Brandon Flowers of The Killers has written an op-ed for The Las Vegas Review-Journal supporting Vegas valet parkers:
As crazy as it sounds, my childhood dream was to be a valet parker. For a hard-working Vegas kid too restless for a desk job, valet was it. It wasn’t just about parking cars, it was about being the first face you see when you arrive at the hotel — the hookup who knew the ins and outs of the town.
Tegan and Sara have launched a LGBTQ foundation for women and girls.
Through the Tegan and Sara Foundation, we can be proactive with our support rather than wait to react to discrimination as it occurs. We will support the work of other organizations who have been fighting for LGBTQ and women’s rights by raising funds and awareness for their initiatives. We will fight against the repressive legislation of the incoming Trump administration. We will fight against regressive homophobic, transphobic, and misogynistic legislation. We will fight for economic, racial and gender justice. We started the Foundation to dismantle the systems of inequity that prevent LGBTQ girls and women from reaching their full potential. Together, we can make a difference.
You can donate here.
A new book featuring photos and interviews detailing the various bands from the 1980’s Washington D.C. punk scene is coming out early next year. The book is called Spoke and was compiled by Scott Crawford. It’ll be out on February 2nd.
The Washington Post is reporting that Facebook is rolling out some new tools to help tell users when news stories in their feed may be fake:
“We have a responsibility to reduce the spread of fake news on our platform,” said Facebook’s Adam Mosseri, vice president of product development, in an interview with The Post. Mosseri added that Facebook still wants to be a place where people with all kinds of opinions can express themselves. And Facebook has no interest in being the arbiter of what’s true and what isn’t for its billion users, he said.
Bad Brains recently talked with Rolling Stone and mentioned that they hope to record one final alum.
He recently converted a garage on his property into a recording studio so he could work on various free-jazz projects and record, he hopes, a fitting swan song for the band, titled Mind Power (the group’s original name when they were an aspirational jazz-fusion quartet, before they discovered punk), that would follow up their most recent LP, 2012’s Into the Future.
The bookers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were approached by members of Trump’s Presidential Inaugural Committee in recent weeks with offers of cash or even plush diplomatic posts in exchange for locking in singers.
LOL.
Selena Gomez will be the new face of Coach:
Selena Gomez has signed a huge $10 million deal with Coach to design her own line and become the face of the luxury accessory brand.
Halsey explains the meaning behind the “20:1” phrase she had written on her jacket when she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway:
“The number on this jacket represents the ratio of male-to-female recipients of the Nobel Prize, an award that recognizes great achievements in social, creative and scientific fields,” Halsey told fans on Instagram after the show. “An award that this year finds itself belonging to not a single woman.”
Read More “Halsey Explains the Meaning Behind Her “20:1” Jacket”
Apple’s new wireless AirPods are now available for purchase.
HBO has announced an new documentary, The Defiant Ones, that will cover Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.
HBO has announced it will be airing a four-part documentary on Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, which chronicles their divergent roots and their unlikely partnership as well as addresses the moguls’ influence and impact on pop culture. Directed by Allen Hughes (Menace II Society), The Defiant Ones features in-depth interviews with Dre and Iovine along with many diverse artists.
Crystal Bell of MTV talks with La La Land songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul:
The songwriting duo, who met as undergrads in the University of Michigan’s musical theater program, have a knack for putting life’s messy, uncomfortable moments to song. In La La Land, Pasek and Paul capture a kind of buoyant melancholia only artists could truly understand, as the complicated lives of jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and struggling actress Mia (Emma Stone) romantically intertwine. Chazelle’s ode to dreamers is a lush cinematic experience bathed in brazen technicolor and Stone’s effervescent charisma, but its music is wonderfully simple.
The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that J.J. Abrams is working on a new hourlong space drama for HBO called Glare.
Javier Gullón will pen the script and executive produce the drama, which stems from a blind script deal the Enemy scribe had with Bad Robot. The drama hails from Warner Bros. Television, where Abrams is under a rich overall deal. Ben Stephenson, former BBC head of drama-turned-Bad Robot head of development, will exec produce alongside Abrams and Gullón. Gullón is repped by CAA, Pacific View Management.
Billboard reports on congress’s attempts to criminalize the use of ticket bots nationwide:
Congress sent legislation to President Barack Obama that could make it easier to get tickets to popular shows, sports events and concerts.
Legislation passed by voice vote in the House on Wednesday (Dec. 7) would crack down on computer software used by some ticket brokers to snap up tickets. The so-called “bots” rapidly purchase as many tickets as possible for resale at significant markups, and are one of the reasons why tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert or Hamilton performance can sell out in just a few minutes.
GQ:
He was a legend, a virtuoso, one of the true gods of music. But he was also (at times, anyway) a person in the world like anyone else. He liked to send goofy Internet memes to his friends. He made really good scrambled eggs. He rode his bike a lot, went to the hardware store, called old friends late at night. Chris Heath spoke with band members, fellow artists, and Paisley Park veterans about the life and times of Prince Rogers Nelson—the real Prince, the man so few people got to know before he was gone.
Jon Russell, writing at TechCrunch:
The digital music marriage that many wanted to happen isn’t happening after all. Spotify has given up on its latest effort to buy SoundCloud following months of talks between the two, according to a source at Spotify who is familiar with discussions.
