Mr. Eazi

Mr. Eazi

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SXSW Adds Second Round Of Global Artists For March 2019 Festival

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Deerhunter, Mr. Eazi, Jerry Paper, Nadine Shah, and hundreds more emerging acts will make the 33rd SXSW in Austin, Texas a wild opener for 2019's festival season
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Nov 28, 2018 - 2:14 pm

On Nov. 28 SXSW added more than 240 showcasing artists, including Deerhunter, Mr. Eazi, Jerry Paper and Nadine Shah, to their 2019 music festival lineup, in addition to 240 artists already slated in their first-round announcement last month. Emerging talent from around the world will be the center-of-attention in Austin, Texas on March 11–17, 2019, as the annual music event reconvenes for its 33rd year.

Any small sampling of the global array of up-and-comers planning to play SXSW next spring is bound to call on many rising stars and the hits they have in store. For example, also on Nov. 28, Nigerian afrobeats performer Mr. Eazi released Lagos To London, a documentary to complement his recent mixtape of the same name, explaining his evolution as an artist. As music consumers in the U.S. and elsewhere continue to build their interest in more international sounds, Mr. Eazi's fans have even compared some of his beats to those of K-pop phenomenon BTS. SXSW will bring plenty of global sounds to Texas, with Seoul, South Korea to be represented by Cifika and Duo Bud.

Read More: Keith Urban, K-Pop, Women In Music: Go Behind The Scenes At SXSW 2018

Experimental indie-rock group Deerhunter from Atlanta, Ga. and rapper Jerry Paper from Los Angeles, Calif. will be there. Tyler, The Creator teamed up with Paper just two weeks ago on their release "Hot Chocolate," to warm up the winter months. Britain's Nadine Shah is also a new addition to the lineup, whose growing following delights in her unique sound, blending jazz and pop with influences from the Sufi music she grew up listening to with her Pakistani dad, putting her on the Mercury Prize shortlist for 2018.

Feast your eyes on the diversity of SXSW's second-round list at the festival's website and then indulge your ears with the fest's compilation on Mixcloud, introducing just some of these acts' new sounds. Whether from Asia, Australia, Europe or North and South America, these artists leave an impression that the world is in good hands with the energy they bring, striving to enrich us with their music.

SXSW Announces First Wave Of Artists For Music Festival In Spring 2019

Hyukoh

Hyukoh

Photo: Han Myung-Gu/WireImage

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Music Festivals 2018: SXSW Rebrands Its Korea Spotlight

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K-Pop Night Out is in the works for SXSW in March, which is shining its Korea Spotlight on performers Hyukoh, Kard, and many more
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jan 16, 2018 - 2:27 pm

Korea Spotlight is the new name for the Korean Creative Content Agency's sixth annual showcase at SXSW 2018. Formerly known as K-Pop Night Out, the 18+ event will take place on March 16 at Austin, Texas' the Belmont.  The event promises a packed lineup, including indie rockers Hyukoh, tropical fusion group Kard, and newcomers Say Sue Me.

Other Korean artists to catch in Texas will be Cifika, whose Jan. 14 Momom YouTube is spinning into higher views, and rappers DPR Live. Korean R&B will be out in force as well with Crush and Lee Hi.

SXSW is always an opportunity to broaden horizons and become exposed to new sounds and visions. Fans and industry members alike will sure be eager to explore these poised Korean talents who are all trending even as the K-pop wave rises higher and higher.

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Deerhunter's Bradford Cox

Deerhunter's Bradford Cox 

Photo: Xavi Torrent/WireImage

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Deerhunter's Bradford Cox: "I'm The Closest Thing That Our Age Has To A Bowie"

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The enigmatic frontman goes deep on the psych-pop band's latest and greatest album, Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? 
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jan 21, 2019 - 8:43 am

Psych-pop modernists Deerhunter released their eighth studio album, Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?, this past week to much critical acclaim. In support of the record, singer-songwriter and frontman Bradford Cox has been making the interview rounds, leading to some highly quotable soundbites. "I'm the closest thing that our age has to a Bowie. Take it or leave it," he told Rolling Stone. "Look around. Our culture has twisted itself into really poor shape."

As no doubt can be expected, Cox is a huge fan of Nicolas Roeg's 1976 sci-fi classic The Man Who Fell To Earth, which stars David Bowie as the titular extraterrestrial.

Cox also touched on his grief over the death of Deerhunter's former bassist (he left the band in 2012), Josh Fauver, who died in Nov. 2018 at the age of 39. Looking back at how Fauver left Deerhunter, Cox admitted, "I don’t like change. Superficial changes, aesthetic changes, I like. But not permanent change. I hated it when he quit, and I find his death so unsettling. It’s the most disturbing thing."

But Deerhunter are still looking ahead. Guitarist Lockett Pundt praised the band's finished product, saying, "We definitely went through some ups and downs of morale, but I’m ecstatic with the end result. We pretty much always have a mid-album crisis. Like, literally every time. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a Deerhunter album if we didn’t."

Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? is out now via 4AD.

Panda Bear Announces Tour In Support of Upcoming Album 'Buoys'

Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie Hynde

Photo: Samir Hussein/Getty Images

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Chrissie Hynde, Annie Lennox, More Artists Come Out Against Brexit

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Artist signatories of the Music4EU petition join major UK music organizations, executives, managers, event organizers and more
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Dec 12, 2018 - 3:35 pm

On Dec. 11 the UK organization Music4EU launched its petition and signature drive uniting leading British artists, executives and music community organizations to oppose Brexit, Britain's plan to exit the European Union. Billy Bragg, Paloma Faith, Chrissie Hynde, Annie Lennox, Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, and Nadine Shah are just a few among the many British artists who endorse the petition's statement, "Brexit represents a significant threat to the UK's music industry."

Exit from the EU was chosen by British referendum in 2016, but the problem with Brexit is the lack of details in the plan, and also the complexity of EU regulations that have harmonized systems such as travel and taxation, making life more convenient. Negotiations between UK Prime Minister Theresa May and the EU have not resolved the need for agreed details governing an orderly departure.

As a result, the Music4EU petition's signatories believe, "Leaving the EU’s customs union, single market, VAT [taxation] area and regulatory framework (in whole or part) could devastate our global market leadership, and damage our freedom to trade, tour and to promote our artists and our works."

Music organizations endorsing the petition's warning include the Association of Independent Music; British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors; Featured Artist Coalition; Music Managers Forum; Music Producers Guild; and the Musicians Union. Rolling Stone has a useful summary, but the petition itself and its growing list of endorsements conveys its own special character.

"It is critical to find a way out of this mess," the petition concludes. "Therefore we ask you to examine alternative options to maintain our current influence and freedom to trade."

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Eddy Cue at SXSW 2018

Eddy Cue

Photo: Jason Bollenbacher/Getty Images

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SXSW 2018: Eddy Cue On The Expanding Apple Ecosystem

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Keynote conversation takes into account new models for music consumption
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Mar 13, 2018 - 4:15 pm

There's no doubt that Apple has made some sweeping changes to the way its products align with the consumption of music — look no further than the success of their Apple Music streaming service or the rampant rumors the iTunes music digital download store could be discontinued.

In a keynote conversation held at SXSW at the Austin Convention Center in Texas on March 12, Apple Senior VP, Internet, Software and Services Eddy Cue took some time to shed light into Apple's ecosystem expansion plans, including the music sector, with CNN's Dylan Byers.

The Apple Music subscription service grew in line with expectations last month, from 36 million subscribers to 38 million. But the paying customers for Apple Music and other subscription services are just a small part of the much larger demographic Apple is already serving.

"We have half a billion people visiting the App Store every week," said Cue. "There are easily 2 billion people in the world who can afford to pay for some level of music, yet Spotify and Apple Music combined have only around 100 million subs globally. There's a huge gap there and we both have to grow by a significant amount in order to get to the numbers that we should be at. … The opportunity here … is about sheer growth for music streaming, about compensating for that audience gap."

In addition, Cue highlighted Apple's smart speaker, HomePod, emphasizing its high music intelligence and its potential in a market with other smart speakers. Cue also reported the expanding adoption for Apple's AR software development kit, now in use by more than 2,000 App Store titles, saying the technology would become "a mainstream product that people use every single day."

Focusing on various touchpoints in Apple's business model, from streaming to apps, AR and more, it seems no matter what the rumors say, Apple isn't straying far from keeping music at the core of their business.

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