You may think that you're getting your music digitally, but you're only accessing it digitally. You're listening to it analog, because our ears are analog, our bodies are analog. There's no way to leave that behind. | | | | Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief, whose "U.F.O.F." is out today on 4AD.
(Burak Cingi/Redferns/Getty Images) | | | | | | “You may think that you're getting your music digitally, but you're only accessing it digitally. You're listening to it analog, because our ears are analog, our bodies are analog. There's no way to leave that behind.”
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| | rantnrave:// Not all corporate branding is the same. In case you needed a reminder of how different the RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY is from almost any other such venture (that's a bit of a trick setup; there hardly exists any other such venture), PITCHFORK's MARC HOGAN is here to tell us how the German branding consultant behind the academy wanted to "leave something sustainable behind" in every city where it set up shop over the years. Specifically, studios that local artists could continue using, and creative networks of "people collaborating that would usually not work together. And they continue doing that afterwards." The consultant is MANY AMERI and his agency is YADASTAR, which is parting ways with RED BULL later this year, ending the Academy's two-decade run. The Academy has employed friends of mine and my feelings are no doubt colored by that. It was also responsible for some unforgettable one-of-a-kind performances and for fostering the work of artists I admire. (Apologies for the past tense; it hasn't vanished yet and there's a Red Bull Music Festival, which is different but not unrelated, happening right now in New York.) Thinking of Ameri's goals, Hogan—whose look at the Academy's demise is a must-read—wants us to "Take that in for a second. Ameri, a branding consultant for a global corporation, was thinking aloud about what RBMA artists would do once they were no longer hosted by the company’s sponsorship." Cultural environmentalism, basically. There's a reason Red Bull Music Academy events don't feel like Red Bull ads or branding exercises. They look like concerts and lectures and conferences, and that's neither an accident nor an easy feat to pull off. There's one more bit of environmental business left: the question of what happens to the RBMA's own content later this year, when it's no longer under the auspices of the company's sponsorship. What becomes of years of quality music journalism at RBMA DAILY? What's the future of the Academy's library of lectures and master classes? I hope Red Bull will think of those archives the same way Ameri thinks of artists in the cities his Academy has moved through. I hope it will make sure it continues to exist afterward. It's too easy to abandon content in the digital age, too easy to turn art into orphan. A true curator—even a corporate one—would do everything it could to make sure that doesn't happen. Here's hoping... Happy 100th birthday, PETE SEEGER. SMITHSONIAN FOKLWAYS celebrates the late folk legend's centennial with a six-CD box set loaded with rarities... After a lengthy career of not wearing pants or a tie, always being out of champagne and refusing to treat you like she treats 'em up in first class, the flight attendant who inspired the REPLACEMENTS' snotty job-rock classic "WAITRESS IN THE SKY" has retired from DELTA. She's Replacements frontman PAUL WESTERBERG's sister JULIE, and she strutted up that aisle for four decades, Minnesota Public Radio's THE CURRENT reports... Swipe right and meet me in front of the DJ booth... It's FRIDAY and that means new music from BIG THIEF, YG, RHIANNON GIDDENS, VAMPIRE WEEKEND, TACOCAT, PNB ROCK, PILE, FURY, JOY WILLIAMS, PAULA TEMPLE, WILLIAM BRITTELLE, JOEL ROSS, JESSY WILSON, TANK & THE BANGAS, KEDR LIVANSKIY, SEQUOYAH MURRAY, JUDAH & THE LION, the FELICE BROTHERS, KAROL G, BAD RELIGION, FILTHY FRIENDS, the DREAM SYNDICATE, LIGHTHOUSE FAMILY, CAROLINE SPENCE, FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES, AMON AMARTH, RINGWORM, STYLES P, PATIENCE and L7... And from the vaults, the DIAMANDA GALÁS catalog arrives at streaming services... RIP JAH STITCH. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| | | waist deep in the big muddy |
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| RBMA’s demise seems to reflect the reality of corporate patronage in today’s flailing music industry. But the impressive legacy of this traveling music workshop/festival/conference demonstrates what a difference corporate largesse can make when the right people are given the reins. | | |
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| Digital streaming has been the industry standard for years - allowing consumers to listen to audio with unprecedented ease. But analog formats that people can put their hands on are still alluring consumers. | | |
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| Though we still have a long way to go, it’s heartening to look at how far we’ve come over the last quarter century. | | |
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| Pandora's involvement in a Copyright Royalty Board appeal felt like a good excuse to reflect on the company’s early days of advocating to suppress royalty payouts, only years after systematic worker exploitation. Though rarely discussed, these situations point to deeper issues within the contemporary music streaming business. | | |
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| With their third album in three years, indie-rock searchers reach toward the supernatural and sublime. | | |
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| Who knows how great New York’s legendary MCs would have been without the egos that spurred beef they acknowledge shouldn’t have happened. | | |
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| It’s not therapy, but a night with a sound artist left us feeling calmer and collected. | | |
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| Who needs friends, when you’ve got brands. | | |
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| Lizzo's recent clap back at a Pitchfork journalist highlights the impact of social media and superfans on the way we judge music. | | |
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| Carrie Underwood launched her all-female 'Cry Pretty Tour 360' in North Carolina this week with opening acts Runaway June and Maddie & Tae. | | |
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| Why has the tech-forward world of hip-hop hit a ceiling on a chart that seems literally made for the genre—measuring viral, 24-hour engagement—on a platform that combines two of the genre’s biggest marketing strengths, video and streaming? I have three hypotheses. | | |
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| Disappearing randomly, redownloading constantly, and inconsistently used, Downloads on YouTube Music are dangerously unstable. | | |
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| The rising star's co-managers, Danny Rukasin and Brandon Goodman, talk exclusively to MBW. | | |
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| Will Johnson is a successful producer and songwriter who found himself questioning the music industry and his place in it. So this time, he's trying a business approach from the world of fine art. | | |
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| Apple's iTunes is not going away tomorrow, but the antiquated software seems to finally be approaching the end of the road. It's long past time to talk about new solutions and new standards, for music lovers and DJs alike. | | |
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| With his first new album in six years, the deep voice of American solitude makes an unlikely case for domestic bliss. | | |
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| There has long been a nimbus of greatness and moral quandary around the Furtwängler, but listening to his work in chronological order is a demythologizing experience. | | |
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| An interracial blues duo born in 1980s Harlem was a symbol of harmony in a tense time. But times have changed. | | |
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| Is it a metropolis like London or a New York -- or a smaller city where music is the focus? | | |
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| Ten months ago, music industry executive Sylvia Rhone, a three-decade veteran of the major label system, and then the president of Epic Records, stood in front of a hotel ballroom full of entertainment top creators, influencers and visionaries to make a plea. | | |
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| | | | | | | He would have been 100 today, and he would have had much to say. |
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| © Copyright 2019, The REDEF Group |
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