The world's most valuable 7in single, 'Do I Love You', by Frank Wilson, has been bought by 38-year-old Lee Jeffries for an undisclosed sum, but it went for more than it did when it was last sold, 11 years ago. In 2009 the disc with "the most famous northern soul record" fetched a record-breaking £25,742. It was, and remains, the most expensive seven inch 45rpm labeled record ever sold.
Addis Ababa-based electronic musician Endeguena Mulu records music as Ethiopian Records, mixing Ethiopia's jazz scene of the 1960s and ’70s and modern sampling techniques. He is the latest guest of Fact's Against the Clock - in 10 minutes he delved into his own self-recorded sample library nad built a track using Ableton Live and MIDI controllers.
Grammy award-winning music producer Detail was arrested on 15 counts of sexual assault and five counts of felony assault, Entertainment Weekly reports. Detail is being investigating for alleged assaults that occurred between 2010 and 2018. This is not a first legal move against him. Last year, a model and aspiring singer was awarded $15m in a Los Angeles lawsuit that accused the producer of abusing and raping her. Singer Jesse Reyez accused the producer in 2018 of inappropriate advances. Pop singers Tinashe and Bebe Rexha alluded to having their own uncomfortable recording sessions with Fisher. Detail is being held on nearly $6.3m bail. The 41-year-old producer, real name Noel Christopher Fisher, is known for producing hits for R&B and hip-hop acts such as Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, the Pussycat Dolls, Lady Gaga, T-Pain, Jennifer Lopez and Wiz Khalifa.
Virtual music events have to offer things that other types of entertainment can’t - Music x Tech x Future says, suggesting 8 ways to make live-streams different and better (The Streets went in that directions, NME says it was great):
Lying around a (virtual) venue or invisibly teleporting on to the stage to see what the artists are doing
Make events interactive among fans
Make 'em in a virtual environment
Real direct interaction between the artist and the fan
Create social meaning by bringing scenes and communities together online
Watching a show online with faraway friends will make them feel closer while being unable to travel
Artists should find a role to play for the viewer
Fear Of Missing Out is powerful - artists should think of something different each time
Instagram has launched Reels in over 50 countries, and it allows users to record, edit, share and discover videos of up to 15 seconds, backed with audio and music including millions of songs licensed from music companies, TechCrunch reports. Instagram Reels will complement the app’s other video features, which comprise Stories (copied from Snapchat), Live and IGTV for longer-form content. Today, TikTok threatened legal action against an executive order issued by American President Donald Trump that would ban the Chinese social media app from doing business with U.S. firms, TechCrunch reports.
The long-running Eurovision Song Contest is now getting its own U.S. version called American Song Contest, starting in 2021, with musical acts coming from all 50 states trying to win. It is being spearheaded by the Eurovision rights owners who say the American version "will be different than anything seen before on U.S. television, marrying the fanfare and excitement of March Madness and the NFL playoffs with the artistry and beauty of world-class performances", Exclaim reports. In Eurovision nothing is too much, it is safe to say that in "Ameri-vision" there will probably be even more of "too much".
Variety reports on interesting statistics published by Live Nation about fans and rescheduled concerts. Live Nation says that 86% of fans have chosen to hold onto their tickets for rescheduled shows instead of asking for refunds, “indicating a strong desire to attend concerts in the future”. The number of fans throwing their tickets for festivals into the following year is also big, at about two-thirds. There's more - tickets for next summer festivals in Europe have already gone on sale, and 19 million tickets have been sold.
Vern Rumsey, who played bass in the very influential '90s/early 2000s post-hardcore noise-rock band Unwound, has died aged 47, Consequence of Sound reports. Unwound made eight albums over 10 years, including their classic 2001 swan song 'Leaves Turn Inside You'. Rumsey also played in Fitz of Depression, Witchypoo, Long Hind Legs, and other groups over the years, and he played bass on Blonde Redhead's album 'Fake Can Be Just as Good'. Rumsey also ran his label, Punk In My Vitamins? Records. Thursday, Speedy Ortiz, Cave In, and other artists pay tribute to Rumsey.
Nick Cave has launched a Cave Things webshop where he is selling - porn wallpaper. It's naked ladies, quite simple drawings, with strategic parts - fully exposed. Next to that one, he is selling plenty of other "Cave things" - “an over-priced plectrum” i.e. a guitar pick with Warren Ellis’ face on it, a red right hand necklace charm, pencils, “motivational T-shirt No. 1″ which has a quote from Nick Cave’s mom, apparently, stating “Head High And Fuck ‘Em All”.
Blondie Hit songwriting duo Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, as well as pop singer and author Barry Manilow have sold their future royalties to a fast-growing investment fund Hipgnosis, Rolling Stone reports. That means their income from 197 Blondie songs, including 'Heart of Glass' and 'Rapture', as well from 917 Manilow's songs, including 'Mandy', 'I Write the Songs' and 'Copacabana (At the Copa)', now goes to the Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Founded by music industry veteran Merck Mercuriadis, the fund allows investors to see an income from music royalties. Hipgnosis has spent over $1 billion in song acquisitions since 2018, picking up catalogs from artists, songwriters and producers and amassing a collection of hits from the likes of Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, star producer Mark Ronson and Blink-182 co-founder Tom Delonge.
White label company Maestro’ is partnering with Tim McGraw for paid concert experience, with tickets selling for $15. Livestreams usually draw in 0.5% to 2% of an artist’s Instagram following. By that estimate, McGraw, with 2.7 million followers, could’ve netted $200,000 to $800,000 (he grosses $916,000 per show on physical tours). Melissa Etheridge is currently streaming five days a week, charging $10 for individual tickets or $50 for a monthly subscription. She’s made over $32,000 by now. BTS drew in 750,000 fans who paid $26 to $35 making in between $19 million and $26 million, just in ticket sales. Rolling Stone has the story on livestreams of the near future that will be better, but fans will also have to pay for them...
Neil Young filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Donald Trump's campaign for playing his songs at campaign rallies. The complaint filed in New York federal court states that "Plaintiff in good conscience cannot allow his music to be used as a 'theme song' for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate". Young alleges that Trump's campaign lacks a license to publicly perform 'Rockin' in the Free World' and 'Devil's Sidewalk'.
Original Machine Head drummer Tony Costanza has died at the age of 52, Blabbermouth reports. Costanza joined Machine Head in 1992 and sat behind the kit for the band's first three shows, being replaced by Chris Kontos. Also, Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn said that "a big chunk" of the band's classic debut album, 'Burn My Eyes', was written with Costanza.
Snapchat has licensed rights from major labels and publishers, which lets customers add music to their posts within Snapchat, creating a way for young people to share songs with friends and a new promotional tool for the music industry, Bloomberg reports. The company has secured the rights to music from several major music companies, including Warner Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group and Merlin.
"At its best, being a stan means you’re part of a wonderful community united by a shared love. At its worst, stan culture is a toxic, vindictive swamp where fans are encouraged to outdo each other with performative displays of devotion to their chosen hero" - Junkee says in an introduction to their article about abuse journalists and music stars endure, with the aim of starting a conversation to clear things up. Soon after the 1D article, some Taylor Swift published Pitchfork editor's address and phone number after a positive review of her album (8.0, which the P doesn't give so easily), The Daily Beast reports.The project started after Junkee published a light-hearted look at the One Direction boys’ respective solo careers which caused a flood of abuse and threats.
Taylor Swift's lockdown album 'Folklore' reached the No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with 846,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the last week, the biggest week for any album since Swift’s last release, 2019’s 'Lover'. 'Folklore' earns Swift her seventh No. 1 album. At No. 2, Logic’s 'No Pressure' launches with 221,000 equivalent album units earned. The Kid LAROI makes his Billboard 200 debut with 'F*ck Love' at No. 8, which launches with 40,000 equivalent album units earned. The album is the 16-year-old rapper’s first full-length mixtape; it includes a guest turn from LAROI’s mentor, the late Juice WRLD.
Taylor Swift’s new album ‘Folklore’ has reached Number 1 in the UK album charts with 37,060 copies sold in its first week in the UK, the Chart reports. Swift has become the first female artist to score five UK Number 1 studio albums in the 21st century.
Last weekend's Tomorrowland livestream was a smash hit unlike anything ever done before, revolutionising the digital festival space, the 3D technology along with the DJ performances made for something truly unforgettable, We Rave You writes about the Belgium dance music fest. Over a massive one million people bought tickets, for each DJ to record their set they were placed in a studio behind a green screen and managed to perform just like they would to a real crowd, to get all of the different angles up to 38 cameras were used. The cream at the top was the new formula for compensating artists - based on ticket sales and views of their individual sets. Bigger artists got a flat fee as well, Billboard reports (behind a paywall).
Everybody's washing their hands now more than ever, including metalheads, so etsy shop Corpse Paint Soaps made bar soaps designed in the likeness of various face-painted metal musicians, Brooklyn Vegan reports. There's King Diamond, Abbath, Dead and Euronymous of Mayhem, Seregor of Carach Angren, former Gorgoroth bassist King ov Hell, and Dani Filth of Cradle of Filth. Scent-wise, the soaps don't smell of mosh-pits or men-sweat, rather the soaps run the gamut, with notes of bergamot, rosemary, ginger, pine, eucalyptus, cedarwood, and, in the case of Dani Filth, parma violets, as requested by Filth.
The Weeknd will perform next week on TikTok in an interactive livestream concert, People reports. The Weeknd Experience will feature the singer as a digital avatar, in an augmented-reality gig created especially for the platform. The unique show, scheduled to take place on August 7th, will mark TikTok's first such concert and will feature 3D graphics and picture-in-picture video. Viewers will also be encouraged to support the campaign to fight racial inequality by donating to the Equal Justice Initiative during the broadcast, with TikTok bosses agreeing to match funds "up to a generous amount".
Black Pumas released a version of 'Confines' performed with a string quartet; Billie Eilish released her new song 'My Future', a bluesy pop with a very studio Ghibli video; Mastodon's dramatic 'Fallen Torches' features Scott Kelly of Neurosis; Jorja Smith shared an instant soul classic 'By Any Means'; Toni Cornell, daughter of Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, did a lovely thing covering 'Black' by Pearl Jam; Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan shared 'Roach Hiss', a noise-metal song featuring Converge drummer Ben Koller; pop folk singer Matt Berry announced his new album with single 'Take a Bow'; Jyoti dropped a warm jazz-soul hybrid 'Mama, You Can Bet'.
Folk rocker Frank Turner played to a socially-distanced audience at London's Clapham Grand, in a trial gig for the return of live music, but it "did not succeed" in providing a blueprint for the industry, according to the BBC. Only 200 people attended, compared to the venue's normal capacity of 1,250, which meant that the show did not make enough money to cover the venue's operating costs, even before the performer's fee was taken into account.
There are around 40,000 songs added to Spotify each day, so most of the music uploaded there and other streaming services every day sinks without a trace - Rolling Stone says in a great article about new artists trying to reach out to the audience. There is a way to reach them, in certain numbers, for money - for $250 an artist will be placed on playlists with a total of 50,000 followers, while $4,000 promises a playlist reach of one million, and around half a million streams.
Pitchfork presents Portuguese disco label Príncipe Discos, run by four white guys releasing music made mostly by Portuguese-born descendants of countries on Africa’s west coast. This constellation reflects in the music with "musical rhythms of the African diaspora" like kuduro, kizomba, tarraxinha on one side, and club sounds on the other. The label began its life with 2013's 'Eu Sei Quem Sou' by DJ Marfox and the latest release was this year's 'Hard' by Nídia.
Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga have been nominated in five categories each for this year's MTV Video Music Awards. In the Video of the Year category the nominees are: Eminem featuring Juice WRLD in 'Godzilla', Future featuring Drake in 'Life Is Good', Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande in 'Rain on Me', Taylor Swift with 'The Man', and The Weeknd with 'Blinding Lights'. There are also two new 2020 categories to reflect the pandemic - Best Music Video From Home and Best Quarantine Performance, MTV reports. There is a first: three women are nominated for best direction - Taylor Swift for 'The Man', Billie Eilish for 'xanny' and Hannah Lux Davis for Doja Cat’s 'Say So', which is the first time that three women, without help from a male co-director, have been nominated in this category in the same year.
“We write songs that clearly stand against the government. They are eating up the country like pure parasites. It's depressing, cruel, oppressive and the leaders sitting above and controlling are big time scumbags” - Amir Hazarika, vocalist for Eyes of the Martyr, a progressive metal band from Guwahati, told in an i-D interview. Inspired by award-winning new documentary Extreme Nation, about the metal music scenes of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, i-D presents some bands: Mumbai thrashers Sabotage, death/black metal quintet Aempyrean, Indian folk metal Bloodywood, metalcore band DemigoD...
Members of the Locust, Slipknot, GWAR, Clinic, and the Residents have shared tips with Spin about getting around with masks in daily life. First advice: make it comfortable; general advice: you’re talking about a few moments of discomfort against the possibility of being dead, it sells itself.
Pitchfork has made a selection of 12 of their favourite video game music since 2000. The list includes music by Pete Rock, Bad Religion, Frederic Chopin, Jerry Martin, Lena Raine and more, from video games such as 'GTA', 'The Sims', 'Animal Crossing', 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'...
In the last quarter, Spotify hit a high of 299 million monthly active users, up 67 million from last year, 138 million of whom are paying subscribers via Spotify’s premium tier, CNBC reports. Users’ overall podcast consumption has more than doubled, and one-fifth of monthly active users are listening to podcasts. But the company proceeded to report a 21% year-over-year loss in advertising revenue, as well as a 9% year-over-year drop in its premium monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) — and overall in Q2 2020, the company posted a loss of €356 million. Spotify has been consistently hitting new growth milestones while suffering large losses for years. Apart from announcing the business facts, Spotify has expanded their latest feature The Group Session, to allow multiple people to listen to, and control, the same playlist in real time, while being physically apart. It allows up to five people.
Malik B, the rapper who was a co-founding member of the Roots and appeared on their first four LPs, has died at the age of 47. The Roots’ Questlove and Black Thought said in a statement - “May he be remembered for his devotion to Islam, his loving brotherhood, and his innovation as one of the most gifted MCs of all time". Malik B. was the co-founding member of the band, he left the Roots at the turn of the millennium, due to drug issues, but he continued to make guest appearances on the group’s albums. Black Thought shared his warmhearted sentiment: “Your steel sharpened my steel as I watched you create cadences from the ether and set them free into the universe to become poetic law, making the English language your b****. I always wanted to change you, to somehow sophisticate your outlook and make you see that there were far more options than the streets, only to realize that you and the streets were one... and there was no way to separate a man from his true self”.
