Century Media has scrubbed all traces of Iced Earth and Demons & Wizards following guitarist Jon Schaffer’s participation in the Capitol riot earlier this month, Loudwire reports. The two bands, both of which include Schaffer as a founding member, are no longer listed on Century Media Record’s website, Iced Earth and Demons & Wizards can not be found on the label’s current artists list, nor on Century Media’s roster of former artists. Merch from both acts is also no longer available via the Century Media webstore.

"I had a statement a while back and one of my songs had had over a million plays, million streams, and it was £37. I got £37 from a million streams" - English singer Gary Numan told Sky News. He put out another example - "I printed out, I think it was about a year ago, a statement - my streaming statement came in and I didn't look at it, I just put it to print, and I looked over about half an hour later, it was still printing. It was hundreds and hundreds of pages. And the end of it was, like, £112. It was barely worth the [paper] it was printed on". "The solution's simple," he told Sky - "the streaming companies should pay more money. They're getting it for nothing".

Rappers Lil Wayne has been pardoned and Kodak Black has been commuted by Donald Trump in his last full day in office, according to Hollywood Reporter. Late on Tuesday, the outgoing American president granted 73 pardons and commuted the sentences for 70 other individuals. Pardon was also given to current Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez who had a conviction for conspiracy to distribute narcotics from the early '90s, and a commutation was given to Death Row Records co-founder Michael Harris, who was serving a prison sentence on drug-trafficking and murder charges.

"British musicians, dancers, actors and their support staff have been shamefully failed by their government" - the letter signed by over 100 UK musicians sent to their government said, after the official London confirmed it had turned down an EU offer that would have enabled frictionless touring. Sir Elton John, Liam Gallagher, Sir Simon Rattle, Sting, Brian May, Radiohead, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Roger Daltrey, Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis. and Nicola Benedetti are among 110 artists who have signed the open letter. Everyone on a European music tour will now need costly work permits for many countries they visit and a mountain of paperwork for their equipment, Sky reports.

Emerging artists are facing “massive competition” from classic acts such as Queen and the Beatles on streaming services - the UK MPs from Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee inquiry into the economics of music streaming have been told. Peter Leathem, the CEO of music copyright collective PPL, said that musicians at the start of their careers have “got the last 50 years of the music industry to compete with” on digital platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, BBC reports.

The Toronto singer/rapper has become the first artist ever to surpass 50 billion combined streams on Spotify, with his 2018 song ‘God’s Plan’ racking up 1.67 billion streams alone, NME reports. Drake has clocked up 35.72 billion streams of his own songs and 14.30 billion streams of “featured streams” (such as tracks he has guested on).

Pearl Jam have reportedly sent a cease and desist to tribute band Pearl Jamm, demanding the cover act destroy merchandise and hand over email addresses and web domains because, as the letter says - the tribute band’s name is “damaging the Pearl Jam brand and causing confusion” among fans. The tribute band was, is appears, surprised - “no one’s ever come to a show, got to the end of the show, came to us and demanded money back because they were expecting to see Pearl Jam play The Garage in Highbury,” one band member tells BBC. They sent their favorite band a letter telling them they have "broken our hearts" adding "It may have been easier, cheaper and more effective for one of you to reach out to us personally. We would have done that for you. But not like this. Your actions are out of character and unreasonable yet our love for the music endures". Blabbermouth tells the sad story.

TikTok skateboarder @420doggface208, who went viral last year with his Fleetwood Mac 'Dreams' video, is scheduled to appear as part of Joe Biden’s virtual inauguration parade later this week, TMZ reports. The American President-elect’s planning team reportedly tapped Nathan Apodaca “because they saw how his feel-good video uplifted the world this past fall during social unrest and pandemic anxiety”. Also, New Radicals will reunite after 22 years to perform at Joe Biden’s inaugural parade, Rolling Stone reports. The band will perform their signature hit 'You Get What You Give' to close the virtual Parade Across America on Wednesday, January 20th.

The outgoing American president Donald Trump issued an executive order to build a “Garden of American Heroes”, statues of 250 people spanning entertainment, sports, literature, and politics, CoS reports. Musicians include Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holliday, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Elvis, and Whitney Houston.

Primavera Sound held a clinical trial, with the help of experts, to see if a live music event held at an indoor venue with proper precautions but no social distancing guidelines could be safe from coronavirus transmission, NME reports. On December 12th in Barcelona, 463 individuals entered a concert hall featuring two DJ sets and two live bands. Attendees were between the ages of 18 and 59, they were all given a rapid Covid test and received a negative result within 15 minutes. They were each given a N95 mask, alcoholic drinks were served, the venue had optimized airflow and ventilation, and attendees were only allowed to remove their masks when drinking. There were however no social distance restrictions, and dancing and singing along were allowed. The event lasted five hours. Eight days later none of the group members tested positive to Covid.