Music Biz Headlines, June 21, 2019
A look at prairie country (pictured Jess Moskaluke), musical tips for Pride, and Chris Taylor's Raptors joy. Also in the headlines are Maestro Fresh Wes, Jack White, Helen Murphy, Reggae Girlz, the Beatles, YouTube, Google, Genius, Ultra Festival, Taylor Swift, and Dylan.
By Kerry Doole
Saskatunes: Country music a living legacy of the prairies
When Jess Moskaluke accepted her 2017 Juno Award, she was in bare feet — "Like a true Saskatchewan girl," she said through laughter. – Matt Olson, Star-Phoenix
Pride playlist: 14 classic songs that connect jazz and the LGBTQ experience
The LGBTQ community has always had strong ties to the world of jazz, including composers such as Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart, whose works populated the Great American Songbook, and some of the star performers of the idiom such as Fred Hersch, Ian Shaw, Chris Connor and Gary Burton. – Heather Bambrick, JazzFM
The best music in Toronto Pride
Pride is a great time to catch underground queer musicians and performers who don’t regularly play in town. Here are the artists you should prioritize this weekend. – Kevin Ritchie, NOW
Raptors’ win enraptures top Canadian music exec Chris Taylor
It’s not just a Drake thing — the entire Canadian music business is feeling gleeful over Toronto’s NBA championship. Among the celebrants is Toronto-bred Chris Taylor, the global president of music at Entertainment One, the global music and film company based in the land of Raptors. – Karen Bliss, Variety
Maestro Fresh Wes rides Raptors' Jurassic Park wave into Soundtrack Music Festival
It’s the morning after the Toronto Raptors have beaten the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals, and Maestro Fresh Wes is still elated. The rapper, actor and author is feeling a personal connection to the championship team, understandable given that their success has also called attention to the re-release of his song, Jurassic Park, from 2017’s Coach Fresh. He plays the fest tomorrow – Tom Murray, Edmonton Journal
Drake noticeably absent from 2019 Polaris Prize long list
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Jack White doesn't own a cellphone: "I don't have that addiction"
"If you can't just put your phone down for an hour and experience life in a real way, that's sad." – Exclaim!
International
Out with the ole: Anthem CEO Helen Murphy talks new name, a Rush endorsement & overpriced catalogs
On June 5, ole media Management, a music publishing company owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, ceased to exist -- sort of. The 15-year-old firm changed its name to Anthem Entertainment as part of a rebranding that reflects its evolution into a music company with several distinct departments, as well as the vision of CEO Helen Murphy, a veteran music executive who took the helm last November. – Robert Levine, Billboard
Bob Marley's daughter rescued Jamaican soccer. Now she wants the country's help.
The Reggae Girlz made their first World Cup appearance despite their federation's neglect. They'll need its help to get back. – Jessica Luther, HuffPost US
What would the world have been like without the Beatles?
Pop wouldn’t have had anything like the cultural impact that it did, it might have remained a series of scattered developments that never coalesced into a world-shaking force. – The Guardian
Intellectual Property Office warns on music industry's 'data problem'
A new report issued by the government’s Intellectual Property Office has underlined the challenge of data management for the music industry. Music 2025: The Music Data Dilemma was based on research carried out by Ulster University and reflects the views of dozens of UK-based music industry representatives. – Andre Paine, Music Week
What the Google-Genius copyright dispute is really about
The antitrust pitchforks are out for big tech. First came the European Union, then Washington, DC. Not to be left out, now comes hip hop lyrics. Over the weekend, the music annotation site Genius publicly accused search juggernaut Google of stealing its crowdsourced song transcripts and natively publishing them. – Emily Dreyfuss, Wired
Bob Dylan’s glam hootenanny: Returning to Rolling Thunder
Dylan’s 1975 tour was his most peculiar: nostalgic, theatrical, fiery. The Rolling Thunder Revue pulled together mentors and peers for a bizarre trek through off-the-beaten-path performances spaces across the U.S. and Canada. – Jon Pareles, NY Times
Miami City Commission offers Ultra Festival a license for return to Bayfront Park
After kicking Ultra Music Festival's flagship event out of its longtime downtown home, the Miami City Commission has authorized the city manager to offer the event a license to return to Bayfront Park. It's a surprise development in an ongoing drama. – Kat Bein, Billboard
Keeping tabs on Taytay
Taylor Swift’s You Need to Calm Down (Republic) is enjoying some strong early metrics. The streaming total keeps going up, and she remains #1 at iTunes. – Hits Daily Double
YouTube teams with Universal Music to remaster hundreds of iconic music videos
YouTube is looking to ramp up the quality of music videos that live on its platform — particularly clips of yesteryear that don’t meet today’s crystal-clear quality standards. In collaboration with UMG, YouTube is looking to remaster iconic music videos from the likes of Billy Idol, Boyz II Men, Lionel Richie, No Doubt, George Strait, Smokey Robinson, The Killers, and more. –Tubefilter
