XM Satellite Radio and Bside (an independent film distributor) are joining forces to launch the independent documentary, Before The Music Dies (B4MD). Remember Before The Music Dies? I posted the preview a couple weeks ago before it looks so electrifying.

The partnership between Bside and XM will include a grassroots screening week (November 12th - 19th) and the first-ever "radio premiere" of a full-length film. Neat.

The screening week gives any music lover the opportunity to host their own screening of the film (hence the "grassroots" part). Events are already scheduled in markets across the US and Canada, will be held in venues ranging from recording studios to public libraries to large music clubs. Want to see where any of these screenings will be held? Just check here. It's being updated constantly

XM will kick off this national screening week with an audio broadcast of B4MD - the first-ever "radio premiere" of a full-length film - followed by a half-hour interview by XM's Bob Edwards with filmmakers, Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen.

The B4MD broadcast and interview special will air November 12th at 9pm ET on XM Public Radio (ch 133). XM will also provide a 24-hour loop of the documentary audio broadcast and Bob Edwards interview on XM LIVE (ch 200) starting at 8am ET on November 19th.

Awesome. 

Something's wrong at XM and I just don't get it. Kicking off the first game on Saturday night at Detroit’s Comerica Park, every fan got an XM-branded rally towel and an offer for a free XM radio. Anyone else confused? I know, me too, this is actually a good marketing idea.

XM handed out the towels, and the radio offers, to fans as they entered the stadium. The offer was a special card with a World Series pin attached. The cardholder gets a Delphi RoadyXT radio for free, provided they pay the first three months’ subscription in advance. They could either redeem the cards at the ballpark and take the radios home with them right away, or they could order the radio online after the game.

(The line begins as fans come to get their free Roady XTs.)

XM also had signs throughout Comerica stadium. The new XM TV ads ran on the Jumbotron, and fans heard "XM music breaks" between innings. One of the first XM music breaks was "Old Time Rock and Roll," by Detroit native Bob Seger, who reportedly was spotted in the stands behind home plate bobbing his head.

And get this, there's supposed to be plenty of XM signs and branding at St. Louis’ Busch stadium as well. Could this new marketing team really be doing things right?

Sting performed before a live audience at XM's Jazz @ Lincoln Center studios in NYC for the latest installment of XM Satellite Radio's Artist Confidential series.

Sting's XM performance included works from his latest album, Songs From the Labyrinth, which is a collection of Elizabethan-era tunes from the works of John Dowland performed on the lute.

The evening's set list also included Sting playing a few songs not normally performed on the lute (which can be pretty much... any song), including his 1993 hit "Fields of Gold," legendary bluesman Robert Johnson's "Hell Hound on My Trail," and The Police's "Message in a Bottle."

The Sting Artist Confidential premieres on XM Pops (ch 113) on Monday, October 16th at Noon ET, with additional encores airing through out the week.