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FYI

Music Biz Headlines, March 21, 2018

Rod Stewart has a soft spot for Canada, SXSW remains relevant, and Johnny Reid is back on the road. Also making the headlines are Lorde, Canadian country acts, Pussy Riot, Katy Perry, Nels Cline, Superorganism, Pharis and Jason Romero, Sir Ringo Starr, vintage T-shirts, and a musical Soviet spy.

Music Biz Headlines, March 21, 2018

By Kerry Doole

'A lovely country to come to': Rod Stewart on Canada

The 73-year-old U.K. music legend plays Toronto's ACC on Thursday in advance of new album Blood Red Roses – Jane Stevenson, Canoe.com


After 31 years, how does SXSW stay relevant?

There was a political edge to the Austin festival this year and a genuinely impressive gender balance – Toronto artists also made a splash – Mar Sellars, NOW

No tent needed for a Johnny Reid revival

"As long as people keep showing up, I keep being there," says the superstar singer Johnny Reid – Jeff DeDekker, Regina Leader-Post

Lorde's US tour has flopped – but it might be the making of her

The New Zealand star is playing to arenas that are only a third full. But dropping out of pop’s upper echelons may give her the long future she deserves – Laura Snapes, The Guardian

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The eight best contemporary country singers from Canada

The list includes Corb Lund, Brett Kissel, Whitney Rose, and Lindi Ortega  – Bobby Moore, Wide Open Country

There’s a new app to tell you which festival is perfect for you

A new tool analyses your Spotify listening and tells you which festival you should be going to this summer – Nick Reilly, nme.com

Pussy Riot protest against Putin election with new song

The punk provocateurs release a statement alongside new track Elections, attacking corruption, censorship and the erosion of democracy in Russia – Ben Beaumont-Thomas, The Guardian 

American Idol treats Katy Perry’s flirting as a joke. Some viewers aren’t amused

For some, Perry’s ogling of one contestant, kissing of another and offer to ‘hang’ with yet another strike sour notes in the age of #MeToo – Emily Yahr, Washington Post

State legislation addressing sexual harassment in music business is  killed

Attorney Alex Little: 'Hollywood is standing up for its own. It's time Nashville did the same'  – Cari Gervin, Nashville Scene

Guitar genius rolls from intensity to subtlety, between rock and jazz

"I have the luckiest life because I get to work many different dynamic and stylistic parameters" – Nels Cline – Roger Levesque, Edmonton Journal

How the indie-pop behemoth Superorganism achieved the impossible

They’re the first new band from this generation who sounds like no one else and make exhilarating, meaningful music for every damn age – Ryan Bassil, Noisey

Pharis and Jason Romero prep a new album, Sweet Old Religion

The acclaimed Canadian roots music duo has had a difficult couple of years, having lost their instrument shop to a fire in the summer of 2016 – No Depression

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Sir Ringo Starr is now a Knight! Prince William awards the Beatle a royal title

The drummer joked that he would wear the insignia “at breakfast” –  Simon Perry, People

Got some old band T-shirts at home? You might be sitting on a goldmine…

A rare Led Zeppelin shirt fetched $10,000 – and others go for hundreds as nostalgic memorabilia market booms – Rob Davies, The Guardian

Glamorous harpist is believed to be a Russian spy

She performed a 'stern-faced' concert at a provincial British church after arriving in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes –  Daily Mail

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Kendrick Lamar
Dave Free

Kendrick Lamar

Chart Beat

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘GNX’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200

Plus: the "Wicked" movie soundtrack arrives at No. 2.

Kendrick Lamar’s surprise album GNX debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Dec. 7), marking his fifth chart-topper, all earned consecutively. It launches with 319,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 28, according to Luminate — the year’s sixth-largest debut frame. The set’s opening week was largely driven by streaming activity, and the 12-song effort launches with 2024’s third-biggest streaming week for any album. GNXarrived with no warning on Nov. 22 around noon ET.

Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, the Wicked film soundtrack enters at No. 2, notching the highest debut for a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical ever. The new Wicked film, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, is based on the long-running stage musical of the same name, which has played on Broadway in New York since 2003.

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