A weekly update on all things music, entertainment and technology, coming straight to you from Anthony Vanger at MassiveMusic. #TWIM
ARTIST OF THE WEEK: ROSALÍA
Spanish Flamenco Star deconstructs traditional music.
One of the benefits of Spotify is that listeners in the UK can be exposed to non-Anglo-Saxon artists. On Sunday evening, a friend of mine turned me onto Rosalia, a 25-year-old singer from a Barcelona with a “stop-your-heart voice and a breath-taking look”. I punched in her name and have not stopped listening to her since. I love the way the producers have deconstructed traditional Spanish music, simplifying the handclaps and acoustic flamenco guitar and adding elements of hip hop, loops and other textures to create a modern sound.
According to Fader, an online magazine covering music, Rosalía collaborates with artists like Madrid trap scene mainstay C. Tangana (who’s also her boyfriend), and has a must-follow Instagram page crammed with gorgeous selfies and creative fan art.
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S MUSICAL EMPIRE
Lloyd Webber to receive a Special Recognition Award for Musical Theatre & Education at Classic BRIT Awards
His musicals have grossed $13.6 billion (£9.6bn), playing to a total of 302 million people in 44 countries, according to MusicWeek. He has also sold more than 40m albums worldwide. Really Useful Group (RUG), the entertainment empire set up by Lloyd Webber in 1977, has licensed and supervised more than 90 productions in 34 countries over the past five years. Madeleine Lloyd Webber, Andrew’s wife, is the company’s vice-chairman.
A clear No.1, The Phantom of the Opera is the highest-grossing entertainment event of all time. It has taken more than $6bn (£4.2bn) at the box office to date – more than any other theatrical show or film in history. Some 180m people have attended productions of Phantom worldwide in 30 countries. The original soundtrack has sold more than 20m copies and has been certified platinum in six countries.
And the composer is still going strong. School Of Rock, his latest musical adaptation of the 2003 film, opened in New York in 2015 and made its West End debut in 2016 and is playing to packed houses.
WORLD CUP RUSSIA 2018 ANTHEMS HIT THE AIRWAVES
Latino stars have invested heavily in World Cup anthems.
From Colombia’s Maluma to Uruguay’s Natalia Oreiro, the 2018 World Cup anthems feature some of the biggest names in Latin music. Creating a smash hit for the World Cup seems to work especially well for Latino stars, maybe because of the enormous success of Shakira’s Waka Waka or because the vibe is essentially “fiesta” Brazil-style carnival. This year, best of the bunch is called “One Life” feat. Nicky Jam, Will Smith and Era Istrefi.
Ed note: One thing for sure is that England’s effort will not make the list. Lifted heavily from a Boney M classic, “Rasputin Rebooted” by The Stars House Band is loosely dedicated to Harry Kane, “England’s greatest goal machine.” To call it a train wreck is a kindness.
SPOTIFY EQUITY SALE LEAVES SONGWRITERS SHORT
Songwriters lose out in the Spotify equity sell-off.
According to a damning article in MBW, under agreements with Spotify, the major labels did not receive any equity in the streaming platform. For the publishers, it was quite a different story. Universal Music Publishing, Warner/Chappell and Sony/ATV managed to accumulate an 18% stake in the streaming platform over 10 years. And now they stand to offload their shares for $2.6bn.
According to press releases, this income will be shared with their artists and partner labels. The big question is, what will professional songwriters get from this windfall? The answer is: nothing. Because only the labels and not the publishers invested in the streaming platform, the songwriters behind the songs will watch the windfall pass them by.
HOW TO MAKE TRAP BEATS
Native Instruments releases a video on its blog showing how to make trap beats.
For all you sonic dinosaurs out there, Native Instruments has created a tutorial video to bring you up to speed on trap. Discover fresh ways to explore trap’s rhythmic tropes, as product expert Joe Rossitter shows you how to create a pro-quality trap beat using NI’s Battery 4 drum sampler and the HEADLAND FLOW Expansion. With the following tutorial video, you will learn how to create your own, authentic trap sound, using BATTERY 4, and the HEADLAND FLOW Expansion. Learn how to sequence and program beats for that fresh sound.
AD OF THE WEEK
All elements of this Ad, From the Film to the Audio, are 100% Recycled
This week we chose an ad from Los Angeles-based ethical clothing company Everybody.World. The fashion house has a staple product called the “Trash Tee,” a 100 percent recycled cotton T-shirt. For the new ad campaign, director Anton du Preez dreamed up the idea of distilling the ethos of the company and applying it to the ad campaign itself. He made an ad that was 100 percent recycled.
The director shot new footage on vintage Kodak film so it would blend seamlessly with archive footage. For the voiceover, he mixed segments of PSAs from the 50s. The music is pulled from old snippets of audio and the ad starts with needle scratch.
What an original idea. And for that, to recycle a well-known phrase: “We salute you!”