Epic Records chairman/CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid quits as a judge on Fox's "The X Factor"

Now that Epic Records chairman/CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid has quit as a judge on Fox's "The X Factor" U.S., insiders say his departure from the show will affect the relationship between "The X Factor" U.S. and Sony Music, which has a partnership with "The X Factor" to sign the show's winners from around the world. Sony Music and "The X Factor" executive producer Simon Cowell co-own the record company Syco Music.

Sony Music is the parent company to several record labels, including:
Syco Music
Epic Records
Columbia Records
RCA Records
Sony Classical
Sony Music Nashville
Legacy

Sony also used to be the parent company for Jive Records, Arista Records and J Records, but those labels were shut down in October 2011, and most of the artists on those three labels were relocated to RCA Records.

Syco partners with Epic Records or Columbia Records to market and promote almost all "X Factor" alumni. But with Reid's departure from "The X Factor" U.S., Columbia Records may end up being favored as the label that will get more new acts from Syco.

Reid quit "The X Factor" U.S. in December 2012, because he said he wanted to spend more time focusing on his job at Epic Records. But his "X Factor" exit apparently wasn't that amicable, since representatives from the show refused to comment for four days after Reid announced that he was quitting. He also didn't get a big farewell in the show's Season 2 finale, which Fox televised in two parts on December 19 and 20, 2012.

Cowell and Reid were on the original "X Factor" U.S. judging panel when the show launched in 2011. Reid ended his "X Factor" stint in 2012 by mentoring the Season 2 winner, 37-year-old country singer Tate Stevens, who is signed to Syco/Sony Music Nashville. Country music is not Reid's area of expertise, so he will not be that involved in Stevens' career moving forward.

Cowell is guaranteed to return to "The X Factor" U.S. for the show's third season in 2013. In 2012, Britney Spears and Demi Lovato replaced fired judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, but Cowell and "X Factor" representative aren't commenting on whether or not Spears and Lovato are returning to the judges' panel in 2013. They also aren't commenting on who might replace Reid, who has publicly stated that he would like Jon Bon Jovi to be his replacement. "The X Factor" U.S. judging panel for the show's third season should be officially announced by May 2013.

Sources told me that Cowell really didn't want Reid to leave "The X Factor" but there has been some tension between Cowell and Reid because Epic Records has failed to have a Billboard Hot 100 hit with any of the songs released by "X Factor" U.S. alumni who are signed to Epic. Reid also hinted at some dissatisfaction with the "X Factor" U.S. acts that are signed to Epic, when he said in a "Jimmy Kimmel Live" interview in November 2012: "I sign everybody. I sign all the losers. I negotiated that before I started doing the show. That was a prerequisite to sitting on the panel."

Epic Records vs. Columbia Records

There could be a battle brewing between Epic and Columbia for "The X Factor" U.S. Season 2 runner-up contestants that are going to be signed to Syco: Carly Rose Sonenclar (second place), Fifth Harmony (third place), and Emblem3 (fourth place). Sources say that Reid really wants to sign Sonenclar and Emblem3 to Epic, but given Reid's departure from "The X Factor" and the fact that Epic hasn't had any big hits with "X factor" U.S. alumni, Columbia could put up a fight for any of these artists too.

Complicating matters is the change in regime at Columbia Records. In October 2012, reports surfaced that chairman/COO Steve Barnett is leaving Columbia in 2013. It has been widely reported (but not officially announced yet) that Barnett is going to Universal Music Group (a Sony Music rival), where he will be the head of the Capitol Label Group. (Capitol was previously owned by EMI until Universal bought a majority stake in EMI in 2012.) Barnett's contract with Sony Music ends in March 2013. There is no word yet on who's replacing Barnett at Columbia, but Columbia co-chairman/CEO Rob Stringer is expected to stay with the company in 2013.

The "X Factor" alumni signed to Epic Records in the U.S. so far are:
Melanie Amaro, winner of "The X Factor" U.S. in 2011 (signed to Syco/Epic)
Chris Rene, third place on "The X Factor" U.S. in 2011 (signed to Syco/Epic)
Marcus Canty, fourth place on "The X Factor" U.S. in 2011 (signed to Epic)
Astro, seventh place on "The X Factor" U.S. in 2011 (signed to Epic)
Cher Lloyd, fourth place on "The X Factor" U.K. in 2010 (signed to Syco/Epic)

Of these acts, only Lloyd had a big hit in the U.S. in 2012: Her first U.S. single, "Want U Back," reached No. 12 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and sold 2 million copies in the United States. Her debut album, "Stick & Stones," debuted in the U.S. at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart. However, Lloyd's second U.S. single, "Oath" (featuring Becky G.), was a flop. It peaked at No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Insiders are speculating that Lloyd would have been better off having "With Ur Love" (featuring Mike Posner) as her second U.S. single, which was the original plan, but Epic changed those plans and released "Oath" instead. "With Ur Love" was a Top 10 hit in the U.K.

While Epic's relationship with Syco hasn't been as successful as expected, Columbia Records' relationship with Syco was strengthened in 2012, thanks to the massive worldwide sales of One Direction, the boy band that came in third place on "The X Factor" U.K. in 2010. One Direction has become the biggest global act to emerge from "The X Factor," since the group has had No. 1 hits and sold-out tours in several countries. With Columbia's help, One Direction has had the record-breaking accomplishment of being the first British group to have its first two albums debut at No. 1 in the U.S., which was a feat that happened within one year (2012).

The "X Factor" alumni signed to Columbia Records in the U.S. so far are:
Rachel Crow, fifth place "The X Factor" U.S. in 2011 (signed to Syco/Columbia)
Olly Murs, second place on "The X Factor" U.K. in 2009 (signed to Syco/Columbia)
Rebecca Ferguson, second place on "The X Factor" U.K. in 2010 (signed to Syco/Columbia)
One Direction, third place on "The X Factor" U.K. in 2010 (signed to Syco/Columbia)

Crow's self-titled EP (released in June 2012) was a flop, but Crow has had more success as an actress, with guest-starring roles on Nickelodeon shows. Murs' first two U.S. singles ("Heart Skips a Beat" and "Troublemaker") also bombed in the United States. Murs is signed to Syco/Epic in the U.K., where he has had several No. 1 hit singles and albums. The release of his first U.S. album, "Right Place Right Time," was postponed. The album was supposed to be out on December 4, 2012, but the release date was delayed to April 2013.

Ferguson's first album, "Heaven," was a modest hit in the U.S., having debuted at No. 23 when it was released in May 2012, but it dropped off the U.S. charts after a few months. The album's biggest sales boost came from her performances on NBC's "Today" and ABC's "The View" during the week of the album's release. But without substantial U.S. radio airplay and without Ferguson doing a U.S. concert tour in 2012, "Heaven" did not sell as much as it could have in the U.S. if there had been more promotion for it in the U.S.

It should be announced in early 2013 which "X Factor" U.S. runner-up contestants from the show's second season will be signed to Sony Music. It remains to be seen how well these acts will do on the U.S. charts after they release music on Sony.

British singer Gary Barlow is closing his record label

British singer Gary Barlow is closing his record label to focus on his family.

The Take That star set up Future Records in 2009, but the father-of-three has decided to step away from the company to spend more time with his loved ones.

He tells Britain's The Sun newspaper, "It's been a very difficult decision but it came down to time. I've had a lot going on recently and I want to spend more time with my family."

Artists signed to the label are set to be re-housed within parent company Universal.

Reflections on America’s Gun Culture

Reflections on America’s Gun Culture

 by Jessica Stahl

“Shootings in high schools and colleges are unfortunately very ‘American’ things in my mind,” Nareg once wrote on this site. “Maybe it’s because of the media coverage, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard of such tragic incidents with such regularity in other parts of the world.”

Nareg was reacting to a 2010 incident in which a student at the University of Louisville was arrested after pulling a gun at a meeting with faculty. Luckily no one was hurt in that incident, but it certainly wasn’t the first gun-related incident at an educational institution – universities are still reeling from the 2007 shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, when student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people – and, as we found out last week, it’s far from the last.

On Friday, December 14, the U.S. and the world were shocked by news that 20-year-old Adam Lanza had opened fire at a Connecticut elementary school, killing 20 young children and six women.

“I heard the news of this unfortunate event on Friday afternoon as I was coming from my final exam for my first semester in an American college,” said Phillip, a Zimbabwean freshman at Bates College. “I wanted to cry for the loss of the young lives. I wanted to cry for the loss of the creativity, intelligence, talent and enthusiasm for life in those young boys and girls.”

He also said he began to think about the gun culture in America, as did many other international students.

“I arrived in August, just a few weeks after the shock of the Colorado massacre [in which 12 were killed and dozens wounded at a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises"], and yet this ugly and tragic issue has come around again so soon,” reflected Tom, who comes from England and is studying at the University of Maryland.

“I have to admit, one of my earliest concerns when coming to America was my vulnerability to gun crime.”

“I feel safer in my country,” agreed Silu, a Chinese graduate student at Michigan State University. “In China, no individual can own a gun.”

Silu added, “Of course, violence can be presented in different ways,” a fact underscored by a knife attack that wounded 22 children at a Chinese primary school on the same day as the Connecticut shooting. But for her the response to the massacre in Connecticut was simple: “Maybe it is time for the U.S government to reconsider gun control, after all these tragedies.”

A complicated issue

For Americans, however, the issue is not necessarily so clear-cut. While many are vehemently calling for stricter gun control laws to prevent future violence, those defending gun ownership rights react with equal intensity, arguing that self protection is the best way to stop incidents before they turn to mass violence.

It’s not the easiest position for many international students to understand.

“The gun culture of this country is probably the most bewildering thing about America to me,” said Tom.

The U.S. is divided almost down the middle on the issue of gun control, according to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. In their most recent survey, 47% said it was more important to control gun ownership, while 46% said it was more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns.

The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is interpreted as providing the right to bear arms, and as a result some pro-gun groups argue that the government does not have the authority to restrict gun ownership. Gun rights groups also argue that gun ownership is a crime deterrent, and that restricting ownership will only prevent law-abiding citizens, not criminals, from obtaining guns.

Tom described his classmates’ views on gun control like this:

“We have debated this issue a few times in one of my history classes, but in this class full of Americans we always reach the same couple of conclusions; either that ‘this is America, we are free, we are entitled to do what we want’ or that ‘too many people have them now so it would be impossible to suddenly outlaw them.’”

A 10-year federal ban on assault weapons expired several years ago, and the Associated Press wrote that ”since that ban expired in 2004, few Americans have wanted stricter laws and politicians say they don’t want to become targets of a powerful gun-rights lobby.”

The massacre in Connecticut seems to have revived some of the momentum for instituting federal regulations around gun ownership.

How prevalent are guns on campus?

College campuses have been a central focus of the fight over gun control in recent years, with several states reopening the question of whether weapons should be allowed on campus.

Like many other public policies in the U.S., most gun regulations are currently set at a state or local level, rather than by the federal government.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), in 2012 16 states introduced legislation to allow concealed carry of firearms on campus, and three states introduced legislation to prohibit concealed carry. All of those measures failed, save two that are still pending.

Legally, the issue of whether guns are allowed on college campuses isn’t always decided on the basis of whether guns on campus is a good idea, but rather by whether universities can go against the laws of the state. This was the deciding factor in a 2011 case in which the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the state’s Board of Higher Education could not prohibit weapons on college campuses. “The courts are not considering the sort of philosophical or policy issues. They’re looking at the statutes,” University of Denver law professor David Kopel told the Wall Street Journal.

In March 2012, the same reasoning decided a case overturning the University of Colorado’s ban on firearms. As of this year, students 21 and older may carry a gun on campus, as long as they hold a concealed carry permit and keep the weapon hidden. Guns are still banned from sporting events and dorms, and the university has created a special dorm for students who want to bring their guns into their residence.

But Gawker reported that as of November 25, not a single student had elected to move into that special dorm.

In fact, despite the U.S. having the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, weapons are not a common site on college campuses. Firearms are banned at the overwhelming majority of colleges and universities.

Twenty-one states currently ban carrying a concealed weapon on campus, and in 23 additional states the decision is made by each college or university individually, according to the NCSL. There are only five states in which legislation and/or court rulings have allowed the carrying of concealed weapons on campuses.

Feelings of safety

“Today, as I sit writing this, at the Mount Holyoke College campus, I feel very safe,” reflected Javaria, a Pakistani undergraduate student. “I feel that I can walk out of my room and not fear getting shot or robbed by thugs. Yes, the elementary school shooting occurred just a few miles away from me, but I still feel safe.”

She’s not alone. Our bloggers reported their colleges or universities have a number of services to help students stay safe while on campus.

“Living in College Park, I am frequently reminded by the locals that I have to be vigilant since this is a rough area. Having said that, I have never felt particularly unsafe around here as our university has emergency phone booths dotted all around the campus, as well as CCTV and well-lit paths,” reported Tom. “Our student organization has a program to walk home with students who leave after 9 o’clock in the evening,” added Silu.

Phillip shared a link to his college’s protocols for dealing with an active shooter situation. He said finding that information “gave me some relief because it showed that the responsible authorities were somehow equipped to handle such a situation.”

And Nareg and Sebastian, a Bolivian student at the University of Kansas, both reflected that their campuses offer mental health services to help any student who is having a hard time. “If a student shows worrisome tendencies, they usually become clear to those around him, who can hopefully take responsible measures,” said Nareg.

Added Javaria, “It is impossible for them to watch out for any Adam Lanza or Seung-Hui Cho, but I know they will watch out for as long as they can.”

A Tale of Two Immigrant Filmmakers by Ray Kouguell

A Tale of Two Immigrant Filmmakers
by Ray Kouguell


One of the key parts of the immigrant experience is the journey itself. For two Asian-American filmmakers, moving to the United States provided them both opportunity - but under very different circumstances.

Mingh Nguyen, a 40-year old filmmaker based in Los Angeles, arrived in the US from Vietnam in 1982 when he was nine years old. His travels began a year earlier as one of the Vietnamese boat people. Nguyen’s parents lost their business and home after the fall of Saigon. The decision was made to flee and done in secret.

“Somebody would get a boat, and would calculate how many people would be on it, and at night you kind of sneak out and get on that boat,” Nguyen said. “You get out to sea and you try to reach one of the refugee camps in Thailand, the Philippines or Malaysia. We actually got to Thailand.”

It took Nguyen five attempts before finally getting away. “We tried to go all as a family and then we got caught,” he said. “My dad was in jail for eight nine months. The women and kids, like me, were in the jail for about two weeks before we were let out.”

Nguyen remembers living conditions in the refugee camp were crowded, and families split up. Men worked in the field while the women and children performed other jobs.

“My mom was doing cooking duties and things like that. We all had to sleep together in this really huge barracks like a warehouse - like hundreds of people,” Nguyen explained.

After spending a year in a refugee camp off the coast of Thailand, Nguyen received sponsorship from a Catholic group in the United States. He was later flown to San Francisco and settled in San Jose, California.

Transition to a new American way of life was difficult. Nguyen started fourth grade and was scared.

“I went to school and I didn’t speak or write English very well. So for the first few months the teacher just put me in a corner until I was able to get caught up with English and was able to join the other students,” Nguyen said. He admitted being frightened, but said watching television helped him learn English.

Nguyen went to the University of California-Berkeley where he received a degree in molecular biology degree, and followed that with a job at the U-S Department of Agriculture. But Nguyen said he was bored.

He recalls writing short stories at night and later taking creative writing courses. “I remember I was enjoying watching movies and going to see plays, so I tried writing fiction and that really opened the world for me,” Nguyen said. Several of his short stories were published in literary journals.

He attended film school and ultimately switched careers. His feature-length directorial debut is the movie “Touch” - a romantic-drama about an unlikely friendship between a shy Vietnamese-American manicurist and an auto mechanic who is trying to keep his crumbling marriage alive. The film has won a number of awards on the independent film circuit.

Looking back on his life and professional path, Nguyen advised: “With hard work you can follow your dream.”

A CHINESE AMERICAN JOURNEY

For Chinese-American filmmaker Leo Chiang, coming to America was also a parental decision. The 42-year-old San Francisco-based director was 15 when he left Taiwan.

“My parents had decided to send me and my two siblings to the U.S. to get educated, basically. I think that for the rest of the world at that time, American universities were seen as the best,” Chiang said.

Chiang traveled to San Jose, California where family members were there to help him. Chiang admitted it was not always easy to adjust to his new environment.

“Initially it was difficult to blend in. Not speaking the language very well and not knowing the culture very well was a bit difficult,” Chiang said. “I definitely had to go through the English as a second language classes.”

Chiang succeeded and received a degree in electrical engineering at the University of California. It led to a job with Apple Computers. But like Nyguen, he had his doubts.

“I just really couldn’t see myself doing that for a long time. And I was always interested in film, I was a cinephile,” Chiang said. He applied to the University of Southern California’s graduate program in film production “as a fluke” and was admitted.

Chiang quit his job with Apple and became a documentary filmmaker.

The career change was preceded by risks and foresight - initiated, he said, by his life as an immigrant. “I think it would be foolish of people to kind of dive in and come over here without preparation,” Chaing said.

“I think that for folks who are interested in coming to the U.S., they really need to find out about American culture and about the places they plan to move to, what it's like, what the surrounding is like, what the environment is like,” Chiang said.

The award-winning filmmaker’s current documentary, “Mr. Cao Goes to Washington” is the true story about the first Vietnamese-American elected to the U-S Congress. Critics call the film a fascinating character study of New Orleans Congressman Joseph Cao.

"Mr Cao Goes to Washington" will air in January on PBS, the non-profit American public broadcasting service.

U.S. adults reveals which celebrities Americans would most like to see a lot less

Beauty pageant regular and reality show star Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson gestures during an interview in her home in McIntyre, Ga, September 10, 2012.

VOA News

December 27, 2012

A new online entertainment survey of U.S. adults reveals which celebrities Americans would most like to see a lot less of in 2013.

The Harris Interactive poll, commissioned by ballpoint pen manufacturer Zebra Pen Corp., shows a full 70 percent of the 2,300 respondents want to see less of the glamorous Hollywood Kardashian family, followed closely by 68 percent who want the always-feuding Lohan family out of the public eye.

Beauty pageant regular and reality show star Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson gestures during an interview in her home in McIntyre, Ga, September 10, 2012.Sixty-five percent said they have seen enough of the child reality star known as Honey Boo Boo.

Forty-seven percent of adults 18 and older want to see less of entertainer Justin Bieber, followed by a Chris Brown-Donald Trump tie at 44 percent and the cast of the TV show "Two and a Half Men" at 35 percent.

About one in four of respondents preferred seeing less of actress Kristen Stewart, while 22 percent said they had seen enough of "Real Housewives of New Jersey" TV reality show star Teresa Guidice. Additionally, one in five respondents are tired of seeing former CIA chief and Army General David Petraeus in the media.

Thai Employers charge Imported labors thousands of dollars and never receive work permits

Daniel Schearf
December 24, 2012





SAMUTSAKHON, THAILAND — Thailand this month threatened to deport more than a million migrant workers, most from Burma, if they failed to become documented by December 14th. The deadline came and went without mass deportations, but the pressure underscored flaws in the documentation program, known as nationality verification, and the abuse of migrant labor.




Hnin Hnin Win has worked in Thailand since she was 15 and has been cheated three times by past employers.

They charged her altogether $1,000 for work permits she never received and then terminated her employment.

Since November she works for Talay Thai, Thailand's largest seafood distributor and, though conditions are much better, she is still waiting on her paperwork.

"Without legal documentation, I feel afraid and worried, because I have to run or hide when police come here, otherwise I will be arrested," she said.

In Samutsakhon province, about 200,000 Burma migrants form the workforce for Thailand's seafood processing industry.

Talay Thai manager Suwatanachai Visetcharoen says only 10 percent of his workers are undocumented.

But, he argues illegal workers should not be held to strict deadlines for becoming documented because the industry depends on migrant labor. "Burmese labor or foreign labor is very important to the Thai seafood industry because most Thai laborers will not do this kind of work," he said.

There are two-and-a-half million migrant workers in Thailand, most from Burma, undocumented, and easy to exploit as they are at risk of being deported.

Forewoman Myint Myint Win says seven of her workers lack permits and have to bribe police about $10 a month to avoid arrest.

"We still need to worry about the police. However, my boss has good connections with them. Usually, the police inform my boss about possible police checks in advance by phone. Then, he asks the illegal workers to move or hide to another place," she said.

To prevent abuse, Thailand started a nationality verification program to get foreign workers documented.

But labor activists complain of excessive charges by brokers and requirements for employer backing and workers first returning home.

Migrant Worker Rights Network President Aung Kyaw says they offer legal support but the system itself needs to change. “Migrant workers accept that Nationality Verification is good for them. However, both governments cannot control the exploitation happening in the system," he said.

Labor activists say Thailand needs to simplify its migrant worker policy and enact laws that better protect the workers the country depends on.

Google's XPhone

Ratcheting up its rivalry with Apple (AAPL), Google is reportedly designing a new sophisticated handset line to be released next year that is known internally as the “X phone.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, Google is hoping the new marquee phone will bolster Motorola’s market share by competing better against devices like Apple’s iPhone.

However, Google, which acquired Motorola earlier this year for $12.5 billion, has suffered a number of hiccups tied to manufacturing and supply-chain management, causing the company to rethink some of its initial plans, the paper said. Problems also include trying to use a bendable screen and more stress-resistant materials like ceramics.

The moves come as Motorola has seen its slice of the smartphone market tumble dramatically under heavy pressure from the likes of Apple and Samsung, which has enjoyed success of late with its Galaxy S III devices. Motorola made up less than 3% of the Android phone shipments in the third quarter.

Eventually, Motorola is expected to develop an “X” tablet in addition to the new smartphone line, the Journal reported.

Shares of Google trimmed their losses on the report, ending the day down 0.93% at $715.63. For the year, Google has gained about 10%, underperforming the broader markets.

Apple also enjoyed a late-day bid, closing at $519.33, down 0.46% on the session.


Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2012/12/21/report-google-creating-x-phone-to-battle-iphone/#ixzz2G6id8R4Z