Music Biz Headlines, Jan. 17, 2022
Mother Mother (pictured) updates its viral TikTok track, Harpdog Brown is remembered fondly, and a look at music catalogue valuations. Also in the headlines are Broken Social Scene, Keri-Lynn Wilson, Jody Upshaw, Chastity, Pimco, Taylor Swift, Monarch, Kanye West, Coachella, The Lumineers, Flaming Lips, Harry Styles, and Drivin’ N’ Cryin’.
By Kerry Doole
Mother Mother dive back into ‘Hayloft’ as TikTok hit gets a fresh video, new chapter
Mother Mother is headed back to the barn for another romp with their TikTok sensation “Hayloft.” Little more than a year after the Vancouver band’s unyielding 2008 rock song found renewed life on the social media platform, they’ve lifted the lid on plans to expand the narrative into a musical opus. – David Friend, CP
Don’t ask Keri-Lynn Wilson what it feels like to be a woman conductor — ‘I just do what I do’
The Canadian, who started as a flute player before switching to conducting, has wielded the baton at major opera houses and concert halls around the world. – William Littler, Toronto Star
Artists say financial support needed to create projects beyond theatres, venues
Canada's arts sector began to recover in the fall, but once again shut down due to Omicron wave. – CBC Radio
Halifax’s Jody Upshaw and Thrillah take over the Euphoria season two premiere
The pair of local musicians' songs were highlighted in HBO's Zendaya-starring hit this week. – Morgan Mullin, The Coast
Meet the UQAM professor who's making music for the video game industry
Montreal's video game studios are known internationally for their work. Now, a boutique studio is hoping to make a mark with their music. – CTVNewsMontreal
'Keep the BSS machine rolling'
Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning (reluctantly) reflects on band's past with rarities collection. –Eric Volmers, Calgary Herald
Chastity carries on a proud Southern Ontario musical tradition with new album ‘Suffer Summer’
Brandon Williams of Chastity has had many brushes with his heroes, but the day Dallas Green added vocals to one of his songs he bought lottery tickets. – Ian Gormely, Toronto Star
The late Harpdog Brown's peers harmonize about his musical legacy
With the passing of Harpdog Brown, Canada loses one of its character bluesmen — a raucous traditionalist deploying classic-electric Chicago blues, swirling New Orleans swing, and hyper-danceable, big-band blues that reliably rose dust off the dance floor. – Fish Griwkowsky, Edmonton Journal
Award-winning Canadian musical ‘Life After’ heads to Chicago’s Goodman Theatre
Britta Johnson’s musical draws on her own life story as a young woman coming to terms with her father’s sudden death. –Joshua Chong, Toronto Star
International
Music catalogs are fetching huge deals. Are they overvalued?
Music assets are selling for unusually high valuations. Today, valuations are hitting 25 to 30 times the publisher’s share, according to industry experts and executives. That has led some insiders to suggest that investors are overpaying. – LA Times
Taylor Swift accounts for 1 of every 50 US album sales: How she, Drake, BTS & more dominate music
Whether in physical sales, digital downloads or on-demand streams, looking at 2021 numbers, superstars dominate by huge percentages. – Dan Rys, Billboard
Pimco, one of the world’s biggest investment firms, turns its attention to music rights
We've learned that another towering name from the finance world – Pimco – is entering the fray. The FT reports that Pimco has struck an alliance with BMG to jointly acquire song copyrights. MBW hears from senior industry sources that Pimco has also started funding another prominent party in the world of music rights acquisitions, with more details of that player's activities set to emerge in the coming weeks. – MBW
Nine of the 10 highest-paid musicians of 2021 were men
In a year with little touring, acts who scored megadeals offstage ended up on top. A booming market for music rights means many earned more than they did pre-pandemic — especially aging rockers. – Zack Greenburg, Rolling Stone
Fox delays start of country music drama ‘Monarch’ until next fall
Originally slated to launch on Sunday, June 30 after the NFL, Fox has pushed back the start of music ... [+] drama "Monarch," starring Susan Sarandon and Trace Atkins, until next fall. Fox hyped the show for midseason. – Marc Berman, Forbes
The Omicron effect: Postponements and cancellations in the jazz community
As a result of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, several jazz organizations and presenters have had to pivot and reschedule their upcoming in-person events from January and February, in a sad reprise of 2020-2021. Here are a few such events that have come to our attention recently. –JazzTimes
4 takeaways from the Coachella 2022 lineup
The bellwether of festival season returns with pop-leaning headliners and more excellent mid-level acts than you could possibly see. – Marc Hogan, Pitchfork
Kanye West named suspect in battery investigation
Los Angeles police are investigating an alleged battery incident that occurred early Thursday morning. – Jeremy Fuster, The Wrap
Summer Concert Tour cancelled for first time in 12 years
The 2022 Summer Concert Tour in NZ has been cancelled for the first time in 12 years after international artists decided they didn't want to spend 10 days in quarantine to enter New Zealand. – 1News
The Lumineers’ Wesley Schultz finds hope amid the darkness on new album ‘Brightside’
Schultz said the sense of optimism on latest album released Jan. 14 was “like a weed coming up through the concrete.” – Jonathan Dekel, Toronto Star
Nell and the Flaming Lips do the smart thing by not aping an unassailable Nick Cave classic
Ever wonder what gets someone thinking that they’ve got what it takes to make a perfect song even better? Occasionally someone will pull off the seemingly impossible, with Sonic Youth, Crash Vegas, and Faith No More coming to mind. – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight
'Nevermind' baby sues Nirvana again
The man depicted as a naked baby on Nirvana’s 1991 album “Nevermind” has revived his lawsuit accusing the band of sexually exploiting him, after a U.S. judge dismissed an earlier version of the case. – Jonathan Stempel, Reuters
Harry Styles headlining Coachella is a triumph of music’s influencer era
It was only 12 years ago that Harry Styles took the day off from his job at a bakery in Cheshire, north-west England, to go and sing Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely for Simon Cowell at an entirely unremarkable audition for The X Factor. Now he's in the top tier of pop-rock stars. – Sam Wolfson, The Guardian
This underdog Southern band is getting a well-deserved victory lap
Founded in 1985 Atlanta, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ didn’t ever become iconic alt-rock superstars like their Athens, Ga. pals R.E.M. But they became something cooler. An underdog that enjoyed some limelight before sauntering back to the cult-classic aisle.– Alabama Life
