https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/ Filtering what is happening in music to save you time, money and effort. Brought to you by Human Beings, not AI bots. Mon, 04 May 2026 12:28:57 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/alanlogo-150x150.png https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/ 32 32 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/join-me-for-a-live-podcast-performance-of-uncharted-crime-and-mayhem-in-the-music-industry-the-topic-music-and-the-mob/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/join-me-for-a-live-podcast-performance-of-uncharted-crime-and-mayhem-in-the-music-industry-the-topic-music-and-the-mob/#respond Mon, 04 May 2026 12:01:26 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248484 Departure–now in its second year as the new incarnation for Canadian Music Week–runs May 4-10 in Toronto. Along with the conference, showcases, comedy performances, and film screenings, there will be a series of]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/join-me-for-a-live-podcast-performance-of-uncharted-crime-and-mayhem-in-the-music-industry-the-topic-music-and-the-mob/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/lets-go-back-to-the-days-when-the-mob-controlled-the-jukebox-industry/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/lets-go-back-to-the-days-when-the-mob-controlled-the-jukebox-industry/#respond Mon, 04 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248537 [This was my weekly column for GlobalNews.ca. – AC] My first job was at a place called Frosty’s, the only real hangout in my small prairie town. The front third of the building]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/lets-go-back-to-the-days-when-the-mob-controlled-the-jukebox-industry/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/get-ready-to-sing-its-music-monday/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/get-ready-to-sing-its-music-monday/#respond Mon, 04 May 2026 11:25:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248544 Fresh off some wildly successful shows in Hamilton, Toronto and other cities, Triumph is once again headlining a major effort, as the band’s hit song “Hold On” was selected as the theme for]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/get-ready-to-sing-its-music-monday/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/bored-with-your-current-phone-how-about-a-tin-can-phone-as-a-substitute/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/bored-with-your-current-phone-how-about-a-tin-can-phone-as-a-substitute/#respond Mon, 04 May 2026 11:15:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248535 Are you spending too much time doomscrolling on your phone? Bored of texting? Looking for something simpler? Then may I suggest the Tin Can Phone. Oh, it’s real. (Via Sean)]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/bored-with-your-current-phone-how-about-a-tin-can-phone-as-a-substitute/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/a-dutch-indie-band-just-got-a-huge-career-boost-from-trump/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/a-dutch-indie-band-just-got-a-huge-career-boost-from-trump/#respond Mon, 04 May 2026 11:10:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248529 Most of the world has never heard of Along Came Jones, an indie band from the Netherlands. I certainly hadn’t. As far as I know, they’re named after an old song by The]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/a-dutch-indie-band-just-got-a-huge-career-boost-from-trump/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/ongoing-history-daily-a-strange-radio-story/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/ongoing-history-daily-a-strange-radio-story/#respond Mon, 04 May 2026 11:05:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248496 In 1926, radio was still a very new technology. The German government, reeling under high inflation and reparations payments required by the Treaty of Versailles, was desperate to raise money. Someone came up]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/ongoing-history-daily-a-strange-radio-story/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/random-music-news-for-monday-may-4-2026/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/random-music-news-for-monday-may-4-2026/#respond Mon, 04 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248371 A “truck-mounted nuclear ‘power bank?” Yes. That will take care of charging a few phones. Moving to music news for May 4, 2026… BONUS: Apparently, transparent fried chicken is a thing.]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/random-music-news-for-monday-may-4-2026/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/which-artists-are-used-most-for-stress-relief-theres-been-a-study/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/which-artists-are-used-most-for-stress-relief-theres-been-a-study/#respond Sun, 03 May 2026 12:20:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248493 Stressed? Who isn’t? Maybe music is the answer to help quell the ambient dread that runs like a hum through all our lives. A healthcare company called The Intake commissioned a study of]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/which-artists-are-used-most-for-stress-relief-theres-been-a-study/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ontario-government-will-invest-20-million-in-music-festivals-and-other-events/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ontario-government-will-invest-20-million-in-music-festivals-and-other-events/#respond Sun, 03 May 2026 12:15:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248450 It’s been a rough 18 months for music festivals, with a couple of good ones, Sound of Music (Burlington) and Riverfest (Elora), closing down. Both were fantastic long-running events, but financial pressures eventually]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ontario-government-will-invest-20-million-in-music-festivals-and-other-events/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/our-adorable-opera-singer-reacts-to-a-megadeth-video/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/our-adorable-opera-singer-reacts-to-a-megadeth-video/#respond Sun, 03 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248479 Elizabeth Zharoff, the Charismatic Voice, is has a day job as a vocal coach. As a side hustle, she films her reactions to songs she’s never heard before. The hook? They’re songs we]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/our-adorable-opera-singer-reacts-to-a-megadeth-video/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/sunday-lunch-with-robert-fripp-and-toyah-willcox-revisists-a-one-hit-wonder/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/sunday-lunch-with-robert-fripp-and-toyah-willcox-revisists-a-one-hit-wonder/#respond Sun, 03 May 2026 11:48:18 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248520 Remember Republica? They came out of the UK with a dance-rock sound (or as they put it, “”technopop punk rock”). The singer’s name was Saffron, no doubt because of her very red hair.]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/sunday-lunch-with-robert-fripp-and-toyah-willcox-revisists-a-one-hit-wonder/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/its-here-an-ai-version-of-ballroom-blitz-spoofing-trump-and-his-ballroom/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/its-here-an-ai-version-of-ballroom-blitz-spoofing-trump-and-his-ballroom/#respond Sat, 02 May 2026 12:21:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248512 Trump is fixated on building a US$400 million ballroom attached the White House. After last week’s “assassination attempt,” his toadies are suddenly on board, too. About 24 hours after the “assassination attempt,” there]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/its-here-an-ai-version-of-ballroom-blitz-spoofing-trump-and-his-ballroom/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/what-exactly-is-spotifys-verfied-badge-is-it-to-identify-ai-artists-or-not/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/what-exactly-is-spotifys-verfied-badge-is-it-to-identify-ai-artists-or-not/#respond Sat, 02 May 2026 12:20:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248460 AI artists are flooding the libraries of streaming music services, and the situation is getting worse. (I take a close look at the problem here.) Something’s gotta be done. Spotify has begun rolling]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/what-exactly-is-spotifys-verfied-badge-is-it-to-identify-ai-artists-or-not/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/random-music-news-for-saturday-may-2-2026/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/random-music-news-for-saturday-may-2-2026/#respond Sat, 02 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248345 How do we smell? Like this. How about music news for May 2, 2026? BONUS: Gotta love the people of Buffalo and Sabres fans in general. (Via Sean)]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/random-music-news-for-saturday-may-2-2026/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/photos-and-a-review-of-angine-de-poitine-in-gatineau/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/photos-and-a-review-of-angine-de-poitine-in-gatineau/#respond Fri, 01 May 2026 12:39:29 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248465 [Emily Plunkett and Paul Harvey were there for the fun. – AC] Like so many, I was made aware of Angine De Poitrine around the end of March – back when the views]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/photos-and-a-review-of-angine-de-poitine-in-gatineau/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/heres-why-you-dont-want-to-be-singer-d4vds-lawyers-in-his-murder-trial-wow/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/heres-why-you-dont-want-to-be-singer-d4vds-lawyers-in-his-murder-trial-wow/#respond Fri, 01 May 2026 11:51:13 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248430 The biggest current crime in the music industry is the murder charges brought against singer D4vd. He’s accused of killing 14-year-old runaway Celeste Rivas Hernandez and leaving her remains in a cadaver bag]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/heres-why-you-dont-want-to-be-singer-d4vds-lawyers-in-his-murder-trial-wow/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/this-singing-robot-is-exactly-what-we-dont-need/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/this-singing-robot-is-exactly-what-we-dont-need/#respond Fri, 01 May 2026 11:15:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248427 Art is a uniquely human thing. So why are so many people trying to make it the domain of AI and robots? The latest abomination is Sophia, a singing humanoid robot who performed]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/this-singing-robot-is-exactly-what-we-dont-need/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ongoing-history-of-new-music-episode-1082-the-50-biggest-all-time-alt-rock-one-hit-wonders-10-1/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ongoing-history-of-new-music-episode-1082-the-50-biggest-all-time-alt-rock-one-hit-wonders-10-1/#respond Fri, 01 May 2026 11:10:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248290 Who doesn’t love a good list? Even before the internet was choked with listicles, my love of lists goes back to at least 1977, when I bought a paperback book called The Book]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ongoing-history-of-new-music-episode-1082-the-50-biggest-all-time-alt-rock-one-hit-wonders-10-1/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/ongoing-history-daily-singing-is-good-for-antibodies/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/ongoing-history-daily-singing-is-good-for-antibodies/#respond Fri, 01 May 2026 11:05:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248271 We all know that music can be good for the mind, body, and soul, which is why researchers continue to look at how music can be used for treating all manner of maladies.]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/ongoing-history-daily-singing-is-good-for-antibodies/feed/ 0 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/random-music-news-for-friday-may-1-2026/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/random-music-news-for-friday-may-1-2026/#respond Fri, 01 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/?p=248323 Companies are firing workers in favour of AI, but they’re spending more money on AI than they would have humans do those jobs. And if companies are all running on AI and there]]> https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/random-music-news-for-friday-may-1-2026/feed/ 0