business
Daniel O’Donnell Extends U.K. Chart Record With ‘60’
The latest, easy-listening effort is produced by Nigel Wright, who worked on the records of many Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, including the film versions of Evita — starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas —The Phantom of the Opera, and other TV and film projects. On the LP, O’Donnell performs versions of such standards as “Let Your Love Flow”, “I’ll Never Find Another You”, “Happy To Be On An Island In The Sun” and “Somethin’ Stupid,” a duet with his wife Majella. For the record, O’Donnell is still 59. He doesn’t turn 60 until Dec. 12. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by cha...
Here Are the Most & Least Crowded Categories for the 2022 Grammys
There are surprises galore here. Music videos are sometimes thought to be decades past their peak, but there are more entries for best music video (1,185) than for any other category — even record and song of the year. Similarly, rock is sometimes portrayed as being on its last legs, but rock leads in two classifications: There are more entries for best rock song than for any other genre song award and more entries for best rock performance than for any other genre performance award. Among genre album categories, best rock album is third, behind best score soundtrack for visual media (includes film, television, video games and other visual media) and best spoken word album (includes poetry, audiobooks and storytelling). The fact that those two categories include so many subcategories...
Elton John and Duran Duran Battle For U.K. Albums Chart Crown
Close behind is Duran Duran, whose 15th studio album Future Past (BMG) opens at No. 2. With Future Past, the alternative rock veterans could nab their highest-charting record in 38 years, since 1983’s Seven And The Ragged Tiger led the chart. Duran Duran’s most recent album, 2015’s Paper Gods, debuted and peaked at No. 5 in the U.K. Meanwhile, Lana Del Rey’s Blue Banisters (Polydor) starts at No. 3 on the chart blast. It’s the U.S. alt-pop artist’s eighth record and second release of 2021. Scottish rock favorites Biffy Clyro start at No. 4 on the midweek chart with The Myth Of The Happily Ever After (Warner Records). As the chart race enters its second stage, it’s all to play for. According to the Official Charts Company, just 4,500 chart sales currently separate the all-new Top 4. C...
Adele Sets Homecoming 2022 Concerts
Adele’s comeback track “Easy On Me” blasted to No. 1 on the Official U.K. Chart last Friday, setting records along the way. The song is roaring up the charts around the planet, as it starts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Global Charts, Australia’s national survey and elsewhere. “Easy On Me” is the first track lifted from Adele’s 30, her forthcoming fourth album due out Nov. 19. It’s the followup to 2015’s 25, an album so popular, Adele was crowned IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year for the year, an award which recognizes the top artist across physical sales, downloads and streaming. Her global tour in support of that album was pure box office dynamite. When it wrapped, Adele stepped away from the public glare for five-long years, until “Easy On Me” dropped in full earlier this...
Here’s Where Justin Bieber’s ‘Peaches’ & More Top 10 Hits Are Competing for 2022 Grammy Noms
Bieber’s 2021 album, Justice, is also vying for a nod as best pop vocal album, but the victory for Bieber is that his pop/soul jam “Peaches,” which could have gone either way, is competing in R&B — along with such other hits as Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” and SZA’s “Good Days.” If “Peaches” is nominated, it would be Bieber’s first Grammy nod in an R&B category. But how about the other songs that were released in this eligibility year (Sept. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021) and became top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100? Let’s see where they wound up in the 64th annual Grammy Awards process. Note: Not all top 10 hits are listed here. Artists and their representatives are savvy enough not to flood the zone with multiple entries that could divide their support. So “Drivers Li...
Esports Platform FaZe Clan Going Public in $1 Billion SPAC Deal
“We are thrilled to announce this important milestone of FaZe Clan’s plans to enter the public market,” Trink said in a statement announcing the move. “In our short history, we have evolved from a disruptive content generator to one of the world’s most decorated and successful esports franchises, and now into one of the younger generations’ most recognized and followed brands globally. We believe FaZe Clan is becoming the voice of youth culture, a brand that sits at the nexus of content, gaming, entertainment and lifestyle in the digital-native world. This transaction will provide us capital and access to the public markets, which will help us accelerate the expansion of our multi-platform and monetization strategy.” The deal, subject to approval by the boards of both FaZ...
Adele’s ‘Easy On Me’ Set For Second Week Atop U.K. Singles Chart
Adele’s first release in six years leads the First Look chart, which ranks tracks based on activity from the first 48 hours in the chart cycle. Further down the list, reunited EDM legends Swedish House Mafia and Canadian R&B star The Weeknd are on track for the week’s highest new entry, with “Moth To A Flame.” It’s new at No. 12 on the chart blast. Another new-ish release is ABBA’s “Just A Notion.” The track was originally cut during the Swedish pop group’s heyday in the late ‘70s, and officially released in full last Friday. It’s on course to give the foursome their 29th U.K. Top 40 single, the OCC reports. The latest single from their forthcoming album Voyage, due out Nov. 5, “Just A Notion” is eyeing a No. 14 bow. Finally, London rapper Digga D is locked-on for a ninth U...
Pandemic Strips Over $1B From Australia’s Live Entertainment Sector: Report
This “significant decline can be primarily attributed to COVID-19 restrictions,” explains the report, noting major tours from the likes of Pink, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry in 2018, and visits by U2 and Eminem in 2019, were absent from the touring calendar last year, as all three levels of government ordered the shutdown of gathering places to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. In a crippled market, “Contemporary Music,” a category that includes rock, pop and hip-hop concerts, was the largest genre, accounting for 51% of revenue, and, combined with festivals comprised 60% of total industry revenue and 43% of attendances. Don’t expect the data for 2021 to bring any cheer to the live business. The impacts of COVID-19 this year may be even greater, ...
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, MC Lyte, Big Freedia & More Inducted Into Ebony Power 100 Class of 2021
Jam & Lewis were presented with the lifetime achievement award by Janet Jackson via video and singer MAJOR. onstage. Thanking “God in the sky and god on earth, Clarence Avant — the Black Godfather,” his family and Ebony (“I saw people that looked like myself”), Jam said the pair’s award “isn’t a place to stop but a bar set high that we will continue to try to raise every day.” After doing a quick “happy dance,” Lewis thanked his family as well, adding, “You could be in Billboard, Variety or any other magazine, but you didn’t make it until you were in Ebony or Jet. That was the bar. I love awards, but I love the journey that I’ve been on … and the journey that I’m going to be on with you.” Also among the individual ...
Adele’s ‘Easy On Me’ Smashes Records En Route to U.K. No. 1
The new track carves up the competition with 217,300 chart sales in its first week, a tally not seen since Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You” packed-in 226,800 combined sales back in January 2017. Today, “Shape Of You” is the most-streamed song ever on Spotify. In its debut week, Adele’s “Easy On Me” accumulates 24 million streams in the U.K., a new mark beating the record set by Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings,” which registered 16.9 million U.K. streams back in January 2019. Also, according to the OCC, “Easy On Me” bags the biggest sum of digital download sales for 2021, with 23,500. “Easy On Me” is Adele’s first music release in six years, and it’s the first track taken from her forthcoming fourth album 30, due out Nov. 19. As anticipation builds, two of her earlier hits power back into t...
Coldplay Blasts to No. 1 In U.K. With ‘Music Of The Spheres’
The last figure to chalk-up six-figures in a week was Ed Sheeran’s No. 6 Collaborations Project, which started with 125,000 in July 2019. Pure sales accounted for 85% of Coldplay’s first week tally, a sum that included 12,400 on wax, enough to lead this week’s Official Vinyl Albums Chart. With the strong opening, Coldplay’s collaboration with BTS, “My Universe,” races 15-5 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, while “Let Somebody Go” featuring Selena Gomez, opens at No. 24, and “Higher Power” reenters at 26. Coldplay performed all three tracks live last week on CBS’ The Late Late Show With James Corden. With the unbroken, career-spanning run of No. 1s, Coldplay tie with Brandon Flowers, who also has a streak of nine consecutive chart-toppers across The Killers and his solo efforts. Noel Gall...
Here’s Where Genre-Bending Albums From Lil Nas X, Halsey, Miley Cyrus & More Landed for 2022 Grammys
Grammy voters have until Nov. 5 to make their choices. Even before first-round voting for the 64th annual Grammy Awards opened on Friday (Oct. 22), we knew that some albums wouldn’t be in the expected genre categories. Kacey Musgraves’ star-crossed was moved from best country album to best pop vocal album, while Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs) was slotted in best compilation soundtrack for visual media, not best comedy album, as had been expected. These were hardly the only albums that wound up on the Grammy ballot in places you might not expect. That’s bound to happen as artists increasingly cross genres. Albums often wind up right on the border between two or more genres. In those cases, the Recording Academy’s screening committee endeavors to put it in the most suitable category. Here a...
