Music Biz Headlines, Oct. 10, 2018
In today's summary of headlines, Warner Music Canada exec Steve Coady (pictured with Brett Kissel) reflects on his career that started off in the Maritimes where his values were hewn in the bedrock of Atlantic Canada.
By Kerry Doole
P.E.I. native Steve Coady, 2018 Canadian Country Music Award winner, talks about his career journey
“Everything I’ve done has consistently been informed by a love of music and a respect for the artists who make it,” says the P.E.I. native who is vice-president of radio promotion for Warner Music Canada. – The Guardian - PEI
Crowd fills Aitken Centre for Fredericton Strong benefit concert
Hosted by David Myles and featuring Classified, Matt Mays, Matt Andersen, and Neon Dreams, the concert is expected to raise tens of thousands for local organizations. – CBC
Elisapie's The Ballad Of A Runaway Girl is musically and narratively stunning
The Salluit-born, Montreal-based singer presents a mix of Indigenous folk covers and rich, genre-bending celebration of self. – Luke Ottenhof, NOW
Canadian music organization proposes a copyright tax on anyone using more than 15GB/month of bandwidth
The Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC) has an interesting – if not draconian – idea. At a hearing of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, the Canadian music group proposed a new levy. – Daniel Sanchez, Digital Music News
Video: Sadies singer nearly hit by falling light cover at N.S. gig
The Toronto roots-rock heroes literally bring the house down at a recent show. – CP
Review: Blood Orange and Yves Tumor put on a thrilling show at Danforth Music Hall
In the first of two sold-out shows, the two acts showed off different versions of musicianship and showmanship. – Kevin Hegge, NOW
Bad week at the box office: Ticketmaster faces call for federal probe in the U.S.
Congressman wants attorney general to investigate, cites CBC's undercover report on a secret scalper program. – CBC News
F--ked Up just released an epic ‘rock opera.’ Now they have to learn to play as a band again
F--ked Up has spent more than 15 years pushing the limits of what it means to identify as a “punk” or “hardcore” band. The logical next step was to obliterate the very idea of what F--ked Up itself means as a band. – Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
The artistic team behind Jersey Boys takes on the Temptations – but don’t call it a jukebox musical
Few artistic teams have had as much success with a controversial form of musical theatre as Canadian director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo. – J. Kelly Nestruck, Globe and Mail
A different lens: The struggles of Indigenous voices in today's opera
Ahkamayimo Linklater’s experiences as a young singer are emblematic: A lack of interest, opportunity and representation for Indigenous people on Canada’s professional stage. – Matt Olson, Star-Phoenix
On Our Radar: With "Unfollow", Massive Scar Era continues to be Vancouver's most forward-thinking metal band
Massive Scar Era has quietly been building a reputation as one of the most innovative and interesting bands in the city, as exotic as it is unrelenting. That world domination hasn’t happened yet is a reflection that Vancouver’s metal scene remains largely underground. – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight
Braden Lam’s new flock
The Halifax transplant talks his new band, new places and a new album, Driftwood People. – Caora McKenna, The Coast
Two Tragically Hip members perform Thursday at downtown square in Toronto
Tragically Hip guitarist Rob Baker and drummer Johnny Fay will join Choir! Choir! Choir! on Thursday at 8 p.m. in performing a Hip tribute at Yonge-Dundas Square to promote Up Cannabis. They are investors and brand ambassadors for the federally-licensed pot company. – Jane Stevenson, Toronto Sun
Who is responsible for harm reduction at Toronto music venues?
DJs and party-goers came together to discuss how to handle overdoses without stigmatizing drug use at Something Special’s Community Meeting. – Sumiko Wilson, NOW
Here are all the winners from the 2018 AMAs
The 2018 American Music Awards have come and gone, with jaw-dropping performances from Taylor Swift, Cardi B, Twenty One Pilots and many more stars making for a memorable show on Tuesday night (Oct. 9). – Taylor Weatherby, Billboard
VIFF 2018: Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes
Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, two Jews who fled Nazi Berlin in the 1930s and later started a trad-jazz and boogie-woogie record label, became prime movers for modern stuff in the ’50s. A new film tells their story. – Ken Eisner, Georgia Straight
Q&A: Jain declares war on growing global bigotry with new album
The French female pop singer Jain is ready to march her new album Souldier across North America. – Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Sun
A Star Is Born: Lady Gaga's most iconic roles
Lady Gaga's greatest performance is her portrayal of Lady Gaga. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta has always treated music, and her place in it, like performance art. – Angela Watercutter, Wired
British songwriters' body opposes Sony's proposed takeover of EMI Music Publishing
Sony Corporation’s proposed 100% acquisition of EMI Music Publishing (EMP) is in the process – but the major is facing more opposition in Europe than it would have hoped for. – Music Business Worldwide
California punks reveal their war stories in public
It’s a simple concept but an incredibly effective one. Get a bunch of punk rockers from the ’70s through the early ’90s together, put them all onstage in front of an attentive, like-minded audience, and wallow in nostalgia while they relate old war stories. Exene Cervenka and Jane Wiedlin have been featured. – Brett Callwood, LA Weekly
Drake, Migos call-off more shows on ‘Aubrey and the Three Amigos’ Tour
Multiple shows on the tour have been called off, and now, three more gigs in St. Paul, Denver, and Salt Lake City have been added to the cancellation list. – Olivia Perrault, Ticket News
Data journalist Miriam Quick put Spotify’s new algorithm to the test
She analysed over 1000 tracks to find the saddest pop songs to top the charts. The results were surprising. – Miriam Quick, BBC News
As we predicted earlier, as streaming consumption grows, the per-stream rate will continue to drop, every year, year to year. This data set is isolated to the calendar year 2017 and represents a mid-sized indie label with an approximately 200+ album catalogue now generating over 200m+ streams annually. That’s a pretty good sample size. – Trichordist
Arithmetic on the Internet: The ethical pool solution to streaming royalty allocation
Subscription services are one of the few secular trends in the current economy that is not yet reactive to trade wars or interest rates. – Chris Castle
Popular music streaming services compared
Today’s best music streaming services have millions of songs in their catalogues, offer personalized playlists, and feature exclusive internet radio shows and podcasts. But which should you pick and pay a subscription fee for? – Stefan Etienne, The Verge
Lee 'Scratch' Perry: ‘My pants are telepathic. Everything I wear is telepathic’
The Jamaican music icon, 82, on dreaming up songs, giving up drink and teaching Bob Marley how to be happy. – James McMahon, The Guardian
The 50th-anniversary reissue of Stones classic Beggars Banquet detailed
The edition comes out on Nov. 16 on CD and limited edition vinyl, plus other bonus features. – Buddy Iahn, music universe
Fyre Festival’s Billy McFarland could face up to 20 years in prison
There comes a time in every fraudster who’s been backed into a corner’s life when they face sentencing. For Billy McFarland, he who was hoisted onto his own Fyre Festival petard, that time is October 11. – Kevin Bryant, Vanity Fair
On my radar: Kurt Vile’s cultural highlights
The acclaimed US singer-songwriter on the joys of John Prine, the black comedy of TV’s Vice Principals and psychedelic pulp fiction. – Kathryn Bromwich, The Guardian
What does London sound like?
The musician Dessa took a sensory tour in the city with the synesthete LJ Rich. Here is how it sounded. – New York Times
Iggy Azalea cancels entire Bad Girls Tour
Azalea took to Twitter yesterday, calling off the tour. Although she didn’t explain exact reasons, she noted that “the choice was out of my hands and not my call to make.” – Ticket News
