Hello, welcome to another edition of Between Soap and Stuff with some of the last week’s epicness and at the same time, rare things we can find through the internet’s extensive world. At this time we can say that many interesting things have happened to the recorded music industry, many people point to these as the first glimpses of the future of the commercialization of tracks and other things that make this fine art an efficient resource to give the necessary elements to live.

In addition, we will have more curious things regarding NFTs, metaverses, and even surreal stories with historical figures showing their most human side when seeing them buying vinyl in physical stores as a good audiophile only knows how to do. We’ll even go over some slightly more disturbing things, like Avicii’s last wishes before he took his own life and new restrictions due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

1. The pandemic effect on music

We can be sure of one thing in these last two years, the pandemic has changed every aspect of our lives, no matter how small it is. In music, this is more noticeable due to the lack of live events and the total virtuality for the creation of songs, albums, and others. Evermore, this historical period has contributed to the increasingly creative solutions of the music industry to continue moving money.

The virtual experience in electronic music has always been a constant in the process that surrounds a song since many of the collaborators live on different sides of the world and physical meetings are sometimes impossible. Although with the pandemic times, this became withering normality, which always brought out the funniest side of music, connecting all representatives of the genre from everywhere in a unique and special way.

2. Avicii’s biography reveals his pain through some diary manuscripts

Avicii‘s death opened the importance of mental health conversation in electronic music, from awareness among fans and future musicians to the inclusion of issues that are exclusively industry issues. Although not many people were able to measure enormous Tim’s pain until recently they published an honest and concise biography about him.

In this, we can see really raw and open quotes about the depression, stress, and anxiety an artist can suffer if it is not managed properly, both by themselves and by the people behind them, among all them we can find the following:

«The days with less anxiety that the artist lived were those that he lived in the hospital, because that endless Tour was really something very heavy». Or even how it is said «that his problems with alcohol were very serious, and he simply decided to pay no attention to those doctors in rehabilitation who told him that he could moderate himself.»

Part of the biography

3. UK’s first LGBTQ+ electronic music and camping festival, Flesh, to launch this year

The LGBTQ+ community is the one who technically allowed the electronic music scene. However, they are given little credence when is the moment of talking about its story and are given little representation at big-name festivals, or so they were until now. The first LGBTQ+ electronic music and camping festival will launch in the UK this year.

This event will take place on 28th and 29th May 2022 at Springfield Farm in St Albans. The public holiday event welcomes LGBTQ+ individuals, their friends, and their allies. The full program for the two-day event, which you can see below, features artists including Chippy Nonstop, Jaguar, SPFDJ, Juliana Huxtable, object blue, LSDXOXO, VTSS, and Rebekah. 

4. Study: Like It Or Not, You Are Who You Listen To

Many people will disagree with this, but according to an Israeli study, many of our mannerisms, behaviors, and personalities can be understood by knowing what music genre we listen to. According to the study, people tend to prefer the music of those artists who display similar public personae to that of the listener.

They conducted three extensive studies comprised of more than 80,000 respondents that ascertained it is indeed possible to predict music tastes and artist connection via personality, rather than the other factors we so typically use in music research: sex, age, ethnicity, station preference, etc. The study used a list of 50 artists across genres for this experiment, and the results were telling.

The theory behind the research is that while hooks, beat, guitar solos and pounding drums all may play a role in musical preferences, there’s a more powerful psychological connection between the bands, singers, or DJs we love – and ourselves.

5. The Pope has been spotted at a record store in Rome

Francisco, The Pope, has been spotted at a record store in Rome, which he attended last Tuesday (January 10th). The visit was supposed to remain secret – but local reporter Javier Martinez-Brocal happened to be in the vicinity of central Rome’s StereoSound record store and witnessed the appearance.

It is not the first time The Pope has visited a Rome shop – two years after his election, he ordered a pair of glasses from a Rome optician which was supposed to be delivered to the Vatican; however, he chose to go and collect them himself. The store owners said that they gave him a box set of classical music CDs.

6. Steve Aoki halts set to show off new $859,000 NFT

From the creators of «I cancel my event because my son is going to be born» comes the «I interrupt my set to present my new… NFT?» Is this serious? Steve Aoki pulled up a picture of the $859,000 NFT which he recently purchased from famed illustrator doodles and began to show the crowd from his phone.

Aoki tweeted out the video after the gig to make sure no one missed out on the near million dollars NFT, adding: “Had to stop my show to celebrate my excitement on my doodle! NFTs make me feel like a kid again». According to Rarity Sniper, Steve Aoki bagged the alien doodle for just 269.69 ETH — or $859,000. After, he said, “Just purchased the 9th rarest doodles in existence! There are only 10 alien type doodles ever created, and I own one of them now! Welcome #2238 to the family!”

7. Cannabis found to prevent COVID in lab research

As if the cannabis plant did not have enough medicinal properties, now they have found two essential acids that can fight Sars-cov-2, responsible for the famous COVID-19. The Journal of Natural Products issued a report titled «Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and Emerging Variants» on January 10, 2022.

Researchers showed that two cannabinoid acids present in hemp genotypes of cannabis – cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) and cannabidiolic acid (GBDA) – can connect to the virus’s spike protein, that infects cells with COVID-19. When attached to the spike protein, these chemicals have the ability to block the virus from entering cells and causing infection, opening up new paths for disease prevention and treatment.

8. How Advertising Builds Artist Brands

In my eternal time with internet surfing, I found an interesting article by Justin De Marco where he explains the importance of advertising in music. We know doing an ad on Facebook, Instagram, etc. can be a great resource to promote your single, album, EP, etc. but there are many more advantages.

Music advertising methods are well known, but the article goes further with techniques more focused on the fandom and the need for others. What’s needed is a new approach to advertising music. One that moves away from flawed ideas around performance marketing and accounts for consumer behavior to deliver impactful campaigns that build long-term brand equity.

9. Synthwave talent Hinan Presents His New Single «Chorus»

As for the national music scene, Be-Tronic management has the honor to present its new acquisition: Hinan. A synthwave and chill talent who, as his name in Japanese indicates, plans to build a refuge for everyone who knows his work, whether for their difficult moments or their happiest ones.

Although his debut was in December with the release of the Morpheus White compilation «Against a Dark Void», his formal debut was in recent days with the release of «Chorus«. Under the power of synth and sounds of yesteryear, it puts us on a journey of self-discovery, emphasizing the light that we will always find at the exit of a cave, however dark it may be.

10. Pioneer DJ reveals two new Serato controllers in DDJ-REV series

And the last, but not least of the day is some good news for the DJs collectors and more people interested in Pioneer products. Pioneer DJ has unveiled two new DJ controllers with specialized features for scratching.

Retailing at £259, the DDJ-REV1 is a more entry-level controller, aimed at users of Serato DJ Lite. It comes with a new battle-style layout, long tempo sliders, and a Tracking Scratch function that automatically returns a track to the cue point when users move the jog wheel. It also has mixed microphone audio, a first for a Pioneer DJ controller at this level.