Music Biz Headlines, July 3, 2019
The Stones show dominates the media (pictured Mick Jagger), CMW nears gender parity, and things to know about Scooter Braun. Others in the headlines include The Beaches, Spotify, Yesterday, Sara Bareilles, Daniel Caesar, the Black Keys, Leonard Cohen, David Clayton-Thomas, Willie Nelson, Taylor Swift, Nick Cave, Johnny Marr, Dr. John, Troye Sivan, and 7digital.
By FYI Staff
Mick Jagger makes a jab at Doug Ford, gives Raptors a shoutout during Rolling Stones concert
For a bunch of British chaps, the Rolling Stones sure know a lot about Canada, and Mick Jagger didn't hesitate to flaunt his wisdom at their Canada Day weekend concert in Ontario. – David Friend, CP
Review: Rolling Stones Burl's Creek, Oro-Medonte ON, June 29
The Rolling Stones had just one Canadian date on their No Filter tour and it was a massive affair, out in a country field in Ontario, with enough space for 70,000. It wasn't for the long-timers, but for the band's broad, general audience. And so rather than deep cuts, they broke out hits and singles that were familiar and attacked them with friendly fire. – Vish Khanna, Exclaim!
Review: The Rolling Stones' Canada Day concert succeeds despite logistical problems
At Burl's Creek in Oro-Medonte, Mick Jagger congratulated the Toronto Raptors and referenced Doug Ford as the band ripped through an ecstatic set of their biggest hits. – Max Mertens, NOW
The Beaches took their swaggering new tunes into a gig opening for the Rolling Stones
The Beaches’ wild ride to the top — and, trust me, the Beaches will ride to the top — keeps getting wilder. To say opening for the Stones is a career milestone for a band in their early 20s is a bit of an understatement. – Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
Canadian Music Week reports 41% of musical acts were women in 2019
Canadian Music Week, which made a conscious effort to increase the number of women participating in the festival, managed to near the 50/50 gender balance pledged to Keychange. This year's event, which took place from May 6-12, was comprised of 41% female-led bands, the organization reports. – Karen Bliss, Billboard
This blind DJ taught himself to produce music. Now he's helping other youths do the same.
Toronto hip-hop studio launches a program to help visually impaired youth perfect their production techniques. – Julia Knope, CBC News
Yesterday: Novel premise elevates Danny Boyle's Beatles-loving dramedy
Imagine waking in a world where The Beatles don't exist. And yet somehow you have a memory of every note and word to all their songs. Such is the premise of Yesterday, Danny Boyle’s whimsical fantasy film for grown-ups. – Thom Ernst, Original Cin
June Records is closing
The College Street record shop's building has been sold, prompting another real-estate related music closure in Toronto. – Richard Trapunski, NOW
The catharsis of Lungbutter
The Montreal trio offers tight and jagged metal-influenced music on its long-awaited debut, Honey. – Brennan McCracken, The Coast
Sara Bareilles credits writing Waitress songs for opening up ‘endless possibilities’
When things get a bit predictable in our lives, it’s only natural to want to change things up. Try a new hairstyle, take up a new sport, plan a vacation to an unfamiliar place. Sara Bareilles wrote a musical, and it's a hit. – Karen Fricker, Toronto Star
Great news for those who dream of getting paid to suck on a Stonehenge-sized bong while studying heavy metal
Australia's University of Newcastle has decided to make scholarships available for two domestic students and one international student to the tune of $25,000 per year. To be eligible, all one has to be willing to do is study social geographies as they relate to a few themes, including heavy metal. – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight
Gordon: Tech giants should pay musicians proper royalties
For decades, Canadian musicians have been left in a lurch — spinning like a record — by Big Tech. Canadian taxpayers, meanwhile, are left to foot some of the outstanding bills. – Graeme Gordon, Toronto Sun
The four best Canadian albums in the world right now
Daphni, Skye Wallace, Kevin Breit, and Justin Rutledge make the cut. – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
Review: Daniel Caesar is still figuring things out on Case Study 01
The soulful Toronto singer/songwriter stretches out in new directions on his surprise-release sophomore album, with mixed results. – Richard Trapunski, NOW
International
Everything to know about Scooter Braun, the mogul who bought Taylor Swift's music catalog
Scott "Scooter" Braun is one of the entertainment industry’s biggest power brokers. On his website, Braun boasts that he’s “broken more new artists than any other music executive in the last decade.” – Dave Quinn, People
For the Black Keys, new album shows rock lives — but it had to wait
It was hard for the Black Keys to say no. When they finally did, it took them years to decompress from a decade on the road. The band — Dan Auerbach on guitar and vocals and Patrick Carney on drums — just released its ninth album, Let’s Rock. – Jon Pareles, The New York Times
Long before that festival: Woodstock’s real musical history
Byrdcliffe co-founder Jane Byrd Whitehead’s zither. John Sebastian’s custom-made leather harmonica belt. Tickets from the 1969 Woodstock Festival. These artifacts and many others, including photographs, posters, and reminiscences, are on display in the Historical Society of Woodstock (HSW) exhibit. – Violet Snow, Kingston Times
Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen: the love affair of a lifetime
The pair met on the rocky Greek island of Hydra in 1960. Their romance inspired countless Cohen songs – and now a poignant documentary by Nick Broomfield. – Andrew Anthony, The Observer
BS&T's David Clayton-Thomas on Woodstock and more
For the second and final part of our conversation, the renowned vocalist talks about the biggest gig the band ever had—the biggest gig just about anyone could ever have—at the August 1969 Woodstock festival. – Jeff Tamarkin, Bestclassicbands
Taylor Swift’s real-estate portfolio, revisited
As the pop star reinvents herself yet again, AD reexamines her holdings. – Joyce Chen, Architectural Digest
"Christians everywhere should be up in arms": Willie Nelson speaks out on immigrant family separations at border
Music legend and Texas native Willie Nelson is speaking out about the immigration controversy currently unfolding in his state and other stretches along America's southern border. – Caitlin O'Kane, CBS
Billy Bragg says he's 'heartbroken' for fans of The Smiths after latest Morrissey outburst
The UK singer/activist has responded to Morrissey‘s latest string of inflammatory comments, by saying he feels sorry for the singer’s fans. The former Smiths frontman caused yet another controversy in a recent interview. – Roisin O'Connor, Independent
Nick Cave: Smiths songs “will long outlast” Morrissey’s “offending political alliances”
Nick Cave has weighed in on Morrissey, and the bigger issue of whether we still enjoy an artist’s work when we don’t agree with their beliefs, and “is it possible to separate the latter-day artist from his earlier art?” He postulates that once a song is out there in the world, it is no longer just the artist’s song. – Bill Pearis, Brooklyn Vegan
The innate pleasures of the YouTube music rabbit hole
Echoing with the sounds of nature, the calls of birds and soft keys, A I R (Air In Resort) suddenly popped up while I was listening to music on YouTube, something I tend to just leave on like the radio while working these days. – Johnny Lieu, Mashable
Ten great songs about doing time
While numerous musicians have served time behind bars, even more have been inspired to write about prison, either from personal experience, rage against an unjust system that locks so many people away, or out of a sheer fascination for a place that holds so many fears. Here we examine 10 of the best. – LA Weekly
Johnny Marr: 'Grown men were crying on their kids' shoulders'
The Smiths legend, whose appearance with the Killers was a true Glastonbury Moment, talks about his own festival experiences, and how the event was influenced by rave culture. – Alex Needham, The Guardian
Carly Rae Jepsen: Fame killed my joy for music
– Celebretainment
New Orleans said its final goodbyes to one of the city’s most iconic figures on Saturday with formal services and a massive second line commemorating the storied life of Dr. John, who died on June 7 of a heart attack at age 77. – Dalia Jakubauskas, Music Fest News
Why singer Troye Sivan is living the dream
"When I was small, I always fantasised about LA. I thought it was the mecca of entertainment and now, I'll be just, like, driving along on a random day and I'll see the palm trees and have to pinch myself that it all really happened for me. It's pretty nuts." – Grant Smithies, Stuff
Spotify retreats from artists’ uploads in win for music labels
The online service will stop accepting any new uploads through Spotify for Artists, and artists will need to move their already released content to another provider, the company said Monday in a blog post. – Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg
7digital needs £4.5m by the end of July to avoid administration
There’s a stark warning delivered within the latest financial filing for B2B digital-music company 7digital. “The Company currently believe that it still needs to raise Additional Funds of at least £4.5 million by 31 July 2019, failing which it is highly likely that the Company would need to be placed into administration.” – MusicAlly
