Justin Bieber‘s new album, Swag, is dominating the Billboard charts in Canada.
On the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, Swag debuts at No. 1 — knocking Morgan Wallen’s I’m The Problem down to No. 2, after it spent eight weeks at the top. Swag marks Bieber’s first full-length project since Justice in 2021, which also peaked at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums chart and notched five weeks in the top spot.
The second project from rapper Travis Scott‘s label showcase Jackboys, dubbed Jackboys 2, is at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart, but debuts at No. 2 in Canada behind Bieber.
Bieber’s surprise album, released July 11, also grabs 17 spots on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, dated July 26, in its first week. Of the 21-song album, two tracks cracked the top 10 on the Canadian Hot 100: “Daisies” at No. 2 and “Yukon” at No. 8. In his home country, Bieber boasts 38 top 10 career hits — most recently “Stay” with The Kid LAROI, which spent 12 weeks at the top in 2021.
While Swag leans into Bieber’s pop and R&B roots, the project prioritizes experimental production and instrumentation. While he worked with longtime collaborator Harv, Swag includes influences from songwriters and producers Carter Lang, Dijon, mk.gee and Eddie Benjamin — to name a few. Canadian R&B star Daniel Caesar, who was featured on Bieber’s 2021 No. 1 hit “Peaches,” is credited as a writer and producer on “Devotion,” which debuts at No. 50 on the chart.
Though he said he was coming for No. 1, Drake‘s “What Did I Miss?” moves down from No. 2 to No. 7, while “Nokia” sits at No. 39. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” remains at No. 1 for its 15th week.
Read more on the Canadian charts here.
SOCAN Sues Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) Over Licensing Fees: Report
Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) is being sued by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) for copyright infringement and failure to pay royalties for approximately three years.
SOCAN, which is responsible for granting licences and collecting royalties on licensed music in Canada, claims in the lawsuit filed in federal court that since at least July 2022, the festival’s organizers “have failed to obtain a license from SOCAN and have not paid any royalties or submitted any report forms to SOCAN.”
The court claim for copyright infringement, which was filed July 3 (the same day the festival began), cites The Festival international d’été de Québec Inc. and BLEUFEU as defendants in the case.
“Bleufeu and Festival d’été de Québec operate FEQ, one of Canada’s largest music festivals, drawing a total attendance of 1.4 million over 11 days and generating tens of millions in revenue each year,” SOCAN writes in a statement on their website. “While Festival d’été de Québec is a registered charity, the performances it presents are virtually indistinguishable from those of its for-profit competitors, and Canadian law still requires it to pay licensing fees for those performances.”
On Saturday (July 12), FEQ released a statement to Canadian Press that “fair remuneration, in accordance with the highest industry standards,” is one of the festival’s core values.
The organizers questioned SOCAN’s motives for “filing legal proceedings in the middle of the festival, despite discussions that had been ongoing until very recently” and that “proceeding in English, in the context of a Quebec cultural event, seems inappropriate and disconnected from the reality of the community.” FEQ said it had a different interpretation of the law from SOCAN and that other comparable organizations shared the same interpretation.
On Tuesday (July 22), SOCAN released another statement on its website, “On Fair Compensation for Music Creators from Canadian Festivals.” In it, the organization said the timing was driven by legal constraints, and that the claim had to be filed by July 6 in order to include all performances from the 2022 festival.
The page includes a Q&A about SOCAN license fees, along with how and to whom they are distributed. Festivals are required by the Copyright Board of Canada to pay license fees to SOCAN in the amount of 3% of ticket sales and the equivalent of 3% of the amount paid to performers for free concerts, the organization wrote.
“All entities, regardless of tax status, must pay license fees for commercial live performances in public of musical works. The Copyright Act provides a limited exception in some cases for charitable organizations — but this doesn’t apply when admission is charged or when the performers, technicians, producers, vendors, or others working at the concert are paid.”
Aside from FEQ, SOCAN confirms in the statement that they are also pursuing other proceedings “infringing festival performances.”
One of Canada’s biggest music festivals, FEQ, concluded on Sunday, July 13, after 11 days of programming. This year’s iteration boasted popular artists from across the genre spectrum, including Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan, Shania Twain, Def Leppard, Slayer and Benson Boone.
Canadian Woman Dies at Weekend 1 of Belgium’s Tomorrowland Music Festival
A Canadian woman has reportedly died after attending the Tomorrowland music festival on Friday (July 18).
The unnamed 35-year-old “became unwell on the festival grounds” at the event’s opening night in Boom, Belgium, a small city outside of Antwerp, according to a statement from Tomorrowland spokeswoman Debby Wilmsen to the Canadian Press.
She “received first aid on site,” and was taken to the University Hospital of Antwerp, where she later died on Saturday morning (July 19).
“This morning, we were saddened to learn of her death. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and loved ones,” said Wilmsen.
Currently, Belgian authorities are investigating the woman’s death at one of the world’s largest electronic music festivals.
Global Affairs Canada said it is aware of reports that a Canadian woman had died in Belgium, but would not release information due to privacy considerations.
The news comes after Tomorrowland’s main stage was destroyed by fire on July 16, casting doubt on whether the festival would go on. The following day, the festival opened as scheduled with an alternative stage still under construction.
Tomorrowland draws electronic music enthusiasts from all over the world. This year’s event features DJs including David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Eric Prydz, Sofi Tukker, Lost Frequencies and Charlotte de Witte.
Tomorrowland runs across two weekends, July 18-20 and July 25-27, and is expecting about 400,000 attendees this year.
