The first episode of Justin Bieber's docuseries 'Seasons' has broken a record for YouTube with 32,65 million views in its first week. That beat out original comedy 'Liza On Demand' Season 2 debut (25.4 million) and the first episode of 'Cobra Kai' Season 2 (21 million). YouTube paid upwards of $20 million for the 10-part Bieber docuseries, making it YouTube’s most expensive content acquisition to date.

This week, Sunrise Records announced that it was buying FYE, America’s last remaining nationwide record and entertainment retail chain from Trans World. FYE currently has 206 stores in America, Sunrise owns 114 HMV record stores in the UK and 85 namesake Sunrise stores in Canada, bringing the total record store owned to 405. Between 2000 and 2010 nearly 4000 US record stores closed, leaving an estimated 1400, with most operating independently or in chains of less than 10 stores.

Lucy Boynton is to play British singer-songwriter Marianne Faithfull in the forthcoming biopic 'Faithfull'. Boynton’s last film role was the Queen biopic 'Bohemian Rhapsody', in which she played Freddie Mercury’s partner Mary Austin. 'Faithfull' will be directed by Ian Bonhôte (author of documentary 'McQueen') and follow the singer’s tumultuous life in the public eye, from teen pop stardom to being a homeless drug addict and her triumphant return.

A report in 2015 revealed that the UK had lost 35 per cent of its live music venues in the previous eight years because, on its own, the venue is but a solitary minnow squaring up against a school of sharks... But when their isolated individual voices combined with the help of the Music Venues Trust, they were saved - NME's columnist Mark Beaumont writes, defeatistically, about UK's exit from the EU, and how UK's clubs were saved on the very principle of unity.

Some great songs today: Moses Sumney takes a sweet spot somewhere between soul, folk and electro on 'Conveyor', latest song from his double debut album 'græ'; Bat for Lashes plays a stripped-down cover of 'The Boys Of Summer'; free jazz meets afro-pop on 'No Mas' by Irreversible Entanglements: just a nice dream-pop song 'The Absence of Bird' by the Swedes The Radio Dept; some original gangsta rap on 'The Ruler' by Drakeo; the Voidz continue to have fun + be cool + avoid getting ridiculous on two new songs - 'Russian Coney Island' and 'All the Same'; simple and fun video for '3 Tearz' by Danny Brown and Run the Jewels; Swedish dream-pop artist I Break Horses go ethereal on 'Death Engine'; Makaya McCraven’s dreamy reimagining of Gil Scott-Heron’s 'I’m New Here'; Basia Bulat made 'Already Forgiven' based on the sound of strong wind; James Elkington plays lush orch-pop on 'Nowhere Time'; the Colombian-Canadian singer Lido Pimienta goes latin-synth pop on 'Eso qeu tu haces'; KennyHoopla is halfway between Bloc Party and A-ha in his 'how will i rest in peace if i’m buried by a highway?//' video; Spanish quartet Melenas play disco shoegaze on '3 Segundos'; Indonesian solo sympho-black metal project Pure Wrath is seeking truth and peace at 'Children of the Homeland'. Plenty of songs, dedicate an hour to listen to all of it...

"Swirling stretches of glassy beauty that slowly and deliberately build up to epic, souls-spiraling crescendos" - Stereogum describes, accurately and lovingly, sounds from the new album by Japanese metallic post-hardcore band Envy. The focal point of the album is its frontman, Tetsuya Fukagawa who, singing in Japanese - "is capable of moving from melodic plaint to poetic spoken-word rumination to hellbeast growl with incredible grace... He’s the struggling figure at the center of the storm, but then sometimes he becomes the storm". It's the two opposites that make for a special album - "the album’s beauty and its destructiveness only build each other up".

“Geezer’s [Butler] a great, great lyricist. [And as a bassist], nobody can touch him. Bill [Ward], in his day, was a great drummer. Tony [Iommi], he’s always gonna be the greatest, no one can touch him" - Ozzy Osbourne spoke about his career on Rick Rubin’s Broken Record podcast. “People will say to me, ‘Why did you always sing on the side of the stage?’ I don’t fucking know. I don’t know", Osbourne said. "It’s just fear, I suppose. ‘Cause Tony, he’s one of the few people who could walk into this room right now and I would fucking feel intimidated. He intimidates the fuck out of me — and he knows it”.

Melodic alarms playing from clocks in the morning could improve alertness levels, with harsh alarm tones linked to increased levels of morning grogginess. Lead author, RMIT doctoral researcher Stuart McFarlane, said morning grogginess, or sleep inertia, was a serious problem in our 24-hour world, adding - “you would assume that a startling ‘beep beep beep’ alarm would improve alertness, but our data revealed that melodic alarms may be the key element. This was unexpected". So, some nice music first thing in the morning!

In recent years, unlicensed underground raves, which are run by decentralised networks of soundsystems and party crews, have flourished across the UK, the Guardian reports. These raves vary from 5,000-strong mega-raves in Bristol warehouses, to three-day breakcore soundclashes on south coast beaches, to intimate psytrance parties in the woodlands of Lancashire, and multi-rig “teknivals” on Scottish wind farms. The G names three roots of this phenomenon - widening social divides, ongoing Tory austerity and creeping gentrification.

Patti Smith is being awarded the 2020 PEN Literary Service Award, given to authors who write about “the human condition”. “She has testified to the transformative power of literature in her own life, and used her stardom to encourage reading and writing in the legions who revere her” - PEN President Jennifer Egan said in a statement, adding she "set an example of badass female artistry, coupled with deeply principled humanity". Previous recipients include Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, and Bob Woodward.

Hundreds of employers have been laid off last month by the world's biggest broadcast company, iHeartMedia. American conglomerate's chief executive Bob Pittman said the “employee dislocation” was “the unfortunate price we pay to modernize the company”. Laid-off employees blame the cuts on the company’s top executives, with some critics saying executives used the systems as scapegoats, hoping to distract from old-school failures, portray themselves as futuristic and avoid public outrage, according to the Washington Post. The company, which now uses software to schedule music, analyze research and mix songs, has called AI the muscle it needs to fend off rivals, recapture listeners and emerge from bankruptcy. iHeartMedia owns online iHeartRadio and more than 850 local stations across the United States.

Indie-pop band The Format staged a surprise reunion concert in Phoenix on Monday - about 150 people showed up to Hello Merch for a viewing party of The Format’s 2007 concert film 'Live at the Mayan', which just hit streaming platforms for the first time. The audience, however, got a bonus - announcement of The Format's first tour dates since going on hiatus back in 2008. What prompted the band to reunite had happened a year ago when Nate Ruess, as he himself explained - "was driving and I was listening on random, and 'Interventions' came on… And I was listening to it and I was like ‘I should probably skip this. And I listened and I thought, ‘Holy (expletive), this kicks ass. This is totally rad'”.

Toronto company WHUT!? Earplugs has begun putting earplug vending machines inside Toronto clubs. The machines are similar to a classic gumball machine, the earplugs are reusable and the case doubles as a storage container. In a study conducted last year, 47% of adults who listened to very loud music in their teens now face hearing issues.

Paramore's singer Hayley Williams is preparing to release her debut solo album this spring, quite different from music she made with her band. The subjects are more personal also, as she explains during the very revealing conversation with Beats 1 host Zane Lowe where she talks about depression - “My dog is the reason I’m alive, because he would’ve been waiting on me to get home, no matter what. You know how little sweet little puppies sit and they wait? I couldn’t think about it". Williams credits visualization therapy for helping her understand the power of protecting oneself during her dark times. The album 'Petals For Armor' comes from “the idea that being vulnerable is a shield. Because how else can you be a human that’s inevitably gonna fuck up and trip in front of the world a million times?".

"He’s taking everything he’s learned over his twenty-four-year career and putting it to use with his original gear... and delivers something that sounds familiar, and classic, whilst being a totally audacious experience" - the Quietus says in a review of new album 'Be Up a Hello' by the English electronic musician. All Music hears it as "refreshingly direct", and Exclaim thinks it is a "brain-melting album from an artist who refuses to stand still"

'New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi, and K-pop' by Pakistani writer Fatima Bhutto investigates the burgeoning cultural movements from India (Bollywood movies), Turkey (dizi series), and South Korea (K-pop). Not that the author likes these much, it's just that she acknowledges its popularity and influence. A short, well-researched, and engaging book.

Two Madonna fans, Andrew Panos and Antonio Velotta filed a lawsuit against the singer and concert promoters Live Nation, claiming the pop superstar kept them waiting up to three hours before taking the stage in New York last autumn. Both men allege they missed their drives home and this messed up their plans for the day after the gigs. The new lawsuit comes two months after a similar one was filed in Florida by more angry Madonna fans.

The concert film was made last year, it was directed by Michael Garber, and it is coming out this week on Amazon Prime Video. “Playing at the Apollo Theater is one of the greatest honors that a musician can have,” Washington said in a statement, adding - “When I walked down 125th Street from my hotel in Harlem and saw my name on the marquee I almost couldn’t believe it". To celebrate the announcement, Washington shared the 12-minute track 'The Bombshell’s Waltz', a previously-unheard piece from his self-released 2007 album, 'The Proclamation'.

There are plenty of those, but these stand out!

Billie Eilish has defended her controversial friendship with Drake saying - “A grown man can’t be a fan of an artist? There are so many people that the internet should be more worried about". In an interview with the Vogue, she also discussed the topic of mental health - “As a fan growing up, I was always like ‘What the fuck is wrong with them?'. All the scandals. The Britney moment. You grow up thinking they’re pretty and they’re skinny; why would they fuck it up? But the bigger I get, the more I’m like ‘Oh, my God, of course they had to do that’.”

The Russell Simmons accuser documentary 'On The Record' has been picked up by HBO Max as their first-ever festival acquisition. Directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering it tells the stories of Simmons' accusers, including former Def Jam executive Drew Dixon, as they decide to go public with their claims of sexual harassment and assault at the hands of the Def Jam music mogul. The audience at the Sundance premiere gave the doc multiple standing ovations, and it has a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

"The apocalypse may be looming over us, like a drooling Homer over a box of donuts, but that’s no reason to lose all hope. Some hope, but not all hope" - Head Ned of the metal band Okilly Dokilly, inspired by The Simpsons character Ned Flanders, has said announcing their US tour and a new single. The rest of the band are - Bed Ned, Shred Ned, Dread Ned, Zed Ned. "We’re exci-diddly-ited to announce the ‘When the Comet Gets Here Tour’. So grab your green sweater and what remaining hope you have left and come rage with us Neds. End times are always better as Ned times” - Head Ned has said, as Consequence of Sound reports. They might be kidding, but they take their metal seriously, death-metal style, more or less.

Kanye West is bringing his Sunday Service to New York Yankee Stadium on May 2, as New York Post reports. West's performance will be part of an event held by televangelists Joel and Victoria Osteen, who announced the forthcoming event as “an evening of hope and inspiration to draw tens of thousands from across the country". Tickets go for $25.

Extra expenses and added paperwork relating to Visas, taxation and transporting equipment and merchandise, caused by the UK's exit from the EU, will make touring Europe “completely unviable” for new and mid-level British artists. Tens of thousands have already signed a petition by the Musicians’ Union calling for a new passport that will allow acts and crew to travel freely between EU member states, ridding them of new required permits.

Paramore's front-lady Hayley Williams has a solo debut album coming out in May, and she announced it with 'Simmer', a subtle exercise in how to draw the line between wrath and mercy; Scottish folk, Hindustani classical music and jazz make great companions on 'The North Carr' by James Yorkston, Suhail Yusuf Khan and Jon Thorne; U.S. Girls does some almost-religious rock at 'Overtime'; 'I Can’t Read 97' is an acoustic version of David Bowie's 1980s song by his short-lived hard-rock band Tin Machine; Porridge Radio reinvent the Pixies’ loud-quiet-loud trademark on 'Sweet'.

"‘Silver Tongue’ is a candid, real-time account of Scott’s relationship in the here-and-now as she documents its survival via a near-miss break-up and painful affair. It’s her most personal memoir yet" - NME writes in a review of the new album by Torres. MTV says the singer-songwriter has "never sounded more at ease — really, she's never sounded more like herself". Consequence of Sound wrote the album "feels hard and driving, like electric rain or the tension between two thunderclouds", and Exclaim appreciates how "at just nine tracks and 36 minutes, 'Silver Tongue' runs the gamut on aural and ethereal moods".

"Once hotbeds of countercultural thinking, psychedelic encounters and free love, festivals underwent their own process of commodification [at the turn of the decade], turning into consumer experiences with clear price tags" - Resident Advisor says in an article about electronic festivals. "One effect of the collapse in record sales is that money shifted towards the live experience: gigs, clubs and festivals... In dance music, producers often found themselves launching DJ careers in order to support their studio graft", RA says, adding "some people in the industry whisper that festival culture is reaching saturation point". So, they should go "back to the spirit of experimentation that first turned these outdoor gatherings into testing grounds for new ways of living in harmony with each other and the planet".

Rapper Meek Mill has earned an award for his acting debut in the highly anticipated film 'Charm City Kings' - the movie has landed U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast at the Sundance. 'Charm City Kings' centers around a fourteen-year-old boy who wants to join the Midnight Clique, an infamous group of Baltimore dirt-bike riders. The movie is executive produced by Will Smith.

van Král - the composer, producer, and guitarist who composed many songs with Patti Smith, most notably 'Dancing Barefoot' - has died aged 71. Král also performed on and wrote for Smith’s debut album 'Horses' (1975), 'Radio Ethiopia' (1976), 'Easter' (1978), and the live album 'Exodus' (1994), recorded in the ’70s. Král also wrote songs performed by Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Eastern Bloc, and others. In 1976, Král released a documentary of the local New York punk scene titled 'The Blank Generation' - featuring footage of Blondie, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Talking Heads, Ramones, Wayne County, and more. Král released a string of solo albums over 26 years.

In Super Bowl commercials it was mostly beers, sodas, snacks, and cars, and - rappers. H.E.R. and Missy Elliot linked up with Pepsi singing their version of Rolling Stones' 'Paint It Black'; Post Malone starred in two Bud Light commercials, Lil Nas X and Sam Elliott are dancing cowboys as Billy Ray Cyrus plays his guitar in a Doritos Cool Ranch commercial; LeBron James is the face of the new GMC Hummer EV; MC Hammer ironically stars in a new commercial for Cheetos singing his popular line “Can’t touch this”; The Roots were featured in a commercial alongside Jimmy Fallon in a funny spot.