Music Biz Headlines, May 6, 2020
Emm Gryner (pictured) pays tribute to nurses, creative types deal with the pandemic, and global music revenues rise. Also in the headlines are Ron Sexsmith, VSO, Burnaby Blues + Roots Festival, Jerry Leger, Grimes, Sunset Sound, Luke Combs, Twitch, Imagine Music, Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, and Wiz Khalifa.
By Kerry Doole
Emm Gryner says 'thank you' to hometown Sarnia hospital and staff
Emm Gryner’s mother’s background as a nurse helped inspire the singer-songwriter to release a new single, Stronger Someone, to support the Bluewater Health Foundation and its covid-19 fund. – Paul Morden, London Free Press
Pandemic poems, kitchen concerts and documentaries: Here’s how we’re creating – and consuming – art online
Behind every cultural byproduct of covid-19 lies a creative person struggling with boredom, frustration, fear or all three. Ian Brown checks in on them. – The Globe and Mail
The 2020 Burnaby Blues + Roots Festival has been cancelled.
The two-day celebration of blues, country, folk, and indie music was scheduled to take place in Deer Lake Park on August 7-8. Organisers are hopeful of a 2021 return. – Georgia Straight
Interview: Jerry Leger talks live streaming, lockdown and staying positive
Like thousands of other artists, the impact of the terrifying spread of Covid-19 is a game-changer for Jerry in the same way it is so many others who depend on the touring circuit to earn a living. the Canadian was slated to play 28 shows throughout Europe this month, but all are cancelled. – Americana UK
May the Fourth be with you video of the day: Vancouver musicians cook up a crazy-great tribute to Star Wars cantina band
There are no Bith aliens and no extraterrestrial woodwinds, but the hilarious cover of Star Wars' Cantina Band song just released by homebound members of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is going to make your day anyway. – Janet Smith, Georgia Straight
International
The global recorded music industry generated $20.2bn in wholesale revenues in 2019
This figure was up 8.2% on the prior year ($18.7bn), according to official industry data revealed in the latest IFPI Global Music Report today (May 4). The growth in streaming revenues slowed however. – Tim Ingham, MBW
Opinion: Let’s play music and pay musicians as coronavirus stirs the sounds of silence
The coronavirus pandemic has shut concert halls, outdoor theaters and clubs, and many won’t reopen anytime soon. With musicians not being able to make income from their live performances, they are in a tenuous situation. One estimate is that event cancellations will result in a loss to the concert industry of almost $9 billion. But there are ways in which we can support them during and after the pandemic. – Kabir Sehgal Market Watch
Battered by coronavirus, L.A.'s legendary recording studios prep for a post-shutdown ‘resurgence’
In the six decades since the late recording legend and Disney sound engineer Salvador “Tutti” Camarata opened Sunset Sound Recorders in the heart of Hollywood, the studio has been continually powered up and ready for whatever musical inspiration may come its way. Covid-19 has forced its first-ever shutdown. – Randall Roberts, LA Times
Luke Combs and Bon Jovi amongst those penning songs about life during covid-19
With masks over their mouths and gloves on their hands, country superstar Luke Combs and his band went to a music studio — in separate rooms — and recorded a new song reflecting the mood of a world dramatically altered by the spreading coronavirus. – Meskin Fekadu, AP
Soundcloud to launch originally produced live programming on Twitch
Amazon-owned live streaming service Twitch is becoming an increasingly important platform in the music business. The new SoundCloud on Twitch channel will launch with a slate of originally produced live programming. – Murray Stassen, MBW
Coronavirus canceled wedding season. So what’s a wedding singer to do?
Almost every weekend this spring, Susie Garcia and her husband, Pepe Martinez Jr., were booked to perform traditional music at cultural events and regale young couples at weddings across Southern California. That is, until early March when covid-19 turned everyone’s future around. – August Brown, LA Times
Imagine Music inks global distribution deal with Ingrooves Music Group
Imagine Music has signed an exclusive global distribution deal with Ingrooves Music Group, one of the world’s leading independent marketing services and distribution companies. The first releases under the new deal are scheduled for May 2020 feature acts represented by Imagine, which is also a full-service management company. – MI2N
Grimes and Elon Musk welcome a new baby
The healthy boy is named X Æ A-12 Musk, according to a tweet of indeterminate sincerity by the father. – Pitchfork
Beyoncé launches covid-19 testing campaign in Houston
Queen Bey and Ms. Tina Knowles Lawson will provide 1,000 test kits, as well as face masks, gloves, and more to Houstonians this Mother’s Day Weekend. – Matthew Strauss, Pitchfork
Kelly Rowland: ‘Coffee’ song, video is my ode to black women
Rowland debuted the breezy R&B track and video featuring black women across a spectrum of shades and colours two weeks ago. – Mesfin Fekadu, AP
10 of the best Star Wars references in music
From The Mountain Goats to Kanye West, here are a few of the many Star Wars moments in popular music. – Ellen Johnson, Paste
The Sampler: Reb Fountain/Ron Sexsmith/The Dream Syndicate
Nick Bollinger reviews a set of travellers’ testimonies from Reb Fountain; psych-rock space jams from The Dream Syndicate; and unashamed romanticism from Ron Sexsmith. – Radio NZ
Wiz Khalifa on the importance of being your own boss
Wiz Khalifa has urged up-and-coming rappers to “be the captain of your own ship”, stressing the importance of having unique ideas in order to sustain success over a period of time.– Noise11
