Monday, December 1, 2014

Music News and New Music For December 1st, 2014

So of course, when running your own blog it can be tough to keep up with the s**tload of stuff that comes across our ears over a weekend!  Some good, some bad, some not even worth mentioning.  I guess that's how I use AFGM in general.  These articles that I go through everyday from various sites (Blabbermouth, CBC, National Post, AV Club, Google, Wired, Exclaim, Music News, Rolling Stone, etc.) and sort of "filter" some of the nonsense news such as the latest fashion design, who's got beef with who and who ISN'T doing music...still.

These articles brought forth are for a few different reasons:

1. It is relevant music information that pertains to you as a reader, no matter the level of intent or the genre.

2. They are relevant to the music I would be currently listening to or a genre I have put some attention and focus on.

3. I am rather patriotic about my Canadian music, so that always comes as a first for me.  I enjoy music from all parts of the world respectively, but I still have to promote local if I can.  Canadian music rocks!

4. Because it's humorous and we can always use a good laugh.  Rarely will it be at someone's expense...but then again I am just the guy talking about it.  They're the ones causing the comments.

So in closing, I trust you all will not read EVERY single article posted here.  But I hope you find something of use here and keep the conversation going by forwarding it onto someone else.  Click on each article heading for redirection to the full article.  Cheers!



Five Of The Best Jobs You Can Get In The Music Industry With A College Degree:

"What kind of career lies ahead in your future with a degree in music? You may think there aren’t many options, but there is plenty of variety offered in this field of study. Surprisingly, there are quite a few options for those who graduate with a degree in music. Here are five career paths that will have you living your dream within the industry."


A brief history of queer music in Toronto:

"It's obvious, however, that many missed the subtext behind lines like "we want freedom to love who we please," which was a reference to the infamous 1981 gay bathhouse raids that sparked Toronto's early gay rights protests. When McCain tried to use the song for a for a frozen pizza commercial, the band successfully sued to regain control of their material, although that wouldn't stop Canada's right wing from attempting to misappropriate the gay rights song during the 1999 United Alternative convention to bring together the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservatives."


Eddie Van Halen To Help Launch Smithsonian/Zocalo Initiative:

"The Smithsonian's National Museum Of American History and Los Angeles-based Ideas Exchange Zocalo Public Square are partnering to launch "What It Means To Be American", a collaborative three-year initiative aimed at engaging leading thinkers, public figures and Americans from all walks of life to explore how the United States became the nation it is today. The kick-off event January 14 will feature former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Anna Maria Chavez, CEO of the Girl Scouts Of The USA, at the Heard Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate in Phoenix. Music icon Eddie Van Halen will headline the next event at the National Museum Of American History in February."


Fears for music's 'toilet circuit': Small venues that nurtured big stars are increasingly at risk of closure:

"More than 30,000 music fans have signed an e-petition urging the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to ensure anyone who buys or rents a property within a set distance of a music venue should sign a waiver giving up the right to complain about noise."


The Chemical Brothers Promise New Album in 2015:

"The most important feature of the album is that it connects with us emotionally in some way.  We hope for finding a new way to make you feel. We dream of new sounds and different frames. We have worked with some guest singers but mostly the album is pure Chemical Brothers." -Tom Rowlands


Brian Eno wins Giga-Hertz Award for contribution to electronic music:

“Singing is among the best things in life.  In England, I’ve been singing in an a-cappella group for 16 years. We don’t do any concerts or take pictures - it’s about the fun of it.  I’m working on a song that you can enter … [With] 40 different speakers that [create] a walk-song-space." -Eno


Apploud Is Like An Instagram For Live Music Where Musicians Get Paid:

"Content is uploaded by fans who witness great live music and they can tag the twitter handles of the artists featured. Within 10 seconds a fan can help the artist make money by sharing their videos. Once the twitter handles are tagged, the app automatically adds links to tip the artist (or their favourite charity), buy tickets to their next show, or buy their music."


QUEENSRŸCHE On Chance For Fans To Own Piece Of Band: 'We Thought It Was A Great Idea':

"QUEENSRŸCHE is all about evolving; we're always evolving as a band. That being said, technology is always changing. We've been doing this a while, and we've seen the technology advances that have happened in the last 10-20 years, and we're embracing this new technology. It's PledgeMusic. It's a different avenue for bands to get what they want, because, let's face it, record companies aren't giving huge advances, and this gives them a chance to build upon their aspirations, their dreams, whether it's funding a record, or it's funding a book, or it's funding a gig, it's just a whole new technology that we're embracing." -Wilton


The Music Middle-Class Is Getting Squeezed:

"The truth is that touring is hardly a big moneymaker for many bands. It's expensive. It's viciously competitive. It's tiring. And not every band can command the $100 or $200 or $500 a ticket that acts like Beyoncé and Madonna can. As such, tour revenue has become more unevenly distributed among artists over time, exaggerating music’s superstar economy and contributing to the hollowing out its middle class. Per the Princeton economist Alan Krueger, the share of ticket revenue taken home by the top one percent of performers more than doubled between 1982 and 2003. In that last year, the top one percent took about 56 percent of all touring revenue, and the top 5 percent took nearly 90 percent."


Killer Mike Pens Op-Ed About Rap Music's Treatment in Courts:

"Earlier this year, for instance, the New Jersey Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Vonte Skinner, who in 2008 was found guilty of attempted murder based largely on prosecutors' use of his violent rap lyrics as evidence. In their opinion, the justices wrote that Skinner's "highly prejudicial" lyrics should have been excluded because they "risked poisoning the jury".

In most other cases, however — including one heard by the Nevada Supreme Court in 2013 — the outcome is very different. Lyrics generally are permitted as evidence, regardless of their prejudicial impact."


Amazon's Prime Music Releases It's First Original Content - A Christmas Compilation:

"Clocking in at two and a half hours, Amazon’s compilation might be the only collection of Christmas and holiday-themed tunes you need this year. The company is promoting the extensive grouping with a small snowflake with a music note at the top of the page. It has no description or words connected to it, but the symbol is placed directly over the “Go” button, so whenever someone is about to search for something, they see it. The compilation was released just before both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so it has surely collected quite a number of clicks by now."


Willie Nelson to Receive Grammy Recognition for Humanitarian Efforts:

"Formerly called the Music Preservation Concert, the Grammy Foundation Legacy Concert combines live performances with video footage from the Grammy archives. February's show, dubbed "Lean On Me: A Celebration of Music and Philanthropy," will shine a light on some of the industry's leading humanitarians, including Nelson, education philanthropist Bryan Adams and gay rights activists Melissa Etheridge and Cyndi Lauper."


7 ways music boosts your well-being:

"Be it the weekend or the end of a stressful day, at some point you’ll probably relax to music or watch a film with a catchy soundtrack. There’s no doubt that jamming to your favourite tracks can instantly elevate a grouchy mood, but scientists are now discovering that music can do more for you than just uplift your spirits. Research shows it has a variety of health benefits. As compiled by Men’s Fitness magazine, healthline.com, apa.org and dailymail.co.uk, learn how tunes help you find mind-body harmony."


Spotify Predicts Armageddon, But Big Data Will Struggle To Find Pop Music's Next Breakout Hit:

"Fundamentally this question comes back to the inputs that big data has – the garbage in garbage out principle, if you will. When you are using ’popular music’ to find out what works in ’popular music’ you’re not going to find anything disruptive or innovative, you’re going to find more of the same, iterated into a pleasant sound that offends nobody."


Chamber Music for the Millennial Generation:

"The event, equal parts recital and party, was a Groupmuse, the product of a startup by the same name that hopes to bring millennial sensibilities to chamber-music concerts, winning the genre some new young fans in the process. According to its founders, combined attendance of all events to date is over 10,000 people since Groupmuse’s first event in January 2013. The vast majority of attendees are in their 20s."


Eagles Sue Concert Footage Archivist Over Bootleg Performances:

"Don Henley and Glenn Frey filed their lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court, seeking unspecified damages from Shelley and his company, Shelley Archives. They allege the Long Island resident used his collection of films to falsely “bolster his reputation as a purported music industry ‘insider’ with close connections and ties to many classic rock greats,” the New York Daily News reported, and accused him of becoming rich from the unauthorised use of their work."


Gifts for the music fan:

Concert tickets, Wireless Bluetooth Travel Headphones, Vinyl Turntable, Vintage Record Coaster Set, “What Would Keith Richards Do?", and more!


Choose Your Own Coldplay Adventure With 'Ink' Video:

"In the beautifully animated "Ink" video, Chris Martin and company have constructed 300 different scenarios to watch their video, with the viewer cued when to make their experience-altering decisions. It all starts with a traveler being washed up on shore, and from the opening chords, the viewer decides whether to pick up a pocket knife, a compass or a paintbrush, with each choice leading down a path of different results as the man seeks out his lost love."


Broke and Homeless Scott Stapp Crowdfunding $480,000 to Record New Album, Write Novel:

"Raising funds 4solo album #3. Using same team, Howard Bensen (Producer) & Chris Lord-Alge (Mix). At the same time, my first book in the fiction category. Need 2fund both projects"


Cramming For Exams? Classical Music Might Help:

"The beauty of classical music is that it induces a relaxed state even when you don’t pay attention to it. For example, a Russian study, published in Human Physiology, discovered that children who listened to classical music for an hour a day over a six-month time period exhibited brain changes that suggested higher states of relaxation, even when the test subjects were not asked to pay attention to the music."


VISION OF DISORDER Release NEW Album Update:

"The album will be out by the Summer. We have a producer in mind but it’s too early to announce anything yet. People will be psyched when they find out though." -Mike Fleischmann


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