Industrial Strength: Part 1

Image: Hilltop Hoods

THIRD US DANCE CHART #1 FOR AUSTRALIA’S VASSY

Australian singer-songwriter and producer Vassy has hit #1 on the US Dance Club Songs Chart with her Tiesto co-produced Nothing To Lose. It’s her third time at the top on the chart, following We Are Young in March 2013 and Hustlin’ in November 2014. Nothing To Lose generated 6 million streams as of last week and has ushered remixes by Anders Young, Brierley and Gozzi.

Last month, the track hit #9 on Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay. It was her third Top 10 in that chart, following her feature spots on David Guetta & Showtek’s 7x Double-Platinum Bad in June 2014 and Tiesto & Kshmr’s Secrets in August 2015. Growing up in Darwin and broken in Australia by triple j, Vassy now lives in Philadelphia.

HILLTOP HOODS VIDEO WINS FILM AWARDS

Hilltop Hoods’ interactive film clip for Through the Dark won the global FWA Of The Year Award and People’s Choice Award. It was written by the trio’s Pressure (aka Dan Smith) for his young son Liam who was diagnosed with leukaemia. A collaboration with Google Play Music with cutting edge mobile and digital technology, it shares a father and son’s journey through two 3D animated worlds – the dark representing fear and the light representing hope

A link at the end of the film also allowed users to listen to the Hoods album Drinking From The Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung via Google Play Music, generating a $1 donation each listen going to youth cancer organisation CanTeen.

SEVEN PUTS BULLET IN X-FACTOR’S HEAD

The signs were ominous late last year when Seven Network gathered advertisers and sponsors for a gala preview of their 2017 shows – and X Factor Australia had presumably gone out for a toilet break because it was not spoken about.

This week, Seven put a bullet through its head, with Head of Programming, Angus Ross remarking, “Obviously the back half of the year wasn’t as successful as the front half of the year for us.” Launched in Australia in 2005, the show had eight winners: Random, Altiyan Childs, Reece Mastin, Samantha Jade, Dami Im, Marlisa Punzalan, Cyrus Villanueva and Isaiah Firebrace.

This was not the first time X Factor Australia got the chop. Ten, which screened it the first year, dropped it quickly that year due to lousy ratings, while Seven picked up the show up in 2010.

LANEWAY DUMPS YOUNG THUG….

Atlanta rapper Young Thug didn’t pull out of the Laneway festival because of “complications with the visa process”, he was pushed, promoter Danny Rogers revealed in a Reddit chat.

“Unfortunately, as most of us know and saw over the past month, Thugger worked to his own timelines,” Rogers said.

“We made the decision ourselves to pull Thug so that we didn’t get into a situation right on top of the festival that we couldn’t manage the situation.”

Rogers said Laneway did the right thing by offering refunds to those patrons who’d only come to see Young Thug.

…WHILE NEW SITE IN NZ GETS THUMBS UP

Laneway Festival’s new site in New Zealand, the tree-filled Albert Park in downtown Auckland, got the thumbs up from punters after an event was staged in the location for the first time yesterday. The venue has more shade, more space and more distance between the four stages.

Over its eight years in NZ, Laneway staged at Britomart, Aotea Square and Silo Park. The new site is 50% bigger than Silo Park, but the crowd was capped at 12,000. According to NZ co-promoter Mark Kneebone it was a sell-out, with two-thirds of the crowd made up of return patrons.

It’s taken Kneebone two and a half years to get council permission to get Albert Park. “It’s more challenging, more hard work but the end result is the superior experience.” Albert Park was the first place Kneebone eyed when Laneway first arrived in NZ. He says it will stay there for another five years.

DO MUSIC TV SHOW VIEWERS EAT LESS?

Do viewers of music TV shows eat less? A Roy Morgan Research study linking Sunday night viewing and weekly grocery bills found that Australia’s Got Talent ($81 million), The Voice ($143 million) and Big Music Quiz ($147 million) were far less than My Kitchen Rules ($236 million) and House Rules ($167 million).

45 AUSSIE ACTS CHOSEN FOR SXSW

SXSW has settled on the 45 Australian acts heading its way March 14—19, with one major artist about to be confirmed. Nineteen of the named artists are from NSW and seventeen from Victoria.

Sydney/NSW: Vera Blue, Alex Cameron, The Rumjacks, Peking Duk, Julia Jacklin, Castlecomer, Middle Kids, Joel Sarakula, Hockey Dads, Mansionair, Black Rheno, ELSZ, Food Court, Beth Brown, All Our Exes Live In Texas, Boo Seeka, Starley, Phantastic Ferniture, The Heart Collectors.

Melbourne: C.W. Stoneking, Throttle, Running Touch, The Elliotts, Oscar Key Sung, Alex Lahey, Japanese Wallpaper, Josh Cashman, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Slum Sociable, WILSN, Gabriella Cohen Slow Dancer, Woodes, Sui Zhen, Tim Wheatley, Hamish Anderson.

Brisbane: Wafia, Thigh Master.

Perth/WA: Kučka, Koi Child, Cameron Avery.

Adelaide: PINES, Tkay Maidza, The Coconut Kids.

Sounds Australia holds the Aussie BBQ on Thursday March 16 in Brush Square Park with two smaller showcases at B. D. Rileys on Tuesday March 14 and Saturday March 20.

SIA MATCHES DONATIONS OVER TRUMP BAN

Sia is urging fans to fund organisations who are fighting Donald Trump’s immigration ban – and will match dollar for dollar for up to $100,000 million for any bequests to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “Help our queer and immigrant friends,” she posted.

IHEARTRADIO ADDS ‘FAVOURITES’ TO APP…

IHeartRadio Australia added a ‘My Favourites Radio’ customised section to its app which is powered by Optus. Based on ‘thumbs up’ by users of songs, artists, albums or genres, it will add similar content to their playlists.

Brett Nossiter, iHeartRadio Australia’s Content Director, said: “With live and custom radio, podcasts and topical pop up stations, this really places iHeartRadio at the nexus of audio entertainment, putting listeners in control. And we have even bigger enhancements to come in 2017!”

…INSTAGRAM ADDS TWO…

Australian Instagram users now have two new updates which will be rolled out elsewhere in the world in coming weeks. With 100 million using Instagram Stories after its launch last August, it was inevitable live video was going to be added. The other addition is disappearing photos and videos for groups and friends in Instagram Direct.

…FACEBOOK’ TRIALS ADS IN AUSTRALIA FIRST

Facebook has chosen Australia and Thailand to trial advertising in its Messenger app in the next few weeks. Product Manager Eddie Zhang promised, “No one will see an ad in a conversation without clicking on an ad experience on the Messenger home screen or starting a conversation with a brand – these test ads won’t originate in your conversations.”

SIX NT MUSIC ACTS GET FUNDED

Six Northern Territory music acts were among 17 projects who received funding in round 2 of the Arts NT Grant Program for this financial year. Altogether, $400,000 has been allocated for this period.

Johnathan Yunupingu, a member of the pre-eminent Saltwater Band and occasional songwriting collaborator of Gurrumul, received $20,000 for a recording project.

Caiti Baker, who’s just dropped a single Make Your Own Mistakes, will use her $20,000 grant to head to America in September to attend the Americana conference and festival in Nashville to showcase her new work, and also showcase in Chicago, L.A. and New York.

Also receiving $20,000 is Anisha Stitfold for Tunnel Number Five 2017, the latest series of concerts in tunnels under Darwin. Her original idea was to stage shows in a lighthouse but the red tape proved too daunting.

Singer-songwriter Serina Pech will use her $20,000 to develop and record new work. The Package Creative Team scored $19,690 to present works at the Adelaide Fringe with live musicians, and Paul Brandis received $9,550 towards the release of his groove soft-pop outfit At the Dakota EP launch.

BEE GEES GET POST-GRAMMY TRIBUTE…

The Recording Academy pays a tribute to the Bee Gees two days after the Grammys with a concert marking the 40th anniversary of the Grammy-winning Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

Barry Gibb will play some songs from the album. Also confirmed so far for Stayin’ Alive: A Grammy Salute to the Music of the Bee Gees are Celine Dion, Andra Day, John Legend, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Nick Jonas, Tori Kelly, Demi Lovato and Pentatonix.

The show will be taped on February 14 at the Microsoft Theater and screened on the CBS network in America later in the year.

…AND TOP SMOOTHFM COUNTDOWN

The Bee Gees’ 1977 hit How Deep Is Your Love topped the smoothfm Top 500 Countdown. The top 5 included Abba’s Dancing Queen (#2), Michael Buble’s Home (#3), George Michael’s Careless Whisper (#4), and Dolly & Kenny’s Islands in the Stream (#5).