In shocking news, Eddie Van Halen dies of cancer. Eddie became an icon through his guitar playing. He along with his brother Alex built one of the most successful rock bands of all time. Despite inner band turmoil, the 4 piece band stayed relevant for nearly 3 decades with two different lead singers. Eddie was a brilliant musician. Many don’t know that Eddie played the solo on Michael Jackson’s Beat It. Eddie’s solos will live on forever.
Let the tributes begin.

Spotify has published weekly album charts. Which means you are up to date on a weekly basis of the most popular artists and tracks.

The Weekly Top 50 will look at the most popular albums and tracks in the world each week, Friday through Thursday, consisting of a US Weekly Album Chart, Global Weekly Album Chart, US Weekly Song Chart and Global Weekly Song Chart.
These new album charts are only going to be released on the @spotifycharts Twitter.
Also, Spotify added another cool feature that lets you search for songs by lyrics.

The 3 things people really should not talk are politics, religion, and money. It never ends well. That’s not my rule. That’s the golden rule, a basic principle that should always be followed to ensure success.

That’s why Silicone Valley company Coinbase has announced that it will not engage with pressing political and social issues. Employees who disagree are offered exit packages.

Toxicity in the work place has reached new levels. Why? People can’t stop talking about politics.

Politics has infiltrated everything. Sports, Social Media, School, Music, Work, Church, Playgrounds. There isn’t an escape and people are mentally exhausted.

Because people broke the social norm of avoiding these 3 things, the deluge of vitriol swamping American politics has now swarmed the workplace. Because it leads to conflict, arguments, and silent resentment, it’s resulting in the lack of productivity in the workplace.
Back to Coinbase folks. CEO Brian Armstrong declared that his “mission focused” company would ignore all issues outside of its goal to foster “an open financial system for the world.” The manifesto offers that the company will minimize attention on things like policy, non-profit work, “broader societal issues,” and politics to the degree they are unrelated to its core goal.

For the employees who “don’t feel comfortable with the new direction” of the company are free to leave.

“I predict most successful companies will follow Coinbase’s lead. If only because those who don’t are less likely to succeed,” tweeted Graham.
I agree with Graham. A company is unified through its mission. Apple’s mission is “to bring the best personal computing products and support to students, educators, designers, scientists, engineers, businesspersons and consumers in over 140 countries around the world.”

Apple can’t carry out its mission if they become laser beamed focus on politics. Instead of Apple bringing the best computing products, they’ll bring out the worst in people.
The golden rule stands today as it did a 100 years ago.

I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man’s reasoning powers are not above the monkey’s.” –Mark Twain.

When Blackout Tuesday took over social media it had an unlikely ally. That was CCM (Contemporary Christian Music). Sure the action was organized by music industry executives, but the Christian Music Industry and its artists generally avoids political discussion, controversy, and disputes. But not this time. Popular CCM artists like Chris Tomlin, for King & Country, Casting Crowns, Matt Maher, Elevation Worship and Kari Jobe and many others partook in TheShowMustBePaused initiative.

The celebrity pastors also shared their voice in support including Hillsong’s Carl Lentz and Brian Houston as well as Judah Smith, Chad Veach and Loui Giglio.

But as the black squares flooded Instagram of Christian artists on June 1st, so did the comments. And it was with a mixed reaction. Some showed support while others vowed never to attend a show again while threatening to unfollow them.

Although christian artists may seemingly support BLM there is a sizable population that view it as an organization tied to an American Political Party. For the CCM artist it can prove quite a conundrum finding the balance between church and politics.
Justin Bieber can enter the political fray, lose a portion of the audience and still have a viable career, whereas a CCM artist could be wiped off the map.

The network of Christian show organizers, churches and radio programmers can have a lasting effect on their ability to perform.
The biggest threat is the backlash from the christian community which is their only audience. It’s a small audience and 100% of their revenue stream.

Christian artists are not entertainers. They aren’t being paid for the song and dance. They are viewed as missionaries that visit churches with a song and a message. Many live off of funds and donations. It’s not uncommon for christian artists to walk away with thousands in funds for a three song set at a local church, while most of their supporters are conservative leaning.

The impact will be seen in late 2021 when touring resumes. Will they still have an audience that forks over money to support their mission? Or will they see them as political activists campaigning for social change mixed with politics. This is the talk in christian circles, and that’s what insiders are grappling with.
While christian artists are caught up in the crossfire of politics, some fear that the upcoming backlash could black out christian music.

I Hope by Gabby Barrett is on fire. It’s a song that has taken a life of its own.

So Gabby finished 3rd on the 16th season of American Idol. The show for the most part that has lost its luster. After idol she independently released the song “I Hope” in 2018. At this point, artist generally fade away, but not Gabby. A year later she signed with Warner Music Nashville after she performed the song as guest performer on American Idol 17th season.

Good move by the label. A year later, the song topped the country charts.

Then she released a new version of song that features Charlie Puth and the song landed on Billboard’s Hot 100. It’s the first time Charlie landed on country radio as well.
Why is it a big multi format hit? Because it’s one of the few songs today where the words perfectly connect with the music. And it’s a cheat song. You cheated on me, and I hope you fall off the earth. Who never felt that? We all did, it’s a universal theme. Songs with attitude and intensity also do quite well if the artist can pull it off and Gabby did. The track you hear on the radio has the original vocals she cut on the demo. It’s one and done. When artists recut vocals, it loses intensity. Any producer will tell you this.
Now the song landed on Billboard’s Hot 100 in August and is climbing up the top 40 charts. I won’t be surprised if the track grabs the #1 spot.
Let’s see if radio comes around and takes more chances. The biggest songs this year don’t fit neatly into a format. Lewis Capaldi’s two number one songs are down tempo tear jerkers. Not great for formatting, but that’s what people want to hear. Give people what they want and change with the times.