According to The New York Times Gossip Blogger Perez hilton is in Negotiations to receive his own imprint at Warner Brothers Records.
Hilton,(Real name:Mario Lavandeira)who’s blog perezhilton.com has a monthly readership of 2.8 million visitors a month, is said to be receiving $100,000 a year as an advance against 50 percent of any profits generated by artists he discovers and releases through Warner Brothers.
Apparently he’s worth it.
Back in September of 2007 a then unsigned singer-songwriter Eric Hutchinson had his song posted on Lavandeira site. Eric Hutchinson’s album then went on to crack the Top 10 on iTunes, an impressive feat for an artist with no label backing.
Another band, Ultraviolet Sound ,had their music posted on his site and had the number of visitors to their myspace page almost triple.
In fact In a recent study conducted by researchers at the Stern School of Business at New York University, an examination of 108 albums that hit record shops in early 2007 saw that those that had been the subjects of 40 blog posts before their release date had sales of triple the average.
The question now is if Perez works for Warner Brothers can he still remain impartial?
Hilton says yes. In an interview last month, he said he would still have the freedom to post about artists on other labels and had no obligation to praise acts on Warner Brothers’ roster.
“I’m upfront with them,” he said. “They can’t tell me what to do. If I hate one of their artists, chances are I won’t mention them”. As far as his label, Hilton says “its not a vanity project”. “I’m really going to be actively involved in it” he added.
He said he wanted to keep the names of acts he hoped to sign to himself for now, but hopes thought his partnership he could validate the role that blogs play in the music business.
ImHipHop.Blogspot.com
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