DIANA POPS (unsigned, unpublished) -- This 23 year-old singer/songwriter/pianist hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her MySpace page lists her as sounding like "Tori Amos and Norah Jones' art-pop love-child", but we also hear a stiking similarity to one of her big influences, fellow Canadian Sarah McLachlan.

Diana recently completed an album with Juno Award-winning, Grammy-nominated producer Adrian Bradford and mixer Bryan Cook. Her MySpace page features a few of the tracks from the offering (faves include "Light My Cigarette" and "Las Vegas To New York") - we have to say this is one of the most promising new artists we've come across in quite some time.

ANOTHER TALENTFILTER ARTIST SIGNS A LABEL/PUBLISHING DEAL! Our super-snoops inside the Nettwerk Records offices tell us that Terry McBride has signed Australian TALENTfilter act The Hampdens to a recording and publishing deal! We first wrote about The Hampdens EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO! Kudos to Terry and to the band for getting a deal done - it's about time someone helps create awareness of their material outside of Oz!

Terry, where can we send an invoice for our finder's fee? ;)

TALENTfilter 'SIGNED ARTIST' UPDATE

There are many other 'tipsheet’-type blogs out there claiming to have helped a million bands get signed – well – you can get a million bands record deals, but if none of them break, who cares, right? Here’s an update on some of the artists who have been signed or published since being tipped to you by Team TALENTfilter:

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, featured in February 2007 and now signed to The Firm’s record label, have ‘Scanned 239,111 copies of their debut album The Way Of The Fist, and have had several chart-topping singles at Active Rock radio in the U.S...

JESSIE BAYLIN, featured in March 2007, has since signed with Verve Forecast (and Sony/ATV Publishing) and has ‘Scanned 11,470 copies of her debut Fireflight LP. Baylin will tour in support of Mark Broussard in January 2009.

ANDREW PAUL WOODWORTH, also featured in March 2007, has signed a European licensing deal with Rodeostar Records in Germany and has toured mainland Europe several times in 2008 in support of his debut Eddy Ate Dynamite LP (available in EU). Woodworth remains unpublished and is available for licensing outside of Europe.

KATE WALSH, featured in March 2007, has since topped the iTunes UK Albums chart without the help of a label, signed with Mercury in the UK and Verve in the U.S., and has scanned about 10,000 copies of her album Tim’s House in the States. Walsh is currently working on a new album.

INGRID MICHAELSON, first featured in May 2007, is our most-successful TALENTfilter artist, sales-wise, to date. You’re probably very familiar with her accomplishments – but you should also know that she’s ‘Scanned 246,362 copies of her Girls & Boys LP and 32,295 copies of her latest Be Ok album. Ingrid still owns her masters, and is still unpublished.

A FINE FRENZY, who was signed but unpublished when we’d first written about her, has since signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell. She’s ‘Scanned 228,637 copies of her debut One Cell In The Sea LP, and has had NUMEROUS song placements in film/TV and commercials. Her first single, “Almost Lover”, peaked at number 25 on Billboard’s Hot A/C chart in the U.S. Overseas, "Almost Lover," reached number eight in Germany, number ten on the Swiss Charts and number five in Austria. A Fine Frenzy (Alison Sudol) is currently working on a new album (and writing a children’s book!)

BRENDAN JAMES, first featured in June 2007, has signed with Decca Records and has ‘Scanned 11,305 copies of his debut The Day Is Brave LP.

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT, featured in January 2008 after KROQ Los Angeles added their song into regular rotation, has since signed with Shout! Factory in the U.S. and has 'Scanned 23,169 copies of their self-titled album. The radio story in the U.S. continues to grow, and the label derby has begun overseas for non-U.S licensing rights.

MEIKO, the very first artist we’d blogged about in February 2007, has signed to MySpace/DGC, and has ‘Scanned 25,283 of her self-titled debut. The album, self-released almost a year prior to signing, had sold over 25,000 copies without the help of a label. The Meiko LP is the top-selling album on Amazon.com this week, and she’s debuted at #26 on the R&R Triple A radio chart this week as well. She’s had 11 songs placed in U.S. TV shows, and she is still unpublished.

KATIE COSTELLO (unsigned, unpublished) -- Before reading any further, please go to Katie's website to listen to her songs - specifically "Kaleidoscope Machine". We'll wait.

................you back?

................You impressed?

Guess what - she's 17, maybe 18. Yeah. We felt the same way too. Katie has found some recent love from KCRW Los Angeles tastemaker Nic Harcourt - not only has he and the station's Chris Douridas played her music on the air, but Harcourt has also placed "Kaleidoscope Machine" in the "90210" TV show he music supervises. Katie lives in Hermosa Beach, CA, and her sound is in the vein of Zooey Deschanel. We think she's awesome. And we'll be at her show December 7 at Saint Rocke.

**BREAKING NEWS** Following Thursday night's prominent placement in "Grey's Anatomy", wicked sale pricing and ridiculous coverage on MySpace, TALENTfilter artist Meiko has the #1 best-selling album on Amazon.com. Boo ya.

CASTANEDA (unsigned) -- Castaneda is a five-piece L.A.-based band who recently completed their second EP titled This Is What We're Gonna Do. The good folks at Songs Publishing have been helping them to garner various film/TV and videogame synch licenses, and music from the EP is receiving airplay on KROQ Los Angeles' "Local's Only" show and Indie 103-1's "Check, One, Two" program. What separates Castaneda from the deluge of 'indie' Silverlake acts is that they write melodic songs with hooks, and the singer can actually sing! Now, both of their EP's could use some tweaking in the mixes, but the songs are certainly there - if you're a fan of The Killers, you'll like these guys. Castaneda performs at The Mountain Bar in downtown L.A. this Saturday at 11:30. We'll be there, as will a handful of smart label execs.

TALENTFILTER ARTIST STACY CLARK SIGNS WITH INDIE SHANGRI-LA! We're excited to tell you that Orange County-based singer-songwriter Stacy Clark, who we first tipped you to in January 2008, has signed with Shangri-La Music (The Duke Spirit, The Pretenders). She's also picked up a booking agent (APA) and has had several songs placed in TV shows including MTV's "The Hills" and The CW's "Girlfriends". Hooray Stacy! Congrats to you!!

UPCOMING L.A. SHOWS TO BE AWARE OF:

Nov 20 -- Molly Marlette - Hotel Cafe
Nov 22 -- Castaneda - Mountain Bar (Downtown)
Nov 22 -- The Shore - Molly Malone's
Nov 24 -- Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - The Echo
Dec 1 -- Everything Is Energy - The Roxy
Dec 2 -- Holly Conlan - Hotel Cafe
Dec 5 -- Brian Wright & The Waco Tragedies - Hotel Cafe
Dec 15 -- Brendan James - The Roxy

GOOD NEWS!

OK - Good news - after taking about a month off (and slacking a bit in the few months prior), we'll be back this week with a fresh crop of unsigned unpublished talent. We'll also give you a report card on some of the acts we'd discovered prior to their signing - we can help a million bands get signed, but if none of them break - who cares, right? We'll tell you how they're all doing this week.