British actor and MC Riz Ahmed is critically lauded for his portrayal of a drummer who goes deaf in movie 'Sound of Metal', but the role also broadened himself. "When I started talking about things in my life or even in [the character] Ruben's life that were emotional, I found myself really physically getting emotional, tearing up at times in a way that I would not have if I was just verbally communicating", Ahmed said, adding - "in some ways, a fuller kind of communication — a more embodied kind of communication — is possible within deaf culture and signing culture".

The music and technology specialist Cherie Hu discusses the very essence of gaming as a music medium: "Travis Scott’s Fortnite show and Lil Nas X’s recent Roblox show paint a picture of a world where music shifts from a static, finished product to a dynamic, immersive audiovisual system. But these in-game shows were 100% premeditated, with fans not being able to interact with the artist, or influence the content or outcome of the performance itself, aside from walking or flying around the ‘set’. This is more equivalent to an immersive movie than to an interactive game. What if you made use of gaming technology to make the experience around a given piece of music more dynamic and responsive to the ways individual players were behaving?". The essential idea.

This year's social media star released the numbers for 2020, here's a pair: over 176 different songs surpassed 1 billion video views; over 70 artists that have broken on the platform have received major label deals, including Claire Rosinkranz, Dixie D'Amelio, Powfu, Priscilla Block and Tai Verdes.

Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin are joining forces for a six-part documentary series that will take a look at the ex-Beatles' rich career, and the first official trailer is out now (watch it below). In the trailer, the duo talks about how the bass guitar can control a band, and McCartney explains how the Beatles wrote their tunes - “we realized we were writing songs that were memorable, not because we wanted them to be memorable, because we had to remember them”. According to Deadline, the untitled project is the first time that the original masters have ever left Abbey Road Studios.

The popular opinion of Louis Armstrong is as a genial, foundational voice in jazz, but the jazz establishment – and many African Americans – reviled him as a sellout or an “Uncle Tom” - Guardian writes presenting a new book, Ricky Riccardi’s 'Heart Full of Rhythm: the Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong'. The book describes this fall from grace.

Inspired by Underoath's announcement about how they made $800,000 on three live-streams (on tickets, merch, and vinyl), Metal Sucks made some estimates about the price of online shows. According to one industry insider, expenses for one live-stream are: $20,000 for live event production - venue rental, camera operators, live video switcher, lights, monitors, audio mixer; $40,000 - broadcast platform fee (20%); $30,000 - the management (15%). Those estimates can vary, of course, but in a case like this, the band would have made a $20k-$25k profit per show, which is roughly $3k-$4k per band member.

Seattle blues singer Lady A has released a new song called 'My Name Is All I Got', written seemingly in response to her ongoing legal battle with country band Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, Pitchfork reports. It is a heartening blues song about standing tall and being proud of your identity with one line saying it all - “Oh they tried to take my name, but my name is all I got”.

Country super-group The Highwomen were the big winners at the 19th annual Americana Honors & Awards, taking home album of the year accolade for their eponymous debut, song of the year for 'Crowded Table', and duo/group of the year. John Prine, who died in April 2020 at age 73, won artist of the year while Black Pumas won emerging act of the year.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have signed a deal with streaming service Spotify to produce and host podcasts, CNN reports. In a trailer, the pair - introducing themselves as "Harry and Meghan", without the royal attributes - promised "different perspectives" and interviews with "amazing people". Their charity will receive an undisclosed sum from the partnership between their production company, Archewell Audio, and Spotify.

"It's an album of contrast and tension as tracks veer between extremes as if constantly searching for some kind of indefinable resolution" - PopMatters writes about Ital Tek's 'Outland', their choice for the best album of the year. The full list:

20. Lee Jones - 'Down Into Light'

19. TENGGER - 'Nomad'

18. Die Wilde Jagd - 'Haut'

17. Squarepusher - 'Be Up a Hello'

16. Pantha Du Prince - 'Conference of Trees'

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

14. Actress - 'Karma & Desire'

13. Amnesia Scanner - 'Tearless'

12. The Soft Pink Truth - 'Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?'

11. Four Tet - 'Sixteen Oceans'

10. DJ Python - 'Mas Amable'

9. Rival Consoles - 'Articulation'

8. Tristan Perich - 'Drift Multiply'

7. Nicolas Bougaïeff - 'The Upward Spiral'

6. Nahash - 'Flowers of the Revolution'

5. Ghetto Kumbé - 'Ghetto Kumbé'

4. CS + Kreme - 'Snoopy'

3. Beatrice Dillon - 'Workaround'

2. Kelly Lee Owens - 'Inner Song'

1. Ital Tek - 'Outland'

"Having a deep-rooted love of music in the back pocket is to be able to pluck out something capable of soothing broken hearts, tortured minds or restless souls. It is an infinite source of reliability, profundity and surprise" - the Quietus writes, arguing this relationship has changed in this lockdown year. The places to discover new music have tumbled down to all but one - computer screen, and the curiosity itself has tumbled due to the claustrophobic year. However, tQ says, we need to accept, and through this acceptance that spark for music will return. It most certainly should - musically, it has been a great year, and the next might prove to be even better, if not even game-changing.

"With an indisputable punk ethos, goth aesthetics and mosh-loaded concerts, they’ve long surpassed the restrictive 'trap' label altogether" - Spin writes in their special about three Romanian trap artists. Polly's music character is dual, embodying gore and fetishism, trap and heavy metal. Brasov's music is experimental, with dark, harsh lyrics. Bruja is versatile and an activist. Together, they "are paving the way with experimental, authentic and collaborative energy".

The soundtrack fountain has been flowing plentifully this year - the Quietus writes in its introduction of their selection of the best movie scores of 2020. There's Robert Glasper, Warren Ellis, Terence Blanchard, Brian Eno, Blanck Mass...

Jesy Nelson left the successful UK girl band Little Mix giving an honest reason - “The truth is recently being in the band has really taken a toll on my mental health. I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard”. NME praised her announcement saying she "achieved something hugely important. Backed by the unwavering support of her former bandmates, she and the group have set an important precedent where a person’s wellbeing comes ahead of keeping up appearances just to keep the cash flowing".

The first full trailer for Billie Eilish’s new documentary 'The World’s A Little Blurry', directed by R.J. Cutler, has been shared. It shows archival footage from throughout Billie Eilish’s life, her looks at life in recent years, some footage of her early performances and more.

Music fans spent $40 million through Bandcamp Friday, monthly promotions where the platform was waiving its percentage cut for sales made on the first Friday of each month. Nearly 800,000 fans participated in the platform Bandcamp Fridays this year, which means that fans spent an average of $39. The company has announced an extension of the program through May 2021.

Veteran producer The Twilite Tone - associate to Common, Kanye West, John Legend, and Pusha T. - last month released his debut album 'The Clearing', a “trans-genre” exploration of house, electronic funk and instrumental hip-hop. On the latest episode of Fact's Patch Notes, The Twilite Tone presents an impromptu practice performance, "bobbing and weaving through three of his creations with his equipment of choice".

British bird-enthusiast and producer Cosmo Sheldrake recorded his latest album 'Wake Up Call' with pieces composed entirely from recordings of endangered British birds. Created over a nine year period, the aim of the album is to make people conscious of bird sounds and the loss of wildlife from our lives. Guardian talked to the lovely eccentric: “Once you can identify them as species or individuals, it just turns into this completely insane conversation across huge amounts of time and space. You have these themes essentially rippling through the woods. Everything that happens in a woodland is like a stone dropping into a pond. It sends out these ripples as those birds respond and then respond to those responses … there are so many layers and levels to it".

Lizzo has sparked a body positivity debate after posting videos on TikTok of her 10-day smoothie diet trying to lose weight, Billboard reports. Some fans have commended her efforts on health grounds, while other have criticised the star for encouraging "diet culture". She responded with a follow-up video, explaining that she was "proud of the results" and how "every big girl should do whatever they want with their bodies".

Brooklyn Vegan made a selection of best 45 albums of 2020, with the authority on indie music putting Jeff Rosenstock's 'No Dream' on the top. There are also some expected ones on the list, like Touche Amore and Stay Inside, as well some borderline punk albums like Infant Island and Envy. The top ten are: 10. Teenage Halloween - 'Teenage Halloween'

9. Kill Lincoln - 'Can't Complain'

8. Higher Power - '27 Miles Underwater'

7. Touche Amore - 'Lament'

6. Record Setter - 'I Owe You Nothing'

5. Gulch - 'Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress'

4. Strike Anywhere - 'Nightmares of the West'

3. Stay Inside - 'Viewing'

2. Infant Island - 'Beneath'

1. Jeff Rosenstock - 'NO DREAM'

Several publications - PopMatters, Stereogum, JazzWise, and Bandcamp - have published lists of best jazz albums of 2020. All of the above differ in perspective - modern, classical, crossover jazz - but a few albums do appear on several lists, like Ambrose Akinmusire's 'On The Tender Spot Of Every Calloused Moment', Matthew Shipp's 'The Piano Equation', or Irreversible Entanglements' 'Who Sent You?'.

Snoop Dogg, who had an album named 'Doggystyle' which began with a sketch about bathtub coitus, thinks that Cardi B's 'WAP' is too sexy, as he said in an interview on the newsmag program Central Ave. Snoop, who also once rapped, “she will get G’d if she don’t suck dick,” added of their vaginas, “that’s like your pride and possession. That’s your jewel of your crown". Where did the change come from? -  "I’ma older man”.

Dave Grohl and producer/multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin unveiled the fourth installment in their Hanukkah cover song series with a cover of Peaches' 'Fuck the Pain Away'. Grohl and Kurstin are celebrating Hanukkah with covers of songs by eight prominent Jewish artists - so far the pair has covered Beastie Boys’ epic 'Sabotage', Drake's 'Hotline Bling', and Mountain’s 'Mississippi Queen'.

Reddit has acquired short video platform Dubsmash, one of TikTok’s biggest rivals, which has however struggled for several years after a brief stint of popularity in 2015 during its first incarnation as a lip-sync video app. In 2017 it began transforming itself into a social platform and moved its headquarters from Berlin to Brooklyn. By the beginning of this year, Dubsmash’s share of the United States’ short-form video market was second only to TikTok when counted by app installs. While many of TikTok’s highest-profile stars are white, Dubsmash is known for its large communities of Black and Latinx content creators, TechCrunch reports.

Half of the titles among the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart are Christmas albums for the first time since 2013, Billboard reports. It's Michael Bublé’s 'Christmas', Carrie Underwood’s 'My Gift', Nat King Cole’s 'The Christmas Song', Pentatonix’s 'The Best of Pentatonix Christmas', and Mariah Carey’s 'Merry Christmas'. The top spot of the week is taken by Shawn Mendes and his 'Wonder' with 89,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 10.

Lenny Kravitz and legendary drummer Nate Smith gifted the 10-year-old drum wonder-girl Nandi Bushell a custom Ludwig Legacy Mahogany drum kit, Spin reports. Bushell posted a reaction video with her being really enthusiastic, with Kravitz saying "keep doing what you’re doing. I love watching all of your progress”, and Smith telling the young musician to have fun.

Timothée Chalamet and Pete Davidson played in a funny sketch on Saturday Night Live this weekend, ridiculing SoundCloud rappers, Huff Post reports. In the sketch, Chalamet and Davidson play Guaplord and $mokecheddathaassgetta, two rappers who broke the record of most streams on SoundCloud with 3 billion. They are joined by Queen Latifah (played by Punkie Johnson) and Questlove (played by the actual Questlove) in an XXL Rap Roundtable hosted by Nunya Bizness (Ego Nwodim). Guaplord and $mokecheddathaassgetta infuriate the esteemed panelists - who give sensible comments - with never-ending screeches of “Yeet” and “Skrt,” citing Fall Out Boys, Kia commercials with the rapping hamsters, and TikTok as their biggest musical influences.

Sweet country lady Dolla Parton saved young actor Talia Hill who walked into the path of an oncoming vehicle and the singer "grabbed me and pulled me back”, as the young actress told Inside Edition. Hill dances and sings in the new Netflix original movie 'Christmas on the Square', while Parton plays an angel sent to supernaturally pressure a hardhearted landlord into being a better person. This wasn't Parton's first good deed this year - in spring she donated $1 million to help fund the Moderna vaccine, her Imagination Library recently gave away its 150 millionth book, and she came out this year as an enthusiastic supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, Consequence of Sound reports.

The concert industry in North America alone stands to lose more than $30 billion in 2020, Pollstar reports. Touring and live performances lost $9.7 billion, with the rest of the $30 billion deficit coming from things like sponsorships, ticketing costs, concessions, merch, and ancillary businesses like transportation, restaurants, and hotels.

The first drum kit the late Neil Peart ever played with Rush has been sold at Bonhams auction for exactly $500,312, Exclaim reports. Peart originally purchased the Slingerland double bass drum in Toronto in August 1974, mere weeks after joining Rush. He played the kit on his first three albums with the band as well as during various live performances. The set had been expected to fetch between $100,000 and $150,000.