Over the last few years, OK Go have found more success as a YouTube sensation than as an actual band. And all the while, longtime label EMI has provided little help in forging the band’s brave new multimedia world. As singer Damian Kulash recently wrote in a New York Times op-ed, EMI attempted to increase its streaming royalties from YouTube by preventing users from embedding the label’s videos on other websites. Kulash claims the policy has hamstrung the viralability of the band’s latest opus “This Too Shall Pass” and subsequently hindered CD and digital sales.
As a result, OK Go have parted ways with EMI and will release all future material, including a re-release of their new album Of the Color of Blue Sky, on their own Paracadute Recordings label. True to form, Kulash announced the split via YouTube and thanked EMI for their years of service to the band. But one would imagine EMI needs more than gracious goodbyes to console themselves after the recent rash of bad news the label has faced.
Meanwhile, between starting a new label and constructing a gargantuan Rube Goldberg machine, OK Go also found the time to schedule a two-month tour starting in April. Feel free to check it out if, you know, watching bands outside of the internet is your thing.
04.13.10 - Salt Lake City, UT - The State Room
04.14.10 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
04.16.10 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall
04.17.10 - Chicago, IL - Metro
04.18.10 - St. Louis, MO - The Old Rock House
04.20.10 - Columbia, MO - Blue Note
04.21.10 - Indianapolis, IN - Earth House
04.22.10 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
04.23.10 - Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
04.25.10 - Ithaca, NY - The Haunt
04.27.10 - Northampton, MA - Pearl Street
04.28.10 - New Haven, CT - Toad’s Place
04.30.10 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
05.02.10 - East Rutherford, NJ - Bamboozle
05.05.10 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
05.07.10 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
05.09.10 - Baltimore, MD - Ram’s Head Live
05.11.10 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theater
05.12.10 - Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theater
05.13.10 - Atlanta, GA - The Loft
05.14.10 - Tampa, FL - Crowbar
05.15.10 - Orlando, FL - Firestone Live
05.16.10 - Gulf Shores, AL - Hangout Festival
05.18.10 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
05.19.10 - Austin, TX - The Parish
05.21.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda
05.22.10 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
05.28.10 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
05.29.10 - Quincy, WA - Sasquatch! Festival
06.11.10 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival
• OK Go: http://www.okgo.net
