The Village Voice, the long-running New York alternative weekly culture paper, which also covered music, is returning both to digital content and print, after being acquired by Street Media, who currently publish LA Weekly. The digital publication will begin in January, with quarterly print editions starting in early 2021, the New York Times reports. Bob Baker, a former Voice editor, will be senior editor and content coordinator, and more former staffers will be hired. The cult alt-weekly ceased print publication in September 2017 and online publication a year later.

PopMatters made a selection of new artists who are expected to brake quite big quite soon (for some it had actually already started to happen). Among the selected there are: Polaris music award winner Backxwash; indie-rock foursome Porridge Radio; critically highly acclaimed Sault; Moscow all-female prog/post-punk girls Lucidvox; genre-defying Bartees Strange.

“Christmas songs shouldn’t only be this performative optimism. They should contain a grain of melancholy. Especially in 2020, it’s tone deaf to say, ‘Oh Christmas is all going to be ‘happy happy’. I try to live in the real world” - Chilly Gonzales told The Independent about his "sad" holiday album 'A Very Chilly Christmas'. There are others from the indie-rock world that felt the urge to add some sadness to Christmas - Mark Lanegan, Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird, Calexico...

National Guitar Museum has named Eddie Van Halen as their Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2020, and, for the first time, it was in memoriam. Every year for more than a decade, the museum has saluted a living guitarist who has contributed significantly to the legacy of the guitar - previously it was given to Roger McGuinn (2011), B.B. King (2012), Tony Iommi (2015), Glen Campbell (2016) and Bonnie Raitt (2017). The guidelines state that the person whose talents had an effect on guitar playing, and whose career inspired and influenced other guitar players, Blabbermouth reports.

The US Congress included a provision to the latest COVID-19 relief package that makes illegal streaming a felony, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The “Felony Streaming” copyright proposal attaches felony penalties to commercial platforms that are dedicated exclusively to streaming unlicensed works. If found guilty of such actions, operators of these platforms could face up to 10 years in prison.

Tones And I's breakthrough hit 'Dance Monkey' moved past two billion streams on Spotify, which makes the Australian singer the first female artist to reach the milestone, Billboard reports. Just two tracks have accumulated more streams on the platform, Ed Sheeran’s 'Shape of You' (at 2.7 billion) and Post Malone’s 'Rockstar' featuring 21 Savage (2.079 billion).

Qwest is "an extraordinary new trove of sixty-six concert films", with performances ranging from the nineteen-fifties through the nineteen-eighties, New Yorker reports. It is a streaming site and TV channel, founded in 2017 by Quincy Jones, featuring many of the twentieth-century heroes of Black music like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin and James Brown, as well as some rarely seen jazz artists like Thelonious Monk, Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Ahmad Jamal...

Warner Music Group has signed a deal with TikTok that will boost its fees for song rights and increase collaboration with the popular social-media app, Bloomberg reports. In the past year alone, major music companies have signed licensing agreements with Facebook, TikTok and Snap, creating a new, billion-dollar business. Warner alone now generates hundreds of millions of dollars a year from such deals, YouTube paid the music industry more than $3 billion in 2019, Facebook paid the music industry more than $600 million a year since 2017, and TikTok now is expected to be a big spender as one of the most popular apps in the world, boasting more than 600 million users.

"Women rappers know that their mics will be taken at a certain age, that they’ll be rendered voiceless, especially if their beauty and power has faded. They alter their ages or don’t reveal them at all, because if that’s what will allow them to extend their shelf life in this young man’s game before being pushed out, then so be it. It is a game, right?" - Bitch Media says in the interesting article about ageism in hip-hop. Rapper Eve emphasizes how it's idiosyncratic to hip-hop: “When you look at rock or a lot of other genres, they never age out. Why is it that they’re allowed to get older? Why is it that rock or country or many other genres are allowed to literally make records until they die?…. With hip hop, there’s this attitude that you’re done at a certain age".

Former American President Barack Obama has shared his 2020 “Songs of the Year” playlist which includes pop hits like Dua Lipa’s 'Levitating', indie songs like Phoebe Bridgers’ 'Kyoto', country music like Chris Stapleton’s 'Starting Over', and some veterans like Boy Dylan’s 'Goodbye Jimmy Reed'...

Director Peter Jackson has shared a preview of his forthcoming documentary 'The Beatles: Get Back' which aims to “take audiences back in time to The Beatles’ intimate recording sessions during a pivotal moment in music history”, NME reports. Jackson said he wanted to showcase “the vibe and energy” of the film with the preview. It will be out in August 2021, probably.

Indie-rock singer-songwriter Har Mar Superstar began working for the United States Postal Service in November, NME reports. He applied for the job on a whim while posting out vinyl records to fans at the post office. “I’ve definitely considered quitting music and getting a real job. So many times,” HMS said - “I mean, I’m really excited to have pension and benefits and all that kind of stuff”.

The American Congressional leaders agreed on a $900 billion rescue package, which includes $15 billion for live entertainment venues and independent movie theaters, the New York Times reports. Senator Chuck Schumer said "these venues are so important to my state and so many other states across the country. They are the lifeblood of our communities. They were the first to close and will be the last to open. This bill gives them a fighting chance”.

Taylor Swift notches her second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 this year with her surprise release 'Evermore', which earned 329,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 17, Billboard reports. It's her eight No. 1 album in general, and a companion set to her earlier surprise No. 1 album, 'Folklore', which bowed atop the Billboard 200 in August. Also, Swift set a new UK chart record among female artists, with the singer achieving her six UK number one albums in a record eight years. She has beaten previous record-holder Madonna, who racked up six UK number one albums over 11 years, UK's Official Charts reports.

Brooklyn Vegan's Indie Basement placed 40 indie-rock albums from 2020 in its cellar - it's an interesting selection, covering the best, and some unexpected albums. The top 20 are:

20. Doves - 'The Universal Want'

19. Working Men's Club - 'Working Men's Club'

18. Stephen Malkmus - 'Traditional Techniques'

17. Activity - 'Unmask Whoever'

16. The Innocence Mission - 'See You Tomorrow'

15. Drab City - 'Good Songs for Bad People'

14. Dougie Poole - 'The Freelancer's Blues'

13. Public Practice - 'Gentle Grip'

12. Billy Nomates - 'Billy Nomates'

11. The Flaming Lips - 'American Head'

10. Cindy Lee - 'What's Tonight to Eternity?'

9. Sweeping Promises - 'Hunger for a Way Out'

8. Crack Cloud - 'Pain Olympics'

7. Cut Worms - 'Nobody Lives Here Anymore'

6. Sault - 'Untitled (Black Is)' / 'Untitled (Rise)'

5. Caribou - 'Suddenly'

4. Loma - 'Don't Shy Away'

3. JARV IS… - 'Beyond the Pale'

2. Roisin Murphy - 'Roisin Machine'

1. Porridge Radio - 'Every Bad'

CoS writes about an interesting cover-band, Brass Against, a brass band that originally started as a Rage Against the Machine cover band, and then expanded with covers of Deftones, Alice In Chains, Panter, Deftones, Soundgarden etc. Their latest cover, Tool's 'Stinkfist' becomes "a horn-heavy track without losing the song’s key melodies and mood", with stand-out vocals by Sophia Urista.

12-year-old Manchester DJ Cael Bell had his equipment confiscated by the teachers after hosting a rave in the school bathroom, The Mirror reports. The boy invited “all the boys from year 8” at St. Antony’s Catholic College in Manchester, UK, and together they held an impromptu dance fest in the boys lavatory during lunch period on December 11th. The set included complimentary soft drinks and Cadbury Twirls, and it lasted 30 minutes before the teachers broke it up. Bell’s mother said that the boy’s speaker and lights have been impounded, although she did not herself punish him - “Am I wrong for finding this funny?”.

BadBadNotGood are back where they left with Ghostface Killah - 'The Chocolate Conquistadors' with MF Doom goes totally into the psychedelic jazz-hip-hop territory; an interesting cover - a senior man named Frank Watkinson made a lovely folk-rock remake of Slipknot's 'Snuff'.

'Fetch the Bolt Cutters' is one of the most critically acclaimed albums this year, but it wasn't so assuring for Fiona Apple when she was making it, as she's told the Guardian: "I started everything over once and then over again feeling like it wasn’t going in the right direction. There were times when I felt, I love all the work that we’ve been doing and I don’t regret any of the time that we spent, but maybe I just don’t wanna deal with this. Maybe I’m in a good place to call it quits and go live a different kind of life. But then it started feeling right. I didn’t have any idea that it was gonna be loved so much". While making it she said she had provided herself with "the right environment and getting to a place where – it sounds strange to say – I could believe myself as I was performing". Being so validated like herself with this album isn't that great either: "I’m happy that I feel respected in a way that I wasn’t before but it also messes with your idea of yourself... I don’t know how we get out of letting other people tell us who we are".

This year marked a growing shift in the music industry, as many artists turned to animation to create the vivid, fantastical scenes so many of us were missing - Variety reports, naming several music stars that went digital this year: Anime Billie Eilish, Looney Tunes Dua Lipa, bobble-headed BTS, vectorized Lizzo, 3-D rendered EARTHGANG, comic book Katy Perry, anime The Weeknd, manga Noah Cyrus, trippy Tame Impala, video game J. Balvin and Doja Cat with a Bratz pout.

Afropop Worldwide presents the pop music of Nigeria, by far the strongest scene in Africa. Burna Boy, Wizkid, Yemi Alade, Tiwa Savage, Olamide, and Fireboy DML are the biggest on the Nigerian Afropop scene presented in AW's feature, which also covers the rising social activism.

“With your help, our artists and songwriters not only raised the spirits of millions everywhere, but also brought awareness to worthwhile causes that will help to repair a world so badly in need of repair" - UMG's Lucian Grainge said in his year-end letter to staff, Variety reports. He added - "more often than not, that awareness will trigger action, funding, and, ultimately, results… When the harsh realities of inequality and racism exploded across the globe, our artists were galvanized and, together with them, we responded quickly”.

"OK, Mariah's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' is obviously the most canonical new Christmas song of the last 30 years. But what's the second?" - rock critic Christopher R. Weingarten asked on his Twitter. Plenty of answers in his feed.

"I’m glad to end these terrible, difficult times [knowing] that people have genuinely had joy-filled experiences with our music. I got so many calls and videos from homies that were at protest sites where people would take breaks, give each other water, and you would hear 'Oh La La', 'Walking in the Snow' or 'A Few Words to the Firing Squad' in the street. It brought me joy to know that we were there at the times we were needed" - Killer Mike told Spin, after being chosen as the publication's Artist of the Year. His partner in jewelry admits, however, they aren't that serious a band - "we’re the anti-heroes. We’re stumbling around, and we’re crashing cars, slapping babies and getting stoned as fuck and saying the wrong thing. I’d like to think that at the end of the day, those types of heroes are obtainable for people".

"Years from now, when we look back at this time period... there will also be this album that has recorded the stories and names of all these ordinary women who would have otherwise been entirely forgotten" - Chinese music critic Postman tells BBC about the new album by Chinese singer Tan Weiwei. The highpoint of that album is 'Xiao Juan', a moody, excoriating diatribe against domestic violence, still considered a taboo topic for many.

The days of the traditional stage set-up are numbered, "at least in theatres and concert halls the size that I would normally play" - David Byrne says Mark Beaumont in an NME interview about the future of shows. He elaborates: "The fact that we can get the music digitally [means] a performance has to be really of value. It has to be really something special, because that’s where the performers are getting their money and that’s what the audience is paying for. They’re not paying very much for streaming music, but they are paying quite a bit to go and see a performance, so the performance has to give them value for money… It has to be really something to see”. Byrne also talks about social media and technology.

It’s been a wild 10 years for Reznor and Ross, one that began with a deafening bang with 'The Social Network', high-pointing this year with David Fincher’s 'Mank' played only on 1940s instruments, and with the score for Pixar’s latest feature film 'Soul'. The Consequence of Sound named them Composers of the Year and made an extensive interview with the pair.

Guardian took "the essentials of pop and disco to distil an alchemic cocktail of club euphoria" for their 50 best albums of the year list, with Fiona Apple on top.

The top 20 are:

20. Grimes – 'Miss Anthropocene'

19. Lady Gaga – 'Chromatica'

18. Run the Jewels – 'RTJ4'

17. Fontaines DC – 'A Hero’s Death'

16. Phoebe Bridgers – 'Punisher'

15. Jay Electronica – 'A Written Testimony'

14. Jessie Ware – 'What’s Your Pleasure?'

13. Bob Dylan – 'Rough and Rowdy Ways'

12. Chloe x Halle – 'Ungodly Hour'

11. Róisín Murphy – 'Róisín Machine'

10. Moses Sumney – 'Græ'

9. Taylor Swift – 'Folklore'

8. J Hus – 'Big Conspiracy'

7. Haim – 'Women in Music Pt III'

6. Waxahatchee – 'Saint Cloud'

5. Sault – 'Untitled (Black Is)'

4. Perfume Genius – 'Set My Heart on Fire Immediately'

3. Rina Sawayama – 'Sawayama'

2. Dua Lipa – 'Future Nostalgia'

1. Fiona Apple – 'Fetch the Bolt Cutters'

Creed singer Scott Stapp will be portraying Frank Sinatra in the upcoming biopic about Ronald Reagan, simply called 'Reagan'. The biopic will feature a scene in which Stapp will perform as Sinatra at the Cocoanut Grove, "at a time when Ronald Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild and the club was a staple of old Hollywood", Billboard reports. The film, directed by Sean McNamara, is slated to arrive in 2021, and it will find Dennis Quaid in the titular role of Ronald Reagan.

When she found out she was nominated for Grammy in the best new artist category, Phoebe Bridgers jokingly tweeted that she and Megan Thee Stallion could get swords and fight for the trophy. Actually, as Bridgers told BBC, there's one person who should get the award - "Like, we are not battling. Not that I want to jinx myself here but Megan Thee Stallion is the best new artist, by far". Her song 'Kyoto' is also up for best rock performance, and all the nominees in that category are female for the first time, but - "I don't think it's virtue signalling because I can't think of a male rock album this year that really shook me up". She also told BBC how the making of her last video 'Motion Sickness' with Phoebe Wallace-Bridge changed how she saw fame - "Like, hanging out with the guy who taught me how to drive the tractor was just a blast. It changed my perspective on fame being a curse".