Billie Eilish and Rosalía release their dramatic pop ballad 'Lo Vas a Olvidar'; Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou follow their last year's debut collaboration with a new EP - 'Orphan Limbs' is the stand-out track from it; Forhist of Blut Aus Nord shares a sympho/black-metal song 'II'; Vast Aire of Cannibal Ox bites hard on 'Good Fuel'; NYC rapper Marlon Craft releases a melancholic albeit determined political song 'State of the Union'.

"The attention economy is becoming a malign force for culture. Consumption is holding culture hostage" - Music Industry Blog writes in an interesting post about how the very nature is being changed due to ways we consume it - "artists and labels are locked in a race to increase the volume and velocity of music they put out... And because music attention spans are shortening, no sooner has the listener’s attention been grabbed, then it is lost again due to the next new track. In the attention economy’s volume and velocity game, the streaming platform is a hungry beast that is perpetually hungry. Each new song is just another bit of calorific input to sate its appetite".

A great read in LA Magazine - an excerpt from the book 'Sonic Boom' by Peter Ames Carlin about the rise of Warner/Reprise from a jazz small-house to a rock'n'roll powerhouse. It all started when Reprise Records president Mo Ostin signed Jimi Hendrix which turned out to be a great success, against expectations from other label bosses. Then, in an afternoon in 1967, Ostin gave the company’s troops the most unexpected direction ever uttered by a top executive at a corporate record label: “Let’s stop trying to make hit records”. Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, and Gordon Lightfoot followed.

Glastonbury Festival has been cancelled for 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and organisers have revealed that ticket deposits will be rolled over to 2022. "As with last year, we would like to offer all those who secured a ticket in October 2019 the opportunity to roll their £50 deposit over to next year, and guarantee the chance to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2022" - the organisers said, adding - "we are very appreciative of the faith and trust placed in us by those of you with deposits, and we are very confident we can deliver something really special for us all in 2022!".

Huff-Post lists several reasons why we should try and discover new music, especially if it seems hard to do so:

It nourishes our brains - new music listening activates areas of the brain from root to tip, from the early auditory processing centres to the outer reaches of our cortex

New music provides the potential to add to our valuable music memory bank

Acts as social cue, helping us better understand other people

Music has ability to keep us open-minded, which experts believe is key to helping us think better.

The wife and the publishing company of Jacques Levy, who co-wrote 7 of 9 songs from Bob Dylan’s 1976 album 'Desire', are suing the songwriter for $7.25m, the New York Post reports. Levy estate's lawsuit claims that Dylan owes Levy’s family 35% of income from the songs he co-wrote for 'Desire' – 'Hurricane', 'Isis', 'Mozambique', 'Oh, Sister', 'Joey', 'Romance in Durango' and 'Black Diamond Bay'. Dylan’s has recently sold his songwriting catalogue to Universal Music for a reported $300m.

“I know sometimes there’s chaos and you’re running around kind of stressed out, but I’m just reveling in the fact that I have no idea what I’m doing” - CoS' Artist of the Month Arlo Parks says in an extensive interview. London singer (20) is about to release her debut album 'Collapsed in Sunbeams', which took a while to make - "Build things slowly, and don’t expect to immediately feel better or be better. And in the meantime, find enjoyment where you can as well".

Foo Fighters, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato and Bon Jovi performed at the star-studded inauguration of the new American president. The theme of the concert was unity, with Bruce Springsteen kicking off the event with his song 'Land Of Hope and Dreams'. John Legend powered through a big band arrangement of Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good', while Demi Lovato sang an upbeat cover of Bill Withers' 'Lovely Day', accompanied by doctors and nurses in their hospital scrubs. Texan soul band Black Pumas played their uplifting anthem Colors, and the concert was closed by Katy Perry, who sang a rousing, orchestral version of her signature song 'Firework'. Alexis Petridis compares this and previous inauguration: "Donald Trump couldn’t secure a Springsteen tribute band for his inauguration, whereas Biden had Springsteen himself – plus Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and even a Republican in Garth Brooks". Outside the official ceremony, Indie Drummer Collective - including drummers of Thursday, The Promise Ring, Helmet, Titus Andronicus, and Cymbals Eat Guitars covered 'We Are The World' for Inauguration Day.

PopMatters found another batch of 20 great jazz albums from last year including: Dave Douglas' 'Marching Music' - "a mixture of heavy and luminescent"; Rob Mazurek's 'Dimensional Stardust' - "new jazz at its best, with complex composition easing seamlessly into improvising, classical notions slipping into jazz and hip-hop/electronics"; Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah's 'Axiom' - "a great band"; Matthew Shipp's 'The Unidentifiable' and 'Live in Nuremberg' - "whew and wow and WONDERful. Musician of the year, ladies and gentlemen"; Immanuel Wilkins' 'Omega' - "new jazz of hip-hop rhythmic inclinations, complex time experiments, and compositional complexity".

A funny text in Stereogum by a former amateur skater Loren DiBlasi about how nu-metal is entering figure skating, written after US pairs team Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier performed a stellar short program to the tune of Linkin Park’s signature nu-metal hit 'In The End'. There were other metal figure-skating mash-ups, like yet another Linkin Park song, 'The Catalyst', and Disturbed's cover of 'Sound of Silence'. So, what's the point of it: "In figure skating, like in nu-metal, there are very few second chances. Like Mike Shinoda ecstatically rapping across a supernatural desert of broken dreams or Alexa Knierim being launched into the heavens in a gravity defying triple twist, it’s all about pushing through pain and doubt to seize the moment".

A parrot Tico who likes to "sing" classic rock songs by Led Zeppelin, Guns N’ Roses, Coldplay, U2, Rolling Stones and more, has achieved internet fame this week after the former NBA player Rex Chapman shared a rendition of 'Stairway to Heaven' with his 1.1 million followers on Twitter. The clip amassed over three million views on the platform. Videos have been captured by its owner Frank Maglio, who has been uploading them to his YouTube since April. The parrot doesn’t sing any of the actual words of the songs it “covers”, but is able to quite accurately replicate each track’s vocal melody. Their latest cover - Neil Young's 'Hey Hey My My'.

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 first widely critically acclaimed album of the new year is the second record by the English post-punk band Shame: "a massively ambitious and accomplished body of work driven by propulsive melodies and lyrics delivered with boundless passion" - the Quietus; "an exhilarating and inspiring listen" - Stereogum; "shadowboxing to Shame’s sonic assault is one of the more satisfying ways to cope with the ecstatic catastrophe of life" - CoS; "a surreal landscape of desperation, frustration, and consideration, and a confident second record from the South Londoners" - Clash Music.

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.

"Spector’s living legacy is that of music industry abuse going unchecked because the art is perceived as worth it – or worse, considered “proof” of wild and untameable genius... Spector created not just a sound but the enduring paradigm of the exploitative music svengali whose work is too lucrative for him to be held to account, his victims little more than unfortunate collateral" - Guardian wrote after the death of famous producer, calling for the industry to stand up for women.

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.

Japanese psychedelic rock band Kikagaku Moyo is the first to release a live album in the Live at LEVITATION series, recorded at the world-renowned event in Texas. Here, the band embodies liberty and groove of folk-influenced progressive psychedelia, reaching well beyond their island. Rich and very easy to listen to...

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.

"By trying to tell the entire life story of a rock legend in less time than they would’ve spent onstage most nights, they inevitably come across like facile ‘Greatest Hits’ tributes" - NME's Mark Beaumont argues in favor of music biopics without any of the subject's music, because - "Cinema rarely turns out convincing biopic performances, so why not cut the cringe, ditch the hits and concentrate on the stories instead? ... In fact, I’m all for more musical biopics without any music. After all, why limit cinema to the biopics of listenable bands?".

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.

Guardian has a suggestion to turn our living-rooms into clubs with a selection of the 10 best remixes that reach as far as 1982. The list starts with Donna Summer's motor-disco 'I Feel Love' expanded to 15 minutes of techno psychedelia by Patrick Cowley, and finishes with Prince's 'I Wanna Be Your Lover' tweaked by Dimitri from Paris to part-live part-club disco-bomb.

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.