The curtains closed on the
biggest night for music scores and original songs for visual media. At the 2018
Academy Awards Alexandre Desplat received the award for his Original Score on
The Shape of Water which went onto win the Best Director and Best Picture as
well. Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez took home their second prize for
Original Song for Remember Me from Coco. Prior to this the Lopez’ received the
award for their song Let It Go written for Disney’s box office hit Frozen in
2014.
Ed Sheeran was the top recipient
at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards sweeping 4 awards including Male Artist of
the Year and Song of the Year for Shape of You. Some great performances of the
night were Camila Cabello & Young Thug with their hit Havana, Charlie Puth
with How Long and Cardi B who won Best New Artist performed a medley of her
hits Bartier Cardi, MotorSport, No Limit (with G-Eazy), Finesse and Bodak
Yellow. Bon Jovi who received the Icon Award also played a medley of It’s My
Life and Who Gives Love a Bad Name. Taylor Swift who was the recipient of the
Female Artist of the Year premiered the music video for her newest single
Delicate at the ceremony. Some of the other significant wins were:
- Best Duo/Group of the Year: Maroon 5
- Best Collaboration: The Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something just like this
- Alternative Rock Song of the Year: Portugal. The Man – Feel it still
- Country Song of the Year: Sam Hunt – Body like a back road
- Dance Song of the Year: Zedd & Alessia Cara – Stay
- Hip-Hop Song of the Year: DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller – Wild thoughts
- R&B Song of the Year: Bruno Mars – That’s what I like
- Latin Song of the Year: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee – Despacito
- Best Music Video: Harry Styles – Sign of the times
- Best Tour: U2
Luis Fonsi and Residente were
honored with the President’s Award and the Champion’s Award respectively at the
BMI Latin Awards for their social work and philanthropy as well as their status
as songwriters and artists with immense contributions to the Latin community.
The biggest shock of the month
or not something super shocking was when Fifth Harmony (or Fourth after Cabello
left in 2016) announced their hiatus to pursue solo endeavours. However, their
upcoming shows through to the end of 2018 will go ahead as planned. Fifth
Harmony seems to be another casualty of the curse where a group could not
survive the departure of a member. Prior to this One Direction went on a
hiatus, one year after Zayn Malik left to pursue a solo career.
On the legal front in the
music industry, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s
verdict in the District Court wherein damages were awarded against Robin Thicke
and Pharrell Williams for infringing the copyrights of Marvin Gaye’s hit Got To
Give It Up in their global hit Blurred Lines. The decision was a huge victory
for Gaye’s family who was awarded US $ 5.3 million by the jury. Whilst the
industry had mixed opinions with some believing this may hinder musical
creativity, some believe that artists should be more responsible in their
creations so as not to sample existing music without proper authorizations and
royalties.
Meanwhile in chart news, in the
US, Drake’s God Plan continued its formidable reign in the US with no proper
competition except for Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign’s Psycho which debuted
at No.2 during the month. During the month Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s The
Middle, XXXTentacion’s Sad! and Lil Dicky featuring Chris Brown’s Freaky Friday
all entered the top 10.
In the UK too, Drake’s God’s
Plan remained at the top during the entirety of the month with Rudimental
featuring Macklemore, Jess Glynne Dan Caplen’s These Days struggling at No.2
throughout. During the month Marshmello & Anne Marie’s Friends, Kendrick
Lamar & SZA’s All the Stars, Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton’s
Say Something and Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s The Middle all entered the top
10.
Other songs which became
popular during the month were:
1. George
Ezra – Paradise
2. Sigala
& Paloma Faith – Lullaby
3. Troye
Sivan – My my my!
4. Calum
Scott & Leona Lewis – You are the reason
5. Iggy
Azalea ft. Quavo – Savior
6. Niall
Horan – On the loose
7. Pink
– Whatever you want
Till the next beat...
At Ease!!!
