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21 Dec 2022

Rare Ernie Barnes Art Exhibit To Be Held In L.A. Next February

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12/12/2001 – Ernie Barnes, left, former NFL player now an accomplished artist, shows a painting comm

Source: George Wilhelm / Getty

A new exhibit featuring rarely-seen artwork from the symbolic Black artist Ernie Barnes is set to open in Los Angeles, California next year.

As the Los Angeles edition of the Frieze art festival is set to take place in February, one gallery has announced an exhibit featuring the iconic work of Barnes that focuses on his viewpoint of music. The exhibit, titled Ernie Barnes: Where Music and Soul Live, will be hosted by UTA Artist Space and contain 30 of his vibrant paintings that showcase Black musicians and dancers in nightclubs and other street scenes. 

This exhibit will mark the first time many of these paintings, which have been in private collections, will be seen by the public. Barnes’ work, which highlights Black bodies swaying and curving with a stirring magnetism in various scenes of work and play, gained mainstream appeal after appearing on the sitcom Good Times. “He was an artist of the people,” UTA Artist Space director Zuzanna Ciolek said in a statement. “The general public was aware of his work and excited about his work before the art world was, and I think that’s something that’s really exciting for us.”

The exhibit will also feature a specially designed interior from the creative agency PLAYLAB. Various DJs will periodically play live music throughout the galleries which will evoke the same aesthetic often seen in Barnes’ paintings. This includes “The Sugar Shack”, the iconic 1976 painting featured on Good Times which was also featured as the cover of Marvin Gaye’s hit album I Want You. That painting made headlines again as it was purchased for $13.5 million at an art sale by Christie’s by film producer Bill Perkins.

Barnes, a former lineman with the NFL’s Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers among other teams, pursued his love of art after retiring in 1964. “I paint when ideas come and I see a vision of what I want from our common humanity,” he said in an interview with the Oakland Tribune in 2002, seven years before he passed away. “This whole show is about what he saw, musically, because he painted from his own experiences,” said Luz Rodriguez, the manager of the artist’s estate.

Ernie Barnes: Where Music and Soul Live will run from February 15th, 2023 to April 1st, 2023.

21 Dec 2022

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Addresses The Future of ‘Black Adam’ In James Gunn’s DCU

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Black Adams photos

Source: Warner Bros. / Warner Bros.

Ever since Warner Bros. tapped James Gunn to run their DCU film division, Gunn and his partner-in-crime, Peter Safran have made it very clear that they’re all about “out with the old and in with the new,” and though we’ve learned Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Superman (Henry Cavill) are out the door, Black Adam (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) had been somewhat in limbo.

No more. Yesterday The Rock took to Twitter to inform his millions (and millions!!) of Rock fans that his iteration of Black Adam wouldn’t be included in James Gunn vision of the DC universe, though he didn’t as far as to say that his character wouldn’t be returning to the big screen on his own. In a statement, Johnson confirmed that he met with James Gunn but unfortunately “Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling. However, DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters.”

Wait, a DC multiverse?! So does that mean that Johnson’s Black Adam can somehow once again cross paths with Cavill’s Superman or Gadot’s Wonder Woman? We don’t know but from the looks of things, The Rock isn’t too upset with Gunn’s decision and is hoping that things turn out for the best. He continued:

“James and I have known each other for years and have always rooted for each other to succeed. It’s no different now, and I will always root for DC (and Marvel) to win and WIN BIG. You guys know me, and I have very thick skin—and you can always count on me to be direct with my words. These decisions made by James and DC leadership represent their vision of DCU through their creative lens.”

Notice how he threw Marvel in the mix. Could that be a wink and a nod at DC’s biggest (and only) competitor? Just sayin.’

The post comes after rumors began circulating that Johnson’s social media accounts had unfollowed both Warner Bros. and Black Adam’s accounts, which he claimed weren’t true at all. Though Black Adam wasn’t exactly the commercial or critical success that Warner Bros. would’ve liked, the film was one of the better DCU films to drop in quite some time, though that’s not saying much. Couple that with talk that the higher-ups at Warner Bros. were upset with The Rock for hyping up of Henry Cavill’s return as Superman to a rabid fanbase that forced them to fund and release the Snyder Cut to Justice League, and it seemed like that relationship was bound to break.

As to where Black Adam goes from here is anyone’s guess. Many assumed that he’d eventually take on Zachary Levi’s Shazam in the third installment to that film franchise, but no one knows if Shazam! will even survive James Gunn’s DCU reboot. Truth be told, we don’t really care if it does or doesn’t. No shots.

What do y’all think of The Rock’s statement on Black Adam‘s future? Let us know in the comments section below.

21 Dec 2022

Coldplay Hosting London ‘Choose Love’ Pop-Up Shop to Aid Refugees During Holidays

If you’re feeling weird about spending all that hard-earned cash on a big stack of holiday gifts that the people on your list may or may not want (or need), Coldplay have a unique, heart-warming way to throw your arms around the world this Christmas time.

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On Tuesday (Dec. 20) the group encouraged their fans to drop by this year’s edition of their “Choose Love” pop-up shop in London — or to visit the store online — “to buy essential supplies like warm coats, hot food and heating fuel for refugees and displaced people all over the world this winter.”

A brief video accompanying the tweet showed a long line of people waiting outside the shop and a shot of the unconventional shelves inside stocked with toys for children, soccer balls, house plants, children’s backpacks, jerry cans and orange life vests, along with footage of coats and school supplies in the hands of kids in need.

“Everything you buy will go directly to the people who need them the most,” the video promised. “This year shop with love.”

Earlier this month, singer Chris Martin gave fans an update while sharing his current favorite songs. “I hope you’re all doing well. Here are some things I love at the moment,” Martin wrote in a note while listing his current top tracks, including include RM‘s “Yun” featuring Erykah Badu, Badu’s live rendition of “Tyrone,” Bayka‘s “She Like It,” The 1975‘s “Looking for Somebody (to Love),” Inhaler‘s “Totally,” Kyoka‘s “Hurt People” and Stormzy‘s “Hide & Seek.”

Martin concluded his message by writing, “We are in the studio. We send you all much love.” The band recently wrapped a massive world tour in support of 2021’s Music of the Spheres.

Check out the tweet below.

21 Dec 2022

Why Music Retail Is Having a Blue Christmas

Is this finally the year that Christmas music streaming is cannibalizing holiday music sales? The raw numbers appear to suggest that’s the case, and some music industry execs have taken notice.

Since 2017, seasonal music album sales — physical formats and digital downloads — have dropped 61.8% to 1.44 million copies (so far) in 2022, as of Dec. 8. That’s down from 4.1 million copies in 2017, even though album sales are essentially at the same level of 90.55 million copies this year versus 91.64 million back then, according to Luminate data up to Dec. 8.

What’s more, seasonal music has held steady during that time, at 6.41 million album consumption units so far in 2022 versus 6.24 million album consumption units in the comparable 49-week year-to-date period of 2017, with an overall annual average coming to 6.3 million album consumption units during that five-year period. But within that, as you might expect, streaming has more than doubled, from 3.2 billion in overall holiday song streams, as of the 49th week of 2017, to 6.68 billion holiday song streams so far this year.

“This might be the year that streaming is impacting Christmas sales,” says one major label executive.

But while music wholesalers concede that the genre is not having the greatest holiday season in terms of sales, they counter there’s another reason this year’s numbers are sluggish. They argue 2022 is missing a key ingredient that in the past has proved to be a big catalyst for the overall genre during the holidays: a big, new Christmas album that drives traffic and fuels sales across the entire genre.

“While a lot of the new albums are doing fine and have done a decent volume, not one of them has been a breakaway hit,” says Alliance Entertainment senior vp of purchasing and marketing Laura Provenzano. In years past, big holiday music albums came from the likes of Josh Groban and his Noel album, which scanned 3.7 million album copies in its debut year of 2007 and now totals 6.32 million album consumption units in the U.S.; Michael Buble‘s Christmas, which scanned 2.45 million copies in its release year of 2011 and a total of 4.5 million album consumption units to date; or, going back further, Kenny G‘s Miracle, the Holiday Album, which scanned nearly 3 million copies in its 1994 debut. Those albums really stoked the genre’s sales numbers in the years they were released.

Besides lacking a big album this year, music merchandisers say the complexion of physical sales has changed, with more titles coming out in the expensive vinyl format while budget-priced CDs’ role in driving holiday sales has faced diminished floor space in discount department stores. So while merchants are realizing more revenue-per-copy thanks to vinyl’s popularity, they’re also seeing a drop in CD unit sales because of a squeeze on budget floor space.

“Some key retailers have pared back their presence in the budget business; there are fewer $5 bins on the sales floor nowadays,” offers Provenzano. Meanwhile, as more holiday albums come out on vinyl, “now that a lot of holiday music has a higher price point, it is no longer as much of an impulse item,”  Provenzano adds.

For example, as of week 49 of 2017, physical holiday and seasonal album sales totaled 2.987 million copies, with 100,000 courtesy of the vinyl format. As of the 49th week of this year, total physical sales were 1.142 million, of which 637,000 were in the CD format and 503,000 vinyl, according to Luminate.

Music is generally considered impervious to economic downturns, but that doesn’t mean all genres are immune to the threat of recession, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything, music merchandisers say. While vinyl has been growing in leaps and bounds, when it comes to holiday music, shoppers are much more price sensitive these days, agrees All Media Supply music buyer Joe Pica. 

Music retailers and wholesalers say that even if turns out to be a softer year for holiday music, many perennial Christmas titles are still selling consistently, if not as much as they once were; and that some of the new albums are doing pretty well too. The new releases they point to are Lindsey Stirling‘s Snow Waltz, which so far this year has generated 37,000 units — 25,000 physical copies — since its October release; and her 2017 collection Warmer In the Winter, which has generated 25,000 album consumption units so far this year and 455,000 units — 176,000 physical — since its release. Other new releases include the Bocelli’s A Family Christmas at 66,000 album consumption units — including nearly 52,000 physical copies — since its October release; and the Backstreet Boys‘ A Very Backstreet Christmas, which has so far accumulated 57,000 album consumption units, of which 38,000 are physical copies.

If only, music merchandisers lament, there was that one big album emerging from the pack. In fact, merchandisers were hoping the Backstreet Boys album would fill that role since it was initially going to be paired with a Dec. 14 special on ABC. But that show was pulled due to allegations that singer Nick Carter raped a 17-year-old girl during a 2001 tour — an accusation which he has denied. That news initially broke on Dec. 8.

A look at daily sales for that title for the last two weeks shows that the album is still selling at about the same pace, ranging from 1,100 to 1,400 copies daily through Dec. 12, with the exception of a 7,000 album consumption unit bump on Dec. 5. But even though its sales and streaming activity appears to be holding despite the allegations, the album is unlikely to enjoy a windfall in incremental sales that the holiday TV special would have delivered had it aired.

Besides new releases, other Christmas albums issued over the last few years — including Dolly Parton‘s A Holly Dolly Christmas — are also still generating healthy activity. Kelly Clarkson‘s When Christmas Comes Around has generated nearly 51,000 album consumption units, of which 15,000 copies are in physical formats, amounting to 106,000 units overall since its release in Oct. 2021; while Carrie Underwood‘s My Gift has garnered 46,000 album consumption units so far this year, of which 17,000 are physical, and 628,000 album units since its 2020 bow. 

Meanwhile, Pentatonix has built up a strong holiday brand through six seasonal albums, which so far this year have garnered 251,000 album consumption units including 28,000 units from its latest effort, Holidays Around the World. However, only 10% — or 25,000 units — are physical copies. Trans-Siberian Orchestra is another holiday music brand still putting respectable numbers up on the board, as its four genre albums this year have collectively achieved 111,000 units in album consumption activity, of which nearly 28,000 are physical copies.

But even with that showing from current artists like Underwood, Clarkson and Pentatonix, plus legacy artists like Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Ingram Entertainment’s head of sales and marketing Steve Harkins wonders if we are seeing a changing of the guard in the holiday genre. For instance, the holiday seasonal album chart for the week ended Dec. 8 shows that albums from Christmas perennials from the last 50 years, like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Elvis Presley, Johnny Mathis and Burl Ives, collectively have only four albums in the top 25 of the Dec. 8 chart; and another six albums in the second half, from Nos. 26 to No. 50.

“We have always relied on the old staples, but now we are seeing more contemporary artists moving up into the top spots on the holiday charts; it could be a generational transition,” says Harkins. “Some of the crooners are being replaced. We are selling less units from them, although they do still sell steadily.”

Others disagree with that assessment, saying that while the old guard may not sell as well as they used to, they still do well, according to Provenzano. Or as All Media’s Pina puts it, “Are the kids today buying Bing? I find that hard to believe. But we still sell plenty of Alabama‘s Christmas album and other [perennial] holiday sellers keep plodding along.”

While the rise of newer holiday music may be true so far this year for the seasonal album chart, it’s not so for the overall holiday/seasonal song streaming chart. Of the top 25 in that chart, only three songs — Ariana Grande‘s “Santa Tell Me” at No. 6, Pentatonix‘s “Hallellujah” at No. 17 and Sia‘s “Snowman” at No. 20 — are from the last 10 years. That’s down from the prior year, when four songs within a 10-year release window made the Top 25 year-to-date holiday songs in the period ending Dec. 2, 2021. In fact, this year only 22 songs in that chart’s top 100 have been released in the last 10 years, and overall, only 34 of the top 100 holiday season songs were released in the current century. As for new holiday tunes released this year, only four songs made the top 100 holiday season songs as of Dec. 9, with Lizzo‘s “Someday At Christmas” showing the most activity at No. 55.

Some holiday classics remain strong sellers year in and year out, and some even grow stronger every year. Alliance’s Provenzano wonders how many copies of the Vince Guaraldi Trio‘s A Charlie Brown Christmas the industry can sell every year. Since 2017, that title has grown every year, from 76,000 album consumption units to nearly 191,000 units as of the 49th week of each subsequent year. This year represents its strongest frame yet, with the album up slightly from 189,000 last year, which was better than 2020 (164,000), 2019 (134,000) and 2018 (88,000).

But other traditional big holiday sellers, like the Mannheim Steamroller albums — consisting of nine studio and four compilation or live albums dating back to the late 1980s that have collectively amassed 23 platinum awards from the RIAA — have slowed down considerably. This year, that catalog has generated about 75,000 album consumption units so far, and of that only a little more than 3,000 were physical sales.

Still, the labels haven’t given up on their perennial sellers. They’ve begun boosting sales of various titles by refurbishing those albums, in some cases adding bonus tracks like the eight extras on Holly Dolly Christmas; or issuing the albums in different colored vinyl like with the Vince Guaraldi Trio classic. Up in Brighton, Mass., Newbury Comics buyer Larry Mansdorf says the latter LP is the chain’s No. 3 selling album — overall, not just seasonal — thanks to the chain carrying the album in green-swirl vinyl.

Still, unless holiday season album sales rebound, the major labels might begin to pare back their offering, says one label executive working in catalog. As it is currently, about 2,300 holiday Christmas titles are still in print, including about 400 that are also available in the vinyl format, wholesalers say.

“This may be the year we look at our Christmas title range and see what’s worth keeping in physical print,” the label executive says.

21 Dec 2022

Morgan Wallen’s ‘You Proof’ Ties Record for Longest Leading Country Airplay No. 1

Morgan Wallen claims a share of history on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “You Proof” hits a record-tying eight weeks atop the survey.

The song, up 5% to 25.1 million audience impressions Dec. 12-18, according to Luminate, matches the No. 1 Country Airplay runs of Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” (2003) and Lonestar’s crossover hit “Amazed” (1999), dating to the chart’s start in 1990.

“You Proof,” released on Big Loud Records, is also the first Country Airplay No. 1 to withstand multiple other leaders amid its command. After it ruled for five weeks (Oct. 15-Nov. 12), Tyler Hubbard’s “5 Foot 9” topped the Nov. 19 chart, followed by Thomas Rhett’s “Half of Me,” featuring Riley Green (Nov. 26). After “You Proof” led again on the Dec. 3 tally, Bailey Zimmerman’s “Fall in Love” paced the Dec. 10 chart, ahead of the two latest weeks at No. 1 for “You Proof” (Dec. 17 and 24).

Wallen co-wrote “You Proof,” his seventh Country Airplay leader, with ERNEST, Ashley Gorley, Keith Smith and Charlie Handsome, the latter of whom also produced it with Joey Moi.

Concurrently, “You Proof” leads the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart for an 18th week, becoming one of only 10 singles to reign for at least that long (since the list became an all-encompassing genre survey in 1958). It holds at the summit with 28.1 million in all-format radio audience, 12.6 million official streams and 2,000 downloads sold in the U.S. Dec. 9-15.

Barrett Moves ‘Up’

Gabby Barrett nets her third Country Airplay top 10 as “Pick Me Up,” which she co-wrote, pushes 11-9 (18 million, up 9%). Her first two entries (among four so far) each hit No. 1: “I Hope,” for a week in April 2020, and “The Good Ones,” for three frames starting in April 2021.

‘Tequila’ Talkin’

Jason Aldean scores his 36th Country Airplay top 10 as “That’s What Tequila Does” rises 12-10 (16.1 million, up 18%). The single follows “Trouble With a Heartbreak,” which became his 25th leader when it began a three-week reign in May. His first entry, “Hicktown,” marked his first top 10 (No. 10, 2005).

Aldean ties Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton for the ninth-most Country Airplay top 10s. George Strait leads all acts with 61, followed closely by Kenny Chesney (60) and Tim McGraw (59).

21 Dec 2022

Janelle Monáe to Receive SeeHer Award at 2022 Critic’s Choice Awards

Janelle Monáe is set to receive the SeeHer Award at the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards, which will be held at Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Jan. 17. 

Monáe, who received a past Critics Choice Awards nomination for best supporting actress in the Oscar-nominated 2017 film Hidden Figures, is also nominated this year for a best supporting actress for her performance in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. 

Her other acting credits include Lionsgate’s Antebellum, Focus Features’ Harriet, Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, Amazon’s Homecoming and A24’s Oscar-winning film Moonlight. In 2018, Monáe’s album Dirty Computer was also nominated for two Grammy Awards for album of the year and best music video.

According to the Critics Choice Association, the SeeHer Award honors a woman who advocates for gender equality, portrays characters with authenticity, defies stereotypes and pushes boundaries. Recently, Monáe was honored as the suicide prevention advocate of the year by The Trevor Project. She is also co-chair for the nonprofit When We All Vote and started her Fem the Future initiative. 

Past SeeHer Award recipients include Viola Davis, Gal Gadot, Claire Foy, Kristen Bell, Zendaya and Halle Berry.  Actor Jeff Bridges has also been tapped to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming awards ceremony.

The Critics Choice Awards will air live on The CW on Jan. 15 from 7-10 p.m. ET (delayed PT). The show will be hosted by Chelsea Handler, and executive produced by Bob Bain Productions and Berlin Entertainment. Find the 2023 Critics Choice Awards film nominations here and the TV nominations here.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

 

21 Dec 2022

Merry BlinkMas! Tom DeLonge Says New Blink-182 Album Coming Soon

It’s beginning to look a lot like BlinkMas. Just in time for the holiday season, the reunited Blink-182 revealed they are edging closer to dropping their first new album of music from the longtime lineup. “New Album Coming in a few months,” wrote guitarist/singer Tom DeLonge, who rejoined the trio earlier this year after leaving the band for a second time in 2014.

The album tease featuring a live shot of the band performing below a giant four-letter pyro effect — Blink has not yet announced a firm release date for the follow-up to 2019’s Nine — came with more good news. In celebration of the first single from the album, “Edging,” earning a seventh week at No. 1 at alternative radio, DeLonge announced, “the next single that’s coming is [fire emoji].”

The slow-drip leak of information about the as-yet-untitled album got a boost last week from singer/bassist Mark Hoppus, who also promised that the follow-up to the trio’s last studio album together, 2011’s Neighborhoods, is, well, another fire emoji, followed by a metal salute emoji. Plus, Hoppus added what appeared to be some very on-brand goofball lyrics.

“I like to eat cheese/ In my U-Haul/ And drink so much beer/ I never poop at all/ I put my dog down/ And pulled my grandma’s plug/ I was getting kinda used to be someone you loved,” they read. The latter appeared to reveal that the lyrics may have been a gag (or not), as the last line was cribbed from Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved.” That inclusion inspired the English pop singer to respond, “This is the best day of my life.”

Drummer Travis Barker got in on the action this week too, posting a killer, triple-time drum solo from the studio with the caption, “Anthem Pt. 3.” The first “Anthem” appeared on the group’s 1999 breakthrough Enema of the State album, with the sequel showing up on their follow-up fourth full-length, 2001’s Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.

The upcoming album’s first single, “Edging,” rocked all the way to the top of Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart last month after just three weeks, marking the quickest ascent to the top of that tally so far this year. The reunited trio’s massive world tour is slated to kick off on March 11 in Tijuana, Mexico at the Imperial GNP festival and keep the band on the road in South America and Mexico through April 2 before shifting to North America on May 4 with a show at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota; those dates will run through a July 16 gig in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena and then move on to Europe in September and Australia/New Zealand in early 2024.

See all three members’ posts below.

21 Dec 2022

A Wave of Nostalgia Is Sweeping Taiwanese Artists Back Into the Chinese Limelight

TAIPEI — Back in the early 2000s, Taiwanese artists such as Jay Chou and Jolin Tsai dominated Chinese-speaking markets throughout Asia, creating a golden era for Taiwanese pop music. While some, like Chou, continued to be influential, other music stars from the island disappeared from the public eye amid increasingly fierce competition from Japan, South Korea and mainland China.

Two decades years later, Taiwanese artists are making a comeback, as TV variety shows and music platforms in mainland China, in a wave of nostalgia rife with political undertones, have pushed their re-emergence. In May, over 100 million people watched re-screenings of Chou concerts from his 2013 and 2019 world tours as part of Tencent Music Entertainment’s Live Concert Series — a record for online concerts that emerged during the pandemic.

That same month, Cyndi Wang — the now 40-year-old Taiwanese singer dubbed the “Sweetheart Goddess” for her sugary pop songs — topped a Chinese music chart after her appearance on the variety show Sisters Who Make Waves. Nine of her songs from the early 2000s took over Chinese streaming site QQ Music’s “rising hits” chart for about a week. Wang’s fans called to buy shares of Mango TV, the station broadcasting the show, and threatened to dump shares if she was eliminated from the show, according to Weibo posts.

“Her appearance on the variety show and the need for entertainment during pandemic lockdowns created the hit,” says Shao I-Te, former China representative of Channel V and general manager at EMI Music China. “It’s a sense of nostalgia. Her fans who have the most purchasing power are now in their 30s, and artists like Cyndi Wang are like a symbol of their youth. With her, everyone starts to miss the good old days of the millennium era.”

Yet with tensions between Taiwan and Beijing’s communist government mounting once again, Wang’s sudden return to fame has also drawn online criticism in mainland China. After former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s visit to Taiwan in August, netizens accused Wang of not supporting the “one China” principle after she initially failed to share a propaganda post from CCTV (Chinese state television) on social media site Weibo which declared “there is only one China in the world.” 

Wang was among about 30 Taiwanese artists, including Chou and Tsai, that people online called out for not supporting the statement without hesitation. (She later reposted the CCTV message on Weibo and expressed support for the “one China” principle, which then generated criticism from Taiwanese citizens.)

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, while Taiwan has its own constitution and democratically elected leaders. China has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control and has held military drills in the air and seas around Taiwan, including the firing of ballistic missiles after Pelosi’s visit. 

The Rise and Fall of Taiwanese Music in Mainland China

Taiwan’s pop music export wave started in the 1980s when Teresa Teng swept mainland China by storm. Then Jacky Cheung‘s 1993 album The Kiss Goodbye sold 1.36 million copies in Taiwan and over 4 million copies in greater China — sales that surpassed U.S. album sales for Madonna and Bruce Springsteen around that time, which helped entice global record companies to enter the Asian market. 

Universal, Warner, Sony, EMI and BMG established their Asian hubs in Hong Kong, bringing capital and production technology and further spreading the influence of Hong Kong and Taiwanese pop music across Asia.

After the financial crisis in 1997, Hong Kong’s economy struggled, and a group of newcomers appeared in Taiwan. In 2001, Shao’s Channel V named Chou best male singer; it was the first time someone replaced Hong Kong’s Four Heavenly Kings in this award category. Since then, artists such as F4, Mayday, Tsai and Singaporean artists Stefanie Sun and JJ Lin — who went to Taiwan to jumpstart their careers — started to influence the next decade’s music.

“People born from 1980 to 1995, this entire generation has become an important generation supporting these singers, who have purchasing power and great acceptance of pop music, and with their help, these artists created the music taste of a generation,” Shao says.

In 2004, during the Taiwanese golden age, Wang performed her hit “Love You” on the Sisters Who Make Waves variety show. But after the global financial downturn of 2008, and the rise of China’s economy that followed, the fortunes of Taiwanese artists began to change.

Cyndi Wang

Cyndi Wang attends a press conference to promote her new album on December 16, 2018 in Taipei, Taiwan of China.

Visual China Group via GI

Around 2010, Chinese internet giants Tencent, Netease, Alibaba and Baidu kicked off an era of online music streaming that created a more distinct mainland Chinese market, which made it tougher for Taiwanese and Hong Kong pop music to break into China.  

By 2018, despite a history of rampant piracy, China had grown into the seventh-largest music market in the world with $531.3 million in total revenues that year, according to IFPI. (Taiwan, which has 23.5 million people — a small fraction of China’s 1.4 billion — has held around No. 25 the past few years.)

“Taiwan continues to breed contemporary pop acts but with reduced probability of success in the mainland market,” says Xing Xiaole, French music distributor Believe’s Beijing-based head of artist services for China. He says that’s because Taiwanese artists have struggled to adapt to the distinct ecosystem of Chinese social and advertising platforms, and had to endure travel and group gathering restrictions during the pandemic. 

Xing, who also deals with Taiwanese clients, says the biggest Taiwanese music influence in mainland China today comes from indie bands such as the jazz-influenced synth-pop group Sunset Rollercoaster and The Chairs, which releases songs written in English, Mandarin, Japanese and the Taiwanese dialect.  

But the rise of mainland China’s market means that Chinese-speaking musicians can no longer rely on Taiwan as a starting point to become as influential as before. Some of them choose to head west to China. And when tensions flare between China and its island neighbor, they often get tangled up in the political wrestling across the Taiwan Strait. 

In the 1980s, the Taiwanese government used Teresa Teng’s love ballads, which were popular across China and then banned by communist Beijing, in anti-communist propaganda broadcasts. 

The Chinese government, for its part, often requires artists to toe the party line, including referring to Taiwan as being part of China. Taiwanese singers whose careers are based in China have been invited to attend CCTV’s New Year’s Gala to spread pro-unification thoughts.

“There’s always been a red line for Taiwanese artists in mainland China, ever since the 1980s,” Shao says. “What the new generation of artists can do is draw from their everyday experiences and create music that can connect with the world.”

21 Dec 2022

Dave Grohl, Inara George, Tenacious D Explore ‘The Things We Do For Love’ for 2022 ‘Hanukkah Sessions’

On night three of Hanukkah Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin dipped into an all-time classic from one of their favorites. “Once referred to as the ‘biggest Jewish band to come out of Britain,’ 10cc’s MOTs Godley, Crème and Gouldman recorded a ton of hits — here’s one of the many: ‘The Things We Do For Love’ as sung by Inara George!” they wrote in the description to the latest video from their 2022 “Hanukkah Sessions” series.

Singer George — Kurstin’s partner in the indie pop duo The Bird and the Bee — soared with the swoony ballad, belting out the song’s dreamy lyrics about walking through any kind of weather for love as Kurstin banged out the track’s barroom roll on his piano and Grohl hled down the beat. As a bonus, Tenacious D’s Jack Black and Kyle Gass casually added in some background sweet harmonies.

This is Grohl and Kurstin’s third year posting eight nights of covers of songs made famous by Jewish musicians. In a twist, this year’s efforts were all recorded live at Los Angeles’ intimate Largo on Dec. 5 with a cast of all-star guests taking the stage at the 250-capacity club that also included the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O and Grohl’s 16-year-old daughter, Violet. Night one featured beloved director Judd Apatow rocking through a cover of Blood, Sweat & Tears’ 1969 Grammy-nominated Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Spinning Wheel.” On night two, P!nk rolled up to “Get The Party Started” with a run through her signature 20001 bar mitzvah jam.

Grohl and Kurstin released the first “Sessions” in Dec. 2020 in the midst of the first winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping one new cover for each night of the holiday. In the midst of a concerning rise in antisemitic incidents and hate speech in the U.S., proceeds from the Largo night went to the Anti-Defamation League.

Watch “The Things We Do For Love” below.