Today’s Music News: Beatles catalog reportedly to hit streaming services this week
by Staff
December 20, 2015
According to sources considered reliable by Billboard, Beatles fans are about to get a massive Christmas gift: the Fab Four's catalog will reportedly debut on streaming services this week. There's been no official confirmation, but Billboard reports that users of "most, if not all" streaming services will be able to start playing the Beatles' music this week.
Whether because of this huge deal or just because of the spirit of the season, Paul McCartney seems to be in a festive mood — on Saturday night he joined Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on Saturday Night Live, and on Sunday he dropped by Barclays Center to watch the Brooklyn Nets take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
On Friday night in London, Ray Davies joined his brother Dave Davies on stage to play the song "You Really Got Me" by their band the Kinks. The Davies brothers hadn't publicly performed together since the Kinks broke up in 1996, and they've made sometimes rancorous comments about each other in the intervening years. Watch the reunion at Consequence of Sound.
A report from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner says that Scott Weiland died of a toxic combination of cocaine, ethanol, and MDA. Weiland died on a tour bus in Bloomington, Minn. on Dec. 3. (Rolling Stone)
Mother Jones has obtained most of Pete Seeger's 1,800-page FBI file. The FBI began investigating the folk music icon in 1943 when Seeger — then a private in the U.S. Army — protested a proposal to deport Japanese-Americans. The agency continued to keep tabs on Seeger for the next three decades.
After just a month in release, Adele's 25 has become the biggest-selling album since...well, since Adele's last album, 2011's 21. With almost six million copies sold, 25 has also sold more copies in a single calendar year than any album since Usher's Confessions, which sold nearly eight million copies in 2004. (Billboard)
In other Adele news, Ticketmaster president Jared Smith says that contrary to rumors, Ticketmaster didn't experience a crash or technical difficulty when tickets for Adele's North American tour went on sale last week — many fans were unable to buy tickets simply because demand for the seats was "unprecedented," with 10 million people logging on to attempt ticket purchases for the tour. (Rolling Stone)
The FBI has confirmed that despite the arrest of pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, there was no seizure warrant — which means, the bureau's New York office tweeted, "we didn't seize the Wu-Tang Clan album." The tweet refers to the single-copy album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which Shkreli reportedly paid $2 million for. (Rolling Stone)
New Nine Inch Nails is coming next year, says Trent Reznor. "Other stuff, too." (Pitchfork)
Classical music conductor Kurt Masur has died at age 88. Masur is credited for restoring the New York Philharmonic to musical glory as the orchestra's music director from 1991 to 2002. (YourClassical)
Making music during brain surgery: it's officially a trend. We've seen violin, we've seen guitar, we've even seen opera singing — and now, we've seen sax. (Billboard)
