Music Biz Headlines, Nov. 13, 2017
StubHub and Viagogo offices raided in ticket touting investigation
Competition and Markets Authority officials seize data relating to schemes that allegedly benefit industrial-scale touts – Rob Davies, The Guardian
As ticket bundles become a go-to chart boost, not everyone is celebrating
Packaging albums with concert seats can bump artists' chart positions, but promoters sweat higher ticket prices and premature tour sales – Dave Brooks, Billboard
Ontario should pass law shutting down scalping bots: Editorial
The Paradise Papers show just how big business automated ticket scalping is. Ontario should pass legislation to stop it, but fans shouldn’t expect tickets will suddenly become cheap and easily available –Toronto Star
Royalties from thousands of song classics tucked away tax-free
The Paradise Papers revelations uncover a music catalogue based in Jersey that collected millions from songs by Duke Ellington, Sheryl Crow, The Trammps – Cecile S. Gallego, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
The first AI pop album is on its way
YouTube sensation Taryn Southern’s album composed entirely on artificial-intelligence platforms sparks a conversation about music’s future – Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
U2 received a Global Icon award at the MTV Europe Music Awards on Sunday night and they also release a new album on December 1 but recent controversies over their financial dealings may be in danger of overshadowing the band’s real business: making music – Alan Corr, rte
Transgender heavy metal singer defeats Virginia’s ‘chief homophobe’
Danica Roem from the band Cab Ride Home defeated Del. Bob Marshall, the architect of Virginia’s anti-trans bathroom bill, in the recent election – Michael Stone, patheos.com
What singer-songwriter Jonathan Richman is watching, reading and enjoying
On the eve of a Toronto show, US cult hero offers some recommendations – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
Taylor Swift: Reputation review – superb songcraft meets extreme drama
It may be mired in bitterness and gossip, but the pop star’s songwriting smarts and lyrical prowess are impossible to deny on her sixth album – Alexis Petridis, The Guardian
Chris Brown and R. Kelly's new collaboration shows how toxic men still rule music
A Chris Brown/R. Kelly song has no right to exist in 2017. This shouldn’t be a controversial statement to anyone with a cursory knowledge of the two men’s misdeeds – Maeve McDermott, USA Today
Iskwé’s fight for the greater good
The Indigenous artist uses trip hop and folk music to declare a call to action on The Fight Within – Brennan McCracken, The Coast
Why The Velvet Underground’s landmark debut album still resonates after 50 years
The Velvet Underground & Nico comes home this week, as John Cale and guests prepare to play it in its entirety in New York Ed Vulliamy, The Observer
Country music is becoming the soundtrack of a nonexistent, apolitical no-place
So all of our planet’s problems will go away if we stop paying attention to them? – Chris Richards, Washington Post
Prince's sound engineer, Susan Rogers: 'He needed to be the alpha male to get things done'
One of a tiny number of female recording engineers, Rogers was there at birth of some of pop’s classics, including When Doves Cry. She recalls the man she knew – and shares her theory about why he loved working with women – Ben Beaumont-Thomas, The Guardian
Singer Martha Wainwright thinks twice about baring her soul in her songs
She calls her current album Goodnight City “an opportunity to step away from the autobiographical 12-song album which can be overwhelming" – Roger Levesque, Edmonton Journal
Annie Leibovitz, in camera
The photographer discusses her new retrospective collection, Portraits 2005-2016, a document at once critical and celebratory – Russell Smith, The Globe and Mail
