Music Biz Headlines, Dec. 23, 2021

By Kerry Doole

Michael Bublé dashes out for some Timbiebs

Are you sick of reading about the Omicron variant? Has the climate breakdown sent you into a tailspin? Higher prices making you grumpy? Do you miss those simpler times when you didn't have to put on a mask every time you enter a building? If the answers to those questions are yes, then here's something to put a smile on your face. It's Michael Bublé dashing off to Tim Hortons for, you guessed it, Timbiebs. – Charlie Smith, Georgia Straight

Anne Murray says she’s ready to divert from memory lane after new documentary

Anne Murray has retrodden the path of her illustrious singing career so often in recent years that she wonders if it’s about time she stopped looking back. More than a decade into her retirement, the four-time Grammy winner has mostly stayed out of the limelight, but she’s indulged in a good share of reflection. – David Friend, CP

Calgary musician hopes to shake up the world of classical music with debut album

Due to the Covid restrictions in place when much of the album was produced, each part had to be recorded separately. This is not an ideal setup for any genre but seems particularly unsuitable for chamber music. Daniel Pelton persisted, completing The Gold Coin Session. – Eric Volmers, Calgary Herald

Brooklynne Webb is in control

The BC TikTok star, known to her 10 million followers as xobrooklynne, has spent the last month as the internet’s punching bag. That’s just how she planned it. – Rayne Fisher-Quann, NEXT

Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern and Lee's Palace cancel all in-person events through to New Year

The venues have opted to close their doors amid surging cases of Covid in Ontario. – Exclaim!

The best pop-culture moments of 2021 to catch up on over the holidays

Looking back on a wild, wacky, and sad year. Barry Hertz and Aruna Dutt. –  Globe and Mail

Toronto’s best music 2021: albums, concerts and so many songs to stream

From TikTok breakouts to club sounds IRL and in our minds, here's what we listened to in this strange year – and lots for you to listen to, too. – Richard Trapunski, NOW

International

BMG and KKR announce first acquisition: The 'entire music interests' of ZZ Top

On Dec. 21 BMG and KKR confirmed a joint acquisition for the first time: what they're calling "the entire music interests" of rock icons ZZ Top. Getting into the detail, the acquired music interests include a buyout of the band’s publishing catalog as well as their income from recorded royalties and performance royalties. Previously, BMG served as co-publisher and administrator of ZZ Top’s publishing catalog. – Tim Ingham, MBW

CD Baby has paid out over $1BN to artists via its distribution platform

DIY musicians are grabbing an increasingly large market share of the music business. Today, we learn that one of those platforms, Downtown Music Holdings-owned distribution platform CD Baby, has reached a significant financial milestone. CD Baby reports it has paid out more than $1 billion to artists since the company was founded in 1998. In addition, the company says that more than a million artists worldwide have distributed over 10M tracks via the platform. – Murray Stassen, MBW

How does Warner Music Group's debt look?

Reggaeton and Electronic music have a long have a history. 2021 revived it.

Snow joke: why the Christmas No 1 single is still big business

Tis the season for novelty hits, charity records and, now, songs about baked goods. But though everyone wants a festive No 1, they rarely stay up longer than the tinsel. – Michael Hann, The Guardian

‘This thing was trying to dismantle me’: Mark Lanegan on nearly dying of Covid

In this extract from his new memoir Devil in a Coma, the alt-rocker recalls how Covid-19 put him in hospital for months this year – and gave him a series of hallucinogenic visions. –The Guardian

Pink Floyd surprise-release a dozen live albums, recorded from 1970-1972

Notably, one of the sets features early versions of almost every song that would go on to appear on 'Dark Side of the Moon.' – Jackson Maxwell, Guitar Player