Random music news for Saturday, January 4, 2020

Mission for the weekend: Rewatch Wag the Dog. Trust me. Here’s music news for January 4, 2020.

1. This software analyst from India has written a new national anthem for Mars.
2. Reviewing the death of iTunes: Why did it happen and what does it all mean for the future of music?
3. For the first time in decades, vinyl outsold CDs (in dollar value, anyway) in the US. Who could have predicted that?
4. George Gershwin’s glorious “Rhapsody in Blue” is now in the public domain.
5. A requiem for 15 iconic music venues that disappeared from Toronto over the last decade.
6. Cool: A study of why Depeche Mode is so popular in Eastern Europe.
7. Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck now has his own signature ax.
8. Rumour: Spotify will launch a news channel this year (which, in case you’ve forgotten, is 2020.)
9. People sure spent a lot of money on the Apple App Store Christmas Day.
10. An obituary for now-defunct streaming music service 8Tracks.
11. Producer Rick Rubin is worried about the effect of streaming music services.
12. Well, that was a nice, fat tip.
13. A guy in Thunder Bay allegedly held up a hotel clerk with a harmonica.
14. I had no idea that there was a David Bowie-related production shot in Hamilton.
15. Studio leaks are apparently creating a new kind of rap music.
16. Electronics pioneer RCA turns 100 this year. Here’s some background.
17. One week to go for fan voting for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And the big winner will be…