When you made a [mixtape] for somebody, you didn’t just hit a button and burn a bunch of stuff. You had to put records on, you found the groove, you had to put it all together, and you had to listen to it. And you’re listening to it as you go. And maybe you change your mind, and you think oh, no! That’s not the right song to put on! And you usually screwed up at least once. You were really doing something for somebody. You were investing time. You were investing love. | | | | Shirley Tetteh of Nérija, a London jazz septet whose debut album, "Blume," is out today on Domino.
(Mike Jordan/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “When you made a [mixtape] for somebody, you didn’t just hit a button and burn a bunch of stuff. You had to put records on, you found the groove, you had to put it all together, and you had to listen to it. And you’re listening to it as you go. And maybe you change your mind, and you think oh, no! That’s not the right song to put on! And you usually screwed up at least once. You were really doing something for somebody. You were investing time. You were investing love.”
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| | rantnrave:// To a pair of ears that haven't been in a jury box in several years, the beat of KATY PERRY's "DARK HORSE" resembles that of FLAME's "JOYFUL NOISE" in the same way dozens of pop songs produced within any given time frame sound like dozens of other pop songs from the same time frame. They're made out of the same basic influences (aka the radio), similar studio tools and overlapping musical interests. They can and should be allowed to co-exist. This is pop. But things no doubt sound different when you are in fact in a jury box and musicologists and lawyers are talking to you at great length about intervals, meter, timbre and other objective details of the songwriting and production processes. It's easy to understand, in that context, how that which was danceable might suddenly sound actionable. Especially to jurors who may or may not have the slightest interest in either artist or song. On Thursday, three days after ruling that Perry's song infringed on the copyright of Flame's, a jury awarded the GRAMMY-nominated Christian rapper $2.78 million, with $550,000 to be paid by the Grammy-nominated pop singer, $1.3 million by her label, CAPITOL RECORDS, and the rest by her collaborators, including MAX MARTIN and DR. LUKE. The big loser is the label, which, if you can believe what various lawyers told the court, grossed $31 million from "Dark Horse" but was left with a mere $650,000 profit after paying $13,000 for a wardrobe stylist for the MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS, $2,000 for flashing ice cubes and, apparently, another $30 million for production, promotion and assorted other line items. #RecordCompanyAccounting. (Then again, Capitol's penalty is roughly 4 percent what it spent working the single, so it can think of it as just another promotional expense.) Perry herself made $3 million from her song, against $600,000 in expenses, so she still comes out way ahead. The music world will be debating the verdict, both in and out of court, for years, and skittish writers and producers no doubt will be handing out co-writing credits like Halloween candy in an attempt to ward off demons, witches and copyright lawyers. Sometimes the credits will make sense and sometimes they won't. My only wish is that, either way, the songs still come out. Because this is still pop... (Also, if I were the lawyer for BO DIDDLEY's estate, I'd invest all my money in a time machine so I could go back 30 or 40 or 50 years and start filing suits from coast to coast)... Every artist on the bill for the canceled WOODSTOCK 50 festival got paid in full in advance and gets to keep the money, VARIETY reports. Everyone, that is, except the BLACK KEYS, who backed out shortly after the original announcement... LIL NAS X falls in love with a banjo. KERMIT THE FROG takes over for JIM HENSON in the vocal booth. ALESSIA CARA works out her insecurities, guitar in hand. And more stories from the other side of the microphone. MusicSET: "Behind the Song, Vol. 11"... It's FRIDAY and the TOOL catalog is streaming for the first time and there's new music from TY SEGALL, LIL DURK, SKILLET, the BIRD AND THE BEE, NÉRIJA, CHERIE CURRIE & BRIE DARLING, CROSS RECORD, CLAIRO, RICH THE KID, BLACK MILK, TYLER CHILDERS, MABEL, TISAKOREAN, YOUNG GUV, LITTLE BOOTS, THOUXANBANFAUNI, MOLLY BURCH, VOLBEAT, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, ROWSDOWER, JAHSHUA SMITH, JEEN BASSA, LOU THE HUMAN, BERLIN, ARTHUR MOON, GARRY TALLENT, DAVINA & THE VAGABONDS and IAMTHEMORNING... And there's a CARE PACKAGE waiting for you from DRAKE. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | The New Yorker |
| The production of custom-tailored, trailer-ready, high-drama cover songs has become a cottage industry. | | |
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 | The Washington Post |
| Underground music overcame censors to gain popularity and political power. | | |
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 | My Emu Is Emo |
| Digging through PledgeMusic’s financial statements yields questions and a few scares. | | |
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 | The FADER |
| Earlier this week, a jury decided that Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” copied another song -- and creativity will suffer because of it. | | |
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 | Discogs |
| "I have a really, really, really good record collection." | | |
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 | Talkhouse |
| Morgan Enos (Other Houses) talks bonding with his dad over rock & roll’s flops and misfires. | | |
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 | Billboard |
| Lil Nas X has played everything brilliantly so far. But where does he go from here? | | |
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 | Highsnobiety |
| 88rising is trailblazing Asian representation in rap; we speak to Rich Brian, Niki, and label founder Sean Miyashiro on their incredible journey. | | |
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 | Rolling Stone |
| The label sets the bar for archiving standards while acquiring niche collections and releasing new music that broadens the definition of "folk." | | |
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 | Fast Company |
| Leaked images suggest that Samsung will be including a dreaded dongle with its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Note 10. Hang on to your iPhone 6S, people! | | |
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| | | running on a dark race course |
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 | The New York Times |
| An announcement with no tickets. Four permit requests rejected by one small town. How the event celebrating the anniversary of a landmark rock festival crumbled. | | |
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 | Time Magazine |
| A too-small soundsystem, combined with oppressive physical conditions, made it difficult for many at Woodstock to focus on the music. | | |
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| Billboard |
| “We're in a very fertile market, and we have to build it out,” says CEO Steve Stoute. | | |
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 | Music Think Tank |
| Getting a record deal used to be the number one priority for unsigned bands. Having the backing of a label, with the budget to distribute and market their music, was perhaps the only way to grow and start playing bigger and better shows. | | |
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 | The Undefeated |
| The band’s lead vocalist on being a Kennedy Center honoree, his solo album and paying it forward. | | |
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 | The Daily Beast |
| Barry Manilow’s Broadway show is a feast of classic hits like “Mandy” and “Copacabana,” with the 76-year-old showman singing, groin-thrusting, and delighting his devoted fans. | | |
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| Rolling Stone |
| Spotify subscriber growth is falling way short of projections. Is the solution really in the streaming giant's own hands? | | |
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 | Touré Show |
| Ronson is a music producer who’s made massive hits with Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Amy Winehouse, and Miley Cyrus. How does he make music? We dig into his musical philosophies and his stories about making music. | | |
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 | AIGA Eye on Design |
| “If I hear the phrase ‘Summer of Love’ one more time, I will scream." | | |
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 | Perfect Sound Forever |
| How did we let R. Kelly abuse young black girls for years-- interview with Jim DeRogatis. | | |
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 | YouTube |
| | | | The Bird and the Bee (feat. Beck) |
| | From "Interpreting the Masters Volume 2: A Tribute to Van Halen," out today on No Expectations/Release Me. |
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