2021 Archives - Alan Cross' A Journal of Musical Things

Proof that 2021 was not great for new music

Quick: Name an album released in 2021 that will go down in history as an all-time classic. Other than Adele’s

With the calendar flipping to a new year, it’s time to look back on what music Canadians bought and streamed

When vinyl sales ticked back up in 2008, it was easy to look at this as an anomaly, a blip

Now that we’re getting very close to the end of the year, it’s time for some reflection on the overall

If it wasn’t for music, TikTok wouldn’t exist. And given the explosive growth of the platform over the last couple

If you’re a user of Spotify, you might have already received your Unwrapped report which goes through all your listening

Now that we’re into December, here come all the year-end lists. YouTube Canada has published several such lists. Let’s go

Cadence Weapon, born in Edmonton and raised in Toronto, took home the $50,000 cheque for the 2021 Polaris Music Prize

Give what you know about the rise of the Delta variant of COVID, would you have gone to Lollapalooza last

…and you can see why. The AV Club also has this story. “Is it safe?” That’s the number-one question I

SOCAN, Canada’s performing rights organization, holds an annual awards program that seeks to name the best Canadian songwriter of the

The Goldilocks of Canadian Production Companies – Mark Bishop in Conversation with TBP Podcast EP 037 November 25, 2021
Our latest guest on The Backstage Project podcast comes to us from the world of Canadian television. TBP was thrilled to have a chance to visit and catch up with marblemedia’s Mark Bishop. Mark is an accomplished entrepreneur, brand-builder and trusted media industry advocate. In 2001 Mark and Co-Founder Matt Hornburg founded marblemedia, one of […]
Andrew Dick
Chasing a Dream – Kevin Porter in Conversation with TBP Podcast EP 036 October 11, 2021
Many of us – at one time or another – dream of being professional athletes. Most of us realize in high school that we won’t be making it to the big leagues – unfortunately. The lucky among us flirt with the minor leagues in hopes of that big break. But what happens when that big […]
Andrew Dick
Being your Authentic Self – Richard Crouse in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 035 July 2, 2021
You would be given a free pass if you forgot that before the rise of the social media influencer there were already pundits and personalities on TV, radio and print. There’s just been that much exponential change in the media business over the last 15 years. Yet today, those who were formerly the audience are […]
Mark Silver