Music publishing sector booming with high-profile sales Shakira performs during the halftime show of NFL Football Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, Florida, U.S, on Feb. 2, 2020. REUTERS-YonhapThe pandemic has left the performance industry reeling but music publishing, a normally under-the-radar side of the business, is roaring thanks to a frenzy of high-profile music catalog sales. The royalty streams of songwriting copyright portfolios can prove lucrative for the long haul, and increasingly are enticing investors even as other industries tank under the pandemic's weight.In many cases, the transactions have come at staggering prices: Bob Dylan sold his full publishing catalog for a reported sum of $300 million to Universal Music Publishing Group, while Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac sold a majority stake in her catalog reportedly for $100 million.Neil Young and the duo behind Blondie inked deals for undisclosed amounts, as did Shakira. Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood, both also of Fleetwood Mac, each recently announced sales that include publishing copyrights to hits including the 1977 song "Dreams," which recently enjoyedJan 17, 2021
INTERVIEW Gugak seeks breakthrough with launch of music archive Lim Jae-won, director general of the National Gugak Center Courtesy of the National Gugak CenterBy Park Ji-wonListening to “gugak,” or traditional Korean music, may not be familiar even to many Koreans. Since the influx of Western music after the 1950-53 Korean War, globally popular music has been enjoyed in mainstream culture while the traditional genre has only been consumed among a very small group of people. However, since the release of BTS's Suga's (August D) “Daechwita,” a K-pop song sampling Korea's traditional military band music “Daechwita” in May last year, and thanks to the rising popularity of megahit promotion videos from the Korean Tourism Organization starring Leenalchi, an alternative pop band incorporating pansori (traditional singing performances and lyrics) themes, things started to change. Many saw the possibility of exploiting gugak for financial gain and growing Korea's global brand.Marking the 70th anniversary of its establishment, Lim Jae-won, director general of the National Gugak Center, which provided the sampling of &ldJan 14, 2021By Park Ji-won
Live music venues going out of business one after another amid COVID-19 pandemicBy Park Ji-wonThe COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the loss of numerous live music venues for performing artists, but its impact has been particularly tough for indie musicians centered around Hongik University in western Seoul, also known as Hongdae, the center of Korea's independent music scene.On Jan. 4, Evans Lounge, a live music venue that had been hosting regular indie rock and jazz concerts in Hongdae since Dec. 5, 2011, closed its doors for good. A post on Evans Lounge's Instagram account read, “Evans Lounge, which opened on Dec. 5, bids farewell as of Jan. 4. We express our deepest gratitude to the musicians and audiences who brightened our venue. We hope we can meet again at a better time in the future. Happy New Year.”The owner of Evans Lounge was quoted by Yonhap News as saying that the company was forced to pay rent from its deposit money from August and after the implementation of the level 2.5 social distancing measures last year, it was unable to stay afloat.The shuttering of Evans Lounge followed the closing of a number of live music venues in recent months in HongdJan 9, 2021By Park Ji-won
Grammy Awards postponed to March due to pandemic The 63rd Grammy Awards has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Capture from Grammys' official websiteBy Dong Sun-hwaThe 63rd Grammy Awards has been postponed to Mar. 14 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to its organizer The Recording Academy Tuesday (local time). The Recording Academy, broadcaster CBS and show producers said in a joint statement ― released on the Grammys' official website ― that the deteriorating COVID situation in Los Angeles had led them to conclude that the decision was inevitable.As of Wednesday, Los Angeles County reported more than 820,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 10,000 deaths. “Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show ― we want to thank all of the talented artists, the staff, our vendors and especially this year's nominees for their understanding, patience and willingness to work with us as we navigate these unprecedented times,” they said. The Grammys, one of the world's most prestigious music awaJan 6, 2021By Dong Sun-hwa
Leslie West, guitarist of rock band Mountain, has died at 75 In this May 7, 2008, file photo, Leslie West, of Mountain, performs at the seventh annual Jammy awards at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. AP-YonhapLeslie West, an iconic guitarist-vocalist who was behind several '70s rock anthems including ``Mississippi Queen'' with the popular band Mountain, has died. He was 75.His spokesman Steve Karas said West died Wednesday in Palm Coast, Florida. Karas said West died from cardiac arrest after being rushed to the hospital.West battled with health issues in the past few years. In 2011, his lower right leg was amputated in a life-saving operation related to his diabetes.Rockers like Gene Simmons and Slash showed support for West on social media a day before his death when it was clear he was in dire condition. Paul Stanley called West a ``gentle man and guitar hero'' on Twitter.West began his music career in the mid-60s with The Vagrants with his brother Larry West Weinstein, who played bass. The band known as a blue-eyed soul group had a minor hit with ``I Can't Make a Friend'' and covered Otis Redding's ``Respect'' in 1967.In tDec 25, 2020
Paul McCartney urges vaccine take-up as new album released Karl Shale poses with a copy of the newly released album McCartney III by British musician Paul McCartney in the Sounds of Universe record store in London on December 18, 2020. AFP-YonhapBritish pop legend Paul McCartney on Friday urged people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, as he celebrated the release of a new solo album crafted during this year's lockdown.The former Beatle, who revealed in October he had resurrected unfinished music to complete the record, said the internet had allowed so-called anti-vaxxers' misleading messages to "take hold"."I will (have the vaccine), and I'd like to encourage people to get it too," he told BBC radio."There used to be anti-vaccine people, that was OK, that was their choice."But with the internet now these things really take hold and so you do get these people who won't take it."The new album "McCartney III", released a week later than originally planned, is his third eponymous solo album.It follows months of work at his home studio in Sussex, in southern England, on previously started and new songs.It has all been written, produced aDec 21, 2020
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra to live stream Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) Courtesy of SPOBy Park Ji-wonThe Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) will perform Beethoven's “Choral” Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 at the Lotte Concert Hall to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth, Sunday. The concert will be live streamed.The 65-minute performance subtitled “2020 Beethoven Ode to Joy,” arranged by Jaakko Kuusisto, composer, conductor, and violinist, will be presented with a variety of artists ― conductor Markus Stenz, bass Park Jong-min, mezzo-soprano Lee A-kyeong, soprano Park Hye-sang, tenor Mario Bahg and the National Chorus of Korea ― and will viewable on SPO's YouTube channel, NaverTV, and Seoul City's YouTube channel for free from 5 p.m.The symphony was performed by about 200 musicians last year. But as the number of COVID-19 infections is spiking, the arranger reduced the number of performers and made it into a chamber piece. This year, 64 musicians, including a conductor, four soloists and a 24-member choir will present the work. More brass instruments were added compared to tDec 20, 2020By Park Ji-won
INTERVIEW Korean American composer transforms daily life into music By Park Ji-wonKim Texu, a professor of composition and music theory poses during an interview with The Korea Times at Ode Port in Seoul, Dec. 8. Korea Times photo by Park Ji-wonA fractal is a mathematical concept referring to a feedback loop pattern that repeats a replication process indefinitely. This kind of self-similar pattern can be seen in many things. For example, the Eiffel Tower has a fractal-esque structure and many examples of approximate fractal structures can be found in nature, for example in fernbrake ― a key ingredient in well-known Korean dish bibimbap. The sci-fi fiction novel “Jurassic Park” also referenced the concept heavily.While not everyone possesses deep knowledge of fractals, artists like Kim Texu, a professor of composition and music theory at San Diego State University, combines the knowledge with art forms. The Korean American composer applied the concept to a piece entitled “Frattalissimo!!” in 2012 which was first played by the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble at the Aspen Music Festival the same year.“I introduced fractals intoDec 15, 2020By Park Ji-won
Top 10 news in music: K-pop, trot are not mutually exclusive BTS is named Time Magazine's Entertainment of the Year for 2020. / Courtesy of Time Magazine By Park Han-solThe year 2020 saw a rare phenomenon in the Korean music industry: It was the year of mutual gains for trot and K-pop, defying the long-held belief that musicians of the two drastically different genres are inevitably pitted against each other over popularity.While the pandemic opened new doors for the K-pop industry to experiment with livestreaming services and virtual technologies to meet global fans, albeit digitally, megastar BTS became the first Korean act to be nominated for a Grammy.At home, veteran trot singer Na Hoon-a created a sensation after the huge success of his TV concert on the eve of the Chuseok long weekend. This contributed further to an already existing boom in the trot genre, evidenced by the popularity of “Mr. Trot,” which broke TV Chosun's viewership records every week it aired.Below are the top 10 news stories that redefined the Korean Dec 14, 2020By Park Han-sol
Beatles survivors McCartney and Ringo still making music In this file photo taken on April 13, 2016, Paul McCartney performs on Opening Night of the One On One Tour at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. AFP-YonhapIn this file photo taken on September 1, 2019, Ringo Starr performs during the Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band concert at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California. AFP-YonhapForty years after John Lennon died at the hands of an evangelical Christian assassin, surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are still making music, now on their own.Sir Paul may be 78 years old but he is bringing out his 18th solo album "McCartney III" on December 18.It will be the third album McCartney has released on which he has not only written the songs but also played everything from piano to drums.Fab Four drummer Ringo is 80 and does not enjoy the same level of global fame as Lennon and McCartney, or perhaps even the late George Harrison, but he too is still going strong."McCartney III" refers back to "McCartney", released in 1970 ― the first time he did everything himself ― and "McCartney II" from 1980."McCartney is a pioneer ofDec 6, 2020
