Random music news for Saturday, March 21, 2020

Wanna see where COVID-19 panic is at its greatest and least? Check out this panic index dashboard. But there’s hope: The world’s most powerful supercomputer is on the case. On to music news for March 21, 2020…

1. FIRST AND FOREMOST: If you are a member of the Canadian music industry and COVID-19 is creating havoc in your life, here is some information and resources that you can use. (Via FYIMusicNews)
2. Coronavirus update 1: You know what’s doing well during this crisis? Podcast listening. For the first time, more than 100 million Americans say they are monthly podcast listeners.
3. Coronavirus update 2: Yes, porn searches are up. Way up.
4. Coronavirus update 3: A growing trend is drive-in concerts.
5. Coronavirus update 4: A man who attended a Ghost show in Mexico City has died from the disease.
6. Coronavirus update 5: Gene Simmons’s advice is “pretend everyone is a zombie.”
7. Coronavirus update 6: More than 300 people were not allowed to leave a festival in Panama over COVID-19 exposure worries.
8. Coronavirus update 7: Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider’s daughter is stuck in Peru.
9. Coronavirus update 8: There’s now a name for all these online concerts and performances: quaranstreams. And they play quarantunes.
10. Coronavirus update 9: Twitch viewing is up 10%. Makes sense. People are staying in and playing games.
11. Coronavirus update 10: Netflix has throttled bandwidth in the EU to keep the internet from breaking. Is music streaming next?]
12. Coronavirus update 11: The Grand Ole Opry will play to an empty theatre.
13. Coronavirus update 12: Director Ba Luhrmann has stopped his Elvis project. It involved Tom Hanks, so…
14. Naughty Beatles.
15. A good story on Andrew Wood, the lost hero of grunge.
16. The Weeknd is having a good weekend. See?
17. And oldie but a goodie: 50 of the greatest rock insults and put-downs. (Via Ruins)
18. Nokia seems to think it’s 2006 again with the release of this retro music phone.
19. Who had the biggest-selling album globally in 2019? Nope. Nope. Nope. Them? Yes.
20. Finally, here are my weekly music picks for GlobalNews.ca.