Music Biz Headlines, Feb. 14, 2022
An offbeat film inspired by Celine (pictured) grabs attention, DJ Shub launches War Club, and Tears for Fears recall Toronto memories. Others in the headlines include Donny Gerrard, Stingray, Pretty Archie, Orville Peck, the Superbowl, Drake, Spotify, Sting, UMG, Reservoir, Snoop Dogg, Fleetwood Mac, and James Blunt.
By Kerry Doole
Bananas Céline Dion biopic Aline has moments of gold and flashes of light
The new, extraordinary, enchanting and totally bananas film Aline begins with a warning. Or maybe it is an enticement. A title card appears onscreen noting that the film is “freely inspired” by the life of Céline Dion. Meaning it is not strictly speaking a movie about Céline Dion. But, well, consider the evidence. – Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail
DJ Shub launches dream touring production with ‘War Club’
Whirlwind of dance, drumming, culture and costumery has dates in Toronto and Ottawa. And one never knows who will show up from night to night. – Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
Stingray third quarter profit falls to $12.6 million despite increased revenues
Stingray Group Inc. says its net income fell to $12.6 million in its latest quarter despite an increase in revenues with a gradual easing of Covid restrictions. The Montreal-based music and media company says its profit for the quarter amounted to 18c per diluted share, compared with 19c per share or $14.1M a year earlier when it booked a gain from a settlement with SOCAN. – CP
Why is CBC radio forgetting its classical music lovers?
The CBC’s coverage of classical music simply ain’t what it used to be, William Littler writes. – Toronto Star
Donny Gerrard, lead singer of Skylark’s ‘Wildflower,’ dies at 75
Donny Gerrard’s soothing voice cradled listeners on Skylark’s 1972 hit Wildflower and drew in famous fans but despite working with Elton John and Mavis Staples, friends say he never let his immense singing talent go to his head. – David Friend, CP
Tears for Fears discuss the long road to ‘The Tipping Point’
Tears for Fears’ Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith talk about the three-day stint at Massey Hall in 1985 when they filmed the video for “Head Over Heels” at Emmanuel College Library. – NickKrewen, Toronto Star
Orville Peck shares a glammed up video, plus new music from The Rural Alberta Advantage and Pusha T
Plus, pop auteur Caroline Polachek returns with a strange and extraordinary new song, and Nigerian pop star Adekunle Gold teams up with Ty Dolla $ign. – Toronto Star
10 artists looking to take their music to the next level
For Canadian musicians, FACTOR grants are one of the major ways of securing the funding they need to bring their projects to life. Here, we highlight 10 artists who are making use of these opportunities to take their careers to the next level. – JazzFM
Review: Pretty Archie – ‘Familiar Feeling’
With the release of its new, self-titled album Pretty Archie is pretty confident that the band’s unique mix of folk, Americana, bluegrass, alt-country, and East Coast music will appeal to a wider audience than ever before. Celebrating their tenth anniversary with what is arguably their finest work to date, the band members are releasing the album via Curve Music/Warner Music. – Roots Music Canada
Rapper Drake turns to Bitcoin for million-dollar Super Bowl bet
The musician placed a series of bets using Bitcoin worth C$1.6 million in total on Thursday, including $600K to back the Los Angeles Rams. – Emily Nicolle, Bloomberg
International
NME’s 20 greatest love songs of all time
Average love songs are two-a-penny, but which ones make you feel all mushy inside? – NME
With his share price sinking, could Spotify's Daniel Ek be tempted by a Big Tech buyout?
Spotify‘s institutional shareholders – Universal Music Group amongst them – can’t be best pleased. The streaming service’s share price, and therefore its market cap valuation, has plummeted by more than 50% over the past 12 months. – Tim Ingham, MBW
Spotify’s new misinformation policy probed by New York Comptroller
A letter from a top state official asks Spotify to strengthen its content rules. – Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork
Sting sells entire songwriting catalogue for over £184 million
The deal includes all his solo songs and those written for The Police. – Ali Shutler, NME
Sting sells his songwriting catalog to Universal
On Thursday, UMG announced the acquisition of the music catalog of veteran hitmaker and 17-time Grammy Award-winner Sting. The deal encompasses Sting’s entire catalog, including his creative output with The Police. Additionally, the agreement covers Sting’s 15 solo albums, starting with his 1985 solo debut ‘The Dream of Blue Turtles’ . In all, the transaction includes the copyrights for 600 songs, as well as Sting’s royalties as a songwriter. – Celebrity Access
Reservoir has $3bn worth of deals in 'pipeline,' & expects to spend $200m+ on M&A during first year as public firm
Last week, Reservoir Media published the financial results for its fiscal Q3 2022 (calendar Q4 2021), ended December 31, 2021. Reservoir, which floated on the NASDAQ via a merger with a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) in July 2021, saw its total revenue in the three months ended December 31 increase by 26% to $27.1M, compared to $21.6M in the prior year quarter. – Murray Stassen, MBW
Snoop Dogg buys Death Row Records, onetime label home and gangsta rap powerhouse
L.A.'s most infamous gangsta rap brand is now in very familiar hands. Snoop Dogg, the Long Beach rapper and business mogul whose album “Doggystyle” became one of the label’s preeminent releases, has acquired the label from the MNRK Music Group.Terms of the deal, including ownership of the label’s music catalog, were not made public. – August Brown, LA Times
The changing world of A&R
As record labels continue to evolve, A&R has changed, too. Eight executives break down how. The one thing that doesn’t change is the actual core of A&R: Is this an amazing artist, and is this a hit song? You can find somebody on TikTok, but that doesn’t mean they’re an artist in the tradition of the Streisand’s and Springsteen’s and Aretha’s.” say Pete Ganbarg President of A&R @ Atlantic Records. – Dan Rys, Billboard
Fleetwood Mac: after its 926 weeks on the chart, who’s still buying Rumours?
As it turns 45, the drug-fuelled breakup classic is outselling almost everyone on vinyl thanks to its frank songwriting, enduring virality and the patronage of Harry Styles. – Annie Zaleski, The Guardian
How Hip-Hop inched its way to the Super Bowl Halftime stage
At Sunday’s game, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar will lead the first-ever halftime performance with rap at its center. The genre has taken a roundabout path to get there. – New York Times
Omicron convoy Parliament protest: James Blunt offers to help NZ Police with his music
James Blunt, the man behind hit singles "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", is aware of the way the NZ Government is responding to the protesters outside Parliament - and he's keen to help. Never one to miss an opportunity for a self-deprecating joke, Blunt tagged the NZ Police on Twitter, offering to help out in case blasting Barry Manilow doesn't send protesters home. – NZ Herald
Doja Cat and Courtney Love make a badass connection in a Super Bowl Taco Bell commercial
When the Super Bowl aired Sunday, American football fans saw the world of two legendary, and unapologetic, pop-music shit disturbers collide in the name of Taco Bell.– Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight
