Kiol

Record of the Day - In tune. Informed. Indispensable.

In tune. Informed. Indispensable. Tuesday 7 April 2020

Lonely Kiol JOIN Records Released: Out now

We say We first introduced you to the upbeat and punchy sounds of Italian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Kiol last November with his funky track No Peace. Since then he has been hard at work writing and producing his debut album, Techno Drug Store, himself while studying songwriting at BIMM in London. Currently based in Turin due to the lockdown, Kiol along with his manager Stefano Pesca, who discovered him as a teenager in 2015 and has solely financed his development, have been putting together plans to release the album this July. Written about feeling lonely in his first year in London, this beautifully melodic and vitamin-C laced indie jammer is just the tonic to lift your spirits, despite the topic, in these crazy times. Released later this month (24 April) and with plenty of singalong moments reminiscent of Milky Chance and Lukas Graham it's the first taste of his new music, which could, quite easily, become your favourite new earworm. Watch the brilliantly fun and self-directed video here, and if you are in need of another dose of uplifting music from the star-in-the-making, have a listen to his stonkingly fun, Mumford & Sons-esque track Wrinkless. Kiol's charity of choice is La Croce Rossa Italiana: "Because they help people on a voluntary basis. They could stay at home, safe, with no risks, but instead they decide spontaneously to help people, going in the streets, work and fight hard to save people’s lives. When you do something because you feel it and not because you must do it, it is impressive! It means you have all my esteem and support”   Sound Advice marks its 12th anniversary with a Spotify playlist focussing on its current roster of unsigned/DIY/independent artists. The playlist can also be viewed on YouTube. Contact Label: JOIN Records Publisher: Imagem PR: Sue Harris, Republic Media  Online: Adam Nicol, MaDa Music Live: Phyllis Belezos, ITB Legal: Robert Horsfall, Sound Advice Management: Stefano Pesca, Beit Company

HEADLINES Warner Records UK appoints Sukhraj Johal; ups Jennifer Ivory, Sebastian Simone (see Business) Lucian Grainge recuperating following Covid-19 (see News) Judge dismisses lawsuit against Universal over the 2008 warehouse fire (see News) AIM launches support fund aimed at contractors and freelance workers (see News)

BUSINESS Warner Records UK has appointed Sukhraj Johal as general manager. She was previously at Syco Music and takes over from Jennifer Ivory, who is promoted to the newly-created position of senior vice president. The label's head of digital, Sebastian Simone, is promoted to the newly created role of director of audience. Head of marketing Alex Burford is exiting the company later this month. (Billboard, RotD) Amazing Radio, the British-based internet radio service that focuses on new and emerging artists in the UK, has emerged as the mystery buyer behind long-troubled US industry conference and festival brand CMJ. (Billboard, Billboard)

NEWS AND FEATURES Universal Music Group CEO and chairman Lucian Grainge is at home and recuperating after being hospitalised with Covid-19. (Billboard) In a memo to staff, he wrote “Take it from someone who’s been there: this thing is not just some bad flu. It's as serious as it gets". A judge has dismissed a class action lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the 2008 Universal Studios warehouse fire in which it was claimed up to 500,000 master recordings had been destroyed. (Billboard) Tom Petty's ex-wife was the sole plaintiff left before it was ruled she had failed to present enough evidence to the court. AIM has launched a support fund aimed at contractors and freelance workers in the independent music industry whose source of income has been severed without warning due to lost work in April and May as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. (RotD) The fund starts with assets of £500,000 committed by AIM and its members. Cardiff Central MP Jo Stevens has been appointed Shadow Secretary for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. (BBC, Guardian) The World Health Organisation and Global Citizen announced One World: Together at Home, an international special airing 18 April to support and applaud healthcare workers in the fight against Covid-19. (Billboard, Guardian p3, Telegraph p11, Independent, Mirror p23, iNews p2) Curated in collaboration with Lady Gaga, the event features Alanis Morissette, Billie Eilish, Burna Boy, Chris Martin, Elton John, J Balvin, John Legend, Lizzo, Paul McCartney Stevie Wonder and more. BBC One has secured the first UK television broadcast. (BBC) StubHub is facing a class action lawsuit in the US, accused of breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and unlawful business practices over changes it made to its FanProtect guarantee scheme in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. (Billboard) Manchester music and culture conference Off The Record has launched #IsolationAlbums, collecting musicians and celebrities to select their all-time favourite albums to raise money for Help Musicians. (RotD)

DIGITAL Chartmetric is offering free premium access for unsigned and self-releasing artists during the pandemic. US listening habits continue to shift during the coronavirus pandemic, leading to the third straight week of decline for Spotify’s top 200 tracks. (NYTimes) Cloud based payment platform TicketCo has launched a pay-per-view TV service. (RotD) Deezer has launched a new ‘Workout with…’ series offering commented fitness playlists by J Balvin, YungBlud, Zara Larsson, Steve Aoki, Ally Brooke and Five Finger Death Punch. (RotD)

COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS Tom Watson's new role as chairman of UK Music has allegedly been greeted with "incredulity and disgust" among members of the organisation. "Watson is understood to have had strong support from the Musicians Union and other Left-leaning industry figures, but his appointment was opposed by record label and publishing executives". (Mail p19 - Richard Littlejohn) Global online music streaming subscriptions grew 32% year-on-year reaching 358m people in 2019, according to Counterpoint Research. It predicts the number will grow 25% to 450m by the end of 2020. The report claimed that Spotify accounted for 35% of paid subscriptions, followed by Apple Music (19%) and Amazon Music (15%). 'Jobs, creativity and cultural diversity are all at stake here'. (Legrand - Helen Smith, the Executive Chair of IMPALA)

DEALS Toni Braxton has signed to Island Records. (Billboard)

MEDIA RADIO 09.30 Radio 2 Ken Bruce - with Alesha Dixon LIVE STREAM 18.00 Sofi Tukker - Facebook 22.00 Christine & The Queens - Instagram  PODCAST Metrics that matter during a pandemic. Chaz Jenkins from Chartmetric shares his insights. (ABC) Submit your music podcasts and livestreams for inclusion in RotD. OTHER BPI and ERA, in association with MusicAlly, are to host an Insight Session which, exploring how the music community can best serve the superfan. (RotD)

ARTIST AND MUSIC FEATURES As artists postpone releases amid a market slowdown, Warner Records is finding success sticking to its original plans. “Music is very of the moment — it captures a time,” says COO Tom Corson. (RollingStone - Tim Ingham) L Devine: Pop prodigy’s virtual tour provides anxious nation with much-needed community. (NME)  Duffy once had one of the fiercest voices in British pop – I hope she can find it again. (Telegraph - Neil McCormick)  Tim Burgess on his album listening parties: 'I like to think it’s helping in a different way' (Standard p15 - Katie Strick) Stevie Wonder: where to start in his back catalogue (Guardian - Stevie Chick) My Splendid Isolation: Katie Melua (Telegraph p25) Life of a Song: Imagine (FT - Jude Rogers)

SHOWBIZ AND NEWS James Fisher, the original General Manager of the MMF from its founding in 1993, has died of Coronavirus. (Facebook) The Southbank Centre Meltdown festival, curated by Grace Jones, is to move to 2021 with the entire lineup intact. (RotD) Reported yesterday, Duffy reveals harrowing details of her rape ordeal in a personal note on her website. (Times p15, Standard p9, Telegraph p13, Mail p26, Express p23, Independent, Star p7, Metro p17, Mirror p19, Sun p31) Billie Eilish says she is being "introverted and lonerish" while in self-isolation. (Mirror p23)  Rita Ora has praised her "superhero" psychiatrist mother who has decided to return to the NHS frontline amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Standard p5, Star p5, Mirror p9, Sun p9, Independent) Sugababe Amelle Berrabah went bust after her accountant Ben White failed to file her returns to HMRC after the band split. He has been fined £7,500 with £83,000 in costs. (Sun p15) Bob Geldof has blasted snowflakes who think Do They Know It's Christmas has politically incorrect lyrics and that it promotes celebrities as "white saviours" are idiots. (Star p11) A Beatles poster torn from a New York subway station in 1966 has become the world's most expensive concert flier, after selling for £112k at auction. (Telegraph p14, Express p23, Star p3) Michael Jackson's iconic white glove has sold for more than £85k at auction. (Mirror p25) Justin and Hailey Bieber took their dog on a boat trip yesterday and later did an Instagram live session. (Standard p9) Rihanna has announced she is to start a skincare range for her Fenty Beauty brand. (Sun p15) Reported yesterday, Duran Duran's John Taylor tested positive for Coronavirus.  (Mail p14) Sun Bizarre: George Ezra has split from his girlfriend of three years, British singer Florrie. Billie Eilish has been fostering two puppies while in self-isolation. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wanted to be a country singer before becoming a wrestler and actor. Lady Gaga reveals Chromatica artwork. Lewis Capaldi says his mum is distracting him from writing his second album with memes. Justin Bieber says his wife Hailey made sure his moustache was short-lived. Anne-Marie is celebrating turning 29 today with a virtual party.  Star Wired: Billie Eilish says in an interview with Telekom's Electronic Beats that she is "good being alone" and has only two friends "that are like my best friends". Zara Larsson has teamed up with J Balvin and Steve Aoki to motivate us via Deezer's Workout With... series. Ronan Keating has shared a picture of his new baby daughter Coco. Lady Gaga shares album artwork for Chromatica. Shania Twain performed with her horses at home for US TV show ACM Presents: Our Country. Harry Styles is convinced that the environment is benefitting from the pandemic. Charli XCX is making a new album while in lockdown and plans to share the entire process with fans via Zoom.  Metro Guilty Pleasures: Billie Eilish is surviving the lockdown by looking after two puppies and says she is a natural loner. Jay-Z has sent 100,000 masks to US inmates. Lady Gaga shares Chromatica album artwork.

REVIEWS ALBUMS The Strokes (Metro p21 - 3* David Bennun) LIVE Live from our Living Rooms Jazz Festival (FT - Mike Hobart)

INTERNATIONAL NEWS ASCAP has delayed payments scheduled for 6 April until 28 April in a move to ensure quarterly writer payouts are fully funded. The delay was due to late payments from licensees. (Billboard) "As Covid-19 has continued to escalate and more and more of our licensee businesses have shut down, we have had to carefully review our cash forecasts and plan for more disruption to our revenue collections and member distributions". Governments in Italy, Germany and Poland are looking to introduce measures to allow event organisers to offer ticket vouchers, instead of cash refunds, as compensation for cancelled shows. (IQ) Roskilde Festival in Denmark has been cancelled. Tencent is looking to bring its paid music app Joox to some of Africa’s most populous countries. (Bloomberg)  Victoria Campoamor has been appointed Senior Director for Content Operations & Services at Spotify. She was most recently YouTube’s head of global publishing strategy & operations. Warner Recorded Music has announced the opening of a new affiliate in Vietnam, led by Manging Director Lisa Nguyen. (RotD)

THE BIGGER PICTURE Quibi, the mobile video start-up that raised $1.8bn before its debut, has launched. It will be free to view for the first 90 days, before charging a monthly subscription of up to $7.99 (£7.99). (FT, BBC, TechCrunch) Quibi's shows are 10 minutes or shorter and movies are broken into segments. Analysis: Quibi launches into a brave new world with even bigger challenges ahead. (Midia)  The publisher of the Daily Mirror, Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers is to furlough almost 1,000 employees, and its management, including the senior editorial team, will have pay slashed by a fifth. (Guardian, Times p38) DMGT, the publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Mail Online, the i and Metro, has asked employees to take a temporary pay cut in return for shares in the company. Apple likely buyer of NextVR, a live event streaming AR/VR company being sold for around $100m. (9to5Mac)

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