Random Music News for Tuesday, August 8, 2017
It was on this day in 1969 that the Beatles used the crosswalk down the street from EMI Studios. That picture appears on the cover of Abbey Road. And now, the music news for August 8.
- Have smartphones destroyed a generation?
- Canadian weekly music sales and streaming numbers vs. last year at this time: Total albums, -17%; digital albums, -23.5%; physical albums, -12.2%; CDs, -12.9%; vinyl, +1.8%; streaming +83.7%. And just so you know, 347,200 albums were sold in all of Canada last week. (Via Nielsen SoundScan)
- “Despacito” just won’t quit.
- No Carpool Karaoke for Liam Gallagher, then.
- Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is going to try to reboot a music festival.
- This band worn around the wrist uses sound waves to help blind people get around.
- This is fun: The history of the IBM PC.
- Meanwhile, Apple would like to put voices inside your head. Literally.
- And Apple is in talks to buy an Indian movie and music company.
- Looking at pure physical music sales in the US last week, Jay-Z’s 4:44 finished second to Arcade Fire’s Everything Now on the SoundScan chart by selling just 20,000 copies. You could have made the Top 200 by selling just 842 units.
- The W Hotel in Seattle as something called “sound suites” where musicians and come to record.
- A metal-and-arts festival? Yep. And it’s a good one.
- What’s the story behind this Taylor Swift vs. alleged groping Dj trial? Here’s a summary.
- Sinead O’Connor is going through yet another breakdown.
- The UK now has laws to punish people who hack connected cars.
- Bandcamp raised $84,000 for transgender legal causes with a special event this past Friday.
- Adele has apparently invested in a UK VR company.
