I’ve studied the greats. I studied people like Future, Lil Wayne and Kanye, who came up and consistently progressed. I’ve studied all the genius marketers throughout the rap game. I borrow from anybody with something to offer. | | | | DaBaby at Rolling Loud, Queens, N.Y., Oct. 13, 2019.
(Zachary Mazur/FilmMagic/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “I’ve studied the greats. I studied people like Future, Lil Wayne and Kanye, who came up and consistently progressed. I’ve studied all the genius marketers throughout the rap game. I borrow from anybody with something to offer.”
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| | rantnrave:// The EARTH moved a little in Los Angeles early this morning—or maybe that was just the planet doing "HOUSEQUAKE" as an unannounced encore for the PRINCE TV tribute. This isn't the pivot anyone in California or anywhere else needs right now. But everyone else is being forced to pivot these days, so why not? The indefatigable CHERIE HU has the lowdown on big-picture music pandemic pivots, from the emergence of "immersive, at-home video" to the demand for social music tech, and beyond. Me, I'm interested in a couple companies that aren't pivoting so much as building out natural brand extensions that rise to this exact occasion. The missing component in the INSTAGRAM LIVE DJ sets that have been a balm for a lot of shut-in music fans is legit music rights. If you're not D-NICE or QUESTLOVE, your IG Live set is in constant danger of being shut down. MIXCLOUD is looking to plug that hole with MIXCLOUD LIVE—released earlier than planned to meet what co-founder NICO PEREZ calls "an unprecedented level of demand"—which has blanket licenses for audio and video livestreaming. It's currently available only to pro (i.e. paid) users, but comes with the enormous benefit of Mixcloud's label and PRO deals. It also raises the question: If blanket licenses exist for video livestreams, why doesn't Instagram have them? SONOS, meanwhile, has entered the original content market for the first time with SONOS RADIO, a collection of stations that give Sonos users something they've never had—a true lean-back experience. There's a small suite of ad-supported genre stations along with ad-free artist-curated stations (the first of which is a very Thom Yorke-y THOM YORKE station) and an ad-free cross-genre station called SONOS SOUND SYSTEM, which has a bit of a public radio meets PITCHFORK vibe and which fed me indie-rock, hip-hop, dub reggae and BILLIE EILISH within my first half-hour of listening without sounding like it was trying too hard. There's nothing especially new here except the vibe—it sounds like a music product, not a tech product—and the quality of the execution. The curation is really good (shoutout to our friend SAIDAH BLOUNT). And now I'm listening to guest DJ ANGEL OLSEN playing the DURUTTI COLUMN, the ROCHES and WINGS. If I hear Billie Eilish again an hour from now without having to get up and change the channel and without feeling like I've been yanked too hard through the segues, I'm going to feel good about this. And at a moment where most of us are stuck at home and terrestrial radio may or may not be grabbing our attention, there's a decent chance others will too... SHARON ETTEN will join the surviving members of FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE for a tribute to the late ADAM SCHLESINGER at tonight's JERSEY 4 JERSEY livestream, which benefits the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. Jerseyans BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, SZA, HALSEY and CHARLIE PUTH, among others, are also on the bill. 7pm ET on APPLE MUSIC and APPLE TV... At least two of those performers have graced the stage of the SAINT in Asbury Park (as has your humble MusicREDEF curator), which is up for sale as a result of lost business from the pandemic, but whose owners seem confident they'll be able to sell to a friendly investor and stay open... Not so for long-running Austin restaurant and live-music space THREADGILL'S, which is for sale and, owner EDDIE WILSON says, closed for good... ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO, QUESTLOVE and TANK & THE BANGAS are among the long list of performers playing the three-day-long EARTH DAY LIVE stream, which begins at 9am ET today... RIP RONAN O'RAHILLY, DEREK JONES, JULIA CRAIK and OSCAR COHEN. | | | - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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 | Stereogum |
| StageIt says it can help performers make money during coronavirus, if it can stay in business. | | |
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 | Rolling Stone |
| Terrestrial music stations have a major cultural opportunity right now, but employees say a muddied strategy is standing in the way. | | |
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 | Paper |
| DJ sets are getting us through quarantine, but Instagram keeps shutting them down. | | |
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 | First Floor |
| An interview with Mixcloud co-founder Nico Perez about their new livestreaming platform. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| The singer and songwriter’s 14th studio album, “Good Souls Better Angels,” is stocked with fuzzy guitars and pointed political lyrics. | | |
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 | The FADER |
| Thundercat on the challenges that defined his new album 'It Is What It Is,' working with Steve Lacy and Zack Fox, and the loss of best friend Mac Miller. | | |
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 | Water & Music |
| After monitoring the situation over the past several weeks, I’ve identified five major music-tech pivots impacting all corners of the industry — record labels, publishers, event organizers, merch manufacturers and, of course, artists and fans — that could have far-reaching systemic consequences after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. | | |
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 | Pitchfork |
| With rappers recording at a nonstop clip, and sampling more difficult than ever, hip-hop producers are increasingly outsourcing their melodies to a global network of loopmakers. | | |
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 | Billboard |
| Pitbull’s legal team believes his now trademarked “EEEEEEYOOOOO” is the first trademarked call sign by a music artist. Other artists could follow suit | | |
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 | Los Angeles Times |
| A DAC, or digital audio converter, makes all the difference when streaming on a phone or laptop. You don't have to spend a ton, our music critic says. | | |
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 | Smithsonian Magazine |
| The Beatles guitarist visited his sister in southern Illinois just months before he'd become world famous. | | |
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 | Variety |
| In 2019, Dmitri Siegel, VP-global brand at Sonos, was gearing up for the high-def audio company's launch of Sonos Radio - which debuts today. It provides over 100 streaming options from 60,000 different stations - including exclusive artist-curated programming from Thom Yorke, Brittany Howard and David Byrne among others. | | |
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| Rolling Stone |
| “One rule for myself and for the team is we are never allowed to listen to the radio. I don’t want us ever influenced,” says EA’s longtime music head. | | |
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 | Genius |
| Lanez spoke candidly about his label struggles and discussed his popular Instagram Live series. | | |
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 | The Daily Beast |
| The now-canceled electronic music festival seems to have quietly changed its terms and conditions to avoid refunds at all costs, even in the face of a global pandemic. | | |
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 | DownBeat |
| With the coronavirus pandemic spreading around the world, the United States government on March 11 announced tight restrictions on travel from Europe, prompting Romain Collin to book a flight back to New York. The pianist had been writing new music in a remote cabin in Iceland, and the sudden change in plans would shorten his solo retreat from one month to three weeks. | | |
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 | The Common Reader |
| In the age of COVID-19, it is good to think about some ways we have thought about illness in our music. | | |
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 | Guitar World |
| He's toured with Eminem, Cardi B, Usher and Mac Miller. Now, "Freaky Rob" tells GW how he became one of hip-hop's most in-demand guitar players - and the face of Fender's American Acoustasonic Stratocaster. | | |
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| Variety |
| Monday felt like "A Willie Nelson Christmas" but it was another internationally recognized holiday that the country legend was celebrating with a six-hour live stream: 4/20. For those who aren't in the know, the date of April 20, along with the daily chime of 4:20 p.m., is code for stoners to spark up. | | |
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 | And The Writer Is... |
| Since we last spoke, Justin Tranter has written on some of the most significant recent albums including Ariana Grande's ‘Thank U, Next,’ Jonas Brothers' ‘Happiness Begins,’ and Selena Gomez’s ‘Rare.’ And in 2019 they were given the ACLU’s Bill of Rights honor for their activism, making history as the first gender non-conforming honoree to receive the award. | | |
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