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Singer Songwriter James Leclaire Begins Ambitious Monthly Release Project With ‘Are You Ready?’

Eric Alper
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Singer Songwriter James Leclaire Begins Ambitious Monthly Release Project With ‘Are You Ready?’

Singer-songwriter James Leclaire gets everyone singing along with his latest single, “Are You Ready?”

Manotick, Ontario-based folk artist James Leclaire released his sixth single “Are You Ready?” from his ambitious and unique project where he is releasing a new song each month for the next three years.

After the shocking end to his 23-year marriage in 2020, Leclaire recorded an astounding 37 songs that encapsulate his heartbreak and journey as he navigated through many new life experiences.

“My sorrowful songs were always written from a fictional place or as a witness to others pain. Now it was my sorrow, my pain, my wound, and it caused my pen to bleed ink and my guitar to cry chords,” says Leclaire.

To assist on the project, the Renfrew, Ontario born folk singer-songwriter amassed an all-star team of seasoned musicians that have worked with artists such as Norah Jones, the Doobie Brothers, and Neil Young. The contributors include guitarist Kevin Breit, drummer Ed Toth, guitarist and pianist John Fraser Findlay, harmonicist Mickey Raphael, and many other local musicians.

“Are You Ready? describes all the ups and downs that one will face while chasing the thing that they love. It enforces the idea that good things are always worth fighting for. Am I ready? I sure am.” says Leclaire.

With a chorus highlighted by backing vocals inspired by 80s metal, combined with the grounded folk and alt-country sensibilities of the musicianship and Leclaire’s life experiences, “Are You Ready?” creates an acoustic driven track with melodies that make it impossible to ignore. Leclaire’s gruff vocals add a sense of urgency and emotion that expels his emotional lyrics like a memorable punk sing-along.

Leclaire’s newest work comes after a hiatus that saw him not perform or record new music for over five years. After his life was turned upside down and finding new life experiences and a new relationship, Leclaire had an overflow of inspiration which resulted in kickstarting his return to music.

The first monthly single, “Things That I Said”, was released in August 2023. Each new monthly song has a different surprise and “Are You Ready?” is one that will get audiences singing and moving.

Muscle Memory: Hamilton, ON Hard-Grooving DOCTOR TONGUE Drops A Jam You Won’t “Forget”

Eric Alper
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Muscle Memory: Hamilton, ON Hard-Grooving DOCTOR TONGUE Drops A Jam You Won’t “Forget”

Anybody can have an existential crisis, but not everybody can make it fun to listen to. “Not everybody” means musical eccentrics Doctor Tongue, who’ve found the funkier side of emotional detachment on their infectious groove of a new track, “Forget About Love.”

A deceptively boppy little outing in a quasi-Curtis Mayfield mode, the song is actually meant to convey the alienation of today’s culture – specifically the isolating effect of personal devices and other single-user technology. Yet from the universality of the lyrics and the irresistible pull of the music, you could easily assume you were merely listening to a great, format-busting hit about romance gone bad.

Forget about the fortune
Forget about the pain
Forget about the torture
Forget about the fame
Forget about the darkness
Forget about the light
Forget about me
Forget about love

Forgettable? Anything but. Like the bombastic SCTV horror host with whom they share a name, Doctor Tongue work in vibrant 3D. The Hamilton, Ontario-based sextet finds inspiration in genres as diverse as rock, funk, soul, hip-hop and country. “Forget About Love,” though, is way more cohesive and focused than that eclectic list of influences might indicate. From its confidently strutting rhythm to the fuzzed-out, high-sustain guitar that squeals around the supple vocal line, the song sounds like the opening number to a lost blaxploitation flick – if blaxploitation flicks had been about retreating from personal attachments instead of taking down neighborhood pushers.

And if any band could be excused for giving in to the urge to retreat, it’s Doctor Tongue. Formed in the midst of the COVID quarantine, the group made a grand debut in May 2022 at the Come Together festival in Durham, Ontario. Tragedy struck not a year later, when guitarist and founding member Dylan Matthews tragically passed away. Instead of curling up in the fetal position and going to radio silence, the unit reconfigured itself, rallying in a style as bold and triumphant as vocalist/keyboardist’s George Panagopoulos’ top hat and funky shades. The current lineup is rounded out by Mark McMaster on drums, Olivia Brown on bass and vocals, Chris Wheeler on guitar, Tom Bigas on percussion and Jethro Mann on rhythm guitar and vocals.

With four singles under the group’s collective belt pre-“Forget,” the current plan is to release a new song every 6 to 8 weeks, telling the story of Doctor Tongue in song and video until the results can be compiled into the group’s first-ever full-length album. Building anticipation a few months at a time? Sounds like the best prescription for engagement a doctor could write.

Jet Puppy Unleashes Rock and Roll Frenzy with Debut Single ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’

Eric Alper
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Jet Puppy Unleashes Rock and Roll Frenzy with Debut Single ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’

Jet Puppy, a dynamic and highly entertaining rock and roll band from Toronto, Ontario proudly announces the release of their debut single, “Shake, Rattle and Roll” – available now.

With its catchy and nostalgic up-tempo beat, “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” is a vibrant ode to the heyday of rock and roll. The band’s commitment to preserving the joy, exuberance, and timeless sound of North American popular music is evident in this track, flawlessly embodying the essence of both rock and roll and rhythm and blues. Alec “Ears” Pham engineered the band’s live sessions which proved to be a revelation, making the band’s positive and shared aspirations crystal clear.

The song “Shake, Rattle and Roll” cements the foundation of Jet Puppy’s roadside tavern. Bursting with energy and positive vibes and showcasing how much fun making music can be. Jesse Stone wrote the song “Shake, Rattle and Roll” in 1954; and is typically credited to him under his songwriting pen name, “Charles Calhoun.” Big Joe Turner was the first to record the song that year, and it lands at No. 127 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Weekly gatherings at the home of the band’s founder, Adam Faux, featuring Scotch, camaraderie, and a passion for classic tunes, and evolved into the formation of the band, Jet Puppy.

“Jet Puppy was born out of a desire to socialize and to honour the R&B and R&R vernacular of North American popular music,” says Faux. “More precisely, to perform music from an era when broadcasting, recording, electric guitars, and transistor radios, all flourished at the same time. To celebrate an era when dancing and joy reigned, and performers shared musical tradition and the stage, no matter their creed or culture, and not in deference to those who would attempt to separate them.”

The group is comprised of gifted musicians, each of whom adds a distinct sound and unique flavour to the mix.

Adam Faux (vocals/guitar), has an extensive career in live television, recording, and engineering. Mary Sound (bass), a former lifeguard turned bassist and singer-songwriter is known for her incredible songs and captivating voice. Multi-instrumentalist Fraser “The Pocket” Koval’s’kyj (drums) adds a more complex sound to Jet Puppy with his post-punk patina and commanding presence behind the drum kit. Ph.D. candidate Jon “Doc” McSpadden (piano) adds a wide range of tonal options to the band with his classical expertise and eclectic musical background. The son of a jazz musician, Brent “Professor Pedal Down” Welbourn (guitar), gives the band’s sound a unique take on melody by fusing together majestic, lively, and moving guitar styles.

Doing The “Elephant” Walk: Groove Rockers Les Moontunes Put Some Stomp In Their Step With “Enchanted Tusks”

Eric Alper
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Doing The “Elephant” Walk: Groove Rockers Les Moontunes Put Some Stomp In Their Step With “Enchanted Tusks”

If you want to be a mammoth, you’ve got to make tracks like a mammoth. That’s why Moncton, NB Acadian “heavy soul” outfit Les Moontunes have deepened their musical footprint on their sophomore album, Elephant Wizard, and its attendant second single, “Enchanted Tusks.”

A concept record about a mystical pachyderm and his quest to find peace somewhere in the universe, Elephant Wizard adds some extra muscle to the septet’s customary melánge of soul, jazz, hip-hop and metal. That toughened-up approach was foretold by the title track when it was released as a preview single late last year; now comes “Enchanted Tusks,” whose Zappa-esque sonics are built on dreamy piano swirls interrupted by bursts of fuzzed-out guitar frenzy. Vocals overdriven to the point of distortion crackle with electricity as they chronicle the emergence of the album’s title character, whose tusks can be seen “Coloring the night/ Brighter than the starlight.” Then the picture turns grimmer:

Wanted for its wizardry
The Elephant wants to run free
Evil wants the ivory
A magic tusk of eternity

What happens then? Don’t expect to be spoon-fed an answer. Lyrically and musically, the focus of the album is less on traditional, linear storytelling than on conveying an emotional journey through mood. Then again, what else would you expect from a bunch of highly intuitive groove junkies who met in high school and started playing and improvising together in a darkened basement, with only a swirling disco ball for light? Some of the members of Les Moontunes have since departed their native Moncton to Montreal and Halifax to formalize their musical education, but you can still feel the camaraderie of those early marathon rehearsals in every like-minded jam they record.

Ironically, the new album was inspired by isolation. Reeling from the one-two punch of a lost job and the COVID shutdowns, pianist/vocalist (and chief songwriter) Miguel Dumaine coped by brainstorming a character called the Elephant Wizard, whose story could be told in song. When he and his bandmates — Jeremie Poitras, Martin Daigle, Monica Ouellette, Patrick Gaudet, Samuel Frenette and Marc-Andre Richard — were able to reunite for a residency in Sussex, they fleshed out the concept together.

Producer Mike Trask’s analog approach to recording and his receptivity to in-studio composition were just the old-school influence the band was looking for to get the tale on tape. The premise of the resulting album is as provocative as it is simple: “When faced with cruelty and betrayal, the magical Elephant Wizard sets out to fight off evil and find a better life for himself on Planet Metal. But will this solve his misery?”

Taking a trip to their own planet metal gives Les Moontunes every chance of living their best life. Their eponymous 2021 debut album netted them that year’s Music NB Awards for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Video of the Year (for the single “Paper Boat”). With the new album out and “Enchanted Tusks” and its accompanying video turning all the right heads, even greater accolades are sure to follow. This Elephant has just begun to roar.

Micah Barnes Sings 60s Pop Songs Including Former Band The Nylons’ Classic Hits For Toronto and Brampton Shows

Eric Alper
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Micah Barnes Sings 60s Pop Songs Including Former Band The Nylons’ Classic Hits For Toronto and Brampton Shows

Acclaimed singer Micah Barnes, renowned for his soulful voice and captivating stage presence, is set to enchant audiences with a series of performances celebrating the timeless melodies of the 60s with two shows in Toronto, ON on February 14 at Hugh’s Room and Brampton, ON at the Brampton Onstage – Cyril Clark Theatre on March 30, tickets available for both shows here.

The eagerly awaited shows will feature Barnes showcasing his vocal prowess through a repertoire that includes iconic hits from the golden era of pop music, including classic songs from his legendary a cappella group The Nylons, along with a few teasers focusing on his upcoming “2nd Great American Songbook” ( Alma / Universal Music Canada, out in Spring, 2024), with tunes by Carole King, Burt Bacharach, Smokey Robinson featuring a top-notch band of Michael Shand on piano, bassist Russ Boswell and Amhed Mitchel on drums.

The upcoming shows will be a personal journey through the hit parade, combining Micah’s soul-stirring interpretations with timeless tunes that have stood the test of decades. Audiences can expect a musical journey that pays homage to the era’s unparalleled artistry, from the Motown sound to the British Invasion.

While combing through tunes from the Brill Building, Motown, Rhythm & Blues, early Rock n Roll and Classic Doo Wop for songs to record, Micah has been inspired to write a couple of originals that detail how a young queer boy responds to these stories of teenage emotion, romance, and heartbreak.

For these two shows, Micah is focusing on songs from the golden age of Pop in the 1950s and 1960s, incurring material recorded by Dusty Springfield, Smokey Robinson, The Drifters, The Supremes, Elvis Presley, Dione Warwick, and a few of his originals that pay homage to the musical era and the experience of being a young gay man falling in love.

Born in Vienna and raised in Canada, Micah cut his teeth in the cabarets and jazz clubs of Toronto in his teen years, before joining The Nylons in 1989. Recording and touring as a member of the internationally celebrated A Capella group placed Micah firmly within the global music scene. Through managing a busy schedule of concerts and television appearances, Micah’s rich and soulful baritone was introduced to music fans around the world.

In his days since the Nylons, Micah has launched an active solo career, which included touring the USA with his international club hit “Welcome To My Head” – which placed #1 on the Billboard charts. His solo career also marked his long-awaited return to the jazz genre of his early years, resulting in a series of critically acclaimed recordings, including New York Stories (eOne Music). Micah has also shared the stage with a host of internationally renowned artists, including Molly Johnson & Jackie Richardson.

Micah’s latest release, 2020’s “Vegas Breeze” entered the jazz charts at #1. The music (including singles “When in Rome” and “End of a Love Affair”) transports listeners back to the days of the legendary Vegas showrooms, featuring songs first recorded by jazz luminaries Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, and Peggy Lee.

At his home base in Toronto, Micah is a busy Vocal, Performance and Career Strategy Coach whose international clients include GRAMMY nominated J.P. Saxe and Emmy Award-winning Tatiana Maslany. Most recently, Micah was the Music Director of the 2023 season of Canada’s Got Talent and signed a recording contract with the prestigious Alma Records, the Canadian jazz label home to releases from Florian Hoefner Trio, Alfie Zappacosta, Eliana Cuevas, and Hilario Duran.

Meet Your New BFF: Austin, TX’s Rising Pop Star Aline Garza’s “Day One” Is The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship

Eric Alper
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Meet Your New BFF: Austin, TX’s Rising Pop Star Aline Garza’s “Day One” Is The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship

It’s about time pop music had its own hymn to the enduring power of an old-fashioned platonic connection. Maybe we were just waiting for the right prophet. “Day One,” the breakout single from Austin, Texas’ Aline Garza, is more than the debut of a major new artist—it’s a ride-or-die pledge that’s headed straight for the first page of every listener’s inner keepsake journal.

Over a Beatlesque piano pedal and a drum pattern as inexorable as the forward march of time, Garza waxes poetic about a bond that’s so strong it feels timeless:

We cried over love and broken hearts
Picked each other up and patched the scars
Can’t even count on two hands
The number of nights you came and saved me from myself
You taught me brave
We’ll take the secrets to the grave

The chorus swells with the strength of a thousand sleepover heart-to-hearts:

It was the first sign of sun in over a month
Now look at us 24/7
You’re my Day One

“Writing the song ‘Day One’ came from a personal experience of making friends that are long term and always have your back,” Garza says. “The message I want this song to give is to cherish your friendships and don’t take them for granted.”

Plus, she adds, “Friends are cheaper than a therapist.”

The almost gospel-like testifying of the track is no accident, given that Garza was wowing church crowds of more than 3,000 by the age of 9. After some intensive honing of her craft at a vocal seminar she remembers as transformative, she won the “Best New Artist” award in her age group at the Vocal Star New Year’s Gala Competition and made the finals of the Dream Night talent competition. She even got to sing the National Anthem at a minor-league baseball game in Austin in 2023.

That’s when the music industry really began to take notice. For her first foray into the recording studio, she was able to bring along some pretty impressive friends of her own: “Day One” was produced by hitmaker Adam H. (who has worked with artists as diverse as Ray J, Ne-Yo, Elise Estrada, Def Leppard and Loverboy) and mixed by five-time Grammy winner Orlando Calzada (Lady Gaga, One Direction, Beyonce, Destiny’s Child). Garza co-wrote the song with Adam H. and Don Wolf (lead singer of ’80s major-label metalers White Wolf and a past collaborator with acts like Bon Jovi, Poison and Motley Crue).

“Writing ‘Day One’ with Adam H. and Don Wolf was a great experience, because it was like writing with my second family,” Garza says.

Her first family has been pretty significant as well. The youngest of five siblings, Garza counts her oldest brother and her father among her major inspirations and mentors as she travels the musical path she’s chosen. At this point, that path could take her anywhere—not just in pop, but also in R&B, country, Christian music and any of the other stylistic skill sets she’s managed to hone. If this is “Day One,” it’s going to be a heck of a year.

James Toth Presents… ‘Imaginational Anthem Vol. XIII – Songs of Bruce Cockburn’

Eric Alper
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James Toth Presents… ‘Imaginational Anthem Vol. XIII – Songs of Bruce Cockburn’

Bruce Cockburn is one of the most celebrated Canadian artists of all time. Unlike fellow Canadians Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell or Neil Young, Cockburn has not been fully embraced by a younger generation of indie musicians and younger fans. Tompkins Square recruited well-respected indie artist James Toth, known for his work with Wooden Wand, to curate the 13th volume of its guitar series, Imaginational Anthem, out April 5, 2024. Although there is a focus on Bruce as a guitarist, there are also vocal tracks on the album. Indie stalwarts Bill Callahan, Matt Valentine, Luke Schneider and Jerry David DeCicca all step up and pay tribute to this musical hero, proving that Cockburn is not only influential, but also the keeper of a deep catalog of songs ripe for discovery by a younger generation.

Foxglove – Eli Winter
40 Years in the Wilderness – Jerry David DeCicca (feat. Bill Callahan)
Up on the Hillside – Matthew “Doc” Dunn
Fall – Powers Rolin Duo
Pacing the Cage – Lou Turner
Waiting for a Miracle – Wet Tuna
One Day I Walk – Armory Schafer
You Don’t Have to Play the Horses – Jody Nelson
All the Diamonds – Kyle Hamlett Duo (feat. Luke Schneider)

The Last Dinner Party Release Debut Album ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’

Eric Alper
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The Last Dinner Party Release Debut Album ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’

The Last Dinner Party are excited to release their critically acclaimed debut album, Prelude To Ecstasy.

The album quickly follows the band’s first BRIT Award, winning the Rising Star Award, and picking up BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024 in January too.

The Last Dinner Party on their album: “Ecstasy is a pendulum which swings between the extremes of human emotion, from the ecstasy of passion to the sublimity of pain, and it is this concept which binds our album together. This is an archeology of ourselves; you can exhume our collective and individual experiences and influences from within its fabric. We exorcised guitars for their solos, laid bare confessions directly from diary pages, and summoned an orchestra to bring our vision to life.”

“It is our greatest honour and pride to present this offering to the world, it is everything we are.”

At the turn of 2023, The Last Dinner Party was little more than a new name being shared amongst those that had caught them live. Great songs, strong aesthetic. Having spent much of 2022 writing those songs, road-testing them, and then taking them into the studio, it wasn’t until April when the band released the instantly more-ish, dark guitar-pop of “Nothing Matters” that seemingly everyone had now formed an opinion on them. It was an introduction that took the online world by storm, and yet behind all the excitement and narrative was a fantastically confident indie-rock song by a band doing it the old-fashioned way, out on the road.

Following a heady first-on performance to a packed crowd at the new Woodsies tent at Glastonbury, The Last Dinner Party released “Sinner,” another gloriously infectious, leftfield pop song that fuelled the fully-formed zeitgeist and set the band up for a summer that replicated that success of Glastonbury with uncomfortably packed tents ensuing at the likes of Green Man, Reading & Leeds, Latitude and End of the Road (interspersed with support slots to the likes of Florence & The Machine, Lana Del Rey and First Aid Kit). It was a breakthrough summer for one of the most talked about new British acts in years, delivering on all that early promise emphatically.

Concentrating on their own headline shows, the band skipped confidently from venue to venue, playing to bigger rooms and on wider stages. Shows sold out and shows were upgraded. In London alone, the band have moved from sell-out dates at Moth Club to Camden Assembly, Oslo to two nights at EartH, and now move on to the 3000 capacity Roundhouse on the eve of album release which has already sold out. Crucially, it’s not just London where the band finds its early fans, but right across the UK and into America too, with all five debut shows selling out several weeks in advance – and plenty more now announced and selling out quickly.

The band often set a themed dress code for the shows, with many fans relishing the task of rising to the request and donning their finery for a night with their new heroes.

But this is no case of style over substance. The release of their third single, “My Lady Of Mercy,” an almost gothic, haunting rock song, and now with this atmospheric and anthemic ballad, “On Your Side,” the band’s songwriting is testament to all the buzz and excitement already accumulated. As it should be. Rather than wilt under the spotlight, they’ve arguably become a tighter, stronger unit because of it.

The Last Dinner Party are: Abigail Morris – vocals / Aurora Nishevci – keys / Emily Roberts – lead guitar/flute / Georgia Davies – bass / Lizzie Mayland – guitar

LIVE: In-Store/Out Store Dates:
February 2nd – Pryzm, Kingston (in association with Banquet Records) SOLD OUT
February 3rd – Rough Trade East, London (afternoon show) SOLD OUT
February 3rd – Rough Trade East, London (evening show) SOLD OUT
February 5th – Resident Records, Brighton SOLD OUT
February 6th – HMV, Manchester SOLD OUT
February 7th – HMV Vault, Birmingham SOLD OUT
February 8th – Rough Trade, Bristol SOLD OUT
February 11th – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds (in association with Crash Records) SOLD OUT

Headline Dates (Europe/US/Mexico/Canada):
February 16th – Gretchen, Berlin SOLD OUT
February 17th – LUXOR, Cologne SOLD OUT
February 19th – Melkweg OZ, Amsterdam SOLD OUT
February 20th – La Maroquinerie, Paris SOLD OUT
February 21st – Le Botanique, Brussels SOLD OUT
February 23rd – Mascotte Club, Zürich SOLD OUT
February 25th – Santeria Toscana 31, Milan
February 26th – Grelle Forelle, Vienna SOLD OUT
March 4th – Trades Club, Hebden Bridge (BRITs Week War Child Show) SOLD OUT
March 19th – Lunario, Mexico City
March 21st – Scoot Inn, Austin
March 22nd – The Studio at The Factory, Dallas
March 24th – Royale, Boston
March 26th – Webster Hall, New York
March 27th – Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn
March 29th – Studio TD, Montreal
March 30th – The Concert Hall, Toronto
March 31st – The Majestic Theatre, Detroit
April 2nd – Newport Music Hall, Columbus
April 4th – First Avenue, Minneapolis
April 5th – Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee
April 9th – McMenamins Crystal Ballroom, Portland
April 10th – Hollywood Theatre, Vancouver
April 11th – The Showbox, Seattle
April 13th – Coachella Festival, Indio
April 14th – Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix
April 16th – Bimbo’s 365 Club, San Francisco
April 20th – Coachella Festival, Indio
May 29th – June 2nd – Primavera Sound, Barcelona
June 6th – June 8th – Primavera Sound, Porto
June 22nd – Hurricane Festival, ScheeBel
June 23rd – Southside Festival, Neuhausen ob Eck
July 5th– July 7th – Down The Rabbit Hole, Ewijk
July 6th – Rock Werchter, Rotselaar
July 12th – TRNSMT Festival, Glasgow
July 31st– The Truman, Kansas City
August 2nd – Hinterland Music Festival, Saint Charles, IA
August 6th – Gothic Theatre, Englewood
August 7th – The Complex, Salt Lake City

NEW UK/Ireland Autumn Tour:
23rd September – O2 City Hall, Newcastle
24th September – O2 Academy, Leeds
25th September – Octagon Centre, Sheffield 27th September – The LCR, UEA, Norwich
28th September – The Engine Shed, Lincoln 29th September – Tramshed, Cardiff
1st October – O2 Academy, Birmingham
2nd October – Rock City, Nottingham
4th October – O2 Academy, Bristol
5th October – O2 Guildhall, Southampton
7th October – 3Olympia, Dublin
10th October – O2 Academy, Glasgow
11th October – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester 12th October – Mountford Hall, Liverpool
14th October – Corn Exchange, Cambridge
16th October – Eventim Apollo, London

Megan Thee Stallion And Warner Music Group Announce Innovative Agreement

Eric Alper
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Megan Thee Stallion And Warner Music Group Announce Innovative Agreement

Today, Megan Thee Stallion and Warner Music Group announced an innovative agreement that will enable the Houston native to maintain her independence as a musician while also having access to the music company’s robust global services, ranging from radio promotion to marketing worldwide.

Through the unique structure of the agreement, Megan will have distribution and resources with Warner Music, while she has full ownership of her masters and publishing.

In this agreement, the three-time, Grammy-winning artist will release music through Hot Girl Productions – her independent music and entertainment entity – and simultaneously work with Warner Music and its international affiliates. Additionally, Megan has full creative control of her music releases along with the option to bring artists that are signed to her imprint into the WMG ecosystem.

“This is the beginning of an exciting new chapter of my life and career,” Megan said. “I’m really focused on building an empire and growing as an entrepreneur, so I’m proud to take this next step in my journey and work with Max Lousada and the entire Warner Music Group team in this new capacity. I know we’re going to create history together.”

“Meg is not just a superstar,” WMG Recorded Music CEO Max Lousada said. “She’s an artistic force and a mogul in the making – authentic and unapologetic in defining her own unique place in the cultural landscape. So many relate to her remarkable story and have witnessed her come into her power on her own terms. At Warner, we’re creating an environment where original talents can explore both their creativity and entrepreneurialism, while building long-term careers. Following on her success with 300, we’re excited to continue our journey with Meg through this dynamic new partnership, with our global teams, infrastructure, and expertise supporting her every step of the way.”

“Megan continues to be an absolute trailblazer,” Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez said. “This new chapter with Warner Music Group will shift the landscape in the music industry and empower other independent artists to follow in her footsteps and claim their power. It’s also a testament to Max’s ability to reimagine the relationships that major music companies can engage in with independent artists.”

The announcement comes on the heels of Megan’s brand-new single “HISS,” which has already reached No. 1 on Apple Music’s Global charts, Spotify’s U.S. charts, iTunes and YouTube Trending within the past week of its highly-anticipated release.

It marked Megan’s second solo release through Hot Girl Productions. In November 2023, she unveiled her single “Cobra,” which touched on mental health and focused on the importance of shedding the past and starting anew.

Universal Music Group Agreement with TikTok to Expire on January 31, 2024

Eric Alper
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Universal Music Group Agreement with TikTok to Expire on January 31, 2024

Universal Music Group announces today that its agreement with TikTok is set to expire on January 31, 2024.

The companies have not agreed to terms for a new agreement and upon expiration of the current agreement, Universal Music Group, including Universal Music Publishing Group, will cease licensing content to TikTok and TikTok Music services.

Read Universal’s “Open Letter to the Artist and Songwriter Community” below:

An Open Letter to the Artist and Songwriter Community
Why We Must Call Time Out on TikTok

Our core mission is simple: to help our artists and songwriters attain their greatest creative and commercial potential. To achieve these goals, our teams employ their expertise and passion to strike deals with partners all around the world, partners who take seriously their responsibilities to fairly compensate our artists and songwriters and treat the user experience with respect.

One of those partners is TikTok, an increasingly influential platform with powerful technology and a massive worldwide user base. As with many other platforms with whom we partner, TikTok’s success as one of the world’s largest social platforms has been built in large part on the music created by our artists and songwriters. Its senior executives proudly state publicly that “music is at the heart of the TikTok experience” and our analysis confirms that the majority of content on TikTok contains music, more than any other major social platform.

The terms of our relationship with TikTok are set by contract, which expires January 31, 2024. In our contract renewal discussions, we have been pressing them on three critical issues—appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.

We have been working to address these and related issues with our other platform partners. For example, our Artist-Centric initiative is designed to update streaming’s remuneration model and better reward artists for the value they deliver to platforms. In the months since its inception, we’re proud that this initiative has been received so positively and taken up by a range of partners, including the largest music platform in the world. We’ve also moved aggressively to embrace the promise of AI while fighting to ensure artists’ rights and interests are protected now and far into the future. In addition, we’ve engaged a number of our platform partners to try to drive positive change for their users and by extension, our artists, by addressing online safety issues, and we are recognized as the industry leader in focusing on music’s broader impact on health and wellness.

With respect to the issue of artist and songwriter compensation, TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay. Today, as an indication of how little TikTok compensates artists and songwriters, despite its massive and growing user base, rapidly rising advertising revenue and increasing reliance on music-based content, TikTok accounts for only about 1% of our total revenue.

Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music.

On AI, TikTok is allowing the platform to be flooded with AI-generated recordings—as well as developing tools to enable, promote and encourage AI music creation on the platform itself – and then demanding a contractual right which would allow this content to massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists, in a move that is nothing short of sponsoring artist replacement by AI.

Further, TikTok makes little effort to deal with the vast amounts of content on its platform that infringe our artists’ music and it has offered no meaningful solutions to the rising tide of content adjacency issues, let alone the tidal wave of hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment on the platform. The only means available to seek the removal of infringing or problematic content (such as pornographic deepfakes of artists) is through the monumentally cumbersome and inefficient process which equates to the digital equivalent of “Whack-a-Mole.”

But when we proposed that TikTok takes similar steps as our other platform partners to try to address these issues, it responded first with indifference, and then with intimidation.

As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth. How did it try to intimidate us? By selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars.

TikTok’s tactics are obvious: use its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans.

We will never do that.

We will always fight for our artists and songwriters and stand up for the creative and commercial value of music.

We recognize the challenges that TikTok’s actions will cause, and do not underestimate what this will mean to our artists and their fans who, unfortunately, will be among those subjected to the near-term consequences of TikTok’s unwillingness to strike anything close to a market-rate deal and meaningfully address its obligations as a social platform. But we have an overriding responsibility to our artists to fight for a new agreement under which they are appropriately compensated for their work, on a platform that respects human creativity, in an environment that is safe for all, and effectively moderated.

We honor our responsibilities with the utmost seriousness. Intimidation and threats will never cause us to shirk those responsibilities.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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