Music Biz Headlines, Oct. 5, 2020

By FYI Staff

Beverly Glenn-Copeland finds new success after a Japanese collector’s interest

What’s it like to be a 77-year-old overnight success? Beverly Glenn-Copeland is finding out. After decades out of the public eye, the composer and singer is enjoying a resurgence in popularity. – Nick Krewen, Toronto Star

With the end of Rush and Covid ongoing, Geddy Lee looks for a silver lining playbook

'I’ve been incredibly fortunate. But one can’t keep looking back. You still have to get on with your life and do new things,' the former Rush bass player says. – John Ivison, National Post

With tour scrubbed, Ethridge and wife get in-van-tive

Canadian country power couple Eric Ethridge and wife Kalsey Kulyk are taking their ‘Love on the Road’ as they tour North America performing outdoors for fans from their rooftop travelling stage. – Sarnia Journal

Kestrels cracks open 

Sometimes, the breaks come at the wrong time—but the Halifax rocker's best music to date couldn't come quick enough. – Alec Martin, The Coast

Alberta music venues find new ways to ensure shows go on

The president of the National Music Centre, Andrew Mosker, has been happy to see a variety of local Calgary venues forging ahead with live music during uncertain times despite the extra hurdles and points out that small to medium-sized bars are integral for the growth of a city’s music scene. – Dan Clapson, The Globe and Mail

Toronto’s music venues are coming back to life – virtually

Dark for six months, the city's concert spaces are returning on your screens. – Richard Trapunski, NOW

Inside the plans for a bigger, bolder eOne with Chris Taylor & Ted May

Last year, the thriving independent label made global headlines when it was acquired by toy giant Hasbro in a $3.8 billion all-cash deal. In our interview, Music Week meets eOne’s global president, music & live, Chris Taylor and managing director, UK & head of international, music, Ted May to find out the big plans behind what happens next, from new signings to “unreleased” Death Row Records material. – George Garner, Music Week

Mustafa sings songs of love and loss in Regent Park

In an exclusive Canadian interview, the Toronto troubadour explains how his debut album When Smoke Rises helped him to find radical joy in moments of grief. – Kelsey Adams, NOW

The Boom Booms announce four concerts in New Westminster

We've said it before and we'll say it again: concerts are making a comeback! The latest band to get back to gigging in Metro Vancouver is the Boom Booms. The local soul-funk quintet has announced four shows at the Massey Theatre on October 16 and 17 at 7 and 9:30 pm. – Steve Newton, Georgia Straight

Toronto music venues can't get insurance

A number of venues are saying they can't get renewals for their commercial liability insurance – and they're worried it could get them evicted. – Richard Trapunski, NOW

International

Twitch licenses music now. But the music industry says it's skirting the rules

Industry leaders are concerned that Twitch’s new feature, Soundtrack, may be designed to avoid paying for sync licenses — which generate significant revenue for labels, publishers and artists. – Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone

Amazon Music partners with Universal, Warner to exclusively offer streaming albums in 'better than CD quality' Ultra HD

Amazon has inked fresh partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to remaster thousands of songs and albums to Ultra HD streaming audio quality – and make them exclusively available on its Amazon Music HD service. According to Amazon, Ultra HD offers “better than CD quality” audio, with a bit depth of 24 bits and a sample rate up to 192 kHz. Amazon Music HD already offers 5 million tracks in Ultra HD. – Tim Ingham, MBW

YouTube makes up with Danish songwriters in new Polaris deal

For the past few months, music videos from superstar Danish acts such as Lukas Graham, Volbeat and Mø have been inaccessible by residents of the Scandinavian country on YouTube. That was because of a dispute between YouTube and Denmark’s Koda – the equivalent of ASCAP/BMI (US) or PRS For Music (UK) in the market. But now Polaris, the umbrella collection society for the Nordics, has reached a new licensing agreement with YouTube for music used on its service – removing the obstacle. – MBW

Streaming bots might be tempting but artists should beware

Hypebot reports: “Given the weight of streaming numbers in the music economy, the idea of employing a streaming bot has a significant allure to bands and artists, but as with so many things that seem too good to be true, using a streaming bot can sometimes cause an artist more harm than good.” – Digital Media Wire

AC/DC confirm return of Brian Johnson, Cliff Williams, Phil Rudd

Three members were all gone by the end of the last tour, but they’re back and the band seems to be on the verge of announcing new music. – Andy Greene, Rolling Stone

ShareChat signs global music licensing deal with Times Music

Social media platform ShareChat has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Times Music to license its music catalogue for both ShareChat and Moj. This will also include leading Punjabi Music catalog of Speed Records. –The Times of India

New albums we're looking forward to this month

From a new Jónsi solo album and a Kevin Morby record to country songs from CAM and a Future Islands release, it looks to be a stacked month. See all our most anticipated albums here. –Paste

Summer albums you may have missed: The best under-the-radar finds in many genres

It’s impossible to hear all the music that comes out every day, but with this list, we hope to direct your attention to generally overlooked albums our writers and editors have been returning to over the last few months. – Pitchfork

Listen to Keith Richards’ previously unreleased solo ‘Little T&A’

Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos 1989 live album ‘Live At The Hollywood Palladium’ is getting a make-over. The new 2020 edition includes three additional tracks including Keith Stones ‘Tattoo You’ rocker ‘Little T&A’. – Noise11

Peter Hook: 'I'd like to sort things out with New Order'

Peter Hook wants to sort out his "difficult" relationship with his former New Order bandmates by sitting down and listening to their seminal 1983 album Power, Corruption & Lies. – MSN

‘Times Square’: A forgotten punk and new wave movie soundtrack turns 40

First released in October 1980, Times Square, a coming-of-age film directed by Canadian Allan Moyle, was originally poised to be a punk and New Wave equivalent to Saturday Night Fever. –David Chiu, Forbes

Major Oz promoter predicts no international tours until 2022 

“I don’t think we’ll have any international [artists] coming in until 2022.” Current predictions from one of the country’s biggest promoters rule out 2021 entirely. Speaking with The Music earlier this week about Chugg Music opening a new office in Asia, Michael Chugg said it’s unlikely we’ll see any bands from overseas performing in Australia next year. – Dan Cribb, The Music

Rolling Stone 500: How Bob Dylan made ‘Blood on the Tracks’

In the midst of a personal and artistic crisis, Dylan reinvented himself and created a masterpiece. – Joe Levy, Rolling Stone