INDUSTRY
New COVID-19 Restrictions Ban Festivals and Organized Gatherings in Paris, 11 Other French Cities
As France continues to grapple with the impact of COVID-19, Paris and 11 other French cities have instated new restrictions on organized gatherings. The new rules, which will be enforced for a minimum of 15 days, have been established in areas considered to be at “heightened” or “maximum” risk. According to The Guardian, starting yesterday, September 28th, “festive or recreational events including wedding receptions, festivals, organised gatherings in hired halls, and student parties” have been effectively banned. Cinemas, museums, and theatres can remain open as long as they operate with their own stringent rules in place. The report also notes that gatherings of over 1,000 people are now prohibited and no more than 10 people are permitte...
Calvin Harris Blasts UK Government: “You’ve Lost Sight of What Life is About”
Calvin Harris took to social media yesterday, September 28th, to blast the UK government for its treatment of the music industry in the wake of COVID-19. The Grammy Award-winning music producer and DJ shared a scathing statement on Instagram, writing that the UK government is “treating [the] music industry like shit.” ” [It] contributes 5bn to the economy, generates massive tax revenues for NHS and other public services…besides that, culture is extremely fucking important…you’ve lost sight of what life is about…you’d rather live in a world of supermarkets and pharmaceutical drugs,” Harris continued. To further drive home his sentiments, Harris also cited an article by UK Music that analyzed its own 2019 “Music By Numbers” repo...
Laidback Luke Releases New Online Course to Teach DJs How to Create Mashups and Bootlegs
Having accrued an encyclopedic knowledge of dance music over the years, Laidback Luke has harnessed his arsenal of production techniques to develop a new DJ training course. He teamed up with online DJ school Digital DJ Tips to release the course, which aims to teach aspiring DJs and producers how to make bootlegs, mashups, and re-edits of songs to drop in their live sets. The goal of “Laidback Luke’s Bootlegs, Mashups, & Re-edits” class is to show beginners how to make edits of songs in order to be more original and obtain their own DJing style. “Bootlegs, mashups and re-edits have always been a part of what DJs do, and what I have done, and I have taught many DJs and producers some of the skills in this course privately over the past 20 years,”...
Redefining the Online Fan Experience in the Wake of COVID-19
This is an opinion column. The thoughts and viewpoints expressed are those of the author, Alex Zaccaria. Zaccaria is the Co-Founder & CEO of Linktree. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the music industry. For many artists, it means that playing at clubs, concerts, and festivals in the U.S. likely won’t be an option for the foreseeable future. That’s a monumental shift in the way artists will think about their work and the performance experience. In an industry where artists get paid less than a cent per stream on platforms like Spotify, festival appearances, club contracts and touring are the main sources of income. Without touring, many rising musicians, DJs and producers must find new and creative ways to engage with their fan base and monetize their music. The importance of on...
Hardwell, Chuckie Among a Number of Dutch Artists to Demand “Clarity” on COVID-19 in the Netherlands
Famed electronic music producers Hardwell and Chuckie are two of a bevy of Dutch artists to appear in a post by Instagram account @watchdogs.nl that demand “honesty and transparency” regarding the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A Reddit user translated the post, which also includes a video wherein a number of the listed artists appear. “This can’t go on any longer. We stand for good public health, our economy is at Breaking point, human behavior is being criminalized and what about the future of our Children? We want clarity,” the post reads. “We had to watch the past 6 months how we kept moving backwards instead of forwards. That’s why we demand honesty and transparency.” The statement goes on to question the use of “non-medical ma...
PPPRA: Previous administrations spent N8.9 trillion on subsidy in 10 years
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, yesterday, disclosed that N8.9 trillion was spent on fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, mainly by previous administrations, between 2006 and 2015. According to data released to support the need for deregulation of the downstream petroleum industry, the PPPRA stated that the bulk of the sum was expended between 2011 and 2015, where N6.7 trillion, representing 74.8 per cent of the total were spent on subsidy. Giving a breakdown of the figure, the PPPRA disclosed that N257.36 billion, N271.51 billion, N630.57 billion, N409.31 billion, and N667.08 billion were spent on fuel subsidy in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, while in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, fuel subsidy gulped N2.1 trillion, N1.35 trillion, N1.32 trillion, N1.22 t...
BeApp Wants to Take the Livestreaming Experience to the Next Level
Livestreams have become the norm for artists to perform for fans amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past few months, artists have kept fans engaged with regular programming, often filming against breathtaking backdrops or incorporating mind-bending visuals into streams. BeApp, dubbed the “Netflix of music festivals” by Forbes, aims to take the livestreaming experience to the next level. By digitizing elements of the live concert experience into a carefully designed mobile app, BeApp wants to bridge the gap between livestreams and live shows. BeApp The app offers multiple ways to view livestreams, like “backstage” and “influencer cam.” Another feature, “front row seats,” allow users to display their photo, Instagram profile, and name to all viewers in a stream. Additionally, users...
Are These DIY Gargling COVID-19 Test Kits the Answer to the Safe Return of Live Events?
As live events continue to bite the curb in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic’s wreckage, legions of pharmaceutical companies continue on a mad dash to the finish line in the race for a vaccine. In the absence of that increasingly mythical panacea, testing, of course, has become the most crucial and polarizing aspect of the painstaking process of reopening regional economies. Austrian start-up testFRWD has now thrown its hat into the ring by creating what they claim is the world’s first DIY gargling COVID-19 test kit. According to the company’s website, their goal is “to safely reopen the tourism and events industry during the pandemic” with the gargling test kits. They point out a number of advantages of the technology, like the fact that gargling e...
The GRAMMY Museum is Launching Its Own Streaming Service
The GRAMMY Museum is set to launch its own dedicated streaming service featuring artist interviews, performances, and livestreams. Titled COLLECTION:live, the service will host an estimated 1,000 programs upon launch with a mix of both new and notable archival content. The organization has foreseen a pivot to streaming in their future for quite some time in order to connect with a younger digital audience. According to the museum’s President Michael Sticka, those plans rose to top priority status in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Since March, the organization has accelerated its pace to record new virtual content including interviews with Billie Eilish and FINNEAS and a conversation with Hans Zimmer on the making of “No Time to Die,” which will be avai...
The London College of Music Examiners Now Recognizes DJing as Formal Education
Thanks to two relentlessly passionate DJs, you can now study the art of DJing and receive a formal GSCE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) qualification. According to a report by The Guardian, brothers Austen and Scott Smart have been working tirelessly over the last five years to galvanize institutions to recognize DJing as formal education. Forcing the issue via their FutureDJs banner, they have teamed up with the London College of Music Examiners to formulate and offer a syllabus for prospective students to receive formal grades and become certified DJs. Sandra Allan, of exam board AQA, says the objective is to allow “more accessibility and diversity, giving students opportunity they may not have considered before now.” The London College o...
David Guetta and Sia Partner with TikTok to Premiere New Single “Let’s Love”
TikTok is continuing its mission to take over the music industry, landing the premiere of David Guetta and Sia‘s new single “Let’s Love” five days ahead of the official release date. The visionaries behind the hit single “Titanium” have made a calculated move to release a 15-second edit to the platform early, seeing that the tracks that have taken off through hashtag challenges and dance routines have catapulted to the top of charts around the globe. Making a single go viral on TikTok has become the new goal for many artists. Guetta has been encouraging his 1.2 million followers to join the #LetsLove hashtag challenge with hopes of spreading the uplifting message of the track to see how users are staying positive during these tough times. ...
Spotify Files Patent for Short-Form Video Sharing Akin to TikTok
A new patent filed by Spotify shows the streaming giant is serious about accelerating its presence in the visual content arena. The company recently introduced video podcasts to its platform in 2020 and is continuing to build its audiovisual offerings for artists, including canvas art and music videos. The recent developments have put the platform on a collision course with the likes of similar multimedia platforms such as YouTube. It seems, however, that Spotify has been paying particularly close attention to TikTok as of late. In a groundbreaking move, Spotify has filed a patent that would enable users to share short-form “video moments” soundtracked to music. Spotify’s Short-Form Video Moments Patent In the patent, the Stockholm-based company shares i...
