Get Your Music Noticed

Get Your Music Noticed

Effective Strategies To Get Your Music Noticed

by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan

In some music business schools, they still give students assignments that go like this: “Assume that you have one million dollars. Make up a marketing plan on how to promote a band.” Here’s a realistic assignment: “Go to MySpace. Pick a band. You have zero dollars. Now go promote them.”

Although most bands would like to have the kind of budget to promote their latest album on TV, radio, and billboards, they are more likely to have just enough to print up posters for the next gig. And yet indies can get the kind of attention that major label acts get. You just need to plan appropriately and implement a few tried-and-true strategies.
Here are seven effective strategies to get you and your music noticed. The good news is they’re easy on the pocketbook and can be acted on today. All they take is a bit of time and some thought about how to get your music directly in front of the people that are likely to be your new fans. While they may not have heard of you yet, if you follow these strategies, they will.
You have one thing to do before you get started, though. It’s the one thing that every band must know: who’s the audience for your music. What are their ages? Where do they hang out? What do they do? What are their interests? Who are they? The better you know your target audience, the easier you’ll find the strategies are to implement and the greater the return on your planning.
Once you know your audience, dig in.

SEVEN EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES1. The Standing-Out Strategy2. The Piggybacking Strategy3. The Agent Strategy4. The Multi-Tasking Strategy5. The Long Haul Strategy6. The Street Team strategy7. The Stay-Tuned Strategy

1. The Standing-Out Strategy

The first thing most musicians think of when they want to promote their music is to get it reviewed by a music publication or played on the radio.
Don’t start there. Publications and media that cater solely to music are probably the hardest place to get your music noticed.
The competition for attention in music publications and sites is overwhelming. For instance, National Public Radio’s “All Songs Considered” receives 200 to 300 CDs submitted a week. Out of that, there are only eight that get featured. And those are sandwiched in between other songs, and played just once. The same is true with music reviews. Although they are good for getting quotes for your press kit, it probably won’t get you many new fans, since it’s a music review in a pile of music reviews.
Instead of focusing on music publications and media, think in terms of audiences. Put your music where it will stand out from the crowd. As an example, consider one of the biggest sellers in the early days of CDBaby.com: an album about sailing. Instead of following the crowd and sending the album to a music magazine, the band instead cleverly sent their album to a sailing magazine.
The sailing magazine, which wasn’t used to receiving music, much less an entire album dedicated to exactly what the magazine was about, ended up getting reviewed in the magazine. The band’s CD stood out. It didn’t have to compete against stacks ad stacks of other CDs to get noticed. And because the magazine had a large audience and the CD got a great review, sales shot through the roof.
This is what we call the standing-out strategy, and the great thing about it is, there is room for everyone. While your music is in a musical niche, targeting the people that like that kind of music directly, represents only one, highly competitive channel for your music. By putting your music where there usually isn’t any, your music can get noticed.

2. The Piggybacking Strategy

When you’re not well known, the quickest way to get the word out there is to piggyback on something that people already know about. One the best known forms of piggybacking is listing out the bands you “sound like” on your web site. This gives new listeners a clue as to what to expect by drawing on what they already know. Of course, another popular piggybacking tactic is to cover a well-known song. Often, these covers become your initial best-sellers. But they also act as a gateway. If listeners like your version, they’ll likely check out your original material.
But piggybacking on other bands or cover songs isn’t the only thing that you can piggyback on. You can piggyback on anything that already has an audience.
For example, our own band, Beatnik Turtle, wrote a song called “Star Wars (A Movie Like No Other)”. It summarized the entire original Star Wars trilogy in a single song. Around the same time, StarWars.com released a video mashup tool and so we decided to make a video for the song. The video ended up getting played over fifteen thousand times thanks to the active community at that site. That popularity led to it getting picked up by Atom.com which in turn led to it being aired on SpikeTV to celebrate the Star Wars 32nd anniversary.
Current events and popular culture provide opportunities for piggybacking as well. When a topic is hot, a large number of people will be searching for information about it. For instance, The Brobdingnagian Bards, a Celtic Renaissance musical duo, are always looking for trends to ride, so when the Monty Python musical Spamalot got popular, they posted a blog entry about Spamalot and also mentioned that they covered a Monty Python song previously. The post got a ton of hits, got them noticed by new fans, and resulted in sales.
But piggybacking isn’t always about how to get publicity. It can be for a good cause as well. Grant Baciocco of Throwing Toasters put together two compilation charity albums called Laughter Is a Powerful Weapon, with music donated by himself and many other well-known comedy artists. The money from one went to the Twin Towers orphans fund and the other went to the Red Cross for Katrina victims.

3. The Agent Strategy

Most bands start out promoting and representing themselves because they start out small. But it’s human nature to think more of someone when they have someone acting on their behalf. In fact, it’s been shown to be true in various psychological and sociological studies. Even if you’re just starting out, find someone to represent you and you’ll have more successes.
Having an agent is even more useful during negotiations, because they can be as tough as they want to. If you negotiate for yourself and you give the other side a particularly hard time, they might start to dislike you, rather than your agent.

4. The Multi-Tasking Strategy
The musicians that have the most success don’t just rely on one project for their income. Most of them work on many things beyond playing live, selling albums, and selling merchandise.

For instance:- Jonathan Coulton participates in the Popular Science magazine podcast at popsci.com and licenses his music.- Brad Turcotte of Brad Sucks maintains multiple Web sites including stripcreator.com and also licenses his music.- Grant Baciocco of Throwing Toasters writes and produces the multiple-award-winning podcast “The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd,” does voice-over and acting work, and produces a podcast for the Jim Henson Company, among other projects.- George Hrab is a drummer in a popular cover band that plays at weddings and corporate events, writes and produces his Geologic Podcast, and has written a book.- The members of Beatnik Turtle have day jobs, run IndieGuide.com, and write books like The Indie Band Survival Guide and articles like this one.

Not only do musicians like these have a lot of projects going on, they use the projects to promote the others.

5. The Long-Haul Strategy

While major labels had to focus on making one-hit-wonders because of their business model, that was never the best situation for the musician. Furthermore, it’s not even similar to the way that most businesses work: build their name over the long term, and eventually get consistent income over time. A band or artist can be just like any other business that starts out small, and eventually becomes solidly established.
For example, in 2001, Brad Turcotte released his first album online as a downloadable set of MP3s. The money he made from this allowed him to do a run of CDs, which got him another surge of new fans. Later, he released the source tracks to his music, this time making new fans among people who enjoy remixing songs. After he packaged the best remixes into another CD, he got a new surge of fans who loved both the remixes and the original material. By the time he released his second album, it not only did well in its own right, it generated interest in his previous albums.

6. The Street Team Strategy

Today’s artists are more connected with their fans than ever. And in these days of social networks, word of mouth is many times more powerful than it’s ever been. Every fan you have is connected to many more people, and sometimes, all you have to do is ask in order to get their help in spreading the word.A street team in the past was all about putting fliers in coffee shops. Today, with the Web, they can distribute your music to new fans, get the word out about your shows through their social networks, or even get people to sign up to your mailing lists.
The key to a successful street team, is to be explicit in asking what it is you want them to do. Then, be sure to give them the tools that they need to be successful. And of course, reward them for their help. If you need some practical advice on how to create and manage a street team, there’s step-by-step instructions here.

7. The Stay-Tuned Strategy

Before radio DJs head into the commercials, they announce what they’re going to play after the break. This keeps people tuned in during the break. You can adopt the same technique. Always talk about your next project when you talk about your band, whether you’re talking to the press, your fans (your blog, Twitter, Facebook), or other musicians.
Here’s why:- Your fans will keep tabs on you until that next project is released.- The press might ask questions about your upcoming projects and write future stories.- It gets people involved: If you don’t announce what you have planned, you might miss out on a fan that can help.- It keeps your own band members motivated and working toward the same goals.So it helps to have a sound bite on the tip of your tongue about what you’re doing next. Movies have trailers, and a band should have announcements of what’s to come.
As you can see, many different strategies are available to help you get noticed. There are no rules to this new music business, so we suggest experimenting with as many strategies, projects, and ideas to see what works best for you and your music. When you find something that works, keep it up; and when you find something that doesn’t, just move on.

To learn more about how to strategize and run a PR campaign, see How To Run a PR Campaign at IndieGuide.com for detailed, step-by-step instructions. It’s a great way to get started getting noticed, selling music, and winning fans.

Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan are authors of The Indie Band Survival Guide: The Complete Manual For The Do-It-Yourself Musician, The DIY Music Manual, and founders of the free and open musician resource, IndieGuide.com.

Related Articles:
10 Best Practices of Online Music Promotion
Digital Branding With Music & Mobile Apps

Music Promotion: A Persistent and Sustainable Approach

GOOD LUCK !

USA FASHION & MUSIC NEWS

Justin Bieber Google Images 1

Justin Bieber Google Images 1

Justin Bieber Google Images 1

Born March 1, 1994 (1994-03-01) (age 16)
Origin Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Genres Pop, R&B
Occupations Singer, songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano, percussion, trumpet
Years active 2007- present
Labels Island, RBMG
Associated acts Usher
Website http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/

Justin Bieber ( born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian pop/R&B singer. His performances on YouTube were seen by Scooter Braun, who later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher, and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid.
His debut single, "One Time", was released worldwide during 2009, and charted within the top thirty in over ten countries. It was followed by his debut release, My World on November 17, 2009, which was certified platinum in the United States, which at the time gave Bieber the highest debut by a new artist in the year, and made Bieber the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. His first full studio release, My World 2.0 was released on March 23, 2010, debuting at number one and within the top ten of several countries. It was preceded by the international hit song, "Baby".
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Image
3.1 Crowd control problems
4 Discography
4.1 Albums
5 Tours
5.1 Opening act
6 Filmography
7 Awards and nominations

==Early life==
Bieber was born on March 1, 1994 in Stratford, Ontario. Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant with her son. Bieber was raised as an only child by Mallette, who worked low-paying office jobs, though Bieber maintains contact with his father. As he grew, Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet. In late 2007, when he was twelve, Bieber sang Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford and placed second. Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber's popularity on the site grew.
While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber's videos by accident. Impressed, Braun tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted Mallette. Mallette was reluctant; she remembered praying, "God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label!" However, after praying with her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then 13, to Atlanta, Georgia to record demo tapes.
A week after arriving, Bieber sang for R&B singer/songwriter Usher, who arranged an audition with Antonio L.A. Reid at Island Records, who in turn signed him to Island Records in October 2008. Justin Timberlake was reportedly in the running to sign Bieber, but he eventually signed with Usher. Bieber and his mother then moved to Atlanta, also the home of Usher and Braun, to base his career.
==Career==
Bieber's first single, "One Time", was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album. The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009, and later peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. During fall 2009 it had success in international markets. The song was certified Platinum in Canada and the U.S. and Gold in the Australia and New Zealand. Bieber's first album My World, was released on November 17, 2009. Three consecutive singles, "One Less Lonely Girl", "Love Me", and "Favorite Girl", were released exclusively on the iTunes store and charted within the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100. The previous[clarification needed] was also released to radio and peaked within the top fifteen in the Canada and the U.S., being certified Gold in the latter. My World was eventually certified Platinum in the U.S. and Canada and Silver in the UK. To promote the album, Bieber performed in several live shows such as mtvU's VMA 09 Tour, European program The Dome, YTV's The Next Star and The Today Show, The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, It's On with Alexa Chung, Good Morning America, Chelsea Lately, and BET's 106 & Park with Rihanna. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of True Jackson, VP in late 2009.
Bieber performed Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" for U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for Christmas in Washington, which was broadcast on December 20, 2009 on USA television broadcaster TNT. Bieber was also one of the performers at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on December 31. Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of We Are The World for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake. Bieber sings the opening line, which was sung by Lionel Richie in the original version. On March 12, 2010, a version of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti was released. Bieber is featured in the song, performing the closing lines.
"Baby", the lead single from the second half of his debut album, which features Ludacris, was released in January 2010 and became his biggest hit thus far, charting at number five in the U.S. and reaching the top ten in seven other countries. Two digital singles, "Never Let You Go", and "U Smile" were top thirty hits on the U.S. Hot 100, and top twenty hits in Canada. According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received "generally favorable reviews". It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963. My World 2.0 also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, and Australian Albums Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart and reached the top ten of fifteen other countries. To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including The View, the 2010 Kids Choice Awards, Nightline, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Dome and 106 and Park. On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.
Bieber will begin recording his next release in Summer 2010 in New York City.[32] British singer and songwriter Taio Cruz has confirmed he is writing on Bieber's next project.
Bieber's voice is now deeper than it was when he recorded his albums because of puberty. The singer discussing his vocals remarked, "It cracks. Like every teenage boy, I'm dealing with it and I have the best vocal coach in the world. Some of the notes I hit on "Baby" I can't hit anymore. We have to lower the key when I sing live."
==Image==
According to Jan Hoffman of The New York Times, part of Bieber's appeal stems from his YouTube channel. In contrast to singers whose careers were launched by high profile franchises like American Idol or the Disney Channel, "Justin, his fans passionately believe, is homemade. Long before he released his EP, My World, in mid-November, the YouTube videos attracted millions of views." Braun recognized the appeal. Prior to flying him to Atlanta, Braun wanted to "build him up more on YouTube first" and had Bieber record more home videos for the channel. "I said: ‘Justin, sing like there’s no one in the room. But let’s not use expensive cameras.’ We’ll give it to kids, let them do the work, so that they feel like it’s theirs," recalled Braun. Bieber continues to upload videos to the same channel and has opened a Twitter account, from which he interacts with fans regularly. The accounts also serve marketing purposes; for example, Bieber's music video for "One Time" only began selling quickly after it was uploaded to YouTube.
Usher comments that while he and Bieber were both signed at the same time, "I had the chance to ramp up my success, where this has happened to Bieber abruptly." As a result, Usher, Braun, Bieber's bodyguard, Kenny, and other adults surrounding Bieber constantly coach him on handling fame and his public image. After signing Bieber, Usher appointed one of his former assistants, Ryan Good, to be Bieber's road manager and stylist. Good, nicknamed Bieber's "swagger coach", helped develop Bieber's public image. Good created a "streetwise look" for the singer which consisted of baseball caps, hoodies, dog chains and flashy sneakers. Amy Kaufman of The Los Angeles Times comments, "Though a product of a middle-class suburban upbringing in Stratford, Ontario, Bieber's manner of dress and speech ("Wassup man, how you doin'?" or "It's like, you know, whateva' ") suggest he's mimicking his favorite rappers."
Bieber is often featured in teen magazines such as Tiger Beat, and has been labeled a "teen hearthrob".
==Crowd control problems==
Thousands of screaming fans showed up at a US mall to see Bieber on November 27, 2009 Bieber's popularity has caused safety concerns. While promoting My World, Bieber was scheduled to appear at Long Island's Roosevelt Field Mall, but the performance had to be cancelled. Over 3,000 screaming fans showed up for the appearance. The event got out of control, and over 35 units from the Nassau County and Garden City police departments had to be called in. Several fans received minor injuries. The police arrested an Island Records senior vice-president, James A. Roppo, reportedly for hindering the police's crowd control efforts by not sending a timely message on Twitter as instructed by the police. James Roppo pleaded not guilty to all charges. On March 24, 2010 Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, was arrested on one count of second-degree reckless endangerment and one count of second-degree criminal nuisance related to the incident. Braun pleaded not guilty to both charges and was later released.
On April 27, 2010, a scheduled promotional performance was cancelled by Australian police after several girls were injured in a crowd crush. Bieber was scheduled to sing three songs for the Channel Seven program, Sunrise. An estimated 4,000 pre-teen girls showed up at 3:00am and stormed past safety barricades. In addition to those injured, dozens were treated for hyperventilation. In a Twitter message after the incident, Bieber said: "I want to make this clear... I don't cancel. Bieber's tweet continued, stating: I woke up this morning to the police canceling the show for safety reasons. I’m very happy about the welcome and the love from around the world, but I want everyone to still remember my fans safety comes first. At the end of the day I want you all to enjoy the music."
Arriving at Auckland airport in New Zealand later that day, RadioLIVE New Zealand reported on airport security's efforts to keep Bieber out of trouble. He later tweeted that somebody stole his hat and "knocked down mama."  The teenage girl who stole the hat then uploaded a video to the Internet, outlining the demands of her extortion attempt. The next day, she returned the hat amid speculation of possible criminal charges.
==Discography==
Main article: Justin Bieber discography
Albums
2009: My World
2010: My World 2.0
Tours
2009: Urban Behavior Tour
2010: My World Tour
Opening act
2009: Fearless Tour (United Kingdom)
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2009 True Jackson, VP Himself Guest star
2010 Silent Library
School Gyrls Cameo
Saturday Night Live Guest star/performer Ep 35.18
==Awards and nominations==
Myx Music Awards (Philippines)
Favorite International Video  "One Time"
Juno Awards
2010, Album of the Year, My World  Nominated
2010, Pop Album of the Year, My World  Nominated
2010, New Artist of the Year  Nominated
TRL Awards (Italy)
2010, Best International Act  Nominated

Related Websites :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Bieber
http://twitter.com/justinbieber
http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/
http://www.justinbieberzone.com/
http://www.myspace.com/justinbieber
http://www.facebook.com/JustinBieber
http://www.funnyordie.com/justin_bieber
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3595501/
http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/bieber_justin/artist.jhtml

USA FASHION & MUSIC NEWS - DOWNLOAD MUSIC VIDEO LEGALLY

Wild child! Lady Gaga as a rebellious 15-year-old on hit TV show The Sopranos

We're used to seeing Lady Gaga in a variety of crazy and controversial styles.
But the 24-year-old star was once just a regular teenager like anybody else with normal, down to earth looks.
Gaga, real name Stefani Germanotta, had a guest spot on hit show The Sopranos when she was 15 years old.

Fame Monster: 15-year-old Lady Gaga appears in an episode of The Sopranos called TheTelltale Moozadell

And it's clear the young brunette was already eager for the spotlight.
In the episode, called The Telltale Moozadell, she appears in a pool scene in which Tony Soprano’s son A. J. and his friends are swimming at their high school pool after hours.
Gaga plays one of three friends who watch and laugh as the boys swim.

Wild child: Lady Gaga (real name Stefani Germanotta) smokes cigarettes for her guest spot on the episode

When the boys start to get out of hand and do some vandalising, one of the girls joins in while Gaga and the other girl look on and laugh.
And the teenager was already flirting with risque roles as she wore a midriff-baring top and smoked a cigarette.
It looks like Gaga started as she meant to continue, judging by her very cheeky costume on stage earlier this week for the We Are Plastic Ono Band concert held at LA’s Orpheum Theatre.

Drink up! Lady Gaga was just 15 in this episode, and had long brunette hair

The Just Dance star recently took to the stage with John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono.
And she completely upstaged the 77-year-old as she teetered around the stage in a pair of super-high platform boots.
Her typically cheeky outfit - a bejewelled catsuit - deliberately exposed her bottom.
Gaga joined with the Plastic Ono Band, formerly a loose supergroup of musicians that Lennon assembled 40 years ago.

Hanging with the boys: Gaga plays one of three girls who watch A.J swimming at the school pool

But Ono was not at all fazed by the eccentric pop star, focusing instead on how happy she was to be performing again.

She said: 'I have never done a show in L.A., so I am very happy to be finally doing it.'
The Alejandro singer and Ono performed in front of a sold-out audience.

Cheeky so and so! Lady Gaga wears a bottom-exposing outfit as she performs with Yoko Ono at the Orpheum Theater

Gaga tweeted: 'WE ARE PLASTIC ONO. I got to sit in as a guest musician tonight, what a legendary band + mother, Yoko.'
Earlier in the day the 24-year-old boasted about her musical success, as she tweeted: 'Today THE FAME spends its 100th consecutive week on Billboard.
'I wrote it myself + sang it live everynight. Thanku for believing lilmonsters.'

Miley Cyrus' 'Who Owns My Heart?' video's too 'sexualized': Parents Television Council president

Sunday, October 10th 2010, 12:29 PM

YouTube

Miley Cyrus's 'Who Owns My Heart?' video shows the songstress writhing around in bed before heading off to a club in revealing attire. WATCH VIDEO below.

Miley Cyrus´ new-found sexiness is "unfortunate," according to a TV watchdog group.

The president of the Parents Television Council has publicly lashed out at the 17-year-old singer for her latest age-inappropriate video, "Who Owns My Heart?," in which she writhes in bed in her underwear.
"It is unfortunate that she would participate in such a sexualized video like this one," Tim Winters told TMZ.com. "Miley built her fame and fortune entirely on the backs of young girls, and it saddens us that she seems so eager to distance herself from that fan base so rapidly."
The video, released Friday, shows the singer waking up in bed blindfolded with no pants on as she writhes between the silk sheets and saucily sings to the camera. She then heads off to party in glittery barely-there club gear -- with plenty of cleavage and leg on display -- before hitting the dance floor where she gets down with some older men.
"Who owns my heart?" she sings. "Is it love or is it art?"
Cyrus, who turns 18 on Nov. 23, has been experiencing non-stop growing pains in the past few months for attempting to kill her vanilla "Hannah Montana" image with a series of hyper-sexual music videos and performances.
In what seemed to be a response to her detractors, she told MTV.com that "Who Owns My Heart?" is about "freeing yourself from anything you think is holding you back."
The teen pop star last came under fire in June for her tribal-themed "Can't Be Tamed" performance at the 2010 Much Music Video Awards. While performing her homage to “King Kong,” her skimpy white bodice threatened to expose her nether regions.

Love me do: Yoko Ono reveals it was Paul McCartney who saved her marriage to John

Love me do: Yoko reveals it was Paul who saved her marriage to John

Last updated at 5:45 PM on 10th October 2010
It became a legendary event in John Lennon's increasingly eccentric life - famously known as 'the lost weekend'.
And now, on the day John Lennon fans around the world are celebrating what would have been his 70th birthday, his widow, Yoko Ono, has revealed what happened during those days when John disappeared with their pretty personal assistant.
And despite a well known war of words with Beatle Paul McCartney, Yoko credits Macca with actually saving their marriage.
John and Yoko had separated in the summer of 1973 after a period of marital strife, and subsequently Lennon began a relationship with his personal assistant May Pang - a collusion Pang says was entirely orchestrated by Yoko.
Yoko continued to stay in touch with her errant husband but it was not until they met backstage at an Elton John concert in November1974 that they became reconciled.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono at their home at Tittenhurst Park

Genuinely worried: Paul McCartney, pictured earlier this month, wanted to help John sort out his marriage, Yoko said in an interview today

But the surprise element of the story is that Yoko reveals Paul McCartney stepped in and brought the couple back together.
That the two were not on good terms and a feud developed after Lennon left the Beatles is well known.
Yoko tells The Times: 'I want the world to know that it was a very touching thing that he did for John.

'He was genuinely concerned about his old partner. Even though John was not even asking for help - John, Paul, all of them were too proud to ask anything - he helped. John often said he didn't understand why Paul did this for us, but he did.'
As Yoko recounts, Paul and Linda McCartney visited her in New York early in 1974, and they talked long into the night.
Paul asked Yoko what would make her take John back and she told him that if John courted her she would perhaps consider it.
Paul then visited John in Los Angeles where he was living with May Pang, and according to Yoko advised him on how to get Yoko back.
The fact that John immediately tried to court Yoko, and came back to New York, was hugely important she says.

He made several attempts to woo her, including taking her to a Man Ray exhibition and to see a film, after she watched him perform at the Elton John concert and realised it could all begin again.

John Lennon and May Pang (left) at the Beacon Theatre in New York, shortly before he became reconciled with Yoko Ono after Elton John's concert (right) at Madison Square Garden, New York in November 1974

Less than a year after they were reunited their son Sean was born, on John’s birthday.
To mark what would have been John's 70th birthday Yoko is in Iceland today to light the Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik bay’s Videy Island.
She lights the Tower every year on the same day, sending a vast beam of light shooting upwards into space, and it remains lit until December 8, the day he was murdered by Mark Chapman outside the Dakota building in New York where they lived.

Yoko also reveals that John preferred to celebrate her and their son’s birthdays rather than his own, explaining that they would usually have a quiet, private party.

He was not happy about reaching 40, she added, but believed had he reached 70 he would have been ‘energetic and very wise and enjoying life’.
There are a number of Lennon anniversary celebrations, notably a massive re-issue of solo Lennon material which Yoko personally remastered.
It is the largest project of its kind since the much-acclaimed reissue of the Fab Four’s catalog in 2009.

Good relationship: Sean Ono Lennon (left), Yoko Ono (middle) and Julian Lennon (right) pictured last month in New York. Yoko insists the brothers received the same amount from John's estate

There will also be a concert in Japan on December 8, the day of his death.
The Dream Power Concert will have Japanese artists singing Lennon songs and all the money will go towards schools in Africa, Asia and South America.
Yoko is at pains to point out that Lennon’s children enjoy a normal relationship as brothers, and her and Sean were photographed recently with Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia and their son Julian at the premiere of Nowhere Boy, the film about John’s early days.
She ends the interview by saying that she feels John is still with her, guiding her and giving her ideas. ‘Yoko in her own words’ will be broadcast on Radio 6 at 8pm tomorrow.
Today, May Pang lives just outside New York City, and has two children.

Gisele-Bundchen-Vanity-Fair-Magazine

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==Gisele Bundchen Biography==
Gisele Caroline Bundchen ( born July 20, 1980 in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) is a Brazilian model, occasional film actress and goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program. According to Forbes, she is the highest-paid model in the world and also the sixteenth richest woman in the entertainment world, with an estimated $150 million fortune.

==Family and early life==
Bundchen was born in the Brazilian town of Tres de Maio and grew up in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, to Vania Nonnenmacher, a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bundchen, a university teacher and writer. She has five sisters - Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin Patrícia, Gisele's junior by five minutes. Bundchen is Roman Catholic and speaks Portuguese as her native language. She also speaks Spanish and English.

- I was born in Horizontina, a town in the backcountry of (Brazilian) state Rio Grande do Sul. The town was once mainly colonized by Germans. In the school which I attended, learning German was actually obligatory from third grade on. But being out of touch with the language for such a long time, I unfortunately forgot it.  I belong to the sixth generation of my family in Brazil. 

==Modeling career==
Originally, Bundchen wanted to be a professional volleyball player and considered playing for the Brazilian team, Sogipa. While in school, Bundchen was so thin that her friends used to call her "Olivia Palito" (Portuguese for Olive Oyl, Popeye's skinny girlfriend) and "Saracura" (a type of Brazilian shorebird).

In 1993, a then-13-year-old Bundchen joined a modeling course with her sisters Patrícia and Gabriela at her mother's insistence.The following year, Bundchen went to Sao Paulo on a school excursion to give them an opportunity to walk in a big city. In a shopping mall, while eating at McDonald's with her friends, Bundchen was discovered by a modeling agency. She was subsequently selected for a national contest, Elite Look of the Year, in which she placed second Claudia Menezes, from Bahia, took first place. Bundchen placed fourth in the world contest, held in Ibiza, Spain. In 1996, Bundchen moved to New York City usa to begin her modeling career, debuting at Fashion Week.


Gisele Bundchen on the Fashion Rio Inverno 2006, January 30, 2006. Her debut on the cover of the July 1999 issue of Vogue magazine, and the accompanying editorial entitled "The Return of the Sexy Model", is widely viewed as marking the end of the fashion's "heroin chic" era. She graced the cover again in November and December of that year. She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her the rare honor of three consecutive Vogue covers. In 2000, she became the fourth model to appear on the cover of the music magazine Rolling Stone, when she was named "the most beautiful girl in the world." Bundchen has been on the covers of many top fashion magazines including W, Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Allure, international editions of Vogue, as well as style and lifestyle publications such as i-D, The Face, Arena, Citizen K, Flair, GQ, Esquire, and Marie Claire. She has been featured both in the Pirelli Calendar 2001 and 2006 and in broader market publications such as Time, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Newsweek and Veja, more than 500 magazine covers throughout the world.

Bundchen consistently works with acclaimed photographers such as Mario Testino, Steven Meisel, Nick Knight, Mert and Marcus, Rankin, Annie Leibovitz, Karl Lagerfeld, Peter Lindbergh, David LaChapelle, Mario Sorrenti, Nino Munoz and Patrick Demarchelier, and with renowned directors such as Jean Baptiste Mondino and Bruno Aveillan.

Claudia Schiffer said: "Supermodels, like we once were, don't exist any more" and reckoned that Gisele Bundchen was the only one close to earning the supermodel title.

Naomi Campbell said: "Models need to earn their stripes - I just think the term is used a little too loosely. Kate Moss is obviously a supermodel but, after Gisele, I don’t think there’s been one."

On August 26, 2008, the New York Daily News, in a list, named Bundchen the fourth-most-powerful person in the fashion world.

On May 12, 2009, The Independent, called her the biggest star in fashion history.

==Endorsements and earnings==
Since her debut, Bundchen has been the face of a variety of advertising campaigns including several seasons of Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Mervyn's, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Versace, Givenchy, Bvlgari, Lanvin, Guerlain, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Earl Jean, Zara, Chloé, Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton and Victoria's Secret. She has appeared in advertisements for Nivea lotion and is the face of several Brazilian brands including Vivo, Multiplan (Shopping Malls), Colcci, Credicard (Citibank) and Volkswagen do Brasil. After C&A Brazil hired Bundchen as a spokesmodel and began airing television commercials, sales increased by 30%.


At the Fashion Rio Inverno 2006In May 2006, Bundchen signed another multi-million dollar deal, this time with American giant Apple Inc.. She starred in an advertising campaign to promote the new Macintosh line through the Get a Mac advertisements. Also in 2006, Bundchen became the new face of Swiss luxury watchmaker Ebel.

She has her own line of sandals with footwear company Grendene called Ipanema Gisele Bundchen. Forbes puts her 53rd on their list of the most powerful celebrities of 2007 because of the international success of her shoe line, making the brand Ipanema the most sold Brazilian flip-flop in the world, surpassing the legendary Havaianas. Custom Ipanema flip-flops sell for as much as $230 a pair. She is also the owner of a hotel in the south of Brazil, the Palladium Executive.

On May 1, 2007, it was announced that Bundchen had ended her contract with Victoria's Secret.

In July 2007, having earned an estimated total of $33 million in the past 12 months, Forbes magazine named her the world's top-earning model in the list of the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels.

An American economist named Fred Fuld developed a stock index to measure the profit performance improvement of companies represented by Bundchen compared with the Dow Jones Industrial Average. According to Fuld, the Gisele Bundchen Stock Index was up 15% between May and July 2007, substantially surpassing the Dow Jones Industrial Average which was up just 8.2%.


==Charity activities==
Bundchen lends her support and image to a number of charities and humanitarian causes, such as the I am African campaign, in which she painted her face to protest the lack of attention given to Africa's HIV/AIDS victims. Without receiving payment, Bundchen was, in 2006, the face of American Express Red Card, an initiative launched by U2 front man Bono and Bobby Shriver to send a percentage of monies earned from the financial transactions of this credit card to Africa's HIV/AIDS victims.

In 2009, she appeared almost simultaneously in more than 20 covers of the international issues of Elle magazines wearing (Product) Red clothing and posing with products from companies who support the same cause. (RED)’s primary objective is to engage the private sector in increasing assistance for the Global Fund, to help defeat AIDS in Africa. Companies whose products take on the mark contribute a percentage of the sales or portion of the profits from that product to the Global Fund to finance AIDS programs in Africa, with special attention on the health of women and children.


At the Fashion Rio Inverno 2006In 2003, Bundchen designed an exclusive and limited edition of platinum hearts, working with Platinum Guild International and Harper’s Bazaar, crafted by jewelers Gumuchian Fils. These platinum hearts were sold to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital which specializes in cancer treatment. She served as the spokesperson and campaign model for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer. Bundchen already gave a Sao Paulo Fashion Week's payment check for Zero Hunger (in Portuguese: Fome Zero), a Brazilian-government program introduced by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also in 2003.

She was, in 2009, one of the celebrities to sign up for the auction fundraiser of celebrities autographed iPods to raise cash for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, organised by Tonic.com., alongside former U.S.A.'s president Bill Clinton, Cher, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Ellen DeGeneres and others. The money is for the Music Rising institution which aims to recover and invest in the musical culture of the destroyed areas.

She promotes protecting the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Amazon Rainforest water sources, donating to this cause a percentage of profits from her line of sandals named Ipanema Gisele Bundchen. Also, Bundchen helps projects such as Nascentes do Brasil, ISA, Y Ikatu Xingu and De Olho nos Mananciais.

Bundchen and Grendene, the company that produces and disseminates her line of sandals, also joined the Florestas do Futuro project for the reforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The project was created by the NGO named SOS Atlantic Forest in 2004. The new forest, named for Gisele Bundchen Sementes, started with 25,500 shoots of 100 different species, enough to revitalize an area of 15 hectares.

On 20 September, 2009, she was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

==Acting career==
In 2004, Bundchen entered the film industry, playing the bank robbers' leader, Vanessa, in the 2004 remake Taxi. In 2006, she played a minor character in The Devil Wears Prada.

Personal life and Relationships:
On Thursday, February 26, 2009, Bundchen married New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in a small Catholic ceremony in Los Angeles ( la ). On April 5, 2009, the couple remarried in Costa Rica with Brady's son, John Edward Thomas Moynahan, present. For the ceremony, Gisele wore a dress and veil designed by famed fashion designer John Galliano. Bundchen's three dogs were also present at the ceremony. Bundchen and Brady had been dating since late 2006. Before marrying him, she dated actor Leonardo DiCaprio and professional surfer Kelly Slater. On Friday, June 19 2009, People magazine reported that Gisele was pregnant with her first child with husband Tom Brady. The baby is due on December 14, 2009.

==Music tribute==
As an homage to Bundchen, Brazilian singer and songwriter Gabriel Guerra, along with musician Pedro Cezar, wrote the song Tributo a Gisele (Tribute to Gisele in English), which is currently the theme of the model's official website. In January 2008, Bundchen met Gabriel Guerra at Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro.
There's another music called "Coisa Linda" ( Pretty Woman ) dedicated to Gisele Bundchen by Nelio Guerson and Carlos Guerson. More info on Palco MP3, Last FM and Garagem MP3.

==One reason to love New York==
In the December 2005 issue, New York magazine chose and publicized a list of 123 reasons to love New York City with reason number 43 being that Gisele Bundchen lives there.

==Nude photography==
On April 11, 2008, a black-and-white photo of Bundchen, shot by Irving Penn, was auctioned for US$193,000 (£96,000). The picture was one of dozens from the collection of Gert Elfering that were sold at Christie's International in New York. In all, the auction tallied US$4.27 million and included pictures of Brigitte Bardot, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Carla Bruni. Bundchen's picture reached the highest price in comparison with the others. Bardot was the second with US$181,000 (£90,000).

In 2009, Gisele featured, on artistic nude picture, the cover of the work retrospective book of Australian photographer Russell James.

==Image inspiration==
In 2006, Elle magazine bosses surveyed the American leading stylists and asked them to name the star whose hair is a favourite for their clients. More than 50 per cent gave Gisele the title of best hair in Hollywood, followed by Sienna Miller in at second place and Nicole Richie in at third position.

In February 2008, a result of research was publicized by The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) to reveal how world celebrity images, which overwhelm popular media, influence people's choices and decisions to undergo plastic surgery. The question asked was "What influences do celebrities have on the decisions patients make?". The survey was sent to more than 20,000 plastic surgeons in 84 countries. Gisele Bundchen, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Pamela Anderson, Sophia Loren, Brad Pitt and George Clooney were the most frequently mentioned celebrities. Gisele won the abdomen and hair categories and took second place in the breasts category.

==Controversies==
PETA anti-fur target
In 2002, during the taping of the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Bundchen was the target of a protest made by four members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals because she was signed to be the new face of Blackglama, a trademark of a fur-farming cooperative. When Bundchen was on stage, four women jumped onto the runway holding posters that read "Gisele: Fur Scum" and included the logo for PETA. Bundchen tried to ignore them while several security guards detained the protesters. Bundchen told CNN that the protest was "unwarranted" because the fashion show featured only faux fur. After the incident, the producers decided to stop the music and redid Bundchen's segment once the protesters were removed.

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