Fender ‘50’s Telecaster
Alex Teitz of Fem Music sent us several articles this past couple of weeks that our readers may find very interesting. We recommend that you check them out!
# # # # #
‘Gotta save Lorde’: Fans Start Mock Campaign to Break Singer Out of Jail
By Eleanor Ainge Roy, The Guardian | It started with a plan floated by New Zealand’s opposition party to fine early school-leavers. Somehow it ended with an unlikely campaign to keep pop star – and high-school dropout – Lorde out of jail.
Last week domestic media reported the opposition National party was considering fining the parents of early-school leavers NZ$3,000 if it won next year’s election. The fine would apply to the parents of students who were not progressing onto further study or employment. It is currently legal to leave high school at 16 in New Zealand.
The proposal was widely derided as draconian and heavy-handed, with many news outlets compiling lists of successful New Zealanders who left school early, including Lorde, choreographer Parris Goebel who works with Rihanna and Justin Bieber, All Black Sonny Bill Williams and even the National party’s deputy leader Paula Bennett.
Lorde was a student at Takapuna grammar school in Auckland until 2013, when she left to pursue her budding music career.
Read the rest of the article here:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/oct/10/gotta-save-lorde-fans-start-mock-campaign-to-break-singer-out-of-jail
# # # # #
US Guitar Firm Fender Illegally Restricted Discounts, says CMA
By Sean Farrell, The Guardian | The UK’s competition watchdog has accused the US guitar maker Fender of fixing prices illegally by restricting online discounts on its guitars.
From 2013 to 2018, Fender Musical Instruments Europe impeded competitive online pricing by imposing a minimum sale price on vendors, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in a provisional ruling. The practice, known as resale price maintenance, is illegal and makes it difficult for customers to find good deals.
Fender is the world’s biggest maker of guitars and its famous models include the Stratocaster, Telecaster and Precision bass. The Arizona-based company’s models are played by stars such as Eric Clapton, U2’s The Edge and Taylor Swift, and its basic Squier range is popular with beginners.
The CMA has been investigating Fender since April 2018 and has already fined the company £25,000 for concealing notebooks at its European headquarters in East Grinstead. The watchdog fined Casio £3.7m in August for restricting online discounts for its digital pianos and keyboards.
Ann Pope, the CMA’s senior antitrust director, said: “Shopping online can make it much easier to compare prices and hunt down bargains – this can be especially important for potentially big purchases like a guitar.
Read the rest of the article here:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/08/us-guitar-firm-fender-discounts-cma-uk-sale-price-deals
# # # # #
Jumping the shark? Kiss will play for them in the ocean
By Wayne Parry, APNews | ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Having played nearly every corner of the Earth in a nearly 50-year career, the rock band Kiss is taking its show to a new place _ under the sea, where they will perform for great white sharks and eight fans separated from them by a small submarine.
As part of a promotion by Airbnb, the fans and Kiss will travel Nov. 18 in separate boats off the coast of southern Australia. While Kiss stays above board on one vessel, the fans will be lowered beneath the surface of the water from a second boat into the viewing sub in an area known for shark activity.
Using underwater speakers, Kiss will begin playing, and the sound will be audible to the submerged fans and the sharks.
“I was a little taken aback by it, but they explained that sharks are attracted to low frequencies and so they’re attracted to rock ‘n’ roll,” singer and guitarist Paul Stanley told The Associated Press. “Since we’re going to be in Australia, it gives a whole new meaning to doing a concert down under.”
Read the whole story here:
https://apnews.com/8e66ea4a80e34928be874cac097d5460
http://www.femmusic.com