Music Biz Headlines, July 26, 2021

By Kerry Doole

How Stratford and Shaw brought theatre festivals back to life in Ontario

Last year, Jason Miller had to do “the worst thing” he’d had to do in his entire Covid-19 pandemic experience: phone actors and tell them the Stratford Festival season was cancelled and they were out of work. This year, he gets to do one of the best things in the country’s steady return to a version of normal: help bring live theatre back to life. – Karen Fricker, Toronto Star

This week In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Jennifer Brown, CEO, SOCAN

Jennifer Brown has been a songwriter/publisher advocate since nursery school. As music industry collectives and societies worldwide are expanding services to better provide a broader array of music collections to their publishers and songwriters as innovative one-stop shops, SOCAN tapped her to be its CEO in June 2021. Brown had held an interim CEO role since April 2020. – Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access

MuchMusic came back on social media – but is it any good?

We binged the new MuchMusic on TikTok and Ed The Sock's YouTube channel NewMusicNation to see what's working and what's not. – Richard Trapunski, NOW

Jim Cuddy says that playing music with his sons is the best thing ever

The Blue Rodeo musician has been doing gigs with familiar collaborators – his sons Devin Cuddy and Sam Polley. – Steve Newton, Georgia Straight

Breagh Isabel’s “Girlfriends” may be the song of Covid summer 

The former Port Cities band member is solo, signed to Warner and singing of uncertainty.  – Morgan Mullin,  The Coast

After nearly 50 years, record producer Lance Anderson finally got his music degree

Anderson finished his last course at Western University in 1977, but only graduated this year. – Rebecca Zandbergen, CBC News

Travelling blues: How Shakura S'Aida's globe-trotting past and present helped her put her own stamp on the genre

When Shakura S’Aida is asked about the musical direction of an as-yet-unreleased album and whether it will continue her exploration of the blues genre, the answer is far from straight-forward. – Eric Volmers, Calgary Herald

A profile of songwriter/rapper/activist Dakota Bear

The rapper/poet speaks with the force of an orator and activist born decades ago… but only four years ago, he was beginning the path to overcome addiction and reclaim his stolen identity. – Errol Nazareth, Words & Music

Jerry Granelli, drummer with the Vince Guaraldi Trio, dies at 80

Jerry Granelli, the American-born Canadian jazz drummer best known for playing with the Vince Guaraldi Trio on the beloved soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, has died. He was 80. Throughout a career spanning more than 60 years, the highly regarded musician recorded more than 30 albums and performed alongside the likes of Charlie Haden, Mose Allison, Sonny Stitt, Sly Stone and Ornette Coleman. –  Adam Feibel, JazzFM

Fresh Tracks: Hunting down Edmonton's new music releases

Edmonton has always been a dynamic music city. Venues, promoters, studios and fans create a strong space for artists to make their mark, and in turn, the tunes keep flowing. Here are some fresh picks. – Jenny Fenik, Edmonton Journal

Shipyards Live brings music, food, and art to North Van's waterfront on summer weekends 

Shipyards Live will bring eight weeks of music, culture, food, and family activities to North Vancouver's iconic waterfront this summer. Every Friday and Saturday, from July 30 to September 18, the daylong events will feature live music--including R&B, soul, funk, country, pop, jazz, and Brazilian samba. – Steve Newton, Georgia Straight

International

China regulator bars Tencent from exclusive rights in online music

China's market regulator on Saturday said it would bar Tencent Holdings Ltd  from exclusive music copyright agreements and fined the company for unfair market practices in the online music market after its acquisition of China Music Corporation. The Chinese government has been stepping up antitrust actions in recent months against the country's large tech companies, including a record $2.75 billion fine on e-commerce giant Alibaba. – Reuters

Sony Music sues $1 BN-valued fitness brand Gymshark for copyright infringements

Sony Music Entertainment (SME) has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against UK-born fitness apparel brand Gymshark. The fitness firm, founded by Ben Francis in 2012, was valued at approximately $1.3bn in August last year after selling a 21% stake to US-based General Atlantic. Gymshark is currently expanding into the US. – MBW

Soundcloud, Audiomack, 7 digital streams finally added to select Billboard charts

Billboard and MRC Data has finally added plays on SoundCloud and several other music streaming services to select chart calculations. – Hypebot 

Stadium shows return with Hella Mega and Rolling Loud

As the Delta variant triggers an alarming rise in Covid cases across the nation, Rolling Loud Miami and the Hella Mega Tour kicked off the return of massive stadium concerts. Hella Mega, a rock roadshow headlined by Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer, launched its national baseball stadium tour Saturday at Arlington's Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. – Hits Daily Double

Lollapalooza will go on despite rising Covid-19 cases

Lollapalooza, the massive music festival that routinely attracts more than 100,000 people per day to its stages, starts this week. The four-day event returns to Grant Park after being canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the more transmissible delta variant driving a rise in cases in the city and around the U.S., the festival will take place at full capacity. – Blair Paddock, WTTW

James Brown's family settles 15-year legal battle over estate

The Godfather of Soul’s estate has been valued anywhere between $5-100 million. – Brian Welk, The Wrap

John Legend, Keith Urban, Angélique Kidjo lead ‘Imagine’ performance at Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony

Hans Zimmer composed the new take on the John Lennon, Yoko Ono classic, which also featured Alejandro Sanz and the Suginami Junior Chorus. – Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone 

Country star Morgan Wallen addresses his use of racial slur

In his first interview in six months, disgraced country star Morgan Wallen said it was ignorant of him to use a racial slur. During an interview with Michael Strahan on ABC’s “Good Morning America“ on Friday, Wallen said he didn’t use it in a derogatory manner, but it was still wrong. – Kristin Hall, AP

Morgan Wallen launches More Than My Hometown Foundation

The country star has created the More Than My Hometown Foundation, named after his fourth consecutive No. 1 single. The foundation was formed to help children, adolescents and teenagers find families that can provide warm, loving homes that can rebuild their confidence, self-belief, and to feel forever loved, with a forever home. – Buddy Iahn, The Music Universe

The Rolling Stones announce 2021 U.S. tour

The No Filter tour is back, scheduled to go ahead this fall, but with no Canadian shows.  – Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork

Data shows TikTok is a more powerful music discovery platform than Spotify

After looking at the latest stats from TikTok, it’s not a stretch to say that TikTok may be a more powerful driver of music discovery than Spotify.– Hypebot

‘They wanted her to shut up and be a widow’: How Rita Marley overcame tragedy and revived the family brand

After her husband Bob Marley died, she had to pick up the pieces and thrive in the male-dominated worlds of music and Rastafari. As the Marley matriarch turns 75, a look back at her vast — and sometimes controversial — legacy. – David Browne, Rolling Stone

Thelonious Monk estate condemns ‘unauthorized’ biopic; Yasiin Bey steps back

On Wednesday, it was announced that Yasiin Bey, the musician formerly known as Mos Def, would play legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk in an upcoming biopic. However, T.S. Monk — Thelonious Monk’s son and the chairman of the company that runs the Thelonious Monk estate — said less than 24 hours later that the “project and its announcement are totally unauthorized.” Bey is reconsidering his position. – JazzFM

I Know A Woman music collective provides home for female creatives

What started as the song “I Know a Woman” – to be released next year on International Woman’s Day March 8– has morphed into a music collective aimed to lift up women and their male counterparts in the music industry. The I Know a Woman website and nonprofit officially launched yesterday and an album is expected next year via I Know a Woman Records. – Forbes

Historic Bruce Springsteen’s No Nukes performance documents early E Street Band

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed two sets on 21 and 22 September 1979 at Madison Square Garden. The 21 September show featured the live debut of ‘The River’. Over five days No Nukes also featured Jackson Browne, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Bonnie Raitt, Gil-Scott Heron, Peter Tosh, Ry Cooder, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Doobie Brothers, Graham Nash, Crosby Stills & Nash, James Taylor, Poco, Bill Payne of Little Feat and more. – Paul Cashmere, Noise11

I don’t know why Jackie Leven isn’t better known – he should be revered

As the late Scottish troubadour gets his first greatest hits album, novelist and collaborator Ian Rankin recalls his relationship with this chronicler of alienation and fragile masculinity. – The Guardian