The RIAA have released their 2020 mid-year report. One interesting tidbit:
Vinyl album revenues of $232 million were 62% of total physical revenues, marking the first time vinyl exceeded CDs for such a period since the 1980’s, though it still only accounted for 4% of total music recorded music revenues.
Alex Williams, writing at The New York Times:
“We’ve broken so many records,” Mr. Mooney said. “It will be the biggest year of sales volume in Fender history, record days of double-digit growth, e-commerce sales and beginner gear sales. I never would have thought we would be where we are today if you asked me back in March.”
NME:
Filing fees for an O visa, which applies to “Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement,” will increase from $460 to $705, a rise of 53%. The P visa, which can also be used by family members of the individuals, will increase by to a total cost of $695.
Visa application waiting times are set to increase to 15 business days, but a fast track service that costs over $1000 will be available for those needing their application to be dealt with more quickly.
Lynn Gunn of PVRIS talked with Alt Press about her latest album:
My ultimate intention with everything, not just music and career, but life right now, is to feel [as] free as possible, and just be, and be what I know I am and what I’m comfortable being. That’s very different from what I felt like I needed to be when we first started playing music.
Especially with making this album, I was flying around constantly and traveling around and going in different sessions alone and tracking alone and doing everything really singularly, just due to circumstances and how things are playing out within our scheduling. This album has been the most…I’m putting air quotes around “solo venture.” And so it felt the most appropriate to finally have everything align with that and to be real and open about it.
Garbage will release a new album next year:
We have a new record being mixed as we speak that’s going to come out next year. We’ve got three more songs to go and then we’re done. And then we’ll concentrate on the artwork and start planning for next year. We were really excited. We were talking with our team this morning, and things are still looking hopeful.
Comedy Central announced Wednesday that it has ordered a revival of the ’90s animated series. The move comes amid a significant push into adult animation at ViacomCBS’ entertainment and youth group, which comprises most of the company’s cable brands and is headed by Chris McCarthy. The unit also on Wednesday revealed that Grant Gish, a veteran of Marvel Studios and Fox Animation, would join as head of adult animation. […]
The new version will be adult-oriented. It will not, however, involve “Ren & Stimpy” creator John Kricfalusi, whom a source tells Variety will have no creative input into and will receive no financial remuneration from the new series. Kricfalusi was accused in a 2018 Buzzfeed article of sexually abusing teenage girls.
Brian Fallon, writing at Spin:
In a time when concerts may feel like a distant memory, I find myself thinking of the ones I’ve seen — either in person or on film — that stands out as a reminder to keep me company during the waiting. With that, let’s look back at a career-defining, career-inspiring concert that was arguably undefeated among Gods and humans. I’m talking about the cold, presumably damp, and absolutely electrifying night of Nov. 18, 1975 at Hammersmith Odeon (as it was then called) in London, England. This is the site where a virtually unknown (at least to British audiences at the time), Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band would take a crowd of 3,000+ (seated) souls and usher them into the upper gates of holiness, known as New Jersey.
The letter calls for major political party committees in the U.S. to “establish clear policies requiring campaigns to seek consent of featured recording artists, songwriters and copyright owners before publicly using their music in a political or campaign setting.” […]
The letter’s signees include the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Sia, Regina Spektor, R.E.M, Lorde, Blondie, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Rosanne Cash, Lionel Richie, Pearl Jam and Green Day.
Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans are set to star in The Gray Man, with AGBO’s Joe & Anthony Russo directing their first blockbuster since setting the all-time global box office record with Avengers: Endgame two years ago. The intention here is to create a new franchise with a James Bond level of scale and a budget upward of $200 million.
Sarah Perez, writing at TechCrunch:
Facebook is preparing to launch officially licensed music videos on its social network in the U.S. next month, in a direct challenge to YouTube. In materials reviewed by TechCrunch, Facebook informed Page owners linked to artists they’ll need to toggle on a new setting to add their music videos to their page ahead of an August 1st deadline, at which point Facebook will automatically create a page of their videos if no action had been taken.
Artists will not have to manually upload their videos or even provide links, Facebook told the artist Page admins. Instead, by enabling the new setting, artists are giving Facebook permission to add music videos to their Page, where they can be discovered by fans on the Page’s Videos tab. This library will include both the artist’s own official videos and those they’re featured in, Facebook explained in its marketing materials.
Lil Baby still has the number one album in the country:
It sits tight for a fourth straight week with 70,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 2 (down less than 1 percent), according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. It spent its first week at No. 1 when it debuted atop the chart dated March 14.
Scott Meslow, writing at GQ:
It’s one of many throwaways, when Wayne pops into a music shop to try out a guitar. He starts to jam, but barely get off a few notes before the clerk grabs the neck of the guitar and points to a sign hanging nearby: NO STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. “No ‘Stairway’! Denied” says Wayne as he turns to the camera. […]
It was only later that I discovered the movie originally included a much more recognizable version of the song—but only in the original cut. At some point after the U.S. release, Warner Music Group and Led Zeppelin refused the rights to even the first few notes of “Stairway” for broadcast, video, or foreign release, resulting in the hasty, patchy edit. “With ‘Stairway to Heaven’ we were told that we could only use two notes before we’d have to pay $100,000, so to sell that he’s gonna play ‘Stairway to Heaven’ in two notes is pretty difficult,” said director Penelope Spheeris.
This article is from 2007, but I had never heard this story before.
Most of the new policies shift financial burdens to artists: For example, the company wants to decrease the monetary guarantees promised to artists before an event by 20% across the board. Live Nation also says that if a concert is cancelled due to poor ticket sales, it will give artists 25% of the guarantee (as opposed to the 100% that promoters are currently expected to pay). Moreover, if an artist cancels a performance in breach of the agreement, the artist will pay the promoter two times the artist’s fee — a type of penalty that, as Billboard notes, is unheard of in the live music industry.
“We are fully aware of the significance of these changes, and we did not make these changes without serious consideration,” Live Nation wrote. The company did not respond to request for comment.
Maybe the CEO didn’t need to be making three million a year.
The National Independent Venue Association is reporting that, based on a survey of their members, 90% of independent venues report they will close permanently in a few months without federal funding.
Robert Wachter, writing on Medium:
Why is masking so difficult to maintain among the public? In Asia, face masks are now seen as a normal accessory. In the U.S., they’re still seen as awkward and stigmatizing. Historically, they have been a sign of illness or danger. This aversion, plus the fact that the benefit of masks mostly accrues to others, is why we need to make mask-wearing mandatory as long as SARS-CoV-2 is active in our communities, at least in closed spaces (as San Francisco has done).
One of the most common questions is whether it is necessary to wear a mask when walking or exercising outside. Empiric and simulation studies have shown that there is practically zero risk of viral spread when one is outdoors and keeping a distance of greater than six feet from others. I personally don’t wear a mask when walking the dog (but I do keep one with me just in case I encounter someone at close range). But I always wear a mask inside, or if an encounter within six feet is likely.
