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.

The current average per-stream rate for artists across Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer is around £0.004, but there are several streaming startups offering more generous propositions. Guardian presents three of them: pay-as-you-go platform SonStream charges listeners around 3.3p per play of a track, with 2.5p going directly to the rights holder; Berlin-based co-operative Resonate is pioneering a “stream-to-own” model - it charges listeners for the first nine plays of one song, the cost amounting to the average price of a download, and after that, users own the track and have unlimited plays; Audius in San Francisco is developing a system that allows artists to set a per-stream rate or monthly subscription - 10% would go to the Audius network, and the rights holder would keep the rest.

The Black Music Action Coalition teamed with the #breathewithme Revolution and several musicians to make a '17 Ways Black People Are Killed in America' urging Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to launch a United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) during the first 100 days of administration. It features Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, A$AP Ferg, Offset, Rapsody, Ty Dolla $ign, Vic Mensa, 070 Shake, Khalid, Asian Doll, Summer Walker, and others reading off names of police brutality victims and the unconscionable reasons they were killed, such as "Walking down the street, Elijah McClain", "Jogging, Ahmaud Arbery", "Sleeping in your car, Rayshard Brooks", "Accused of using a fake 20, George Floyd", and "Sleeping in your bed, Breonna Taylor". n similar news, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have shared the official playlist for their upcoming inauguration, which includes artists like Kendrick Lamar, MF DOOM, Tame Impala, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, SAULT, Mac Miller, Bob Marley, and A Tribe Called Quest.

Morgan Wallen’s 'Dangerous: The Double Album' debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the largest streaming week ever for a country album, Billboard reports. The 30-song album starts with 265,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 14, including 240.18 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs, the largest streaming week ever for a country album. Jazmine Sullivan hits a career-high on the Billboard 200 as 'Heaux Tales' bows at No. 4 with 43,000 equivalent album units earned.

Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer was arrested on Sunday (January 17th) after turning himself into authorities for his role in January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol building. According to the FBI, the veteran metal musician faces six charges, Loudwire reports.

John Grant's 'The Only Baby' is long, angry, and - awesome!; Kikagaku Moyo release a fun psychedelia song 'Elevation Jam' from their new live album; Ghetts gets help from Stormzy for his new groovy track 'Skengman'; rapper Dessa stands against "global powers who stand to profit by stoking our basest vanities and appetites" on 'Rome'; French actress Isabelle Adjani covered Elvis Costello's 'Revolution #49'.

BBC talked to Hockey, leader of the band Rap Against Dictatorship, who said they want to reform the monarchist system of their country. The monarchy says RAD are just too rude and vulgar. Hockey now faces prison for his songs.

The 'Killing in Thy Name' project is a RATM collaboration with a collective of international artists called The Ummah Chroma (“communities of color”), which seeks to be “a fire escape from the fiction known as whiteness and a spring for discovery". The better part of the 15-minute docu features footage of a teacher and some schoolchildren learning about the west’s dark history of slavery, manifest destiny, and the very concept of “whiteness” within the context of America, Loudwire reports. The film is spliced with quotes from members of the band, and their song 'Killing in the Name'.

It was the UK government's choice to end visa-free touring for musicians in the EU, officials in Brussels told the BBC. The EU says that it was London who "refused" a plan that would have let musicians tour without visas. "From last March, we made fairly ambitious proposals in terms of mobility, including for specific categories such as journalists, performers, musicians and others" - the EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said, but the UK didn't agree on it. Since Brexit, British musicians and crews may need extra work permits to play in certain European countries such as Germany and Spain.

US music producer Phil Spector - who transformed pop with his "wall of sound" recordings - has died at the age of 81, while serving a prison sentence for murder. Spector worked with the Beatles, the Righteous Brothers, Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Ike and Tina Turner, producing 20 top 40 hits between 1961 and 1965. In 2009, he was convicted of the 2003 murder of Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson. NPR has an interesting article about his life.

Nice-guys Foo Fighters share a song 'Waiting on a War' which Dave Grohl wrote for his daughter who "deserves a future"; German indie The Notwist announce their first new album in seven years with mighty electronica 'Al Sur' song featuring Argentinian Juana Molina; The Antlers' 'Solstice' is like a soft and warm pillow, a song about change; CARM announced his first album with a nice-y 'Song of Trouble' featuring Sufjan Stevens; Vince Staples and Pusha T shared their 'White Tiger' soundtrack contribution 'Jungle Mantra' which sounds... just what the title suggests; Jane Birkin is dramatic and charming on 'Les jeux interdits'; ASTRYD delves into "humanity reckoning with the outcome of its actions" on 'Blind Summit'.

Spotify, Pandora and Deezer are all using personalised systems to suggest playlists or tracks tailored to the user, so people using these service end up listening to - more of the same. Wired suggests how to break out of that loop. The simplest way is to actively seek out something new - a new genre, or something completely different, just to shake up the algorithm. Listening to playlists curated by individuals also helps, as well as content-based recommendations which are based on sound rather than other people’s listening habits.

MF Doom's various projects had 25 million on-demand streams after the news of his death on December 31 was released, and in the previous week his music had pulled in 2.6 million streams, making for an 870 percent increase, Billboard reports. Also, in that week, 5,000 MF Doom songs had been purchased for download, which was a 2,879 percent increase from the sales in the days prior. There is also news about the new Madvillainy, Doom's collaborative album with Madlib, as there are 11 finished songs from it.

Another great thing Bandcamp is doing - the streaming company is going to press vinyl runs for 10,000 different artists on their platform, as their director Ethan Diamond has announced. The company will also ship records, fulfill digital, and handle customer service, all while letting the artist choose their own design and set the price. And another thing - these vinyls will be financed by the fans who order them (vinyl batches start around $2,000 mark). So, Bandcamp is turning itself into a record label - they are the manufacturer, the distributor, and the logistics team - without taking any ownership of the records themselves.

"The beginning, near bankruptcy, pills, thrills, spats, prats, success, excess and breakdowns" - goes the synopsis of 'Creation Stories', the biopic about legendary UK indie label Creation Records, made by the 'Trainspotting' team of director Danny Boyle and writer Irvine Welsh. It is out in March, and the trailer is out now (watch it below). Ewan Bremner, who played Spud in the 'Trainspotting' films, stars as Creation's larger-than-life founder Alan McGee, who brought us My Bloody Valentine, Oasis, Primal Scream...

Sylvain Sylvain, songwriter and founding guitarist with punk icons the New York Dolls, has died aged 69 following a battle with cancer, Rolling Stone reports. The Dolls came together in 1971, preceding the punk and glam movements. with bands from Sex Pistols, to the Ramones, Guns N' Roses, the Damned, and the Smiths all said to take inspiration from the NY outfit. Following Sylvain’s death, just one member survives of the original lineup for their debut self-titled 1973 album, frontman David Johansen.

LNZNDRF share members of Beirut and National, and sound like none - on 'Brace Yourself' they take a turn toward synth-pop; yet another supergroup, SOM, shares members of Caspian, Junius, and Constants, plays post rock-meets-shoegaze on 'Awake // Sedate'; producer Bicep shares India-influenced, ambient and pretty 'Sundial'; singer-songwriter Ian Sweet shares her sweet new song 'Drink the Lake'; Hazing Over changed their lineup, name, and sound - to math-metal, on 'Jock'.

Pawn Stars shares a lovely story about a lady named Dani who walks in a Las Vegas pawn-shop with a flamboyant western suit that she believes ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons once owned. She wants $25,000 for it. She's in for a surprise.

Flashmobs performing protest routines accompanied by South African hit ‘Jerusalema’ has become the main medium in the fight against the destruction of Indian region of Goa. This UNESCO protected area is under threat of infrastructure expansion, and ‘Jerusalema’, a 2019 track by Master KG and Nocembo Zikode, has become the unofficial hymn of the ecology movement. Gal Dem shares a pretty story of good against the machine.

Online live concert database BandsInTown announced first-of-its-kind subscription service created to bring live streaming experiences to the homes of fans. Subscribers are entitled to perks like chat sessions with artists and access to footage of concerts highly sought-after on other platforms. For $9.99 per month fans get an “All Access Pass” to over 25 live shows per month. Fans can also take comfort in knowing their money will directly benefit the artists they love. An inaugural lineup featuring names like Flying Lotus, Toro y Moi, Little Dragon and more.

'The United States vs. Billie Holiday', a new film about the life of legendary singer, is coming to Hulu in February, and the trailer is out now (watch it below). It is directed by Lee Daniels, stars R&B singer Andra Day in the titular role, and it “unapologetically presents the icon’s complicated, irrepressible life”. Screenplay is written by Suzan-Lori Parks.