With the rise of AI ‘slop,’ Canada’s creative sector sets sights on licensing regime

OTTAWA - On Nov. 1, Xania Monet appeared for the first time on the Adult R&B Billboard chart. One week later, the song 'Walk my Walk' by Breaking Rust topped Billboard's country digital song sales chart.

While both performers look and sound human, they're not. Both are generated by artificial intelligence.

Monet was the first AI-generated artist to debut on a Billboard airplay chart.

For human artists, it is immense cause for concern.

French Masters rendered with fearless technical mastery

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra put the ooh-la-la into its latest musical offering Thursday, as it presented French Masters, featuring a trio of works spanning 1847 to 1947.

The 89-minute (sans intermission) program also welcomed internationally acclaimed conductor Nodoka Okisawa to the podium. The multi-award winning maestra, who made her local debut here in 2023, is currently serving as the 14th chief conductor of the city of Kyoto, in addition to making guest appearances around the world.

It’s taken four years to once again witness the brilliant artistry of Canadian dynamo pianist Stewart Goodyear, who last wowed listeners on this stage in 2021. His latest performance of Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand proved — lest there were any doubt — that nothing is out of hand for this virtuoso, renowned for his technical mastery and fearless approach to some of the solo piano canon’s most fiendishly difficult works.

The Ravel is among those, written in 1929-30 and dedicated to its first soloist, Paul Wittgenstein, for its Vienna Symphony Orchestra première in 1932. The Austrian-American concert pianist had tragically lost his right arm during the First World War and subsequently commissioned several composers, including Ravel, to create music he could play.

Osbourne’s second memoir chronicles health woes, final show

At one point in Last Rites, Ozzy Osbourne recalls seeing the movie This is Spinal Tap shortly after its 1984 release and not realizing that it was a comedy, “thinking to myself, wow, this is the most interesting and relatable documentary I’ve ever seen.”

He’s been lost in a maze of tunnels and hallways trying to get to the stage. After firing Ozzy, Black Sabbath once tried to take a model of Stonehenge on tour, but the set builders misread the plans and constructed it in metres rather than feet (whereas in the movie it’s too small, in Black Sabbath’s case it was too big). The amps going to 11 reminded him of when they spent a ton of time and money getting their amps across the ocean, then couldn’t use them on American voltage.

Although the madness of Osbourne’s long, strange life feels somewhat normal to him, he remains in awe of how he went from growing up so poor that his parents wouldn’t buy underwear to becoming one of the most famous rock stars in the world.

However, since this is his second major memoir, following 2009’s I Am Ozzy (also written with Chris Ayres), the emphasis isn’t on the piles of cash blown during parties, but all the money Osbourne has thrown at hospitals trying to keep himself alive.

Paisley proves his truck still works

The road is well-travelled and there isn’t much new music in the tank, but Brad Paisley’s live music machine is still trucking along. 

The Grammy-winning country music star and his Truck Still Works World Tour rolled through Winnipeg Friday night with a nostalgic concert full of fan favourites, silly interludes and shredding guitar solos.

The show at Canada Life Centre was one of several events taking place downtown in conjunction with the Grey Cup Festival and there were more than a few in the crowd seen sporting Blue Bombers, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders jerseys.

Following a slightly late start, Paisley, 53, strode onto the stage with his signature white cowboy hat and blue Telecaster, launching into the tour’s namesake single while vintage Chevrolet trucks flashed across a large screen.

Former Great Big Sea frontman Alan Doyle serves as tourism guide in book about home province

Alan Doyle loves his home province, and he wants you to love it too.

The former Great Big Sea frontman and pride of Petty Harbour, N.L., has long woven stories of Newfoundland and Labrador into his music — and, since 2014, into his autobiographical works of non-fiction.

His latest and fourth book, The Smiling Land: All Around the Circle in My Newfoundland and Labrador, is no exception, as Doyle explores the Rock, revisiting old haunts and new frontiers, bringing into focus just how much he knows, didn’t know or thought he knew about the sprawling Maritime province.

Doyle launches The Smiling Land at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location tomorrow at 2 p.m., where he’ll be joined in conversation by Virgin Radio host Ace Burpee. (You’ll have to excuse him if he’s not at his best, to paraphrase Spirit of the West, as he’ll be coming off a headlining spot at tonight’s Grey Cup festivities at the convention centre.)

Burton Cummings is standing tall in homecoming concert on namesake stage

Burton Cummings is back at Burton Cummings Theatre — and looking forward to another hometown visit in the not-so-distant future.

Sidney Crosby among those signing on to support Canadian men ahead of 2026 World Cup

TORONTO - Sidney Crosby, who knows more than a little about winning a major tournament on home soil, has signed on to help bang the drum for Canada in its 2026 World Cup campaign.

Crosby, actor Simu Liu and singer Shawn Mendes are the first celebrities named to the "Iconic XI Ambassador" program. 

They will use their voice and platform to help raise the profile of the co-host Canadian men in the lead-up to the June kickoff of the 48-team, 104-game soccer showcase.

The "Iconic XI" will draw on "Canada’s most respected and influential cultural leaders at the intersection of entertainment, sport, fashion, music, media, and the arts," according to Canada Soccer.

Bif Naked stares down her darkest experiences in uplifting new documentary

TORONTO - Bif Naked wasn't exactly yearning to revisit her life's darkest moments for a deeply personal documentary.

The pop-punk singer had already mined her painful past for the 2017 memoir "I Bificus," and she balked when her longtime manager suggested putting those stories on film for "Bif Naked."

"It really wasn't, nor could it ever be, my idea," she says of the doc, which makes its pay-TV premiere Nov. 21 on Super Channel and will screen in select theatres.

Her feelings changed when she saw the film come together, marvelling at footage she says she had never seen before and gratified that, despite the oft-dark material, it all feels authentic.

Bagpipers claim world record with AC/DC’s ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top’

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Hundreds of bagpipers claimed a new world record on Wednesday by belting out AC/DC’s rock and roll classic “It’s a Long Way to the Top.”

Billed as “The Great Melbourne Bagpipe Bash,” the eclectic performance took place in Melbourne’s Federation Square, on Swanston Street, which was the scene of the Australian hard rock band’s 1976 film clip in which they played the hit on the back of a flatbed truck traveling slowly through downtown traffic with music blaring from speakers.

Federation Square is also a short stroll from the Melbourne Cricket Ground where AC/DC is scheduled to play their first Australian gig in a decade on Wednesday. Guitarist Angus Young, 70, is the only band member who played on the truck and is performing on the latest Australian tour.

Thousands of spectators crammed the square for the world record attempt. Many of the 374 pipers had to squeeze through the crowd to the stage area. The oldest piper was 98-years-old, organisers said.

Lou-Adriane Cassidy leads Felix winners as she’s crowned female artist of the year

MONTRÉAL - Lou-Adriane Cassidy picked up a leading four Félix trophies, including female artist of the year, at the ADISQ Gala, an annual celebration of the francophone music scene.

The 28-year-old singer-songwriter also took home song of the year for "Dis-moi dis-moi dis-moi," which appears on her 2025 album, "Journal d'un Loup-Garou," or "Diary of a Werewolf."

"Thank you to all the new people who are listening to my songs, thank you to the people who have known me since 'Ça va ça va.' I'm really moved," the Quebec City-born singer said as she picked up her last trophy Sunday evening at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts.

Cassidy is already well-known in French Canada, but she's drawing more English listeners after her album was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, handed out in September.

High score: Winnipeg Video Game Orchestra goes from joysticks to drumsticks

There is, evidently, a lot of crossover between band nerds and video game enthusiasts.

The Winnipeg Video Game Orchestra has levelled up at an impressive pace, attracting about 70 like-minded players since forming earlier this spring.

The ensemble is set to perform its first major concert at Jubilee Place on Friday featuring background music from Sonic the Hedgehog, Kirby, The Legend of Zelda and other well-known games.

“We grew very, very quickly,” says director Dann Bjornson, who isn’t entirely surprised by the overwhelming local interest.

The Guess Who announce Canadian tour to mark end to legal dispute over band name

Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman are hitting the road as the Guess Who for the first time in 23 years.

The rock veterans have announced a 2026 Canadian tour they say will be their first under the band name since settling a trademark dispute with former group members.

The legal spat had forced the duo to perform Guess Who hits such as "American Woman" and "These Eyes" as Bachman-Cummings instead.

Bachman and Cummings said in September 2024 that they had settled their lawsuit with Jim Kale and Garry Peterson and had acquired the trademark for the band name.

‘You have to adapt’: Punk rock concerts, wrestling events keep Calgary legion afloat

CALGARY - Phil MacAulay has been a member of the Royal Canadian Legion for the past 50 years, and even he's surprised at the measures his local branch has taken to keep the 103-year-old building alive.

The Calgary No. 1 Branch, nestled among towering downtown office buildings along the busy light rail track, predates the legion itself.

It opened in 1922 as the Great War Veterans Association. It became the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League in 1925 then a branch of the Royal Canadian Legion in 1961.

The legion will mark its 100th anniversary next year.

Concert showcases WSO the way it’s meant to be heard

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra took its latest show on the road Friday night, marking its debut at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Concert Hall with the first of two weekend performances aptly titled Symphony in South Winnipeg.

Before Hollywood, Redwood: Now 80, Neil Young's pivotal Winnipeg years helped shape him as an artist

Neil Young spent five years in Winnipeg. But if that period seems brief, those years, from 1960 to 1965, were pivotal to his development as one of rock music’s most consistently fascinating mavericks.