Most artists don’t fully understand how the payouts [from streaming services] work or they wouldn’t keep signing to labels. For my artists that own their masters it has affected their bottom line greatly. |
| | Titus Andronicus at SXSW 2010. (Jason Persse) | | | | | “Most artists don’t fully understand how the payouts [from streaming services] work or they wouldn’t keep signing to labels. For my artists that own their masters it has affected their bottom line greatly.”
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| rantnrave:// RECORDING ACADEMY CEO NEIL PORTNOW has set out to clarify his annual GRAMMY AWARDS anti-streaming rant with a blog post about what he calls "The Penny Paradox." Good alliteration, not so good use of the word "paradox." Let's pay tribute to "PULP FICTION" and call it "The Penny Situation" going forward. The situation being that PORTNOW, like many people, thinks artists should be paid more than a fraction of a penny every time someone streams a song. The clarification he offers is, "Streaming services themselves are not the enemy, nor is digital technology." He doesn't identify any enemy, but he does offer a handy hashtag, #SupportMusic, as a solution, kind of like a presidential candidate proposing to repeal and replace a major national social program without explaining exactly how to either a) repeal or b) replace it. PORTNOW neglects to mention record companies, who have a lot to do with setting the rates that a lot of streaming services pay, and who have everything to do with how much of that fraction-of-a-penny rate gets passed on to actual artists. The penny situation, as BILLBOARD's ANDREW FLANAGAN points out, is "exceedingly complex." But those record companies might be a better source for PORTNOW's ire than those consumers who are legally listening to music for free thanks to deals made by the very record companies whose artists are now complaining they're not getting paid. Which is ironic, but not paradoxical... Alternatively, PORTNOW could write a blog post suggesting artists rip up their record deals. "If you don’t own your masters on streaming you will never make money," writes JACK STRATTON of infamous SPOTIFY disruptors VULFPECK. "Get the word out to musicians to keep all their rights. That would change the backlash against SPOTIFY"... Fully deserving of your streaming backlash: JAY Z, who has continued to pull his own albums from SPOTIFY, ITUNES and AMAZON while keeping them on TIDAL. That's not taking a stance against streaming. That's taking a stance against his competition, and against any of his fans who are paying to use the competition. Question for JAY: If you owned POWER 105, would you try to prevent HOT 97 from playing your music? 'Cause that's the same thing... Artifacts from the FIRST AVENUE archives... RIP FRANK SINATRA JR. | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| In the new film "I Saw the Light," a surly Hank Williams, played by Tom Hiddleston, grudgingly consents to an interview with a New York City newspaper reporter. The writer asks Williams how he explains his popularity. "Everybody has a little darkness in them," Williams replies, between sips of whiskey. | |
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The late-night MTV show that brought the underground to the surface. | |
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When it comes to discovering new music, less is more. | |
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The questions at the crux of Nicki Minaj’s constantly elevating success:1.) How does she do it? and 2.) Where will she go next? The answers, clearly, are pure hustle, and everywhere. | |
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Nashville badass opens up about going to jail, signing to Jack White's label and how she's more like David Allan Coe than Kacey Musgraves. | |
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Meredith Bradley was heading home. It was around half past midnight on March 13, 2014, and she was in her truck waiting at a stop sign in the Red River district of downtown Austin, which was packed for the annual South by Southwest Music festival. | |
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If you drive down any interstate in the South, you can't miss the giant black and yellow signs beckoning: Waffle House. These ubiquitous, yellow-roofed chain restaurants have been serving up not just waffles but all manner of Southern comfort foods 'round the clock for more than 60 years. | |
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Like Ziggy Stardust or Lady Gaga before her, Christine is very much a character, one from which she draws strength and expresses difference allowing her to break free from the orthodoxy of manufactured pop princess. | |
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T his is the question I posed to the 25 million-plus viewing audience of the 58th annual GRAMMY Telecast on Feb. | |
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On Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her still-unsung genius. | |
| Why is this genre perpetually on life support and can it ever be revived? | |
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For a glimpse of what teenagers are into these days, all you have to do is visit Abbot Kinney Boulevard in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles. On weekend nights, the half-mile shopping drag is packed with style-conscious kids who traipse past coffee shops, ice cream parlors and boutiques, often while taking selfies. | |
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Bibi Bourelly made her name writing hits like “B**** Better Have My Money” along with other songs for Rihanna, Kanye West and Usher -- now she's branching out on her own. | |
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Hinton would start by messaging people on YouTube, an opening gambit that often fell short. (It's telling that I didn't know I had YouTube messages until our conversation.) He'd email addresses that had gone dormant or completely inactive, and he'd search for linked Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook profiles. | |
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| A Journal of Musical Things |
Music Industry A song doesn't just happen. There are composers, lyricists, performers. Rights of ownership are divvied up across those parties, labels, publishers, distributors and possibly other entities. And the sale of one company to another means a small forest worth of paperwork to keep the records current and ensure all parties are properly paid for their work. | |
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Twice already this week, Kanye has made edits to the cannonical edition of "The Life of Pablo" album that is streaming via TIDAL. First, he made some very minor changes to the song "Famous" that included a barely noticeable lyric alteration and a small change to some Rihanna vocals. | |
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He put his Gucci and LV in the bin, cos that's not him. Now as one of the new faces of Uniqlo’s latest London campaign, we talk fashion with the grime star. | |
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In this piece, music tech entrepreneur Jonathan Yaari takes us his journey through the rise and fall of Soundudes, a platform designed to allow indie artists to connect with their fans and monetize their music; before the site's untimely shutdown at the hands of Soundcloud. | |
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At any given moment during a weekend night on U Street, there's a strong possibility of hearing go-go-the signature sound of black Washington, DC -echoing through bars and music venues. Perhaps an impromptu performance has drawn a crowd in front of the Metro station across from DC staple Ben's Chili Bowl, or maybe someone is drumming on a bucket on the corner by Busboys and Poets. | |
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Gifted, strong and blessed with the pipes that shed light on the ills of the world, Eryn Allen Kane is budding star from Detroit's East Side. After profiling her in our First Look Friday series, the 26-year-old singer-songwriquite the demanding 2015. | |
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| performing tonight at Swan Dive |
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