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Universal Music Group divisions Decca Records, Verve Label Group and Globe Soundtrack & Score joined forces to launch Mercury Classics Soundtrack & Score, a new boutique record label “dedicated to the art of soundtrack & score” and designed to “support today’s leading score composers and artists as they undertake major audio-visual projects globally,” according to a press release. Lana Thompson has been appointed as label manager. The label’s first major releases, slated for this year, include scores for Orion Pictures films Till, composed by Abel Korzeniowski, and Women Talking, composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir. Releases set for 2023 include the soundtrack to MGM’s A Good Person.
Republic Records promoted Tim Hrycyshyn to senior vp of digital strategy; he was previously vp of digital marketing. He is based in New York.
Epidemic Sound named Rikard Herlitz chief technology officer and Julian Persaud chief commercial officer. Both will start in January. Herlitz, who joins from Google, where he served as engineering director for Google Meet, will provide tech leadership and strategic direction across all Epidemic Sound markets. Persaud, who joins from European travel platform Omio, where he was chief commercial officer, will lead the company’s commercial strategy.
°1824, Universal Music Group’s youth-driven creative solutions division, named Possum Hill vp of content. Hill will oversee °1824’s content creation efforts while also working to scale UMG’s livestreaming capabilities. Hill, who joins °1824 from Capitol Music Group, where she was senior director of video production, will be based in Santa Monica and report to °1824 senior vp and head Todd Goodwin.
The College of Music and Media at Loyola University New Orleans — recently named a top music business school by Billboard — appointed music supervisor, music executive and independent film and TV producer and director Jonathan McHugh as its new Hilton-Baldridge eminent scholar and chair. McHugh will enjoy an endowed professorship, steering the university’s music industry studies program. His first initiative at Loyola is the launch of a “Composing for Video Games and Visual Media” major. “Since our student population is 55% diverse and the studios are having trouble filling the diverse hiring quotas and we have so much amazing talent, it makes perfect sense to do it next year,” says McHugh. “I am excited about helping to build next generation of entertainment and music stars at Loyola College of Music and get connected into internships and jobs in the entertainment business.” McHugh will continue in his various other roles outside the school. He recently directed two documentary films — Long Live Rock…Celebrate the Chaos and Cosplay Universe — and is music supervising season two of the animated series Freak Brothers (Lionsgate/Fox/Tubi). He is a member of the Television Academy and the Producers Guild documentary jury.
A2IM announced its 2022-23 executive committee, including Victor Zaraya (Concord Records) as chair, Louis Posen (Hopeless Records) as vice chair, Mariah Czap (Yep Roc Music Group) as treasurer and Heather Johnson (Ninety9Lives/Fixt) as secretary. The organization additionally announced four new board members including Mary Jurey (chief business officer at Blue Elan), Tony Kiewel (president at Sub Pop), Wilson Fuller (head of digital at Merge Records) and Dee Diaz (vp of digital strategy at Reach Records), who will join returning board members Marie Clausen (head of North America & global streaming at Ninja Tune), Steven Hill (director of North America & global projects at Warp Records) and Tony Alexander (president & managing director at Made In Memphis Entertainment). The new advisory board, meanwhile, consists of Talya Elitzer (co-founder of GodMode), Gina Miller (senior vp & general manager at MNRK), Jason Peterson (chairman & CEO at GoDigital Media Group) and Glen Barros (CEO at Exceleration Music).
Create Music Group named Brian Glover to the newly-created role of senior director of streaming. He will oversee streaming strategy for the hip-hop, R&B and pop artists that Create distributes. Based in Los Angeles, Glover arrives at the company from indie label Cinematic Music Group, where he served as director of commerce and artist marketing.
Sophia Sansone and Jarrod Holley were promoted to managing partners at Chris Kappy‘s Make Wake Artists. Sansone manages Luke Combs and his wife, Nicole Combs. Holley leads all A&R responsibilities for the company and manages Drew Parker, Jackie Lee, Cooper Alan and Colby Acuff.
Hazel Savage, music intelligence vp at SoundCloud, joined B2B streaming technology solutions company Tuned Global as a non-executive board member.
Music licensing technology company Audoo hired Matthew Fackrell as senior vp and general manager, Asia Pacific and Eric Nguyen as senior vp and general manager, North America. Based in Sydney and Toronto, respectively, and reporting to Audoo founder and CEO Ryan Edwards, the two will provide industry expertise in their respective territories to execute the adoption and rollout of Audoo’s technology. Fackrell comes from APRA AMCOS and Nguyen joins from Richter Consulting. They can be reached at matthew@audoo.com and eric@audoo.com.
A16z crypto, a venture capital fund managed by Andreessen Horowitz that invests in crypto and Web3 startups, hired Richard Rosenblatt as a senior advisor. Rosenblatt serves as the chairman of ADIM and Autograph, two a16z crypto portfolio companies.
For over a decade, Taylor Swift has been offering fans a multitude of options when it comes to purchasing her albums across physical formats with exclusive editions available through a longstanding partnership with Target. But with her new album, Midnights, out Friday (Oct. 20), she’s truly outdone herself.
There are over 20 different versions of the album available on CD, LP and cassette in various colors, with different cover artwork, censored and uncensored, with and without autographs. That plethora of options is great for fans who may want a different version than their friends, or who — as many seem to — feel driven to collect them all. It’s also great for Swift, who’s earning more money from increased sales that will impact her performance on the Billboard charts and likely add up to one of the year’s best album debut weeks.
Few artists, if any, attract as much attention as Swift does for her promotion and sales strategy, thanks largely to her close relationship with her fans. In turn, she is brilliant at developing physical goods they want to buy, in addition to just streaming her music. Last year, following the release of her re-recordings of Fearless and Red, she accounted for one out of every 50 albums sold in the U.S., according to Luminate. She knows Swifties are collectors, and is now providing not only the multiple Midnights versions but elaborate containers to put them in, like a $39 CD clock or vinyl clock for $49, which display the four albums in a timely format, or $79 faux-leather vinyl collector’s case.
In today’s streaming-centric music industry, physical albums have become collectible tokens of fandom, and artists have been responding to growing demand. BTS and other K-pop megastars regularly rack up huge numbers by selling CDs and LPs with different colors and exclusive postcards and photos sold as collectible items, with the music as a secondary benefit. When South Korean boy band Stray Kids’ MAXIDENT topped the most recent Billboard 200 chart for the week of Oct. 22, it did so with 10 CD versions, including autographed CDs and exclusive Barnes & Noble and Target releases. Increasingly, it’s becoming a mainstream strategy for acts in the U.S., too. Such disparate acts as Denzel Curry and Slipknot have recently released various physical versions of their new albums as well. It just so happens that these sales all count towards an album’s Billboard chart performances. So by offering four different versions of Midnights per format, Swift is at least quadrupling her revenue from some super fans, as well as their impact on the charts.
Based on Billboard‘s research, here is a full rundown of the different Midnights versions fans can buy:
CDs:Moonstone BlueBlood MoonMahoganyJade Green
Signed CDs:Moonstone Blue (Webstore Exclusive)Blood Moon (Webstore Exclusive)Mahogany (Webstore Exclusive)Jade Green (Webstore Exclusive)
Clean-version CDs:Moonstone BlueBlood MoonMahoganyJade Green
Vinyl LPs:Moonstone BlueBlood MoonMahoganyJade Green
Signed Vinyl LPs:Moonstone Blue (Webstore Exclusive)Blood Moon (Webstore Exclusive)Mahogany (Webstore Exclusive)Jade Green (Webstore Exclusive)
Cassettes:Moonstone Blue
Target Exclusives:Lavender Deluxe CD (With Three Bonus Tracks)Lavender Vinyl LP
Digital:Moonstone Blue (Webstore Exclusive)Moonstone Blue (Clean) (Webstore Exclusive)Standard – 13 TracksStandard – 13 Tracks (Clean)Standard – 14 TracksStandard – 14 Tracks (Clean)
While HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired the publishing or master recording royalties of an array of big-name artists such as Brad Paisley, Florida Georgia Line and Luis Fonsi since founder and CEO Sherrese Clark Soares launched the firm a year ago, her likely biggest deal to date—and one of the biggest deals by any acquirer in 2022— was for a bundle of music assets with far less star power but with a large economic punch.
Earlier this year, HarbourView Equity Partners, launched in October 2021, bought the little known but economically large SoundHouse Acquisitions LLC catalog, which includes some rights to some master recordings by the likes of Tech N9ne, Trey Songz, George Jones, Tenth Avenue North, Whiskey Myers and a heavy Latin music presence through the likes of Eslabon Armado, Natti Natasha, Lenin Ramirez and other Latin artists, sources say. Billboard estimates the deal went for about $325 million.
While that catalog consists mainly of royalty income payments for streams of sound recordings, the catalog is said to contain recordings from over 100 artists, consisting of about 10,000 songs that generate more than 10 billion streams annually. All told, SoundHouse’s 2021 income was put at about $24 million. Sources say that Shot Tower Capital shopped the catalog.
Prior to its acquisition by HarbourView, SoundHouse, founded in 2016, was known for approaching distressed labels and offering to buy their royalty income, mainly from the streaming of master recordings, at bargain-basement prices, sources say. SoundHouse also did deals with artists as well, but mainly by buying their streaming revenue from master recordings, leaving the artists to retain other income streams associated with their records. SoundHouse also sometimes only acquired income streams from some of the songs in an artist’s catalog, not all of them, one source suggested.
In addition, SoundHouse also acquired the assets of InPop Records, an indie contemporary Christian label based in Nashville. At the time of that deal, in February 2018, a press release said InPop was SoundHouse’s 15th acquisition and brought its catalog to over 3,500 recordings. MusicRow.com reported that deal represented SoundHouse’s third Christian music acquisition, and added that SoundHouse was backed by Spark Capital, Columbia Capital and Pinnacle Bank.
In any event, sources suggest that the HarbourView deal for SoundHouse carried a price tag that ranged anywhere from $250 million to $400 million. These days, master recording rights are trading for a 12-15 times multiple, although superstar recordings have been known to reach a 20-times multiple of net income, also known as net label share. Considering the catalog’s annual income and artist caliber, a 12-times multiple would price the catalog at $288 million, while a 15-times multiple would price it at $360 million. Consequently, Billboard estimates that the catalog sold for about $325 million.
That price puts it in the same size area as the deal for the Genesis/Phil Collins et al. master recordings/publishing catalog acquired by Concord in September. However, unlike that deal, the SoundHouse deal doesn’t include any publishing revenue, so that puts the SoundHouse deal up there as possibly the biggest deal of 2022 for recorded master assets, at least so far this year.
SoundHouse was founded by Michael Rosenblatt, an executive producer of 20 feature films such as Valley Girl and Teen Wolf. With the sale of the SoundHouse catalog, the company principals have started a new vehicle, with apparently the same mission of buying music income streams. That company is named round2media, and aside from CEO and president Rosenblatt, it also lists among its leadership team COO/CFO Jeff Patterson, formerly with Columbia Capital; senior vp of finance, accounting and administration Vanessa Jolie, who held a similar position at SoundHouse; and vp of business affairs Shara Yolkut, whose background includes a stint at EMI Music Publishing as vp of product operations.
Clarke Soares declined to comment for this story. Likewise, round2media’s Rosenblatt declined to comment for his story, beyond emailing a statement: “As a company, SoundHouse, and now round2media, considers the confidentiality of our transactions to be one of our ethical cornerstones. I can confirm that round2media is in the business of acquiring rights and royalties and has made multiple acquisitions to date. Please visit our website to learn more.”
Billboard has two new elevations within company in the Latin and Events departments. On Thursday (Oct. 20), Billboard announced that Leila Cobo has been promoted to the chief content officer of Latin/Español and Mary Rooney to vp, head of events, effective immediately.
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The promotion will see Cobo continue her oversight of Billboard Español and its newly created team, in addition to providing her expertise in all Latin content and programming. Under her leadership — she previously held the role of vice president of Latin and Latin industry lead — Billboard.com’s Latin vertical has earned nearly 2 million unique visits a month, and saw her extend her talents to programming Latin Music Week, the world’s longest running gathering in the Latin music industry. In Cobo’s new role, she will report to Hannah Karp, Billboard‘s editorial director and Mike Van, Billboard president.
“There is no other mainstream media company more committed to covering and celebrating Latin music than Billboard, and with the launch of Billboard Español we’re more committed than ever. It’s an honor to work with this amazing team and keep growing and building!” Cobo said.
Rooney’s promotion will see her continue her oversight of Billboard‘s signature business events and strategizing for the growth and development of the brand’s identity, including consumer-facing programs and event production across the country. Rooney previously led as the executive director of events at Billboard, and had a large hand in conceptualizing Billboard‘s Women in Music and Latin Music Week, as well as creating The Stage at SXSW. In her new role, she will report to Dana Droppo, Billboard‘s chief brand officer.
“I am thrilled to continue working alongside this talented team, and to represent the Billboard brand as we continue to grow the events business producing best-in-class events across the country,” Rooney said in a statement.
Van added of the two promotions: “We could not be more grateful and proud to be elevating two key executives to essential roles that will continue to propel the Billboard brand globally.”
Banda MS‘ new corrido, titled “141,” will become the first regional Mexican song to appear in a Call of Duty video game series. The track is set to be integrated into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, with “several” versions of the song heard throughout different parts of the game. “141” is inspired by the members of the Task Force 141 and soldier Alejandro Vargas from the Mexican Special Forces, and ties in with the narrative of the newest installment of the first-person shooter game.
While Call of Duty has collaborated with Latin musicians in the past, most recently Ozuna, it’s the first time the video game franchise — developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision — taps a regional Mexican act to collaborate on a new song for one of its series. “It’s a huge step for the game and the community,” says Rodrigo Pérez, Call of Duty‘s senior franchise manager, Latin America. “We wanted to tell the story of Task Force 141 in a unique way, and we believe the song goes to the very essence of the characters and the story we are telling with Modern Warfare II.”
For the chart-topping supergroup, not only does “141” mark the first corrido they’ve released in 10 years, but it becomes an opportunity to showcase their traditional banda music on a global level, while also bringing in a new source of revenue.
“The franchise’s team in Latin America is mainly composed of Mexicans who love and respect our culture so, along with their team, we made sure that the song made sense for the game,” says Oswaldo Silvas, one of Banda MS’ vocalists. “We’re really proud to be part of the game’s DNA, and we would be honored to keep doing more of these collaborations because all eyes are on video games and for us, it’s a great opportunity to capture a new audience.”
The opportunity is for both sides with Call of Duty also strategically tapping and catering to the Hispanic market across Latin America. “Mexico and the Hispanic market have had a very strong passion towards the Call of Duty franchise for a long time, and with Modern Warfare II we had an amazing opportunity to celebrate the rich cultural legacy,” adds Pérez.
For a Mexican music song to be featured on Call of Duty, it only reinforces the genre’s newfound popularity across the U.S. and beyond. Once a niche genre, regional Mexican has gained an international following in recent years thanks to artists such as Banda MS, who have stayed true to their traditional Sinaloan banda roots but has also embraced the fusion of regional with genres from around the world.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II will become available for purchase on Oct. 28 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X | S, PC and Xbox One.
Pepsi has officially launched Pepsi Music Lab, an annual academy committed to shining a spotlight on the next generation of music superstars, the company announced Thursday (Oct. 20).
The new platform aims to foster talent career growth and provide developing artists with new performance opportunities, mentorship and coaching, brand-building workshops, professional content capture, radio amplification and more.
After unveiling the concept with a pilot program last year, Pepsi Music Lab has evolved into a full scale, multi-service platform with an array of opportunities and services for aspiring artists. The brand enlisted Steve Stoute‘s digital distribution company UnitedMasters to help identify musicians across a variety of genres, styles and regions across the U.S. who will take part in this year’s academy.
The Class of ’22-’23 is comprised of 12 aspiring artists from across the country, including five who were contestants on this year’s music competition series Becoming A Popstar, co-produced by Pepsi, MTV and TikTok. They are: AKINYEMI, Amira Unplugged, Brian V., Cain Lofton, GODBY, Kbthesinger, Lexie Hayden, Lynnea M, NOHEMY, Oompa, SERGIO and Tarik. Pepsi is also bringing Samy Hawk, the winner of Becoming A Popstar, into the Pepsi Music Lab family to continue supporting his career through new performance and brand partnership opportunities.
“Pepsi has a long history of helping great artists break through, reshaping pop culture and leaving an unforgettable impression on all of us,” said Steve Stoute, CEO and founder of UnitedMasters. “Now in partnership with UnitedMasters, Pepsi is empowering the next generation of creators, helping them hone their craft and develop their talent so that they can generate the next big moment. Connecting independent artists to a brand with this rich legacy is the formula for creating a new future of music.”
The yearly program will kick off with the Pepsi Music Lab bootcamp in New York City from Oct. 25–27, where artists will get the opportunity to learn from industry experts including Laurieann Gibson, LaRussell, Lenny S and Director X.
The artists’ partnerships with Pepsi will continue throughout the year with performances, event appearances and strategic programming to help grow their careers. Pepsi will also be hosting a two-day virtual summit with renowned music industry experts targeted at aspiring artists all over the country.
“Pepsi is a brand that has a proven global track record for minting music superstars and shaping some of the most iconic moments in music and pop culture. Now, we are excited to shine a spotlight on the next generation of artists with our new Pepsi Music Lab platform” said Todd Kaplan, CMO of Pepsi. “By removing barriers within the music industry, we can provide these talented artists with the resources, knowledge, exposure, and connections to help accelerate their growth as musicians and further enable their success – it will truly make a positive impact on the futures of the artists we believe will push the industry forward.”
Armani White, Algiers and Balming Tiger are just a few of the artists confirmed for the 37th annual South by Southwest showcase event and conference, set to take place March 13-18, in Austin, Texas.
Organizers today (Oct. 19) announced the first round of artists, a batch totaling 191 up-and-comers and established performers from around the globe.
Other artists confirmed for SXSW 2023 include Beenzino (Seoul, South Korea), Edie Bens (Swansea, U.K.), Great Gable (Perth, Australia), iLe (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Ladaniva (Lille, France), Son Rompe Pera (Naucalpan, Mexico), and Yogetsu Akasaka (Setagaya-Ku, Japan).
In addition to musical performances, the six-day event also typically gives audiences access to panels and Q&A sessions.
Major artists regularly grace the showcase stages. Shawn Mendes this year debuted his song “Wonder”, in addition to performing hit songs “In My Blood” and “Monster.”
Among its partners for the 2023 edition are Anniversary Group, Atomic Music Group, Athens in Austin, British Music Embassy, Don Giovanni Records, Fire Records, FOCUS Wales, Gorilla vs Bear, Jazz re:freshed Outernational, Pop Montreal, M for Montreal, Music From Ireland, New West Records, Space Agency, and Wide Days Scotland.
The music showcase is just one part of the larger South by Southwest festival, an event founded in 1987 and dedicated to celebrating entertainment and culture.
Additional announcements will be made as the 2023 event approaches.
SXSW signed a “lifeline” deal with P-MRC, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and MRC, in April 2021, making P-MRC a stakeholder and long-term partner with the Austin festival. P-MRC is the parent company of Billboard.
Visit SXSW.com for more.
Warner Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, BMG and the independents’ digital rights agency Merlin have struck content arrangements with Pinterest, a move that will enable the imaging sharing and social platform’s millions of users to interact with popular music.
Announced Wednesday (Oct. 19), Pinterest’s raft of partnerships which will allow its community to add tracks to their Idea Pins from a global catalog, including works by Ed Sheeran, Silk Sonic, Anitta, and many others.
WMG becomes the first major label to partner with Pinterest, highlighting the music giant’s commitment to bringing music to fans to create and engage with via short-form video content, a rep explains.
“The future of media will be founded on music,” comments Oana Ruxandra, chief digital officer & EVP, business development, WMG, in a statement. “WMG, including our publishing partners at Warner Chappell, is incredibly excited to partner with Pinterest to help inspire their users to engage, design, and imagine. Together, the creative potential for Pinterest audiences will be virtually endless.”
The content drop is powered by 7Digital, the B2B digital music solutions platform, and expands on Pinterest’s existing royalty-free music library. Music micro-licensing expert Rumblefish is providing Pinterest with music metadata and license management services, a statement explains.
“This partnership has been a truly collaborative process to visualize how Pinterest creators can make music a more integral part of their experience on the platform,” add Jeremy Sirota, CEO, Merlin. “We are excited to make independent music part of Pinterest’s exciting feature. Merlin members are excited to see the content that emerges from it.”
As Pinterest introduces a library of licensed major label and independent music, the San Francisco-based business presses the button on a new music feature to make it even easier for Pinners and creators to find and add their favorite tracks to Idea Pins.
“Music plays a vital role in elevating storytelling and empowering storytellers, creators, and Pinners who inspire the world every day on Pinterest,” comments Malik Ducard, chief content officer, Pinterest. “We are thrilled to partner with Warner Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Merlin, and BMG to bring the latest music tracks to our platform and elevate the content and inspiration created on Pinterest.”
Pinterest launched in 2010 and boasts more than 400 million monthly active users who’ve dropped billions of “pins,” bookmarks to save quality content for later. The service is available on iOS and Android, and at pinterest.com.
Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson presented fellow Canadian musician Tom Cochrane with the SOCAN Cultural Impact Award on Monday night (Oct. 17) for his 1991 enduring hit “Life Is A Highway,” which rose to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1992 and was No. 1 in Canada, winning Juno Awards for single of the year and songwriter.
The anthem, found on Cochrane’s second solo album, Mad Mad World, sold a rare million copies in Canada (a diamond certification), and has, in recent years, racked up more than 1 billion streams, according to SOCAN, the performing rights organization.
Lifeson and Cochrane have been friends for over four decades. “I played with him on occasion and performed ‘Life Is a Highway,’ as well,” Lifeson told some 500 members of the music industry at the private event at Sheridan Centre Toronto Hotel.
“I am a friend, a collaborator, and like many, many others of his millions of fans around the world, I am a huge admirer of his work. Neruda is one of my all-time favorite records,” Lifeson threw in of the 1983 album by Cochrane’s original band Red Rider. “Tom is an amazing artist and songwriter, and with ‘Life Is a Highway,’ he created the perfect analogy of what we all go through. It is a magical blend of music and lyrics with an infectious chorus that sticks with you, and a theme that is inspiring and uplifting. It truly captures our journeys down the highway of life, the high roads, the detours, the dead ends, the U-turns, and especially the fear of running outta gas, the challenges that we all face in order to reach our destinations.”
Lifeson said the song’s “joyous melody” is a hopeful reminder that no matter how many roadblocks life presents, “we will always find a way around them,” adding, “It is the perfect message, especially over the past few years and what we’ve all experienced.”
Among the many covers and adaptations, the song was covered by Rascal Flatts for the 2006 animated movie Cars and by Chris LeDoux for his 1998 album, One Road Man, was used in a now-classic segment of the animated TV series Family Guy, placed in Hollywood films like There Goes The Neighborhood and Cheaper by the Dozen, and more recently in the video game Lego Rock Band (Rascal Flatts’ version).
In 2016, a stretch of highway in Manitoba starting in his hometown of Lynn Lake to the city of Thompson was renamed Tom Cochrane’s Life Is a Highway.
Despite its buoyant, positive vibe, the song was born out of a life-altering humanitarian trip Cochrane took to southeastern Africa with World Vision Canada. Hence the lyric: “From Mozambique to those Memphis nights / The Khyber Pass to Vancouver’s lights / Knock me down and back up again / You’re in my blood, I’m not a lonely man.”
After a video tribute, which touched quite heavily on the inspiration for the song, Cochrane took the stage to accept the award from Lifeson, and dug out his speech, written “old school” on a piece a paper. “Talk about cultural achievement,” he said of Lifeson, calling Rush “one of the top five bands of all time.”
After thanking friends and associates, he said of Rascal Flatts, “What could I say about those guys? Everybody says, ‘That’s horrible, they stole that song from you.’ I said, ‘I wish they’d steal some more songs from me,” he laughs. “And I told [singer] Gary [LeVox] that and they flew us a bunch of writers down to Nashville. I mean such generous guys.”
He then thanked Red Rider and Mad Mad World musician John Webster, who insisted he take “the stupid little poppy demo” called “Love Is a Highway” and develop it into the anthem it is now.
“Indeed, the lyrics in the top line were written in the wee hours of the morning in my little home studio, the shed in Oakville…The lyrics were written in response to a trip to that I had taken to Africa with the humanitarian relief organization, World Vision. They do incredible work and I encourage everybody to support them. In 1989, after witnessing terrible suffering, in particular in war-torn Mozambique, it put deep scars on my psyche and I needed something ‘up’ and positive to pull me out of this funk and this soul searching,” Cochrane explains.
“And so that was what I was going through after that trip. Webby, John Webster, and I had recorded a bed track for ‘Love Is a Highway’ in that shed a few weeks earlier and I couldn’t find the proper words…I woke up that night out of a bit of a dream state and an epiphany occurred to me that we can’t control what happens to us here and there. All we can do is control what’s ahead of us and the people we come in contact with every day… And so, by five in the morning, the song was written, it was done and I felt better for it.
Since Canada removed all COVID-19 restrictions, Cochrane has been back out on the road — 38 shows to date, with more scheduled in November.
“When we play ‘Life Is a Highway,’ the energy that we get back from the crowd, from the audience, is intense. It’s powerful,” he reflects. “And the joy, the positive electricity, is cathartic and it’s immense. We feel elevated. But more than that, we feel privileged to be up there and very lucky to be the vehicle, excuse the pun, to deliver that energy.”
To cap off the three-hour awards, Lifeson jumped onstage to join musicians Bill Bell, Dala, Davide Direnzo, Molly Johnson, Jeff Jones, Sam Roberts and Julian Taylor on a version of the song.
At this point, who would book Kanye West – especially to sit down with an interviewer who doesn’t generally challenge his guests?
On Oct. 7, West, now known as Ye, tweeted that he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” Days later, Vice reported on unaired footage from the rapper’s Tucker Carlson interview, in which he made a series of bizarre and anti-Semitic comments, on how he wants to create “kinetic energy communities” and would rather his children celebrate Hanukkah, since “at least it will come with some financial engineering.” Then an episode of The Shop was canceled because West used the interview to “reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes,” according to the CEO of the company behind the show.
After all this, West was booked to appear on the Oct. 15 episode of the podcast Drink Champs, which is shown on Revolt, the cable television and online media company founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs. (It was preceded by a disclaimer saying it does not reflect his views.) And guess what? West ranted about the “Jewish media,” called Planned Parenthood “our Holocaust Museum,” and said Jewish lawyers made so much money because they would divorce people when Catholics wouldn’t. He also falsely blamed George Floyd’s death on fentanyl, rather than on the police officer who murdered him. As West ranted, N.O.R.E., the show’s host — who has since apologized — basically just sat there, murmuring “mmm” and, occasionally, “hmm-mmm.”
Drink Champs is supposed to be informal, but a better interviewer would have at least pointed out that Drake, who West said in the interview was “the greatest rapper ever,” is Jewish himself.’Revolt pulled the show offline yesterday afternoon – the company has not issued any statement or commented to Billboard on why it did so – although it’s easily available on YouTube, which should take it down as well. It’s worth asking why it was shown in the first place. One clue: N.O.R.E. tweeted that “my Ye interview got more views then (sic) football haha!!!” Except this isn’t funny. At a time when media companies are being more careful about hate speech – a good thing in my view – why does there seem to be an exception for anti-Semitism?
It’s easy to dismiss West’s interview — along with his latest, with Chris Cuomo — as the latest chapter in the very public breakdown of an incredibly talented musician, which is upsetting to see. What’s more disturbing is that anyone could have thought it was OK to show this. N.O.R.E. apologized on Breakfast Club, and said there were “four Jewish people in the room” who showed an “understanding where Kanye was coming from.”
The disclaimer that ran before Drink Champs says the show does “not reflect the views or opinions” of Combs or Revolt. Fair enough. Presumably Combs also didn’t agree with the July 4, 2020 speech by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, whom Facebook banned in 2019, along with Alex Jones and some right-wing figures, for engaging in hate speech. (Revolt hasn’t shown any of his speeches since then.) Weeks later, Combs tweeted a job offer to Nick Cannon, who had just lost his deal with ViacomCBS after a podcast interview with former Public Enemy “Minister of Information” Professor Griff that trafficked in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Like West, Cannon said he couldn’t be anti-Semitic because Black people are “the true Hebrews.”
Cannon apologized, and good for him. Revolt hasn’t. After Cannon sat down with a rabbi to talk about anti-Semitism, Jay Electronica called the rabbi a “coward” and challenged him to debate Farrakhan. Neither Combs nor Jay Electronica, who sampled Farrakhan on his debut album and got an 8.4 from Pitchfork, seems to have faced any consequences.
Revolt bills itself as “the unapologetic, authoritative voice of Hip Hop culture,” which is important and valuable. But that doesn’t mean guests should be allowed to engage in anti-Semitic or other conspiracy theories without being challenged. One of the frightening things about West’s rants is how much right-wingers with a history of racism seem to love them. This episode of Drink Champs was anti-Semitic and disrespectful to the memory of George Floyd, whose family is said to be considering a lawsuit against West. Revolt needs to apologize, to both Floyd’s family and the Jewish community, and make clear that it has no tolerance for anti-Semitism — and other music and media companies should do the same.
For the Record is a regular column from deputy editorial director Robert Levine analyzing news and trends in the music industry. Find more here.