Monday, June 27, 2016

Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 Responds!

Fresh off their appearance at the Firefly Music Festival, Blink-182 is gearing up to release their 7th studio album titled “California”. This time around, the Blink-182 lineup looks a bit different with founder/lead singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge out of the band, and Alkaline Trio singer Matt Skiba, in. Bad blood is nothing new to the band since they have already experienced a breakup that lasted from 2005-2009.

Earlier this week, reports began circling that DeLonge had left Blink to ‘search for UFO’s’. By now it is no secret that DeLonge has been fully invested in his extraterrestrial studies. He has a book titled Sekret Machines which discusses potential extraterrestrial life. We also got a glimpse of his obsession when he wrote the catchy Blink anthem ‘Aliens Exist’. However, DeLonge was not too fond of the reports about him and he wasted no time to comment on them. DeLonge took to his Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to show his frustration with the media reports writing “Quitting the band to search for UFOs? Hahhaha WTF is wrong with you media. I’m actually talking to Travis [Barker] about us right now… Never did quit, remember?” 

Still standing by his previous claims that he did not quit the band, DeLonge then goes on to say that he was even talking to Blink drummer Travis Barker! The two even exchanged tweets which were sure to get the Blink-182 fandom riled up. Tom stands by his decisions and insists that he has not quit the band, he simply has a lot going on with his side projects and he wants to focus on them for the time being.

With an album  dropping July 1st and a massive summer tour in place, Blink-182 fans shouldn’t stress too much about the drama. Matt Skiba has shown he can handle the expectations of replacing Tom DeLonge and has adapted to the intensity that is playing at Blink-182’ live shows. And who knows? A Tom DeLonge reunion with Blink-182 might come sooner than later; for DeLonge has shown every implication that he is still the same punk rocker at heart that we all know and love.

-Intern Hunter

Friday, June 17, 2016

The Song of Summer for 2016 Has Been Foreseen and We Have Science to Thank

There’s no need to keep your ears glued to the radio in order to find out which song will define your upcoming summer. In fact, Shazam has completed most of the hard work for you. The mobile app has been observing raw numbers and global trends of its 500 million users for the past few months. Through its prediction and ranking process, the music identification app has compiled a list of songs which will surely become the soundtrack of every BBQ, beach trip and backyard party you attend. So what do the numbers have in store for us in the months to come?


Coming off the monster success of their EDM hit “#Selfie” and indie-flavored “Roses”, The Chainsmokers didn’t disappoint with their latest single. The collaboration with Pittsburg-native, Daya, has received an overwhelming amount of positive commercial reception both domestically and internationally. “Don’t Let Me Down” has dominated Shazam’s music charts with over 2 million musical fingerprints. The song currently sits at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and has been on the chart for 17 weeks.


Musical newcomer Kent Jones goes proves to listeners that language barriers won’t hinder his romantic pursuits in his debut single, “Don’t Mind”. The hip-hop artists’ ode to women of all ethnicities has been experiencing an enormous surge in popularity. The song has received close to 2 million hits on Shazam and is quickly climbing up the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, where it’s currently ranked at No. 11. The single has spent a mere six weeks on the chart, leaving plenty of room for this hit to grow.


Receiving island treatment from Sean Paul, “Cheap Thrills” has provided Sia with her sixth No.1 hit on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs Chart. The second single from the critically acclaimed album, This Is Acting, has made a swift climb up the Billboard Hot 100 Chart as well. Over the past week the song has jumped from No. 19 to No. 13 as well received the largest gain in air play and performance of any song on the chart. The single had received over 6 million Shazams worldwide since its release.


The title song for the movie “Trolls” accumulated over 10,000 Shazams withing 24-hours of its release. The song’s fun and effervescent nature provide the perfect recipe for a windows-down summer jam. “CAN’T STOP THE FEELING!” has already peaked at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in its five-week appearance and hasn’t strayed very far from the top spot. 


Calvin Harris and Rihanna have proven to be a winning combination, providing us with smash-hits like “We Found Love”. The EDM track has been a commercial success since its release, debuting at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The single has received over 2 million Shazams and has dominated every musical chart it’s appeared on. If the early reception is any indication, this song will surely be played at clubs, parties and dance floors alike all summer long.


It’s no surprise that this tropical hit is in the running for “the song of summer”. Since its release, Drake’s first No.1 single has danced its way to the top of every music chart. The song is currently sitting pretty at No.1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart and shows no signs of slowing down. The track has reached 3.5 million worldwide Shazams.

- Intern Brittney

Friday, June 10, 2016

Festival Fever: How Day-Long Events Have Changed the Way Artists Tour

In recent years, festivals have reclaimed their title as the premier music event of the summer. Following in the footsteps of Woodstock, events such as Coachella and Governor’s Ball have revolutionized the way music is released, produced, and experienced. What began as a modest trend has surged into a global phenomenon, with over 800 events slated to take place in the U.S. this year. The recent surge in music festival popularity is largely driven by the overwhelming amount of top performers who choose to attend. These large multi-day events have proven to be profitable for the concert and event promotion industry, often selling out within hours of tickets sales launching. Music listeners aren’t the only fans of these large-scale events.

In recent years, artists have increasingly begun to choose touring via the festival circuit over touring on their own. Popular bands such as The Arctic Monkeys and Modest Mouse will often play at multiple festivals a year. An event’s reputation and endorsements have resulted in high profits for musical performers. In 2014, Rolling Stone released an article breaking down the business behind music festivals. According to the article, hip-hop duo Outkast made $60 million from playing 40 festivals that year. Festivals have become such a dominant force by requesting artists to sign a radius clause, which prevents the artist from performing within a specific geographic radius and time range. Although this complicates the booking process for tour dates, artists will often sign the radius clause anyway and simply tour along the festival circuit.

Aside from the profits, artists will opt to perform at music festivals because they enjoy playing at open-space venues. Short bursts of tents, sunshine and a large standing audience provide a nice change of pace amid a tour that consists of stadiums and clubs. Festivals also provide a great opportunity for small-scale bands to receive high-profile exposure. For these bands, being discovered by festival patrons and the social media buzz which occurs as a result will often provide the fuel necessary to launch their career to the next level. Electronic music artist Pretty Lights gained a tremendous social media following as a result of his 2010 performance at Coachella. During music festivals, fans saturate their social media feeds with photos, videos, and posts highlighting the performances they see. This year, fans posted over 5 million tweets in the Coachella’s first weekend alone.

The festival environment also provides a revival of music sales for bands who’ve released little to no new music.  Hard-rock band Guns N’ Roses, who received $14 million for their reunion at Coachella this year, experienced  surge in sales on iTunes as patrons prepared for their performance.

With Coachella grossing over $84 million in ticket sales with an attendance of over 200 million last year, it comes as no surprise that artists have begun to gravitate towards a more festival-based tour circuit. Coachella and Governor’s Ball are only a few of the several music festivals which will take place within the next four months. Some other notable festivals include Electric Daisy Carnival, Lollapolooza, Bonaroo and Firefly Music Festival.

- Intern Brittney