African-Australian rapper Sampa the Great released her new video 'Time’s Up', a short song that deals with the way the music industry seeks to exploit Black art without supporting Black artists - “I seen the industry scheme / and it’s a killer”, Sampa says. Directed by Sampa’s longtime collaborator Sanjay De Silva, it culminates with a sequence that features "an impeccably well-timed usage" of the ARIA Award that Sampa won last year.

"'Wooden Cave' -- easily one of the best, if not the best album of this horrifying year so far -- does what so many of the best albums do. It creates a unique artistic statement that's a pleasure to hear from start to finish but includes plenty of ugly truths and harsh realities" - PopMatters says in its rave review of singer-songwriter Thin Lear's new album (9 of 10 stars).

Normal live gigs won't be back any time soon, but there's potential in live-streaming shows, as the New York Times points out. Management company 11E1even Group began organizing Live from Out There, a recurring virtual festival. Using multiple paid ticketing and subscription options, the festival, which ran across 10 weekends between mid-March and early June, grossed more than $700,000, with some musicians making more money than they might’ve on tour. One artist made close to $25,000 on Topeka, a company that charges fans for bespoke mini-concerts, putting in about 10 hours a week for six weeks in April and May. Digital ticketing company DICE (worked on Laura Marling's successful online show) is working on software that will enable friends to buy tickets to a live-stream together and have their own private chat room at the show...

Tim Smith, frontman with cult British band Cardiacs, has died aged 59, after 12 years of health issues following a heart attack, Louder reports. Smith formed an early version of Cardiacs in 1977 with his brother Jim, called the Filth, who soon changed their name to Cardiac Arrest. They released eight studio albums between 1980 and 1999. The band’s complex songcraft drew equally from punk and prog – often thought by many fans of each style to be mutually exclusive – and delivered surreal, theatrical performances, Guardian writes.

Movie-lovers from Paris were treated to a floating cinema last Saturday as part of Paris Plages, the yearly transformation of sections of the Seine into man-made beaches, CoS reports. Parisians boarded 38 electric boats for a free showing of the 2018 French comedy 'Le Grand Bain'. A similar idea is crossing the Atlantic - starting this September, Beyond Cinema will launch 12 to 24 mini boats in 19 US and Canada cities. Movies will be projected on a large screen outdoors near the water, and patrons can pay to watch the film in comfort from one of the floating vessels. Prior to the COVID era, similar events were held in Australia. Is it time for this concept to cross over to live-music territory?

California garage rock label Burger Records has at first announced "major structural changes" following accusations of sexual misconduct associated with artists and employees at the label, Brooklyn Vegan reported, but it seems the label is completely shutting down. Label co-founder and president Lee Rickard was stepping down, co-founder Sean Bohrman moving "into a transitional role", and the label itself has also announced it's changing its name to BRGR. Jessa Zapor-Gray was to assume the role of interim label president. Total Trash Productions, who produce Burger Boogaloo festival, have issued a statement saying they have severed ties with Burger Records and will be changing the name of the festival. However, as Pitchfork reports, Bohrman announced that the label will instead shut down completely.

Fans of Britney Spears say they will protest outside a Los Angeles court demanding she be awarded control over her business and personal affairs, the Blast reports. Her career has been in the hands of legal guardians known as a conservatorship since she faced mental health issues in 2008. Her father Jamie Spears stepped down as her conservator last September. A judge appointed Spears' "care manager", Jodi Montgomery, as his replacement, and she will remain Spears' conservator until 22 August, when the conservatorship is up for extension again. Some of Spears' fans believe she was forced into the arrangement and claim she has been pleading for help on social media. Britney Spears started her show business trip aged 11 in 1992 when she was cast in 'The Mickey Mouse Club'.

Norwegian pop singer Annie has shared drum'n'bass-y club banger 'The Bomb'; Open Mike Eagle says he made 'Neighborhood Protection Spell (Lana Del Biden Nem)' as a "spell to ward off subtle social attacks at Blackness”; LCD Soundsystem’s Tyler Pope built his new EP around a single drum pattern, restricting his hardware to one drum machine and one keyboard as a means of finding inspiration from limitations, 'Nur weil ich kann' is an example of that; Tobi is a Gogol Bordello and Dälek collaborator, with her 'Can't Control Me' going more to the clubby side; even Rolling Stones have a new song - bluesy-rock 'Scarlet' features Jimmy Page and late bass great Rick Grech, it was recorded in 1974 as Led Zeppelin were leaving the same studio; Avalanches have released two new songs - 'Wherever You Go' with contributions by Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry, Mick Jones of The Clash, and CLYPSO, while 'Reflecting Light' includes a cameo from Sananda Maitreya and a Vashti Bunyan sample.

"Women have long been overlooked for their artistry in the industry and their historical contributions to the scene have been ignored... There is regular vilification of hip-hop models and influencers, with biased assumptions that these women are destructive. Rather than esteeming these women as established moguls in their own right, they’re often only valued for their physical appearances and for mothering the children of rappers" - Gal-Dem says in an essay about women in hip-hop, concluding that "women have been the forerunners of hip-hop culture in terms of marketability, but the sexism in hip-hop has long overstayed its welcome. While the complexity of being a woman in hip-hop is evident, they deserve to be nurtured and valued in the industry. It’s the only way to dismantle the misogynistic standards that still pervade".

Joan Baez is this year’s recipient of the Woody Guthrie Prize, in recognition of her "groundbreaking career and impact on humanitarian causes", as she "has consistently been on the front lines in the fight for social justice, peace, and equality”, Chicago Sun-Times reports. The prize was established in 2014 and is given each year to an artist who best exemplifies the spirit and life work of Woody Guthrie by speaking for the less fortunate and serving as a positive force for social change - past recipients include John Mellencamp, Kris Kristofferson, Mavis Staples, Pete Seeger, and last year's winner, Public Enemy's Chuck D.

"Its two-hour runtime pales as news in comparison to just how much savage intensity Paysage d'Hiver maintains over that span, and how brief the project thereby makes this lengthy duration" - Invisible Oranges argues in favor of their latest editor's choice of the best new albums. "This is black metal that can simultaneously accelerate and decelerate time: it's over in an instant, but somehow it feels like a centenarian's lifetime".

Grammy-winning artist Bill Charlap played at a storied Pennsylvania club last weekend, more than four months after his last public performance, telling New York Times - “It’s a risk for everybody, I suppose. It may be early, but it’s time for me”. The opening protocol included mandatory masks while moving through the club, widely spaced tables, temperature checks on entry, only natural ventilation supplied by open windows and fans, capacity was cut down by 75 percent to a maximum of two dozen. While playing at the Deer Head Inn, Charlap told his audience “there is no substitute for humanity and connection. I wish that I could be closer physically. But I will do everything I can to be as close in every other possible way with the music”.

Elon Musk‘s startup Neuralink is working on a brain-computer interface that will allow wearers to stream music directly to their brain, Tech Spot reports. Responding to computer scientist Austin Howard, Musk confirmed on his Twitter that Neuralink’s technology would allow people to “listen to music directly from our chips”.

"I wanted to explore boy bands with the same kind of intellectual curiosity reserved for topics and music deemed 'serious' while also maintaining the integrity of what makes boy bands great: They’re fun! They’re supposed to make you feel good!" - author Maria Sherman told Music Journalism Insider about her new book 'Larger Than Life' (Todd L. Burns says the book is "incredibly fun!"). In a Rolling Stone excerpt from the book, Sherman emphasizes that the very first boy bands "contrary to the contemporary image of these harmonizing hunks... were people of color".

German scientists are seeking 4,000 music fans to attend a concert by singer-songwriter Tim Bendzko at Leipzig’s Concert Hall on August 22, the Guardian reports. Volunteers are going to be equipped with bottles of fluorescent disinfectant and tracking devices to get a clear idea of how the spread of coronavirus can be prevented at large indoor concerts.

Miles Kane is the first musician to play the UK’s first public music event since the coronavirus lockdown began earlier this year, NME reports. Kane will play Camden Market this Saturday (July 25) to kick off the ‘Camden Unlocked’ series, which will take in eight ticketed, free open-air weekend performances until August 16, that will also see performances by Newton Faulkner, Shaun Escoffery, Stone Foundation, Sons of Pitches, John Power, Mae Muller, and The Puppini Sisters. Miles Kane has released 3 solo albums to date and is also one half of The Last Shadow Puppets with Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner.

56 years ago Chris Cornell was born, and in his memory, Cornell's widow Vicky Cornell and the Chris Cornell Estate have shared a previously unreleased cover of Guns N’ Roses’ 'Patience' that Chris Cornell recorded in Los Angeles in March 2016.

There was a 103% increase in cassette sales in the UK in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, new figures from the Official Charts company show. 65,000 cassettes were purchased in the first half of 2020 and the figures are on course to top 100,000 for the first time since 2003. The best selling cassettes of 2020 were by 5 Seconds of Summer, Lady Gaga, The 1975, Selena Gomez and Dua Lipa. 5 Seconds of Summer’s ‘CALM’ sold 12,000 in the first week making it the fastest selling cassette in 18 years.

British music monthly Q magazine has published its final issue and it is shutting down after 34 years in print, Independent reports. In his final Q editor’s letter, Ted Kessler describes the closure as “an inevitability nobody could’ve predicted as recently as March”. The final issue compiles “greatest-hits” interviews with many artists, including David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Nick Cave, and Prince. “Hopefully, these final issues will provide inspiration for someone canny enough to fill that huge Q-shaped hole on the newstand” Kessler writes.

American DJ and electronic musician The Black Madonna has changed her moniker to The Blessed Madonna, following online pressure, including a Change.org petition. After the change, The Blessed Madonna (real name Marea Stamper) said "The name was a reflection of my family’s lifelong and profound Catholic devotion to a specific kind of European icon of the Virgin Mary which is due in hue. People who shared that devotion loved the name, but in retrospect I should have listened harder to other perspectives". She continues - "My artist name has been a point of controversy, confusion, pain and frustration that distracts from things that are a thousand times more important than any single word in that name".

Stormzy, Dave, Nick Cave, Kate Tempest and Little Simz are nominated for this year's Ivor Novellos, the most prestigious songwriting awards in the UK and Ireland, Music Week reports. Four authors are nominated twice: Kate Tempest and producer Dan Carey are up for Best Album for the former’s ‘The Book Of Traps And Lessons‘ as well as Best Contemporary Song for ‘Firesmoke’; Jimmy Napes is nominated for his songwriting contributions to both Stormzy’s ‘Crown’ and Sam Smith‘s ‘Dancing With A Stranger’; Jamie Hartman is nominated for his work on Lewis Capaldi‘s ‘Hold Me While You Wait’ and Calvin Harris‘ Rag’n’Bone Man collaboration ‘Giant’; Stormzy and MJ Cole are also nominated for their songwriting on ‘Crown’. In the most prestigious category, for the best album, the nominated are ‘Ghosteen’ by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, ‘Grey Area’ by Little Simz, and ‘The Book of Traps and Lessons’ by Kate Tempest. See all the nominees here.

The three-day rock festival formerly known as Herd Immunity Fest took place as planned Thursday (July 16th) through Saturday (July 18th) outside the Q&Z Expo Center in Ringle, Wisconsin, in the US. It made headlines for its name, and for the fact that it was going to be staged in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, causing some bands to drop out. Despite the problems, the festival, renamed to Mini July Fest, was held with Sponge, Flaw, Saving Abel, AC/DC cover band Thunderstuck, and Static-X filling the bill. Organizers limited tickets to 2,500 in an effort to maintain social distancing, but the photos and videos from the cornfield suggest the number of attendees was considerably less than that.

Kanye West has officially launched his campaign for the 2020 US presidential election, with an unorthodox rally in Charleston, South Carolina, ABC reports. West appeared with "2020" shaved into the back of his head and wearing a protective security vest, and addressed the gathered rowdy crowd of a few hundred people without a microphone. He gave an impromptu monologue about 19th century abolitionist Harriet Tubman saying she "never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people" (Tubman was rescuing slaves on the network of routes and safe houses known as "underground railroad", risking her own life to lead people to freedom). West also suggested that women should be given $1m when they have a baby. He clarified that he thinks abortion should be legal, but that there should be more support for those who need it. West also said that marijuana "should be free". He also spoke about his private life, his children and his mother... You can watch his rally here.

Beyoncé has shared the new trailer for 'Black Is King', new visual album written, directed and executive produced by singer, and inspired by 'The Lion King: The Gift', the All Hip Hop reports. “The film reimagines the lessons from the 2019 blockbuster for today’s young kings and queens in search of their own crowns” Disney said. 'Black Is King' will feature guests Jay-Z, fellow Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland, Pharrell Williams, Tina Knowles-Lawson, Lupita Nyong’o, Naomi Campbell, models Aweng Ade-Chuol and Adut Akech and many of the artists that appear on 'The Gift' album. 'Black Is King' is truly a multicultural film, since it was filmed in New York, Los Angeles, South Africa, West Africa, London and Belgium using local actors and dancers.

The late Juice WRLD is opening this week’s Billboard 200 at No. 1 as 'Legends Never Die' debuts with a total of 497,000 equivalent album units, capturing the largest week of 2020 for any album. The set also registers the largest streaming week of 2020 with 238,000 streaming equivalent album units - equating to 422.63 million on-demand streams for the album tracks. 209,000 are in album sales and 3,000 are in track equivalent album units. It’s Juice WRLD’s first release since his death on Dec. 8, 2019.

Emitt Rhodes, cult musician, singer-songwriter, onetime frontman of '60s baroque pop group The Merry-Go-Round, power pop icon and home recording pioneer, has died aged 70, has died aged 70. In addition to The Merry-Go-Round, Rhodes is best known for his 1970 self-titled debut which garnered many comparisons to Paul McCartney ("The One Man Beatles" was his nickname), and he went on to become a prolific multi-instrumentalist and record producer. His songs have been covered by Fairport Convention, The Bangles, Linda Ronstadt, Tift Merritt and more. After a 40+ year absence from recording, Emitt returned in 2016 with a new album, 'The Rainbow End'. Watch 'The One Man Beatles', a documentary about him, here.

US rapper Juice WRLD has topped the UK album charts, seven months after his death at the age of 21, caused by an accidental overdose. The star racked up 22,500 chart sales of 'Legends Never Die' this week, 97% of which came from streams, UK Official Albums Chart reports. Juice WRLD's 'Legends...' is the first posthumous number one since a re-release of George Michael's 'Listen Without Prejudice' in October 2017.

The BBC Philharmonic has recorded a cover of Oasis‘ ‘She’s Electric’, made from lockdown. In similar, cover news, more than 250 Linkin Park fans from 36 countries recorded a quarantine cover of ‘In The End’. The video was created by YouTube users RocknMob, who organise mass performances of famous rock songs.

Ten-year-old Nandi Bushell performed Audioslave hit 'Cochise' on a guitar Tom Morello has gifted her. She also rocks the drums and bass in the impressive new YouTube clip. Audioslave/Rage Against the Machine guitarist gave her the Fender Soul Power Stratocaster after he saw her play Rage Against the Machine’s 'Guerrilla Radio'.

"Men dominate music: the making, production and selling of it, office and studio spaces, live performance, its media – they do so both physically and financially, so what would stop some of them from abusing their power?... Claims about men in the music industry tend to follow a clear pattern: use your access and privilege and take advantage of the power imbalance to get your end away, with very little risk of consequence" - music publicist Michelle Thandekile wrote in the Guardian, years after she was raped while working in the music industry. Why did she keep silent about it? - "I’m a black woman in an incredibly white section of the music industry. I had to be strong to get as far as I am to cut through that ceiling. At the risk of sounding like a martyr, my trauma seemed insignificant when compared to being an example for more young women of colour to join me".