Industrial Strength: May 9

LORDE, TROYE SIVAN IN FORBES ASIA-PACIFIC LIST

Lorde and Troye Sivan were among those listed as young global influencers from this part of the world on US magazine Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia Pacific.

China and India led with 76 and 53 honorees in ten categories. Australia had 29, of which 28 were tech startup founders. New Zealand’s handful was also creaking with the weight of tech entrepreneurs but also included hip hop choreographer Parris Goebel who’s been working with Janet Jackson, Nicki Minaj and Jennifer Lopez.

STRONG START TO SPLENDOUR’S CHARITY AUCTION …

The Splendour In The Grass Flood Relief Gold Passes auction has raised $69,067.25, the festival announced this morning. Fifty VIP passed were
auctioned at 15 a day between May 2 to 5, each with a reserve price of $500, with bids coming from as far as the Mauritius

Bidding got off to a strong start. The first day’s 15 were scooped up for a total of $23,000. Most went for between $800-$900, some generous souls took it to $1500.

The $69,067.25 will be distributed across the Tweed Mayor Appeal Fund, Lismore City Council Flood Appeal and the Mullumbimby & District Neighbourhood Centre Inc. in the Byron Shire.

…AND TO FLOOD RELIEF CONCERT

The Rise Above the Flood Benefit show on May 12 at the Byron Theatre has already raised $40,000, primarily due to the efforts of Bluesfest attendees and performers such as Patti Smith. One of the acts on the bill is the Hussy Hicks, who lost all their instruments when their house in Murwillumbah was inundated.

DEEP LOSSES FOR IHEARTMEDIA

As it warned, iHeartMedia posted deep losses of US$388.2 million on total sales of $1.34 billion for the quarter ended March 31. In the same quarter in 2016, its loss was $88 million on revenues of $1.36 billion for the year-earlier quarter.

The iHeartRadio division itself posted $205.7 million in operating income before deprecations, amortization and non-cash charges, on revenues of $757.2 million. That represents a 15.3% decrease on the $242.8 million in IOBDAN, but a 2.5\% rise in reported revenue of $738.9 million.

But there’s been no movement since TMN reported that iHeart equity owners Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners offered creditors holding $14 billion of its $20 billion debt a swap that would mature in two years and take a 10% to 25% loss or face the consequences of the company having to file for bankruptcy.

The offer closes on May 12, with creditors hanging out for a better swap and a lesser rate of forgiveness.

FBi MAKING CHANGES ON DIGITAL RADIO

On June 5 at 6pm, Sydney community radio station FBi 94.5 is returning to digital radio (DAB+) and replacing the three-year-old FBi Click experiment that’s been occupying the station’s digital real estate. The two will become one, with Click shows Body Promise, Motorik, Picnic, Purple Sneakers and Bare Necessities now heard across FM, digital radio and online.

According to the station, a recent listener survey found they wanted to hear it on digital, with 27% of respondents replying they’d tune in “regularly” and 11% said “all the time.”

BRUNO MARS SELLS OVER 200K TIX

The ANZ leg of Bruno Mars’ tour next March has sold 200,000 tickets, Live Nation reported. Tickets opened last Friday for the original nine shows. By yesterday there were 18, with Sydney leading the way with five shows.

Ticket scalpers are having a field day; in NZ, they were on resale within 20 minutes, and some asking for double the face value.

BEE GEES RATINGS

Stayin’ Alive: Grammys Salute The Bee Gees last Wednesday on the Nine Network drew 789,000 overnight metro viewers. It was the sixth highest rating, and second non-news after Master Chef.

In a schedule shuffle, Nine pushed Lip Sync Battle to next week.

Meantime, the Madonna’s Rebel Heart tour special, already postponed twice, does not have a broadcast date.

MARK MOFFAT GETS HONOURED

Nashville-based record producer Mark Moffat was back briefly in his hometown Maryborough in country Queensland. He was one of six locals immortalised on the Maryborough Walk of Achievers last Sunday, alongside scientist Dr Barbara Bain and world-champion weightlifter Nathan Flick.

Moffat recalled to this column how he got his start in the mid-60s in a R&B band playing Animals and Yardbirds covers. During afternoon setup, the local tough “greasers” arrived and told them they’d be back at 10 pm to hear Running Bear. The band was midway through House of the Rising Sun when the thugs arrived, and they immediately broke into the “request”.

“We got really good at segueing into their requests but always escaped a bruising…”

FOXTEL APPLIES FOR MORE PIRACY SITE BLOCKS

Foxtel, which last year blocked the Pirate Bay site and three others, was back before the Federal Court to apply for more. This time it wants the ISPs TPG, Telstra, Optus and Vocus/M2 to cut off movie and TV piracy streaming websites Yes Movies, Los Movies, Watch Series and Project Free TV.

CREATE NSW OFFERS VR FUNDING

The NSW Government, through Create NSW, is offering six grants of up to $20,000 each for professional artists and cultural practitioners to develop virtual reality (VR) work. These include music, as well as visual arts, theatre, dance, literature, and/or museum practices.

They encourage collaborations with VR practitioners to develop skills in this field and expand their audiences. In the final stages, Create NSW will assist successful applicants in identifying potential partners for the completion of projects.

FOXTEL ARTS TO SCREEN TONY AWARDS, SEAL

Foxtel Arts will be screening the 71^st Tony Awards on Monday June 12 at 10 am and 8.30 pm. It will also be streamed on Foxtel Play.

This year’s awards, with Hello, Dolly! scoring 10 nominations and Kevin Spacey as host, have the extra attraction of a number of Aussies being nominated.

Tim Minchin is up for writing the musical version of Groundhog Day, Cate Blanchett for the play The Present, Sam Levy and Rodney Rigby as producers for Come From Away, and Stuart Thompson as producer of Sweat and Six Degrees of Separation.

And with Seal back in the public eye as a Voice coach, a special filmed in 2009 in Chicago turns up on Thursday May 18 at 9.30 pm as part of the Soundstage series.

LAWSUIT OVER AC/DC SONG USE IN TV ADS

Sony Music has filed a lawsuit against US restaurant chain Applebee’s for using AC/DC’s Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution in a TV ad. Sony says the song, as well as C+C Music Factory’s Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) were used without permission and wants $300,000.

The chain responded that it made the licensing payment to the third parties that set up the deal for a fee of $250,000.

MEDIAWORKS LEADS ON NZ RADIO

The latest GfK Total New Zealand Commercial Radio Survey found that MediaWorks Radio has the biggest listenership in that country. It reaches 2.2 million listeners each week across nine radio brands and has 51.4% of the market.

Four of the brands – The Rock, The Edge, More FM and The Breeze – saw them lead considerably in the key 25-54 demo, capturing 56.9%.

SA OPPOSITION PROMISES MORE MUSIC EVENTS

With an eye firmly on South Australia’s March 2018 elections, the Opposition Liberal Party has promised $40 million over four years to host more entertainment and sporting events if elected. The bid fund – which saw the Rolling Stones enticed by the current Government to play Adelaide Oval –would be cranked up from $7.5 million per year to $10 million.

The Libs are also pushing for SA as “the creative state”. They promise a long-term strategic arts plan with input from the creative community, setting up an arts school in Adelaide, more money for Music SA to increase skills of musicians, and establish a Contemporary Live Music Advisory Board.

The Libs already have the Australian Hotels Association SA onside, which is warning that the Government’s proposed new liquor licensing laws will lead to higher prices for drinks, food and club door entry fees. It has calculated the state’s top 35 music venues alone will lose $150,000.

AND A FEW OTHER THINGS …

• Frontier Touring is teasing that an Ed Sheeran tour through Australia and New Zealand will be announced soon.
• Guitarist Jeremy Marou, one half of Queensland’s Busby Marou, is recovering in hospital after suffering a heart attack. The 34 year old has a 99% blocked artery.
• Messiah, the collaboration by DJ/producer-turned-radio presenter Alison Wonderland and M-Phazes, has surpassed 3 million global streams on Spotify.
• So why did Lorde make a quick (as in 24 hour) visit back to New Zealand from the US? She wanted to attend older sister Jerry Yelich-O’Connor’s graduation from the University of Auckland with a combined Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Communications.
• Another celebration in Lorde’s family is that her mum Sonja Yelich and dad Vic O’Connor have, after four children, got married.
• Boy George has stood by his promise to send The Voice contestant, Mackay country music teenager Heath Milner, to Nashville because he had a good voice. Not one of the big red coaches’ chairs turned around for the 17-year old, but Milner has confirmed he’s been contacted by the Boy’s manager and plans are to head for the country music capital. They’re hoping to get Dolly Parton and/or Keith Urban to give some advice and pass on some contacts.
• Australian Radio Network’s parent company APN has gone through a brand. Shareholders at its recent AGM gave the thumbs-up to changing its name to HT&E aka Here, There & Everywhere to “represents our new direction, as we move from being a holder of media assets, to a tier-one media business, uniquely placed in the media market,” said CEO & Managing Director Ciaran Davis.
• Far be it for us to pee on the campfire that is this week’s Eurovision, but bookies have dropped Australia from #6 to win down to #11. Italy, Bulgaria and Portugal are at the top. We even got beaten by Armenia and Azerbaijan, for heaven’s sake.
• By the end of the year, 2CC and 2CA Canberra will have moved out of their tired offices in the ACT suburb of Mitchell to brand spanking state of the art up the road… right next to rivals FM104.7 and Mix 106. Lots of tongue poking through the windows to follow, we assume.
• While pro audio company Julius Media’s Sectech and Entech national roadshows continue to work well, this October’s Ictech has been scrapped due to lack of support from exhibitors.
• The Grates’ singer Patience Hodgson and guitarist John Patterson are holding their second Death Valley Fun Camp. Held May 27 and 28 on the Lake Moogerah School Camp Grounds, 96km southwest of Brisbane, it’s for people who can’t remember school camp without spiralling into a depression, but want to relive archery, kayaking, cooking and, uh, fireside sing-alongs.
• Perth’s burlesque and cabaret Champagne Showgirls have been filming a reality TV series on their current WA tour.