Latest Stories from Charlie
Coronavirus ticket refund policy sparks outrage
Paul McCartney has deemed Italy’s refusal to give ticket goers refunds ‘outrageous’ as coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the music industry. Unless you’ve been in a coma for the last three months, you’ll have noticed how disruptive the coronavirus pandemic has been on normal life for nearly all of us since February. Large events have been cancelled or indefinitely postponed across the globe for the foreseeable future, including music...
Music labels to stop using ‘urban’ category
Republic Records has announced it will no longer be using the word urban. It’s a much-needed revision to a term that should have been retired decades ago. George Floyd’s death on May 25th and the subsequent protests across the globe have pushed industries everywhere to assess their behaviour and attitudes toward black people, culture, and equality. The music industry is no exception. On June 2nd many record labels and publications...
Why Ditto makes distributing your music easier than ever
Music distributors such as Ditto are making it simpler than ever to get your music out to the masses, and it might be the best place to start if you’re a Gen Z artist. If, like me, you often find yourself going down odd Spotify rabbit holes, you've probably stumbled upon many great artists that only have a small number of listeners. Often these EPs or singles are hidden...
Banksy transforms his bathroom into rat art piece
It might not be in his usual street art context, but Banksy’s still making new pieces, this time in his house amidst the coronavirus lockdown. We’re on week five of lockdown now? I think? All this time being confined to your own home can stifle your creativity – though Banksy has proven you can find inspiration even in the most unlikely of places. Last Friday he posted a fresh work...
Little Simz ‘Drop 6’ – Review
One of London’s best artists is back with a quick EP to keep us going during lockdown, and it’s another solid entry in an already strong discography. Little Simz is up there with the best of them when it comes to UK rap and grime. Her last album ‘GREY Area’ was genuinely fantastic, a concise and tightly produced diary of relationship struggles, shifting priorities with new-found wealth, and bangers that...
Hayley Williams finds strength in honesty on her solo debut
‘Petals For Armor’ takes a wide-reaching approach to its song writing, freeing Hayley from Paramore’s grasp and finally allowing her the reinvention she needed. Anyone who was around during the MySpace era will remember Paramore’s explosion onto the punk rock music scene in 2005. They had every quality needed to make it big during social media’s infancy, rocking coloured, straightened hair, heavily saturated album cover artwork, and an overflow of...
TikTok adds new donation sticker for creators
The new tool will allow viewers to donate to charities easily and quickly, and TikTok has promised it will match the first $10 million donated over the next month. Stickers have become a cornerstone of social media apps, allowing for easy customisation that brings a unique flavour to your streams, stories, or video posts. Each ‘sticker’ is a direct URL link to another site or page of the poster’s choice,...
Music live streaming surges amidst the pandemic
With nowhere to perform in real life, more artists than ever are taking to live streaming to get their music out to fans. Well, we’re nearly in mid-May, and everyone is still hunkered up at home due to the coronavirus outbreak. What many hoped would be a few weeks of inconvenience has turned into a long-term change in daily life, affecting all manners of industries and practices – including...
The top ten most socially conscious brands
2020 is a big year for company sustainability. Here are some of the top brands that are changing the way they do business to better the environment. When it comes to our environment and climate change, nothing is more impactful than the behaviours of big corporations and global industries. Whether it is fashion, agriculture, travel, or anything in between, our demands as consumers have risen dramatically over the last...
How to turn your lockdown snacks into clothing
I’m assuming that, like most of us, you’re probably stuck in quarantine right now. So why not turn your snack cupboard into wacky, wearable fashion? Have you ever looked at the foods available in your kitchen and wondered what they’d be like as fashionable street wear? What do you mean no? Nicole McLaughlin, a former designer for Reebok, has looked at her food stash a little different to most of...
