Music Biz Headlines, March 11, 2020

By FYI Staff

Canadian event organizers watch and wait as COVID-19 cancellations pile up

From James Bond to Facebook to Formula One, the coronavirus outbreak is changing international gatherings. – CBC

25 things you didn’t know (or had forgotten) about the Juno Awards

Alanis Morissette dropped her robe, and Feist counted her awards to five, Rascalz demanded respect for hip hop. – Brad Wheeler, The Globe and Mail 

Born Ruffians personal approach to promotion

To announce their latest record, the Toronto indie-rock trio reached out to their biggest fans through the original social media—handwritten letters. –  Stuart Berman, Spotify.com

How Juno-nominee Big Dave McLean became a blues legend

McLean's latest album Pocket Full Of Nothin' nominated for blues album of the year at Junos. – Peter Mills, CBC News 

On Our Radar: Hannah Georgas sings her truth in atmospheric video for "That Emotion"

Georgas is such a big fan of the National that she even wrote a song about it. It's especially cool, then, that her connections to the band go even deeper—Georgas's new single, "That Emotion", was produced by the National's Aaron Dessner. – John Lucas, Georgia Straight

Facebook launches creative music tools in Canada

 With the launch of music stickers on Facebook and Instagram Stories and other creative tools, Canadians now have new ways to express themselves, discover artists, and share music that matters to them. – Newswire

Meet Alex Pangman, a vocalist that sings jazz with somebody else's lungs

The acclaimed Toronto vocalist is the recipient of a lung transplant. – CBC

International

Coronavirus panic just wiped out nearly $5BN off the combined value of Vivendi, Spotify and Live Nation

Logic dictates that companies relying on the success of music rights (and other entertainment content) should be better protected than others (travel and event companies, for example) over the Coronavirus market negativity. Still, major industry players have each seen their value significantly affected by COVID-19 panic on the markets. – Tim Ingham, MBW

SXSW issues sweeping layoffs after festival canceled by City of Austin

Three days after its flagship 10-day festival was canceled by city officials, SXSW has begun layoffs. On Monday, March 9, the company, which is headquartered on Lavaca Street in downtown Austin, laid off about 30 percent of its employees, most of whom are reportedly in the SXSW Music sector. – Katie Friel, Austin Culture Map

NMPA CEO David Israelite to songwriters: Court case with Spotify, Amazon has 'seismic implications' (Guest Op-Ed)

Songwriters: This week, Spotify and Amazon are quite literally taking you to court. A great deal of the business of how much you get paid happens in a room a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. – David Israelite, Billboard

A flashy new AI tool could be a producer's dream and a copyright nightmare

Imagine being able to hear exactly what’s under the hood of any piece of recorded music. Such is the promise of Spleeter, a free, open-source AI tool that was developed and released by the streaming service Deezer late last year. – Pitchfork

Apple, Spotify and others accused of music industry 'conspiracy'

A new antitrust lawsuit filed Monday claims that Apple and a slew of other companies in the music streaming industry have built out an illegal buyer's "conspiracy" to block out licensing competition. – Mike Peterson, Apple Insider

Led Zeppelin scores big win in ‘Stairway to Heaven’ copyright case

Led Zeppelin scored a major win on Monday in the copyright battle over “Stairway to Heaven,” as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict finding the song did not infringe on the 1968 song “Taurus.” The ruling is also a significant win for the music industry. – Gene Maddaus, Variety

Warner Music India is launched

WMI will be led by well-regarded exec Jay Mehta, who has been named Managing Director in the market. Mehta joins Warner from Sony Music India, where he served as Director of Digital Business for several years. –Tim Ingham, MBW

Quote Calculator for musicians, bands, and performers

We've put together this free simple quote calculator to make it super-easy for function bands, musicians and performers to calculate their fees based on fuel expenses and accommodation requirements. – Bands For Hire

"Self-doubt has always been something that I have had' - Ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman.

Ahead of an auction that will exhibit Wyman’s collection of guitars and costumes, including several jackets, the former Stones bassist told us that keeping busy has combated his inner critic. – Sunday Independent