Random Music News for Tuesday, December 19, 2017

This could be the last day of any kind of workplace productivity of the year–except if you’re in retail or hospitality, of course. Or radio, now that I think of it. Here’s some music news for December 19.

1. This is fun: At one point, airlines fantasized about putting discos and gyms on their aircraft.
2. A good Tuesday timesuck: A history of radio advertising.
3. Undergoing surgery anytime soon? This doctor says you should be able to choose your music.
4. Best headline of the week: “George Zimmerman threatens to feed JAY-Z to alligator over Trayvon Martin documentary.”
5. Those rare Beatles Christmas records have been unveiled.
6. Blackberry is shutting down its app store. But not until December 31, 2019, so don’t panic yet.
7. Tired of some people in your Facebook feed? There’s now a new “snooze” feature that will temporarily let you unfollow a person or group for 30 days.
8. A company called Spotlite, a live-streaming app for musicians, has some new investors. Could this become a real thing?
9. Interested in how streaming is affecting radio? Listen to this.
10. And no–and I can’t stress this enough–radio is not dead.
11. Hoping to give or receive some Apple AirPods for Christmas? They’re all sold out until 2018.
12. Maybe you could look at giving one of these special Canadian box sets instead.
13. Ed Sheeran has already written a Bond theme, just in case someone asks him.
14. Is streaming bad for domestic Canadian acts? With no Cancon requirements for streaming, there’s a real argument to be made.
15. The lead singer of a South Korean boy band has apparently killed himself. This tragedy underscores the pressure so many K-Pop bands feel.
16. More analysis of America’s stupid move of repealing net neutrality measures.
17. This music was recorded 2,000 metres below the surface of the earth at a neutrino observatory near Sudbury. Talk about music from the underground!