You push a button, the music plays, and then it’s over — no ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms! | | | | Seun Kuti pays tribute to his father at Central Park SummerStage, New York, July 16, 2017.
(Ray Tamarra/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “You push a button, the music plays, and then it’s over — no ads, no privacy terrors, no algorithms!”
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| | rantnrave:// When he isn't co-writing hits for the likes of ARIANA GRANDE, SELENA GOMEZ, NICKI MINAJ and KEITH URBAN or producing his songwriting podcast, ROSS GOLAN is patiently working on his résumé as a labor leader for pop songwriters. He was instrumental in mobilizing the songwriting community in 2018 in support of the MUSIC MODERNIZATION ACT, and now he's laid out a platform worthy of an outsider candidate for a songwriting senate. On his list, presented at a town hall for songwriters and publishers in LA and later published in BILLBOARD: record company advances for the composers of any new song on an album; health insurance to be provided by performance rights organizations; and, from publishers, access to affordable errors and omissions insurance to protect against plagiarism claims. All of which could tangibly change songwriters' lives. And all of which would amount to a fundamental change in music industry economics. Who, besides the entire industry, could say no to that? Is there an actual business case to be made for a wish list like that? Is there a reason for record companies, publishers and PROs to show up at the negotiating table? What leverage do songwriters have? What resolve do they have? Who would stand with them? Is there an appetite for a songwriters new deal? Is disruption in the air, or are we just having a friendly conversation?... WOODSTOCK 50 is free to proceed this August after a split ruling in a court fight between festival promoters and their original financial backers. Having persuaded a judge, the promoters now face the perhaps trickier task of persuading music fans. "Challenges remain for event," as the POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL dryly put it... BTS meet the BEATLES... GIMME RADIO, which launched two years ago as a really good all-metal radio station inside an app, now wants to give you some twang, too. GIMME COUNTRY, a separate app, went live Wednesday. Like its metal sister, GC aims to counterprogram traditional radio and streaming services by playing overlooked and underplayed artists and, pointedly in this case, women. And not just playing them; the station's DJs include LEE ANN WOMACK and BRANDY CLARK. Somewhat frighteningly, the station's DJs also include me. Full disclosure. And apologies in advance. The counterprogramming of both apps isn't just about what music is played. It's also about the idea of having on-air hosts who select the music and talk about it, an old-fashioned attempt at human connection in a world where the idea of being connected often means the opposite of that. Not "real music" (yawn; also, I disagree) so much as real DJs (minus the records and turntables, but still)... Wait, an orchestra that wants you to bring your phone to its concerts? And that wants you to keep that phone on? Yes and yes. The orchestra is the Manchester-based BBC PHILHARMONIC and the reason is an app called NOTES that will offer real-time liner notes to pieces as the orchestra plays them. Innovative and fantastic. Make art accessible. And if you don't want to partake, you don't have to... A little further north, the FLY OPEN AIR dance music festival, which takes place this weekend in Scotland, is banning phones altogether at its BOILER ROOM DJ stage, which will be headlined by a secret guest. Which is also OK, if you ask me. Being at a phone-free show is like being in an office when the white noise suddenly shuts off. Eerily peaceful... In Wednesday's rantnrave, I mistakenly called BLANCO BROWN "Benny Blanco." They are, obviously, two different people, and only one of them is currently trying to break Nashville as far as I know. My apologies to them and to you... RIP CHUCK BARKSDALE. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | The Tennessean |
| As the U.S. Copyright Office nears a decision on which nonprofit group will operate the newly created digital licensing organization, the bid widely believed to be the favorite for the work is pushing back against criticism that its application is rife with conflicts of interest. | | |
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 | Longreads |
| What one fan learned through being disappointed and comforted by Nick Cave’s The Red Hand Files. | | |
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 | Penny Fractions |
| Rather quickly, Amazon’s music streaming platform went from a limited Prime supplement into potentially one of the most diverse music streaming platforms (in terms of price and ability to sell other products). | | |
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 | WPLN Nashville Public Radio |
| Pierre Tra, who now goes by Peter One, is a quiet 63-year-old and a musician in his free time. That in itself is not unusual in Nashville, but few have lived the kind of trajectory that Peter has.Thirty-three years ago and more than 5,000 miles away, Peter was a country star — in the Ivory Coast in West Africa. | | |
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 | Variety |
| The screaming really is that loud. It's a physical force - a shrill, trebly shriek that crackles the eardrums and makes your clothes vibrate. It gets so loud you can't hear a person talking five feet away. | | |
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 | Rolling Stone |
| Large record companies – who have been complaining about the “fake artist” practice for two years – appear to be adopting a “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” approach. | | |
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 | Music Business Worldwide |
| Instagram’s new e-commerce features – along with its licensing deals with major labels and publishers, and its popularity as a live concert documentation platform – provide a blueprint for how to build an integrated music hub that monetizes fandom, not just consumption. | | |
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 | Pitchfork |
| The London quartet talk about blending anarchy with improvisation and trading in machismo for melody in this Rising interview. | | |
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 | NPR Music |
| Kenny Burrell's plight became public after his wife, Katherine Burrell, launched a GoFundMe page on May 9, in which she chronicled a number of overwhelming circumstances that the couple is currently navigating. | | |
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 | Billboard |
| Ross Golan, songwriter and host of the podcast 'And the Writer Is...,' lays out his agenda for greater rights in the music industry now that the MMA has passed. | | |
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 | The FADER |
| Internet Money's Taz Taylor and Nick Mira explain how they went from selling beats online to producing for Juice WRLD, Lil Uzi Vert, and more. | | |
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 | Components |
| An examination of the notorious "ultra-long album", through 55 years of Billboard 200 data. | | |
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| Pitchfork |
| Robert Dean Lurie’s "Begin the Begin" dives into R.E.M.’s formative years with help from the Athens, Georgia set. | | |
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 | Los Angeles Times |
| The Santa Barbara rapper has a viral hit with "U Was At The Club." How did the MC rocket to fame before his first single was even released? | | |
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 | Hollywood Reporter |
| The long rumored North American version of the annual European mega competition is officially being developed, with an estimated launch in 2021. | | |
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| Billboard |
| "Artists are leaders," says one artist manager. "Grin and bear it. If you lose fans because of your football team, you've got s***ty fans." | | |
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 | A.V. Music |
| For as universal a sound as Noe conjures, there isn’t anyone quite like him in the current music landscape. | | |
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 | Mixmag |
| With a strong message of equality, the Melting Point crew is a driving force for change. | | |
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 | CDM Create Digital Music |
| Here's techno as it's lived in the moment -- the actual improvised grooves of nine years of live sets, echoed as a flood of glitchy, modem-like sounds from a war-tested Alesis MMT-8 sequencer. | | |
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 | Spectator USA |
| The Spotify algorithms have shaped a generation of listeners who are defined by attention deficit disorder and a fear of complexity and difficulty. | | |
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 | YouTube |
| | | | | | Nigerian pop. Irresistible. |
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