In This Issue: Woah... the gloves are out this week. Is Sydney’s live music scene dead? Is the Big Day Out in the shit? Did RÜFÜS really need to change their name? Will Secret Service take over the world? You decide.
The end of Big Day Out?
If the in depth feature article released today by Fairfax is true, then it seems like the Big Day Out is in huge trouble. According to the investigation launched by Fairfax, Big Day Out promoters are facing losses of between $8 million and $15 million as a result of the 2014 tour.
The report also alleges chief executive officer Adam Zammit was fired this week with two shows left on the tour (but then re-hired) and promoters AJ Maddah and C3 will be facing a tense legal battle over financial losses. According to the report, Big Day Out’s inflated attendance figures have come into question, sponsors and contractors are pissed and long-term staff members have been fired. In short, if the rumours are true, the whole thing is a clusterfuck.
We should note that we fricking love the Big Day Out and hope this story is completely false, but who knows?
The full Fairfax story can be read here: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/rumours-hit-big-day-out-of-maj...
Sydney’s lock out laws passed
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell’s legislation to enforce 1:30am lockout laws and 3am last drinks throughout the Sydney CBD and Kings Cross precinct has passed, and will be introduced in April 2014. The new laws will place enormous pressure on late night traders across the city, particularly those in the live music sector. But that’s ok – according to NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher, the live music scene in Sydney is already dead – along with his reputation.
The legends over at SGC Media responded to Gallacher’s outrageous insinuation by writing a kick-arse email to the Police Minister, which was shared via Facebook earlier today. Have a read of it here: https://www.facebook.com/sgcmedia
Two Fish Out Of Water and Secret Service Join Forces
Two of Australia’s best PR companies, Stacey Piggott’s Two Fish Out Of Water and Paul Piticco’s Secret Service Public Relations have merged. Piggott, who has been managing Two Fish for 15 years, will now lead a team of five skilled publicists with offices in Sydney and Melbourne under the Secret Services Public Relations banner. The new merger has resulted in the departure of Secret Service Public Relations and sister label Dew Process’s Kathleen Hore, who will move to a career outside of the music sector.
Bluesfest Grammy wins
Australian artists Hiatus Kaiyote and Tame Impala may not have taken home a Grammy earlier this week, but us Aussies will still get to see some Grammy winners in action later this year. Bluesfest performers Charlie Musselwhite and Ben Harper, who will be gracing our shores later in the year, took out the Grammy Award for Best Blues Album Get Up! on Sunday night.
Other Grammy winners who will hit up Bluesfest later this year includes Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience who won Best Regional Roots Music Album for the album Dockside Sessions and Gary Clark Jr who took out the Best Traditional R&B Performance for ‘Please Come Home’.
RÜFÜS change name of North American market
In the lead up to their debut appearance at SXSW, RÜFÜS have announced a name change to cater for North America. They will now be hailed as RÜFÜS DU SOL in North America, remaining as RÜFÜS across the rest of the world. The name change has sprung about after months of debate revolving around an existing US trademark on the name Rufus. Jon, James and Tyrone from the band did not want to make the name change, but knew they would have to in order to officially release their #1 ARIA and J award nominated debut record, ATLAS in North America. The album will be released by Columbia records in the US and Canada, making RÜFÜS just the second Aussie export to be signed to the US powerhouse label since 80’s legends, Men at Work and indie rockers The Temper Trap.
Iceland Airwaves announces Flaming Lips, East India Youth, Samaris
The major headliners for Iceland’s acclaimed five day festival Iceland Airwaves have been revealed. Flaming Lips, East India Youth, Samaris and Jungle are amongst the first 17 artists announced to perform at Iceland Airwaves, taking place in Reykjavík November 5-9. Iceland Airwaves has become one of the premier annual showcases for new music since its inception in 1999.
9th Coopers AMP shortlist revealed
The nine shortlisted artists for the 9th Coopers AMP was officially unveiled at the Shortlisted! event held at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne on January 26.
The following nine artists were selected by a judging panel, who scrutinised over the 43 artists on the longlist. The 9th Coopers AMP Shortlist in alphabetical order is:
The 9th Coopers AMP Shortlisted Albums
She Beats by Beaches
Not Art by Big Scary
Dream Cave by Cloud Control
The Cold Light Of Day by Dialectrix
King Amongst Many by Horrorshow
Howlin by Jagwar Ma
In Blood Memory by Jen Cloher
Phoenix by Jimblah
Embracism by Kirin J Callinan
Aria Chart news
Top 5:
Singles:
1. Pharrell Williams ‘Happy’
2. Joel Fletcher Feat. Savage ‘Swing’
3. Jason Derulo ‘Trumpets’
4. Magic! ‘Rude’
5. Rudimental feat. Emeli Sande & Nas ‘Free’
Albums:
Top 5:
1. Bruce Springsteen High Hopes (debut)
2. Soundtrack Frozen
3. Beyonce Beyonce
4. Katy Perry Prism
5. Lorde Pure Heroine
Google Music releases interactive infographs of the history of popular music
This is awesome. Google Music has put together an interactive graph of music ownership over the past 60 years, which shows the popularity of artists, genres and releases. You can suss out the intricate details of the popularity of random subgroups throughout history here: https://research.google.com/bigpicture/music/#
And who says rock is dead?...
