Industrial Strength: October 31
MORE PINK DATES, TOUR HITS 33 SHOWS
The Australian leg of Pink’s Beautiful Trauma World Tour reached 33 shows, with the addition yesterday of three more dates.
These were the fourth show at Perth Arena on Saturday, July 7 and two at Melbourne Rod Laver Arena, on August 28 and 29. (In addition, there are five sold-out shows in New Zealand).
There’ll probably more dates added, suggests her manager, Australian born Roger Davies during a rare interview with America’s Pollstar magazine.
Asked about her pressing the buttons with Aussies, Davies suggested, “They really relate to her as sort of what you see is what you get, and she has a very broad audience, probably from 7 to 70-plus.
“They strongly relate to her personality and she’s very honest, and I think that is very appealing to Australians.”
According to Pollstar calculations, her 2009 tour drew an estimated 639,229 (or 2.6% of the country’s population). In 2013 the figure was 590,010 tickets or 2.2% of the population.
ABBE MAY, GOOD BOY, RELEASE MARRIAGE EQUALITY ANTHEMS
Abbe May is making a double-whammy statement on equality. She’s reclaiming Valentine’s Day, by launching her fifth album Fruit and staging the all-female Clam Jam showcase as part of the Perth Festival.
She says, “Fruit is an open declaration of my identity and struggle with my sexuality.
“It’s an open love letter to anyone who might feel they are alone in this.
“During this very public, generally non-fact based, very mean-spirited debate about whether or not same-sex couples should be given equal right to legally marry their loved ones, it is important that supporters stand up and show up for those who are affected.
“Fruit says I’m here, I’m REALLY gay and I’m proud of it because there is nothing to be ashamed of if you are LGBTQIA+ or one of our allies.
“Love is Love. It’s 20 bloody 17 after all!’’
In the meantime, Brisbane trio Good Boy issued ’A Waste Of Approximately 122 Million Dollars (Taxpayer Funded)’ through Barely Dressed Records.
Singer Rian King explains, “122 million dollars of public funding for an opinion is disgusting.
“ In NZ all they had to do was sign a piece of paper and go to lunch but our pathetic bureaucracy-obsessed need to spend money and time distracts from what should already be legal. There is no valid argument against same-sex marriage.”
HERE COMES THE SON(Y), DOO DO DO DOO
To raise funds for Sony Foundation’s work with vulnerable young people, Sony Music Entertainment Australia herded 14 of its artists into the studio to cut a track of The Beatles’ ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ under the title Sony Music All Stars.
It’s currently available to buy or stream.
The charity single and the Friends4Youth Campaign were announced at the annual Sony Foundation Wharf4Ward event at Woolloomooloo Wharf in Sydney before 1000 guests.
The 14 gave a surprise performance. They included Daryl Braithwaite, Anthony Callea, Dami Im, Isaiah, Samantha Jade, Jess & Matt, Jessica Mauboy, Rick Price, Alli Simpson and Mark Vincent.
The idea of the song was SMEA’s Chairman Denis Handlin.
FESTIVAL TO LIST?
Which team at a famous Australian music festival is holding discussions about listing on the Australian Stock Exchange?
HOW AUSSIE PROMOTERS RANK IN WORLD
Pollstar took a closer scrutiny at its Q3Top 100 Promoters in the World list and found that 40% of the promoters came from outside North America.
Germany and the UK did well with eight promoters each listed.
But outside NA and Europe, Australia was the strong performing country with five promoters making it into the list.
BREXIT SCHMEXIT!
It’s taken some time, it seems, for it to sink into the heads of some folk in the UK that the place is exiting the European Union.
No less than five UK cities have their hands up shrieking “pick me! pick me!” to be the next European Capital of Culture.
The UK would no longer be part of Europe by the time the decision is made.
But chanting mantras and hoping for a miracle are Dundee, Leeds, Nottingham and Milton Keynes as well as Belfast and Londonderry who have made a joint bid.
GIRLS ROCK CANBERRA GET FUNDING
Girls Rock Canberra, the mentorship program for teen girls through music, has received $24,341 from Arts ACT through its latest Project Arts Fund.
The group noted, “Combined with backing from Capital Giving and our ongoing partnership with Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres our 2018 camp is shaping up to be one of the best yet.”
Meanwhile, other recipients of the Project Arts round were $5200 for Matt Barnes to attend an international music mixing seminar in France; $13,189 for Chris Endrey to record a new album; and $23,048 for the staging of the SoundOut experimental festival.
LATIN MUSIC MAKES UP 2.9% OF US MUSIC MARKET
New figures from the RIAA show that Latin Music revenue in the United States has leapt 44% in the first quarter of 2017 over the same period last year to $115 million.
82% of that (or $94 million) was from streaming; and from within that, 34% was from paid subscription.
Last year saw the first turn-around for Latin Music in America after a 12-year decline which the RIAA blamed on piracy.
COMMUNITY RADIO GETS TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS
Donations to the Community Broadcasting Foundation are now tax deductible, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield conformed.
He said, “Community broadcasters make a valuable contribution to media diversity in Australia.
“That is why the Government allocates substantial funding to support community broadcasters, and I have been pleased to make announcements over recent months that even more funding will be provided for these services.
“The Community Broadcasting Foundation is a terrific steward of this funding, and I am delighted that the capacity to now receive tax-deductible donations represents a further vote of confidence and support in community broadcasting from the Turnbull Government.”
Last year, the CBF distributed 617 grants to 230 organisations worth $15.9 million. 79% of applications were successful.
SPOTIFY OPENS UP ON UK OPERATIONS
New figures released by Spotify covering its UK operations showed that at the end of 2016, it had 7.1 million monthly users and 2.8 million paying subscribers.
Revenues were up 27% to £237 million (A$407.4 million), subs grew up 26% to £215 million ($369.6 million) and ad revenues up 62% to £17.5 million ($30.08 million) – all of which. had the Swedish streaming service’s bank manager beaming profusely.
Net profit was £1.9 million ($3.26 million) for the year as operating profit took a huge jump from £6.1 million ($10.4 million) to £25 million ($42.9 million).
MUSIC VICTORIA CALLS FOR NOMS FOR WOMEN’S ADVISORY PANEL
Music Victoria is calling for nominations to join its Women’s Advisory Panel for a two-year term.
The association said, “We are looking to recruit a panel of 12 women and female identifying people to reflect a broad cross-section of artists and (music) industry professionals across genre, demographic and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.”
The panel will continue Music Victoria’s advocacy around gender representation issues in the music industry –
implementing the 40:40:20 gender quotas to all MV events and organisational activities.
Applications & Inquiries to: WAP@musicvictoria.com.au. Nominations close on November 10.
SHAPE OF YOU HITS HALF BILLION STREAMS IN INDIA
In a greater show that Indian music fans are becoming more westernised, Sony Music India announced that Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You; has reached the half a billion streams there.
According to the statement, audio streaming platforms like Saavn, Gaana, Hungama and Wynk “are surprised by this popularity and consumer demand as they too have never seen streaming numbers rise at such a high rate”
MUSIC ALIVE AT AACTA AWARDS
The full list of nominations for the 7th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA included those up for best original music scores.
* For Television:
Blue Murder Killer Cop Episode 1 – Part One John Gray – Seven Network
Cleverman Episode 3 – Dark Clouds, Samuel Scott, Conrad Wedde, Lukasz Buda – ABC
Top of The Lake, China Girl, Episode 4 – Birthday, Mark Bradshaw – Foxtel/BBC First
Wake In Fright Episode 1 – Part 1 Antony Partos, Matteo Zingales – Network Ten
* For Film:
Ali’s Wedding, Nigel Westlake
Berlin Syndrome, Bryony Marks
The Butterfly, Caitlin Yeo
Lion, Volker Bertelmann, Dustin O’Halloran
* For Documentaries:
Blue Ash, Gibson Greig
The Family, Amanda Brown
Servant Or Slave, George Papanicolaou – NITV
Whiteley, Ash Gibson Greig
SEVEN CONFIRMS BARNESY, LIVVY, SHOWS
Seven Network revealed at a glittering event that among its premieres for 2018 is the documentary Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Boy based on his best selling book, and the two-part Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You, starring Delta Goodrem.
JULIA JACKLIN HEADS BACK O/S
Julia Jacklin is heading back to North America and UK for a round of headline shows.
In the UK she’s been attacked by superlatives as “Instantly captivating” (The Line Of Best Fit), “Truly exceptional” (Q),
“Brilliant” (The Sunday Times), “A sturdy, touching arrival” (Uncut:), “A worthy addition to the genre” (MOJO) and “Stunning.” (The FADER).
The 12 international dates run starts in Portsmouth, UK on November 2 and willwind up on November 19 in Portland.
In between, thereare stops in cities London, Glasgow, Manchester, Brooklyn, Toronto and Chicago.
After that, she returns to Australia for a festival summer shows.
In the meantime, she’s dropped the video for ‘Cold Caller’, which she describes thus: “Over my 5 years of dancing training I accumulated about 4 dance moves, which have all been utilised in this clip.
“You could say it all started here in this dance studio in my hometown, Springwood, where beginning at the age of 11, I laboured and then learned that I was not going to be a professional dancer.
“Nevertheless for those 5 years I did my best; tap-danced at a casino in a high vis one-piece to ‘Working Class Man’, waved my arms repeatedly around at an event held in a McDonalds car park to Enya’s ‘Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)’, crammed my pre-pubescent body into silver hot pants for Pink’s ‘Get this Party Started’.
“It’s still my favourite thing to do, and this song is about something worrying, but also something incredibly joyful and all I could think to do to express that was to dance.”
ARTISAN WINS AT NZ AWARDS
Four wins were announced in the second Artisan Awards in the run-up to the November 16 NZ Music Awards in Auckland.
Ben Edwards took Best Producer (for Nadia Reid’s Preservation album), Clint Murphy named Best Engineer (for Devilskin‘s chart-topping gold certified Be Like The River), Henrietta Harris claimed the Best Album Cover for Grayson Gilmour’s album Otherness and Best Music Video was presented to Joel Kefali for ‘Got It Bad’ by LEISURE.
DARWIN MUSICIAN INQUEST
A NT News first day report on the coronial inquest of the motorbike death of Darwin musician Peter Bonnell aka Pedro Swift noted haphazard road works as a major contributor.
Bonnell likely died instantly in the early hours of April 29 last year, when he rode his motorbike into a temporary roadworks barrier on Tiger Brennan Drive at Bayview.
Expert witness David Tulloch said the proposed barriers and speed limits would have met Australian standards. But markings should have been “rubbed out”, the temporary speed limit was too high and a curve put in place was too sharp.
“That is very confusing and can be disorienting for operators at night time,” NT News quoted him as saying.
An autopsy had also shown he smoked cannabis on the night and his blood alcohol content was 0.204, more than four times the legal limit for driving.
ASHLEY HENDRIKS REVERTS TO OWN NAME
Australian electronica act Leure who scored national airplay in 2012 for her track ‘Tired’ has reverted to her real name. Her new single ‘Lost In Dreams’ (through Inertia) comes out under Ashley Hendricks.
“I feel over the last year a lot has changed with both myself and my music,” she tells TMN.
“Ash Hendriks is a stronger representation of how I have developed and who I am now musically.
“I feel more confident with songwriting and production so it’s finally time to jump behind my own name. “
She also lived in Amsterdam, “a time I allowed myself to write and only do music for a solid 4 months. I then fell in love with the city so much I stayed for a year.
“The residency was something I’ll be forever grateful for in slowing down the artistic process because there was no time limit in creation.
“A true luxury to be immersed in creating music for days on end with purpose and no pressing commitments.”
On her return to Australia, the one time Perth act opted to be based in Sydney and has just come off a national tour with Woodes.
BIEBER’S SKY PILOT DUCKS TOUR CANCELLATION SPEC
Justin Bieber’s church pastor and mentor Carl Lentz has hotly denied that it was he who got the singer to cancel the rest of his Purpose World Tour in July
After the Australian shows during which some reviewers suggested he’d phoned in his performance, the tour was mercifully axed due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
That apparently was code for “rededicating his life to Christ”, or as the Biebs put it, wanting his “mind, heart and soul to be sustainable”.
Lentz is accused of being the instigator behind the cancellation.
He went on The Breakfast Club to say, “People who speculate like that don’t have any context of what it means to have a pastor or a friend and Justin made his own calls.
“He made his own decisions. It’s not my role to tell this boy, this man really, man of God, what to do.
“He’s gonna do what he’s gonna do and I’m going to sit there and say, ‘I’m with you.’ If he asks for advice, I would give it.
“But that’s not my primary role. Why would I have a hand in him cancelling his tour? Why would I want Beliebers mad at me?”
BAD PONY WIN AMW 301 PRIZE
Sydney outfit Bad Pony are the 2017 winners of the Australian Music Week and Studios 301, chosen from over 400 applications
Their prize package includes a single recorded, mixed and mastered at Studio 301, a showcase at AMW distribution by MGM, launch shows booked by Harbour Agency, opening slot on HiFi Days Festival as well as radio servicing, media publicity and media coverage in various publications.
AND A FEW OTHER THINGS…
Former The Australian music columnist Iain Shedden’s drum kit sat silently at the altar as friends, family and colleagues bid farewell at a service at Marrickville Town Hall. Some of his punk band colleagues from Scotland also mad it out. Dog Trumpet performed, and promoter Michael Chugg and Jimmy Barnes sent messages that were read out. His 18-year old daughter Molly caught the spirit of the memorial. A clip showed her and her father performing Crowded House’s ‘Fall at Your Feet’ – Neil Finn sent a message to the family that the song was about taking on someone’s sadness and he was “ moved to think there might be some comfort and warmth gained from that song.” Molly talked about what a “cool dad” he was, and his tremendous respect for women.
The Australian production of Lion King smashed theatre box office records in Manila, shifting 14,000 in its first day of sales. The Philippines production is through Australia’s Michael Cassel Group and Concertus Manila in association with Disney Theatrical Productions.
APRA AMCOS is advertising for Writer Services Representative in Adelaide starting in December.
Applications close on Friday, November 17.
Niall Horan is following up his Australian June 2018 tour with dates in Philippines, Singapore and Japan.
After a seven-year break Space Invadas have returned with a new single ‘Wild World’ featuring Melbourne MC Remi. The jazz, soul, hip-hop fused track is off their second album Wild World due out via Invada Records / Remote Control Records in early 2018. Made up of Katalyst and Steve Spacek, Space Invadas’ debut record Soul-Fi was nominated for an ARIA and championed abroad by tastemakers such as Giles Peterson in the UK, Garth Trinidad on KCRW in LA, Tyler Askew in NYC, Andrew Jervis (ex-Ubiquity, Bandcamp) in San Fran to name a few.
Cairns City Council plans to limit buskers in the city area to 50 minutes of performance.
Three Indiana pharmacists have been reprimanded by state regulators for trying to access Prince’s medical records within days of the music superstar’s death last year.
Singer and songwriter Teddy Geiger, also a hitmaker for Shaun Mendez and One Direction, came clean when a fan asked him on social media why his looks were changing recently. That’s because I’m in the process of transitioning to a woman, he explained.
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