By Kerry Doole
Side Door’s touring program supports artists financially en route to festivals in 2023
How artists and hosts can utilize Side Door’s live music booking platform and more on their efforts to support underrepresented voices this festival season. – Digital Music News
Boi-1da reflects on his career — from being a Toronto Eminem fan to a Grammy-nominated producer
Boi-1da has produced for music superstars, including a long association with Drake. On Sunday, he’s up for Non-Classical Producer of the Year for the second time. – Nick Krewen, Toronto Star
The nuanced music series New World Beat is well worth watching, if you can find it
The good news is that a top-notch docuseries will spotlight a number of talented underground musicians in Toronto. The bad news is that after the six-part New World Beat airs this month and next, those musicians will in all likelihood remain underground. – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
Music to love on Valentine’s weekend
Sunday, Feb. 12 has not one, not two, but three concerts which take place more or less simultaneously, Leonard Turnevicius writes. – Hamilton Spectator
Juno Awards 2023: A guide to the jazz nominees
Caity Gyorgy, Ernesto Cervini, Luis Deniz and the Ostara Project are among the Canadian jazz musicians nominated for Juno Awards this year. The list of nominees for the Juno Awards also includes Renee Rosnes, Diana Panton, Lauren Falls, Rafael Zaldivar, Mark Kelso & the Jazz Exiles, the Carn Davidson 9, the Florian Hoefner Trio and BADBADNOTGOOD. – Adam Feibel, JazzFM
Ahead of Salome performance, soprano Ambur Braid opens up on sex, scandal and power
Royalty and opera both live in spaces of extreme stakes, and that’s precisely where Canadian soprano Ambur Braid prefers to spend her time. “Extreme people are much easier to unpack,” says the B.C. native, who has portrayed opera royalty from Mozart’s Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute to Sabina Augusta in Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian. – Jenna Simeonov, Globe and Mail
With Queen of Me, Shania Twain wants you to wake up feeling like a rock star
The pop-country icon talks about her ‘new’ voice and a belated Nashville acceptance. – Brad Wheeler, The Globe and Mail
Cory Weeds’ Jazz @ the Bolt puts musical discovery centre stage
Cory Weeds can pinpoint a defining moment when he felt really excited about being at a jazz event. It was seeing pianist Renee Rosnes play, sometime in the mid-’90s, at the Vancouver Jazz Festival. – Yasmine Shemesh, Georgia Straight
Hope can sound like a wily guitar on a July Talk record
Leah Fay and Peter Dreimanis offer their truths on Remember Never Before. – Karen Tran, NEXT
A look at some of the key categories at this year’s Juno Awards
We check out the Juno Awards nominees in some of the most prestigious categories. – CP
Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti make a triumphant Toronto return after 109-year absence
Wednesday night’s program, featuring symphonies by Beethoven and Prokofiev, showcased the orchestra’s formidable artistry and technical prowess. – Joshua Chong, Toronto Star
It’s a long sad farewell to 20th-century rock heroes and the vanishing world they represent
Willie Nelson is going to die. So will Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Dolly Parton. If the last few winter weeks have taught us anything, it is that a generation of music icons are not for long. – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
Canadian rap legend Maestro Fresh Wes talks his new cooking show, ‘Maestro Chef Wes’
Maestro Fresh Wes, 54, left his hometown of Toronto for Saint John, NB, in 2020 and now hosts his own cooking show on the east coast, aptly titled 'Maestro Chef Wes.' – Karen Bliss, Everything Zoomer
National Gallery of Canada’s show must go on – minus senior curators (for now)
The National Gallery of Canada is attempting to 'decolonize' and has seen an exodus of staff as it restructures. – Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail
Edmonton artist hundredmillionthousand makes music from the most intimate moments
Electronic composer took people’s stories of online dating and created a new EP. – Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
Queen East Toronto record shop seeks last-minute support to keep from closing
After 25 years in business, a Queen East vintage record shop is closing its doors…maybe. Melissa Duggan on the owner’s last-minute push to keep his beloved store open. – City News
Northern Ont. woman turns heads at Grammy Awards
A 78-year-old Harry Styles superfan from Sudbury, Ont, has become internet famous after announcing the 2023 Grammy Award for Album of the Year on Sunday night. – CTV
Industry pioneer David ‘Click’ Cox’s own journey inspires his commitment to diversifying Canada’s music business
For the past two decades, David ‘Click’ Cox has been a mainstay in the Canadian music industry, starting as an artist himself and moving through retail, marketing, A&R, and management – all along ensuring better representation for Black artists and music professionals. – Tabassum Siddiqui, CMRRA
International
Ticketmaster working to avoid Taylor Swift repeat with Beyoncé tickets
Ticketmaster is preparing to sell tickets for Beyoncé’s first tour in six years in a different way, hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s Taylor Swift debacle. – Reuters
Beyonce announces Renaissance world tour with stops in Toronto, Vancouver
Beyoncé is taking her Renaissance global – the superstar will start a world tour in Sweden in May with stops throughout Europe and North America. The highly anticipated tour announcement she made on Instagram and her website Wednesday came days before the Grammy Awards. – AP
YouTube fraudster accepts plea deal for $23M royalty scam
Jose Teran and his partner falsely claimed to own or control "over 50,000 songs," including some recorded by Daddy Yankee, Julio Iglesias, Anuel AA, Prince Royce and Don Omar. – Kristin Robinson, Billboard
Road to madness: The dangers of touring and how musicians cope
The psychological pressure of performing leaves many musicians feeling sick and unhinged. – James Reich, SPIN
TikTok attempts to prove it doesn't need major label music
A major story is brewing in Australia that could have far-reaching implications for the global music industry’s relationship with video giant TikTok. The company has removed major record label music from its service for a subset of users in Oz. Our sources suggest TikTok is aiming to use the results of the experiment in their next round of record company licensing negotiations. – Murray Stassen, MBW
How Max Martin's songwriting techniques are used to write hit after hit
Martin is the songwriter with the third-most US No.1 hits behind Beatles legends Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26). Max Martin’s use of various songwriting techniques, from creating melodic previews of hooks to building infectious climaxes, form an overarching approach to writing songs known in the songwriting community as ‘Melodic Math’. – MBW
Grammys 2023: The best and worst moments from this year’s awards
At the 65th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, first lady Jill Biden presented an award and rapper Jay-Z performed. The two have something in common: they’re both married to one of the most powerful people in America. – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
In The Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc interview: Marketing generalist Jordy Freed
Jordy Freed is a lauded music industry player of marketing, business development, and communications, New York-based Freed (Sony Corporation of America) creates cultural connections for one of the world’s leading audio/video entities. – Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access
TV tonight: relive Fatboy Slim’s infamous Brighton rave that made music history
John Sim and Carl Cox were just some of the famous attendees. Norman Cook (AKA Fatboy Slim) leads this documentary about what happened when quarter of a million people descended on Brighton beach for his show in 2002.– The Guardian
David Bowie producer Tony Visconti rejects Harry Styles comparisons
"From what I saw tonight he’s not worthy of shining his shoes." – CoS
Harry Styles says Grammys win doesn’t happen to ‘people like me.’ Why it’s sparking backlash
The “As It Was” singer accepted the awards for best pop vocal performance and Album of the Year on Sunday night, thanking his fellow nominees including Beyoncé, Adele, Lizzo and Brandi Carlile. – Today
John Lydon loses out on Eurovision selection as Wild Youth chosen to represent Ireland
Former Sex Pistol came fourth in vote to select country’s entry to the song contest. – The Guardian
David Bridie: Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads is the most perfect song of all time
The first single off the US band’s 1980 album Remain in Light inspired a musical awakening in the My Friend the Chocolate Cake singer. – The Guardian
