Something I’ve gotta ask you — and I read this on the Internet, so if it’s not true, tell me — did you used to be a missionary?
I first moved to Denver to work with a group called YWAM, “Youth With a Mission.” I was a kid — I was 18 — and did some work with homeless people. Really, trying to convert people is sort of an awful position to find yourself in, so I quickly, on my own, grew out of religious ideas.
It’s hard to escape that your songs are kind of about the reprobate life: drinking, sin, consequences.
Right — not in a bad way, though. Sinning and drinking, if you can do it at the same time, it’s a hell of a day.
Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards were the most-tweeted non-Super Bowl event in the U.S., according to Nielsen Social, since the service began tracking Twitter TV activity in October 2011 (excluding sporting events).
The awards sparked a total of 21.4 million tweets throughout the show and the three hours on either side of the broadcast, a 69 percent increase from the 12.6 million tweets from the 2014 program. Across all programming each year, only the Super Bowl generated more tweets.
Kanye West scored the night’s most buzzed-about moment, with 247,525 tweets fired off after he announced his run for President of the United States in 2020. The Video Vanguard award recipient also took honors as the night’s most discussed artist, with host Miley Cyrus in second place. 5 Seconds of Summer, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj rounded out the top five.
With its 10th anniversary on the near horizon, Pandora has decided its best present is to take away the commercials for a day. The streaming music firm has shared details for its Listener Love Day, on which the firm will celebrate its milestone by going ad-free for U.S. users for 24 hours.
As part of the celebration, Pandora has also created its 10×10 mixtape which gathers the most thumbed up songs on the service over the past 10 years. Listener Love Day kicks off from 12:00am ET next Wednesday (Sept. 9).
Phil Collins revisits a career that can boast over 100 million sales and numerous worldwide #1 albums with the new ‘Take A Look At Me Now’ retrospective reissue campaign in which all eight of his albums will be issued as extended and remastered editions. The campaign commences with the November 6th release of his 1981 debut album ‘Face Value’ and 1993’s ‘Both Sides’.
Entirely curated and compiled by Collins himself, his idea for the ‘Take A Look At Me Now’ concept is to examine how his songs have evolved over time, with the majority of the additional content throughout the series focused on live versions of the tracks. By contrasting the original studio versions of the material with later performances, the series demonstrates how Collins’ songs take on a life of their own once they’re freed from the confines of the studio.
The extended versions of the albums will also be completed with carefully selected demos and b-sides.
“I’ve always been quite proud of my demos and have often made them available as B-sides, but with a few exceptions, I have avoided including those on these collections,” says Collins. “Instead, I’ve focused on how nicely the songs developed when played on stage, rather than showing how they originated.”
Each album in the series will be remastered by Nick Davis, who earned a Grammy nomination for Best Surround Sound album for his work on the Genesis ‘1970-1975’ box set. Davis has also worked on all of the Genesis retrospective reissues.
The remaining six albums of Collins’ solo discography will follow in the coming months. They also feature a bold new artwork concept in which Collins’ has recreated his poses from the original album covers with new photography that was shot in the present day.
Initially released shortly after Collins’ 30th birthday, ‘Face Value’ was propelled to international multi-Platinum status with the help of the smash hit single ‘In The Air Tonight’. Other notable tracks on the album include the follow-up singles ‘I Missed Again’ and ‘If Leaving Me Is Easy’, as well as ‘Behind The Lines’ which was written with Collins’ Genesis colleagues Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford.
1993’s ‘Both Sides’ shares a similarly introspective atmosphere to ‘Face Value’, and features the Top 10 hit ‘Both Sides of the Story’ as well as further singles in the shape of ‘Everyday’ and ‘We Wait And We Wonder’.
The albums in the series will be available on a series of formats. The 2CD digipak and digital versions feature the remastered album and the additional content, and the 180 gram heavyweight audiophile vinyl format (single LP for ‘Face Value’ / double LP for ‘Both Sides’) features the remastered album as a stand-alone product. CD and vinyl box sets will also be available which compile both ‘Face Value’ and ‘Both Sides’ together with space to complete the collection as the rest of the series is released.
Further plans that will tie-in with the reissue series will be announced imminently.
‘Face Value’ track listing
Original tracklisting, remastered:
1. In The Air Tonight
2. This Must Be Love
3. Behind The Lines
4. The Roof Is Leaking
5. Droned
6. Hand In Hand
7. I Missed Again
8. You Know What I Mean
9. Thunder And Lightning
10. I’m Not Moving
11. If Leaving Me Is Easy
12. Tomorrow Never Knows
Bonus tracks – CD and digital formats only:
1. Misunderstanding – Live
2. If Leaving Me Is Easy – Live*
3. In The Air Tonight – Live*
4. Behind The Lines – Live*
5. Roof Is Leaking – Demo*
6. Hand In Hand – Live*
7. I Missed Again – Live*
8. ….And So To F – Live*
9. This Must Be Love – Live*
10. Please Don’t Ask – Demo*
11. Misunderstanding – Demo *
12. Against All Odds – Demo
*PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED ON CD
‘Both Sides’ track listing
Original tracklisting, remastered:
1. Both Sides Of The Story
2. Can’t Turn Back The Years
3. Everyday
4. I’ve Forgotten Everything
5. We’re Sons Of Our Fathers
6. Can’t Find My Way
7. Survivors
8. We Fly So Close
9. There’s A Place For Us
10. We Wait And We Wonder
11. Please Come Out Tonight
Bonus tracks – CD and digital only
1. Take Me With You
2. Both Sides Of The Story – Live*
3. Can’t Turn Back The Years – Live*
4. Survivors – Live*
5. Everyday – Live*
6. We Wait And We Wonder – Live*
7. Can’t Find My Way – Demo*
8. I’ve Been Trying
9. Both Sides Of The Story
10. Hero – Demo
*PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED ON CD
As a music fan obsessed with uncovering the secrets of life, I tend to let my love of artists guide me to some knowledge. Last week, it was designed that I saw Australian pop rockers 5 Seconds Of Summer, and a few days later, country music superstars Rascal Flatts. As far away from the radio format as they can be, they’re both disruptors in their own world. The division between them isn’t good and bad or true or false but interesting and dull. Both bands were completely in control of their own sets, each other, and their audiences. Here’s what I’ve learnt from them that I think you can too.
1. Respect Your Audience
Both artists play music that feeds the soul of the audience. Consisting entirely different music, both audiences truly appreciated the work it took to get not to just to this present point (5SOS formed in in 2011, Rascal Flatts began in Columbus, Ohio in 1999), but their current albums. Take a look at 5SOS on Twitter or Instagram, they respond and engage on a daily, and sometimes an hourly basis to their followers. Want to blow away your audiences? Respond to them and make their day or week or even year. Gary LeVox, Rsacal Flatts’ lead singer, worked at Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities in downtown Columbus, and it shows. His kind gestures and facial expressions to the audience shows he truly appreciates them. How many countless hours do you think Gary spent working, dreaming of being onstage, thinking about how he would want to be treated the same way when it comes to artists that he loved listening to. There might not be a kinder frontman in country music today.
2. Management Is Everything
5 Seconds Of Summer is managed by Richard Griffiths and Harry Magee. The former has worked within the music industry for over forty years, starting off initially as a London based booking agent. In 1974 he founded Headline Artists, where he became the first International Agent for AC/DC. Richard has held senior executive positions at a number of leading companies on both sides of the Atlantic, including BMG Entertainment, Virgin and Sony Music. Harry has had a career within the music industry for over thirty years working in retail, music publishing, concert promoting, executive positions in major record labels and as a partner in independent record labels and artist management companies. Harry started off joining an independent music publishing company in 1982 but has since worked at BMG Records as MD of RCA, Big Life Records as MD and A&M where he became General Manager. He also formed the successful Wire Records. In 2001 he joined Richard Griffiths at the UK arm of The Firm. In 2003, the pair left to form Modest! Management.
Clarence Spalding of Spalding Management takes care of the day-to-day arrangements of Rascal Flatts, and Jason Aldean. Scoring Jason his second consecutive Billboard 200 chart-topper, Old Boots, New Dirt, with first-week sales of 278,000 — without the aid of a major label, Clarence knows country music. According to Billboard, as Maverick’s sole Nashville member, Clarence has interacted the least with the label staff prior to joining it. He has been particularly keen to learn the global touring secrets of senior label heads, and see how those can translate to his country roster.
To be a good music manager you need to be organised, excellent with people and have a good understanding of the industry as it stands today. The role is to bring together the people and projects which meet the goals of the artist and their record company (especially the record label). That goal can be working on the artist’s first hit, or headlining the world’s biggest stadiums. It’s like a car – you need 4 wheels to go forward – the label, booking agent, manager, and songs. I’d put a manager as the single biggest decision an artist will make, other than allowing your drummer to write a song. Kidding.
3. It’s The Connection
I don’t care what year it is, what style of music you’re playing, creating that connection by embracing new norms and challenges, new ideas to reach out to your audience, while constantly reinforcing the artist’s values and the emotional bonds that allow the listeners and audience to see themselves in you. Pete Townshend from The Who says, “I felt that the elegance of pop music was that it was reflective: we were holding up a mirror to our audience and reflecting them philosophically and spiritually, rather than just reflecting society or something called ‘rock and roll.’ Both 5SOS and Rascal Flatts are part of a long line of performers in a community that speaks with their audience, rather than project that value onto them. Both bands, when speaking to their audience, spoke in the second person, rather than the first. “You will really enjoy this new song and video” “How are you feeling?” instead of “I just wrote a killer song” or “I feel this is going to be a good night! Woooo!”
One of the few times both bands spoke in the first person was when they said “I want you to show how much we appreciate you being here tonight” or “I want to tell you, we couldn’t have gotten here without you.” It’s cliche, yeah, but it works. Every single time.
Future regrets might be many with these bands – bands are destined to break up, after all, by the smallest actions turning into a massive blow-up. But 5 Seconds Of Summer and Rascal Flatts’ outlooks are unstoppable for now. Just like you’ll be if you follow along to these secrets of the stage, that will quickly turn into rules of art.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS)/The JUNO Awards and MusiCounts announce the appointment of Mark Cohon as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors. The former CFL Commissioner will begin his tenure on September 29, 2015 succeeding Ed Robinson. Cohon is the 11th Chairman of the Board of Directors for CARAS/The JUNO Awards and MusiCounts.
“I am extremely pleased that the Board has appointed Mark as its Chairman,” said Allan Reid, President & CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards & MusiCounts. “He has extensive experience and passion for raising the profile of brands and delivering successful results. Mark will bring a fresh perspective, and we look forward to his contributions to growing the CARAS, JUNO Awards and MusiCounts brands.”
“We have much to be proud of in our Canadian music industry,” said Cohon. “It is going to be exciting working with the Board, the CARAS leadership team and corporate, media and governmental partners to celebrate our remarkable artists and performers with Canadians across our nation.”
Cohon is best known for his leadership in turning-around and driving the renaissance of the Canadian Football League. His eight-year stewardship of the CFL was a remarkable run that saw the CFL’s business model transformed and its brand elevated. Strong attendance, record television ratings, $2 billion in new stadiums, strengthened corporate partnerships, a national celebration of the 100th Grey Cup and a return to the nation’s capital were all part of the league’s stronger foundation under Cohon’s leadership.
Cohon is a graduate of Upper Canada College and Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science majoring in communication studies. He has held positions with the NBA and the MLB as Head of International Marketing and Head of Corporate Development respectively, before becoming President and Chief Executive Officer of AudienceView Ticketing, a company that sells ticketing systems and services to sports, arts and entertainment events.
In 2003, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Ontario Science Centre and then named Chair in 2006.
A proud Canadian, in 2013 he was made a Member of the Order of Ontario.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences/L’académie canadienne des arts et des sciences de l’enregistrement (CARAS) is a not-for-profit organization created to preserve and enhance the Canadian music industry and to contribute toward higher artistic and industry standards. The main focus of CARAS is the exploration and development of ongoing opportunities to showcase and promote Canadian artists and music through vehicles such as The JUNO Awards and other year-round initiatives. For more information on the 45th Annual JUNO Awards or The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) please visit www.junoawards.ca or www.carasonline.ca.
MusiCounts, Canada’s music education charity associated with The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) is helping to keep music alive in schools and communities across Canada by putting musical instruments into the hands of children that need them most. MusiCounts’ mission is to ensure that children in Canada, regardless of socio-economic circumstances or cultural background, have access to music programs through their schools and communities. MusiCounts achieves its mission through its Band Aid Program, the MusiCounts TD Community Music Program, the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award, Scholarships and other music education initiatives. MusiCounts is funded by many of Canada’s most dedicated corporate citizens including and especially Bell Media, TD Bank Group, SiriusXM Canada, the Slaight Family Foundation, Music Canada, Vista Radio, and Morningstar Canada. MusiCounts has been supported since inception by Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., Universal Music Canada, Warner Music Canada Ltd., JUNO Songwriters’ Circle and JUNO Cup. Since MusiCounts’ establishment in 1997, nearly $8,000,000 has been awarded in support of music education in Canada. These funds have benefitted over 700 schools and communities from coast to coast, supported over 300 post-secondary music program graduates and honoured 10 extraordinary music teachers through the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award.
The submissions for the East Coast Music Awards and Showcases will open this Thursday, September 3. As in past years, all submissions will be done online via Marcato.
To get ready for the submissions opening, check out the official 2016 Awards & Stages Manual for all rules and regulations concerning the music and industry awards, as well as showcases.
The East Coast Music Awards have made several significant changes to the eligibility criteria as well as the jurying criteria to many of our awards, including introducing a brand-new category: Dance Recording of the Year. All those details can be found at the 2016 East Coast Music Awards & Stages Manual so you don’t miss out.
You do not need to be an ECMA member to submit; however, submission fees are higher for non-members: $40 for each submission. ECMA members in good standing will receive one free submission, with all subsequent submissions being $25 each. If non-members are nominated or chosen for a showcase, they will be required to register as an ECMA member before ECMW 2016. Click here to become an ECMA member.
Deadline to submit will be Thursday, October 1, 2015 at 11:59PM AST. So, start the uploading on Thursday!
The Polaris Music Prize today announced a partnership with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO). This unique collaboration will see members of the TSO performing with some of the Short List nominees at the Polaris Gala, taking place September 21 at The Carlu in Toronto, with an opportunity for the winner of the 2015 Polaris Music Prize to perform their original works with the TSO at a concert at Roy Thomson Hall in 2016.
“We’re extremely flattered and honoured that an organization with such an esteemed musical history wants to partner with Polaris-recognized artists in this way,” commented Steve Jordan, Executive Director, Polaris Music Prize. “The idea of artistic collaboration is very dear to us, and we’re anticipating some musically thrilling results.”
“The TSO is proud to partner with the Polaris Music Prize, one of Canada’s most notable music organizations that recognizes the creativity of our nation’s recording artists,” said Jeff Melanson, President and CEO, Toronto Symphony Orchestra. “We’re delighted to work with like-minded, innovative arts institutions to showcase the valuable role music plays in our cultural well-being, and the diversity of this year’s Short List provides an exciting backdrop for this powerful and worthwhile conversation.”
Confirmed performers at the Polaris Gala include Alvvays, Braids, Jennifer Castle, Tobias Jesso Jr., Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Viet Cong. Fred Penner will host the Gala, which will be webcast live on Aux.tv.
The eligibility period for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize runs from June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015. An independent jury of 196 music journalists, broadcasters, and music bloggers from across Canada determines the Long List and Short List. Eleven people are selected from the larger jury pool to serve on the Grand Jury and will convene the night of the Gala to select the Polaris Music Prize winner.
The Polaris Music Prize will award $50,000 to the artist who creates the Canadian Album of the Year. Courtesy of Slaight Music, each of the nine other short-listed artists will receive $3,000. Judged solely on artistic merit, without consideration of genre or record sales, the prize’s past winners have included Tanya Tagaq (2014), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2013), Feist (2012), Arcade Fire (2011), Karkwa (2010), Fucked Up (2009), Caribou (2008), Patrick Watson (2007), and Final Fantasy / Owen Pallett (2006).
“Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” was written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s. The lyrics, except for the title which is repeated throughout the song, and the final verse of the song, are adapted word-for-word from Chapter 3 of the Book of Ecclesiastes, set to music and recorded in 1962. The song was originally released as “To Everything There Is a Season” on The Limeliters’ album Folk Matinee and then some months later on Seeger’s own The Bitter and the Sweet. The song became an international hit in late 1965 when it was covered by the American folk rock band The Byrds, bowing at #80 on October 23, 1965, before reaching #1 on the Hot 100 chart on December 4, 1965, #3 in Canada (Nov. 29, 1965), and also peaking at #26 on the UK Singles Chart. In the U.S., the song holds distinction as the #1 hit with the oldest lyrics (Book of Ecclesiastes), theoretically authored by King Solomon.
“Mr. Tambourine Man” was the debut single by The Byrds and was released on April 12, 1965 and was influential in originating the musical style known as folk rock, with the single becoming the first folk rock smash hit. Indeed, the term “folk rock” was first coined by the U.S music press to describe the band’s sound at around the same time as “Mr. Tambourine Man” peaked at number 1 on the Billboard chart. The single initiated the folk rock boom of 1965 and 1966, with many acts imitating the band’s hybrid of a rock beat, jangly guitar playing and poetic or socially conscious lyrics. You can hit a bit of the music before the isolated vocals come in.
