Music Biz Headlines, June 21, 2021
The Maritime estate of Rita MacNeil (pictured) is now on Airbnb, Director X is part of the Luminato lineup, and the TSO prepares to return. Also in the headlines are the Stratford Festival, BTS, Bruce Springsteen, Hipgnosis, Island Records, Sparta, Peter Gabriel, the Beatles film, Noel Gallagher, and Foo Fighters.
By Kerry Doole
Music fans should mark Nov. 10 on their calendars
That’s the day the TSO hopes to open the doors of Roy Thomson Hall. – Michael Crabb, Toronto Star
Edward Burtynsky, Director X among artists in Luminato Festival Toronto lineup
Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, hip-hop filmmaker Director X and theatre artist Christine Brubaker are among the artists set to present original works at the Luminato Festival Toronto this fall. The three will headline the annual arts and culture event, which will feature free film and digital experiences and a drive-in concert Oct. 13 to 17. – Victoria Ahearn, CP
Province launches Quebec-only music policy in government buildings, phone lines
Don’t expect to hear Drake’s “Hotline Bling” next time you’re on hold with the Quebec government. From now on, only music by Quebec artists will be played in provincial government buildings and on phone lines, with particular emphasis on French-language performers. The announcement came on Sunday from Quebec Culture Minister Nathalie Roy. – CP
Rita’s Retreat: Cape Breton’s answer to Graceland becomes an Airbnb
You can stay in Rita MacNeil’s former Sydney, NS estate for $514 a night. – Morgan Mullin, The Coast
New Tom Patterson Theatre at Stratford Festival likely to win applause from audiences
The Stratford Festival is pulling back the curtain on a good-news story after more than a year of closures, cancellations and uncertainty in Canada’s performing arts sector. The festival recently offered a long-awaited look inside the new Tom Patterson Theatre, a $70 million, 77K-sq.-ft. complex that was scheduled to open last year but delayed by the pandemic. – Karen Fricker, Toronto Star
Thousands of BTS fans are streaming music from this Toronto DJ
After Paul Chin tweeted in support of the BTS Army, the fans of the K-pop group started supporting his music in droves. – Richard Trapunski, NOW
'Springsteen on Broadway' clears way for Canadian AstraZeneca recipients to attend show
Canadians fully immunized with two shots of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine may now attend a highly anticipated Broadway production featuring Bruce Springsteen. Initial doubts about this sparked a controversy. – CP
The best Toronto music of the month: Witch Prophet, Charlotte Day Wilson and more
Bandcamp is donating its sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for Juneteenth, and we have suggestions of what to grab. – NOW
Weekend playlist: Lido Pimienta covers Björk, Clairo gets folky and more new music you need to hear
This playlist features two excellent covers released for Pride, a couple of new Afrobeats tracks you need to hear and more. – Richie Assaly, Toronto Star
International
Hipgnosis is raising another $210M on the stock market
Hipgnosis Songs Fund is raising more cash, via the placing of a new tranche of shares on the London Stock Exchange. The company announced this week that it is targeting a raise of approximately GBP £150 million (USD $210 million) via the placing of 123.97 million ordinary shares at an issue price of £1.21 per share. – MBW
Vivendi has reached a deal with Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square to sell a 10% stake in Universal Music Group
The deal is a transaction that values the world’s largest music company at $40 billion. In Vivendi’s announcement, which came at the strange hour of 2 p.m. ET on Fathers Day, apparently to capture a time when the global stock markets are closed, the company said the agreement would be finalized no later than Sept. 15. UMG is headed for an IPO later this year. – Variety
Imran Majid and Justin Eshak named co-CEOs of Island Records
Imran Majid and Justin Eshak have been appointed co-CEOs of Island Records, home to artists such as Shawn Mendes, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Sean Paul and Skip Marley. They will start in January 2022. – MBW
300 Entertainment launches invite-only DIY distribution platform, Sparta
Everyone knows by now that the independent artist market is big business: self-releasing DIY acts generated $1.2 billion globally last year, according to Midia Research. – MBW
Peter Gabriel: festivals risk ‘losing everything’ without government insurance
Industry figures warn nightclubs and music venues also being pushed towards ‘financial cliff edge’ by delay in insurance procedures. – The Guardian
Here are the cryptocurrencies these celebs have invested in
Celebrities, such as Elon Musk, have been very vocal about their cryptocurrency investments and encourages others to do the same. – Sabrina Costabile, The Things
Peter Jackson restored so much Beatles footage that ‘Get Back’ is now a six-hour TV series
Jackson's documentary was created out of 60 hours of unseen footage and more than 150 hours of unheard audio. – Zack Sharf, Indie Wire
Foo Fighters releasing new disco album for Record Store Day 2021
Introducing… the Dee Gees and their debut album Hail Satin. – Matthew Strauss, Pitchfork
Starlight Media to build streaming platform SYSM
Variety reports: “Starlight Media, a Chinese-owned film financier, will leverage its growing Hollywood connections and partner with a group of leading Chinese entertainment firms to launch global streaming service SYSM.” – Digital Media Wire
How Daveed Diggs found common ground between Frederick Douglass and modern rappers
‘We have a similar understanding of what it’s like to mine your past for your fame in the present,” Diggs says of his role as abolitionist Douglass in “The Good Lord Bird.” – Steve Pond, The Wrap
LA nightlife is back. Venue owners, promoters and party people rejoice.
For well over a year, Los Angeles lost what some might call its lifeblood. With events of all sorts essentially obliterated, cancellations and closures became the rule, not the exception; and for a while there, it seemed there was no hope in sight. Now, 15 months later, the end of the Covid-19 nightmare appears to be here thanks to a largely successful vaccination rollout. – Lina Lecaro, LA Weekly
Edgar Wright’s The Sparks Brothers is a vibrant love letter to an influential music-making duo
Most people are not familiar with the flamboyant rock duo Sparks. Director Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver) is a big music fan. With his charismatic (if exhaustive and relentlessly chronological) debut documentary, he makes a case that Sparks is the best band we’ve never heard of. – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
Jay-Z sues Damon Dash to stop NFT sale of debut album ‘Reasonable Doubt’
Jay-Z is suing Damon Dash, alleging his former Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder is trying to steal and sell the copyright to Jay’s debut album “Reasonable Doubt.” Attorneys for Jay allege that Dash was trying to sell the album as an NFT — a non-fungible digital token which is currently a big deal on the art market — without permission. – Page Six
Wiz Khalifa to play P-funk legend George Clinton in upcoming biopic
Wiz Khalifa has been added to the cast of the upcoming biopic about Casablanca Records’ founder Neil Bogart called Spinning Gold. The “Young, Wild & Free” rapper will play Parliament-Funkadelic bandleader and legend George Clinton in a role that was originally slated for Samuel L. Jackson. – Michael "Ice-Blue" Harris, Rolling Out
Noel Gallagher: Social media has ruined music
The former Oasis rocker believes musicians can no longer develop naturally by building up their careers before making it big, because of the impact of social media and the internet. – Female First
Nina Simone’s family blames Kamala Harris for loss of their land
The family of the late legendary singer accused Vice President Kamala Harris of ripping the family away from their mother’s estate and legacy when she was the California attorney-general. – Terry Shropshire, Rolling Out
Which stars earn the most on Twitter?
While we mostly hear about celebrities earning big dollars with their posts on Instagram and TikTok, let’s not forget that you can make a ton of dosh on Twitter, too. This new commissioned study dug through the Wayback Machine, looking for tweets made by celebrities that they were paid for. – Alan Cross, A Journal of Musical Things
