I hope that where I am later is somewhere I never expected to be. | | | | Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes at New Orleans Jazz Fest, April 29, 2017.
(Erika Goldring/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “I hope that where I am later is somewhere I never expected to be.”
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| | rantnrave:// Is SPOTIFY's acquisition of blockchain company MEDIACHAIN LABS a sign of a radical new business model to come, a chance to add some solid data tools for the existing business model, both or neither? The pro-futurist argument, from THOMAS EULER at ATTENTIONECONO.ME: It's time to find a way around the middlemen who control rights to a variety of media (e.g. record companies) and stand between content creators and content users, and blockchain technology the way. The naysayer take, from DAVID "ROCKNERD" GERARD: The business problem the industry faces isn't how to distribute and account for content-rights data, it's the data itself, along with the "contradictory interests" of the various parties who use it. And the last thing those parties want to create, he argues, is "a new central octopus." This, I suspect, is the basic pro/con of all blockchain arguments in music and other media. Data vs. database. Complicated humans vs. complicated robots. So where do you put your resources in 2017? Where *are* you putting your resources in 2017? Are you making sure your contracts and your data are airtight now, no matter what happens down the road?... DRAKE's "FREE SMOKE" and FUTURE's "DRACO" were supposed to be the first singles from the rappers' most recent projects. But pop fans had better ideas. And radio programmers, who once might have shown more deference to labels' wishes, took the fans' side. BUZZFEED's REGGIE UGWU reports on the changing dynamics behind radio playlists. It isn't exactly the same as the old practice of DJs flipping a record over and playing the B-side, but it isn't exactly different either... The FYRE FESTIVAL, displaying the customer-service and public-relations skills of UNITED AIRLINES circa three weeks ago, is offering a choice to anyone who had tickets to this year's nearly comical disaster: a refund, or VIP passes to a festival it swears is going to take place a year from now, to be produced "in the most professional way, with experienced professionals." The right thing for fest organizers to do is to automatically offer both—the refund *and* freebies to next year's event should it ever happen. Experienced professional tip for ticketholders: Take the refund. Cash it quickly... All the artists and labels and middlemen and middlewomen in the world wouldn't amount to much of anything without someone listening to the records and watching the shows. It's doubtful anyone listened to or heard BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN more than OBIE DZIEDZIC, his #1 fan from long before he ever released an album until her death on Monday. Over the years, she also served the Boss as a personal aide, cook, seamstress, adviser and all-around spirit animal. But most memorably, she stood front-row center at his shows and gave him all the reason he needed to rock. RIP. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | PopMatters |
| Amplification and voice technologies are bringing a broader palate of sounds to the singer. It’s not all beautiful, but it's very human. | | |
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 | BuzzFeed |
| Recent fan-chosen singles from Drake and Future show how even the oldest traditions in popular music are shifting. | | |
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 | Vanity Fair |
| But it’s also the latest chapter in the battle between consumers and advertisers in the digital age. | | |
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 | attentionecono.me |
| Spotify acqui-hired a blockchain team. Is it just about neat new licensing models or challenging the rights ownership industry? | | |
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 | Rocknerd |
| A detailed examination of why music industry Blockchain (capital B) dreams are not going to work out. | | |
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 | Between the Liner Notes |
| We’ve grown so accustomed to singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during ballgames that it feels like the ritual has been around forever. But if it wasn’t for a device called the magic lantern, first-wave feminism, and a sportscaster named Harry Caray, our familiar custom wouldn’t exist. | | |
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 | Hollywood Reporter |
| A year after the artist died -- without a will -- an attorney for his estate urges creatives to "consider careful planning." | | |
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 | Music Think Tank |
| From the high street, you’d be forgiven for thinking the growth in vinyl sales was a myth. We’re not seeing the high streets overrun with record stores, and those that do exist are populated, for the most part, by the usual suspects. Younger generations are only treading tentatively in their doorways. So who’s buying? And where? | | |
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 | Slate |
| He’s now calling himself “Kung Fu Kenny.” But who knew the greatest rapper alive would pull a Carl Douglas and actually hit the top of the pops? | | |
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 | Pitchfork |
| The former Dirty Projectors member talks about taking charge of her own music, what it felt like to record a song about her ex (while that ex was in the room), and more. | | |
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 | The Guardian |
| The abrupt utterance has infiltrated the charts, from Katy Perry to the Weeknd, in the past two years. Is it an industry joke or simply a way to fill space in a song? | | |
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 | WTF with Marc Maron |
| Although Mark Mothersbaugh co-founded Devo, he didn't think it was a band at first. To Mark and his bandmates, Devo was an art movement. Mark sits down in the garage to talk about his upbringing in Akron, attending Kent State University when the National Guard shooting happened, the unexpected success of "Whip It," and more. | | |
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 | CLRVYNT |
| Talking homage, rip-offs, fair use and more with DoctorWeir, the anonymous voice behind 'Sad but True: Plagiarism in Heavy Metal Art.' | | |
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 | The New Zealand Herald |
| Rapper's representatives suing New Zealand's National Party over its 2014 election campaign ads. | | |
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 | MusicAlly |
| A fair few people in the music industry think that virtual reality (VR) could be the next big leap forward for music videos and live performances alike. | | |
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 | Vox |
| The British singer-songwriter is an affable, seemingly innocuous pop star. So why is he so polarizing? | | |
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 | MTV News |
| How ‘Deep Cover’ illuminates the limits of gangsta rap 25 years later. | | |
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 | Okayplayer |
| Writer Priscilla Ward shares her thoughts + insights on Puff Daddy's standout Tribeca film, 'Can't Stop, Won't Stop: The Bad Boy Story'. | | |
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 | NPR Music |
| The number of female composers represented in the programming at America's top orchestras is dismal -- less than 2 percent. Guest essayist Mohammed Fairouz proposes one provocative solution. | | |
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 | Quartz |
| Meticulous planning lets the band pull off astounding feats. | | |
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 | YouTube |
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