The Friday Bulletin

By David Farrell

Canadian News

Canadian Music Week is shifting its marketing and PR gears from idle to slow forward for its rescheduled (from Spring) Fall events that are to include 5 nights of performances (September 8-12), and the 9 – 11 Trade Conference at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel.

–This coming Sunday’s multi-platform Canadian special Stronger Together / Tout Ensemble has been extended to 90 minutes, with a 6:30 pm start-time in all time zones. The fundraiser is described as “the biggest single-show broadcast event in Canadian history” with two+ dozen new platforms now presenting the variety extravaganza.

– FACTOR has suspended processing all travel-based applications until restrictions are lifted by local governments and health authorities.  If you have any questions about an already submitted application, contact your Project Coordinator directly.

– Jake Gold follows Michael McCarty as a Canadian guesting on The Bob Lefsetz Podcast. Available on Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart, Apple and Spotify podcast platforms.

– Could America’s Got Talent’s next winner be from Canada? Now that judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie have handpicked their favourites, America will soon get their say on which contestants will stay, and which will go home and high up on the list is Nanaimo, BC’s very popular Lauren Spencer-Smith who released her debut album late last month.

Host Ryan Seacrest hosts the first live remote episode of the popular show Sunday, , starting at 8 pm ET on CTV2.

– The Avril Lavigne Foundation has partnered with Project HOPE to raise funds for frontline workers, including providing personal protective equipment for frontline workers. www.CharityStars.com/Warrior. As part of her contribution, re has re-written the lyric to Warrior included on her 2019 album Head Above Water and re-cast it as We Are Warriors.

International

Responding to criticisms over its ticket refund policy, Live Nation has issued the following statement:

"Live Nation will soon be rolling out Rock When You’re Ready, a full program of options for fans with tickets to shows that have been cancelled or rescheduled. Our venues will be offering loyal fans a variety of Concert Cash credits to put towards future ticket purchases. For cancelled shows, fans can choose to receive up to 150% of their ticket value as Concert Cash, and for rescheduled shows, they will receive Concert Cash once they attend the new date.

“Those looking for ways to give back can opt to donate their tickets to health care workers through Live Nation’s expanded Hero Nation program. And anyone who needs or wants their money back will have the option to get a full refund within 30 days once a show has been cancelled or new dates have been finalized.

“It takes an entire ecosystem to bring live events to life, and we appreciate the patience of fans as our teams work through the details of shifting these shows with artists, venues, and communities around the world. Exact offers will vary based on show and venue, and will be shared directly with ticketholders when they are available, beginning May 1."

–  Spotify has ceased reporting regional data for U.S. streams to Nielsen Music/ MRC Data, the company that tracks sales, streams and radio airplay for the music industry and powers Billboard’s charts. Losing the data will make Nielsen/MRC’s a less accurate guide for radio programmers and promotion executives, as well as those who use Nielsen’s regional data as a guide to map tours, Varietyreports.

– Facebook has taken a US$5.7B stake in Reliance Jio/Jio Platforms, a major internet and cell phone service provider in India with almost 400M subscribers. The 9% stake also gives it access to the conglomerate’s freemium music-streaming platform with over 100M monthly active users. The rationale for the deal is to outflank Amazon, Walmart and Google in the market by having users employ FB’s Whatsapp for e-commerce.

– Live Nation is promoting American dancer-turned singer Willie Gomez’s Live from Home virtual tour that will available on LN’s Facebook Live and House of Blues’ regional social media channels. For the complete Live Nation Live from Home calendar of music streams link here.

Infotainments

Living In A Ghost Town: The Rolling Stones first new song in eight years

Burk Uzzle’s photograph captured a generation, and a youthful couple in the Woodstock mud

Ever since LIFE magazine’s 20th-anniversary commemorative edition revealed that they were the people on the cover of Atlantic Records’ original 1970 Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More, Nick and Bobbi Ercoline have been telling the story of how they met. – TIME via That Eric Alper