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FYI

Music Biz Headlines, June 26, 2019

Kevin Drew (pictured) gets reflective, the Montreal jazz fest turns 40, and Jagger's swagger is back. Also in the headlines are Kelly Jay, Said the Whale, fake bands, L CON, Rockonomics, hip-hop mixtapes, BET Awards, Will.I.Am, O-Town, and Elliot Roberts.

Music Biz Headlines, June 26, 2019

By FYI Staff

Montreal jazz fest at 40: music celebration defines summer in our city

The Montreal International Jazz Festival reaches a milestone as its founders prepare to blend into the crowd. "(The fest has) come to embody something Montreal is all about: inclusion."  – T'Cha Dunlevy, Montreal Gazette


Jagger swagger gives fans satisfaction as Rolling Stones kick off North American leg of tour in Chicago

Because even with his cardiologist on speed-dial, the 75-year-old singer never wiped his brow, never sighed in relief, never was anything other than carefree in manner and loose-limbed in gesture.“ – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail

 Musician Blake Fordham made people feel cool to be Canadian

During the early 1970s, no musician wore his Canadian nationality more proudly on his sleeve than Blake Fordham, better known as Kelly Jay, the charismatic man mountain who fronted the boogie-rockers Crowbar. – Nicholas Jennings, Globe and Mail

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Meditate with Valerie 

The Halifax shoegaze outfit offers contemplative lyrics sunk in layers of guitars. – Jonathan Briggins The Coast

On Our Radar: Said the Whale takes the low-tech approach again with new "Record Shop" video

The Vancouver indie-pop band has teamed up with director Johnny  Jansen again for a video that employs a very old-fashioned technique to modern ends. – John Lucas, Georgia Straight

Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew on doubts, the future, and his spiritual bank account

In advance of a free Canada Day show by BSS at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre, the 42-year-old bandleader and musician spoke to us about the strength in numbers, the liberation of simplicity and banks full of things better than money. – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail

Hello Peril and Ashley O continue a tradition: fake bands releasing real music

Like the Monkees, the Blues Brothers and Spinal Tap before them, these made-up musical stars have crossed over into the real music world by releasing their songs to the public, which leads to the question: When does a fictional band become real?–  Raju Mudhar,Toronto Star

What's in your fridge: L CON

What’s In Your Fridge is where the Straight asks interesting artsts  about their life-changing concerts, favourite albums, and, most importantly, what’s sitting beside the Heinz Ketchup in their refrigerators. Here's T.O. songstress Lisa Conway/L CON. – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight 

Review: Ensemble Made in Canada kicks off Summer Solstice Chamber Music Festival

The First Baptist Church on 109th Street hosted the main concerts of the Edmonton Chamber Music Society’s Summer Solstice Chamber Music Festival, which opened for its 12th season last week.  – Mark Morris, Edmonton Journal

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Jooj member Adam Litovitz dead at 36

Toronto Police confirm the writer and musician, who was reported missing last week, has died. Litovitz and Sook-Yin Lee co-founded the experimental duo Jooj, which released a debut album via Last Gang Records in 2015. – Radheyan Simonpillai, NOW

International

The Bowie Theory and the music business: Alan B. Krueger’s Rockonomics

This analysis of economic trends in the music industry cuts through some of the more opaque elements of the biz, dispels tall tales and presents us with some genuinely surprising statistics. – Happymag

A generation of hip-hop was given away for free. Can it be archived?

They won't be lost to fire, like much of the Universal Music catalog, but who will save the mixtapes?– Jack Denton, Pacific Standard

 A Mary J. Blige halftime show? A Cardi B cleanup? Yes, BET got its groove back

The BET Awards and its branded festival, BETX, have often told contrasting stories. The network’s weekend of festival offerings connected to its awards spectacle hasn’t always translated seamlessly, but last weekend was a success.–  Gerrick D. Kennedy, LA Times

Music Industry: The most prolific producers of the last 60 years

musicMagpie has looked at 20 of the most prolific producers of the last 60 years, analysing their long and impressive careers. Using this information, they’ve pitted them against each other based on a number of different categories to see who comes out on top.  – Jacob Wolinsky, Value Walk

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Hip-hop legend Will.I.Am partners with innovative Montreal AI company

The celebrated frontman of the hip-hop supergroup Black Eyed Peas and tech entrepreneur announced the launch of Kepler at C2 and his involvement with the Montreal AI company Stradigi.  – Joanne Shurvell, Forbes

O-Town locked in trademark dispute with Universal Music Group

The record giant claims the re-formed boy band's name is too similar to that of legendary label Motown Records. – Chris Eggertsen, Billboard Biz

Elliot Roberts, manager of rock stars, is dead at 76

Along with David Geffen, Roberts was one of the crucial figures behind the singer-songwriter scene in Southern California in the late 1960s and early ’70s. – Ben Sisario, NYT

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Lil Nas X attends Los Angeles premiere of Netflix's "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on June 20, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Leon Bennett/Getty Images

Lil Nas X attends Los Angeles premiere of Netflix's "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on June 20, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.

Music News

Lil Nas X Says New Music Is Coming ‘Next Month’

The star hasn't released an album since his 2021 debut LP Montero.

New Lil Nas X music is around the corner!

The 25-year-old superstar took to social media to tease a release he has in store. “GUESS WHOS FINALLY DROPPING NEW MUSIC NEXT MONTH ?!!” he captioned the self-taped video, in which he’s seen dancing around his bedroom to a bouncy unreleased song. “Hit me with your lovin’/ Boy I know you want it/ Pick me up and love me/ I’ll be waiting on you,” Lil Nas X sings on the breezy track.

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