Music Biz Headlines, Nov. 26, 2020
The Grammys snub of The Weeknd sparks major controversy, Avril Lavigne goes to Malibu (pictured), and Anne Murray is happy staying in the Maritimes. Also in the headlines are Bob Moses, Call the Office, Staircase Theatre, SoundCloud, Def Jam, The Killers, Warner, the AMAs, Blood, Sweat & Tears, John Belushi, Frank Zappa, Courtney Barnett, Elton John, Trevor Noah, Taylor Swift, and drinking songs.
By Kerry Doole
The Weeknd shockingly shut out of Grammy nominations
The annual nominations for the Grammy Awards are always full of surprises. But in our many collective decades of Grammy watching, we have never witnessed an omission on the level of the one that the Recording Academy committees who decide the nominees have given to The Weeknd this year. He’s even playing the Super Bowl halftime show the Sunday after the Grammys. He led nearly all of the expert-predictions lists for the past several months. And yet, his total number of Grammy nominations for the year that he dominated is zero. – Jem Aswad, Variety
Why did the 2021 Grammys snub The Weeknd?
Zero nominations for After Hours is a shocker — plus four more glaring omissions from the new nominations. – Rolling Stone
Bob Moses comes to you with a live album and a sage message
Stop and consider for a second how deeply scary it is to uproot yourself from the familiar to pursue a dream. And then admire how former Vancouver boys Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance not only did that but found that sometimes everything falls perfectly into place. – Mike Usinger Georgia Straight
Avril Lavigne buys ocean-view Malibu contemporary
Although she famously crooned “No, no, no” in her globally successful debut single — 2002’s anthem “Complicated” — Canadian pop/rocker Avril Lavigne is saying “yes, yes, yes,” to a seriously snazzy house in the celebrity-beloved seaside city of Malibu, CA. Records reveal the 36-year-old has paid $7.8 million for a very private estate that’s close to Lady Gaga’s $23 million compound. – James McClain, Variety
No longer a snowbird, Anne Murray settles into Nova Scotia life
Anne Murray says she won't be among the Canadian snowbirds migrating south this winter. While the celebrated singer has made a tradition out of packing her suitcase and setting forth to the Florida sun each year, in the midst of the pandemic she's staying put inside her new Halifax home. “If you have to be isolated, I'm in a great spot,” the 75-year-old said in an interview over her iPad. – David Friend, CP
Future uncertain for Call The Office as music venue closes indefinitely
London’s landmark music venue Call the Office is closing its doors indefinitely amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the owner of the downtown bar says. It’s a decision that could be a big blow to London’s already dwindling live music scene, an industry observer says. – Jonathan Juha, London Free Press
Here’s how Toronto is getting ready for the return of live shows
Masks, social distancing, no-frills productions, timed entry and exits – it's all outlined in the new #Lights-On reopening guide. – Richard Trapunski, NOW
Hamilton arts venue The Staircase Theatre is saved by new buyers
Artists and arts advocates woke up to some happy news recently: Hamilton’s enduring arts venue and heritage space, The Staircase Theatre, has been purchased by a trio of local business people who intend to continue preserving the building as a community-focused arts incubator. – Urbanicity
Kensington Market music venue The Boat says goodbye
A Portuguese restaurant since 1976, the Toronto bar has thrived since the mid-2000s as a kitschy party spot and live music venue. – Richard Trapunski, NOW
International
Bertelsmann to acquire Simon & Schuster for over $2B
German media group Bertelsmann will acquire U.S. publisher Simon & Schuster from ViacomCBS for more than $2 billion, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Bertelsmann, the owner of Penguin Random House, outbid Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for the publisher of authors Dan Brown, Hillary Clinton and Stephen King that Viacom put up for sale earlier this year. – Reuters
SoundCloud's revenues jumped 37% to $166M in 2019 – and it just posted its first-ever profitable quarter
SoundCloud has confirmed it achieved its first-ever profitable quarter on an EBITDA basis in Q3 this year. Fresh company filings reveal that SoundCloud posted €147.6m (US$165.7m) in revenues in calendar 2019, up 37% year-over-year. That represented significantly faster growth than the prior year: in 2018, SoundCloud posted a YoY revenue increase of 19%. SoundCloud’s 2019 revenue growth accelerated as the year went on: the firm says its quarterly revenues were up 17% YoY in Q1; in Q4, they were up by 43% YoY. – Tim Ingham, MBW
Alec and Alex Boateng named Co-Presidents of new 0207 Def Jam label at Universal Music UK
Def Jam is twinning. Ghanaian London-born twin brothers Alec and Alex Boateng have officially been unveiled as co-Presidents of a newly-launched frontline Universal Music UK label: 0207 Def Jam. Alec Boateng joins 0207 Def Jam after seven years at Warner Music, while Alex Boateng has spent the past decade at Universal Music UK, most recently as President of Island Records’ first Urban Division. – Tim Ingham, MBW
The Killers turn Grammy nomination snub into Donald Trump-trolling gold
The rock band's tweet is worthy of its own prize. – Lee Moran, HuffPost US
Warner is signing double the number of artists via AI-driven A&R tool
The label is doubling its signing of artists over last year, thanks to an AI-driven A&R tool, Sodatone. Now, it's hired a global head of Data Science. – Murray Stassen, MBW
American Music Awards sink to record-low ratings
The 2020 American Music Awards (AMAs), hosted by Taraji P. Henson, were the latest victims of the coronavirus pandemic — and of TV ratings trends in general. Sunday’s AMAs on ABC sunk to record-low ratings and nearly halved last year’s overall television audience. The annual awards show’s previous low in the key demo came last year. In terms of total viewers, the prior AMAs low was 2018. – Tony Maglio, The Wrap
John Belushi in focus: What a new film gets right and what it misses
After Bob Woodward’s “Wired” focused too much on the comic’s death, this documentary looks fondly at the star’s life. But his comic genius deserves more. – New York Times
'What the hell happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears'? A new documentary will have answers
The John Scheinfeld-directed film will feature never-released footage from their 1970 tour behind the Iron Curtain. Bolstered by David Clayton-Thomas’ soulful vocals and a boisterous horn section, Blood, Sweat & Tears landed such hits as “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” “Spinning Wheel” and “And When I Die” on the pop charts in the late ‘60s. – Melinda Newman, Billboard
This upcoming benefit concert shines a spotlight on the struggling live event industry
Next month's Live Events Lift Up Festival will raise funds for the industry and highlight the many people it takes to produce a live gathering. – Claire Hoffman, BizBash
Courtney Barnett to stream concert from Melbourne in cinemas globally
The Aussie star will perform from the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne for a global event that will stream live to cinemas all over the world on 17 December. – Paul Cashmere, Noise11
Q&A: Zappa director Alex Winter on why the doc is more about the man than the music
Alex Winter might be best known and loved as Bill in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and its two sequels opposite his longtime pal Keanu Reeves, but he is also a very gifted documentarian. Winter has directed several critically acclaimed documentaries. His latest is a clear labour of love. ZAPPA takes an in-depth look into the life and work of musician Frank Zappa. – Bonnie Laufer, Original-Cin
Elton John, TikTok team up to educate about the AIDS epidemic
The Elton John AIDS Foundation and TikTok are teaming up to raise awareness about the disease through a campaign and live event for World AIDS Day. John’s foundation and the social networking service announced their collaboration recently for a live show on Dec. 1. The event will air on John’s TikTok channel featuring the singer and performances by Sam Smith, Sam Fender and Rina Sawayama. – AP
“The Daily Show” host and comedian Trevor Noah has been tapped to host the 2021 Grammy Awards
The Recording Academy made the announcement hours before the nominees for the upcoming show are revealed. It would mark Noah’s first time hosting the Grammys, which will be held Jan. 31. Earlier this year, Noah competed for his first Grammy Award: The 36-year-old Emmy winner was nominated for best comedy album with “Son of Patricia,“ but lost to Dave Chappelle. – Mesfin Fekadu, AP
A concert film featuring Taylor Swift performing songs from her new album is coming to Disney+
The singer announced Tuesday that “folklore: the long pond studio sessions” will premiere on the streaming platform this week. The concert film will include guest appearances from Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver — acts who all appear on Swift’s “folklore“ album. In the film, Swift will reveal stories and secrets behind the 17 songs on the album, which topped the Billboard 200 albums chart this year. – AP
Country's songwriters grapple with alcohol's abundance
Listen to the radio and you might think the genre has a drinking problem. Country fans might not see all the world through "Whiskey Glasses," but they're definitely hearing it through alcoholic earbuds. Thirteen of the top 20 songs reference beer, whiskey, wine, bars or drinking in the verses, as do 25 of the top 40 singles. – Tom Roland, Billboard
