PRIORY SHARES STUDIO LIFE IN THE MIX WITH HK™

Priory is that underdog band that stops at nothing in their attempt to make it big. The duo Brandon Rush and Kyle Sears are music obsessed friends with sick talent. They quit their day jobs and sold all earthly possessions including their own blood plasma (now that’s dedication!) to make ends meet and build a studio in a decrepit Portland cement factory. These guys put everything on the line for bodacious beats and now their jam Weekend just broke the Media Base Top 40 and Priory is named one of MTV’s 2015 Artists to Watch! This week I talk with Priory about how their album came together and the trials and tribulations of building, owning and running your own studio.

Like Priory says “It’s the Weekend” and that means a bass banging party on In The Mix with HK™! Set your volume to sonic blast cause I’m hittin’ you hard with custom HK remixes of Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk, Taylor Swift – Style, Ella Henderson – Ghost, Imagine Dragons – I Bet My Life, Jessie J – Masterpiece, Nick Jonas – Chains, Selena Gomez – Heart Wants What It Wants and SO MUCH MORE!

This Valentines weekend the heart wants all the hits like you’ve never heard them before! So tune in for an In The Mix with HK™ event that’ll keep your heart poundin’!

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.

COPYRIGHT DISPUTES AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY (or is it that hard to write an original song and/or pay for sampling)

Believe it or not since the 1850’s federal courts have been dealing with copyright infringement. Back then you think it would be a lot easier to come up with an original piece of music. Over the past twenty years the number of these cases has blown up. Is it that there’s so much music out there it’s hard to come up with a new groove, or is it the whole sampling thing? At any rate the list of artists being slapped with copyright lawsuits is long.

Way back, Michael Bolton released a song with the same name and some of the same lyrics as The Isley Brothers. Michael argued that there was no plagiarism going on but the court disagreed and awarded the Isley Brothers 5.4 million dollars. Bet the Isley Brothers wished he would rip off more of their beats. Then there was the time Vanilla Ice penned Ice Ice Baby and didn’t realize that altering the rhythm and base line of Queen & Bowie’s Under Pressure wasn’t enough to call it your own and skip the whole getting permission, giving credit and paying royalties thing.  More recently Usher, David Guetta, Kanye West, Will.I.Am, Chris Brown, Led Zeppelin (Yes, Led Zepplin), Justin Bieber, Beyonce and Jay Z are on the short list of those sued for copyright infringement.

The trial over Blurred Lines starts next month and has Pharrell and Robin Thicke hoping they won’t Got To Give It Up to Marvin Gaye's estate. Then just this week Sam Smith very quietly and classily settled a dispute with Tom Petty over the likeness between Sam’s three-time Grammy- nominated Stay With Me and Petty’s I Won't Back Down. Sam’s camp says the similarity is a “complete coincidence”.

What isn’t a complete coincidence is that sparks will be flyin’ off the ones and two's when I hit you up with custom HK remixes this weekend. You’re gonna want to turn the volume way up when I rework Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk , Alesso -  Heroes, Calvin Harris featuring John Newman – Blame, Ella Henderson - Ghost, Nick Jonas – Chains, Taylor Swift – Style and so much more!   

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.

MUSIC IN THE TWITTERSPHERE

We always knew music ruled the world.  Now, according to Twitter, music is the MOST discussed topic on their social media site. The Twitter class of 2014 shapes up like this…Justin Bieber was the most tweeted about artist. Pharell's Happy was the most tweeted about song. Beyonce' had the most tweeted about album. Katy Perry has the most followers, but 2015 is my year to catch her (haha!). Come on people! We can do this! Follow me on twitter @HowardHKKessler and you could walk away with cool limited edition HK swag! Winners are randomly selected monthly.

Your tweeters and woofers are gonna be thumpin’ big time this weekend when I drop the needle on custom HK remixes. Get ready to tweet about my amped up versions of Calvin Harris – Blame, Hozier – Take Me To Church, Nick Jonas – Jealous, Jessie J f/2 Chainz + more! It's gonna get turnt up with new joints from One Republic, The Script, Hoodie Allen, Ella Henderson and Betty Who.

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're IN THE MIX WITH HK™.

TAYLOR SWIFT CAN'T SHAKE OFF SUCCESS!

There is success and then there’s “Taylor Swift Success”. At a time when album sales are way way down, her new album, 1989, sold over one million copies in its first week of release. To put it in perspective, that is two copies being sold every second!  Making it the biggest album released in 2014. In fact no other single artist album has gone platinum all…year...long, not  even Beyoncé’s secret album or Lord’s Pure Heroine.  And Taylor did it in just a week!!! Hmmmm… I wonder who last rang up that cray zay amount of sales in a mere seven days??? Oh yeah, the last artist to sell one million albums in one week was… what’s her name again… that would be Taylor Swift with her Red album in 2012!!!! Actually it’s a hat trick. Her 2010 album Speak Now also went platinum in a week. Making Ms. Swift the only act EVER to have three albums sell a million copies in a weeks’ time!

Well, so much for feeling good about what I did last week. I guess I'm just gonna have to Shake It Off. That’s right, I’m comin’ in hot this weekend with custom HK remixes on Taylor, Jessie J + company, Calvin Harris, Gwen Stefani, Maroon 5, Nick Jonas, Alesso, Echosmith and a list to long to name here! Plus brand new bangers from David Guetta, Charli XCX, Ella Henderson, Naughty Boy, R3hab + more!.

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're IN THE MIX WITH HK™.

THE NEW ROAD TO STARDOM

It wasn't that long ago a talented singer, songwriter or musician played in every bar, joint, dive and street corner they could  - while simultaneously shopping their demo to every record label on the planet.  The path to musical fame and fortune has always been founded in talent, timing and a little luck. But nowadays  being on a reality TV show or getting millions of views (are they real?) on YouTube sure helps.

We may never have come to love Karmin, Nicki Minaj, Justin Beiber, Adel or even Avicii if they didn’t post their music on social media when they were unknown and unsigned. Would One Direction, Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood be where they are today if it wasn’t for reality music shows? Probably not!

Then you have artists like  Colbie Caillat, Jennifer Hudson and Kat Perkins who were either rejected or lost (for lack of another term) on shows like American Idol and The Voice, but landed record deals or success on their own. Maybe the best route to stardom is do it all as often as possible and then do it again and again and again. One thing I know for sure…social media's influence and music competition shows on TV have changed the musical landscape forever and are not going away anytime to soon. They have also become an undeniable resource in the making of the modern pop star.

This weekend I’ll be doing my part to effect the sonic landscape with exclusive HK remixes on Pitbull, Coldplay, Calvin Harris, Mary Lambert and more of your faves! Plus brand new bangers on Taylor Swift, Fall Out Boy, Ingrid Michaelson, Bastille, Bebe Rexha and Ella Henderson.

Tune in to make sure you don't miss a single second.

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix With HK™.