When I became an artist, I thought it would be one of the few things that you can do in which you’re free. But people keep saying, ‘Nail down what you’re doing!’ – they want it to fit into their museum, or not. Or fit into their record collection, or not. | | | | Why'd ya have to make a record 'bout me? Roxanne Shanté in the 1980s.
(Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “When I became an artist, I thought it would be one of the few things that you can do in which you’re free. But people keep saying, ‘Nail down what you’re doing!’ – they want it to fit into their museum, or not. Or fit into their record collection, or not.”
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| | rantnrave:// Hey, good news! US recorded music revenue grew 16.5 percent in 2017, to $8.7 billion! Two straight years of double-digit growth! The '90s are back, and not only sonically! It's entirely because of streaming, of course. But oh those streams. Paid subscriptions to full-service streaming sites grew by another 56 percent in 2017, after doubling in 2016. More than $4 billion in subscription revenues. More champagne, please. And then, like RECORDING ACADEMY head NEIL PORTNOW showing up in the middle of a GRAMMY AWARDS celebration to yell at us for illegal downloading or to yell at CONGRESS for outdated music royalty laws, the RIAA's CARY SHERMAN is here to remind us that the industry's recovery is "fragile" and that it's a long way, in terms of dollars of cents, from the actual '90s. Revenues are 60 percent of what they were at their late '90s peak. The '90s business revival, like the '90s cultural revival, is but a pale imitation of the original. There is a long way to go. There's a streaming value gap. There's a need for legislation. This all feels, to me, like watching TOM BRADY, after his PATRIOTS beat the BRONCOS by 25 points, complaining about how much better they could have played and what a long way they still have go. I get it, I totally get it, but sometimes I want to throw a football right back at him and say, "Enjoy it, Tom. It's OK"... It's been raining here in LA and according to the internet it's been snowing pretty much everywhere else, so maybe stay indoors today with a bowl of popcorn, a pot of tea and, speaking of streaming revenues, your NETFLIX subscription. The ROXANNE SHANTÉ biopic ROXANNE ROXANNE, a hit at SUNDANCE, premieres on Netflix today, telling the hard-luck story of the pioneering female rapper. THE MUSE's MARIA SHERMAN says the film "places more onus on Shanté’s path to notoriety rather than glamorizing how she transformed hip-hop—in sharp contrast to the conclusive glory of other rap biopics. In this realm, male rappers appear like supreme beings, female emcees simply survive"... Also on Netflix today: The DARYL HANNAH-directed PARADOX, featuring lots of live footage of her boyfriend NEIL YOUNG and his band PROMISE OF THE REAL, and the streaming debut of HBO's mostly great, often thrilling, JIMMY IOVINE/DR. DRE documentary THE DEFIANT ONES... DIPLO actually said this... It's FRIDAY and that means new music from JACK WHITE, the MESSTHETICS, DON FLEMONS, the MAGHREBAN, MARK PRITCHARD, TROUBLE, TONI BRAXTON, CHLOE X HALLE, KASBO, YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN, DIPLO, COURTNEY MARIE ANDREWS, NEIL YOUNG, JORDAN DAVIS, KURT ELLING, ALICE BAG, PREOCCUPATIONS, MONSTER MAGNET, the SWORD, BLESSTHEFALL, GEORGE EZRA, SUNFLOWER BEAN, GUIDED BY VOICES, PAUL THORN, CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER, SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS and DON MCLEAN. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | Billboard |
| On this hazy day in Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles lies half visible in the late-afternoon glow. Marshmello stands, unmasked, in a maroon sweatshirt and Off-White Nikes alongside his manager, marketing guru -- and dance executive of the year -- Moe Shalizi, who sports Louis Vuitton sandals and a collection of clinking gold chains. | | |
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 | Noisey |
| As SideOneDummy Records restructures its business with layoffs, what does the future hold for the long-running label? | | |
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 | The New Yorker |
| What does the president see in Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?"? | | |
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 | Variety |
| In a 2017 revenue report best summarized by the subheadline "Fragile Recovery Continues," the U.S. music industry saw its revenues from recorded music grow 16.5% at estimated retail value to $8.7 billion - continuing the growth from 2016 and marking the first time since 1999 the revenues have grown "materially" since 1999. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| The dysfunctional ’90s band is reuniting for a tour and new music. In his first interview about the reboot, Billy Corgan addresses his reputation head-on. | | |
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 | Rolling Stone |
| A$AP Ferg, G-Eazy and Future are all on current hit singles interpolating the ribald rap from 1993. | | |
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| Billboard |
| What are the implications of Wednesday's ruling for Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and the rest of the music industry? | | |
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 | Pollstar |
| The 6-1-5 is truly becoming Music City—not just Country Music USA. Over the last few years, Jack White has opened Third Man; The Black Keys have explored solo careers; and the Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires have made Nashville home. Nashville has also suddenly becoming a dining mecca. | | |
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 | Nashville Scene |
| Discussions with three critics on the divide between traditionalism and poptimism in country music. | | |
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 | Detroit Metro Times |
| El-P and Killer Mike acknowledge that opening for one of the planet's biggest pop icons isn't anything like playing a nightclub for a few hundred people. They realize most people aren't there to see RJT. But don't expect them to tone anything down for the young teens and families in attendance, or pull punches. | | |
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 | TrackRecord |
| How can we maintain views of ourselves as “good” and still enjoy work from artists we might despise in our day-to-day? Is it even possible? Or must we cut the art and artist from our lives, leaving the merch torn up on our bedroom floor? | | |
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| Billboard |
| Shamrock Capital is seeking a buyer for the digital distribution company. | | |
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 | Genius |
| “I never really could do nothing about the things that went wrong for me. I worked around it.” | | |
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 | Chicago Reader |
| He grew up attending Fellowship Missionary Baptist, one of the black congregations that nurtured the civil rights movement. | | |
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 | Refinery29 |
| The only female headliner in all of festival season so far this year is Beyoncé at Coachella, but Lollapalooza went one step further: it has no women in the first three lines of their lineup announcement poster. | | |
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 | i-D Magazine |
| Laurie is often described as a "visual" or "multimedia" artist, or as a "musician," but she says these terms are “meaningless” to her. “When I became an artist, I thought it would be one of the few things that you can do in which you’re free,” she says, “But people keep saying, ‘Nail down what you’re doing!'" | | |
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 | fabric london |
| In this rare in-depth interview, the Detroit techno artist discusses what he learned from hosting radio in Detroit, why we're living in an important time for music, and how technology could affect the future of our planet. | | |
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 | Complex |
| At the end of the day, we’re really all just trying to get a little action, and rappers are no exception. We’ve compiled the most audacious sex jams in hip-hop history. | | |
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| Rolling Stone |
| We break down the epic studio day that yielded the bulk of the band's debut LP, from "I Saw Her Standing There" to a cathartic "Twist and Shout." | | |
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 | The Daily Beast |
| Sister Rita is the last nun standing between the pop star and her bid to buy a Los Angeles convent—but the 79-year-old holy woman is not backing down. | | |
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 | YouTube |
| | | | | | From "Dirt," out today on Paper Bag Records. |
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| © Copyright 2018, The REDEF Group |
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