Kylie Minogue and will.i.am joining The Voice; Pandora introducing ads to Aussie users

Kylie Minogue, will.i.am, joining The Voice 

Kylie Minogue and will.i.am will join the coaching panel of The Voice Australia in 2014, Nine Network revealed yesterday afternoon. They have the same role on the show’s UK version. Ricky Martin and Joel Madden from the 2013 season remain, while Delta Goodrem moves to the inaugural The Voice Kids which is open to wanna-bes aged 8 to 14. Madden will also be on the Kids quest. Seal and his painted fingernails are not returning. Darren McMullen hosts both versions.

Pandora introducing ads to Australian users

Pandora’s founder Tim Westergren emailed Australian users to notify that from December it will introduce ads. He said this would allow it to remain a free service while covering “significant costs, including a substantial portion of our revenue that we will pay in music royalties to songwriters and performers.”

More underage, mixed-age, gigs for Victoria

As a result of discussions by the Live Music Roundtable, the Victorian state Government is passing legislation to make it easier for promoters to run underage and mixed-age gigs on licensed premises. Instead of getting bureaucratic approval, they merely advice liquor authorities seven days before. There’ll also be the creation of a new category of alcohol-free youth events for patrons aged 12 to 25. Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan called it “a massive outcome” which meant under-age fans could rock out in “safe environments, rather than at uncontrolled warehouse or house parties.”

Amplifier, Treats Collective execs create Alphabetic

Stu McCullough of Brisbane-based management company Amplifire (Last Dinosaurs, Jungle Giants) and Lucy Collier and Ben Collier of events services company Treats Collective have formed Alphabetics. It covers management (new signing is Melbourne’s Muscles) and widens Treats Collective’s clients list, which includes triple j, Red Bull Australia, Smirnoff, Adidas, VICE, Valley Fiesta 2012 and Spotify. Alphabetics is set up as a one-stop including venue booking (The Arena club, and existing Treats Collective club nights at Coniston Lane, Oh Hello and Friends @ Alhambra Lounge) as well as design, media and marketing. See their website.

Certifications

Avicii’s Wake Me Up now 7 x Platinum, Lana Del Ray’s Summertime Sadness is 3 x Platinum, Jason DeRulo’s Marry Me hit Platinum. Of the albums, Michael Buble’s Christmas is 8 x Platinum and Lorde’s Pure Heroine is Platinum. Picking up Gold are Eminem, Dami Im, Pearl Jam, Human Nature and Aviici.

Woodford Folk, Bluesfest, pick up tourism gongs

Major festivals are being lauded for their contribution to tourism. Woodfolk Folk Festival picked up the gold award in the Major Festivals and Events category of the Queensland Tourism awards. The event draws 15,000 a day over six days (total of 100,000) and injects $21 million into the state economy. Blues On Broadbeach took bronze in the Festivals and Events category.

Bluesfest took Best Regional Event in the 2013 Australian Event Awards in Sydney, up against events such as Blues On Broadbeach and Tasmania’s Ten Days On The Island. A report by Lawrence Consulting in May showed it added $150.6 million to NSW and $64.1 million to the town of Byron Bay, with 51% of the 85,000 who attended this year coming from interstate. Bluesfest is also in the Major Festival and Events category for the NSW Tourism Awards on Thursday November 28 in Sydney, up against the 2013 Tamworth Country Music Festival and the inaugural Deni Blues and Roots.

Michael Lira wins Tropscore

Screen composer Michael Lira won Tropfest’s film score competition Tropscore, while 15-year old Alana Patmore took Tropscore Jr. Both perform their winning entries at Tropfest on December 8 in Sydney’s Centennial Park. The following day is the Screen Music Awards, for which Lira is nominated for best music for a documentary and best music for a TV series.

Venue Woes #1

Another Sydney venue operator has gone bust. FW F&B Pty Ltd took over the leasehold of live music venue East Village Hotel in Darlinghurst in 2010, rebranding it The Village. It was wound up in the NSW Supreme Court after owing money to various beer and wine suppliers, as well as its landlord.

Venue Woes #2

Melbourne’s The Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood had a date yesterday (Tues, Nov 27) with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) over noise complaints. Owner Guy Palermo spent $10,000 on sound proofing and acoustic engineers. A report on the weekend in Beat initiated social media activity (a petition on Change.org got 9,000 signatures in 48 hours) which alerted City of Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly. He intervened to avert the costly hearing and got the Council and the venue to mediate.

15 more acts confirmed for SxSW

Fifteen more acts from Australia were confirmed to perform at South By Southwest (SxSW) in Austin, Texas, March 7 to 16. These included Oh Mercy, Boy & Bear, Gossling, Kid Mac, Dub Fx, Dune Rats, DZ Deathrays, The Creases, Favored Nations, Jungle Giants, The Growl, King Parrot, Touch Sensitive and What So Not. They join the earlier announced The Chevelles, Vance Joy, Money for Rope, People of Letters, Josef Salvat and The Swiss.

SWIPE

South Australian’s Premier and Arts Minister Jay Weatherill has another reason to campaign harder to stay in power and keep Liberal leader Steven Marshall out. SA goes to the polls on March 15. The Rolling Stones play Adelaide Oval a week later. Presumably Weatherill – a Stones fan who contributed $450,000 of taxpayers money towards securing Mick and company – wants the chance to shriek “Mick! Over here!” throughout the show.

Meantime, rumours that the Stones will play Hanging Rock in Victoria gained traction when it was discovered that co-promoter Frontier Touring has booked a date for an unidentified act in March.  Macedon Ranges Shire mayor Roger Jukes murmured, “They are the type of artist they would look at having here,” he said. “The timing adds up.” Meantime over in NZ, Auckland councillor Dick Quax tweeted, “Should fans of the Rolling Stones be keeping their diary clear for April 14 concert at Mt. Smart?”

No, Daft Punk won’t replace Blur on Big Day Out. CEO Adam Zammit has thrown a water-logged blanket on the rumour fire.

Which entertainer was so distraught by the failure of a project that he lost the use of his legs and had to get treatment in America?

Gary Barlow is taking classes to battle his fear of flying.

Muti-coloured mohawked paparazzo turned nightclub operator Darryn Lyons is new mayor of Geelong.

Sony Music Entertainment Australia has Canadian reggae-pop quartet Magic! in Australia for a promo tour December 9-12 to promote debut single Rude.

While the rumour mill goes into red as to who will replace Kyle and Jackie O at Sydney’s 2DAY FM, Southern Cross Austereo has registered the domain names sophandjules.com, julesandsoph.com, and sophieandjules.com for a team-up of Sophie Monk and Jules Lund.

Kyle and Jackie O’s (possible) new boss, Australian Radio Network, have (possibly) by now sent a “please explain” letter to their ad agency Joy. It was selected to work confidentially on its rebranding of MIX FM to Kiis FM with K and J as centerpiece. Alas, the Mumbrella site ran pix online of campaign draft visuals at Joy’s Darlinghurst offices visible to passers-by.

Rebel 99.4FM Gold Coast’s ‘Rebel Motorbike Ride for Movember’ on the weekend received suspicious scrutiny from cops. The title of the charity ride seemed too much like a protest against Queensland’s new bikie rules.

New Zealand was the first country to get the new Xbox One, and Lorde was among the first New Zealanders to get one. Xbox One sponsored one of the four categories that she won at the NZ Music Awards so the firm’s NZ boss Steven Blackburn decided to give the 17-year old one before its launch.

Nokia has rebranded its Nokia Music service as Nokia MixRadio, focusing on ad-free personalised playlists via an updated Windows Phone app.

The McDonalds outlet in Mount Annan, Sydney, which uses classical music to keep teenage loiters away, got its share of publicity as a result. But a UK outlet got headlines it didn’t needed for its musical menu. One of the staff had accidentally switched her personal player to the restaurant’s PA system. So customers with little kids were left spluttering into their hot coffee when a rap song about underage sex, rape and anal sex blasted out. Complaints followed, of course, but the loudest was from the local rapper who demanded cheeseburgers for life for Maccas broadcasting his music without licence.

LIFELINES

Dating: Aussie born LA-based rapper Iggy Azalea instagrammed a photo of herself in bed with her new beau, LA Lakers player Nick Young. Azalea was with rapper A$AP Rocky for two years, and had matching tattoos before breaking up after rumours of infidelity.

Dating: The Potbelleez’s Jonny Sonic and fashion designer Camilla Franks have made it official on Instagram (Sydney Sunday Telegraph).

Born: Daughter Piper to Melbourne singer songwriter and Geisha frontman Chris Doheny and his wife Simone.

Injured: Theatrical producer Tim Lawson broke his arm after being clipped by a car outside Brisbane’s QPAC Theatre where his Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was running.

Injured: Gold Coast photographer Sean Scott was kicked in the face after trying to stop a driver from fleeing the scene of a car accident.

In Court: A New York judge declared a mis-trial in a lawsuit brought against Aussie-born pop singer Rick Springfield. A 43-year old fan claims she suffered concussion and permanent injuries when he fell into the crowd during a 2004 show. The guitarist insists he didn’t hurt anyone. The judge gave Springfield’s lawyers 90 more days to interview new witnesses.

INSIDE TRACK

Angels track voted South Australia’s best song

The Angels’ Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again? was voted South Australia’s best song in a poll by Triple M Adelaide and the Adelaide Advertiser. Following was Cold Chisel’s Khe Sahn. At #3 was Redgum’s I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green), then Hilltop Hoods’ Nosebleed Section, I Killed the Prom Queen’s Say Goodbye, The Masters Apprentices’ Turn Up Your Radio, Chisel’s Flame Trees, Paul Kelly’s To Her Door, the Hoods’ The Hard Road and Guy Sebastian ft Lupe Fiasco’s Battle Scars at #10.

Four projects from Screaming Jets

Currently doing sell-out business on tour, The Screaming Jets are working on four projects. The current lineup – Dave Gleeson (vocals), Paul Woseen (bass), Scotty Kingman & Jimi Hocking (guitars) and Mickl Sayers (drums) – are to begin work on a new album. It will be made in Kingman’s studio with producer Steve James. There’s also a 25th anniversary box set, a book by Sydney journo Darryl Mason and a doco of their early days.

Jacinta Price: down by the river

Alice Springs singer songwriter Jacinta Price launched her debut album Dry River in the most appropriate place – at the Telegraph Station in Alice on the banks of the Todd River which inspired the record. About 200 came along with picnic blankets to the free concert. The event was a collaboration by all departments of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association. CAAMA Music provided the stage, sound and lights, CAAMA Productions filmed the concert with eight cameras and CAAMA Radio broadcast it to an audience of 520,000 over the CAAMA Network, as well as Radio Larrakia, QRAM, Australian Indigenous Radio and TEABBA Radio. The single Release Me can be listened to here.

Up From Down Under book details Aussies’ march to global success

Jeff Apter’s Up From Down Under: How Australian Music Changed The World (The Five Mile Press) is a fascinating tale of how Australian acts took on the world. Men At Work, Olivia Newton-John, Helen Reddy, INXS, LRB and Gotye made superstars status. But many of the stories are as tragic as they are celebratory. The deaths of Michael Hutchence and Andy Gibb were the downside, so were the tales of rip-offs and naïve deals. For long-time journo Apter, the research process was an eye opener. He was caught up in the saga of just who ’owns’ LRB. Apter recounts, “While I was writing the book an email found its way to me, detailing the drama of who sold what to whom and who resisted; it was simply too litigious to use in the book.”  But what did make it was an incident between Air Supply and a British manager during which a gun was produced. Apter interviewed Reddy in a spartan one-room flat in Sydney during her hiatus. “There were no awards, no sign of her public life at all, apart from a piece of artwork signed by (President) Gerald and Betty Ford. ’Personal friends,’ she told me.” This year she moved back to America and went back on the road.