By Kerry Doole
Side Door founders Dan Mangan and Laura Simpson hit Dragon's Den, leave with $500K deal
Dragon’s Den fans might have caught Vancouver’s Dan Mangan and Halifax-based Laura Simpson not only taking the spotlight on the show but walking away with a $500,000 deal. The two are business partners in the music-business startup Side Door, which dates back to 2017, but really took off through livestreams when the pandemic shut down the world. – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight
Toronto’s Frank Dukes undergoes artistic rebirth, releases new album as Ging
Adam Feeney a Toronto-native and prolific producer for Drake, The Weeknd and Taylor Swift, among others, has released his debut album “We’re Here, My Dear.” – Nick Krewen, Toronto Star
Paul Bley may be the most important Canadian pianist you’ve never heard of
Canadians know Glenn Gould. And Oscar Peterson. But Paul Bley could be the most important pianist we’ve ever produced. The late jazz musician, Montreal-born and bred, would have turned 90 on Nov. 10. Maybe this is the moment to take a closer look. – Greg Buium, The Globe and Mail
Ontario’s country music pioneers: Mike “Pepe” Francis
Mike Francis is a multi-talented music man who has literally “done it all” in the music world. A guitarist extraordinaire, a record producer, composer, arranger, and commercial jingles writer… are but a few of his massive career credits. – Larry Delaney, CMAOntario
Key questions linger days after ex-Helix guitarist's slaying
Four days after well-known London musician Dan (Dutch) Fawcett was found dead in a north-end park, police won’t say whether there’s a killer out there that poses a danger to the community. Arrests were made later. – Canoe
A look at Old Corrals and Sagebrush
Ian Tyson’s 1983 groundbreaking album set the stage for a renaissance in authentic cowboy culture. – Bill Reynolds, Western Horseman
Late Rush drummer Neil Peart to be memorialized with a bronze statue
The late Neil Peart, who played drums for the legendary rock band Rush, is being memorialized with a bronze statue in his Ontario hometown. Peart joined the band in 1974, playing the drums and writing the lyrics to the band’s music. –We Are The Pit
Let Terra Spencer take you on a time warp
The singer-songwriter is obsessed with the 1970s. Her Halifax show—and new album with Ben Caplan—promise to hook you on the decade, too. – Morgan Mullin, The Coast
Musicians reconsider value of touring as competition soars, prices surge
Concertgoers are rushing back to shows and more musicians are on the road than venues can schedule. At first glance, it might seem like the live music scene is booming for everyone. But industry players say the world’s biggest touring names are cannibalizing ticket sales for everyone else, particularly artists without the promotional heft of a major label and sponsorship deals. – David Friend, CP.
Celebrating 10 years, Luminous Voices continues to deliver complex choral music
Taking a retrospective look at some of the memorable moments of the past 10 years, Luminous Voices presented a greatly enjoyed concert of unaccompanied 20th-century choral works last Sunday afternoon at the Bella Concert Hall. – Michele Jarvie, Calgary Herald
Scott Cook and Pamela Mae Johnson return to Alberta after gigging across North America
They'll be reuniting with The Second Chances for a Northern Light Folk concert showcasing songs from Cook's 2020 pandemic release, Tangle of Souls. – Tom Murray, Edmonton Journal
Nickelback's Chad Kroeger: "anybody that thinks that we take this band seriously is hilarious"
Newsflash, people: Nickelback are very much in on the joke, and they haven't stopped laughing. – Merlin Alderslade, Loudersound
Toronto songstress Martina Sorbara and the return of Dragonette
With 2010 hit “Hello” back on Billboard chart and a new album “Twennies” released Oct. 28, Dragonette played the Axis Club in Toronto on Nov. 16. – Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
Yo La Tengo, BROCKHAMPTON, Drake and 21 Savage: Here are 6 songs you need to hear this week
This week’s Star Tracks playlist also includes new music from Cate, Brand of Sacrifice and Fever Ray. –Toronto Star
A musical experiment from the '80s to keep B.C. teens from loitering is now a global practice
7-Eleven stores in B.C. started playing Muzak to deter loitering 4 decades ago. – Jon Azpiri, CBC News
Jewish groups denounce Montreal show by rapper accused of anti-Semitism
A Jewish group is calling on a Montreal venue to cancel a performance by a French rapper whose music it describes as “openly anti-Semitic and hateful.” B’nai Brith Canada sent a letter on Friday to the owners of L’Olympia theatre in Montreal, urging them to cancel a Dec. 4 show by musician Freeze Corleone. – Morgan Lowrie,CP
Original Rush bassist explains why he left, what band would be lie if he'd stayed
Says Jeff Jones: "With me, in many ways, Rush wouldn't have been Rush." –Ultimate Guitar
Music silenced by the Nazi regime revived at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music
For the first time in more than eight decades, the music of German composer Robert Müller-Hartmann was performed live Sunday afternoon. –Joshua Chong, Toronto Star
International
YouTube Music and Premium top 80 million paid subscribers
YouTube announced that it surpassed 80M YouTube Music and Premium subscribers globally, including customers using free trials. The year-over-year increase of 30M subscribers is noteworthy and puts the company on track to becoming one of the top streaming music providers. –Tech Crunch
TikTok cuts global revenue target for 2022 by $2BN
Social media giant TikTok is cutting its global revenue target for this year by 20%, or by at least $2B, amid a decline in advertising spending and e-commerce. The company had initially expected revenue to range between $12 and $14.5B this year, but now expects the figure to be closer to $10B, the Financial Times reports. – MBW
Over 1K songs with human-mimicking AI vocals have been released by Tencent Music. One has 100m streams
The use of artificial intelligence-created music just moved up a gear. Over in China: Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) says that it has created and released over 1,000 tracks containing vocals created by AI tech that mimics the human voice. And get this: one of these tracks has already surpassed 100 million streams.– MBW
How well do you know the music business?
Now there's a platform to assess your knowledge and guide your career. – Paul Resnikoff, Digital Music News
Dolly Parton awarded $100M Prize by Jeff Bezos 'to do good things'
The country music superstar was awarded the Bezos Award for Courage & Civility in recognition of her philanthropic work. – Marisa Sullivan, People
Data reveals the secrets behind Taylor Swift’s record-breaking success
Taylor Swift’s new Midnight album release is breaking records one after another, so she’s gotta know something we don’t, right? Here are some data-driven insights into what makes up Swift’s secret sauce. – Hypebot
Taylor Swift fans stormed Ticketmaster. The result was outages, delays and outrage
Company said it was experiencing 'intermittent issues' that it was working to resolve. – Thomson Reuters
After Taylor Swift’s ticket sale breaks Ticketmaster, tix are being listed for over $20K
TM couldn’t handle the amount of Swifties battling for a ticket to see their favorite singer as fans raged on social media about the website not loading or, worse, not allowing them access to any tickets. Many called for the dissolution of TM and Live Nation. – Celebrity Access
Lorde on touring today
"It's a strugg;le to break even or face debt," reports the Kiwi alt-pop star. – American Songwriter
‘Music could wither’: new report finds 98% of musicians concerned about rising costs in the UK
A study by charity Help Musicians has found a combination of the cost of living crisis, Brexit and energy and food price increases has left many struggling. –The Guardian
Snoop Dogg biopic is in development with Universal Pictures
The film will be written by Joe Robert Cole, who co-wrote the two “Black Panther” films, and directed by Allen Hughes, the filmmaker of “Menace II Society.” – AP
Rihanna talks motherhood, Super Bowl: ‘It was now or never’
Rihanna knew that if she was going to return to the stage less than a year after giving birth to her first child, the performance would have to top anything she’d done before. That something special turned out to be the upcoming 2023 Super Bowl halftime show. “It was now or never for me,” she said. – Reuters
Back to headlining hockey rinks, Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan continues to prove Zeros can still rule the world
As endlessly sacrilegious and just plain wrong as this will sound, it’s arguable no alternative-rock founding father deserves more respect than Billy Corgan. You know who’s currently on the road headlining hockey rinks? That would be the Smashing Pumpkins. – Mike Usinger, GS
‘We’ve forgotten how to be innocent’: Tim Minchin on comedy, music and the joy of Matilda
Tim Minchin refuses to be categorised. So what do we call a man who tells jokes, challenges political tribalism and writes songs that move you to tears? Eva Wiseman meets the man behind Matilda the Musical – and much more. – The Guardian
Rod Stewart turned down $1 million offer to perform in Qatar
The 77-year-old rock legend was offered the seven-figure sum to entertain crowds in the Middle East country – which has been chosen to host the upcoming World Cup but has drawn controversy over the decision because homosexuality is illegal there – in 2021 and rejected the lucrative gig because it “wasn’t right” to go. – Toronto Sun
Well noted: A selection of some music-themed gifts this year
Music is never out of fashion as a gift idea. Here are some outstanding vinyl box sets for lovers of Neil Young, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, Iron Maiden and a certain ex-Beatle, a book about the beginning of rock at Sun Records and another about The Byrds, some tough-looking boots made in collaboration with The Clash, and even a perfume inspired by Whitney Houston. – Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
