This Week In Music - Thursday 16th December ??

A weekly update on all things music, advertising, and technology coming straight to you from Anthony Vanger at MassiveMusic. #TWIM

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: BUFFALO NICHOLS

It's rare that music is so evocative it actually tastes of something. Born in Houston but raised in Milwaukee, Carl “Buffalo” Nichols, 30, is a skillful finger-picker and slide guitarist with a killer voice. He has spent the last 10 years playing all kinds of music all over the world - from rock to punk - even ending up playing in a blues bar in Kiev. But then he came home and stumbled across something old and made it new. His take on country blues injects life into what had been a moribund genre. The songs are personal but also veer, with seething anger, into social and political commentary. And when his voice chimes perfectly with his guitar, the music rises out of the earth, tasting like blood, and demanding to be heard.

#BuffaloNichols?#HowToLove?#FatPossumRecords

Buffalo Nichols performing 'How To Love' from the debut self-titled album: https://open.spotify.com/album/2P9z3iSo6T3NmaX5q4FjTc?si=PDABOqZIR0ayGLjNUZIy2w

AD OF THE WEEK: REACT FOR REAL

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has served the people of Afghanistan for 30 years. And it’s not stopping now. The organization remains operational across the country, together with its partner the Afghan Red Crescent Society.

To generate much-needed support for the organization, Wunderman Thompson has created a data-led film, ‘React For Real’. Inspired by the timeless expression, ‘If I had a dollar for every time…’, the film demonstrates the potential monetary value of our reactions on social media.

The team conducted an intensive data analysis of social media reactions as well as research on real-time needs in Afghanistan for ICRC. Anonymous data was garnered, studied, and analyzed to highlight the emojis and hashtags that were most commonly used in response to this crisis. Solid work from Wunderman Thompson Dubai.

430 SONGS SURPASSED 1BN VIDEO VIEWS ON TIKTOK IN 2021 – 3 TIMES MORE THAN IN 2020

Approximately?430 songs?surpassed 1 billion video views as TikTok ‘sounds’ in 2021, which?was three times more than in 2020, when over 175 songs reached the billion view mark.

That’s according to the?ByteDance-owned short-form video platform’s new ‘Year on TikTok 2021 Music Report’, which also reveals the top songs, genres, and artists on the platform over the year.

TikTok notes that these view counts don’t “exist in a vacuum, but directly translate to commercial success for trending songs and artists”, with over 175 songs that trended on the platform in 2021 charting on the?Billboard?Hot 100, twice the number that charted in 2020 according to TikTok.

In December 2020,?TikTok reported?that over 70 artists that broke on the platform last year signed major label deals.

This year, while TikTok hasn’t provided an exact number of artists who went on to sign deals after seeing success on the platform, it does cite a few creators in particular as having “earned major label contracts and millions of monthly listeners on?Spotify” by leveraging their followings.

COVID-19’S GENETIC CODE HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO AMBIENT MUSIC

The genetic code of COVID has been made into a set of tracks that are available to own as NFTs.

Behind the data project is?Viromusic?who have created the ambient music which are made using “genetic sequence inside the Coronavirus.

“Using a technique called DNA Sonification, the melody in the songs is derived entirely from the viral sequence.

“Every note in the melody is part of the step-by-step instructions the virus uses to make more copies of itself.”

They have added compilatory instruments such as, cello and bass to finalize the sound. So far 10,000 tracks using the genetics have been made in a huge range of music genres. Tracks are available now on the?Rarible?platform as NFT’s with a starting price of 0.07 Ethereum, which is around ￡210.

Owners are given details about their specific track including which part of the COVID genetic sequence corresponds to the code used in the song as well as, a description of what that gene is used for in the virus.

According to?NME?Viromusic have said: “Not a single note has been altered – it’s a direct musical representation of the viral code,”

AIAIAI LAUNCHES WIRELESS HEADPHONES FOR MUSIC CREATION

The world's first wireless headphones for music production have been unveiled by?AIAIAI.

The?TMA-2 Studio Wireless+?headphones have been co-developed with?Richie Hawtin.

The new W+ Link technology, particularly created for music production, has ultra-low latency and lossless audio, as well as the resilience and stability necessary to enable a latency-free wireless experience.

Standout features of this product include Bluetooth connectivity with +80h playback and enhanced comfort with?Alcantara.

The headphones offer clear and accurate sound representation with AIAIAI’s bio-diaphragm speaker – S05; Ultra-soft Over-Ear foam cushions covered with resilient CO2 Alcantara.

It has a charge time of 2 hours and long-lasting battery life.

The product will be available in January 2022 and is available for?pre-order now.

Merry Christmas ??

Written by?Anthony Vanger

Additional research and reporting by?Adam "Badger" Woolf

Artwork by?Badger

Visit my?Official Website