Random Music News for Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Still suffering from Olympic withdrawal. Back to watching Jerry Springer in the afternoon. And now, the music news…

1. Barbra Streisand has asked Apple to fix the way Siri says her name.
2. Kanye wrote a poem about McDonald’s for Frank Ocean. Yes. Yes, he did.
3. Does AM radio have any kind of future?
4. And why are electric cars not including AM radio at all?
5. Album sales in the US continue to take a beating. The #1 record in the land is the Suicide Squad soundtrack with sales of just under 50,000 copies. Ouch.
6. History lesson: When Marilyn Monroe played the Korean War.
7. A new U2 song seems to be circulating. The track–which might be called “You’re the Best Thing About Me“–appears to be remixed by a Norwegian DJ named Kygo. (Via Michael)
8. Are you a fan of the Netflix series, Stranger Things? Then look at this.
9. Dee Snyder has turned Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” into a ballad. (Via Tom)
10. Facebook came to the rescue of a band stranded in the middle of nowhere.
11. “Are record labels still relevant?” Discuss.
12. Rumour: Universal will end all exclusives with streaming music services. I hope this is true.
13. Canadian album sales are trailing last year’s numbers by 21.3%. Vinyl is still running hot at +35.1%.
14. Meanwhile, Spotify is out of contract with the three major labels. Look for negotiations to get weird.
15. Did this punk band predict the rise of Donald Trump ten years ago?