Music Biz Headlines, April 22, 2020
Toronto’s bubbling psych scene, Leonard Podolak (featured) offers a lament for the Winnipeg Folk Fest, and the expansion of Apple Music. Others in the headlines include TikTok, cancelled concerts, UMG, streaming stats, record stores, PlayOn fest, Tracy Chan, Warner Music Group, Bruce Springsteen, the Beatles, Rowland S Howard, Fiona Apple, Johnny Marr, and Billy McFarland.
By FYI Staff
'Profound sense of loss' as Winnipeg Folk Fest's legendary love, laughter (and yes, music) put on hold
Growing up at the celebrated fest 'was like Christmas in July,' says the son of the founding director. – Leonard Podolak, CBC News ·
12 things we noticed about the One World: Together at Home concert
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Toronto's bubbling psychedelic music scene drips online
A pocket of local artists and festivals have been intermingling like tie-dye, and they're adapting to the we're-all-in-this-together-while-we're-apart spirit of the times. – Jesse Locke, NOW
How to do karaoke at home with your friends like you're at Lion's Head with Laurie The Guy
Covid sucks. Karaoke doesn't. Some tips for you. – Caora McKenna,the Coast
International
Apple Music expands into 52 more countries
Two dozen Africa nations are included, and the App Store, Apple’s Podcasts, iCloud and the Apple Arcade will now be available in 20 more countries for a total of 175. – Dan Rys, Billboard
You have a TikTok Hit! Now, quick — change the title
Snippets of songs are often becoming popular faster than the songs themselves, which means labels have started tailoring song titles to make searches on streaming platforms more effective. – Elias Leight, Rolling Stone
The IP complexity of posting content to social media sites
Major tech platforms are predatory animals whose Terms of Service are toxic to creators. Here are the basics … – David Newhoff, The Illusion of More
Bandsintown's data-first approach could revive crippled touring business
As the shutdown took hold the platform expanded its mission to become a global hub for live music streaming, adding WATCH LIVE and other free tools to help artists promote their live streams and partnered with Twitch for fast-track monetization of those streams. – Entrepreneur
The music industry’s lost summer: No Bieber, no Swift and mass layoffs
The summer concert season ended before it began. While sports leagues and restaurants try to figure out when they can reopen to the public, there’s growing recognition among music industry executives that concerts won’t be coming back anytime soon. In the past couple of weeks, festivals have cleared out of May and June, while those in July and August are just waiting to reschedule. – Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg
Artists, live industry brace for a year without concerts: ‘Is there a better place for spreading disease?’
Just a few weeks ago, Pollstar projected that in its most pessimistic scenario for the post-COVID-19 concert industry, shows would resume in less than a year with industry losses around $9 billion (U.S.). Now the live business is preparing for much worse. – August Brown, Los Angeles Times
UMG braces for physical ad streaming downturn but says subscription is more stable and robust
Universal Music Group is staying realistic about the potential negative impact COVID-19 might have on its performance this year – despite a Q1 performance that was very much business as usual. – Tim Ingham, MBW
Everyone’s stuck at home – so why are people streaming less music?
Streaming was supposed to be the music industry’s silver lining during the pandemic, but figures have been going down. – Eamon Forde, The Guardian
Three new documentaries explore the enduring allure of a great record store
Those looking to indulge their vinyl fetish, though, can do it with a triple feature of new feature-length documentaries available this weekend. The three movies offer a kaleidoscopic view of the ways in which physical music, and the communal spaces that buy and sell it, has become a kind of secular religion. – Randall Roberts, Los Angeles Times
Arts and culture are worth saving
More than $800 billion arts and culture was contributed to the US economy by arts and culture, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis study released last March. It’s one of the heavyweights of the new economy, growing larger as the old one dwindles. The arts economy is more than double that of mining, agriculture, forestry, and fishing combined. – Murray Whyte, Boston Globe
Warner Music Group (WMG) is launching a three-day virtual music festival called PlayOn Fest
Kicked off by LL COOL J April 24 at noon ET, PlayOn Fest will stream each day exclusively via Songkick’s YouTube channel. The event is being hosted in support of the covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization (WHO), which is powered by the UN Foundation. – Murray Stassen, MBW
Ticketmaster finally responds to a rising tide of customer complaints
Ticket buyers hounded Ticketmaster for weeks, wondering when or if they would receive refunds for cancelled sporting events and concerts. Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, offered no reprieve. And then the politicians became involved. – Nicole Schuman, PR News
Spotify for Artists lead Tracy Chan joins Twitch
“I believe there’s a massive opportunity-to-help-artists-connect-with-their-fans-through-virtual-performances-and-live-streaming.” – MBW
BBC Radio 1 launches coronavirus charity song with Dua Lipa, Chris Martin and more
The cover of the Foo Fighters’ Times Like These also features Rita Ora, Biffy Clyro and other big names. – The Guardian
Warner invests in Africa-based music distributor Africori
Warner Music Group is investing an undisclosed sum into Africori, a digital music distribution, music rights management and artist development company that calls itself “the home of African music”. Africori is the largest digital music distribution company in Sub-Saharan Africa. – Tim Ingham, MBW
The Beatles’ ‘Get Back’ documentary: Everything you need to know
The forthcoming Peter Jackson-directed ‘The Beatles: Get Back’ documentary will offer a revelatory look at the band. Here’s what we know so far. – Sophie Smith, Udiscovermusic
Neil Young won’t reunite CSNY because David Crosby shit-talked his wife
Back in 2014, David Crosby thought it would be a great idea to publicly declare that the new girlfriend of one of his oldest pals, Neil Young, was a “purely poisonous predator” who wasn’t worthy of Young’s affection. This caused a rift that remains. – Devon Ivie, Vulture
Bruce Springsteen: where to start in his back catalogue
In Listener’s Digest, our writers help you explore the work of great musicians. Next up: the firebrand rocker who gave his tales of blue-collar life universal appeal. – Laura Barton, Guardian
The artist works in isolation. But what’s the point when ‘all art seems inconsequential right now?’
Some have even suggested that it’s unethical to create art right now, at least a few angry birds in the Twittersphere, since it could be perceived as capitalizing on the pandemic, using global distress as a resource for something as frivolous as art. I disagree. – Mathew Silver, Toronto Star
Fiona Apple’s new album, ‘Fetch the Bolt Cutters,’ makes a bold show of unprettiness
“Fetch the Bolt Cutters” is Fiona Apple’s third consecutive album with a title to suggest that one of pop music’s flesh-and-bloodiest songwriters has cold, hard machinery on her mind. – Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times
'A guitar hero when there were none': the fragile life of Rowland S Howard
He played with Nick Cave, influenced Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine, and is hailed as a genius by generations of post-punks – but heroin always held him back. – The Guardian
Supporting Austin music venues during the shutdown
Alongside citywide efforts like Austin Community Foundation’s Stand With Austin Fund and the Red River Cultural District’s Banding Together ATX, many local music venues have launched their own fundraising options. – Rachel Rascoe, Austin Chronicle
Johnny Marr teaches fans how to play a Smiths classic from his home studio
'The Headmaster Ritual', as taught by the man himself. – Patrick Clarke, NME
Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland seeks early release amid pandemic
The imprisoned Fyre Festival founder has reportedly petitioned for an early prison release, citing his health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. – WENN
