On January 18th, LateNights.ca and Mat Ste-Marie Dot Com will join forces to protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) which aim to allow the US government to censor the internet.
If you want to join us and participate in the blackout, you can use the Simple Stop SOPA WordPress plugin.
NDP Leader and Canadian politics icon Jack Layton has lost his battle with cancer in the morning of Monday August 22nd, 2011. As the NDP puts it on their web site, [his] torch will now be carried by every person who believes in a better tomorrow, every person who believes in dignity for our seniors and better opportunity for our youth – and by every person who believes through working together, we can make our great country even better.
As Jack wrote in his last letter to Canadians:
My friends, love is better than anger.
Hope is better than fear.
Optimism is better than despair.
So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.
And we’ll change the world.
Rest in Peace, Jack.
Links:
Jack Layton (NDP) | Jack Layton (Wikipedia) | New Democratic Party of Canada
Quite possibly the biggest Disco and House vocalist of all time, Loleatta Holloway passed away on the evening of March 21st.
Her career spanning almost 40 years, Loleatta gained the most attention with her 1980 hit Love Sensation. Of her 18 songs making it on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, 4 reached #1; this true Disco Queen is arguably the most sampled vocalist of the modern era, sadly, more often than not with no credit from the producers. Her powerful voice will forever remain one of dance music’s most recognizable hallmarks.
Links:
Loleatta Holloway Official MySpace | Loleatta Holloway Discography | Interview with Loleatta from disco-disco.com
In a music industry where it’s getting tougher by the minute to live off one’s work, the now contract-free British electronica duo Faithless may have found a way to promote their upcoming album The Dance without the push of a major label or even selling out to a big sponsor. Well, kinda.
The band behind the hit Insomnia just entered in an agreement with motor company FIAT to produce what is regarded as the world’s first ‘prommercial’, a three-minute music video for the new alum’s first single, Feelin’ Good, set to air on one of the commercial breaks during UK’s Big Brother this Sunday. No FIAT logos will be seen in the
video, only a cameo appearance by a blue Punto Evo car. Following that premiere, 30-seconds edited versions of the video will air as part of the normal ad campaign by FIAT, and a special edition of the car called the Feelin’ Good will be released.
The thing that stands out in all this is that the band is not receiving any compensation in this agreement, save for the big-budget video for their first single and the attached promotional exposure, all funded by FIAT. This gives them the same promo push as they would get from a major label, minus the headaches that usually come with such a contract. On FIAT’s side, they benefit from the credibility and edge that come with being associated with such a renowned act as Faithless. This, if it proves as beneficial to both sides as it is predicted, may very well change the future of funding in the music industry.
[via PSFK]