Grammy ads may result in a showdown

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Just like plastic Santas and eggnog, those three words start popping up every year around this time, to remind members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences about upcoming Oscar nominations.

This year, the phrase is also being flung at Grammy Awards voters in the music world. Such unabashed campaigning for Oscar nominations has long been standard from movie studios, although it’s been raised to new and controversial levels in recent years, with Miramax Films leading the way.

But it’s been more or less discouraged in the music business by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), the folks who give out the Grammys. So some in the music world were shocked to open trade magazines recently and see full-page ads from Universal Records promoting rapper Nelly and singer-songwriter Jack Johnson as Grammy candidates.

The ads don’t say anything specifically about Grammy Awards, but a CD containing eligible songs from Universal artists was sent to press and potential Grammy voters with the words “Grammy Sampler” on the spine in advance of the nominations, which will be announced Jan. 7. The awards will be handed out Feb. 23 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

“I’ve been surprised over the years that more people [in the record industry] have not been more supportive in this area,” says Universal Records President Monte Lipman, who has spearheaded the company’s campaign and cites Miramax co-chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein as his main inspira- tions.

Miramax, though, has taken heat for its efforts, with accusations that its lobbying “bought” such Oscars as the 1998 best picture for “Shakespeare in Love,” even as the practice was copied by other studios.

Lipman says he’s had no negative feedback about Universal’s ads so far and, in fact, has had inquiries from other labels interested in following his lead. But he may be getting a less enthusiastic call soon from NARAS’ new president, Neil Portnow.

“I’ve seen some of this in the past in a limited way,” says Portnow. “But unlike the film business, which has a smaller, a tighter group of [voters], we’re interested in making sure there’s a level playing field for the thousands of folks making records. So we discourage this sort of campaigning. We will have a dialogue [with Universal]. At the end of the day, there are no rules we are able to enforce, but we hope our goodwill will prevail.”

Spinning the rules

Spin magazine has named the White Stripes’ “White Blood Cells” as the best album of 2002. Only one problem: The album was released in July 2001. In fact, the album finished fourth last year in The Times’ poll of its pop writers.

Sia Michel, Spin editor-in-chief, notes the album was originally released on the tiny Sympathy for the Record Industry label and didn’t really have widespread public impact until it was issued last April by a larger company, V2 Records. In any case, she defends the choice as the album most representative of developments in the music world this year.

“Our story about the year in music is about the revenge of the little bands like Wilco and Flaming Lips who are getting attention now after many years,” she says.

“The White Stripes are emblematic of that.”

The magazine’s year-end issue is on newsstands Tuesday, and also names the Strokes as its band of the year and Eminem as artist of the year.

Emo for eyes, ears

Vagrant Records, the Los Angeles label that’s attracted an intense and loyal following via such earnest artists as Dashboard Confessional and the Get Up Kids, is launching a new subsidiary to move into advertising and entertainment marketing.

Dubbed Vagrant Entertainment, the new venture will be run by former J. Walter Thompson executive Andrew Kobliska. It’s intended to serve as a conduit to that audience for outside entities, as well as to produce videos and marketing campaigns and develop commercial, film and television opportunities for Vagrant acts.

Co-owner Jon Cohen says the company was created after numerous approaches from agencies and advertisers who were looking to reach Vagrant’s audience or work with its artists.

Small faces

Daryl Hall & John Oates have finished “Do It For Love,” their first studio album in six years, and will launch their label, U-Watch Records, with its Feb. 11 release. Supplementing their own new songs is a version of the New Radicals’ “Someday We’ll Know,” featuring vocals and production by Todd Rundgren.

The Bollywood-American crossover continues with the upcoming movie “The Guru,” a romantic comedy about an Indian dance teacher moving to New York. The soundtrack is due Jan. 28 from Universal Records and will match numbers sung by such Bollywood stars as Lata Mangeshkar and Udit Narayan with the John Travolta-Olivia Newton John duet “You’re the One That I Want” and tracks by Diana Krall, Samantha Mumba and Paulina Rubio.

An eBay auction starting today benefiting the People for the American Way will feature numerous items donated by music stars. Most intriguing may be a plaque former Reprise Records President Howie Klein had made in honor of Ice-T’s notorious early-’90s band Body Count. The plaque was intended for, but never given to, then-Vice President Dan Quayle, a vociferous critic of Body Count. More information can be found on the PFAW Web site, www.pfaw.org.