Music Biz Headlines, Oct. 2, 2019

By Kerry Doole

An oral history of Lilith Fair

In 1996, as Sarah McLachlan ascended through the music industry, she kept hearing “no - no, you can’t put two women on the same concert bill—it’s box office poison. So she presented a challenge to her team—let’s prove them wrong—and in 1997, they assembled a bill of women to play massive outdoor venues across the States. – Vanity Fair  

Review: Avril Lavigne, in Chicago on her first tour in five years, proved she is still pop’s punk princess

With a toss of her hair and pop of her hip, Avril Lavigne smirked at her audience. “Don’t pretend, I think you know I’m d--- precious,” she sang, delivering her “Hey Mickey"-esque 2007 single “Girlfriend.” “And hell yeah, I’m the (expletive) princess!”  –  Jessi Roti, Chicago Tribune

How Alliston singer Jadyn Rylee landed a role in Sean Penn's upcoming film 'Flag Day'

An Alliston teen whose songs have racked up millions of views on YouTube over the past few years is about to show the world another one of her talents. Jadyn Rylee, 13, spent the summer in Winnipeg filming scenes for the upcoming Sean Penn-directed film Flag Day, a drama based on Jennifer Vogel’s memoir Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father’s Counterfeit Life.  –  Brad Pritchard, Alliston Herald

What campaign songs tell us about Canadian political parties

Pay attention to pronouns in party anthems, Edmonton arts critic says.  –  CBC

Crummy's Bert Man is content to remain unknown at home

The Vancouver rock veteran is about to tour Japan for the first time. –  Allan MacInnis, Georgia Straight

Brothers in arms

Violin stars Nikki and Timothy Chooi team up for MCO's season opener. The brothers got their start as a duo not on the rarefied concert stage or in any hallowed halls of a music conservatory but by busking. –  Holly Harris, Winnipeg Free Press

Toronto's noise by-law amendment is now in effect 

Toronto's newest by-law amendment came into effect October 1, and it is targeting noise in the city more intensely than the current 11 o'clock curfew. It will now be measuring amplified sound from concerts and bars, but other noise makers are also targeted. –  Narcity

International

Gene Simmons’ weed company a $4.6-million write-off for Invictus MD

Invictus MD Strategies Corp. has written off the entire value of Gene-Etics Strains Co., a company it acquired from Gene Simmons in 2018, when it brought the Kiss frontman on as “chief evangelist officer” and changed its stock ticker to GENE. –  Mark Rendell, Globe and Mail

Audiomack is quietly discovering artists before TikTok, Spotify, and SoundCloud

Spotify is great at blowing up superstars like Drake and Ed Sheeran. But where are other artists getting incubated and developed? That’s the space aggressively being pursued by NYC-based music streaming and discovery platform Audiomack, which is working to create an environment that encourages artist and fan engagement at the earliest levels of a music career.  –  Paul Resnikoff, Digital Music News 

Advertising Week’s Pitbull concert undermines a week of equality talk, say critics

Industry professionals say Pitbull’s performance did not mix with all the talk of gender parity.   – Ilyse Liffreing, Ad Age 

Live Nation  files legal appeal after AEG renews Hyde Park agreement with London’s Royal Parks

The legal filing seeks to challenge Royal Park’s handling of the bid process for a six-year permit to stage concerts in the central London park where AEG has staged the British Summer Time concert series since 2012.  –  Celebrity Access

71% of producers and sound engineers have worked for free In the past 3 years, report finds

 A report from the Music Producers Guild reveals that 88% of sound engineers and producers are asked to work for free. 71% agreed to gratis work for at least one client in the last three years.  –  Ashley King, Digital Music News 

A flood of new streaming video services could turn users Into pirates, study finds

Warring TV streaming services are competing with exclusive content — and facing increased piracy as a result.  Sound familiar?The UK-based Broadband Genie has just released the results of a very interesting survey.  The scary conclusion: a fragmentation in video streaming services could unwittingly turn users toward piracy. –   Marsha Silva,  Digital Music News 

In her memoir, Debbie Harry proves she’s more than just a pretty blonde in tight pants

Even if Debbie Harry, of the band Blondie, isn’t to your taste — her voice too thin, her sexiness too blatant, her music too smooth — you can’t dismiss certain truths about her. She paid her dues; her ambition never waned; and she was there, there being New York in the late ’60s and ’70s . –  Sibbie O'Sullivan, Washington Post

Mott the Hoople cancels fall U.S. Tour due to Ian Hunter’s tinnitus

The legendary UK group's fall outing was set to be the second leg of their first American tour in four and a half decades. –  Chris Willman, Variety

Kanye West plays seemingly unfinished Jesus Is King for audience at NYC “experience”

When Kanye West hosts an event, the pure unpredictability and uniqueness of it will bring out the masses for a truly one-of-a-kind experience. Following Sunday Service at the Greater Allen Cathedral in Queens, West and company headed to Washington Heights to host the final listening of his Jesus Is King: A Kanye West Experience mini-tour at the archaic United Palace Theatre. –  Michael Saponara,  Billboard 

Most anticipated Country & Roots albums for last of 2019

Here’s all the information Saving Country Music has been able to compile on the most anticipated upcoming releases, along with a more extensive catalog of releases to have on your radar, and the always juicy “rumor mill” where uncorroborated information on new releases dwells. –  Saving Country Music

NHL joins forces with Green Day

The veteran punk rockers have launched a partnership with bosses at the National Hockey League,  signing a two-year deal with the NHL, which will kick off with the debut of a new song, Ready, Fire, Aim, from the band on Oct. 9. The band will also headline performance at the NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 25, 2020 in St. Louis, Mo. – WENN

Meltin' with Sir Elton John: 50 years of music for a yellow brick farewell in Edmonton

The first of his two Edmonton Farewell Yellow Brick Road shows was a sequined spectacle of rock and roll history/fantasy, from the opening number Bennie and the Jets on, dazzling and sometimes melancholy, but above all gracious and inspiring. –  Fish Griwkowsky, Edmonton Journal

Children of late Mexican crooner José José feud over his body

José Joel wasn’t getting answers about the death of his world-famous father, so he got off the plane and went straight to the funeral home. Flanked by cameras and microphones on Sunday, he faced off with yet another person who would not tell him where in Miami he might find his dad’s body, or when and how he had died. –  Teo Armus, Washington Post