Music Biz Headlines, July 15, 2021

By Kerry Doole

Halifax Fringe Festival’s 2021 event is a-go 

The indie theatre celebration returns with an all-local slate this September.  It’d be easy to say that this year’s Halifax Fringe Festival won’t be a typical one—but when has the beigeness of that word ever really captured the wild edges of the annual unjuried, uncensored performing arts event? – Morgan Mullin, The Coast

Practising the safety dance as live music returns in a big way to Calgary

It was the first show in more than a year for Men Without Hats, and for many Calgarians too. – Rachel Maclean, CBC News 

With the unveiling of the 2021 Bell Grandstand Show, live entertainment has returned to Calgary in spectacular fashion.

Medicine Hat country superstar Terri Clark said she was back in the saddle again after 18 months of virtual appearances and was elated to be performing live once again. The grandstand crowd was elated to have her back, clapping, stomping and singing along with Clark and her band for a four-song set. Clark performed nightly at Stampede Park until July 13 and is replaced for the preshow mini-concert by bluegrass band High Valley until July 18. – Louis B. Hobson, Calgary Herald

Matt Andersen set to makes waves at Hubbards’ Shore Club Aug. 5 to 7

Now in its 75th year as a historic summer road trip stop and live music venue, Hubbards’ Shore Club reopens its doors for concertgoers with a three-night stand by award-winning roots and blues artist Matt Andersen in August. – Chronicle-Herald

Rapper Cadence Weapon says under a 360 record deal, he was 'not personally making any money'

'I don't want to ever hear about anyone having a bad deal like I had,' says the musician. – CBC Radio 

Canadian theatres now looking for reopening guidance from audiences, not governments

Just recently, theatre companies planning summer seasons across Canada were playing a high-stakes guessing game: What will provincial restrictions allow in terms of live performance – and when? Now, with clear reopening plans rapidly unfolding coast-to-coast alongside rising vaccination rates, theatre companies are grappling with a more complex question: What do audiences want – and when? – JK Nestruck, The Globe and Mail

New announcements for Vancouver concerts at the Rickshaw, Hollywood, and Commodore 

Concert-starved Vancouverites got three blasts of good news from the Twitter feed of Live Nation West Canada recently. Announcing upcoming concerts were Enter Shikari, Yukon Blonde, and Five Alarm Funk. – Steve Newton, Georgia Straight

JJ Voss can't wait to get on the road again

Regina-based country and roots artist JJ Voss is ready and waiting to get back to what he loves — performing in front of live crowds. – Greg Harder, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

A long-awaited live concert weathered Alberta's stormy weather

Think of the Lord of the Wings Concert Series as a preamble to next year’s full-steam-ahead celebration of wings in all of their tasty glory. Think of it as being like Bilbo’s party in Fellowship of the Ring, with last Saturday’s concert boasting beer, poultry pieces and musical fireworks supplied by local notables Kimberley MacGregor Band and Orchard Sky. – Tom Murray, Edmonton Journal

International

Live Nation CEO says ‘North American concert business is fully re-open’

CEO Michael Rapino says that the concert business has fully re-opened despite concerns of a Covid resurgence in key states. A busy summer season is anticipated. – Hypebot

Google slashes Stadia’s revenue share to try to attract developers

Google is revising how much of a cut it takes from Stadia games in a bid to try to attract more developers. Starting on October 1st, Google will take 15 percent of sales up to $3 million through the end of 2023. – Jay Peters, The Verge

Tencent Music forced to give up exclusive label deals in China

Anti-competitive watchdogs in China are set to instruct Tencent Holdings-owned Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) to give up the exclusive rights it holds to the catalogs of certain record labels in the nation.That’s according to Reuters, whose report on the impending order follows an antitrust clampdown in China. – Murray Stassen, MBW

After Covid pushed industry revenue down 3.8% in 2020, biz poised to rebound: PwC

Media and entertainment revenue globally dropped 3.8% in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic led to an overall $81 billion drop, according to PwC’s “Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2021-2025″ report. –Todd Spangler, Variety

Global Citizen Live to span globe with performances by Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, The Weeknd, BTS and more

A 24-hour livestreamed concert to benefit global recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic has been announced for 25 Sept. Stars including The Weeknd, Ed Sheeran and Billie Eilish are confirmed to perform at Global Citizen Live. Performances will take place across the world, from Central Park in New York to the Champ de Mars in Paris, as well as London, Los Angeles, Lagos, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro and Seoul. – Ben Beaumont-Thomas, The Guardian

‘Managers should be well compensated and own equity in what we're developing'

Does your video need a better soundtrack? Ask an AI to write one

A new music creation plug-in uses machine intelligence to compose songs on the fly that match the visual tone and rhythm of creators’ videos. – Wired

Great records you may have missed: June 2021

This month’s column features Flight Mode, The Narcotix, Olivia Kaplan and more.  – Lizzie Manno, Paste

Artist’s Choice: Gregory Porter cooks up some gumbo

The Grammy-winning vocalist selects a classic dish featured on his recent cooking show. – Michael Gelfand, JazzTimes

The most heard bassist of all time, Carol Kaye, picks the 10 favourite tracks she’s played on

There is a good chance that just about everyone in the western world has heard her play at one point in their lives.  She has played on so many songs, in fact, that nobody knows the exact figure with the accepted rounded total standing at 10,000. And being a Los Angeles session musician in the 1960s means that a fair chunk of that whopping number are bona fide classics. – FarOut

Britney Spears: Will this week's hearing spell the beginning of the end of her conservatorship?

A judge’s ruling in her favour this week would be like “saying that the circumstances that require the conservatorship no longer exist,” a lawyer tells The Wrap. – Beatrice Verhoeven, The Wrap

Jackson Browne: ‘I think desire is the last domino to fall’

The singer-songwriter discusses his new album and how his age and the current political landscape has shifted his musical direction. – Jim Farber, The Guardian

Historic Oasis Knebworth performance is going to cinema

Oasis’s 1996 Knebworth concert will be screened in cinemas worldwide on 10 August. The Brit rock band played the Knebworth fest in 10 and 11 August 1996. The screening will mark the concerts 25th anniversary. – Paul Cashmere, Noise11