The FYI News Bulletin

By David Farrell

– Canadian Live Music Assoc. has submitted recommendations for Stage 3 venue reopens to the Ontario government. “While the requested increases may appear small (100 indoors, 200 outdoors), know our recommendations were crafted through careful consultation,” org President and CEO Erin Benjamin writes.

– CMPA, CIMA, Canadian Live Music Assoc., MMF, SAC, Music Publishers Canada and FACTOR are working together to gather data from a survey gauging the severity of the virus's impact on the Canadian music industry with respect to their memberships. Details TBA.

– Michael Gorman, ex of Last Gang and Pandyamonium Management, has launched Toronto-based Straight Up Management with drag star, Tynomi Banks (Canada’s Drag Race), and former OHL player, LGBTQ+ advocate and public speaker, Brock McGillis, the first professional hockey player to openly come out as gay, as clients. Gorman is also working with brands and influencers such as Miss Fiercalicious, Jada Hudson, and Devine Darlin – on campaigns for Bud Light, Amazon, Crest, Nyx Cosmetics,  and SodaStream. Announcing his initiative, Gorman enthuses: "I’m very excited about this new stage in my career and who better to launch Straight Up Management with than such a diverse, eclectic roster of talented and driven artists!” Contact: michael@straightupmgmt.com

– Cambridge MA folk institution Club Passim successfully launched its Keep Your Distance Fest covid artist relief fund with virtual performances by Boston-area musicians. Included was an ensemble rendition of Bruce Cockburn’s Wondering Where the Lions Are. Cockburn was a regular marquee headliner at the club in the early days, along with Murray McLauchlan, Joan Baez, Shawn Colvin, Tom Rush, Joni Mitchell, Suzanne Vega, and Jimmy Buffett.

The Passim Emergency Artist Relief Fund raised over US$14K within a day of its launch. $130K has been raised to date, and grants totalling $115K have been distributed to 240 artists.

– The El Mocambo is chasing headlines again. This time announcing its virtual opening. “A virtual opening wasn’t exactly what we had originally envisioned, but even without a live audience, the sentiment and pride to be hosting an event, to be creating forward momentum with the city, other venues, artists and their team members were everything you could have expected and more,” Julie Hoffman, Manager of Music Services, states. “We are very much looking forward to working with the industry to create meaningful moments, both virtually and physically for many more years to come.”

– 43K acts on Spotify garner 90% of the streams on Spotify, according to stats released in the company’s Q2 results, as reported by MBI. The same article shockingly tells that 40K new tracks are added daily to the streamer, for a total (so far) of 60M.

Songs for POTUS fans

A few subscribers have complained about an anti-POTUS bias shown by this columnist, so today’s column includes a few songs that clearly express the other point of view.

Thank You Lord For Giving Us Another Trump Day

Trump Train 2020

No Biden

If This Country Still Had Balls

I Think My Dog’s A Democrat

Maybe I’ll Vote Democrat Again

And as a counterpoint, Neil Young has released a 2020 version of his ’06 song Lookin’ For A Leader

The track was included on his 2006 album Living With War that was critical of the politics and policies of then-president, George W. Bush.