Morning Music Notes – People Are Actually Paying for Music

2.5 Million People are Paying Subscribers to Spotify

While hundreds of millions of people illegal download porn music, 2.5 million good souls decided to pay Spotify to legitimately stream music (via Slash Gear). No (useful) information was revealed though, such as where these users are (I want street addresses, dammit!), how many free users there are, or how many of them listen to Justin Bieber and should be blocked by Spotify. Who I am kidding – Bieber fans actually BUY their music with their parents’ weekly allowance.

The next steps for Spotify – FREE CANDY! a press event on November 30 in New York City. Perhaps they will come into Canada? Perhaps the earth will crash into the sun.

Suck This And See: No Label for the Arctic Monkeys

After releasing their fourth album, Suck It and See, the Arctic Monkeys find themselves in a great position – in the Bat Cave without a record contract. Will they ‘pull a Radiohead’ and self-release their own music? Doubtful (you’re not supposed to answer hypothetical questions, Pete!)

Ian McAndrew, the Arctic Monkeys’ manager, told Music Week: “We have not entered into discussions with any other prospective label, although we have received plenty of enquires. Domino has been a great label for the band and afforded us fantastic support and therefore will be at the front of any future discussions we may have about further albums.” (via Gigwise)

Watch! Florence + The Machine Cover’s Drake/Rihanna Song Produced by Jamie xx

Boy, that headline was a mouthful. Florence Welch collaborated with Drake earlier this year for his new, number #1 Take Care. The song never made it to the album, and Drake is a huge dick! Kidding – Florence is cool with it. She’s so cool that her and her band, Florence + The Machine, decided to cover a Drake track while at BBC’s Radio 1 Live Lounge. The track is Take Care, and it features Rihanna on the studio album, and it is produced by Jamie xx. Florence loves the 3 of them, and pays tribute in the song featured below.

Florence + The Machine – Take Care (original: Drake)
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Watch! Bizarro 7-min long sci-fi video for The Weeknd’s The Knowing

Another Toronto artist, The Weeknd, dropped a mix tape (mix tapes are ONLY dropped) called House of Balloons back in March. The last song is The Knowing, which gets a hefty video treatment, which features all kinds of random things. Time travel? Futurist? Weird cults? Check, check, check. Give it a watch and dream of a future that only this video can provide.

The Weeknd – The Knowing (Official Video) from xoxxxoooxo on Vimeo.