Billboard Charts to Include Facebook Music Video Streams

Billboard

Billboard:

Streams of officially licensed music videos on Facebook, which were added to the social platform on Aug. 1, 2020, in the U.S., will soon be factored into the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard 200, Artist 100 and Billboard Global 200 charts, as well as all other charts that incorporate streaming data, it was announced Wednesday.

The changes will take effect with the charts dated March 27, reflecting sales and streams from March 12-18. Only data from officially licensed music videos will be factored in, with user-generated content excluded from the tallies. Facebook video plays are categorized as ad-supported on-demand streams and represent U.S.-based activity only. Within MRC Data’s Music Connect platform, Facebook videos will be included among On-Demand Video totals, with the data visible beginning with activity on March 5.

Well, at least Facebook’s never been in trouble for overstating video metrics before.

SoundCloud Debuts New Payout Model

Soundcloud

SoundCloud:

Fan-powered royalties are a more equitable and transparent way for independent artists who monetize directly with SoundCloud to get paid. The more fans listen on SoundCloud, and listen to your music, the more you get paid.

Under the old model, money from your dedicated fans goes into a giant pool that’s paid out to artists based on their share of total streams. That model mostly benefits mega stars.

Under fan-powered royalties, you get paid based on your fans’ actual listening habits. The more of their time your dedicated fans listen to your music, the more you get paid. This model benefits independent artists.

Steve Klein, Ex-New Found Glory Guitarist, Convicted of Indecent Exposure

Legal

Matt Fountain, writing at The Tribune:

A founding member of the pop-punk band New Found Glory was convicted of felony indecent exposure in San Luis Obispo Superior Court last month after accepting a plea agreement in a case that had idled for more than six years.

Stephen Lee “Steve” Klein, who lived in Atascadero, was charged in 2014 with five felony counts of lewd acts on a child, as well as a count each of contact with intent to commit a sex offense and possession of child pornography, stemming from sexual two-way chat room videos involving underage girls found on an external hard drive at Klein’s home.

At a trial-setting conference Feb. 9, Klein agreed to plead no contest to an added felony charge of indecent exposure, and the remaining charges were dismissed. […]

His attorney, Ilan Funke-Bilu, said Monday that if his client successfully complies with the terms of his probation for one year, his felony conviction will be reduced to a misdemeanor and his probation terminated.

The 41-year-old will be required to register as a sex offender for at least 10 years, however, Funke-Bilu said.

Martin Johnson Talks With Alt. Press

The Night Game

Martin Johnson of The Night Game talks with Alt. Press about the upcoming album:

When you’re a kid and you’re posing in the mirror with your first guitar and you’re thinking about being a rock star, you’re really not thinking about maintenance. You’re thinking about glory and telling your story and being honest and your internal torture and what that means and allowing the world to hear that and see that and do something great. And then you end up in this 12 by 12 box with no windows—in the major-label guts creating songs just to pay the mortgage. And it was like, “All right, let me see if I can do something great.” I said no to working on a lot of big projects in 2014 and just said I’m going to quit, or I’m going to make something that I believe in and that I feel is real, and I’m grateful I did it. I found my love for music again, and I found my love for creating and the art of it. I guess the biggest thing for the Night Game was I just detached from the results. I never really detached from results before. My personal validation has always depended on whether or not people like the song. Who I felt like I was as a man really depended [on], “Do you like my work?” And with the Night Game, it was like, “Do I like my work?”

Paramount+ Announces Docu-Series With Dave Grohl and his Mom

Dave Grohl

Variety:

A new music-based unscripted show is on tap from Paramount Plus as well: “From Cradle to Stage,” which will be directed by Foo Fighters’ and Nirvana’s Dave Grohl and be hosted by the rocker and his mom. The series is based on Virginia Hanlon Grohl’s book “From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars” and will feature a different musician and the woman who raised him on each of its six episodes.

Morgan Wallen Still Tops the Charts

Billboard:

Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album snares a sixth total week, all in a row, at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Feb. 27), capturing the most weeks atop the list for a male artist’s album since Drake’s Views logged 13 nonconsecutive weeks in the lead in 2016 (May 21-Oct. 8, 2016-dated charts).

😐

How Tumblr Teens Are Bringing Early-‘10s Alternative Back to the Charts

Billboard:

Alt-rock bands from the early ‘10s, like Arctic Monkeys and The Neighbourhood — who each have multiple catalog hits currently experiencing TikTok-accelerated spikes in streaming consumption — are necessary accessories for a current “e-girl” in the same way a choker and black eyeshadow are. […]

Popular songs of that early ’10s era — like The Neighbourhood’s “Sweater Weather” and “Daddy Issues,” along with Arctic Monkeys’ “Do I Wanna Know?” and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” — are proving to be enduring, thanks in large part to continued exposure on TikTok. The two Neighbourhood songs have both climbed into the top 20 on Billboard’s Rock Streaming Songs chart (“Sweater Weather” even reaching a No. 3 peak in January). “Sweater Weather” also climbs to a staggering new peak this week of No. 62 on Billboard’s Global 200 chart, ranking the biggest songs in the world from all genres, while both Arctic Monkeys songs have also made appearances this year on the international listing.

All Time Low Are at an All Time High

 Gab Ginsberg, writing at Billboard about the story behind All Time Low’s smash hit “Monsters:”

Next, ATL and FBR intend to continue chipping away at pop radio and Hot AC, where Poleman says “Monsters” will continue to grow (“The more it gets familiar, the more it’s going to continue to go up the charts”). The band recently returned to the studio, too, and Poleman already sounds excited about the early material he’s heard. “I think they’ll be able to follow this up with another hit and then hopefully a longer string,” he hints. “They’re in a good groove right now.”

While the band may be busy plotting their next creative move (“it’s felt good to stay sharp and keep the gears turning since we haven’t had anything else, really, to do,” says Gaskarth of being back in the studio), they’re also taking the time to appreciate the moment for what it is. “It’s wild to us that sixteen years into a career, we’re having a song resonate with people the way it is,” he says. “It’s amazing to still be making music that feels current and relevant and has the place in the world.”

Brooklyn Nine-Nine to End With Season 8

TV

The Hollywood Reporter:

The beloved cop comedy starring Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher will wrap with its previously announced eighth season. The final season will consist of 10 episodes — its lowest order ever. What’s more, the series from creators Dan Goor and Mike Schur (Parks and Recreation) will not air during the 2020-21 broadcast season. The Universal Television entry will return at a date to be determined during the 2021-22 broadcast season.

Sources say NBC opted to delay Brooklyn’s return in order to give the beloved and award-winning comedy a proper sendoff. NBC has already set its “midseason” slate as part of a crowded broadcast calendar in April and has, pandemic challenges notwithstanding, the Olympics in the summer. Rather than bury it in August, NBC will use the Olympics to market the final season and give the show a big promotional push for an expected 2021-22 premiere.

More Details of Bruce Springsteen’s DWI Emerge

Bruce Springsteen

The NY Post is reporting Bruce Springsteen was arrested for a DWI due to taking one shot of tequila:

The “Born to Run” icon, 71, had been riding his motorcycle on the peninsula on Nov. 14 when he “was spotted by fans who asked him to pull over and take some pictures,” according to a source close to Springsteen. 

“Bruce stopped, took the pictures, then a fan offered him a shot of liquor, which he took, while sitting on his bike, which was stationary,” the source said.

“Park Police saw what happened and they immediately pulled Springsteen over as he drove away.”

Springsteen was charged with DWI, reckless driving and consuming alcohol in a closed area, a spokesperson for the National Park Service said.

The Asbury Park Press reported Springsteen’s blood-alcohol content was 0.02 — just a quarter of New Jersey’s legal limit — when he was arrested. 

‘Powerpuff Girls’ Live-Action Series Among CW Pilot Orders

Variety:

The “Powerpuff Girls” live-action series was first announced as being in development back in August. Based on the Cartoon Network series created by Craig McCracken, the new series sees the pint-sized superheroes as disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting. Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever?

The project hails from writers and executive producers Heather Regnier and Diablo Cody, with Cody executive producing via Vita Vera Films. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and David Madden will executive produce via Berlanti Productions. Erika Kennair will produce. Warner Bros. Television will produce.

Hayley Williams Interview With American Songwriter

Hayley Williams

Hayley Williams talked with American Songwriter about her latest album:

For all the beauty she’s uncovered, Williams holds herself accountable, especially in her darkest, most harrowing moments—emotionally and physically. “Good Grief” plays upon far more than her psychological state, digging into the very real, often frightening, physiological effects of grief that we often ignore. There’s no such thing as good grief / Haven’t eaten in three weeks, she sings. Skin and bones when you’re not near me / I’m all skeleton and melody.

In its countless forms, grief can wreak havoc on the body, from an inability to get out of bed to forgetting to eat, and Williams’ awareness of her own cycles has been illuminating. “It’s hard for me to have perspective on my own grief when I’m going through it. I’m so thankful I’ve been home and that I have a family that’s honest,” she says. “My mom calls me out on things with love. It’s the same with my small circle of friends. We’re honest with each other. We tell each other when we notice somebody’s slipping.

“I wouldn’t go as far to say I have an eating disorder. When I’m really sad, I’m not hungry. It’s amazing what depression or various forms of grief can do to a person. You do forget how physical it is. When I’m talking about mental wellness, you have to look for physical signs, too,” she continues. “Your body is usually such a wise instrument. It’s so technical, and it can tell you things and reveal things to you. When I’m disconnected from my physical body, that’s when I’m not connected mentally either.”

This will apparently be the last interview she does for this album cycle, for now.

Read More “Hayley Williams Interview With American Songwriter”

Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood Writes Op-Ed About Post-Brexit Touring

Radiohead

Colin Greenwood of Radiohead penned a op-ed for The Guardian:

What will playing in Europe be like now, after Brexit? I spoke to several old friends who’ve had years of experience planning Radiohead tours. Adrian, our touring accountant, said it will be more clunky and expensive. Before Brexit, a carnet (a list of goods going in and out of the country) was just needed for Norway and Switzerland. Now it would be more like playing South America, where each country has its systems for dealing with “third countries” like us. Adrian said a £10,000 guitar would need a carnet that would cost about £650 plus VAT. The costs of travel and accommodation are already high, and the extra paperwork and expenses would rise quickly for a touring orchestra.

SoundCloud to Let Fans Pay Artists Directly

Soundcloud

Bilboard:

SoundCloud is preparing to introduce a new payment system that would allow fans to pay artists directly, multiple sources close to the situation tell Billboard, setting what could be a game-changing precedent for the streaming world.

The move would make SoundCloud the first major music streaming service to embrace a direct payment model, a strategy that has been popular with Chinese streaming services like Tencent Music’s QQ Music for years, and one that subscription services like Patreon and OnlyFans have built their businesses around, as musicians and fans around the world clamor for bigger digital music distributors to do the same. A source close to the company says SoundCloud is still exploring several alternative streaming payout models and will announce its plans before the end of the first quarter of 2021.