L.A.’s own launch-pad confab?

As music fans and journalists prepare for Austin’s annual South by Southwest, Miami’s Winter Music Conference and other festivals (not to mention the Coachella desert jaunt) to see what’s next in rock, it’s time for what seems to be a yearly question:

When is Los Angeles ever going to host a showcase for rising talent befitting the region’s status as a global music capital?

The difference this year is that there may be an answer -- other than the usual shrug.

In May, the inaugural Musexpo will take place in West Hollywood, with four days of music-business seminars, a dozen club shows and a long-term goal to expand into an annual event rivaling SXSW and the now-defunct New York New Music Seminar as a launching pad for new acts and trends.

This one is just a baby step, though, says Sat Bisla, vice president of A&R; Worldwide, the company behind the event and the firm credited with launching English band Keane to its currently building international success after it was rejected by every major label.

“This is long overdue for L.A.,” he says. “L.A. being the entertainment capital of the world, it’s a shame we haven’t had something like this before.”

Shows will take place at the Roxy, Key Club and Viper Room, with the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel serving as the location for the daytime seminars and symposiums running May 1 through 4. By design, performances will spotlight relatively unknown acts, though several already are starting to generate serious buzz.

At the top of the list is Cass, a young English singer-songwriter who has signed a deal with Universal/Island Records in the U.K. and has just finished recording a debut album with Rollo Armstrong, best known as Dido’s brother and producer. Cass’ deal was put together by A&R; Worldwide, which also has been brokering alliances between international radio stations to further expose new acts, including a slot featuring British DJ Steve Lamacq on L.A.’s KCRW-FM (89.9) and a show called “Passport Approved” on Indie 103.1 FM.

Arguably, the “stars” of this first Musexpo may be those in the audience at the shows rather than on stage, with confirmed participants for seminar panels and showcases to include Clear Channel Entertainment Chairman Brian Becker, Atlantic Records Co-Chairman Craig Kallman, Sony Music Vice President David Massey, KCRW-FM music director Nic Harcourt and managers David Holmes (Coldplay) and Peter Asher (Sanctuary Artist Management). Larry King will be moderating the keynote panel discussion.

West Hollywood city officials are welcoming and actively supporting both the Musexpo activities and ambitions for growth.

“This is something we see as a continuing event that can expand over the years to other hotels and nightclubs,” says Bill Hynes, vice president of marketing and sales for the West Hollywood Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Where a few earlier attempts to create a festival of this sort in L.A. have failed, Bisla cites the current climate of openness in music as reason for optimism. He compares the atmosphere today to the vibrant times 20 years ago that helped spawn the New Music Seminar and South by Southwest.

“There are two direct parallels between what’s happening now and in the early ‘80s,” he says. “There’s international political turmoil stirring a sense of artistic creativity and curiosity, and where back then college radio allowed a lot of music to be taken seriously, now it’s satellite radio and the Internet and iPod listening mixing things up.”

An idea to which Sony takes a liking

Musicians generally go to major labels to get more money. But a new venture at Sony Music is hoping some will find less money an attraction.

Sony has just signed a deal with a new label headed by veteran executive and producer Tony Berg, producer Eric Valentine and manager-executive Michael Rosenblatt that offers artists a unique deal. The company, called 3 Records, will have a standard contract for $40,000 -- $25,000 going straight to the artist, the rest covering recording costs. With that, though, come the services of Valentine or Berg as producer, along with use of one of their studios, for no additional fees.

That $40,000 figure is about 10% of a typical major-label record deal. But Columbia Records senior vice president of A&R; and general manager, West Coast, Tim Devine, who made the deal with 3, says that “When a band signs a $400,000 deal, $350,000 of that usually goes to making the record. This way they don’t have to recoup the largest cost of the deal before seeing some revenue.”

It also, of course, drastically reduces financial risk to the company. Devine says that will relieve a lot of the pressure to score a quick hit, allowing acts to grow at natural paces. In that regard, he sees 3 as in the tradition of the deal he made in the mid-’90s with Chicago’s Aware Records, through which John Mayer and Five for Fighting came to Sony.

Berg had the idea for the label six years ago while an A&R; executive at Geffen Records. He tried to establish the concept while head of A&R; at Virgin Records and then more recently at ArtistDirect. Teaming with Valentine (whose production credits include Smash Mouth, Queens of the Stone Age and Good Charlotte) and Rosenblatt solidified the idea into a full-service company that will include management and publishing. The label’s first signing is an L.A. pop-rock artist who goes by the name of Mr. Sandwiches, and Berg says plans call for five artists to be on the roster by the end of the year.

“It’s about signing only things we’re passionate about -- passionate enough to work essentially for free as producers,” Berg says. “It’s a fun time in the music business again, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt that, when artists are motivated by the best things.”

Small faces

* In a case of either good or bad timing, XXL Magazine has a cover story and related MTV2 special celebrating the peaceful resurrection of West Coast rap -- just as there’s a shooting in New York allegedly involving members of the respective camps of 50 Cent and former protege the Game. In any case, the story and special, premiering next Sunday, feature a countdown of the top West Coast rap videos. Not surprisingly, Dr. Dre dominates, with his old group N.W.A’s “Straight Outta Compton” at No. 1, followed by Dre’s own “Nuthin’ but a G Thang,” the Tupac-featuring-Dr. Dre clip “California Love” and Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” (produced by Dre and featuring an appearance by him) rounding out the Top 4....

* Moby, who famously licensed every track on his 1999 album “Play” for commercial and film use, now has a tie-in for the title of his upcoming album, “Hotel.” He’s teamed with the W Hotels chain for various activities, including invitation-only launch parties and performances at the W sites in New York, Chicago and Westwood....

* A video clip on Florida’s official state image archives website has been drawing attention from rock fans. That’s because one of the “stars” of a little early ‘60s film, promoting growth and funding for Florida’s college system, is none other than Doors singer Jim Morrison. It can be viewed at www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/VideoFilm2/.