Link - PAGE 249

Pandora Unveils New Premium Streaming Service

Pandora
Jason Tate

Pandora has unveiled its new on-demand music streaming service dubbed “Pandora Premium.”

It isn’t a secret that Pandora was planning to launch a full-fledged Spotify competitor. The company said as much last year when it bought Rdio, which had filed for bankruptcy. But today, at a lavish event in New York City, Pandora gave a small group of VIPs and reporters a look at the new streaming service. It’s called Pandora Premium, and, as you’d expect, it offers on-demand access to a massive music catalo. And it looks a lot like Rdio, from the brief glance we have seen so far. But Pandora is leveraging the years of information it has about how its users listen to music to provide the all-important recommendations necessary to help people find new songs to listen to.

Amazon Go: Retail Stores With No Checkouts

amazon
Jason Tate

Amazon:

Amazon Go is a new kind of store with no checkout required. We created the world’s most advanced shopping technology so you never have to wait in line. With our Just Walk Out Shopping experience, simply use the Amazon Go app to enter the store, take the products you want, and go! No lines, no checkout. (No, seriously.)

Uhm, wow.

The Weeknd Debuts at Number One

Jason Tate

The Weeknd debuts, unsurprisingly, at number one on the Billboard charts this week.

The Weeknd blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with his new album, Starboy, earning 348,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 1, according to Nielsen Music. That’s the third-largest debut of 2016, behind only the arrivals of Drake’s Views (1.04 million units) and Beyonce’s Lemonade (653,000). Of the Weeknd’s overall start, 209,000 were in traditional album sales.

Jimmy Kimmel to Host 2017 Academy Awards

TV
Jason Tate

Variety is reporting that Jimmy Kimmel will be hosting the 2017 Academy Awards.

The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” star has hosted major several awards shows in the past, notably the recent 2016 Emmy Awards, as well as the 2012 Emmys. Kimmel has also hosted the 2007 ESPYS and the American Music Awards on ABC five times. This will be his first time hosting the Oscars.

AFI’s Jade Puget Talks About Upcoming Album

AFI
Jason Tate

Alternative Press talked with AFI’s Jade Puget about their upcoming album.

Yeah, definitely. The whole recording was different, especially with me stepping up to produce after all this time. I’d compose the entire song and demo it out before we hit the studio, so a lot of the production was done early on. Matt was awesome and we worked really well together—that whole thing was very different for me and very different for the band. In the studio, we tried to make it flow and work very naturally because we don’t love being in the studio. That’s the work part of it and we love the creative part, the writing, and the enjoyment part is going on the road. So I did the vocals with Davey [Havok], just he and I in a room together while the drums were being tracked. Dave and I have always just wanted to do the vocals just the two of us and make a record like that. It was awesome and I loved it.

Kate Nash Shares an Open Letter About the Dakota Pipeline Signed by 122 Musicians

Jason Tate

Sia, Karen O, members of Green Day and Radiohead, and over a hundred other musicians, have signed an open letter written by Kate Nash to President Obama regarding the North Dakota Access Pipeline:

We are writing to express our shock at the treatment of the people of Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota. We are deeply disturbed by the police actions that have been taking place, where non violent protests have been and continue to be met with extremely aggressive tactics including; being shot with water canons in below freezing temperatures, chemical weapons, rubber bullets, and attack dogs. These are the same inhumane methods used during WWII and the Civil Rights Movement.

Morrissey Speaks Out Against New £5 Note

Morrissey
Jason Tate

Morrissey speaks out via True to You about the Bank of England’s new non-vegan £5 note.

If it had been revealed by the Bank of England that the new British Five Pound note contained slices of cat or dog, the country would be in an uproar. But because we have been trained to accept the vicious slaughter of cows, sheep and pigs, the UK media can only make light of the use of tallow in the new British fiver because animal slaughter is thought to be outside of the human grasp and concern. However, whether you care about animals or not, the use of their sliced bodies in the new five pound note evokes a mood and a vibration that displays a gaping hole in human intelligence and in the human race as a compassionate idea. It also tells us that the Bank Of England has no understanding of doing anything in our time that revives the human image from basic savagery. If you feel that the use of animal flesh should not be a moral issue, then you should assert your conviction by donating your own body to the Bank Of England for decorative use in future five pound notes.

Drake Tops Spotify’s Most Streamed List of 2016

Jason Tate

Drake is Spotify’s most streamed artist for the second year in a row.

“Drake has been unstoppable this year – he’s a true global superstar,” said Stefan Blom, Spotify’s Chief Content & Chief Strategy Officer. ”With the top album and the top song this year, as well as his successful Summer Sixteen tour, Drake continues to engage his fans in a way that only Drake can; it’s no surprise he is dominating the music industry.”

Panic! at the Disco grabs the most emo plays.