Entertainment
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Entertainment
Penny for Your Thoughts: Marshmello and Halsey Team Up with Amazon Alexa for “Thought of the Day”
As their collaborative single “Be Kind” stampedes its way to astronomical streaming numbers, Marshmello and Halsey today announced a new partnership with Amazon Alexa. Essentially, fans who want to know what’s going on underneath Mello’s signature helmet can simply ask their Amazon Alexa device, “Alexa, what’s Marshmello’s thought of the day?” and “Alexa, what’s Halsey’s thought of the day?” Fans can hear a random musing from both artists every day between May 27th and June 2nd. 2020. According to a press released issued to announce the partnership, Mello’s “Thought of the Day” musings will consist of the “Alone” producer’s reflections on everything from time travel to s’mores while Halsey’s will explore topics lik...
Listen to This EP Created with Recordings of Birds from Renowned Producer Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
When Alfred Hitchcock released his legendary 1963 horror film “The Birds,” he portrayed our graceful, winged friends as vicious birds of prey hellbent on gouging out the eyes of humans. Renowned British electronic producer Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (TEED), on the other hand, went the opposite route, using them as an elegant source of inspiration for his ambient I Can Hear The Birds EP. Spanning four tracks, the project represents a departure from TEED’s sound, but that doesn’t make it any less striking. Eschewing his penchant for indietronica and UK garage flavors, I Can Hear The Birds is a scintillating song-cycle of ambient ballads that uses field recordings of warbling birdsongs as each track’s backbone. The tapes were insp...
Instagram Will Impose “90-Second Rule” for Copyrighted Tracks on Livestream DJ Sets
While we are all out here trying to regain a sense of normality, not much is more painstakingly traditional than the stress of your recording getting taken down due to copyright. Though this is nothing new, the sting hurts just the same. As our champions of easing the quarantine blues, DJs have been faced with navigating the field maze of livestream guidelines during this time of social distancing. Now, Instagram, the social media giant that lives under the Facebook umbrella, is imposing a new initiative they dub the “90-second rule” in order to prevent copyright issues on tracks being used during these livestreams. Instagram has implemented a new pop-up to warn users who are featuring more than 90 seconds of a copyrighted track to stop or risk having thei...
Livestreaming Has Led to Social Media Growth for Artists, According to Chartmetric Study Featuring Diplo and DJ Snake
Music analytics firm Chartmetric has released its third and final report analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on the global music business. The analysis, which explores the effect of livestreaming on artists and their social media followings, follows Chartmetric’s previous reports detailing genre quarantine trends on Spotify and music consumption habits on YouTube during six countries’ lockdown timelines, respectively. In order to explore the correlation between livestreaming social media follower growth, Chartmetric utilized data gathered from the streaming exploits of 12 different artists: Jill Scott and Erykah Badu (Verzuz battle), Tory Lanez (Quarantine Radio) and Ty Dolla $ign, Metallica and Iron Maiden, H.E.R. and SZA, Diplo and DJ Snake, and Charli XCX and Miley Cyrus. The rep...
Barenaked Ladies’ Steven Page on a Potential New Album
Kyle Meredith With… Steven Page Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Barenaked Ladies singer-songwriter Steven Page gives Kyle Meredith a call to discuss his new single “Isolation”, in addition to Here’s What it Takes, the musical he’s been working on for the past seven years that was about to open right before the global pandemic. He also dives into his history of theatrical writing, recently teaming up with Broadway stars for an online collaboration, and performing a show with his own son. Page also talks about the success of his home shows over Zoom, and says he has an album’s worth of songs that could hopefully see the light of day sooner than later. Kyle Meredith With… is an ...
Waxahatchee to Play Entire Catalog During Weekly Livestreams
Live music may not return until next year, but for the safety and longevity of music it’s probably for the best. On the bright side, it’s also the reason why everyone will get the chance to see Waxahatchee play her entire five-album discography next month. Today, Katie Crutchfield has announced a new livestream series where she will perform a different record in full each Monday in June. Crutchfield, the singer-songwriter behind the Waxahatchee moniker, plans to dig through her catalog in chronological order over the course of the next month. Starting on June 1st, she will play her debut solo album, American Weekend. Following that on June 8th, she will revisit her breakthrough sophomore record Cerulean Salt from 2013. June 15th will see her play 2015’s critically lauded Ivy Tripp, with a ...
Sheryl Crow, Rufus Wainwright, David Crosby to Play Joe Biden’s Virtual Fundraiser
As much as our current POTUS would like to ignore reality, it’s not feasible to hold in-person political rallies right now. Instead, Democratic presidential candidate and presumptive nominee Joe Biden is taking things virtual with an online fundraising event dubbed “Rock Out on a Night In”, set for May 28th at 8:00 p.m. EDT. As Variety reports, the evening will be hosted by Whoopi Goldberg and Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, a potential running mate for Biden. Musical performances will come from big-name talents Sheryl Crow, David Crosby, Joe Walsh, Rufus Wainwright, and Jimmy Buffet. Speaking of his involvement in the fundraiser, Wainwright recounted meeting Biden at a White House LGBTQ reception hosted by President Barack Obama. Recalling the “moving” event, Wainwright wrote ...
Death’s 1990-1991 Recordings Unearthed for Latest Live Album: Stream
Recordings from Death’s 1990 and 1991 tours have been unearthed for the fourth entry in the legendary metal act’s archival Non:Analog live album series. The latest installment features tracks recorded at various shows while the band was touring in support of 1990’s Spiritual Healing and 1991’s Human. LIVE 1990, 1991 UNKNOWN features staple Death songs such as “Flattening of Emotions”, “Zombie Ritual”, “Living Monstrosity”, and “Denial of Life”, among others. The release revisits a seminal turning point in the career of the iconic death metal band. After the pioneering sonic filth of 1987’s Scream Bloody Gore, the late Chuck Shuldiner and company adopted a leaner, more technical approach. Spiritual Healing is that transitional pivot, touting precise thrashing and a more discernible vocal mi...
How We Work Now: Midem Director Alexandre Deniot
In a new series amid the coronavirus pandemic, Billboard is asking individuals from all sectors of the music business to share stories of how they work now, with much of the world quarantined at home and unable to take in-person meetings, attend conferences or even go into the office. Submissions for the series can be sent to HowWeWorkNow@Billboard.com. Read the full series here. This installment is with Midem director Alexandre Deniot, who was forced to make some big decisions about this year’s music business conference as the pandemic shut down France less than eight weeks before the annual event. Here, he speaks about how he balanced home and work while shifting the focus of the conference, which kicks off next week and runs June 2-5, to the first digital version of Midem in its 5...
Beyonce Pays Tribute to George Floyd: ‘Rest in Power’
Beyoncé has joined the growing list of celebrities speaking out against the horrifying death of a Black man at the hands of a police officer. The clip surfaced on the Internet Monday (May 25) shows a Minnesota officer allegedly suffocating George Floyd by kneeling on his neck. Floyd is heard crying out that he couldn’t breathe and was in pain, but he was ignored. Floyd went to Hennepin County Medical Center after falling unconscious, and died shortly after. Though the officers involved were fired on Tuesday, Floyd’s death is just one example of the ongoing systematic racism in America. On the homepage of her website, Beyoncé displayed a photo of Floyd, with the simple but powerful caption “Rest in Power George Floyd.” See it via a fan Twitter pag...
Anuel Reveals ‘Emmanuel’ Album Release Date, Plus Track List
Anuel has officially confirmed that his much-expected sophomore album, Emmanuel, will be released at midnight on Friday (May 29). “Are you ready???????? Tomorrow at MIDNIGHT!!!! LET MUSIC SPEAK #Emmanuel,” wrote the rapper on his Instagram account today (May 17). He also unveiled the album’s cover and 22-song track list, which includes collabs with Bad Bunny (two of them), Enrique Iglesias, Travis Barker (on “No Llores Mujer,” a cover of Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry”), Tego Calderón, Karol G, Mariah, Lil’ Wayne, Farruko and Zion, and Kendo Kaponi, Yandel and Ñengo Flow. The last song is mega hit “China,” which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart last year and features Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, J Balvin and Karol G. Stay tuned for Billboard‘s exclusive video interview and in-de...
Which Artist Should Do a Drive-In Concert Next? Vote!
Drive-in concerts are all the rave now, but which touring artist would you rave to from inside your car if they put on a drive-in show? Kesha would have embarked on her 2020 High Road Tour with Big Freedia had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic, but these two could raise hell from the road without ever leaving it. Similarly, Kenny Chesney pushed his NFL stadium Chillaxification Tour to 2021, apologizing to his heart-broken fans, “Sadly, we can’t find a way to make it safe, to navigate water that’s just not getting any clearer.” But the country legend has a shot at navigating those waters by finding outdoor fields that are roughly the same size of NFL stadiums and letting the shows go on. Pearl Jam ran into the same bump in the road when the band wanted to p...
