Even though the guy was bad, the song was great.
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Love (in the Name of Pride): Icona Pop's Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo at the LA Pride Parade, June 9, 2018.
(Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
Monday - June 11, 2018 Mon - 06/11/18
rantnrave:// Business booming. Revenues growing. And yet. Is there a long-term plan to make some actual money in this industry? Streaming companies? Labels? Artists? Anyone? Three years after laying out the (somewhat terrifying) state of the music biz in "Less Money, Mo' Music & Lots of Problems," MATTHEW BALL returns to find a strangely healthy business facing a strangely uncertain future in our new REDEF Original, "16 Years Late, $13B Short, but Optimistic: Where Growth Will Take the Music Biz." Ball dives deep into the data to ask what will a major label, or any label, mean in the coming years? Will it mean SPOTIFY and APPLE? Should it? Will artists go it alone? Can they? Must they? Can artists, streaming companies and labels find a reasonable, mutually beneficial way to go it together? Can an entire industry shed its old ways? Does an entire industry need its own DISCOVER WEEKLY to tell it what to do?... In completely related news, Spotify's market cap topped US $30 billion in the days after BILLBOARD reported the service is offering advances to indie artists to directly license their music... In equally completely related news, MUSIC BUSINESS WORLDWIDE asks why songwriters are getting "literally zero" from the selloff of Spotify stock following the company's public offering... The neverending search for reliable credits in the digital age. And one artist's creative (but totally unsearchable) solution... Gunshots onstage at BONNAROO. How would you react?... ANTHONY BOURDAIN dedicated his life to exploring—and connecting—the world not only through its unique and magical tastes, but also its sights, smells, touches and, not least, its sounds. The kitchens of his life had soundtracks. Punk-rock, hip-hop and beyond. (No BILLY JOEL, though.) A major, major loss, on so many levels... Congrats to KATRINA LENK, TONY SHALHOUB and THE BAND'S VISIT, the beautiful and affecting big winner at the TONY AWARDS. Does BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN now have 3/4 of an EGOT or do honorary awards not count?... RIP LORRAINE GORDON, patron and curator of the greatest New York jazz; DANNY KIRWAN, a (literally) long-lost central player in the early days of FLEETWOOD MAC; and Nigerian reggae star RAS KIMONO. And a special fond farewell to BUTCH PIELKA, a co-founder and longtime owner of the STONE PONY in Asbury Park, N.J., where I spent many wonderful lost weekends (and a few lost weeknights, too). Some dude who won an honorary Tony Award Sunday night spent a few nights there, too.
- Matty Karas, curator
she works hard for the money
REDEF
REDEF Music ORIGINAL: 16 Years Late, $13B Short, but Optimistic: Where Growth Will Take the Music Biz
by Matthew Ball
Sixteen years after the music industry's peak, revenues have returned to growth. But the core problems of streaming service profitability and minuscule artist royalties persist. There is cause for optimism, but transformation is needed. Enter, Spotify Records and Apple Music Groups?
The Outline
Mr. Rogers was the king of catchy tunes
by Ann-Derrick Gaillot
A trip down memory lane to the Neighborhood.
Pitchfork
Angélique Kidjo on the Myth of Cultural Appropriation and Covering Talking Heads’ 'Remain in Light'
by Grayson Haver Currin
Her full-album cover is her “solution for expressing anxiety about the future.”
Los Angeles Times
Anthony Bourdain wasn't just a food lover — he was a music freak, too
by Randall Roberts
Anthony Bourdain’s love of music will forever be eclipsed by his passion for food culture. But the late chef, writer and TV star’s life was propelled by music, and he never wasted an opportunity to serve as rock ‘n' roll ambassador.
SPIN
RETRO READ: Anthony Bourdain’s Essay on the 1977 NYC Music Scene: “Eat to the Beat”
by Anthony Bourdain
Don't let anybody tell you different: 1977 was not a good year. Not a good decade, not a good time for New York City. Remembering now, it's easy to wax rhapsodic-the year gave us, after all, the first important explosion of punk rock and hip-hop. (Originally published in October 2007.)
Afropunk
Afropunk Interview: Theo Parrish
by Piotr Orlov
A rare Q&A with the Detroit house music producer and iconic DJ.
The Tennessean
Do Eminem’s gunshots, anti-gay lyrics belong at Bonnaroo?
by Dave Paulson
"Oh, that's interesting. But he's not going to do that verse." That was the thought that ran through my head when the beat for "Criminal" kicked off during Eminem's headlining set at Bonnaroo on Saturday night.
Variety
Music Biz Challenges and Lessons: Read RIAA Chief Cary Sherman’s MIDEM Speech
by Cary Sherman
"The last 20 years have been the challenge of a lifetime – working with our companies to move forward into the digital age."
Great Big Story
Keeping Nashville's Honky Tonk Alive
by Josh Goleman and Robert H. Dyar Jr.
By day, Kevin Martin runs on coffee and the promise of 5 p.m. But by night, it’s bright lights, shiny boots and steel guitars. He and his friend Brendan Malone are the Cowpokes, a two-step band playing 1950s country-western tunes wherever they can, including Nashville's American Legion Post 82. They're reviving honky tonk’s golden age with every show they play.
HipHopDX
Why There Hasn't Been A Classic Rap Album In The Past 10 Years
by Murs
Let it breathe before you call something a classic.
money changes everything
Pollstar
Go Pro: How The Live Music Biz Is Developing Artists
by Francisco Rendon
Before the rise of digital music formats, the music business was one driven primarily by recorded music sales  and labels who to a large extent developed music careers in conjunction with artists and managers. But declining recorded music revenues and the growth of the live music market over the last two decades changed that equation.
SPIN
Will We Ever Know Who Did What on Kanye West’s 'ye'?
by Jordan Sargent
At the same time as conversations about who worked on music are more visible than ever, our ability to access that information has never been more perilous. 
The New York Times
Nick Cave Wants You to Work It Out on the Dance Floor
by Melena Ryzik
In these anxious times, Mr. Cave thinks we all need a place to unfurl. He has turned the Park Avenue Armory into a giant dance floor for “The Let Go.”
The Guardian
'We've got to open minds': meet the composers reshaping opera
by Flora Willson
What is a good subject for opera? These three women are creating vibrant and passionate works that flow from their own experiences and contemporary concerns - and prove that the genre need not be suffocated by its own history.
Soundfly
The Most Influential Drum Machine Beat of All Time?
by Dan Freeman
On the importance of Sly Stone and the Maestro Rhythm King MRK2.
Noisey
Skengdo & AM Are Redefining UK Drill
by Ciaran Thapar
Today, on the release of their latest video "What A Feeling", we chart their rise to prominence-one which saw them beat Stormzy and JAY-Z in the iTunes chart.
The Cut
Jorja Smith Hopes She Isn't Boring You
by Allison P. Davis
This 20-year-old British singer makes even the slowest slow jam thrilling.
Hazlitt
'Sci-Fi Music Felt Like a Vast, Interconnected Mythology': An Interview with Jason Heller
by Naben Ruthnum
Talking about the Seventies, the inside-baseball debate over sci-fi vs. SF, and who’s carrying the torch of sci-fi music today with the author of Strange Stars.
Fact Magazine
Feminist punk icon Viv Albertine on liberation, women’s anger and the value of writing
by Claire Lobenfeld
Claire Lobenfeld chats with feminist icon Viv Albertine about a life in punk rock, the value of writing and the evolution and importance of feminism.
NPR Music
Dave Matthews Band And The Sound Of Settling
by Grayson Haver Currin
For one writer, the Dave Matthews Band was a gateway to progressive politics in music. On its first album in six years, the group seems like it's sheltering in place.
MUSIC OF THE DAY
YouTube
"My Hometown [live at the Tony Awards]"
Bruce Springsteen
“REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’”
@JasonHirschhorn


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