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Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” Hits Record-Making Status

Music

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Mar 11, 2015

Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” Hits Record-Making Status

Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!,” featuring Bruno Mars, hits hallowed ground atop the Billboard Hot 100: It reigns for a 10th week, joining the exclusive club of leaders that have reigned for double-digit weeks.

“Funk!,” released on RCA Records, becomes just the 29th No. 1 in Hot 100 history to lead for at least 10 weeks. If 29 seems like a high number, that’s out of 1,041 leaders dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, debut. In other words, only 3 percent of all Hot 100 No. 1s, now including “Funk,” have logged rules of 10 weeks or more.

Some at-ten-tion-getting trivia: The first song to lead for at least 10 weeks? Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life,” for 10 frames in 1977. The last before “Funk”? Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” which led for 10 weeks last year and went on to become the Hot 100’s No. 1 song of 2014. The song with the most weeks at the summit: Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day,” which ruled for 16 weeks in 1995-96.

Watch Kanye West and John Legend Perform Gold Digger in 2003

Music

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Mar 11, 2015

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Watch Kanye West and John Legend Perform Gold Digger in 2003

A few months before The College Dropout was released, and a full two years before Late Registration received universal acclaim, Kanye West performed an early version of “Gold Digger” for an audience at the 2nd Annual Dynamic Producer Conference. There’s no Ray Charles sample and Jamie Foxx, but there is John Legend doing the song with him.

Boots and Hearts Emerging Artist Showcase Announced

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Mar 11, 2015

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Boots and Hearts Emerging Artist Showcase Announced

Today Republic Live, organizers of the Boots and Hearts Music Festival, announced their annual Emerging Artist Showcase, presented by SiriusXM Canada. All emerging Canadian country artists (excluding Quebec) 12 years of age and older are encouraged to upload a video performance for a chance to participate as one of 8 finalists in the competition which takes place at Boots and Hearts August 6 – 9^th, 2015 at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds. Last year just under 250 artists submitted to perform as part of the showcase and previous contestants include Tim Hicks, 2012, Tebey, 2012 winner, The Reklaws, winner, 2013 and Trinity Bradshaw, winner, 2014. The 2015 winner will go on to perform on the Main Stage at Boots and Hearts 2015 on Sunday, August 9^th, before Thomas Rhett and win a release with Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company. The competition is now open at www.bootsandhearts.com/showcase and will run until April 1^st, at 11:59 pm EST.

“As one of the pillars of Boots and Hearts, we are so pleased to continue to partner with Sirius XM Canada to be able to provide a platform for up and coming Canadian talent with the Emerging Artist Showcase,” said Shannon McNevan, Executive Director, Republic Live. “Some of our previous contestants have gone on to great careers in country music, and many have been booked to perform not just at our festival, but on tour supporting a number of international artists. Since our very first year, we’ve seen some amazing talent come through this showcase and we are fortunate to have partners like Sirius XM Canada that prioritize the development of homegrown talent and can provide them with a forum like satellite radio to be discovered by fans. This is an amazing opportunity for any artist to hone their craft in working with a label like Universal Music Canada to develop and release a single, and to perform at Canada’s largest country music festival will give them an experience they will never forget.”

The Emerging Artist Showcase will take place at Boots and Hearts Music Festival, August 6^th – 9^th, at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds. Entries are open to bands and solo artists with prizing that includes a performance on Sunday August 9^th on the main stage at Boots and Hearts 2015 prior to Thomas Rhett, a single release in Canada through Universal Music Canada, and an opportunity to perform on the Main Stage at Boots and Hearts 2016. Full competition details are available at www.bootsandhearts.com/showcase

Boots and Hearts is an annual country music festival event run by Republic Live, and will take place at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds, in Oro-Medonte Ontario August 6 – 9 in 2015. This year’s headliners include Brad Paisley, Eric Church and Florida Georgia Line as well as artists Justin Moore, Little Big Town, Thomas Rhett, Dallas Smith, Chad Brownlee, High Valley, Frankie Ballard, David Nail, Maddie & Tae, Canaan Smith, Kira Isabella, The Stellas with Lennon and Maisy, Mackenzie Porter, Dylan Scott, Small Town Pistols, Wes Mack, Trinity Bradshaw, The Lovelocks, Leah Daniels, Ty Baynton, Kaitlin Kozell, Them Dang Rattlers, Genevieve Fisher, Melissa Payne, Jesse Labelle, Kate Suhr, and Abby Stewart. Boots and Hearts recently won the CCMA (Canadian Country Music Association) Festival of the Year Award and continues to receive accolades from Canadian Music Week. All tickets and camping offerings are currently available at www.bootsandhearts.com.

Rdio Becomes an Official Music Sponsor of the 2015 JUNO Awards

Music

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Mar 11, 2015

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Today, The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts Sciences (CARAS) and Rdio (www.rdio.com) one of the world’s largest licensed music services, announced that it is an Official Music Sponsor of the 2015 JUNO Awards, celebrating the best in Canadian music. Rdio will be providing listeners with a rich content hub of curated stations and playlists to accompany this year’s JUNO Award nominees and winners. Additionally, some of Canada’s top artists such as Hedley (Dave Rosin), LIGHTS, Sam Roberts and Dallas Green of You+Me will be providing playlists specially curated for Rdio.

Rdio is also fully integrated into the official 2015 JUNO Awards App music experience. iOS and Android users who download the JUNO Awards app can preview songs from nominated artists and connect directly to Rdio to experience full tracks.

Inside of Rdio, listeners can experience a rich variety of exclusive JUNO-related programming. Follow the JUNO Awards account and listen to over 35 curated playlists related to award categories. A special ‘JUNO Radio Station’ category houses thematic stations around the evening’s most anticipated prizes.

Specific JUNO stations highlighting this year’s awards include:

2015 JUNO Award Nominees: A selection of nominees at this year’s JUNO Awards.
JUNO Fan Choice Award Presented by TD: A station highlighting the 10 Canadian artists nominated for the only fan voted award. This year’s nominees include Arcade Fire, Drake and Leonard Cohen.

Specific JUNO playlists highlighting some of this year’s JUNO Award nominees and performers include:

Single of the Year: The biggest hits from some of Canada’s hottest artists, which include Drake, Kiesza and MAGIC!
International Album of the Year: From Katy Perry to Sam Smith, listen to an international collection of albums that Canadians couldn’t stop listening to.
Artist of the Year: Celebrates some of Canada’s most shining musical stars, including The Weeknd, deadmau5 and Bryan Adams.
Breakthrough Artist of the Year: From Shawn Mendes to Mac DeMarco, this award honors artists who have made their mark over the year.

Fans can access the 2015 JUNO Award stations at www.rdio.com or directly from the JUNO Awards website at www.junoawards.ca. Follow @RdioCA for news on the ground during JUNO Week March 9-15. After The 2015 JUNO Awards Broadcast airs on Sunday, March 15, Rdio will also feature winner stations and exclusive Rdio content.

“Canada is one of our most important markets, so we’re thrilled to be an Official Sponsor for the most celebrated music awards in the country,” said Scott Bagby, President of International at Rdio. “These Rdio stations and playlists allow all Canadians to explore this year’s exceptional nominees beyond the actual awards show and experience Canada’s rich music culture in a new way.”

“From vinyl and 8-track to compact disc and downloads, the JUNOS have been there. This year, we are proud to be working with leading music streaming service Rdio,” said Allan Reid, President & CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards & MusiCounts. “Together, we aim to promote and foster discovery of the incredible artists our nation produces.”

Visit the 2015 JUNO Awards on Rdio here and tune in to the show on CTV on Sunday, March 15, broadcast live from Hamilton, Ontario. To listen to all of Rdio’s 2015 JUNO Award stations, both before and after the show, visit www.rdio.ca

Shad Joins Q on CBC Radio As Permanent Host

Music

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Mar 11, 2015

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Shad Joins Q on CBC Radio As Permanent Host

Q, CBC Radio One’s award-winning daily arts, culture and entertainment program, will have a fresh feel and a unique voice starting April 20th when it welcomes Shad (Shadrach Kabango) as the new permanent host. Shad will take over the host chair, working closely with the producers of Q to bring listeners the intelligent conversations around arts and entertainment they’ve come to expect from the popular program.

“Shad will bring a unique, thought-provoking voice to Q that we are confident will resonate with Canadians,” said Cindy Witten, interim executive director, Radio and Audio for English Services. “He is an extremely bright and accomplished artist with a broad range of interests and passions. I think the audience will be completely charmed by him.”

“Joining the Q team is an honour. My mission in music has always been to make a unique and positive contribution to culture and to people’s lives,” said Shad. “This is an exciting opportunity to pursue that same mission in a new way, alongside a brilliant, passionate team.”

Critically acclaimed Juno Award-winning rapper Shad is regarded for his humour, honesty and intelligence. Born in Kenya to Rwandan parents and relocated to Canada shortly after, he was raised in London, Ontario. The 32-year-old holds a business degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a master’s degree in liberal studies from Simon Fraser University. His music has critics incorporating him into the dialogue among the well-regarded emcees in North America and has garnered him nods from the Juno Awards and Polaris Music Prize. With his new role at CBC’s Q, Shad can now add host to his resume.

Q is ranked as one of the more popular arts, culture and entertainment radio shows in Canada, with this season pulling in a larger average audience than last year. On CBC Radio One, Q is heard twice every weekday reaching 2.1 million listeners weekly across Canada.

Q airs weekdays on CBC Radio One at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. (10:30 NT), on Sirius XM at 10 a.m., 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. (ET) each day. In the U.S., Q is broadcast in 165 cities through PRI and reaches a weekly audience of just over 1 million people. Q TV, which features weekly highlights from the program, can be seen on CBC-TV on Sundays at 3 p.m. and Thursday nights at 1 a.m. All interviews and performances are also available for viewing on Q’s Youtube channel.

CEO of ASCAP on the need to reform how songwriters are paid

Music

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Mar 11, 2015

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CEO of ASCAP on the need to reform how songwriters are paid

“Songwriters are the unsung heroes behind American music. Every song you hear comes from the heart and mind of a songwriter. Songwriters create the notes and lyrics on the page. This is the copyright in the musical composition that any artist can record. Unlike recording artists, however, most songwriters are not famous and they do not make money by touring and selling merchandise. Many songwriters do not have salaries, benefits and other reliable sources of income. They rely on public performance royalties to earn a living, feed their families and pay the rent.

“There have been seismic changes in the music landscape. People no longer buy the music they love, they stream it. Streaming services offer more choice and more consumer control. As a result, they require access to a massive variety of songs in order to provide users with an optimally tailored content experience. This means that the use of music has increased exponentially, but the payments have not followed. For a songwriter, this is a terrifying trend.”

– Elizabeth Matthews. CEO, ASCAP, on the need to reform the ASCAP consent decree that governs how songwriters are paid.

Dave Bidini on Canadian music’s weirdness

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Mar 10, 2015

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Dave Bidini on Canadian music’s weirdness

Dave Bidini, the lead singer of the now-defunct, boundary-pushing Rheostatics and the frontman of the still-at-it Bidiniband, has always been a bit of an odd duck within Canadian music. Just how weird became clear to him during a Rheostatics performance years ago in Melville, Sask., a small town of a few thousand, at a bar with a wall festooned with framed photos of past performers. “They were all these strange misfit Prairie bands,” he said, from a gold-haired new wave band to a massive muscleman who covered his body with drum pads while playing the keytar as a one-man show. “I remember staring at them, and then realizing that we were also a misfit band—we were this itinerant band heading out across the country. And rather than that lineage of those handful of bands that become commercially popular in a mainstream sense, I realized the real spine of art and music in Canada is all the other bands.

“I can’t relate to Bryan Adams, I can’t relate to Alanis Morissette—they’re their own realities, they’re definitely not the realities of the bands that I’ve ever forged a bond with. I think once you embrace that [weirdness], it’s easier to be comfortable being an artist in Canada.”

Via Macleans

Infographic: The Resurgence of Vinyl in Seven Graphics

Music

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Mar 10, 2015

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In an era where digital dominates music consumption, 72 percent of vinyl buyers are 35 and under as fans flock to the format’s “comforting pops and clicks.”

Dave Grohl Named Ambassador for Record Store Day 2015

A version of this article first appeared in the March 14 issue of Billboard.

Deitrick Haddon Signs To eOne Music And Partners To Create Christian Television Content

Music

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Mar 10, 2015

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Deitrick Haddon Signs To eOne Music And Partners To Create Christian Television Content

Entertainment One Music (eOne Music) has announced the signing of award-winning gospel singer turned reality star Deitrick Haddon. Also known for his hit producing and song-writing skills, Haddon has launched a new partnership with eOne with his DHVisions record label, which is associated with Relevé Entertainment.

The partnership between the three will allow Haddon, Relevé and eOne to release and produce Christian television and film content, as well. Of the new partnership, Phil Thornton who serves as eOne Musice Vice President and General Manager of Urban Inspirational, said: “At eOne Music, we are excited to partner with the critically-acclaimed, award-winning superstar Deitrick Haddon in forming this new label partnership DHVisions, as he returns to produce the music his fans worldwide have always loved. Deitrick’s multi-faceted talents and the dynamic gifts that he’s brought to every project have made him an undeniable visionary artist, and we look forward to breaking new creative ground together in the field of gospel entertainment.”

Dr. Holly Carter, the CEO and founder of Relevé Entertainment added: “As Deitrick’s manager and partner in his entertainment endeavors, I knew he had to have the right partner. What Phil and his team at eOne have done and continue to do in gospel and entertainment overall makes this a perfect match. I am excited about the future.” Haddon shared his feelings about eOn, stating he and eOne have the same vision and goals for the future of gospel music.

‘DRAKE’S HOMECOMING: THE LOST FOOTAGE’ Coming to Select Cineplex Theatres

Music

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Mar 10, 2015

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‘DRAKE’S HOMECOMING: THE LOST FOOTAGE’ Coming to Select Cineplex Theatres

Grammy-Award winning, platinum-selling recording artist and multi-faceted entertainer Drake comes to the big screen for a special one-night concert event, “DRAKE’S HOMECOMING: THE LOST FOOTAGE,” on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. local time, presented by Front Row Centre Events, SpectiCast, Serious Ent., AMG, Rap-A-Lot Records & Young Empire Music Group.

Previously believed lost and destroyed, the footage for “DRAKE’S HOMECOMING: THE LOST FOOTAGE” was shot prior to Drake signing with Little Wayne’s Young Money (Cash Money/Universal) imprint during a live, sold-out concert at Toronto’s Sound Academy in 2009. After its recent rediscovery, additional production and footage was added to the concert film including interviews with Rap-a-Lot Records CEO James Prince and his son Jas Prince, who is credited with the discovery of Drake and bringing him to the attention of Little Wayne. The soundtrack includes the international smash hits, “Best I Ever Had” and “Successful.”

Jas Prince, CEO of Young Empire Music Group said, “When I first listened to Drake I had no idea he was on a hit show, I just fell in love with his sound and talent – it was unique and like nothing I had ever heard before. I told him during our first conversation I would make him a star. This film documents the beginning of that journey.”

Tickets for “DRAKE’S HOMECOMING: THE LOST FOOTAGE,” are available now at participating Cineplex theatre box offices and online at Cineplex.com/Events.

First known for his role on the highly-successful television series “Degrassi: The Next Generation,” the Toronto-based rapper Drake now holds the record for the most number one hits on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Chart. Prior to his current fame, Drake self-released several mixtapes before releasing the single “Best I Ever Had” from the 2009 mixtape “So Far Gone,” which charted to #2 on the Billboard’s “Hot 100” chart. After signing to Universal, Drake released the album “Thank Me Later” (2010) which reached sales of 1.5 million and produced the top ten hit “Over.” 2011 saw the release of the multi-platinum album “Take Care” and Drake winning a Grammy for the “Best Rap Album.” His 2012 “Club Paradise Tour” was the highest grossing hip-hop tour, bringing in excess of $42 million. 2013’s release of “Nothing Was The Same” earned Drake the top spot in the Billboard 200, a platinum certification, and another Grammy nomination. 2013/2014’s “Would You Like a Tour” grossed over $48 million. 2015 will see the release of his fourth studio album, “Views From The 6,” released worldwide.

“SpectiCast is proud to be the worldwide distributor of this film. Drake is an international superstar and we are excited to showcase him at the start of his mammoth career. This rare footage is a must-see for every Drake fan across the globe,” said SpectiCast Co-founder and President Mark Rupp.

“James Prince, CEO of Rap-a-Lot and Anzel Jennings, Co-Producer of DRAKE:HOMECOMING have been outstanding partners in wanting the quality of the project maintained throughout all levels. We couldn’t ask for a better team of international partners for the theatrical and broadcast deals being concluded right now. In conjunction with Rap-a-Lot we are looking at an early 2015 for the international release of all windows across multiple platforms,” states AMG Chairman Mark S. Berry.

Rob “Kelo” Hendricks, EVP Business Affairs at AMG added “It goes without saying that this film is essential for Drake fans, particularly given the amount of time spent on highlights of how he was discovered and the climb up. Mark and I are honored at being a part of this film and in partnership with James and Anzel at Rap-a-Lot along with Mark Rupp at SpectiCast as Drake is more than just an artist with 21.5M Twitter followers. He’s a planet and his planet is populated by millions of devoted fans. We are set to deliver a 5 star project,” he said.

Samuel Cole-Elkind, president of Serious Entertainment says, “We are honored and humbled to present one of the biggest concert films for hip -hop culture ever. To be presenting this movement along with legendary AMG producer Mark Berry, Rob “Kelo” Hendricks, Rap A Lot records CEO James Prince & Specticast President Mark Rupp is truly an honor. This film has been compared to the Beatles performing at the tavern in London. The world will now get the Drake experience on the big screen with surround sound worldwide.”