Music Biz Headlines: Shania Twain Gets A Barbie, Canadian Arts Festivals & More
Our compendium of national and international stories also features music store closings, YouTube, Taylor Swift, Live Nation and Pussy Riot.
Shania Twain with Barbie
Shania Twain Now Has a Barbie Modelled After Her: 'My Own Projection of Myself'
As a young girl, Shania Twain says she used to make her own dolls, modelled after Barbie.– Nicole Thompson, CP
Can New Artistic Leadership Revive Two Toronto Summer Festivals?
Rachel Kennedy and Laura Paduch will lead Toronto Fringe Festival, while Olivia Ansell has been named artistic director of the Luminato Festival. – Joshua Chong, Toronto Star
Billboard Women In Music Expands to Canada in 2024
This June, Billboard Canada is recognizing the trailblazing women making waves in the Canadian music industry. – Richard Trapunski, Billboard Canada
KPU Set to Host Second Annual Wake Up! Festival
A free festival is set to rock the Kwantlen Polytechnic University campus in Surrey,. Wake Up! Social Justice Music Festival highlights queer and BIPOC artists, promoting social and climate justice through song and community. – V. S. Wells Georgia Straight
Shaw Festival Records Largest Deficit in History Amid Wider Theatre Industry Woes
The Shaw Festival, one of Canada’s largest theatre companies, ran the biggest single-season deficit in its history in 2023, spending $5.7-million more than it brought in. – J.K. Nestruck, Globe & Mail
Hamilton's Mountain Music Will Soon Shutter
Co-owners Scott and Craig Kerr say they are looking forward to relaxing and having some free time. – Hamilton Spectator
Jean-Marie Zeitouni to Make HPO Debut
The HPO has assigned Zeitouni four pieces to conduct, two of which are Canadian works.– Leonard Turnevicius, Hamilton Spectator
International
Could YouTube Be the Music-first Social Platform the Industry Needs?
Users are finding that some of their favourite artists’ music is unavailable, cutting back the all-you-can-eat buffet of content with a little bit of (dare we say, needed) scarcity. It is a useful moment to consider another possibly idealistic thought experiment: what a music-first social platform could look like. – Tatiana Cirisano, MIDIA
Live Nation is ‘Surprised and Thrilled’ Its All-In Ticket Pricing is a Success
The era of “all-in” pricing for concert tickets is finally arriving in the United States – and the law will back it, Live Nation’s leadership predicts. – Daniel Tencer, Music Business Worldwide
Swift Notes: How the Eras Tour Ticketing Debacle Reflects – and Distorts – US Industry Reform
As US lawmakers investigate ticketing practices from antitrust investigations to ‘speculative’ sales, do these proposals prioritise consumers or corporations – and why do some bear Swift’s name? – Laura Snapes, The Guardian
The ace guitarist and Television co-founder was a voracious book collector. The sale of his vast collection attracted many notables and old friends. – London Review of Books
‘It’s Terrifying’: Songwriter Behind Robbie Williams Hits Out at AI in the Music Industry
Guy Chambers says future albums may need disclaimers about how they were made amid rise of AI’s use for writing songs. – The Guardian
Catching Up with the SXSW Festival's Chief Programming Officer on What’s New and Noteworthy
BizBash tapped SXSW’s longtime programming chief, Hugh Forrest, to dish on what to expect at this year’s fest, taking place March 8-16 in Austin, Texas. – Shannon Thaler, BizBash
Charges Are Dropped Midtrial in 'Hotel California' Lyrics Case
From the start, the case was highly unusual: a criminal prosecution centred on the disputed ownership of a cache of hand-drafted lyrics to “Hotel California” and other Eagles hits. Don Henley plans to fight on. – Jennifer Peltz, AP
Pussy Riot Co-founder on Alexey Navalny’s Sacrifice and Her Warnings For the West
Russian art protest collective Pussy Riot, currently performing in Western Canada, has altered its multimedia concert Riot Days for the worst of reasons. The group’s first show on this tour, in Kelowna, was also its first since the death of Alexey Navalny. – Marsha Lederman, Globe & Mail
Legendary Sam Ash Music Store Closing After a Century of Harmonizing Manhattan’s Music
One of the last reminders of Midtown’s famed Music Row is about to play its final riff. City musicians are in mourning at the news that the legendary Sam Ash Music retail store on W34th Street plans to close its doors. Sarah Beling, W42St.com
Sonny Days for Cher! Music Icon May Win $1 Million Music Royalty Battle Against Mary Bono
InMusic legend Cher is on the verge of winning a bitter $1 million music royalty battle against Mary Bono, the widow of the Dark Lady’s sadly departed first hubby and singing partner, Sonny Bono. – In Touch
'Barbie' Ballad Makes Billie Eilish the Youngest Person to Win 2 Oscars
What were Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell made for? Winning awards, apparently. The sibling duo’s “Barbie” blockbuster ballad “What Was I Made For?” won the Academy Award for best original song on Sunday night.– Maria Sherman, AP
