Avril Lavigne has canceled her Asian tour due to coronavirus fears - it was set to begin on April 23, and it would have included stops in China, Japan, Philippines and Taiwan. Canadian rock group Wolf Parade canceled their European and U.K. dates, Billboard reports. Ultra Abu Dhabi has also been canceled in the shadow of coronavirus. According to EDM Tunes, many other events in the UAE are revising their outlooks. Thousands of people have signed a petition to have SXSW canceled, but the organizers of Austin-Texas hipster-fest said the show will go on. The Outline has a message for them: "The organizers of SXSW have a chance to be double heroes: not only could they possibly save lives by canceling their event, but they could save us all the inanity of hearing about it".

Quem Manda No Mic' by Angolan-Portuguese singer/rapper Pongo is an unusual ordinary song, the pop music's sweet spot; Shabazz Palaces released 'Fast Learner (ft. Purple Tape Nate)', their first new song in several years; Aalok Bala in an Andean artist who grew up in Queens but moved to LA five years ago, and it all can be heard on 'Sueño'; 'Rascal' by RMR is the strangest song this week where country meets trap, the video is even stranger; Jarvis Cocker's new band JARV IS... announced their debut album with a funky single 'House Music All Night Long'; Sex Swing delivered a sax-psych-noise song with 'Valentine's Day At The Gym'; Moaning have a simple song and a simple video - 'Make It Stop'; Etapp Kyle delivered a clockwork postcard from Ukraine with 'Nolove'; Kenny O'Brien made a lovely cover of The Waterboys' 'The Whole of the Moon'; Huntsmen have basically made a 21st century 'Planet Caravan' with 'God Will Stop Trying'.

"Heavy metal Mardi Gras" was held yesterday in Perth - Canning Highway in west Australia city was closed to all vehicles except eight trucks that hosted eight different bands all singing their own version of AC/DC songs to commemorate the death of AC/DC frontman and Perth lad Bon Scott’s funeral 40 years ago. ABC reports that an estimated 150,000 people lined the route between Applecross and Fremantle waiting for the world’s longest stage, and before the AC/DC convoy began its journey, an air guitar world record was set when more than 3500 people rocked out to 'Highway To Hell', Louder reports. The Highway to Hell concept was big and weird and it was a gamble but it paid off massively and is something we can proudly write in history books - WA today writes.

Public Enemy have parted ways with their charismatic MC Flavor Flav, after more than 35 years, Rolling Stone reports. The dismissal came two days after the rapper sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bernie Sanders' campaign after his bandmates said they'd appear at one of his rallies in Los Angeles. Frontman Chuck D suggested on Twitter the disagreement over Sanders' rally was financially, not politically, motivated - "i there was a $bag, Flav would've been there front & centre. He will NOT do free benefit shows". Flavor Flav's cease-and-desist letter accused the campaign of using his "unauthorised likeness, image and trademarked clock in promotional materials" for a Los Angeles rally, even though the rapper "has not endorsed any political candidate". Public Enemy later performed at Sanders' LA rally, under the Public Enemy Radio banner - featuring Chuck D, DJ Lord, Jahi and the S1Ws.

Korean boy band BTS have debuted on top of Billboard 200 chart, with their newest album 'Map of the Soul: 7' sold in 422,000 equivalent units (347,000 actual purchases, and 75 million streams). It is their fourth No. 1 album in the U.S., the biggest debut of 2020, and BTS' third No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in less than 12 months, which is a feat that had last been managed by The Beatles over half a century before. Back on the new Billboard 200, rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again bows at No. 2 with 'Still Flexin, Still Steppin', which steps in with 91,000 equivalent album units, and Ozzy Osbourne’s 'Ordinary Man' debuts at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 77,000 equivalent album units.

Los Angeles-based startup Stem Disintermedia Inc., launched last week, is offering musicians money they can use to go on tour, record new songs or market their work - without demanding ownership. According to Bloomberg, Stem has created a flat-fee service called Scale that offers financing in the form of a revolving credit line and plans to lend more than $100 million in advances to artists and independent labels. Fees range from 5% to 25%, and Stem also collects a cut when artists use its platform to distribute their music. Stem is backed by the likes of Mark Cuban and Scooter Braun, with clients Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Usher, Forbes reports.

Perth festival 2020 is closing on Sunday (March 1) with Highway To Hell - a celebration of AC/DC's Ben Scott, who died 40 years ago, with the longest stage in the world. Perth will close a 10 km stretch of Canning Highway (path Scott took when he was going from his home to practice) with two lanes for eight flat-bed trucks with dozens of performers on the trucks, the other two lanes for the public. According to Perth Now, a crowd of 100,000 people are expected to attend the Highway to Hell, but it'll actually be a musical paradise!

Rammstein have posted an intense timelapse video of their tour crew outfitting a stadium in Dresden, Germany. The entire process is highly coordinated, taking place over the span of seven days and with the help of multiple 18-wheelers and over 400 crew members carting in flooring, lights, decorative stage elements, and sound equipment. It takes 60 hours to set up the stage, and the Rammstein concert lasts 90 minutes or so.

The Macrostylis metallicola is a worm-like creature that lives in the Clarion Clipperton Zone off the coast of Hawaii, at depths where the pressure is 400 times greater than that of the earth’s atmosphere. According to doctors Torben Riehl and Bart De Smet, who discovered the new creature, named it after the band due to specific details of their habitat, and Metallica is one of Riehl's favourite bands, the Phys reports.

London rapper Jelani Blackman lives the usual life, judging by the lyric "I just eat, work, and then I swerve" from his new song 'Swerve'; avantgarde Mexican musician Nnux is both experimental and enjoyable in her new video 'Piezas'; Lady Gaga unveiled her first solo single in three years, disco-pop 'Stupid Love', with a Slipknot-meets-Klingon-meets-Avatar video; Jessie Ware has shared a disco-banger 'Spotlight' with a video set in Belgrade aboard the Blue Train, the private transport of former Yugoslavian leader Tito; some good country by Steve Earle & the Dukes about one of the worst mining disasters in American history in 'Devil Put The Coal In The Ground'; Gorillaz go Afropop in 'Désolé' ("sorry") featuring Malian star Fatoumata Diawara on vocals; Lovelorn combine goth and synth-pop in 'Around You'; Azusa is comprised by members of Dillinger Escape Plan, Extol, Sea + Air, and, as if that wasn't enough, they have Testament’s Alex Skolnick on guitar solo on 'Detach'; Stephen Malkmus has shared 'Shadowbanned', a psych-folk jam featuring Kim Gordon, Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Conor Oberst in video.

Heavy metal fans are the mostly likely of any genre to have had a sexual experience in a car, according to a survey by TickPick about music habits while in automobiles. 75 percent of heavy metal listeners have experienced a sexual encounter in a vehicle, as opposed to 65 percent of all respondents, and ahead of fans of oldies music, hip-hop, rap and R&B/soul. Music of choice for car-sex - R&B and soul in over 27 percent of the time, metal 12.6 percent.

Green Day have postponed their scheduled tour of Asia, which was due to kick early next month, amid fears of coronavirus, Billboard reports. BTS canceled several shows in their native South Korea due to the alarming spread of coronavirus, while New Order announced they’d put their upcoming shows in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan “on hold” for the time being.

Many DJ are acutely aware of the mental and physical risks of the typical "DJ lifestyle", Mix Magazine says in an interesting article about a change in nightclubs post-Avicii. With a new and welcome transparency around artists’ mental health and addiction, DJs feel more at ease to make a big change. The other big thing is that much of the club scene has changed, in many cases becoming less a place of expression than of consumption: a circuit for DJs and artists, where the emphasis on ever-grander spectacle and production can alienate not only the crowd but the DJs from the music, eating away at the idea of the club as a place of subculture and resistance.

RZA has released 'Guided Explorations', a five-track EP that is meant to be listened to in a “chill environment”, preferably while drinking some TAZO Tea. RZA goes deep on the scourge of distraction and poisonous thoughts, explaining how “competitive pressure can stagnate you”. As the record continues, he spools out kernels of self-help advice over ambient soundscapes and light beats.

The Strokes' drummer Fabrizio Moretti is also an artist. He shared some interesting thoughts to Consequence of Sound about how he sees arts and consuming of it: "There’s a difference between being an artist and actually fucking putting in the work”; “When you start crafting, you see that the work influences the rest of the work because of the sheer fact that you need to do well. I’m always working on two songs at the same time because if I don’t, I obsess on the details of one, and it fucks up"; "You go and you see a piece of art; you’re looking at it outside of you. When you listen to a song, the singer’s voice is being put together in your own head. The effort that you as the listener has is part of the artwork in a sense”.

Jay-Z has filed a civil lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections on behalf of 152 inmates at a state prison, alleging “abhorrent conditions, abuse and constant violence, inadequate health care and mental health care, and overuse of isolation", CNN reports. It is the second lawsuit brought against the prison by Jay-Z - he filed a suit, in tandem with Ya Gotti, on behalf of 29 other inmates in January. Jay-Z has frequently involved himself in African American civil rights cases using his philanthropy arm Team Roc.

St. Vincent has confirmed that she has a new clothing line STV.OV on the way. She provided a phone number for fans to call to receive “more information”. In a new Tweet, Annie Clark confirmed that she’s collaborated with Outdoor Voices on a new sporting collection.

Loudwire is an authority on metal issues, so let's take this for granted - their argument is "dumbest=best". So, here they are (some of the selected): Killitorous - Canadians playing death-metal, have an album titled 'Married with Children'; iwrestledabearonce - metalcore band with a song titled 'Tastes Like Kevin Bacon'; We Butter the Bread With Butter - German deathcore; Destiny Potato - pop-metal...

Bandcamp Daily has an interesting article about an experiment in giving African bands a more direct income stream and empowering them in the worldwide monetization of their own art. It's a work of Sahel Sounds label , which has been documenting the music of the Southern Sahara Desert for a decade, which released its 60th record two weeks ago on a new principle. Label's head Chris Kirkley invited musicians from southern Sahara to record a short session using a cell phone, dispatch the results through WhatsApp, and let him sell it online on a pay-what-you-will basis for a month before replacing it with the next batch. All profits would be wired directly to the band.

"We take the ugliest parts of the world and make them beautiful" - the free-jazz/hip-hop band Irreversible Entanglements say about their new song 'Who Sent You'; Ash Koosha has released a cool new video for his meditative and intense track ‘Dive’, Perfume Genius is back with "music to both fight and make love to" with 'Describe'; R.A.P. Ferreira goes into trippy, jazzy territory in 'Leaving Hell'; Nordic dark folk band Wardruna combine modern and traditional on 'Gra'; Body Count go political again on 'Bum-Rush'; P.E. mix post-punk and electronica on 'Pink Shiver'; Welsh producer and vocalist Kelly Lee Owens samples the sounds of glacial ice melting on ‘Melt!’ to impressive effect; similarly, Field Works turns the echolocations of endangered bats into ambient on 'Ultrasonic'; singer/producer Velvet Negroni released a hard-hitting, psychedelic R&B song 'Bagette'; 'Crunch' is a noisy indie rock song by Jordana; It Only Ends Once is an interesting blend of screamo, black metal, and post-rock; Injury Reserve continue their avant-rap path with 'Hoodwinked'; Dirty Projectors described their new song 'Overlord' as "Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’ for an Amazon Prime world”; White Stones go in psychedelic prog-death metal direction on 'Drowned In Time'; XL Recordings co-founder Richard Russell released a Ghostface Killah collaboration '03:15AM/Caviar'; Elder present their concept album about the lifespan of a civilization with 'Embers'; Disclosure go to the dancefloor with 'Tondo'; 'Sandwiches' by Gordi is a usual-sounding song, but there's a special kind of wormth to it; Methyl Ethel go into sympho-indie territory with 'Majestic AF'; The Magnetic Fields don't need much explaining with a song titled 'The Day the Politicians Died'.

The U.S. recorded music business generated $11.1 billion in revenue in 2019, a 13% year-over-year increase from the $9.8 billion it reached in 2018, and the fourth straight year of double-digit growth for the sector. Streaming revenue grew 19.9% year-over-year to $8.8 billion from 2018's $7.4 billion, accounting for 79.5% of all revenue. On the other side, digital download sales revenue dipped below the $1 billion mark, falling 18% year-over-year to $856 million, CD sales fell 12% to $615 million in 2019, but vinyl rose a whopping 19% year-over-year to $504 million, the format's highest revenues in 32 years and its 14th straight year of growth.

Eminem managed to outpace himself in his new song 'Godzilla' to deliver what may be his fastest rap verse to date - his speed run through the end of his third verse on 'Godzilla' clocks in at around 31 seconds, during which he raps 224 words containing 330 total syllables. This comes in at 10.65 syllables per second and 7.23 words per second. Yesterday, he called his loyal followers to partake in the #GodzillaChallenge, rapping that third verse as fast as they can. They were quick to hop on the trend, and they nailed the rapid-fire challenge

Spain’s Constitutional Court overturned a previous verdict by the country's Supreme Court that found rapper César Strawberry guilty of exalting terrorism and humiliating victims of attacks in tweets. César Montana Lehmann of the Def Con Dos rock band had been sentenced to one year in prison for a series of tweets in 2013 and 2014 in which he talked about sending a cake bomb to former King Juan Carlos I on his birthday and said that some politicians made him long for a former armed leftist group. César was also banned from holding any public position for more than six years. The Constitutional Court said Tuesday that the guilty ruling violated the singer’s free speech rights.

One of the biggest annual K-pop concerts in the U.S., The Korea Times Music Festival scheduled for April 25 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles has been postponed due to fears over coronavirus, CBS LA reports. The annual musical festival, which is in its 18th year, had already announced the likes of K-pop girl group MOMOLAND, solo singer and former Wanna One member Ha Sungwoon and rock band No Brain. Coronavirus also led to cancellation of the Korean Music Awards and Stormzy has postponed tour dates in Asia, as NME reported.

David Roback, producer and Mazzy Star co-founder, has died aged 61. Roback co-founded the seminal West Coast band Mazzy Star alongside Hope Sandoval in 1989. The alt-rock group unveiled their debut album, 'She Hangs Brightly', in 1990, before going on to release three more records and two EPs. Mazzy Star’s best-known song, 'Fade Into You', was produced and co-written by Roback. A key figure in the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene of neo-psychedelia in the 1980s, Roback also played in bands such as Rain Parade and Opal. LA Times wrote a lovely obituary for their fellow Californian.

New technologies have made planning and booking a tour easier than ever, as well made it quite simple for fans to find out about tours. Latest edition of radio & podcast show The Future of What was about these new technologies: BandsInTown - a website listing shows; RoadNation - a platform where band can generate revenue in advance of their tour, and identify where to play by giving fans the power to choose the cities; Parlour Gigs - brings artists fo their fans' homes; Show4Me - allows fans to interact with artists in a sort of social media fan club.

The popular YouTube stream "lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to", the constant live stream starring an anime girl doing her homework, was banned from YouTube over the weekend without explanation but in the meantime, the channel was restored and the chill beats returned in a brand new stream. YouTube issued an apology - "Our teams confirmed that this was a mistake on our side and your channel has now been reinstated". According to The Verge, the original "lofi" stream amassed over 218 million views, and ran for over 13,000 hours, making it one of the longest videos in YouTube history.

Concert promoter and ticketing company Live Nation shares fell 8% on Monday, over fears the coronavirus is not contained, Billboard reports. Ryman Hospitality - the owner of Grand Ole Opry and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium - was down 5.8%. The Madison Square Garden Company fell by 2.4%.

DJ and producer Andrew Weatherall, who unexpectedly died last week, has a new 12'' released under his name - 'Unknown Plunderer' is chill and danceable, with deep bass, a cool guitar riff, and a distinct dub sound. The b-side, 'End Times Sound', is even dubbier with more guitar and echoey melodica. Two remixes and more electronic and clubby.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse are planning a tour in support of their latest album 'Colorado', so they started booking some "barns". As they explain on the Neil Young Archives website - "many of the old places we used to play are gone now, replaced by new coliseums we have to book year in advance and we don’t want to go to anyway". Apart from that, "largely soulless, these new buildings cost a fortune to play in... We don’t like the new rules. So we asked for the old arenas where we used to play, and we learned [that a huge amount of them are demolished, but many are also still standing]. Among those on their list of arenas still standing: MSG, Forum, Nassau Coliseum, Long Beach Arena, Cow Palace, Chicago Arena, Nashville Municipal Auditorium".