• Composer James Horner passed away yesterday after his plane crashed in Ventura County, California at the age of 61. Horner, a licensed pilot who was flying a two-seater single-engine S312 Tucano, was the only casualty. A prolific musician, Horner is known for film scores on movies such as An American Tail, Aliens, Field of Dreams, and Braveheart. Horner won two Academy Awards for his work on James Cameron's Titanic—for most original score and most original song, "My Heart Will Go On"—and was nominated a total of 10 times. He was also the winner of six Grammys. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Horner's scores will still be featured in three upcoming films: Southpaw, Wolf Totem, and The 33.
• If you'll recall, TIDAL fired their CEO Andy Chen about three months ago and replaced him with an interim CEO, Peter Tonstad. Well, now Tonstad's gone as well. Although XXL is claiming Tonstad was fired, The Daily Mail is saying he quit. But a representative for TIDAL told The Daily Mail that Tonstad is "no longer with the company," so at this point, it's all speculative. Suffice to say, it seems as though TIDAL is fast on its way out, unless Jay Z can come up with the ultimate Hail Mary pass. (The B-sides concert didn't quite cut it.) In light of all the good press Apple Music started receiving yesterday when Eddie Cue gave into artists' (but mostly Taylor Swift's) demands and announced labels would receive revenue during the free three-month trial period Apple Music is offering to users, TIDAL looks even more desperate in comparison.
• Meanwhile, Google Play Music quietly launched a free, ad-supported version in the U.S. this morning. This should not be compared to services like Apple Music and Spotify however, as Google Play Music only allows the listener access to curated playlists as opposed to tracks or whole albums of their choosing. Although, according to Pitchfork, "The company hopes that the free version will bring in more listeners who will eventually convert to paying $9.99 per month for the service, without ads. The paid version offers features that the free version doesn't, such as the ability to search and play specific songs or albums and offline streaming. Without a paid subscription, users will still be able to host 50,000 songs from their own library through Google Play's platform."
