faced by Neighbors as the City of Seattle required a series of upgrades to allow the club to continue at full capacity.
Q will hit the ground at several beats per minute. Following its planned September 8th opening — VIPs party the night before, by the way — Q is jumping into things with both feet with plans to be part of the 2012 Decibel Festival at the end of the month.