Industrial Strength: March 20

SONY DEBUTS NEW VR TECH IN MUSIC VIDEO AT SXSW

Sony’s week-long Lost In Music tech and music activation at South By Southwest ended with its debuting its virtual reality mapping technology for the first time in a music video. 

It was the VR version of Khalid’s ‘Young, Dumb and Broke’, demonstrating how 360-degree “stereoscopic” images could enhance the VR experience by adding things like oceans and planets.

Those wanting to get lost in the music put on Playstation VR headsets and entered via a custom-designed entrance tunnel called the Acoustic Vessel “Odyssey,” featuring 576 speakers and a stunning light installation. 

There was also the “dreamscape room”, a gig space where a group of Sony R&B artists including Khalid performed, along with Tinashe, A.CHAL, Leikeli47 and Olivia Noelle.

AUSSIES MAKING A MARK AT SXSW MEDIA

Stella Donnelly seems to be among the Aussie acts making her mark at South By Southwest.

She was picked out for a special mention by the Los Angeles Times and also included in the New York Times’ list of 17 international acts to watch. 

Also on the NYT list were Marlon Williams (who on his May tour through his native New Zealand has just added a second Auckland show and upgraded his Dunedin venue)) and Brisbane’s Mallrat.

Cut Copy’s first SXSW show (aside from their DJ sets) was wracked with sound issues, much to the annoyance of Dan Whitford who pulled faces and knocked over his keyboard. 

But he bounced back enough to get the sell-out crowd dancing, telling them, “It’s the last night. If you’re not going to dance now, when?”

The sound issues were particularly galling for the Cuts: during their last visit to Austin, at ACL Fest last October, the sound went off during their final song ‘Lights and Music’.

GROOVIN THE MOO SELLS OUT CANBERRA 

Groovin The Moo’s Canberra show on April 29 at the University of Canberra sold out last Friday. 

The final 1,000 tickets were snapped up in the last four days, promoters said. 

This is the Moo’s 9th visit to the capital city; last year’s was a sell-out as well. 

Last month, Moo sold its one-millionth ticket. The recipient was a 17-year-old high school student from Townsville who has been given a life’s pass to the festival.

COURTNEY BARNETT ANNOUNCES RELEASE DATE 

Courtney Barnett announced that her next album Tell Me How You Really Feel will be out on Friday May 18 through Milk! Records and Remote Control Records.

New single 'Need A Little Time' is accompanied by a video by Barnett’s frequent visual collaborator Danny Cohen. 

Cohen says the song “has this soaring, floating feeling to it. I decided to play on the meaning of the song, Courtney needs some time away from herself (and you). I didn’t want to show Courtney leaving her friends/family/fans etc, it needed to be more metaphorical.

“Courtney floats through space and time, ends up in some isolated part of the universe. She finally has found some time alone, just Courtney and her guitar, singing in space without a care in the world.”

RIHANNA SINKS SNAPCHAT VALUE BU $800M

Don’t get mad, mamma, get even.

Snapchat is smarting from a drop in share value to the tune of $800 million after posting a despicable ad from a third party (but which Snap would have had to green-light to get it on) for a mobile game called Would You Rather?

It offered two options, "Slap Rihanna" or "Punch Chris Brown", a rib-tickling (not!) reference to when Brown beat up Rihanna, then his girlfriend, before the 2009 Grammys. 

Faced with a backlash, Snap dumped the ad and issued a mellow apology. 

Unfortunately it didn’t end there. Three days later, the singer revived it with a scathing Instagram post, saying the ad shamed domestic violence victims. 

She scribbled off, "This isn't about my personal feelings, cause I don't have much of them...but all the women, children, and men that have been victims of DV in the past and especially the ones who haven't made it out yet...You let us down!" 

"Shame on you. Throw the whole app-oligy away."

Snap, no doubt whirring into panic mode, turned up the volume for a second apology,, calling the ad “disgusting”, “never should have appeared”, "We are so sorry we made the terrible mistake of allowing it through our review process” and was making sure it would never happen again. 

Alas, that blubbering didn’t stop Snap shares from dropping 4% on the day, wiping out $800 million from its market value, and going south a further 1-2% the day after.

A month ago, Kylie Jenner's criticism of Snapchat's redesign saw shares plunge 6%, wiping out $1.3 billion.

TIM MINCHIN LAUNCHES HOME OF THE GC ARTS VENUE 

Tim Minchin received a standing ovation when he played the first show at the new $37.5 million outdoor stage at the Gold Coast Home of the Arts live music venue on Surfers Paradise.

It was his first major appearance since returning back from LA after his film musical project Larrikins was dropped and his Groundhog Day musical closed on Broadway after five months.

He plans to do more live shows, he said when he first stepped back on Australian soil.

Groundhog Day, based on the movie, is set to go to London with talks that might see it staged in Australia 

Coming up at the venue (previously Arts Centre Gold Coast) are Neil Finn., a week-long residency from New York’s Laurie Anderson, and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra performing John Williams film scores.

BUSHFIRES CAUSE AXING OF TWILIGHT AT TRACK 

Dangerous winds of 100 kilometres an hour and outbreaks of bushfire saw the cancellation of the weekend’s John Farnham-headlined Twilight at the Track at Geelong Racecourse.

The show was to also include Daryl Braithwaite, The Black Sorrows, Richard Clapton and Taxiride.

“The safety of patrons and event staff must always be our greatest priority, and it is with this in mind that this difficult decision has been made,” a spokesperson said. 

Also cancelled was the Barwon Heads Festival of the Sea and Twilight at the Track have been cancelled today as ferocious winds cause safety concerns across the region.

20 AUSSIE ENTRIES IN FACTION METAL COUNTDOWN

The year-old digital heavy music station The Faction has a policy of playing 50% Australian music.

But its first Hardest 100 Countdown showed an imbalance, with 20 locals making the cut.

Parkway Drive was the most popular with seven entries, followed by The Amity Affliction with three. 

At two each were AC/DC, Polaris, Northlane and Karnivool, with Thy Art Is Murder and In Heart’s Wake making do with with one apiece. 

The Top 10 were: 

1. Architects - Doomsday
2. Metallica - Master Of Puppets
3. Parkway Drive - Carrion
4. Metallica - One
5. Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name
6. Polaris - The Remedy
7. A Day To Remember - The Downfall of Us All
8. System of a Down - Chop Suey!
9. Tool - Forty Six & Two
10. Slipknot – Duality

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL PERFORMER DIES AFTER 20 FOOT FALL

Yann Arnaud, a performer with Cirque du Soleil for 15 years, died after slipping and falling 20 feet during a performance of the Volta show in Tampa, Florida. He was 38.

His hand slipped off the double rings during an aerial straps number and he fell 20 feet.

Two days before, he posted on Instagram that the number was "finally in the show" and "it's time to go for it.”

In 2013, acrobat Sarah "Sasoun" Guyard-Guillot died after falling from the high wire during the Ka performance at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Three years later, technician Olivier Rochette, the son of one of the founders of Cirque du Soleil, died in an industrial accident while setting up a San Francisco production of the Luiza show.

MOBILES #1

Ooyala’s Q4 2017 Global Video Index Report showed that mobiles went over the 60% mark (specifically, 60.3%) of video starts in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Smartphones were more popular than tablets, according to the report.

The figure could soon reach 70% as more sports assets are moved online. 

However, time spent watching short-form content on PCs climbed to 50%, outpacing smartphones (44%), tablets (26%) and connected TVs (0.7%).

MOBILES #2

NOVA Entertainment has launched a mobile-only pop culture, news and entertainment platform for millennials called GOAT. 

GOAT.com.au offers snackable content across written, video, image and audio formats of opinions and reporting of the day’s trending, entertainment and topical news.

GUVERA CASE BACK IN COURT

Guvera co-founder Darren Herft was back in Federal Court last week. 

The Australian Financial Review reported that liquidator Deloitte's examination of the collapse of the Gold Coast streaming service took the path that Guvera was out of its depth. 

It pointed out that the company was expanding globally in 2015 going into a partnership with Lenovo and buying UK Blinkbox Music off UK retailer Tesco, without taking into account that expensive music rights licensing and technical upgrades came with them.

The hearing also threw up the fact that in 2015 Snapchat had talked about investing $100 million but the deal did not go through. 

Deloitte is seeking to prove the Guvera knowingly traded while insolvent in 2015.

Herft returns to court on March 23.

PUSH FOR ROCK NAMES IN ADELAIDE

The Adelaide Music Collective, which has been honouring SA’s music legacy with a steady stream of SA Hall of Fame inductions, is suggesting that it should extend to naming roads after legendary rock names – like Cold Chisel Road or Angels Lane or Masters Apprentices Close.

Lord Mayor and big-time music fan Martin Haese has said he would take it up with Council, especially given Adelaide’s status as UNESCO City of Melbourne. 

Led by Enrico Mick Morena, the Adelaide Music Collective’s most recent induction was Brian Gleeson OAM, ‘70s drummer turned manager turned concert events promoter, while Adelaide Oval also entered in the annals.

Of late Gleeson came up with Music SA’s Bands On Track concept that has seen 44 local bands support headliners at the Adelaide 500 race concerts in the last seven years

WU-TANG SUED FOR ALLEGED COPYRIGHT 

Wu-Tang Clan are being sued by 1960s soul trio, The Diplomats who say their 1969 track ‘I’ve Got the Kind of Love’ has been lifted - melody, lyrics and rhythm - for the New York hip-hop group’s 2017 single ‘People Say’.

Last year Wu-Tang took on a dog walking company for using the name Woof-Tang Clan.

ROCKPIT LAUNCHES OWN RECORD LABEL

Perth-based online metal and hard rock media outlet, which has 300,000 global readers a month, has expanded to a record label Rockpit Records and memorabilia online store.

The first signings to the nine-year-old label are also three bands which are part of Rock Pit’s management division. 

They are prog-metal Nucleust who’ve just toured Europe, ‘70s-rock inspired Maverick who’s debut album Firebird has a European release, and groove metal Bayview Suspect who’re currently working on a debut EP.

CANADIAN PRODUCER DROPPED AFTER ALLEGATIONS 

Canadian producer Datsik has been dropped from his label, management and booking agency following a wave of sexual assault allegations after a number of women.

Datskik co-founded Firepower Records in 2012, and will no longer have any involvement in its operation. 

The producer also pulled remaining dates on a tour (after two support acts left) and festival slots.

LA-based Aussie act Alison Wonderland was among those who condemned his actions, as did Excision and Flux Pavilion.

VIDEOS #1: ALEX LAHEY

"There was no way I could make a clip for 'I Love You Like A Brother' without having my brother Will involved,” Alex Lahey says about the visual accompaniment to her new single.

This involved her mum Vicki trawling through old VHS recordings of the two siblings as little kids “and finding some of the finest peanut butter toast based footage.

“If you're going to do anything after watching this clip, give your little brother or your big sister a call just to say hi."

With her Huge And True tour starting next month, Lahey is offering fans a chance to win one of three specially designed Levi’s jacket with a handmade Huge and True patch. To enter send proof of ticket purchase to alexlaheycomp@gmail.com.

VIDEOS #2: BRITISH INDIA

To celebrate the release of their single ‘Midnight Home’ and the national tour of the same name. British India have come up with an idea.

“Send us video footage and photos of you and your best friends having the best night of your lives.

“These will be turned into a fan video, so can be you immortalised forever in British India history. “

Use WeTransfer to send your videos and stills to midnighthomiefanvideo@gmail.com. All content should be (preferably) shot in landscape.”

The Midnight Homie Tour will kick off in Bendigo on May 11 and continue through regional and metropolitan cities in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, before finishing up at The Gov in Adelaide on July 6.

UNIVERSAL PROMOTES DIVERSITY IN COMPOSITION

Of the top 250 top grossing movies of 2017, women only made up 3% of their composers.

So to address the situation, Universal Studios has launched the Universal Film Music Composer Initiative to nurture novices and get them working with filmmakers and other studio executives.

HALF A MILLION BUCKS TO MAKE MELBOURNE SUBURBS CREATIVE

The Victorian government’s Creative Suburbs program has handed out $509,080 in grants to five creative projects.

Knox Council got $68,000 for Knox: Amplified, where members of Ska Orchestra and The Mighty Buzzniks work with industry mentors, local musicians and the community on workshops and create new music to perform with mentors, 

Wyndham City Council ($65,000) will support year-long creative program Flipping the Script to teach young people from African backgrounds to develop filmmaking and digital media skills.

Nillumbik Shire Council ($119,000) for its Digital Agora project (agora is an ancient Greek gathering place) where artists and arts organisations work with community members and students to create works including projections, digital games, sound art and films.

 Hume Council ($156,700) for Hume Studios where emerging local artists and young folks come together with leading musicians, dancers and spoken word artists. In partnership with acclaimed arts organisation Outer Urban Projects.

Melton City Council ($100,000) for Home Sewn, tapping local textile talent to workshop an exhibition.

MEMORABILIA FOR KANGAROO CHARITY

Signed Living End posters, a 360 framed platinum record, a Missy Higgins autographed package and a Tash Sultana guitar are just some of the items on auction to raise money for Wild2Free to care for and rehabilitate orphaned or injured kangaroos. 

Bids close at 3pm on March 25. Find out more information here.

APPLE/SHAZAM DATE 

European Union legislators will make public their decision on whether to clear or recommend a four-month investigation Apple’s $400 million acquisition of Shazam, on April 23.

European antitrust regulators started looking into the acquisition following requests from seven countries: Austria, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

RAG N' BONE BECOME NEW TALK

Perth-based Rag n' Bone have adopted a new moniker to carry them into their next phase.

“The move has been brought on by the rise of UK star Rag and Bone Man, resulting in a murder of misdirected Facebook messages, baffling playlist additions and undue congratulations from elderly relatives after viewing The Graham Norton Show," the band explained.

“To this, the band says “NO MORE”!”

The first show under new name New Talk is on Saturday, April 21 at The Bird, with Em Burrows & Web Rumors, Teen Angst and Physical Release.

NO ISSUES FOR IHEARTRADIO AUSTRALIA

Australian Radio Network (ARN) CEO Rob Atkinson has announced that IHeartRadio Australia is not connected in the least with the American company filing for bankruptcy and that it’s “business as usual.”

NOOSA RAPPER'S HOT ROD RECORD

Noosa rapper T-Dub was hoping to set a new record when shooting a video for his new single ‘Cruizin'’ last Sunday – by featuring 500 hotted up cars.

He was confident before the shoot he’d hit the mark, as many car clubs had responded enthusiastically when they call first went out.

The venue at Yatala was provided by Bullet Performance Products.

GOLDIE PHONES IN GUILTY PLEA

In what is reportedly the first in British legal history, British DJ and producer Goldie OBE phoned in a guilty plea to assaulting a bouncer at the Glastonbury festival last year.

Goldie was to appear with his 19-year-old daughter Chance at Bristol Magistrates' Court

Goldie was working in Thailand, and ha originally claimed not guilty but got his lawyer to read out his email, “Yep, guilty as charged.” 

According to lawyers, anyone who changes their plea must do so in person, if not the original stance stays. But the judge decided the musician could enter his plea by Skype or Facetime, presumably because of Goldie's celeb status.

Goldie appeared on Facetime, and when asked if he had changed his plea, he responded with "correct, my dear". 

That went down well with the judge who snapped, "No, I'm not your dear".

Goldie will be sentenced in May.

NEWCASTLE VENUES RAPPED OVER PROMOS

King Street Hotel in Newcastle fell foul of Liquor & Gaming NSW over a promotion where patrons won UDL vodka drinks according to their heights.

The authority demanded the March 2 promo – advertised on the hotel’s website and social media and targeting university students during Orientation Week – be abandoned. 

L&G NSW director of compliance operations, Sean Goodchild said the venue stopped.

“This promotion posed an unacceptable risk of excessive alcohol consumption,” he stated. 

He added that the Sydney Junction Hotel at Hamilton was ordered to stop its Australia Day promotion offering patrons the chance to win eskies with 100 cans of VB beer.

WA TOP COP CLARIFIES ‘LICENSES’ ACCUSATIONS

In a debate in WA state parliament, a number of politicians bushed for Tourism WA to intervene in liquor licence applications so it would “counterbalance” concerns from police and health bodies which they said tended to be biased against them. 

But Police Commissioner Chris Dawson took offence, saying that 14,500 applications were made every year in the state, and police only intervened in “several hundred” and they have “only objected to four” due to safety concerns.

I’M TALKING IS GET A WITNESS

Melbourne 1980s band I’m Talking – the electro-pop pioneers who counted Kate Ceberano among their singers – have their classic Bear Witness album out through Bloodlines on March 23.

It has now been totally remastered by Don Bartley using mainly analogue processes to keep the original punch. 

Formats include a 10 track 12” (180gm) vinyl album and a deluxe 2CD package, which features extra songs and live recordings that allow the band to tell its own story, and a 36 track digital version, including remixes and rarities.

Founding member Robert Goodge has narrated a track-by-track, about the stories behind the songs.

Goodge says, “Even though I’m Talking's musical inspirations came from club music, we were never strictly just a dance band, due to our shared love of pop music.

“We weren’t really thinking we could be a chart act at the time, but with the two strands of dance and pop in our music and the power and charm of our two vocalists, Kate (Ceberano) and Zan (Abeyratne), we found ourselves gaining success just as a wave of dance music hit the early 80s charts with artists like Madonna, Miami Sound Machine, Rocksteady Crew, Deniece Williams and Break Machine.”

But by 1987, five years after they formed, it was all over.

Goodge continues, “I think it’s fair to say we felt there was a lot of unfinished musical dialogue to be had between us.

“But we never thought how unwieldy a seven-piece group which had plenty of pop appeal, but also aspired to a genre style, could be when we formed and the difficulties it might present to the thought processes of record labels, managers and each other.”

ACCOLADES CONTINUE FOR GRETTA ZILLER

Since the release of her debut album, Queen of Boomtown, Melbourne-based Gretta Ziller has garnered some accolades.

She was a finalist in the Alt-Country category of the Golden Guitars country music awards, got recognition from the Australian Music Prize and, most recently, a finalist in the Americana category of the International Songwriting Competition 2017 for ‘Slaughterhouse Blues’.

She’s one of three Australians in the category, with Shane Nicholson and Matt Ellis.

She is now one of six selected for the inaugural APRA AMCOS female songwriter and composer mentoring programs.

She will be mentored over a three-month period by Tom Busby, of Busby Marou, in the Americana genre.

The goal is for mentors to help and encourage the mentees with a current project, with each mentee receiving some financial support from APRA AMCOS over that time.

Ziller said, “I was over the moon to get a phone call from APRA letting me know I was receiving one of these mentorships!

“I'm really excited to work with Tom, to find out about his writing process and him helping mine.

“I am also looking forward to gaining some knowledge on how Busby Marou walk that fine line between genres and how they make that work so well in Australia.” 

The other five recipients are:

Nicolette Boaz, film composing with Nerida Tyson-Chew. 

Larissa Agosti, TV composing with Jay Stewart. 

Bri Clark, singer-songwriting with Mark Lizotte.

Mookhi aka Olympia Henshaw, electronic music with KLP.

Demi Louise, pop music with John Watson.

Grace Drummond, heavy music with UNFD staff.

AND A FEW OTHER THINGS…

Drake broke a Twitch streaming record after 635,429 people watched him play the hugely popular game Fortnite on livestream.

Aussie rock author Jeff Apter’s next book is on AC/DC’s Malcolm Young.

Camila Cabello denies claims that Taylor Swift was behind her decision to quit Fifth Harmony for a solo career. She insists it was her decision totally. “It’s so funny, because when Taylor and I talk and whenever we hang out we talk about love and boys.” The rumours got a boost after Swift invited Cabello to open for her on her world tour.

What does Lorde do backstage before a show? In a video posted on Instagram, she says she works on puzzles. “I am doing this giant puzzle of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It’s fucking lit.” In addition, among her backstage rider is a request for strawberry flavoured Pocky sticks. 

So what did Zayn Malik cope after his break up with Gigi Hadid after 28 months. He got himself a huge black and grey rose on the back of his head, with the stem running down his neck.

Look, personally we’ve always thought that boozing clubbers and predators with sharp teeth were not a good mix. But Cairns Regional Council in Far North Queensland has given Tradies Bar owner Graham Johnston the green light to put live crocodiles on top of a bar.

Christine Anu who played the Teen Angel in the Sydney run of Grease - The Arena Spectacular reprises the role of for two shows on July 14 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. When the show played the BEC in April 2017, Dami Im took the role.

The final 19 ABC regional radio stations now have live-streaming, ending the service to all 42 which began in 2015.

John Butler explains the title of his album Home comes from the fact that this year he moved back to the countryside and took a hiatus from the road.

Flight of the Conchords had to postpone their UK tour three shows in after Bret McKenzie slipped down stairs and broke his hand, putting him out of action for a few weeks.

Jack White’s Third Man Records headquarters in Nashville has fired seven staffers due to cut costs.

Last weekend’s Hunter Record Fair (NSW) drew 600 attendees, its largest ever according to founder Dan Phelan who set it up six years ago.