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The Beatles Earned How Much This Week from Spotify Streaming “Now and Then”? Answer Will Shock You

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The Beatles released “Now and Then” 8 days ago, and the song went to number 1 everywhere.

In the UK, they’re listing it on their official charts as number 1 for the week. The same may be true next week for Billboard. Despite the feverish fans of Jung Kook constantly pressing BUY on iTunes, “Now and Then” has been a big hit.

So what’s going on over at Spotify? According to the site, the song has been streamed 17.6 million times. For a band like the Beatles, whose fans would rather have the record or download it than stream, 17 million sounds pretty good.

You’d think the group would be making a fortune, right? But according to Spotify’s revenue calculator, it’s not so much.

Grand total for 17.6 million streams? Drum roll please:

$42,000. That’s forty two thousand dollars. Not millon, or billion. Thousand!

For the Beatles, $42,000 is pocket change. It’s what Paul spends flying to the UK, what Ringo pays for dinner.

But that is the cold, hard reality of Spotify. There’s no money it. Once the Beatles split that money in four and pay taxes on it, and fees to various people, they will literally have enough for lunch and a movie.

And they’re THE BEATLES!

Imagine if they were just a little band, or a middling act whose song people like. This means those acts get chicken feed.

Now you know why Paul and Ringo are each on tour right now. Pass the hat!

By the way, the Beatles’ biggest streaming song is “Here Comes the Sun” with 1.2 billion streams. It was added to the service 8 years ago. Estimated earnings $3-$5 million, before taxes and fees. “Now and Then” has a ways to go!

What a Soap Opera! Daytime Emmy Awards Will Air December 15th on CBS After Six Months Delay

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This was a long story line delayed from six months ago.

The Daytime Emmy Awards will air on December 15th on CBS. This is because the strike is over, and all is well. They were supposed to air in June but the Writers Guild strike put a wrench in this plan.

General Hospital has the most nominations among soap operas. Here’s the original story from last spring.

Read the nominees below:

UPDATING Daytime Emmy Nominations General Hospital Leads the Pack Including the Late Sonya Eddy, Finola Hughes in Lead, Jennifer Hudson’s Debut Year Is In

Morgan Wallen Remains a Pariah with the Grammy Awards, CBS, Despite Selling 5 Million Copies of New Album This Year

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Morgan Wallen is still in the dog house.

The Grammy Awards are ignoring him despite his “One Thing at a Time” album selling 5 million copies since March.

Wallen was discovered using the “n” on a video two years ago. His fans didn’t care and kept buying his records. His “Dangerous Double Album” has sold 2 million copies in 2023. (Numbers are mostly from streaming equivalent.)

But the Grammys are not so forgiving — and neither is CBS. Wallen may have been welcomed back by his record company and agents, but the main music awards and the Tiffany network don’t want him on their air. He remains a pariah. A song he sang is nominated for Best Country Song, but Wallen himself is not nominated. (At least they didn’t punish the writers of “Last Night.”)

The incident happened on February 3, 2021, when Wallen was video’d on a front door camera, drunk, using the word to describe his friend. The video went viral instantly.

Wallen apologized, but apparently that’s not enough — not in cancel culture. You can’t imagine Black artists in the Grammy audience watching him perform. So it’s not going to happen — probably never. It’s just as well.

Box Office: “The Marvels” Has Disappointing Preview Night, May Be Lowest Grossing Marvel Movie

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“The Marvels” made $6.6 million last night. It’s a big disappointment, but not unexpected.

Other Marvel movies this year started each with $17.5 million. “The Marvels” could be the lowest grossing Marvel movie yet.

This is despite being a sort of sequel to “Captain Marvel” starring Oscar winner Brie Larson. That was a hit but this one has been marked by delays and changes and an obvious lack of vision. What is it? Reviewers don’t see to know, either. “The Marvels” has a very poor 61% among critics and bloggers.

Me? I’ll watch Brie Larson read the phone book. She’s so talented. But she’s also spent too much time doing car commercials. It’s time to get back to serious movies.

Grammy Awards Rescue Jon Batiste Flop Album, World Music Radio, After Almost No Copies Sold

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The Grammy Awards are loyal, let’s say that.

They’ve rescued Jon Batiste’s non event album, “World Music Radio,” after no one bought it.

The album has a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year after selling 21,000 copies. That’s it. It was Dead on Arrival. Now it’s got a nomination.

The song, “Butterfly,” is also nominated for Record of the Year. It also made no noise upon release.

Batiste is the only male performer to score noms in those categories.

Bizarre, yes. But Batiste is one of the few men under a certain age to release a record this year. He’s also a past winner. Two years ago his “We Are” won Album of the Year quite unexpectedly.

But a lot of time and money goes into the Batiste machine. He’s the star of a Netflix documentary called “American Symphony,” which debuts November 29th. Batiste’s personal story is dramatic– his wife, formerly his girlfriend, Suleika, was battling leukemia as he was winning awards and writing a symphony. The movie is very well made, and a pleasure to watch knowing that Suleika’s winning her battle so far.

But Batiste really the only male nominee? It’s a head scratcher, that’s for sure. Aside from Ed Sheeran, there are few candidates with releases. I guess Noel Kahan could have been better represented in the awards. Otherwise the charts are dominated by women and hip hop. Men either don’t know what to sing about, or no one cares about what they have to say anymore. There are no new James Taylors or al Greens or Jackson Brownes. Sad.

UPDATING Grammy Awards Snub 99% of Male Performers in Pop Nominations, Album of the Year, Record of the Year

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Jon Batiste has a new distinction: he’s the only male Grammy nominee in the pop categories for 2024. Everyone else is proudly female.

That’s right. In Album, Song, Record of the Year, as well as Pop Solo or Duo Performance it’s 99% women. Batiste pulled off noms for Album and Record of the Year. Otherwise, it’s all women!

Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, SZA, Boygenius, Victoria Monet, Janelle Monae, Lana Del Rey, and Billie Eilish swamped the top awards categories.

A few man got scattered noms in Rock and Country categories. But otherwise, the Grammys on February 4th will be ladies night. I guess this is sweet revenge for years of the guys getting all the attention.

Were there actually no pop songs from men this year?
Record Of The Year
“Worship” — Jon Batiste
“Not Strong Enough” — boygenius
“Flowers” — Miley Cyrus
“What Was I Made For?” [From The Motion Picture Barbie] — Billie Eilish
“On My Mama” — Victoria Monét
“vampire” — Olivia Rodrigo
“Anti-Hero” — Taylor Swift
“Kill Bill” — SZA

Album Of The Year
World Music Radio — Jon Batiste
the record — boygenius
Endless Summer Vacation — Miley Cyrus
Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd — Lana Del Rey
The Age of Pleasure — Janelle Monáe
GUTS — Olivia Rodrigo
Midnights — Taylor Swift
SOS — SZA

Song Of The Year
“A&W” — Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Sam Dew, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)
“Anti-Hero” — Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
“Butterfly” — Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
“Dance The Night” (From Barbie The Album) — Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
“Flowers” — Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Miley Cyrus)
“Kill Bill” — Rob Bisel, Carter Lang & Solána Rowe, songwriters (SZA)
“vampire” ­— Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Oliva Rodrigo)
“What Was I Made For?” [From The Motion Picture Barbie] — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

Best New Artist
Gracie Abrams
Fred again..
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Coco Jones
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monét
The War and Treaty

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
Jack Antonoff
Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II
Hit-Boy
Metro Boomin
Daniel Nigro

Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical
Edgar Barrera
Jessie Jo Dillon
Shane McAnally
Theron Thomas
Justin Tranter

Best Pop Vocal Album
chemistry — Kelly Clarkson
Endless Summer Vacation — Miley Cyrus
GUTS — Olivia Rodrigo
– (Subtract) — Ed Sheeran
Midnights — Taylor Swift

Best Pop Dance Recording
“Baby Don’t Hurt Me” — David Guetta, Anne-Marie & Coi Leray
“Miracle” — Calvin Harris Featuring Ellie Goulding
“Padam Padam” — Kylie Minogue
“One in a Million” — Bebe Rexha & David Guetta
“Rush” — Troye Sivan

Best Dance/Electronic Music Album
Playing Robots Into Heaven — James Blake
For That Beautiful Feeling — The Chemical Brothers
Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022) — Fred again..
Kx5 — Kx5
Quest For Fire — Skrillex

Best Rock Album
But Here We Are — Foo Fighters
Starcatcher — Greta Van Fleet
72 Seasons — Metallica
This Is Why — Paramore
In Times New Roman… — Queens of the Stone Age

Best Alternative Music Album
The Car — Arctic Monkeys
the record — boygenius
Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd — Lana Del Rey
Cracker Island — Gorillaz
I Inside the Old Year Dying — PJ Harvey

Best R&B Album
Girls Night Out — Babyface
What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe) — Coco Jones
Special Occasion — Emily King
JAGUAR II — Victoria Monét
CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE EP — Summer Walker

Best Melodic Rap Performance
“Sittin’ On Top Of The World” — Burna Boy Featuring 21 Savage
“Attention” — Doja Cat
“Spin Bout U” — Drake & 21 Savage
“All My Life” — Lil Durk Featuring J. Cole
“Low” — SZA

Best Rap Song
“Attention” — Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini & Ari Starace, songwriters (Doja Cat)
“Barbie World” [From Barbie The Album] — Isis Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr. & Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Featuring Aqua)
“Just Wanna Rock” — Mohamad Camara, Symere Woods & Javier Mercado, songwriters (Lil Uzi Vert)
“Rich Flex” — Brytavious Chambers, Isaac “Zac” De Boni, Aubrey Graham, J. Gwin, Anderson Hernandez, Michael “Finatik” Mule & Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, songwriters (Drake & 21 Savage)
“SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS” — Andre Benjamin, Paul Beauregard, James Blake, Michael Render, Tim Moore & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Killer Mike Featuring André 3000, Future & Eryn Allen Kane)

Best Alternative Jazz Album
Love In Exile — Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily
Quality Over Opinion — Louis Cole
SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree — Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, SuperBlue
Live At The Piano — Cory Henry
The Omnichord Real Book — Meshell Ndegeocello

Best Country Album
Rolling Up the Welcome Mat — Kelsea Ballerini
Brothers Osborne — Brothers Osborne
Zach Bryan — Zach Bryan
Rustin’ In The Rain — Tyler Childers
Bell Bottom Country — Lainey Wilson

Best Americana Album
Brandy Clark — Brandy Clark
The Chicago Sessions — Rodney Crowell
You’re the One — Rhiannon Giddens
Weathervanes — Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
The Returner — Allison Russell

Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)
Bordado a Mano — Ana Bárbara
La Sánchez — Lila Downs
Motherflower — Flor de Toloache
Amor Como en las Películas de Antes — Lupita Infante
GÉNESIS — Peso Pluma

Best African Music Performance
“Amapiano” — ASAKE & Olamide
“City Boys” — Burna Boy
“UNAVAILABLE” — Davido Featuring Musa Keys
“Rush” — Ayra Starr
“Water” — Tyla

Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media (Includes Film And Television)
Barbie — Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, composers
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Ludwig Göransson, composer
The Fabelmans — John Williams, composer
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny — John Williams, composer
Oppenheimer — Ludwig Göransson, composer

An Elon Musk Movie from Darren Aronofsky: “The Whale” Star Brendan Fraser Would Have Inside Track

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So who should play Elon Musk in a movie?

Reports today from newsletter Puck that “The Whale” director Darren Aronofsky will direct the film about the Tesla and SpaceX founder. Aronofsky is famous for a kind of sophisticated horror film. Think of “Black Swan” or “Mother.” Or even “Requiem for a Dream.”

What actor should play the portly menace who has overturned Twitter into X? Why, “The Whale” star Brendan Fraser is the obvious answer. He won Best Actor this year under Aronofsky. There is no doubt they’ve discussed it. Fraser has an outsized cameo right now in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” His girth could be digitally altered to show Elon when he had elan to when he started using musk to father 73 children.

And Grimes? The mother of recent Musk children could surely be handled by Natalie Portman. It’s unclear who would wear the Tesla costumes.

Listen: Secret All-Star Single Featuring Sting, Santana, Stevie Wonder from Narada Michael Walden “The More I Love My Life”

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Here’s the secret single I told you about a couple of weeks ago: “The More I Love My Life” from Narada Michael Walden features Sting, Carlos Santana, and Stevie Wonder.

The original version was cut in 2008, when I first heard it, but it was shelved as everyone else moved on to new projects. Now Narada has updated it, and it’s glorious. Sting’s vocals soar, Santana’s guitar and Stevie’s harmonica are trademark great.

Narada (pronounced Narda) says:

“The song was a real joy to put together,” says Walden. “I wrote the lyrics with Jeffrey Cohen, and after I recorded the main parts I asked Carlos to play guitar on it. That’s when I got the idea for harmonica, so I asked Stevie Wonder if he would like to play on it. A while later, I was in New York to serve as musical director for the rainforest benefit that Trudie Styler produces. Sting came into town for rehearsals, and I got him down to Electric Lady Studios to sing on the track. Everybody who contributed was incredible and electrifying. The whole track came out just as I’d hoped.”

Narada’s album, “Euphoria,” is out next Friday.

Today is the 50th Anniversary of Billy Joel’s Piano Man, Bruce Springsteen’s Wild Innocent & E Street Shuffle, Paul Simon’s American Tune

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It’s hard to believe but this week marks two 50th anniversaries for Columbia Records.

Billy Joel’s album, “Piano Man,” was released exactly five years ago today.

Three days earlier on November 5, 1973, Columbia released Bruce Springsteen’s second album that year, “The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle.”

Columbia also released the single of Paul Simon’s “American Tune” after “Kodachrome” and “Loves Me Like a Rock” had been hits from “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon,” which had been out in May.

We are awash in 50th anniversary celebrations. Last week, it was Ringo Starr’s “Ringo!” album.

For New York area teenagers, though, the Billy and Bruce releases were monumental, to say the least. “Billy Joel’s from Long Island!” the word went out. “Bruce Springsteen is from New Jersey!”

The two young rock stars were heralded as the new Elton John and the new Bob Dylan. They were loved instantly. For Billy the title song continues to resonate as a great short story, one up there with Damon Runyon. All the characters at the bar, kind of losers, while Billy takes tips and dreams of being a star. Is that what happened to him? we wondered. Everyone was fascinated. You couldn’t hear it enough, in addition to “Billy the Kid” and “Captain Jack.” The whole album became a must have piece of your record collection.

And then there was Bruce. “Wild, Innocent” is my sentimental favorite Springsteen album. “Rosalita” is the main attraction, but the whole thing is incantatory, a long meditation or poem set to non stop rock. We already knew him from January’s “Greetings from Asbury Park.” “Blinded by the Light” was an FM radio hit, so was “Spirit in the Night” if you listened to WNEW. “Rosalita” was the real introduction of the horn sound, and the R&B themes that would come to frame Bruce’s career. Today this day I am transported by the piano into to “Incident on 57th Street.” And the end of it — how it segues into “Rosalita” — is magical.

Hey! Hey! Hey! Windows are for cheaters chimneys for the poor Closets are for hangers winners use the door.

Who was better? I felt then it was Billy by a mile because of his proximity. New Jersey was a distant land. But then I got the chance to go to their one joint concert, a fundraiser for Barack Obama in 2008 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, and I realized they had become equals a long time ago.

Billy’s words resonate today, don’t they?

These days I don’t know whose side to be on
There’s such a thin line between right and wrong
I live and learn, do the best I can
There’s only so much you can do as a man

It’s hard to believe it all happened five decades ago and we there in real time. Wow. Why were we naive enough to think it would keep going and going?