Music Biz Headlines, Sept. 13, 2019

By FYI Staff

Drake finally reached out to Bianca Andreescu and this is what he said

The time has finally come. After being called out publicly on The Tonight Show and relentless media coverage, Drake finally congratulated Bianca Andreescu on her win at the U.S. open. – BlogTO

The Conservative Party of Canada’s new anthem serves its purpose, but that doesn’t mean it will move the needle

The shouty, upbeat rocker for Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is Get Ahead, rigidly inspired by the party’s campaign slogan. Bryan Adams collaborator Jim Vallance came up with the tune. – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail

Massive Attack's Mezzanine still has massive influence in Toronto

The sound and spirit of the group's 1998 dark cinematic masterpiece continues to reverberate in the city, where they'll bring their Mezzanine XX1 next week. –Brian Capitao,  NOW

Black Mountain survives a major shakeup to triumphantly return from the brink with Destroyer

Black Mountain’s Destroyer is a triumphant return made for bombing down the road in a Dodge Charger—or maybe a Jeep.  – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight 

Music Notes: A Flagship for the new season

Everything is starting again: school, fall (best season of the year), the orchestra seasons (both jazz and classical), the venue seasons, and more. This is a great time of year. – Matt Olson, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

International 

Songwriters are being underpaid and this is why

It's widely agreed that songwriters are not getting their fair share of the growing bounty created by the streaming music boom. But the solution is much more complex than just paying them more, writes MIDiA analyst Mark Mulligan. – Hypebot

Spotify is now a music-making marketplace, as it buys New York-based Soundbetter

For a long time, we’ve heard Spotify boss Daniel Ek discuss his ambitions for the service to become a true “two-sided marketplace” for artists. Spotify has now confirmed it’s becoming a very different type of “two-sided” proposition – after buying Soundbetter, a freelance marketplace which allows creators to book exclusive contributions from producers, songwriters, mastering and mix engineers and beyond. – Tim Ingham, MBW

How Kobalt is simplifying the killer complexities of the music industry

Backed by over $200 million in VC funding, Kobalt is changing the way the music industry does business and putting more money into musicians’ pockets in the process. There are two core theses that Kobalt bet on: 1) that the shift to digital music could transform the way royalties are tracked and paid, and 2) that music streaming will empower a growing middle class of DIY musicians who find success across countless niches. – Eric Peckham, TechCrunch

The US Department Of Justice has published all 877 submissions to its review of the consent decrees that regulate American collecting societies BMI and ASCAP. The vast majority are from users of music who urge the DoJ to keep the current consent decrees in place.  – Chris Cooke, Complete Music Update

The Who showcases new music during first performance at Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley Music Theatre in 30 years

“It’s a delight and a pleasure for me,” said Townshend Sunday night at Alpine Valley Music Theatre. “We’re honored to be able to play with such fine orchestras.” – Jim Ryan, Forbes

Taylor Swift to perform at the Melbourne Cup

Swift will perform her one and only Australian appearance for 2019 at the Melbourne Cup in November. Swift tours Australia for Frontier Touring, whose boss Michael Gudinski is the owner of Melbourne Cup 2016 and 2017 winners Almandin and Rekindling. No doubt an Australian tour announcement will co-incide with the visit.  – Paul Cashmere, Noise 11

Resurgent Korn shows new fans how to metal in middle age

After years of chugging along as a theatre act and metal-fest fixture, the band has a fresh wind of relevance among Gen Z artists. Underground rappers like Denzel Curry, Ghostemane and Scarlxrd have embraced their bloodletting lyrics. – August Brown, Los Angeles Times

In Jamaica with Island Records founder Chris Blackwell

As the founder of Island Records, Chris Blackwell guided the careers of Bob Marley, U2, Cat Stevens and more. Now, with the label he launched turning 60, one of the music business’ greatest-ever moguls looks back on a career, and a life, well-lived. – Dan Rys, Billboard

Storm Area 51 creator fears 'humanitarian disaster,' pulls out of own music festival

Picture Burning Man organized by the Fyre Festival bros, but with little gray aliens running amok. That's what event creator Matty Roberts was worried the AlienStock music festival in southern Nevada was going to turn into, so he's pulled out of proceedings, with just over a week to go. – Maureen O'Hare, CNN

Lonely road: Indie promoters fight to survive amid rising talent costs, heated competition with majors 

As indies watch their contemporaries drop out of sight, they're also seeing AEG and Live Nation snap up more national club deals. – Dave Brooks, Billboard

Deezer plans 2020 User-Centric payment system pilot launch - if it can get rightsholders to sign up

Deezer has launched a new website and social media campaign to publicly champion a user-centric payment system (UCPS) and is planning to launch a pilot in France early next year – if it can get rightsholders onboard. – MBW

'This tape rewrites everything we knew about the Beatles'

The Beatles weren’t a group much given to squabbling, says Mark Lewisohn, who probably knows more about them than they knew about themselves. But then he plays me the tape of a meeting held 50 years ago this month – on 8 September 1969 – containing a disagreement that sheds new light on their breakup. – Richard Williams, Guardian

Blink-182 were goof-punks with cute videos. Twenty years later, they’re having the last laugh

In the normal arc of a pop music career, an artist might enjoy a season or three of major chart success and arena concerts. Only a small number survive decades at that altitude. Blink is still here, a full 20 years after their multiplatinum, career-defining “Enema of the State” album. – Steve Appleford, LA Times

Bob Dylan announces U.S. tour

He has announced a new run of U.S. tour dates. They kick off in October in Irvine, California and currently are set to wrap up in Philadelphia the following month. This year saw the release of Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese and a corresponding box set. Dylan’s latest studio album, Triplicate, arrived in 2017. – Sam Sodomsky, Ptchfork

Spotify's Chief Accountant, Luca Baratta, exits firm

The exec ultimately responsible for Spotify’s accounting practices is leaving the company. Spotify has told shareholders this week, via an SEC filing, that Luca Baratta will resign from his position as Chief Accounting Officer at the company on September 16. – Tim Ingham, MBW

Live after death: Inside music’s booming new hologram touring industry

With specters of Frank Zappa and Roy Orbison attracting respectable audiences, are holograms truly music’s final frontier? –  Kory Grow, Rolling Stone

E-commerce for music: A good deal for NetEase

NetEase sold its e-commerce platform to Alibaba for a premium. It also got $700 MM capital injection for its CloudMusic business,  It is a good deal for NetEase, and better sign for its future growth. – Aiden Wang, Seeking Alpha