Thanks to Warren Cosford for tipping us off on this uproariously funny videoclip by Doug “the Greaseman” Tracht, once a towering talent on American radio nationwide. To the best of our knowledge, Tracht is now living a less frenetic life in the BVIs.

Just what makes this mighty media organisation tick? An exclusive extract from Ken Auletta’s  ‘Googled: The End Of The World As We Know It’, a new book about the company offers some insights

[Telegraph]To visit Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, is to travel to another planet. The natives wander about in T-shirts and shorts, zipping past volleyball courts and organic-vegetable gardens while holding their open laptops at shoulder height, like waiters’ trays. Those laptops are gifts from the company, as is free food, wi-fi-enabled commuter buses, healthcare, dry cleaning, gyms, massages and car washes, all designed to keep its employees happy and on campus. Engineers – who make up half of the 20,000 employees – are granted 20% of their time to work on any project that strikes their fancy. A non-engineer attending engineering meetings would be wise to come with a translator: participants may as well be speaking Swahili.

David Farrell

Arguably it was Dean Brody who stole the show at the 2010 Canadian Radio Music Awards, staged Friday at the Royal York in Toronto. Presented by Canada’s privately owned broadcasters, the winners – chosen by the combined votes of on-air announcers, PDs and MDs – accurately reflect breakout acts on commercial radio over the prior 12 months, and the show itself affords an opportunity to showcase a cluster of format-friendly rising talent that has largely been seeded by the broadcast community under the ageis of FACTOR.

The Arkells, Stereos and Midway State were among the acts that performed to an appreciative full-house during the awards luncheon in the convention ballroom.  Then there was Karl Wolf who successfully refabricated his souped-up, multi-platinum  retread of Toto’s “Africa,” proving himself to be a showman if nothing else. But it was Brody’s performance that just couldn’t be beat. A guitar picker standing on the big stage as if he were Gary Cooper in High Noon, performing a song that could well end up being the hallmark of a career, delivering it with an instantly memorable voice that resonated across a cavernous space, and lassoing the attention of an audience more fickle and demanding than Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston on a bad night.  “Brothers” won Brody Single of the Year at the CCMAs, made the Top 30 in the US, but this past Saturday his song about the joys of brotherhood and the personal pain and destructive power of war failed to earn a CRMA; instead the luck of the draw went to Vancouver sister duo One More Girl for their Top 20 hit, “I Can Love Anyone.”

Thursday evening’s MBIA Awards included Hall of Fame inductions for Universal Music topper Randy Lennox and CHUM-FM’s longstanding morning man Roger Ashby, and a tribute to Slaight Communications’ Gary Slaight who was presented with the Humanitarian Spirit Award.  This troika of still relatively youthful high-rollers proved to be a marquee billing that few could say no to, each in their own way having touched a broad spectrum of the industry with their individual passion, competitive spirit and consummate professionalism.  However, this wasn’t an evening for those with short attention spans.

The over three-hour  event respectfully acknowledged the realization of dreams, dedication to craft and history in the making in long-form. If the aim of the show was true, the overtime length complicated agendas for many in the audience who had other commitments set for that night. Future events might be better served by parsing separate elements into separate acts. That said, the 2010 MBIA Awards shone a light on a select number of honourable members of the cast that perform valuable services in what we proudly know as Canada’s music industry. Below, the  music and broadcast industry winners list:

Sponsored by the Radio Marketing Bureau (RMB), top industry experts representing agency, advertiser and radio station communities  judge the Crystals. To ensure full attention to every spot, there are two rounds of judging.

In the first, two panels of four advertisers, agency representatives and radio station representatives – from both east and west coasts – conduct an elimination round.

The second and final judging session  includes four advertisers, agency creatives and radio creative programmers. Their decision is final.

All entries must have been created and aired on a Canadian radio station during the past calendar year.  The complete list of winners as follows:

The battleground over performance royalties in the US just got uglier. A giant inflatable pig has appeared in front of the Dupont Circle offices of the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington in protest of the industry’s refusal to pay additional royalties to musicians when airing their music. The 18-foot-long pig was the latest barb exchanged between the music industry and broadcasters over the Performance Rights Act. A lobby of artist groups wants Congress to legislate broadcasters to pay royalties to performers and artists since other radio formats–online, satellite and cable–all pay musicians. The pig is supposed to symbolize the “piggish” attitudes of corporate radio stations.

Tween sensation Justin Bieber is set to make his QVC debut to launch his new album. The 16-year-old singer with three Juno nominations will unveil My World 2.0 on Tuesday and Friday on the home shopping channel where he will perform and shill a unique-to-QVC version of his CD packaged with a DVD two weeks in front of the retail store street date. The ubiquitous overnight superstar said, “It’s cool to be launching my new album on QVC. Where else can I perform live and reach more than 98 million homes with my music? It’s just an incredible opportunity for me.”

David Farrell

Yesterday’s federal budget was clearly intended to mollify outspoken partisan groups, but the budgetary status-quo is likely the calm before the storm. The uneasy alliances forged with the Conservative minority will almost surely come undone over the next year, leading to an election call before the next budget. And the next budget is to be the one that promises to exact its pound of flesh from nationalists who believe cultural objectives must be preserved at any cost.

On the bright side, the Canada Music Fund has already re-negotiated a new five year deal that keeps funding intact through to 2014. There are no announced funding cuts to the CBC, Telefilm, the NFB and the Canada Council for the Arts, although critics argue that there are no Medianew funds available and, more important, no long-term funding commitments tabled.

Leonard Asper, the son of late Canwest founder Israel Harold “Izzy” Asper, has resigned as the president and CEO of the restructuring media company CanWest Global Communications.

“I am writing you today to advise you that last night I advised our board of directors that effective immediately I am resigning,” Asper said Thursday in a memo to Canwest staff.

Canadian Music Week (CMW) released the nominees for 2010 Music Industry Awards this afternoon. The MIAs recognize outstanding achievement in 37 categories covering the music and broadcast industries. The event takes place at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York on Thursday, March 11. Voting is open now to determine the winner in each of the designated categories. The list is populated by the infamous, famous and familiar. Some categories, such as music retailers, become shorter with time, whereas others, such as the digital music services grow longer. Get ready to vote, and be ready to clock this monster that promises to be done and over in a record breaking 180 minutes. Nominees list below.