Music Biz Headlines, Nov. 29, 2019
The star quality of Laila Biali (pictured), Winnipeg mourns Gerry Atwell, and Canada’s Walk of Fame makes strides. Others in the headlines include Ice Cream, Jay Gilday, Warner Music, Robert Sillerman, Beck, Cyndi Lauper, J Balvin, Taylor Swift, Pete Townshend, and Dolly Parton.
By Kerry Doole
Alessia Cara, Will Arnett help Canada’s Walk of Fame gala make strides
A hologram, a tickle truck, and a 90-year-old starchitect. Just part of the sights and sounds when I attended this year’s gala for Canada’s Walk of Fame on Saturday. Only one inductee thanked God, last I counted at the end of the night. Several more name-checked media mogul Allan Slaight. – Shinan Govani, The Star
Interview: Toronto band Ice Cream want to break free
On their new album, FED UP, Amanda Crist and Carlyn Bezic take restrictive late capitalism and the male gaze and give them a satisfying rock release. – Michael Rancic, NOW
Ten questions with New Hermitage
The Halifax-born ambient, improvised noise maker talks splurging on popcorn at the movies and why it'll always ride hard for NoFX. – Morgan Mullin The Coast
Music community mourns loss of respected artist
The Winnipeg music community is mourning the loss of Gerry Atwell, who played keyboards and sang in a number of local acts including Juno-award winning Eagle and Hawk. The band posted a video tribute on its Facebook page on Saturday that has been viewed thousands of times. – Kevin King, Winnipeg Sun
The jazz/pop artist and CBC host has a natural star quality that is evident in every note she sings and every word she speaks. – Ric Taylor, The View
Singer-songwriter Jay Gilday takes subtler acoustic path to find his better musical self
“I've chosen to do music, but what that means to me has changed over the years,” - singer-songwriter Jay Gilday. – Roger Levesque, Edmonton Journal
Toronto's rock and roll photo gallery Analogue Gallery turns 10
The Sterling Road gallery will celebrate with its annual Sound Image competition for emerging music photographers. – Richard Trapunski, NOW
Tapestry’s TAP:EX Augmented Opera is a compact, experimental success
Since 2014, Tapestry Opera has included in its season line-up the experimental series called TAP:EX. Short for Tapestry Explorations, the series has a goal of redefinining opera and prodding at its boundaries. Is opera still opera if it’s blended with turntables? – Jenna Simeonov, Globe and Mail
International
Warner Music reports profit in Q4; Revenue up 8.2%
Warner Music Group Corp. reported fourth-quarter net income attributable to the Group of $90 million compared to a net loss of $14 million, last year. Adjusted net income was $103 million compared to $10 million. The company said the improvement was due to higher operating income, higher other income associated with a gain on the Euro-denominated debt and a tax benefit. – RTT News
A criminal hacking case shows how easy it is to steal music
27-year-old Christian Erazo allegedly hacked into social networking and cloud accounts of music management firms to download and leak 50 gigabytes of music. – Amy Wang, Rolling Stone
After success his entire career, Robert Sillerman's final years were marked by pain, loss and deception
Robert F.X. Sillerman became one of the most intriguing and wealthiest men in music by twice betting on his vision for the future of mass media. He made billions of dollars in two huge sales, but died in bankruptcy. He passed away in his sleep on Sunday at the age of 71. – Dave Brooks, Billboard
Beck may have lost multiple full unreleased albums in UMG fire
How does an entire Beck double album of solo Hank Williams covers sound to you? How about a pre-Odelay LP of indie rock songs? the pop-rock polymath claimed that he’s released only about 10 percent of the music he’s recorded, and he fears that much if not all of the archives were destroyed in the 2008 Universal Music Group fire. – Andy Cush, Spin
Cyndi Lauper will receive a first award of its kind from the UN
The United Nations High Note Global Prize award recognises her consistent hard work to end homelessness among LGBT+ youth. – Lily Wakefield, Pink
Vibras! How J Balvin took on English-language pop – and won
Balvin was a minor Colombian artist who became the fifth most streamed on the planet without using English, showing how embracing national pride can be a force for cultural good. –The Guardian
Taylor Swift is selling a new shirt inspired by old albums. Take that, Big Machine
A “Fearless” Taylor Swift just launched merchandise inspired by her back catalog, basically baiting Big Machine Label Group and Scooter Braun to “Speak Now” or forever hold their peace. – Christi Carras, LA Times
The Pop Musical: Go Big (and Loud) or Go Home
It’s time for Broadway to embrace what’s most joyous about songbook shows. Not biography, not coherence, but excess. Even “Moulin Rouge!” doesn’t quite get it right. –Elisabeth Vincentelli, NYT
Why we don't appreciate local music, and why we should
Shain Shapiro is a principal in Sound Diplomacy. Its strategic practice defined the “music cities model,” which uses music and culture in a deliberate and intentional way to deliver economic, social and cultural growth in cities and places. –Offbeat
Pete Townshend explains controversial remarks about Keith Moon and John Entwistle
The Who guitarist responded to reports on his comments about the late bandmates after he said “Thank God they’re gone,” and added that they were “fucking difficult to play with.” In the original Rolling Stone interview, Townshend said "gone," though some outlets interpreted his comment as saying he was glad they were dead. –Ultimate Classic Rock
FAITH NO MORE returns, announces 2020 performances with more to come
The band announced a returned to the road in the summer of 2020. So far, only European festivals have been announced, and it will be the band's first appearances in Europe in five years. –Metal injection
Lucy Hale joins Ryan Seacrest to host 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2020'
Seacrest and Hale will host the show from New York City, while Billy Porter will be live at the New Orleans celebration and Ciara will return to host the Los Angeles festivities. – Katherine Schaffstall, The Hollywood Reporter
The mysterious enduring appeal of Dolly Parton
At 73, Parton’s been a star for half a century, and as a songwriter, singer, actor, producer and businesswoman, she’s phenomenally successful. But why she’s having another wave of popularity and her status is being celebrated right now is a mystery. – John Doyle, Globe and Mail
