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Artist News Business News Digital Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases
One Liners: Indie Label Market, YouTube, 6ix9ine & Nicki Minaj, more
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 12 June 2020
COVID-19 SUPPORT INITIATIVES
The Independent Label Market has announced an online version of its usually market stall-based event, in partnership with Bandcamp. On 3 Jul, Bandcamp will waive its fees for participating independent record labels. There will be various exclusives, limited editions, signed records, discounts and a line-up of DJs and artists who will be streaming live for 24 hours on the ILM Bandcamp page.
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DIGITAL
YouTube has launched a $100 million fund “dedicated to amplifying and developing the voices of black creators and artists and their stories”, CEO Susan Wojcicki announced yesterday. “We’re committed to doing better as a platform to centre and amplify black voices and perspectives”, she said, adding that the company would also do more to limit hate speech and harassment on the YouTube platform.
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RELEASES
6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj have revisited their controversial partnership on new track ‘Trollz’. Minaj said yesterday that a portion of proceeds from merch related to the track would be donated to The Bail Project.
Sigma and John Newman have released new collaboration ‘High On You’.
K-pop superstars BTS have announced that they will release new Japanese language album ‘Map Of The Soul 7: The Journey’ on 14 Jul. In addition to Japanese versions of tracks from their ‘Map Of The Soul 7’ record, released in February, it will also feature two new songs, ‘Stay Gold’ and ‘Your Eyes Tell’.
Lil Baby has released new track ‘The Bigger Picture’, in response to the recent Black Lives Matter protests.
John Prine‘s family have released a video for ‘I Remember Everything’, the last song he recorded before his death in April. The release followed a livestreamed tribute show last night.
Jarvis Cocker’s Jarv Is project have released a new single, ‘Save The Whale’. The song was inspired, says Cocker, by a childhood hallucination: “I would hear the murmuring of a large crowd accompanied by a visual image of a line-drawing in which all the objects switched rapidly between being smooth and bulbous and then thin and wrinkly”, he says. “It used to absolutely terrify me”.
Aluna has released new single ‘Warrior’, featuring SG Lewis. “‘Warrior’ is a portrait of a woman in the shadows”, she says. “She has to see herself, instead of waiting for others, by calling on that Warrior spirit, the one that makes us fearless enough to be ourselves”.
Benin City have released new single ‘Hostiles’. All proceeds from the track will be donated to Black Lives Matter UK. “We’ve been emboldened by the protests, in the US and globally, even in the face of rampant police aggression”, say the band. “We’re a band, what we do best is music, so we’re putting this song out, ‘Hostiles’ is our attempt to put our emotions to art in these shiitake-mushroom times”.
Brad Mehldau has released a new album of piano compositions written during and inspired by the COVID-19 lockdown, titled ‘Suite: April 2020’. It is, he says, “a musical snapshot of life the last month in the world in which we’ve all found ourselves. I’ve tried to portray on the piano some experiences and feelings that are both new and common to many of us”. From it, this is ‘Remembering Before All This’.
Falle Nioke and Ghost Culture have released a new track from their upcoming EP, ‘Youkounkoun’, called ‘Loneliness’. “I wrote this song because I have felt loneliness”, says Nioke. “It’s about a man whose wife leaves the village to go to the big city to see family. Since experiencing city life she can’t face returning to the quiet village. He can’t sleep and any footsteps he hears he is looking for her. Yet when he goes to the door, all he sees is the moon and the stars”. The EP is out on PRAH on 10 Jul.
Jonah Yano has released new single ‘Strawberry!’ The track is taken from his debut album, ‘Souvenir’, which is out on 21 Jun.
Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
