The FYI News Bulletin
Dan Hill has signed a record deal with WMG-partnered US label Sun and Sky Records in a deal brokered by good friend Paul Fa
By David Farrell
Dan Hill has signed a record deal with WMG-partnered US label Sun and Sky Records in a deal brokered by good friend Paul Farberman. Dan writes the column to say: “I recorded this 14-song album over the past 4 months,” using the covid lockdown to “immerse myself in the recording process without distraction.” He adds that he’s been asked by several people in the media to comment on “the intense racial divide devastating our world and rather than do an interview I wrote 'What About Black Lives' as I found this topic too searingly emotional to talk about. Songwriting is always easier for me than say, pontificating on any particular subject.”
'What about Black lives' will be released as his first single in four weeks, with a worldwide release on the album in Feb. The single is his first since In Your Eyes was released in 1994.
Winner of a Grammy (as co-producer of Seduces Me on Celine Dion’s 30 plus million-selling Falling Into You album), the winner of five Juno Awards has had his songs covered by a long list of singers that include Britney Spears, 98 Degrees, The Backstreet Boys, Rod Stewart, Michael Bolton, Barry Manilow, Tina Turner, George Benson, and Jeffrey Osborne, Tammy Wynette, Reba, and Alan Jackson. As of 2015, Hill’s songs have reportedly sold over 100M copies.
Sun and Sky recently inked a deal with–fellow Canuck–Snow, a recent Billboard Top Latin Song Award-winner with Daddy Yankee for the runaway hit Con Calma.
– AMPED Distribution has taken over physical distribution for the majority of Entertainment One (“eOne”) music labels’ titles in Canada, the US and Mexico. eOne’s label family includes Death Row Records, Dualtone Records, Artemis Records, and Steamhammer, as well as a roster of 150 artists (The Lumineers, BadBadNotGood, Arkells, Death From Above 1979, Kaytranada, Danko Jones) on the company’s flagship music label.
Several major eOne releases are timed to drop on Black Friday (Nov. 27,) for Record Store Day, including new releases by Ace Frehley and Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound.
– Hits Daily Double has introduced a Top 100 Weekly Marketshare Chart, which is determined by the number and placement of each label’s releases in that week’s Top 100.
– Another informative Hits Daily Double feature is the weekly Song Revenue Chart. Canadians placing in the top 10 for the week ending 10/22 include Justin Bieber & Benny Blanco’s Lonely earning $85,637 and Holy by Bieber feat. Chance The Rapper earning $76,391 (at #s 5 &8 respectively) for a total of US$162.08; and Drake feat. Lil Durk Laugh Now, Cry Later places 6th, earning $81,340.
– After five years of successive growth, global music collections are expected to take a 20 to 35-percent hit due this year because of covid. That’s the prognosis put forward by the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC). That’s a drop of about C$5.5B over 2019 collections. The agency says the impact of the pandemic is expected to remain long into 2021 and beyond. “Across all repertoires, collections in 2021 will remain below the level of those in 2019, with users continuing to face payment difficulties and bankruptcies.”
In Sept., SOCAN’s Kit Wheeler, Vice-President, Licensing, reported that the Canadian PRO anticipates an 11 percent decline in domestic revenues and a similar, moderate decline in cable and TV revenues, and substantial growth still continuing in digital revenues.
– A big hurrah for Tyler Joe Miller, the Surrey, BC country singer who made history last week when his second MDM Recordings’ single, I Would Be Over Me Too went number 1 at Canadian Country Radio. According to those in the know, this makes TJ Miller the first Canadian independent country artist to reach No. 1 on the radio with his first two singles.
- Ticket Newsreports that a group of Off-Broadway theatres and comedy clubs are suing government officials in hopes of ending forced closures that have lasted over seven months as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio are named in the lawsuits, which hope to nullify the state order restricting indoor performances and attendance.
– Varietyreports former WME music chief Marc Geiger, who also was a co-founder of the Lollapalooza festival, has announced a plan to invest in small clubs and build an indie touring network, although that plan would see him acquiring a 51% ownership stake in the venues in question. According to an interview in the New York Times, Geiger has amassed a war chest to help sustain clubs throughout the pandemic and help them to reopen.
– Murray McLauchlan’s was last heard on record in March 2017 when True North Records released his 18th album, Love Can’t Tell Time. In the past couple of weeks he has updated his discography with the release of two new song videos: I Live On A White Cloud and The One Percent, both of which are laden with timely social commentary.
– Whispers tell us to expect an announcement sooner than later from CARAS regarding the full slate of 2020 inductees into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
– Add Dan Mangan to the list of songwriters who have been spurred to write about the goings-on in the White House.
And here are a few delights we discovered while writing this column:
The world's largest piano recital
Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale, live in Denmark 2006
When a professional musician sits down at a public piano
The World's Most Famous Unknown Band
From March 1990, Chet Atkins presents "The World's Most Famous Unknown Band" in a salute to Ralph Emery, and that band is Glen Campbell, Jerry Reed, Steve Wariner, Roy Clark, Ray Stevens, Ricky Skaggs, Lee Greenwood, Steve Gatlin, Barbara Mandrell, and Irlene Mandrell.
