Listening to Alabama Shakes made me less self-conscious about my voice... When I hear [Brittany Howard], I think, Damn. You hear her voice out loud in front of everything. You're not afraid of your texture or anything like that. Same with Amy Winehouse. | | | | Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard in New Orleans, Sept. 22, 2016.
(Josh Brasted/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “Listening to Alabama Shakes made me less self-conscious about my voice... When I hear [Brittany Howard], I think, Damn. You hear her voice out loud in front of everything. You're not afraid of your texture or anything like that. Same with Amy Winehouse.”
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| | rantnrave:// Is KATY PERRY woke? Can she declare herself woke? Is her new album, WITNESS, woke? Is it good? Is she trying hard enough? Is she trying too hard? Can we give her space to figure it out? Is it possible to give her space when she puts herself in front of cameras 24 hours a day? Love this skeptical profile by the NEW YORK TIMES' CARYN GANZ, which tempers its skepticism with both detail and context. Love activist DERAY MCKESSON's openness to listen to her at length in his POD SAVE THE PEOPLE podcast, including on topics she's a little green on. "I want to hold space and empathize," she tells him. "I want to learn origins. I want to learn information, history, context." Love this song. MusicSET: "Katy Perry, Awake"... In related news: "In Defense of Cultural Appropriation"... Crucial corrections to previous link courtesy ANN POWERS... Next year, for the first time, songwriters will be recognized in the ALBUM OF THE YEAR category at the GRAMMYS, an honor previously given to artists, producers, recording engineers and mixers but, strangely, not them. About time. All such contributors will need to be credited on tracks that constitute at least a third of an album's playing time; that's a new rule, too. The other big news is that voting is moving from paper ballots to an online system, which won't get BEYONCÉ the top Grammy she should have got this year but which will, Grammy officials hope, greatly expand the voting pool next year... I'm no lawyer, but I'm reasonably certain that trying to trademark the devil's-horns hand gesture makes as much legal sense as copyrighting a power chord. Also, it defiles the memory of both RONNIE JAMES DIO and Ronnie James Dio's grandmother. So eat it, GENE SIMMONS... Imagine possession of a songwriting credit, 46 years later. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | self-titled |
| (According to Steve Albini. And Iggy Pop.) | | |
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 | Music Business Worldwide |
| What does Greg Maffei have up his sleeve for Pandora and Tim Westergren? | | |
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 | DJBooth |
| Rap podcast junkies need not fear in the wake of Juan Epstein's indefinite hiatus. | | |
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 | Billboard |
| 33 weeks: That's how long the Billboard 200 went without a female artist capturing No. 1. It seems almost impossible, but after Lady Gaga's Joanne bowed at No. 1 on the chart dated Nov. 12, it took until this week (the chart dated June 24) for another solo woman (or group of women) to be credited at the chart's apex, with Halsey taking top spot with sophomore LP hopeless fountain kingdom. | | |
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 | REDEF |
| Can a pop star go through a political and spiritual awakening without the entire world questioning her motives? Do you have to ask? | | |
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 | Los Angeles Times |
| The Recording Academy on Wednesday morning will unveil a number of rule changes for 2018, including one affecting the way votes from members are captured. | | |
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 | The Guardian |
| The late actor’s impact on the Rolling Stones was dramatic, influencing the way they looked, the circles they moved in and even their internal power structure. | | |
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 | The Ringer |
| “Fior di Latte” and “Cut to the Feeling” are the transcendent, frivolous songs you’ve been waiting for. | | |
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 | SPIN |
| It’s 3 PM on a Friday afternoon and a "spiritual guru" is telling me to "just go with it, man." He says to breathe deeply, to focus on the warm red color at the heart of the mind’s eye and let out a deep, resonant sound, the sort of bellowing heave you might expect from a grizzly bear mid-hibernation. | | |
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 | Lefsetz Letter |
| There’s no reason to sell CDs, other than to generate revenue and placate rearguard consumers. And in business, when done right, consumers are always behind the curve. If you’re following your consumers, you’re screwed. | | |
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| | | vampires will never hurt you |
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 | Hypebot |
| Respect for copyrights and music's "value gap" continue to be core issues for creators and the music industry. But Europe's competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is taking steps to recalibrate the entire digital marketplace, and the indie sector can lead the charge, says Helen Smith, executive chair of European indie trade group Impala. | | |
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 | VSB |
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 | Red Bull Music Academy |
| Jessica Lipsky and the Museum of the City of New York chronicle the key figures and enduring significance of the pan-Latin musical genre. | | |
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| Billboard |
| The publishing executive, who oversees the music industry's largest portfolio of music publishing assets attacked streaming services for not giving credit to songwriters at the annual National Music Publishers’ Association meeting in New York. | | |
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 | Reason.com |
| "There's not a lot of space for libertarianism in politics right now," says Wash Post's David Weigel. Is he right? | | |
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 | MTV News |
| The rise, fall, and afterlife of Washington, D.C.’s ultimate rhythm. | | |
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 | Toronto Star |
| You may not have heard of Maya Kodes, but over the past year, the slender blond singer has released a dance pop song on iTunes, recorded an EP set for release in June, performed 30 concerts and amassed 5,500 Facebook followers. Pretty impressive for a hologram. | | |
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 | Song Exploder |
| Michelle talks about why she was in musical limbo for so long, as she takes apart her song “Best You Ever.” | | |
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 | Okayplayer |
| Questlove on how a Spike Lee commercial inspired The Roots' early busking days. | | |
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 | Rolling Stone |
| In a revealing Last Word interview, Billy Joel opens up about doubting himself, staying in touch with his ex-wives and much more. | | |
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 | YouTube |
| | | | Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit |
| | From "The Nashville Sound," out Friday on Southeastern Records. |
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| © Copyright 2017, The REDEF Group |
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