ONE OK ROCK are a fairly huge band in Japan, selling over a million copies of their albums. They like to do things a bit bigger than most, like bringing this 1000-strong kid choir with them onstage.
https://youtu.be/3gyZQtreXlg
Kate Hudson and James Corden Get Dance Instructions From Kids
James Corden and Kate Hudson push their dance ability and fitness to the limit in a class taught by toddlers, where students must mimic the instructors’ moves.
https://youtu.be/QqdR6NBhUYU
CBC’s Searchlight music competition underway
Canada’s hunt for the next big musical act is back. And I’m honoured to be one of the judges.
CBC Music’s annual contest, Searchlight 2017, is officially open to submissions. To enter, applicants must submit a video of themselves performing one original song, as well as one high-quality MP3, before the deadline Feb. 7.
Musicians of all types including solo artists, duos and groups from all genres are encouraged to enter the competition, which will eventually come to life on CBC when the top four finalists compete on a live broadcast for the Searchlight title.
This year’s grand prize will include an original song commission for Canada’s 150th anniversary celebration and a two-week song writing residency with a celebrity mentor from the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
The winner also will have the opportunity to debut the song at the 2017 CBC Music Festival in Toronto, followed by a Searchlight concert with the other top four finalists on July 2 in Ottawa as part of the National Arts Centre’s concert series.
Additional prizes include a Canadian Musician Magazine Career Booster package valued at more than $25,000, provided by media partner Canadian Musician Magazine.
More information and contest guidelines can be found at cbcmusic.ca/searchlight.
Digital Services Deliver £1BN Boost To The Music, Video And Games Businesses In UK
Investment by new digital services like Spotify, Sky, Amazon, Apple Music and Google has resulted in sales of music, video and games running £1bn ahead of where they were just four years ago, according to data compiled by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).
Preliminary figures from ERA indicate that booming digital services helped the music, video and games markets achieve new all-time record sales of £6.3bn in 2016, up 3% on the previous year – and over £1bn more than they were as recently as 2012.
That 3% growth is even more remarkable since it comes in comparison with 2015, which was a 53-week year.
For the first time in 2016 the video market became a majority (58%) digital business with revenues from downloads and subscription services now exceeding those of DVD and Blu-ray discs.
Digital services account for 57% of music revenues and 74% of the games market.
ERA CEO Kim Bayley said, “The music, video and games industries were understandably nervous about the advent of new digital services, but these figures provide resounding evidence of the benefits of our members’ investment in innovation. To have added over £1bn in new revenues in just four years is an incredible achievement. To put it another way, take away today’s digital services and the entertainment market would be barely a third the size it is today.”
ERA’s market figures provide a definitive overview of the UK entertainment market, aggregating data from respected market analysts including the Official Charts Company, GfK and IHS. Preliminary numbers will be updated and confirmed with the publication of the ERA Yearbook in March 2016.
Physical remains a £2.2bn business
Physical formats of music, video and games product declined by 15% in aggregate in 2016, but some physical formats continue to flourish. Sales of handheld games software grew 21.3% to £48.8m, while vinyl records continued their sustained revival, up 56.4% to £65.6m.
“Physical entertainment retailing is clearly off its peak,” said Bayley, “but it is still a £2.2bn market. The growth of vinyl in particular shows that physical formats can flourish if they offer distinctive benefits. The strength of the DVD and CD formats over the Christmas period shows that physical still dominates when it comes to gifting, for instance.”
Music: Entertainment’s fastest-growing sector
Music revenues grew by 4.6% in 2016, well ahead of video (up 2.2%) and games (up 2.9%) powered by a huge 65% rise in music subscription revenues driven by services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and Deezer.
The biggest decline was suffered by downloads (down 26.8% overall). After a relatively resilient 2015 when sales declined just 3.7%, CD revenues fell by 13% in 2016.
The biggest-selling album of the year was Now That’s What I Call Music 95 with sales of 908,500 units.
Massive George Harrison’s Vinyl Box And Book Release On February 24th To Mark His 74th Birthday
The Harrison family is proud to announce the release of George Harrison – The Vinyl Collection (UMe) box set featuring all of George Harrison’s solo studio albums in one collection for the first time.
The vinyl box set includes all twelve of George’s studio albums with exact replicas of the original release track listing and artwork. Also included in the box set are George’s classic live album Live In Japan (2LP), and two 12″ single picture discs of ‘When We Was Fab’ and ‘Got My Mind Set On You’. All the discs are 180-gram heavyweight vinyl and are housed in a high-quality two-piece rigid slipcase box. The original analogue master tapes were used for the new re-masters and were cut at the legendary Capitol studios to ensure exceptional audio quality throughout. The individual albums from the collection will also be available separately, with All Things Must Pass as a limited edition title.
George Harrison’s I Me Mine was originally published by the specialist book publisher, Genesis Publications in 1980. It became the first of many collaborations between George and Genesis founder, Brian Roylance. In conversation with his friend and former Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, and in a first-person commentary that accompanies his songs, Harrison’s own words recount everything from his upbringing in Liverpool, to early Beatlemania, his spirituality and philosophy. This new extended version of the book now spans the complete length of Harrison’s career in music, told in his words and through 141 songs with hand written lyric sheets faithfully reproduced in full color. Now stretching to 632 pages it features lyrics to more than 50 songs not previously included, as well as new photographs, many unpublished until now.
George Harrison – The Vinyl Collection vinyl LP box set contains:
Wonderwall Music (1968) | 1 LP
Electronic Sound (1969) | 1 LP
All Things Must Pass (1970) | 3 LP *limited edition piece
Living In The Material World (1973) | 1 LP
Dark Horse (1974) | 1 LP
Extra Texture (1975) | 1 LP
Thirty Three & 1/3 (1976) | 1LP
George Harrison (1979) | 1 LP
Somewhere in England (1981) | 1 LP
Gone Troppo (1982) | 1 LP
Cloud Nine (1987) | 1 LP
Live In Japan (1992) | 2 LP
Brainwashed (2002) | 1 LP
12″ Picture Disc Singles of ‘When We Was Fab’ and ‘Got My Mind Set On You’ (only available as part of the box set)
Also available, the perfect companion for the vinyl set is the George Harrison Essential III turntable. This elegant piece is manufactured and designed by Pro-Ject Audio Systems, one of the world’s leading suppliers of record players. The artwork was designed by Studio Number One based on an exclusive 2014 art-print lithograph designed for the Harrisons by Shepard Fairey. This turntable is limited to 2500 worldwide.
Mark Hamill and His Return of the Jedi Prop Lightsaber Reunite
Comic-Con HQ has provided us with a great clip from an upcoming episode of Mark Hamill’s Pop Culture Quest. In the clip he reunites with his original prop lightsaber from Return of the Jedi.
The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson Talks with The MC5’s Wayne Kramer
Tommy Stinson (the Replacements, Guns N’ Roses, Bash and Pop) and Wayne Kramer (MC5, Gang War) recently sat down at the flagship Sonos store in New York City to discuss the current political climate, A Tribe Called Quest and how music can forge deep connections in fractured times. Oh, and that time Gang War blew out Bob Mould’s guitar amp. Craig Finn (the Hold Steady) joined in to lead a fan Q&A session.
The New Trailer For “Better Call Saul” Reveals Jimmy And Kim’s Relationship. Maybe.
Jimmy and Kim discuss the status of their partnership. I’m counting down the days until the Season 3 premiere on Monday, April 10 at 10/9c on AMC.
Postmodern Jukebox Performs Jazz Versions of ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ From the ‘Harry Potter’ Films
Musicians Scott Bradlee (piano), Adam Kubota (bass), and Mike Cottone (trumpet) of the pop music cover band Postmodern Jukebox performed a stunning jazz variation of “Hedwig’s Theme” from the Harry Potter film series.
Radiohead Announces US Tour Dates
Radiohead has confirmed nine U.S. headline shows in addition to the band’s previously announced headline engagement at this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale beginning January 20th. Tickets for all shows will be limited to 4 per order. Restrictions may vary from venue to venue. Go here for all the details.
The full Radiohead U.S. 2017 itinerary is below.
March 30 – American Airlines Arena – Miami, FL
April 1 – Philips Arena – Atlanta, GA
April 3 – Smoothie King Center – New Orleans, LA
April 5 – Sprint Center – Kansas City, MO
April 8 – Key Arena – Seattle, WA
April 9 – Moda Center – Portland, OR
April 11 – Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA* Tickets limited to 2 per order
April 14 – Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival – Indio, CA
April 17 – Greek Theatre – Berkeley, CA
April 18 – Greek Theatre – Berkeley, CA
April 21 – Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival – Indio, CA