anthems The ongoing struggle between China and protesters in Hong Kong took a new turn when thousands of protesters shouted pro-democracy slogans and insults at police in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The reason? Lawmakers were debating a bill that would criminalize abuse of the Chinese national anthem in the semi-autonomous city.
Read more “Chinese anthem law sparks protest in Hong Kong”
Music business I don’t sing (much). I don’t play an instrument. But all my co-writers do. So I’m feeling their pain, to a degree. What happens when your livelihood is snapped away from you overnight? I can’t answer the bigger questions about that, as we don’t know how long the lockdown will last.
But I do have a few thoughts about social media for musicians at the present time.
Read more “Social media, music and the coronavirus lockdown”
meanings As I’m writing this, Billie Eilish’s theme song for the new James Bond movie has been out all of 14 hours. So I had a listen.
I’ve been aware of Eilish only since “Bad Boy”, which I’d qualify as great pop music. It sounds good, and I was intrigued by an overtly pop song that throws in a completely out-of-rhythm section, almost from another track. Isn’t that suicide for radio? But they did it. So, all good.
Read more “No Time to Die: what do the words mean?”
Eurovision Pop phenomenon Maruv will not represent Ukraine at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. The singer, real name Anna Korsun, has had a very public argument with the Ukrainian organisers. The dispute is set against the continuing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. Read more “Ukraine’s Eurovision entry “Siren Song” is not going to Tel Aviv”
Music business
If you’re like me, you’ve been hearing everything and the opposite about Spotify. In particular, the very low per-stream payments but also very bullish comments about how streaming is saving the industry. Confused much?
Always remember that the industry is not out to make you rich; Nothing beats a little self-help. So anything you can do create awareness and also generate some money from music is a good thing.
Enter “The Game Plan” from Spotify.
The streamer wants to encourage artists to get more active on its streaming service, notably by providing a series of how-to videos called The Game Plan. The idea is to show artists how to get started using “Spotify for Artists”.
The series addresses issues such as: Getting Your Music Up; What Is Spotify for Artists?; Releasing Music; Building Your Artist Profile; Understanding Your Audience; How to Read Your Data; Engaging Your Audience; The Follow Button, Promoting Your Work, and Building Your Team.
Rick Ross, Little Dragon, Mike Posner, and Vérité have been lined up to help in the series.
“From successful musicians, to employees who are industry experts, the Spotify community has a wealth of music industry knowledge,” according to Charlie Hellman, Head of Creator Marketplace, Spotify. “We want to equip artists at all stages of their career with that powerful knowledge, and make it as accessible as possible.”
The Game Plan is currently a 10-part video series, but Spotify promises more to come in the future. Check the series out and drop a message below. Impressed? Disappointed?
Eurovision Despite a very brief flurry of excitement that Johnny “Rotten” Lydon could have possibly represented Ireland at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, singer Ryan O’Shaughnessy was eventually chosen for the song “Together”. In many ways, it’s a strong contender. It’s an elegantly-written contemporary mid-tempo with a nice sentiment. It also comes with a neat video of a couple walking through Dublin streets by night before breaking out into some spontaneous contemporary dance.
But here’s the thing.
The couple are gay. So? So Russia introduced very stringent laws concerning what they call “gay propaganda” some years back. If the Eurovision decides to broadcast the video, the Russian channels will be obliged to re-transmit it. Broadcasters cannot pick and choose which parts of the live broadcast they want to show.