Random Music News for Tuesday, July 19, 2016

The cicadas in my backyard are deafening. Shut UP, bugs!  And now, the music news…

1. Elvis’ relative claims The King died of a “self-induced overdose.” So, like, suicide?
2. Meanwhile, there’s a claim that Amy Winehouse tried to kill herself eight weeks before she died.
3. Audio is now bigger than video online–at least in the US. Audio killed the video star?
4. The many Tubes of YouTube.
5. And then there’s this: Is YouTube wrecking the music industry or giving new people a chance to be stars?
6. Is it true that Millennials aren’t very interested in traditional radio anymore? Read this.
7. Good provocative reading about news and media in general: Do journalists hate their audiences?
8. The Tupac biopic is being delayed because of a licensing fight over the music.
9. Apple Music is proposing to pay out more money to artists. Interesting tactic: putting a financial squeeze on their rivals.
10. Here’s a nice summary of reactions to Short List for the 2016 Polaris Music Prize.
11. It was another miserable week for album sales in the US. The #1-selling album, Schoolboy Q’s Blank Face LP, sold just 52,000 copies. And after selling 172,000 copies of California, the Blink-182 album drops to #3 with 27,500 albums sold. Drake is back at #1 in Canada with Views with the equivalent of 11,000 units.
12. Here’s Everlast writing on the challenges of being a parent. One of his kids has cystic fibrosis. (Via Larry)
13. The singer of the Pokemon theme song is suddenly very popular again.
14. Interesting: Why Millennials like podcasts.
15. It’s amazing how Taylor Swift manages to stay in the news even between albums. Very clever branding and marketing.
16. Want to play the guitar but can’t be arsed in learning all those chords? Try this thing. (Via Andrew)
17. Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic wants to tell Canadians not to be afraid of electoral reform.