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If you're like a lot of people, you're into a new Netflix show called Russian Doll, starring Natasha Lyonne. I don't want to give any spoilers away, so here's the summary right from Netflix:

Nadia keeps dying and reliving her 36th birthday party. She's trapped in a surreal time loop — and staring down the barrel of her own mortality.

In this Groundhog-Day-like scenario, every time the clock resets, you hear the bouncy first notes of the same song. What is that song? Let's call it today's viral hit. It's the earworm "Gotta Get Up," the opening track to Harry Nilsson's 1971 album Nilsson Schmilsson.

As the New York Times points out, the song's lyrics are appropriate to the show's theme. "We used to carry on and drink and do the rock 'n' roll/ We never thought we'd get older/ We never thought it'd grow cold." (New York Times)

Grammys to pay tribute to Dolly Parton

As Sunday's Grammys broadcast approaches, we're learning more about what the Recording Academy has planned. One piece of welcome news: there will be an all-star tribute to Dolly Parton, with Katy Perry, Kacey Musgraves, Little Big Town, and Maren Morris performing the music legend's hits. Even more exciting: Parton herself will perform, her first time singing on the Grammys in 18 years. Will Kenny Rogers join her? We can only hope. (Billboard)

Hair yanked as next NBC live musical

It's a sad day for hippies, but a happy day for headline writers who enjoy wordplay. Here's how Billboard puts it: "NBC is pulling its Hair." In slightly plainer English, the network has canceled plans to air Hair as its next live musical. Instead, NBC says it's working on "acquiring the rights to a couple of new shows that we're really excited about." Anyway, that nude scene might have been a little challenging for network TV. (Billboard)

Eddie Money had First Amendment right to fire drummer, judge rules

A Los Angeles appeals court has ruled in favor of Eddie Money in a dispute with a former drummer. The drummer, Glenn Symmonds, contents that he was fired due to age and disability, which would constitute illegal discrimination in California. Money, on the other hand, says that his music is protected First Amendment expression, and that extends to his choice of bandmates. A judge agreed with Money, sending the battle back to a lower court. (Billboard)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLf8_wSq4Is

Pop hits: Two surprising (or not) stats

Two new studies have yielded some telling facts about what factors make a song more or less likely to rise up the pop charts.

First, let's talk about a new USC study of gender in the music business, which confirms what we already know or have guessed: women are vastly under-represented in popular music. That starts with the voices you hear, since 83% of pop hits since 2012 have been by male artists. It gets even more uneven when you look behind the scenes: 88% of hit songwriters are men, and a whopping 98% of hit producers.

The study also included interviews with female artists, as one of the study's authors told Rolling Stone:

Women in the industry described not being valued necessarily for their talents. They tend to be sexualized and objectified in the studio. They're often isolated, as the only woman. All these things align to create a lack of opportunity, and we heard from women that these are environments in which [they] felt anything from ignored and unacknowledged to — in some cases — personally unsafe.

The other study takes an even longer look at the charts, analyzing hits from the past several decades. Specifically, the study, a collaboration between scholars from the U.S. and Italy, looks at the rise of songs that "feature" guest artists. You're not wrong: the number of collaborations on the charts have risen dramatically since the '90s, and artists have a good reason to get adventurous.

Songs that feature collaborations have a greater likelihood of making it into the top ten, and the boost is bigger when the guest appearances cross genres. A classic example is the way Maroon 5 have scored numerous recent hits by collaborating with hip-hop artists: they draw listeners from both the rock and rap worlds. (Rolling Stone)

Here's the biggest hit single by a female artist in 2018...and whaddya know, it's a cross-genre collaboration. It's "Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line.

British music retailer HMV saved from closure

Record chains have been struggling for a reason in recent years: people are buying fewer physical copies of their favorite releases, and when they do they'd often rather patronize an independent record store than a giant chain. Still, no one except maybe Spotify likes seeing a record store close, so British music fans are celebrating the fact that the British record store chain HMV has been saved from going under.

The struggling chain has been purchased by Sunrise Records, a Canadian retail chain. They won't be able to save all of Britain's HMVs: 100 locations will remain open, but 27 will close, including the chain's flagship store on Oxford Street in London. That's a bummer, but people across the British music industry say that saving HMV, which accounted for 31% of all British physical music sales last year, will help a foothold for music in U.K. retail.

In response to the news, Geoff Taylor, the head of the trade organization for U.K. record labels said, "There is still a resilient market for recorded music on physical formats. Fans value the collectability, artwork, liner notes and great sound quality of music on CD and vinyl. With new investment and the support of labels, HMV can continue to offer music lovers the pleasure of browsing and buying physical music on the High Street." (Billboard)

Let's celebrate with a track from the album that sold more physical copies than any other last year in the U.K. From the Greatest Showman soundtrack, here's Hugh Jackman singing "A Million Dreams."

Audio sampled in podcast
Jahzzar: "Comedie" (CC BY 4.0)
BoxCat Games: "Against the Wall" (CC BY 3.0)
Eddie Money: "Two Tickets To Paradise"
Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line: "Meant To Be"
The Greatest Showman Original Soundtrack: "A Million Dreams"
Harry Nilsson: "Gotta Get Up"