Random music news for Tuesday, August 21, 2018

By the end of the year, inflation in Venezuela could hit 1,000,000%. No, that’s not a typo, either. In music news for August 18, 2018…

1. Weekly Canadian music sales and streams vs. this time last year: Total albums, -18.5%; digital albums, -21.1%; physical albums, -16.8%; CDs, -20.9%; vinyl, +45.8%; streams, +51.6% (1.098 billion streams last week).
2. Asia Argento’s tweet quoting Kurt Cobain seems pretty weird after what we’ve heard over the last 48 hours.
3. It won’t be long before the big console screens in Teslas have the capability to show videos.
4. How will the radio industry respond to smart speakers in cars?
5. The fastest-growing smart speaker market in the world is… China? Yep.
6. Another way of looking at smart speakers: They are the “sonic Internet.” I like that.
7. A Google smart screen with a video screen? That’s the rumour.
8. Nicki Minaj is NOT happy with Spotify.
9. If you’ve been following the fallout from the Marvin Gaye “Got to Give It Up”/Robin Thicke “Blurred Lines” verdict, you need to read this.
10. 3D audio from some earbuds? Yes, please.
11. Madonna is going to build a soccer stadium in Malawi.
12. This is not the kind of Motorhead visual you will want in your head. Be careful before you click here. (Via Tom)
13. The return of The Monkees? Sort of. (Tom again)
14. Toronto indie fans will love this: a Lowest of the Low career retrospective box set.
15. Looking for an app to help you discover music? Try Lüm.
16. What to do with an old chapel? Turn it into a music venue!
17. It was another rough week for physical CD sales. If you add up all the discs in the SoundScan top 200 chart, you come up with a total of 589,000. You could make the chart by selling just 591 units.
18. Does anyone listen to Apple Music’s Beats 1? It’s hard to say–or they won’t say.
19. Madonna is selling this place. Nice.
20. When we talk about Robert Plant, it’s always about Led Zeppelin. What about The Honeydrippers?