In a pretty spectacular shakeup, the UK official charts company has added streams to its count. 100 plays now equates to a sale, so 15000 plays on a streaming service (it has to be at least 30 seconds of a song to count) equals 150 sales. This has meant that several records have been upped dramatically in their certification, with songs such as Fix You by Coldplay being upgraded, or Price Tag by Jessie J. With streaming becoming ever more popular, it is a logical and hopefully beneficial way for artists to see how their music is being listened.
Blur, one of the bands that could see a major increase in reported sales due to the changes recently imposed.
Also, widely reported, Garth Brooks has cancelled a series of shows in Ireland after a disagreement between residents, council and Brooks’ management emerged. Scheduled to play 5 dates, the council revealed that permission had only been granted to three. In response Brooks said that to choose which to play and which not would be like choosing a favourite child. Therefore he aborted the entire lot. Proposals over the last few days have been made repeatedly yet nothing has been solidified. A proposed ‘matinée’ was dismissed at a last stage by Brooks because he didn’t want to ‘cheat’ some fans out of seeing the concerts late at night. Brooks even held a conference in his native homeland to address some questions about the issues with the concerts. Either way, it seems there is a lot of furore and red tape on both sides preventing any concerts happening, as well as artistic ‘integrity’. The simple fact is Brooks promoter is to blame for scheduling dates and selling tickets for shows that were not certain. What is now worse is Brooks has said he ‘doesn’t want to cancel’ on fans, yet has done exactly that.
Promotional work for Queen at the Rainbow
A new Queen release has emerged for release on September 8th. Queen at the Rainbow ’74 is available as a standalone BluRay or a Boxset that features the group in the wake of their tour in support of their ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ album. The box set edition features 4 discs, a replica tour programme and other souvenirs. The 4 discs are 2 CD’s and either a Blu-Ray and DVD or a double DVD. Further details can be read at the press release at this link.
Other releases coming soon include a Paul Carrack Best Of that is mostly made of heard material, as expected. There are few teased treats and selling points to fans that have the entire set which includes a ‘rare version of The Living Years’. It spans his career including contributions to Squeeze, Mike and The Mechanics and others.
The Front Cover of the Best Of
- The Living Years
- How Long
- Love Will Keep Us Alive (Radio Edit) W/ Timothy B Schmit
- Eyes Of Blue
- Over My Shoulder
- Tempted
- Satisfy My Soul
- Groovin’
- Walk On By
- What’s Going On
- I Don’t Want Your Love (i Need Your Love)
- Don’t Dream Its Over
- Moon River
- Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying
- When My Little Girl Is Smiling
- I’m Losing You
- That’s All That Matters To Me
- One In A Million
- Come Rain Or Come Shine
In this carpet interview with Phil Collins, he suggests he has written material after his two youngest children encouraged him to start writing. Collins is also planning a book, even if he admits to struggling with keeping up the interest in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=satz4VYXVP4
Beck back in 2012 released ‘Song Reader’, an album unlike others released at the time, as it was released solely sheet music. However an actual recording is on the way of those songs, yet it is not strictly a Beck album. The album will feature Beck, however relies upon contributions from an array of other artists including Jarvis Cocker, Laura Marling, Norah Jones, and Sparks. The official title is ‘Warby Barby presents Song Reader’ and Beck only contributes vocals to one of the 20 songs, however it looks set to be an interesting multi media project.