Pop Shots – Next Destination

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from The Weeknd’s haunted house attraction, to how much it will cost to see Bruce Springsteen wherever you live, to how you can stay overnight where BTS filmed a television show, and since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* The Weeknd announced a collaboration with Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights for an experience inspired by his After Hours album. For the experience, select tracks from After Hours will be reimagined as a horror movie soundtrack for haunted houses. This is not to be confused with R. Kelly’s haunted house, which was just his house … girls under 17 only admitted without a parent.

* Elton John has reportedly teamed up with Britney Spears for a new version of his 1972 song “Tiny Dancer.” This is going to end up next year’s Super Bowl halftime show, isn’t it?

* Imagine Dragons have been announced as ambassadors for UNITED24 — a project created by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to raise funds for humanitarian aid in his country. The fact that Bono wasn’t chosen means we can expect a new U2 album forced into our iTunes any day now.

* After Kid Rock canceled his concert in North Dakota at the last minute due to weather conditions, concertgoers trashed the venue, and at least one fan was detained by police. Wait a minute, are you trying to tell me Kid Rock fans are unruly? Who could’ve possibly seen this coming!

* When tickets for the six Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 2023 U.S. arena tour shows went on sale the price of some floor seats skyrocketed to more than $4,000 thanks to Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing” system. “Dynamic pricing” is just a fancy way of Ticketmaster becoming its own scalper, adjusting prices in real time based on demand. The company, however, claims 88% of people were able to buy the tickets at face value, with the average ticket price being $202 before service fees … so, basically, $4,000.

* The property where BTS stayed while filming season two of BTS In the Soop is about to be available to book for an overnight stay on Airbnb, but there’s a catch – the booking will only be available for one fan, and their guest. Also, the fan has to provide their own transportation to, and from, PyeongChang, South Korea. In other words, winning this contest will cost you about as much as a Bruce Springsteen concert ticket.

* Red Hot Chili Peppers announced they’ll be releasing a double album titled Return of the Dream Canteen, on October 14th. This will be their second album of 2022. Personally, I had no idea there were that many more songs about California that needed to be written.

* John Mayer, who has lived in Montana for the past decade, announced a trio of benefit concerts to raise money for residents impacted by June’s historic flooding of the state’s Yellowstone River. The shows will feature Bob Weir on August 8th, and Dave Chappelle, on August 14th, with Mayer finishing the run with a solo gig on August 21st, with all the shows taking place at Pine Creek Lodge in Livingston, MT. I guess we’re about to find out what people care about more – helping flood victims, or protesting Dave Chappelle.

* Kobalt Music Publishing – whose songwriters can usually be found in the liner notes of over 40% of the Top 100 songs, and albums in a typical week in both the U.S., and U.K. – removed its entire 700,000-song catalog from Facebook and Instagram in the U.S after the company’s U.S. licensing contract with Meta expired, and the two parties failed to reach a new deal. I hate to say “I told ya so,” but when streaming started I said everyone needs to be wary of the contracts, because eventually a major player is either going to want a better deal, or create their own thing entirely. Welcome to “eventually.”

* K-pop girl group Girls’ Generation announced their comeback album, Forever 1, will be released on August 8th. For the record, this is not the generation Limp Bizkit was singing about.

That’s all for this edition of Pop Shots, but come back next Monday for more shots on all things pop.