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Record Store Day 2021 to take place on June 12

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Record Store Day 2021 to take place on June 12

Record Store Day can today announce that the 2021 edition of the event will take place on Saturday 12 June.

The annual event traditionally takes place on the third Saturday in April, however 2021 will see the celebration taking on a later spot in the music calendar.

Record Store Day, supported by BBC Sounds, is the one day of the year when hundreds of record shops in the UK (and thousands more around the globe!) come together to celebrate their unique and independent culture and the art of vinyl. Special vinyl releases are made exclusively for the day with parties and live performances taking place in record shops all over the world.

Look Good. Do Good. Music Matters Launches Line of Designer T-Shirts to Support MusiCares

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Look Good. Do Good. Music Matters Launches Line of Designer T-Shirts to Support MusiCares

COVID-19 has devastated all facets of the live music industry leaving thousands of creators and workers in crisis. In an effort to assist members of the music community in need, Impact Entertainment has launched a line of designer t-shirts.

The Music Matters Now initiative features a selection of limited edition, collector’s item t-shirts. Shirts are available online for $24.99, plus shipping and handling. For every shirt sold, Music Matters Now is donating $10 to MusiCares.

In response to the pandemic’s overwhelming effect on the music industry, MusiCares, in partnership with the Recording Academy, established the COVID-19 Relief.

“COVID-19 has rocked the music industry. Through the work of our esteemed partners, like Music Matters Now, we keep the music playing by providing critical assistance to music people impacted,” says MusiCares Executive Director Laura Segura.

“Since the establishment of our COVID-19 Relief, we’ve supported over 20,000 music professionals. However, the urgency remains high and the need for support continues.”

Music Matters Now is the brainchild of Alan Jacoby, founder and executive producer of Impact Entertainment, a live entertainment and sports event production company. “While the pandemic has destroyed the live event business since March of this year, we are optimistic about the future.

“To help us get to the other side, we must support the people in our music community who are suffering the most. Music fans of every genre are craving live music events. Music Matters Now provides them with an opportunity to express their anticipation and positivity while making a financial contribution to the industry.”

Designed by Dustin Gilleland, t-shirts in the collection make a bold, bright statement, are Made in the USA and printed by X-Treme Apparel, a national merchandise manufacturer. For additional information and to purchase shirts, go to www.MusicMattersNow.org.

Smooth Jazz Vocalist CAT BERNARDI Releases Her First Holiday Single, “Let’s Get Cozy”

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Smooth Jazz Vocalist CAT BERNARDI Releases Her First Holiday Single, “Let’s Get Cozy”

From smooth jazz vocalist Cat Bernardi, comes her very first holiday single, “Let’s Get Cozy”, with music video to come on December 21st. This single is the title track of a holiday season EP of the same name and was generously supported by the Mississauga Arts Council’s MicroGrant award.

“Lots of people are unable to connect with those outside of their households and unable to partake in the typical activities they would at this time of year,” says Bernardi of her new holiday single, “It celebrates the simple beauty of being at home and making a special event out of spending time with people in your household and taking a break in the solace of the home.”

Bernardi studied Jazz Vocal Music at both York University and Humber College, where she had the opportunity to train under accomplished musicians such as Jane Fair, Maria Farinha, Sacha Williamson and Michael Donovan. Through Toronto Jazz Workshops, she has also had the opportunity to train with jazz legend, Barry Harris. It was not long before she began composing her own music, arranging her favourite standards and playing with several ensembles around the city including the Toronto Jazz Chorus, York University Jazz Choir, and her own group, the Cat Bernardi Quartet.

Harmonium Goes GOLD In Canada in Less Than 3 Weeks For New Album

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Harmonium Goes GOLD In Canada in Less Than 3 Weeks For New Album

Released on December 3, the instrumental album Harmonium symphonique – Histoires sans paroles has just been certified gold record by Music Canada, a recognition that underscores the 40,000 copies sold. This result is all the more remarkable since the album is offered on a single platform, the Oziko store.

Histoires sans paroles, the first symphonic project from the world of Harmonium, brings together the complete works of the group adapted by Simon Leclerc and performed by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) under his direction. Totaling more than 140 minutes of music, Histoires sans paroles is a co-direction by Serge Fiori and Simon Leclerc, under the artistic direction of Nicolas Lemieux, president of GSI Musique. 

The double album is available exclusively at www.harmoniumsymphonique.com, in digital version or in two-CD or four-vinyl boxes (available as of February 2021), accompanied by a booklet illustrated with photos taken during the recording at the Maison symphonique.
 
The first project from the fabled Harmonium since the release of L’Heptade 44 years ago, the symphonic performance of Histoires sans paroles, totaling more than 140 minutes, is more than simple orchestral interpretations. It’s a reworking of the songs revealing the compositions in a whole new light. The exquisite flavor, the subtlety and the multiple layers offered by this instrumental work, invite each listener to imagine their own new stories of what for many had become part of the soundtrack of their life.
 
Harmonium is one of the most influential bands in Quebec music history and their success reached across North America as the sound of progressive rock came to characterize the 1970’s music scene. The success of their three albums Harmonium, Si on avait besoin d’une cinquième saison and L’Heptade and the single Pour un instant resulted in an invitation to Los Angeles, where the National Film Board of Canada filmed Harmonium en Californie. In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine listed Si on avait besoin d’une cinquième saison at number 36 of the Best 50 Progressive Rock Albums and declared it the Best Progressive Folk Album. In 2007, all three of Harmonium’s studio albums were named among the 100 greatest Canadian albums of all time in Bob Mersereau’s book The Top 100 Canadian Albums. The influence they had on the sound of Quebec music was immense and still resonates.

Eddie Kramer calls him a ‘songwriting genius!” Toronto’s TAYLOR ABRAHAMSE’s “I Won’t Put Up With It” Single Available Now

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Eddie Kramer calls him a ‘songwriting genius!” Toronto’s TAYLOR ABRAHAMSE’s “I Won’t Put Up With It” Single Available Now

“I Won’t Put Up With It” is the newest single from folk pop singer-songwriter, Taylor Abrahamse. This infectious single is widely available on streaming services, with a dance-in-your-seat music video now on YouTube.

“I’m fascinated with pushing the boundaries for what’s possible in a catchy pop song” says Abrahamse. “‘I Won’t Put Up With It’ was bedtracked in Nashville with top session musicians… A Michael Jackson-inspired slice of 80s funk with a modern protest message, it twists and turns through key changes and a complex arrangement.”

“I Won’t Put Up With It” was mixed and produced by Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin), with additional production by Taylor Abrahamse and Fred Mollin. Kramer discovered Abrahamse playing an impromptu song at the Canadian Music Week conference, and insisted on working with him on a full album.

“Taylor Abrahamse is truly one of Canada’s most original and outstanding artists I have worked with in some time,” Kramer shares. “His sense of melody, lyrics, and song structure — along with amazing skill as a performer — will soon be revealed to the general public.”

Now available now on major streaming services, Abrahamse’s self-titled debut is a blissfully infectious collection of carefully crafted originals.

Santa Cruz, CA’s Father/Daughter Alt-Country Duo WILD & BLUE String Up Some “Holiday Lights” in New Single — Available Now!

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Santa Cruz, CA’s Father/Daughter Alt-Country Duo WILD & BLUE String Up Some “Holiday Lights” in New Single — Available Now!

Father/Daughter duo that is Steve and April Bennett string up some “Holiday Lights” this season with their newly released Christmas song.

As Wild & Blue, the Bennett’s take the time-honoured tradition of family harmony into inspirational and new territory; theirs is a musical partnership deeply rooted in country music’s tradition, yet firmly contemporary in its emotionally charged lyrical offerings and genre-blending approach.

There’s a debut full-length on the horizon; Restless is set for release in early 2021. In the meantime, “Holiday Lights” radiates with exuberant joy thanks to April’s timeless take-notice vox and the song’s decidedly uplifting vibe.

“The song and arrangement were inspired by the great Sam Cooke, who is one of our heroes, and also the spirit of the many vintage holiday classics,” the pair share. “It’s also inspired by the years that Wild & Blue have played 42 one-hour shows a season on a vintage and actually-moving train — the Santa Cruz Holiday Lights Train for Roaring Camp Railroads and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.”

“I wrote this song while stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic,” Steve recalls, who also arranged and produced the single. “And we recorded the song in the Fall of 2019 while we were tracking our album.”

“My dad originally sang the lead on it but caught a bad cold, so I took over,” April recalls.

“And I was happy to pass the baton,” Steve shares of April’s take on the track. “We recorded the piano part on location with Max Bennett-Parker, and used a $100,000 Steinway Concert Grand in the music department of the Monterey Peninsula Community College where one of our engineers, Richard Bryant, is a Recording Arts Professor.”

With Steve known for penning insightful, personal lyrics and April singing them with an arresting urgency that signals “classic-in-the-making,” the California-based father and daughter duo dubbed themselves Wild & Blue in honour of John Scott Sherrill’s long-lauded song of the same name.

They’ve been singing together for live audiences since April was a toddler, and their collaborative efforts prove well-pursued on the forthcoming release.

“I think we’re rooted in vintage soul and R&B as much as we’re rooted in country,” Steve offers. “That feeling, like the vibe of Elvis’ 60s Memphis recordings, or Dobie Gray’s country records, is something we really love and work really hard to convey.”

“We’re both musical history buffs,” April adds. “I’ve always been in love with music that was created before I was born; the music I listened to as a kid were artists like Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and Roger Miller… It spoke to me.

“We’re both very emotional people, and I personally can’t sing anything I don’t feel.”

Ready for the sentiment to be shared, audiences can now feel it too with “Holiday Lights.”

Winnipeg’s Folk-Pop Jazzers THE KEEN & THE KIND Unveil Sonic Portrait in “Joseph”

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Winnipeg’s Folk-Pop Jazzers THE KEEN & THE KIND Unveil Sonic Portrait in “Joseph”

Canadian folk-pop jazz artists The Keen & The Kind have mindfully mined family archives, unearthing the makings of a compelling new single, “Joseph” — available now.

The Winnipeg-based five-piece that is Violet Vopni, Clinton Giesbrecht, Kevin Cote, Alana Giesbrecht, and Stephen Chubaty released their critically acclaimed debut album, Unacknowledged, earlier this year under their former moniker, Nineteen, and were featured on CBC’s Up to Speed, the Indigenous Music Countdown, and Manitoba Music’s Song of the Week.

Now, the band increasingly known for their expansive range in easy-going upbeat pop to groovy smooth jazz to thought-provoking emotive folk is putting the finishing touches on a forthcoming deluxe LP, The Things We Don’t Know, set for release this June 2021.

This sophomore offering’s first preview, “Joseph,” attentively ushers audiences into the fractured legacy and aftermath of Vopni’s lineage, and the story of the song’s namesake, her great grandfather Joseph Huppe.

“Joseph was born in 1900, fought in WWI in 1916, and married my great grandmother, Jenny, in 1923,” Vopni says, setting the scene. “They had four children, Harold, Allan, Doris, and my grandmother Beatrice.

“Joseph was Métis but, being born 15 years after the Northwest Rebellion, he was forced to keep his identity a secret,” she explains. “I think he kept his secret to avoid being sent to a residential school; Métis people were known in those days as being in between because of their combined French and Indigenous lineage so Joseph’s story is one that’s common to Métis people born in the last 135 years.”

Vopni, who serves as The Keen & The Kind’s lead vocalist and songwriter, penned the sonic portrait to shed light on how moments in history can ultimately affect us as people hundreds of years later. “Joseph struggled through alcoholism, he struggled to find where he belonged and, ultimately, he left the family; we do not know what happened to him,” Vopni shares. “What we do know is that he left a woman to raise four children on her own in the 1920s and 30s, and those children subsequently went through traumas of their own — Allan died in WWII, Doris was murdered, and Beatrice became an alcoholic and was married to an abusive man.

“Beatrice passed that trauma to her only child, my mother Kim, who in turn passed that trauma down to me,” she reflects. “So we know a lot about the people Joseph left behind in the world — his wife, his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren — but we don’t know a lot about him. This song is about how his life affected the lives of so many others; it’s about who he left behind, and the wounds that cut so deep.”

“Joseph” is available now. The Things We Don’t Know is available June 2021.

Over 176 different songs surpassed 1 billion video views on TikTok

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Over 176 different songs surpassed 1 billion video views on TikTok

Music is TikTok’s universal language, each song representing a flourishing web of emotions, in-jokes, and dances. As the spaces where people normally enjoy music were impacted by the pandemic, TikTok helped fill the need for communal musical experience in the US. Powered by its community, TikTok became America’s go-to platform for music discovery, as well as a launching pad for smash hits by artists of all genres.

The growth of TikTok in 2020 produced some staggering numbers. Over 176 different songs surpassed 1 billion video views as TikTok sounds. Earlier this month, “The Playlist” was revealed as part of the Year On TikTok: Top 100 retrospective, highlighting the most significant songs on TikTok in 2020. Together, those songs racked up over 50 billion video views on over 125 million creations, and 5 of them reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Nearly 90 songs that trended on the platform in 2020 climbed onto the Top 100 charts in the U.S., with 15 of those reaching #1 on a Billboard chart. Just in the past year over 70 artists that have broken on the platform have received major label deals, including Claire Rosinkranz, Dixie D’Amelio, Powfu, Priscilla Block and Tai Verdes, and dozens more have charted on Rolling Stone’s Breakthrough 25. To help take stock of music’s massive year on TikTok, we’re unveiling our first-ever U.S. music report.

“We at TikTok share our community’s passion for music and we’re dedicated to providing a platform where artists and fans can interact and thrive. It has been inspiring to watch our community bring new talent to the forefront, help send songs up the charts, and use music to create an oasis of joy during a trying time. We will continue to work hard to make TikTok a platform that supports artists and encourages musical engagement and discovery.” – Ole Obermann, Global Head of Music at TikTok. 

Now, let’s explore the music that mattered on TikTok this year in the United States, tracking the community’s favorite genres, celebrating the app’s biggest stars, and shining a spotlight on emerging artists who used TikTok to jumpstart their careers. We’ll also take a look at classic songs that the community loved, marvel at some meme-worthy songs that became TikTok hits, and highlight some of our music initiatives that honored the diverse and bustling community of musicians and creators on the platform.

We hope you’re in the “Mood” to think outside of “The Box” and to go off the “Deep End,” as we take a detailed look at how music shaped the year on TikTok, and how TikTok shaped this year in music.

Real Quick: The Fastest Songs To A Billion

The 176 songs that reached 1 billion video views on TikTok all reached that stunning benchmark via different paths. Drake’s ultra-viral “Toosie Slide” generated a billion views in just three days, and superstar collab “WAP” by Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion did the same in just two weeks. Other songs, like Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” and Surf Mesa’s “ily (i love you baby)” had slow and steady climbs that sustained the better part of a year. 

The below list of the ten fastest songs to reach 1 billion video views reflects the community’s enthusiasm for new songs by stars like Drake and Billie Eilish, but some of the year’s most viral hits came from unexpected sources. The list includes rap hits from regional stars like Detroit’s Sada Baby and Houston’s BeatKing, and songs by artists like Popp Hunna and WhoHeem who were virtually unknown before their viral moment. Songs didn’t have to be new, or even recently released to cross the billion view threshold: “Say I Yi Yi” (2002) and “Where Is The Love?” (2003) demonstrated how the TikTok community can turn catalog cuts into viral hits. Check out the top ten below: 

  1. “Toosie Slide ” – Drake
  2. “WAP” (feat. Megan Thee Stallion) – Cardi B
  3. “Therefore I Am” – Billie Eilish
  4. “Lets Link” – WhoHeem
  5. “Say I Yi Yi” – Ying Yang Twins
  6. “Where Is The Love?” – The Black Eyed Peas
  7. “Whole Lotta Choppas” – Sada Baby
  8. “Adderall (Corvette Corvette)” – Popp Hunna
  9. “Mood Swings” – Pop Smoke
  10. “THICK” – DJ Chose & Beatking

Pick Your Sound: Top Genres

TikTok is home to a diverse community, with diverse tastes to match. Trending music on TikTok encompasses the entirety of the music spectrum, its most popular genres echoing the tastes of the public at large. 

Boosted by megastars like Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby, but also by up-and-comers like Kenndogg, Popp Hunna, and countless others, Hip-Hop led the way by a large margin. Coming in second was pop music, bolstered by big names like BTS, Justin Bieber, and Dua Lipa. 

Other genres that caught the community’s attention include R&B (stars like The Weeknd, Jhené Aiko, and risers like Vedo and Tai Verdes), Electronic (Dillon Francis, Alan Walker, and Diplo show the playful sides of their personalities on their TikTok pages), and the broad indie-alternative coalition (ranging from Wallows to MGMT to Molchat Doma). 

Among the biggest growing genres is Latin music, whose trending songs ranged from trap/reggaeton bangers like Ozuna’s “Caramelo” to traditionalist tracks like “Espejeando” by Los Tucanes De Tijuana. Meanwhile, internet-savvy Country stars like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Kelsea Ballerini and Breland helped the genre have another strong year on the platform.

NOTE: The graphic above lists the top 10 genres on the platform by number of video creations, represented by the percentage of video creations with sounds from each genre.

They’ve Got The Hits:  Top Artist Catalog

The TikTok community gravitates to songs that are confident, empowering, sonically unique, and danceable. It should be no surprise that TikTok’s most popular artists of 2020 are experts at creating these kinds of bops. Scoring a viral hit on the platform helps build familiarity for the artist–if an artist has one viral hit, there’s a very good chance that subsequent songs will have success as well. The ten most-viewed artist of the year each built up their resumes with multiple TikTok hits.

Megan Thee Stallion scored two of the year’s biggest hits with “Savage” and “WAP,” while nearly the entirety of Doja Cat’s Hot Pink album inspired a TikTok trend. The community honored the memory of Pop Smoke by making trending hits out of four songs from his debut album Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, which spent the whole summer in the Billboard Top 5. Rap stars like Roddy Ricch, DaBaby, and Lil Uzi Vert delivered turn-up, Dua Lipa brought Future Nostalgia, and Don Toliver delivered smooth-voiced vibes. Meanwhile, Melanie Martinez established herself as a major pop star with the flirty single “Play Date,” and 20-year-old 24kGoldn broke big on the Billboard charts with “Mood” ft. iann dior.

Check out the ten most viewed artists by catalog on TikTok in 2020: 

  1. Megan Thee Stallion
  2. Doja Cat
  3. Pop Smoke
  4. DaBaby
  5. Roddy Ricch
  6. Melanie Martinez
  7. Don Toliver
  8. Dua Lipa
  9. 24kGoldn
  10. Lil Uzi Vert

Montreal’s Pop-Country “Discovery of the Year” THE RECORD BREAKERS Cozy Up With “Winter” Single

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Montreal’s Pop-Country “Discovery of the Year” THE RECORD BREAKERS Cozy Up With “Winter” Single

At over 300,000+ streams across platforms and following their recent debut at #1 on Amazon Music’s playlist, Canadian pop-country band The Record Breakers offer a ‘warm sweater on a cold day’ in song form with “Winter” — their new single.

“This is one of my favourites that I’ve written,” member Bella Galasso shares of the song that recently debuted on Spotify’s official ‘Christmas in Canada’ playlist. “I was 18 years old when I wrote it, and had just begun a new relationship. I think this song captured my feelings then and still does now, three years later. This song has always meant a lot to me, and contains lyrics that continue to comfort me today.

“I hope this song brings more warmth and light to an otherwise dark, cold season.”

“This song is captivating, like the first fresh snowfall of the winter season,” the rest of the band — Hayden Nolan, Michael Vallinakis, Devan Meisner, and Julian Galasso — agree. “It actually makes us look forward to winter.

“We tried to capture the soul of a 90s country ballad while mixing in a modern edge: huge harmonies, chimes, and baritone guitars all wrapped in luscious pedal steel take you back to a time of mullets and cassette tapes…”

The direction checks out for the band that first formed in 2014 for a one-off Beatles-related celebration before exploring and developing their identity. The result soars beyond sonic norms as a kickin’ bilingual five-piece with a knack for solid musical arrangements, memorable hooks, and larger than life harmonies.

“We had a special encounter with Blue Rodeo,” The Record Breakers recall. “That inspired us to bring country into our pop sound.

“So, we’re a country band, we just sing about cars instead of trucks, you could say!”

2016 saw the release of their self-titled debut EP, with a follow-up sophomore offering, Bigger Plans, landing in 2018. Notably thereafter, they opened for Bon Jovi that summer at the Montreal Bell Centre in 2018, something they bill as an “opportunity of a lifetime,” crowned “Discovery of the Year” at Festival New Country Brome in 2019, and handpicked for CBC Searchlight’s Top 50 Producer Picks in 2020.

This year, they created a song and collaborative video “Quarantine With You,” dubbed a “viral success” by Global News Montreal. Their most recent single “In My Car / Dans mon char” was the band’s first bilingual release, and debuted at #1 on Amazon Music’s “Country du moment” playlist.

Conestogo, Ontario’s Folk/Roots CARLA MULLER Releases “Christmas Eve” and “Christmas At Home” Double Single

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Conestogo, Ontario’s Folk/Roots CARLA MULLER Releases “Christmas Eve” and “Christmas At Home” Double Single

It’s almost that time, and Conestogo, Ontario’s CARLA MULLER spreads evergreen cheer with the release of a double A-side single, “Christmas Eve” and “Christmas At Home,” both out now, ushering in the warmth of a much anticipated 2020 holiday season – and beyond.

Supporting what we all need right now, Carla fuses Americana/Roots vibes into the songs, and donating 50% of the proceeds to Food Banks Canada. She says, ” If I go back far enough, I can remember past Christmases from my own younger days. I just have to close my eyes and I can picture my Mom in the kitchen, singing softly to herself, our old dog Cassidy barking his head off as the doorbell rings and scrabbling to greet friends. Boxing Day would bring carols, sung in a way that only family can, our voices blending as they rose and fell in harmony.

“It’s family, however you define it. I imagine next year, we’ll take the time to slow down and really enjoy the music, light and laughter of Christmas. When we can all be together again and hold one another close. How wonderful that will be!”

In a year of social distancing, Carla with a little help from her friends, completed live virtual recording to create modern contemporary holiday hits. Music has the power to transport us to another time and place. Carla loves to harness that power with a broad audience of fellow music lovers and passionate musicians alike. Ever since a young age, Carla has found great joy and satisfaction by being involved in the creative music process.

While the tracks were recorded quickly, they were drawn from years of Carla’s writings, a perfect symbolic of the past and present.

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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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