Justin Bieber‘s new album, Swag, is dominating the Billboard charts in Canada.
On the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, Swag debuts at No. 1 — knocking Morgan Wallen’s I’m The Drawback all the way down to No. 2, after it spent eight weeks on the prime. Swag marks Bieber’s first full-length undertaking since Justice in 2021, which additionally peaked at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums chart and notched 5 weeks within the prime spot.
The second undertaking from rapper Travis Scott‘s label showcase Jackboys, dubbed Jackboys 2, is at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart, however debuts at No. 2 in Canada behind Bieber.
Bieber’s shock album, launched July 11, additionally grabs 17 spots on the Billboard Canadian Sizzling 100, dated July 26, in its first week. Of the 21-song album, two tracks cracked the highest 10 on the Canadian Sizzling 100: “Daisies” at No. 2 and “Yukon” at No. 8. In his house nation, Bieber boasts 38 prime 10 profession hits — most just lately “Keep” with The Kid LAROI, which spent 12 weeks on the prime in 2021.
Whereas Swag leans into Bieber’s pop and R&B roots, the undertaking prioritizes experimental manufacturing and instrumentation. Whereas he labored with longtime collaborator Harv, Swag contains influences from songwriters and producers Carter Lang, Dijon, mk.gee and Eddie Benjamin — to call a number of. Canadian R&B star Daniel Caesar, who was featured on Bieber’s 2021 No. 1 hit “Peaches,” is credited as a author and producer on “Devotion,” which debuts at No. 50 on the chart.
Although he mentioned he was coming for No. 1, Drake‘s “What Did I Miss?” strikes down from No. 2 to No. 7, whereas “Nokia” sits at No. 39. Alex Warren’s “Odd” stays at No. 1 for its fifteenth week.
Learn extra on the Canadian charts here.
SOCAN Sues Pageant d’été de Québec (FEQ) Over Licensing Charges: Report
Pageant d’été de Québec (FEQ) is being sued by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) for copyright infringement and failure to pay royalties for roughly three years.
SOCAN, which is liable for granting licences and gathering royalties on licensed music in Canada, claims within the lawsuit filed in federal court docket that since no less than July 2022, the competition’s organizers “have didn’t receive a license from SOCAN and haven’t paid any royalties or submitted any report types to SOCAN.”
The court docket declare for copyright infringement, which was filed July 3 (the identical day the competition started), cites The Pageant worldwide d’été de Québec Inc. and BLEUFEU as defendants within the case.
“Bleufeu and Pageant d’été de Québec function FEQ, certainly one of Canada’s largest music festivals, drawing a complete attendance of 1.4 million over 11 days and producing tens of thousands and thousands in income annually,” SOCAN writes in a statement on their web site. “Whereas Pageant d’été de Québec is a registered charity, the performances it presents are just about indistinguishable from these of its for-profit opponents, and Canadian legislation nonetheless requires it to pay licensing charges for these performances.”
On Saturday (July 12), FEQ released a statement to Canadian Press that “honest remuneration, in accordance with the very best business requirements,” is among the competition’s core values.
The organizers questioned SOCAN’s motives for “submitting authorized proceedings in the course of the competition, regardless of discussions that had been ongoing till very just lately” and that “continuing in English, within the context of a Quebec cultural occasion, appears inappropriate and disconnected from the fact of the neighborhood.” FEQ mentioned it had a special interpretation of the legislation from SOCAN and that different comparable organizations shared the identical interpretation.
On Tuesday (July 22), SOCAN released another statement on its web site, “On Truthful Compensation for Music Creators from Canadian Festivals.” In it, the group mentioned the timing was pushed by authorized constraints, and that the declare needed to be filed by July 6 as a way to embody all performances from the 2022 competition.
The web page features a Q&A about SOCAN license charges, together with how and to whom they’re distributed. Festivals are required by the Copyright Board of Canada to pay license charges to SOCAN within the quantity of three% of ticket gross sales and the equal of three% of the quantity paid to performers without spending a dime concert events, the group wrote.
“All entities, no matter tax standing, should pay license charges for business stay performances in public of musical works. The Copyright Act supplies a restricted exception in some instances for charitable organizations — however this doesn’t apply when admission is charged or when the performers, technicians, producers, distributors, or others working on the live performance are paid.”
Except for FEQ, SOCAN confirms within the assertion that also they are pursuing different proceedings “infringing competition performances.”
One in every of Canada’s greatest music festivals, FEQ, concluded on Sunday, July 13, after 11 days of programming. This yr’s iteration boasted common artists from throughout the style spectrum, together with Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan, Shania Twain, Def Leppard, Slayer and Benson Boone.
Canadian Lady Dies at Weekend 1 of Belgium’s Tomorrowland Music Pageant
A Canadian girl has reportedly died after attending the Tomorrowland music competition on Friday (July 18).
The unnamed 35-year-old “turned unwell on the competition grounds” on the occasion’s opening evening in Increase, Belgium, a small metropolis outdoors of Antwerp, in line with an announcement from Tomorrowland spokeswoman Debby Wilmsen to the Canadian Press.
She “obtained first assist on web site,” and was taken to the College Hospital of Antwerp, the place she later died on Saturday morning (July 19).
“This morning, we had been saddened to study of her demise. Our ideas are along with her household, associates, and family members,” mentioned Wilmsen.
At present, Belgian authorities are investigating the girl’s demise at one of many world’s largest digital music festivals.
World Affairs Canada mentioned it’s conscious of experiences {that a} Canadian girl had died in Belgium, however wouldn’t launch data on account of privateness issues.
The information comes after Tomorrowland’s major stage was destroyed by fire on July 16, casting doubt on whether or not the competition would go on. The next day, the competition opened as scheduled with an alternate stage nonetheless below building.
Tomorrowland attracts digital music fanatics from everywhere in the world. This yr’s occasion options DJs together with David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Eric Prydz, Sofi Tukker, Misplaced Frequencies and Charlotte de Witte.
Tomorrowland runs throughout two weekends, July 18-20 and July 25-27, and is anticipating about 400,000 attendees this yr.