Business

Survival of the Fittest

Survival Of The Fittest Nick Krewen Grammy.com July 2002   It’s one thing if you’re an established artist like Prince, who sold 40 million records during his Warner years and wants to forego the major label route in favor of his own Internet venture www.npgmusicclub.com. It’s another, however, if you’re an artist that was perfectly happy to be nestled in the bosom of a major record company, only to have…


Rock ‘N Wrestling

A VERSION OF THIS APPEARED IN THE KW RECORD NOVEMBER 23, 1999     By Nick Krewen   Jim Johnston may not be a household name, but he’s ready to rumble. Last week, he bodyslammed Mariah Carey‘s Rainbow to the mat and placed Foo Fighters‘ There’s Nothing Left To Lose in a Tongan Death Grip. He drop-kicked Counting Crows‘ This Desert Life out of the ring and bulldogged Choclair‘s Ice Cold…


Trouble In Paradise

PUBLISHED IN THE TORONTO STAR, SUNDAY AUGUST 22, 1999 Impact of recording-industry merger has Canadian acts scrambling as new Universal Music super-label downsizes…and independent distributors beckon By Nick Krewen Special To The Star   Margo Timmins didn’t see it coming. The Toronto singer of Cowboy Junkies was busy laying down tracks of her cloudless voice for the band’s Miles From Our Home album when word came down that Jim Powers…


Capturing The Sound of Silence

  Far from the madding crowds, sound hunters search the wilderness for an elusive ingredient for their recordings — absolute silence   Nick Krewen The Ottawa Citizen Sunday, July 25, 1999 It’s another long, sweltering day in the tropical rainforest, and Kevin O’ Leary is on safari. With an assistant who doubles as photographer at his side, and more than 30 kgs of gear each strapped to their backs, they…


Song Plugging A Hit In Nashville

Max Hutchinson one of 300 pros still in there pitching tunes to artists     By Nick Krewen Special To The Star Wednesday, April 21, 1999   NASHVILLE, Tenn. —  Max Hutchinson may not be Roger Clemens, but he knows how to pitch. As one of Nashville’s 300 song pluggers, the middlemen who lob songs to recording artists for prospective album and single cuts, the Vancouver-born Canadian is starter, reliever…