Random music news for Saturday, May 23, 2020

Once we beat the coronavirus, I’d be personally grateful if doctors start working on this. Oh, and Pac Man turns 40 this weekend.

And now, music news for May 23, 2020.

1. Coronavirus update 1: Black Francis of The Pixies is spending his lockdown raising chickens.
2. Coronavirus update 2: Here’s more on the prospect of drive-in concerts. (Alberta is getting its first such gig.)
3. Coronavirus update 3: More on the future of music after the virus.
4. Coronavirus update 4: Spotify says its employees can work at home for the rest of the year.
5. Coronavirus update 5: Could the pandemic result in some amazing music and art? If the past is anything to go by, the answer is yes.
6. Coronavirus update 6: Israel is in lockdown, yet thousands turned up to a music festival.
7. Here are my weekly music picks for GlobalNews.ca.
8. A U.S. study says that the number of families watching music videos together is on the rise.
9. Here’s an academic study of when punk rock took on Ronald Reagan in the 80s. (Via Ruins)
10. Prince’s iconic “Blue Angel” guitar is going up for auction. It’ll sell for at least US$500,000.
11. PUP has released a jigsaw puzzle to help with your lockdown boredom.
12. This looks interesting: TuneRoom.
13. When the iPhone 12 shows up, it probably won’t come with any kind of wired earbuds.
14. Canada is going after more pirate sites offering illegal downloads.
15. Now THIS is fast internet! Download a thousand movies in one second.
16. The sounds of the pandemic. Eerie.
17. Here’s how you may have to turn your iPhone into a contact tracing device–when those apps become available.
18. Well, that was nice.