Random music news for Tuesday, October 2, 2018

I have a rat living in my backyard. You’d think that with two English bull terriers living here that they’d do something about it. Nope. Let’s move on to music news for October 2, 2018.

1. Weekly Canadian music sales vs. this time last week: Total albums, -19.6%; digital albums, -19.7%; CDs, -23.2%; digital tracks, -22.7%; vinyl, +33.2%; streaming, +49.7% (1.177 billion streams last week).
2. Sam Corbett, drummer for The Sheepdogs, has been diagnosed with cancer. The good news? It’s highly treatable.
3. Orri Páll Dyrason of Sigur Rós has been accused of sexual misconduct. He’s now resigned from the band.
4. It’s looking like Spotify is angling to lower the royalty rates they pay out. It’ll be interesting to see how this impacts artists.
5. Smart speakers are getting more and more popular. What’s driving the sector? Music.
6. A podcasting bubble? No.
7. The world’s oldest active torrent file turns 15 this week.
8. Meanwhile, torrents are seeing increased traffic. I thought that streaming was supposed to kill piracy. Maybe not.
9. Radio: Still very important when it comes to launching an artist’s music career.
10. A solar-powered radio station? Yep?
11. Tell me you’ve protected yourself against this Facebook data breach.
12. This isn’t music-related, but if you’ve ever wondered why a calculator/computer number pad and a phone have the numbers laid out differently, here’s why.
13. Gibson Guitars is now out of bankruptcy. They have a new CFO, too.
14. Is a new wave of rap coming? That’s what some are predicting.
15. If you’re an Elton John fan, you’ll want to look into this.
16. The City of Miami has evicted the Ultra Music Festival. Too many problems.
17. Well, this is a quirky little turntable.
18. Wanna buy the former home of a legendary classic rock singer? It needs a little work, though. Okay, a LOT of work.
19. Looking to make a low budget music video? Here are five tips.
20. Bruce Springsteen joined Social Distortion onstage. Naturally, there’s video.
21. How can you develop character? Through music, apparently.