Music Biz Headlines, Nov. 6, 2019

By FYI Staff

D.O.A. makes history as the seminal Hardcore 81 wins the Polaris Heritage Prize

It actually took me a little time to get clear on why I should vote for D.O.A.’s Hardcore 81 for the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, but I’m pretty glad that I did, now that D.O.A. has taken the prize, becoming the first B.C. act to have won it. – Allan MacInnis, Georgia Straight

Neil Young turned down ‘millions’ for ‘Harvest’ tour

“Everyone who played on Harvest is dead,” he said. “I don’t want to do that.”  He's not exaggerating either. – Andy Greene, Rolling Stone

Toronto concerts in November 2019: our 15 most anticipated

FKA Twigs, Danny Brown, Owen Pallett, the brand new Eisbaer Festival and more live shows we can't wait to see this month. – Staff, NOW

Kathleen Edwards braces for the holidays in new song ‘It’s Christmastime (Let’s Just Survive)’

The Ottawa singer-songwriter brings a chorus of meows and an intense battle of Scrabble to track from compilation album ‘A Dualtone Christmas.’ – Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone

In a new tweet, Radiohead asks those involved in the Toronto stage collapse disaster to finally own up.

The 2012 stage collapse at Downsview Park that killed Radiohead drum tech Scott Johnson has yet to be completely settled. Yes, there was a coroner’s inquest, but no one has been tried, fined, jailed or otherwise legally had to account for what happened. Radiohead now urges responsible for what went wrong to come forward and clear their consciences. – Alan Cross, A Journal of Musical Things

Ten questions with Alestorm

The Scottish kings of pirate metal on the addictive rush of Magic the Gathering and Mountain Dew. – Morgan Mullin, The Coast

International 

Baby Shark makes millions for family behind infectious tune

It was practically the anthem for this year’s World Series, with tens of thousands of Washington Nationals fans clapping in unison and belting out “Baby Shark, doo-doo doo-doo doo-doo.” And in many other places, the earworm has drawn derision, with late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel suggesting its creator should be jailed for life. – Yoojung Lee, Bloomberg 

Sony Music partners with The Onion on a new podcast

Comedy and news satire brand The Onion and Sony Music Entertainment have entered a strategic partnership to develop original podcast content. – Murray Stassen, MBW

Spinal Tap creative team settles recording dispute with UMG

The press release announcing the settlement with UMG states that the original complaint, filed for breach of contract, fraud and anti-competitive business practices in respect of Studio Canal’s management of rights in the film and its associated intellectual properties, continues against Studio Canal and Ron Halpern, Studio Canal’s then senior executive. — MBW

Selling your record collection to move on in life the focus of a new documentary based at Dusty Groove

A new documentary about Chicago's Dusty Groove records is a lot more than a story about vinyl. The film, “Dusty Groove: The Sound of Transition,” is Chicago filmmaker Danielle Beverly’s look at several people at a transition in their lives, often opting to sell their record collections to move on to their next phase.  – Bob Chiarito, Block Club Chicago

The glorious return of funk

Funk’s musical vocabulary can now be heard across genre and geography: in Hot 100 Billboard hits like this year’s summery anthem “Juice” by the rapper Lizzo, to the dance music of the Montreal producer Kaytranada, and the breezy electropop of the Australian outfit Parcels. – Nate Sloan, NY Times

Reporter's Notebook: David Pogue on interviewing a musical idol

A privilege of being a "Sunday Morning" correspondent is getting to meet songwriter/singer/producer Jeff Lynne, co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra. – CBS News

Here’s how to hide Apple Music in the new macOS Music app

Because your music library is worth more than that. – Callum Booth, The Next Web

MTN Nigeria launches music streaming platform in conjunction with Simfy

MTN Nigeria has announced the launch of a music-streaming platform called MusicTime! to offer a choice of millions of songs. It was developed in partnership with Simfy Africa and offers access to Nigerian and African music across the world. MusicTime! is available on Google Play Store. – Telecompaper

"Godfather of Punk" Iggy Pop on his father's final words to him

At 72, punk rocker Iggy Pop has stopped stage diving, and is even crooning over a jazzier groove in his latest album, "Free." In this interview, he recalls his father's last words to him. Video link here. – CBS News

Trent Reznor says inducting The Cure changed his mind about Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Not a moment too soon, as Nine Inch Nails are a 2020 nominee, –  Ben Kaye, Consequence of Sound

Is Lewis Capaldi - a big-voiced Brit with an ugly-cry smash - the new Adele?

The singer from Glasgow with the rough-edged voice proves capable of turning pain into beauty. – Mikael Wood, LA Times

Netflix’s hit ‘Stranger Things’ inspired Ingrid Michaelson, and her ‘Stranger Songs’ is the result

The hit series “Stranger Things” has captured the imagination of viewers, among them Ingrid Michaelson, whose new album “Stranger Songs” was inspired by the show. The singer-songwriter was instantly drawn to the look and feel of the sci-fi drama, which debuted in 2016 and is now in its third season. – Chrissie Dickinson, Chicago Tribune

The hometown soundtracks of Ernest Hood

His album Neighborhoods is a gorgeously tender sound-portrait of the all-American suburban idyll, originally released in 1975 but now lavishly reissued as a double-disc vinyl set by Freedom to Spend. Simon Reynolds, The Nation

Playfre expands music streaming service to 13 more African countries

Nigerian music streaming service Playfre has announced that it is launching in thirteen more African countries, for a total of 18. The service seeks to become profitable in a few months through revenues generated by its music distribution arm. – Songroute. Telecompaper