Music Biz Headlines, Jan. 12, 2023

By Kerry Doole

Meet the Vancouver-Toronto indie pop duo that’ll be your new Bestfriend

One word that comes to mind when talking about indie pop duo Bestfriend: serendipity. How could they have possibly known that a chance collaboration would result in a smash debut EP that’d have 1.5 million streams within mere months of release and land them a signing with iconic Vancouver label Nettwerk. – Yasmine Shemesh, Georgia Straight

B.C. rock critic Tom Harrison was a champion of the West Coast music scene

An extensive tribute to the late Vancouver rock scribe. – Tom Hawthorn, The Globe and Mail

Ian Tyson obituary

Folk-rock and country musician who wrote Four Strong Winds, often described as the unofficial national anthem of Canada. – Michael Carlson, The Guardian

The unsinkable Céline Dion fuels an off-Broadway sensation of Titanique proportions

The unsinkable spirit of Céline Dion is the driving force behind the biggest off-Broadway hit of the season. J. Kelly Nestruck, Globe and Mail

Ringing in changes to the 5 at the First Chamber Music Series

Rachel Mercer is now adding violist Caitlin Boyle and pianist Angela Park, as co-artistic directors. – Leonard Turnevicius, Hamilton Spectator

‘It’s been the greatest adventure of my life’: Panto legend Ross Petty says farewell

Petty took his final bow, bidding adieu to Toronto’s yearly Christmas pantomime after 25 years. – Aisling Murphy, Toronto Star

On Our Radar: Sunday Morning goes wonderfully off-script with Art Bergmann's "The Junkie Don't Care"

What’s more powerful: unbridled guitar violence, or blackened-soul synth-pop fuckery. The question is a valid one when it comes to Sunday Morning’s radical reworking of Art Bergmann’s “The Junkie Don’t Care”—with the key word there being radical. – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straght

Whitney: The feel-good solution to a slushy night 

Vibe: Mellow love-in on stormy night as “honorary Canadians” from Chicago receive pseudo-hometown embrace from audience that includes some arm-wavy, jam-band-style dancing. – Michael Hollett, NEXT

Neil Young discusses songwriting, radio, and more in new interview with Conan O’Brien

The pair talked for a new special on the comedian’s Team Coco Radio program. – Alison Hussey, Pitchfork

International

Screen and heard: is TikTok changing the way pop stars perform?

From Lorde to Rosalía, today’s biggest stars deliver shows that seem precision-engineered for social media. We speak to the people behind the scenes. – Shaad D'Souza, The Guardian

The story of Trefuego's TikTok hit 90MH - and Sony's bid to remove it from the internet

Trefuego's 90mh has recently re-appeared on Spotify via third parties after Sony Music issued a lawsuit regarding its alleged infringement of a sampled piece of music by a Japanese composer. – Tim Ingham, MBW

Vevo partners with TikTok to launch weekly 'Trending On TikTok’ show

MBW reports: “Music video platform Vevo has partnered with TikTok to create and program a new weekly show called Trending on TikTok. The show will round up the music videos of the top trending songs on TikTok, alongside clips of the creators using these songs in their content.” – Digital Media Wire

YouTube Shorts to split share of ad revenue between music rightsholders and creators from Feb. 1

Starting next month, music rightsholders and creators will be able to receive a revenue share from advertisements on YouTube Shorts. YouTube parent Alphabet disclosed the roll-out in a recent update to Google’s Support page.– MBW

Universal Music Nashville CEO Mike Dungan to retire

Dungan announced in a memo to staff that he will be stepping down after more than a decade as the label group's chairman-CEO. ; Cindy Mabe, his second-in-command for the last eight of those years, will become the first woman to run one of country music's top label groups. – Chris Willman, Variety

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart acknowledge 40 years since the release of ‘Sweet Dreams’

Both British stars have been celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of the Eurythmics ‘Sweet Dreams’ album this week. – Paul Cashmere, Noise11

Review: Iggy Pop - Every Loser

After jazz crooning, poetry and electronic experimentation, 75-year-old Pop goes back to his roots on his 19th solo album. – Dave Simpson, The Guardian

Iggy Pop on turning down the Grammys: “I hate those people”

"They want me to be an exhibit in their museum or something." – Will Richards, NME

If These Walls Could Sing: Mary McCartney’s affectionate magical mystery tour of Abbey Road studios

Abbey Road studios was in business long before the Beatles recorded there. But it was The Beatles who put the studio on the map and turned it into a landmark with an almost mystical reputation for many musicians and for Beatles fans. – Karen Gordon, Original Cin

Robert Plant on Zeppelin's best music

It’s a “gray and miserable” day in western England, but Robert Plant is in the mood to be challenged. If anything, the mist is making him stronger. We’re connecting in late December, more than a year after Plant released his stunning collaborative album with Alison Krauss, Raise the Roof, which is in contention for three Grammy Awards at this year’s ceremony. – Vulture

Reggae singer and promoter Iley Dread ‘alive and well’

Set to release single from behind bars. – Jamaica Gleaner

The 34 Most Anticipated Albums of 2023

New releases to look forward to in the coming months, from Cardi B, Lana Del Rey, Kelela, Fever Ray, Popcaan, and more. – Staff, Pitchfork

Bad Bunny, Blackpink and Frank Ocean to headline Coachella 2023

This year marks the first time the festival will be headlined entirely by artists of colour. – August Brown, Los Angeles Times