Music lovers and the industry pay a lot of attention to [our charts] because an artist’s Shazams represent the pure connection between the music and the fans, and what is happening in the zeitgeist of music in the very moment. | | | | Gustavo Dudamel rehearses with the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, New York, Dec. 11, 2018.
(Jack Vartoogian/Archive Photos/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “Music lovers and the industry pay a lot of attention to [our charts] because an artist’s Shazams represent the pure connection between the music and the fans, and what is happening in the zeitgeist of music in the very moment.”
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| | rantnrave:// What if LIL NAS X was signed to an established country label, was working on the side with several country acts, was booked for multiple appearances at Nashville's CMA FEST, and had a novelty dance song whose lyrics were instructions for how the dance goes ("to the left, to the left...")? Meet BENNY BLANCO and marvel at the bubbly and featherweight "THE GIT UP," which BILLBOARD is calling "the Next Country Trap Sensation" (luxuriate for a moment in the usage of "the next" in that headline), which is being set up by the actual country business to be an actual country hit, and whose maker may be CANDLEBOX to Lil Nas X's NIRVANA. "The Git Up," with its hip-hop beat and looped pedal steel guitar, is an unabashedly fun song that will have you appreciating both the craft and the inspiration of the lightning strike that is "OLD TOWN ROAD" while watching the newly greased promotional wheels which are gonna spin and spin until they can't no more. And I'm rooting for it... BRIAN MAY says QUEEN has yet to see a penny from BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (the movie, not the song), "because there's so many people that will take pieces off the top." Someone's got some sync money coming in though, right?... All sorts of other veteran acts are pulling in plenty of pennies these days, from LED ZEPPELIN to TIFFANY to, um, LIZZO, whose 2017 "TRUTH HURTS" has zoomed past her 2019 "JUICE" on the BILLBOARD pop chart thanks to NETFLIX. I love this ROLLING STONE piece on catalog marketing at WARNER MUSIC and the influence of SHAZAM on careers everywhere. And I have a question: Is the average sync in a film or TV show these days a creative choice by the director/showrunner/music supervisor or a product placement by labels, lawyers and managers? Does anyone care? Should anyone care?... MADONNA is headed to EUROVISION in TEL AVIV this weekend (well, probably), in defiance of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and a plea from Palestinian female artists. "I’ll never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda nor will I stop speaking out against violations of human rights wherever in the world they may be," she told REUTERS. The annual European popfest, which kicked off Tuesday, is playing out amid of a maze of political and religious objections... Best wishes to Madonna's brother-in-law JOE HENRY... DJs, they stream, too... RIP LEON RAUSCH. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | Rolling Stone |
| In the streaming era, record companies are cashing in anew on old hits -- and getting more creative about how to do it. | | |
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 | VICE |
| Following the deaths of two of the city's most prominent exports, Mac Miller and Jimmy Wopo, rappers like Benji. and My Favorite Color are doing their best to pick up the pieces. | | |
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 | Tablet Magazine |
| West Coast rap god is shackled in the K-19 unit of the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles. His murder trial begins next week. | | |
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 | Mixmag |
| A pick of defining AFX sets, from DJ tributes to headline festival slots. | | |
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 | NPR Music |
| For John Zorn, realizing an ambitious, 11-album project was only possible through a crowdfunding campaign - except that the company he used, PledgeMusic, went bankrupt. It may cost him a lot of money. | | |
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 | Los Angeles Times |
| "The Lion's Share," a new documentary tracing the tortured battle over the songwriting provenance of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," premieres May 17. | | |
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 | Complex |
| Social media, tastemakers, playlists, media, and more music than ever before--we tried to make sense of it all and how it relates to discovering new artists. | | |
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 | Hypebeast |
| Over the last few years, the daytime talk show has provided a platform for artists to be discovered by a new audience. | | |
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 | Billboard |
| Lawyers for Dentsu released dozens of communications with Michael Lang and other Woodstock 50 reps on Monday, providing a rare glimpse into the deeply dysfunctional alliance that had come together to stage the anniversary event. | | |
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 | The Daily Beast |
| Rapping under the name Dame D.O.L.L.A., the All-NBA guard has succeeded where Kobe, Shaq and many others have failed: dropping not one, but two impressive hip-hop albums. | | |
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| Rolling Stone |
| Donald Glover’s seven-person creative collective helped build an entertainment industry in and of themselves. What’s next? | | |
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 | The Guardian |
| A new generation of queer producers and DJs are using the beats that fired 90s rave culture to herald a ‘post-cynicism’ age. | | |
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 | The Ringer |
| The ’90s are back, the weather’s getting warmer, and a band of Long Beach burnouts are prime for a cultural comeback. | | |
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 | Music Business Worldwide |
| TME is putting premium music behind a paywall. Should Spotify and Apple follow suit? | | |
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 | Please Kill Me |
| With Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes, Facebook, YouTube, and personal blogs, it has never been easier to make music and get it out to the public. The flip side of that is this: It has never been harder to make money off that music. Ask any working rock & roll band. PKM’s Harrison Connery did just that. | | |
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| Los Angeles Times |
| The Dusk festival, held on a Native American reservation two hours from L.A., provides fans an alternative to large-scale, hyper-branded music events. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| The Lemonheads frontman was the poster boy -- and prettiest boy -- of Gen X. At 52, he’s still enjoying a life of drugs and rock ’n’ roll, on Martha’s Vineyard of all places. | | |
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 | Mixcloud |
| Mike Figgis -- the Academy Award nominated filmmaker, composer, writer, musician, photographer and digital innovator, joins me to talk about his multi-faceted creative life through music. | | |
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 | Resident Advisor |
| "See What I Hear" is an experimental film by the Bristol-based filmmaker Lucy Werrett exploring the ways in which visuals can enhance both the experience and the production of music. It's the winner of a film contest sponsored by Resident Advisor and the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. | | |
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 | Longreads |
| Sometimes the most fertile creative relationships are the most unlikely. | | |
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 | YouTube |
| | | | | | "What is it about Birmingham?" |
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