Music Biz Headlines, May 31, 2019
Dears frontman Murray Lightburn (pictured) goes solo, Ralph Murphy is remembered, and contrasting takes on Raptors fan Drake. Also in the headlines are Elton John, TSO, Dave Stewart, Spice Girls, Duff McKagan, Will Smith, metadata, Willie Nelson, and Moby.
By Kerry Doole
Oh, Dears. The Montréal-based indie rock band’s founding frontman released his second solo album Hear Me Out earlier this year and discovered an unexpected dividend during the sessions: freedom. – Nick Krewen, Toronto Star
The best concerts and music festivals in Toronto this summer
Vampire Weekend, NXNE and the Rolling Stones are just some of the shows we can't wait to see. – Staff, NOW
Nashville songwriter, producer and 'door opener' to fellow Canadians Ralph Murphy dies at 75
Kind, wise and generous with his time are the recurring sentiments used to describe songwriter, producer, educator and author Ralph Murphy who died May 28 of pneumonia in Nashville. He was 75. – Karen Bliss, Billboard
Rocketman: Fab Elton John biopic as surreal as the real life of its subject
Rocketman is as fabulously mercurial and debauched as its subject; anything less would have been futile and disappointing. – Kim Hughes, Original Cin
Drake, in his heartfelt and passionate defence of the Raptors and all things Toronto, perfectly mirrors the city itself
Though Drake gets an outrageous amount of press, very little of it is devoted to how much good he does on behalf of the side. By “side,” I don’t mean the Raptors alone. I mean the team, the city, the country, the whole shemozzle. – Cathal Kelly, Globe and Mail
On his worst behaviour: NBA calls Raptors about Drake's courtside antics
Toronto is being asked to rein in the rapper, who has drawn attention throughout playoffs with his antics. – CP
Toronto Symphony and Louis Lortie at their brilliant, colourful best
What could easily have been a grab-bag of musical showpieces was remarkably coherent. Even the new work on the program, the world premiere of Colour of Chaos by Canadian composer Jordan Pal, sounded as if it was written to complement The Pines of Rome. – John Terauds Toronto Star
Dave Stewart on what sets 'Songland' apart from the reality TV music pack
Eurythmics co-founder, songwriter and entrepreneur discusses the new NBC talent show he co-created years ago and got rolling in 2016 when NBC put a call out to songwriters to apply. –Karen Bliss, Billboard
lnternational
What's behind the Spice Girls' sound problems?
If you believe everything you read, the sound at the Spice Girls' recent comeback shows has been zig-ah-zig-awful. Some fans who attended the opening night in Dublin complained about muffled vocals and being unable to hear the band speaking between songs. – Mark Savage, BBC
Duff McKagan defends controversial Guns N’ Roses songs
The Guns N’ Roses bassist is disputing the idea that several of the group’s ’80s hits were sexist. McKagan claims that several of the group’s more notorious songs were misunderstood, including the “tongue-in-cheek” tracks It’s So Easy and Used to Love Her. – Maeve Mcdermott USA Today
Will Smith's Genie rap is just one of many bizarre musical moments in the new 'Aladdin'
Way back in 2017, comedian Demi Adejuyigbe posited what it would sound like if there was a rap for the upcoming live-action remake of Aladdin, in which Smith plays the genie. He proved prescient. – Esther Zuckerman, Thrillist
Metadata is the biggest little problem for the music industry
It’s a crisis that has left, by some estimations, billions on the table unpaid to musicians. – Dani Deahl, The Verge
Moby cancels book tour after outing himself as an arsehole
Moby has cancelled his upcoming book tour after disgracing himself by writing sleazy unconfirmed and unauthorized comments about Natalie Portman in his new memoir. – Paul Cashmere, Noise11.com
Willie Nelson releases new music video dedicated to his rescue horses
The country legend has put out a new video for his song Ride Me Back Home. The video was filmed at Luck Ranch, Nelson's ranch where over 70 rescue horses roam free. – Mary Claire Patton, KSAT
No cash? No problem! Austin testing out ways to tip bands with credit cards
We've all been there — listening to live music, you see a tip jar go around, but you feel bad because you don't have any cash. The City of Austin is now testing out a new program to solve that problem. It is accepting applications ‘Tip the Band,’ a new digital tipping program. – Yoojin Cho, KXAN
Spanish collection society SGAE, plagued by corruption claims, kicked out of global PRO body CISAC
This one’s been a long time coming. The General Assembly of CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, has voted to expel Spanish collection society SGAE from its ranks for a full year. The expulsion follows complaints from publishers of ‘discriminatory treatment of rightsholders and unfair practices relating to the distribution of royalties’. Tim Ingham, MBW
