Xposition - March, 2018

Attention!!!

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 9^th 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!!!

Xposition - February, 2017

Attention!!!

It was all about the Grammys in February as the most esteemed awards ceremony in music took place at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, California. The 59^th Annual Grammy Awards kicked off with Beyonce leading the fray with 9 nominations. However, Adele was the biggest winner of the night grabbing 5 awards including the coveted triple crowns for Song of the Year and Record of the Year for Hello and the Album of the Year for 25. Adele also became the first artist in history to win all three general field awards in the same ceremony twice, previously winning all three categories in 2012. She was followed by David Bowie and Greg Kurstin with four trophies.

The ceremony kicked off with a stellar performance of Hello by Adele followed by other great performances by Ed Sheeran with his global hit Shape of You and Bruno Mars’s That’s What I Like. The ceremony had three tributes wherein Adele sang George Michael’s Fastlove, Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly, Little Big Town and Andra Day collaborating for a Bee Gees tribute medley, and Bruno Mars and The Time collaborating for a Prince medley. The other significant wins of the night include:

·         Best New Artist: Chance the Rapper

·         Best Music Video: Beyonce – Formation

·         Best Dance Recording: The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – Don’t let me down

·         Best Dance/Electronic Album: Flume – Skin

·         Best Rock Song: David Bowie – Blackstar

·         Best Urban Contemporary Album: Beyonce – Lemonade

·         Best Rap Song: Drake – Hotline bling

·         Best Country Song: Tim McGraw – Humble and kind

·         Best Country Album: Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide to Earth

·         Best Song Written for Visual Media: Justin Timberlake – Can’t stop the feeling!

Next up we have the 37^th BRIT Awards. Little Mix opened the show with their hit Shout Out To My Ex which went on to win the British Single of Year. Other great performances included Emeli Sande’s Hurt, an extremely politically controversial yet good performance of Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley’s Chained to the Rhythm and also Ed Sheeran with a medley of Castle on the Hill and Shape of You featuring a guest appearance by Stormzy. The Chainsmokers and Coldplay collaborated on stage to deliver their surprise new single Something Just Like This. David Bowie was posthumously awarded both the British Male Solo Artist as well as the British Album of the Year for Blackstar. The Icon Award was bestowed on Robbie Williams while the Global Success went to Adele. The other award winners were:

·         British Female Artist: Emeli Sande

·         British Group: The 1975

·         International Group: A Tribe Called Quest

·         British Breakthrough Act: Rag ‘n’ Bone Man

·         International Male Solo Artist: Drake

·         International Female Solo Artist: Beyonce

·         British Video: One Direction – History

La La Land was the winner of all the music related awards at the 89^th Annual Academy Awards where Justin Hurwitz won for Best Original Score for the film and Best Original Song for City of Stars which was performed by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in the film.

Apart from the awards, we have the jaw-dropping halftime performance by Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl LI. She started off with a mash up of God Bless America and Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land before teasing the audience with the first line of the chorus of her hit Edge of Glory. This leads to a medley of her greatest hits starting off with her biggest hit Poker Face and going on to sing Born This Way, Telephone and Just Dance. She then mellows it down with her latest single Million Reasons for which there was pin drop silence in the stadium. Then she finishes it off with her second biggest hit Bad Romance. With an intense and astutely choreographed production, her performance is now ranked among the best Super Bowl halftime shows of all time. 

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has released the biggest music acts in the world for 2016 and Drake tops the list. Drake achieves this position for the huge success of his fourth album, Views and the multiplatinum hit One Dance featuring WizKid and Kyla. At second place is David Bowie who posthumously witnessed monumental success for his final album Blackstar. The full top 10 are:

1.       Drake

2.       David Bowie

3.       Coldplay

4.       Adele

5.       Justin Bieber

6.       Twenty One Pilots

7.       Beyonce

8.       Rihanna

9.       Prince

10.   The Weeknd

In festival news, Lady Gaga has officially replaced Beyonce as a headliner of Coachella 2017 where the latter was advised by doctors to stay away from the stage due to her pregnancy. It was a no brainer for the organizers of this massive concert to invite Gaga after her acclaimed performance at the Super Bowl. Eminem has been announced as the third headliner for the Reading and Leeds Festival 2017 alongside Muse and Kasabian.

Jay-Z has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and became the first rapper in history to be bestowed with such an honour. Alongside Jay-Z will see Max Martin and the duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis also inducted. Madonna and George Michael were both nominated but did not make the cut.

Moving onto chart news, in the US Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert’s Bad and Boujee was replaced in the second week by Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You returning to the top backed by his Grammy performance. Meanwhile, The Chainsmokers’ Paris debuted within the Top 10 and Lady Gaga’s Million Reasons soared to No.4 propelled by her performance at the Super Bowl and Alessia Cara’s Scars To Your Beautiful also entered the top 10.

In the UK, Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You remained at the top aided by performances at both the Grammy Awards and BRIT Awards accumulating six consecutive weeks at the top. Also during the month Sean Paul featuring Dua Lipa’s No Lie, Dua Lipa’s Be The One, Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley’s Chained to the Rhythm and Taylor Swift & Zayn’s I Don’t Wanna Live Forever entered the top 10.   

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Big Sean – Bounce back

2.       Julia Michaels – Issues

3.       Train – Play that song

4.       Major Lazer ft. Nicki Minaj & PARTYNEXTDOOR – Run up

5.       Martin Garrix & Dua Lipa – Scared to be lonely

6.       Stormzy – Big for your boots 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - February 2015

Attention!!!

Well February was an eventful month for music with the Oscars and the BRIT Awards. The 87th Academy Awards was held on February 22, 2015. The Best Original Score went to Alexandre Desplat for his work on The Grand Budapest Hotel. What is significant is that Desplat was also nominated for his score on The Imitation Game. The Best Original Song went to Glory from Selma by John Legend and Common who also won the Golden Globe in this category. Best Sound Editing went to Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman for American Sniper and Best Sound Mixing to Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley for Whiplash. But it was Lady Gaga who stole the show with her tribute to The Sound of Music on the musical's 50th anniversary by singing a medley of The Sound of Music/My Favourite Things/Edelweiss/Climb Every Mountain to a standing ovation. 

The 35th BRIT Awards was also held in February. Performances of the night included Taylor Swift with Blank Space, Sam Smith with Lay Me Down, Ed Sheeran with Bloodstream, George Ezra with Budapest, and Paloma Faith with Only Love Can Hurt Like This. After a 20 year lapse, Madonna once again took to the stage at the BRIT Awards with her new single Living For Love.  But the artist found the stage a bit hostile when she took a tumble during the first minute of her performance as her backup dancers pulled a cape off her, dragging her down with it. But kudos to her for getting back up and continuing with her performance. The British Male Solo Artist was awarded to Ed Sheeran and British Female Solo Artist went to Paloma Faith. The British Single of the Year was Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk and the Video of the Year went to One Direction's You & I. Other significant winners include:

• British Group: Royal Blood
• International Group: Foo Fighters
• British Breakthrough Act: Sam Smith
• British Album of the Year: Ed Sheeran - X
• International Male Solo Artist: Pharrell Williams
• International Female Solo Artist: Taylor Swift
• British Producer of the Year:Paul Epworth
• BRITs Global Success - Sam Smith

The nominees for the 2015 YouTube Music Awards were also released with artists and bands such as Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Fifth Harmony, 2NE1, Sia, Tove Lo, George Ezra, Snoop Dogg, Drake, Meghan Trainor and Beyonce all being nominated out of 50 such artists which YouTube has recognized as the site's artists to watch. The ceremony will be held on March 23 and somewhat different from the 2013 edition. 

In the US, the peak at the Billboard Hot 100 was stagnant with Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk remaining at the top throughout the month. No change is certain in the near future except for the competition from Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud which has also stayed at No.2 throughout. Maroon 5's Sugar peaked at No.4 and Fall Out Boy's Centuries also peaked at No.10 during the month. Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney's much anticipated titanic collaboration FourFiveSeconds entered the top 10 and peaked at No.4 as well. With the release of the controversial box office sensation Fifty Shades of Grey, the soundtrack's Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding climbed rapidly up the charts to reach the top ten. Taylor Swift's Style also entered the top ten during the month. 

In the UK, Uptown Funk stayed at the top during the first week and thereafter Ellie Goulding's Love Me Like You Do took over and remained at the top during the rest of the month. The Weeknd's Earned It also from Fifty Shades, entered the top ten peaking at No. 4. Maroon 5's Sugar peaked at No.7, Rihanna's FourFive Seconds peaked at No.4, Fergie's L.A. Love (La La) peaked at No. 3 and DJ Fresh ft. Ella Eyre's Gravity peaked at No.4 during the month. 

Other songs which became popular during the month are:

• Charli XCX ft. Rita Ora - Doing it
• Tove Lo - Talking body
• Kelly Clarkson - Heartbeat song
• Chris Brown & Tyga - Ayo 
• Fifth Harmony ft. Kid Ink - Worth it
• Nick Jonas - Chains
• Nicki Minaj ft. Drake & Lil Wayne - Truffle butter

Till the next beat…

At Ease!!!