Elio Leoni-Sceti’s sudden decision to quit as EMI CEO was driven partly by a lack of support for his strategic plan for the label and his not wanting to be the fall guy should that plan fail to deliver, sources tell The Post. The Telegram headlines the latest fallout as ‘bankers show us they can’t dance’ and The Guardian begs the question, ‘same old song?’
Meantime, unnamed sources suggest financial terms to re-sign Queen and Pink Floyd are beyond reasonable. Floyd’s classic opus, Dark Side Of the Moon, turned 37 on Wednesday, and some estimates place worldwide sales as high as 100 million copies. The figure is unsubstantiated. In its review at the time, Rolling Stone reported that Dark Side was “”a fine album with a textural and conceptual richness that not only invites, but demands involvement.”
Under the Investment Canada Act a review is justifiable if it falls within a prescribed specific type of business activity that is related to Canada’s cultural heritage or national identity. Foreign investment in book publishing and distribution is limited to Canadian-controlled joint ventures under the act’s provisions.
- The Canadian government must do more than simply encourage foreign investment if it hopes to fix lagging Internet speeds, according to an industry expert cited in the Ottawa Citizen.
- Coleman Insights will preview the next release in its “Mapping the DNA of PPM†series of studies in a presentation at Canadian Music Week’s Radio Active conference in Toronto tomorrow. “The PPM DNA of Canada’s High Performance Stations†is the latest in Coleman Insights’ “Mapping the DNA of PPM†series of studies, which has provided the radio industry with new insights gleaned from detailed analysis of PPM data. It covers BBM Canada’s measurement of the Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver markets for the last four months of 2009.
Harvard professor Yochai Benkler told a Canadian audience on Friday that an issue before the CRTC will play a larger role in opening competition. The CRTC is examining whether incumbent Internet companies must lease to competitors the parts of their cable or telephone lines that run into homes. Benkler said opening the networks to competition would see smaller players arrive, but it would also likely see large players such as Shaw trying to steal customers from Rogers, for instance. In another example, Telus would be able to compete with rival Bell in what has traditionally been considered to be Bell’s territory.
- Corus Media has pulled their CRTC application for a proposed 64-channel local news, weather and traffic network from consideration in an upcoming April hearing. The CRTC says Corus intends to reschedule. No reason was given for the action.
- The changing shape of internet networking and massive traffic increases are creating problems for the engineers in charge of understanding and tracing the intricate connections on the net. They note that peering has had a major impact on networking practices, diverting traffic away from main internet companies. Instead the internet “has begun to cascade in torrents of data on the edges of the network, as if a river in flood were carving new channels”. Studies have produced conflicting results: Some argue current network trends are dangerous to the stability and security of the internet, and others which argue that despite traffic increases the internet has not changed much at all. For more on the study click here.
- The contentious fee-for-carriage brawl that has pitted Canada’s terrestrial TV broadcasters, namely the CBC and CTV, against cable firms has now flopped over into the US, resulting in a petition to the FCC to fix a “broken” economic model that is in need of repair.
- The Vatican has jumped into the always-controversial game of naming the Top 10 rock albums of all time. This “desert island” list, compiled by the official Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, starts with The Beatles — a relatively uncontroversial pick. The article by Giuseppe Fiorentino and Gaetano Vallini said that Bob Dylan was excluded from the list despite his “great poetic vein†because he paved the way for generations of unprofessional singer-songwriters who have “harshly tested the ears and patience of listeners†with their tormented stories. The same might be said of many invocations and sermons that have droned on like annoying chatter from pulpits both in Rome and around the world. And, we wonder, why in God’s name have such luminous names as Leonard Cohen, Aretha Franklin and the Reverend Al Green failed to make the Holy See’s list?
1. “Revolver” – The Beatles
2. “If I Could Only Remember My Name” – David Crosby
3. “The Dark Side of the Moon” – Pink Floyd
4. “Rumours” – Fleetwood Mac
5. “The Nightfly” – Donald Fagen
6. “Thriller” – Michael Jackson
7. “Graceland” – Paul Simon
8. “Achtung Baby” – U2
9. “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory” – Oasis
10. “Supernatural” – Carlos Santana
- Pink Floyd’s  Dark Side Of the Moon has continually astounded brains and eardrums since its arrival. Wired magazine offers up a handful of other longstanding concept works that in their day shook the world. Read what the magazine has to say, and offer your own comments if it so pleases you.
- In a rave review of Our Lady Peace at l ‘Olympia in Montreal, The Gazette’s Jordan Zivitz writes: The idea of OLP as a people’s band was emphasized yet again in the encore, when Maida spotted an enthusiastic fan being directed back to her seat by security, and invited her up on stage instead. Intimate gestures like that — and grand gestures like playing a beloved album from front to back — make it impossible to second-guess Our Lady Peace’s audience appreciation. And with performances like this one, the band deserves all the reciprocated affection it receives.
- Toronto-based Sparks Music have signed Chin Injeti, known as CHIN, to a 
worldwide distribution deal with the Canadian release of his solo album D’tach set for April 6. Co-founder of the Juno award winning and groundbreaking group Bass is Base. Chin has been flying between homebase in Vancouver and studios in L.A. where he has been working producer, DJ Khalil (Aftermath Productions). Together the two have been producing and working with everyone from Dr. Dre, Nas, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, Clipse, and 50 Cent to Esthero, Kinnie Starr, Bedouin Soundclash and Zaki Ibrahim.
In December, The Clipse released their newest CD ‘Til The Casket Drops†which featured two tracks, “Kinda Like A Big Deal†– featuring Kanye West – and “There Was A Murder†from the CHIN / Khalil production team. A number of weeks earlier CHIN had received credits on a track called “Could’ve Been You†[featuring R Kelly] from 50 Cent’s new album as well as credits on a song called “Fear†from fellow Canadian sensation Drake that would appear on his breakthrough EP.
Sparks Music is targetting CHR, Urban and Hot AC radio with CHIN’s song “Mask On My Face†featuring K’Naan.
- The Bank of Canada will increase its target lending rate in June on evidence the economy is recovering, according to Sophia Drossos, co-head of global foreign-exchange strategy at Morgan Stanley in New York.
- Female singer-songwriters from the Sudbury area come together for an evening to showcase their music in an effort to raise funds for the Canadian Mental Health Association. The charitable lineup includes Sarah Craig, Cindy Doire, Faye Blais, Jess Lee, and Kristen Brutto. The event will be hosted by Scott Merri_eld on Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 at St-Andrew’s Place. Craig, Doire and Blais are in the running for this year’s Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards for Best Album, among other categories, which will be held May 1st in the Great Hall at Laurentian University.
- Canada keeps the Olympic-paced party going with the 5th Annual Canadian Blast BBQ at SXSW on March 17 at Brush Square Park. Sets by Born Ruffians (Ontario), You Say Party! We Say Die! (British Columbia), Hollerado (Ontario), Radio Radio (New Brunswick), Plants and Animals (Quebec) and Justin Rutledge and The Beauties (Ontario) are open to Platinum and Music badge holders.
Starting Thursday, March 18, Canada House will be the centre of Canadian music day and night. Located at Upstairs At Paradise, the venue is in the thick of SXSW action and features showcasing artists from every province and every musical style. Canada House will feature daytime industry showcases/parties from Noon to 6:00pm on Thursday, March 18 through Saturday, March 20. In the evening SXSW will program more Canadian acts at Canada House. The daytime schedule for Canada House can be found by linking here.
The “Young Artists for Haiti†is an unprecedented global collaboration of top young classical pianists who perform together virtually to raise awareness and donation for the continued support for the earthquake relief efforts by the Red Cross for Haiti. They expanded their call for help to Chile in light of the Chile earthquake. This group of young artists, aged 7-14, came from 7 countries and 4 continents, whose native languages cover half of world’s population. They consist of world-famous musicians and top winners of national and prestigious international piano competitions.
