Music Biz Headlines, Aug. 23, 2019

By FYI Staff

Now Hear This: Damhnait Doyle’s new songs to flower at Halifax Urban Folk Festival

Doyle presents new songs off Liquor Store Flowers, her first solo album since 2008’s Lights Down Low, at the Halifax Urban Folk Festival next week. – Stephen Cooke, Chronicle-Herald

Confessions of a bad feminist

I assimilated. I condoned the behaviour I witnessed. Even worse, I engaged in it myself, because I wanted to fit in and to belong. I’m not pointing the finger at my male bandmates here, many of whom were, and are, individually great people. It’s just that in the music business, being male was normal and I was “other”. – Miranda Mulholland, SOCAN blog

Toronto is really mad that Drake's Raptors merch is sold out already

Sorry, Toronto fans hoping to get their hands on some of OVO-made Raptors gear: the collection is completely sold out.  Real Sports Apparel took to social media  to announce Drake's 'Best in the World' line, which includes a t-shirt and snapback, is no longer available, thanks to "overwhelming demand." – Blog TO

Artists displaced by raging Jarvis Avenue blaze offered new studio spaces

The July fire impacted many Winnipeg artists and musicians. – CBC News

Canadian musical wins big at New York Musical Festival

A new musical play by Hamilton native Jenny Waxman has carried away the top prize at the prestigious New York Musical Festival. The competition, which has served as the birthplace for many successful Broadway hits, rated the play Leaving Eden, written by Waxman and Sheridan College theatre student Ben Page, the best musical of the festival.  – Steve Arnold, CJN 

Squeezed out? Six musicians on why they left Toronto

With the housing crisis and decreased affordability of venues, some musicians have asked if it's worth staying. Here's why these ones moved to smaller cities. – Samantha Edwards, NOW

Sonny Landreth's bottleneck skills will transport Vancouver slide-guitar freaks to the Louisiana bayou

If you're a fan of slide guitar, make sure you get down to the Rio Theatre this Saturday. That's when Louisiana guitarist Sonny Landreth--Eric Clapton's favourite slide player--will be holding court on the bluesy beauty of the bottleneck.  – Steve Newton, Georgia Straight

How Toronto's DIY party scene is surviving condos, cops and curfews

As rents go up and venues shut down, the underground is fighting for space. Seven promoters and musicians sound off on why parties matter and how we can make them thrive. – Richard Trapunski, NOW

International

Angry investors sue over Sirius XM’s “invalid” $3.5B Pandora acquisition

Former Pandora investors, angered and frustrated by the details surrounding Sirius XM’s purchase of Pandora, have filed a lawsuit, claiming the buy-out was “invalid and void.” –  Marsha Silva, Digital Music News

Self-care has to be rooted in self-preservation, not just mimosas and spa days

I know how difficult it is to “just love yourself” in a society in which the media tells us that we don't have enough money for that. – Lizzo, NBC News

Somaliland's poets and singers fight to be heard

The arts scene is booming in the self-declared republic of Somaliland but the people who are pushing the cultural boundaries have come up against some opposition. – BBC News

Dr. Dre unloads longtime Woodland Hills home for $4.5 million

Dr. Dre is officially on to the next episode. The music producer and mogul has sold his longtime home in Woodland Hills for $4.5 million. The 16,200-square-foot house hit the market in mid-July and sold in about a month, records show. It had been listed for $5.25 million. – Neal J. Leitereg, LA Times

Spotify is being glorified in an upcoming TV drama — And not everyone is happy about it

The history books are already being written on the streaming music revolution — though not everyone likes the way Spotify is being portrayed. – Paul Resnikoff,  Digital Music News

2019 Fall music book preview

From Patti Smith and Neil Young to Tegan and Sara, the fall brings a great new selection of music-themed books. –  Paste

Roots-rocker Chuck Mead returns to the music of Memphis for his latest LP, 'Close to Home'

After a decade spent focusing on Sun Records, Sam Phillips and Memphis music, it’s no surprise that the leader of Nashville country-revivalists BR5-49 decided to make his new album, “Close to Home,” in the Bluff City. – Bob Mehr, Commercial Appeal

Apple finally leverages shazam tech for content discovery

Apple is finally using the start-up's technology for content discovery, a core competitive area where the tech titan lags rival Spotify. – The Motley Fool

An interview with super-manager Danny Goldberg

"The word manager is misleading. People think we're somehow the boss of the artist, but it is the opposite. They're the boss." – Dave Roberts, MBW

Portishead’s ‘Dummy’ is 25. The band asks that you play it loud.

The trip-hop classic was an unexpected success in 1994. Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley look back at its creation and explain how they think it should be heard. – CR Weingarten,  NYT

Chillwave: a momentary microgenre that ushered in the age of nostalgia

In a summer riven by financial meltdown, a niche trend for lo-fi retro pop couldn’t have seemed more trivial. Yet it was the first sign of a generation fleeing to the past to escape a bleak future.  – Emilie Friedlander, The Guardian

Elton John blasts the media over Duke & Duchess of Sussex's private jet getaway

Elton John has attacked reports about royal couple Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex’s private plane trip to his home in France. The rocker invited the pair and three-month-old Archie to stay at his private residence in the South of France last week and gave them access to his private plane for the getaway.– WENN

How artist imposters and fake songs sneak onto streaming services

When songs leak on Spotify and Apple Music, illegal uploads can generate substantial royalty payments—but for whom? –  Noah Yoo, Pitchfork

Drake sued for stealing beats for In My Feelings and Nice For What

Samuel Nicholas III -- who goes by Sam Skully -- is suing Drake and Big Freedia, claiming they used his beat for their hit collab, In My Feelings. He also claims Drake stole another one of his beats for his wildly successful track, Nice For What. –  TMZ

NASA names rock on Mars after The Rolling Stones

Actor (and sometime jazz musician) Robert Downey Jr joined the Stones in Pasadena to announce to 60,000 fans what was going on. – Paul Cashmere, Noise11