I think about a lot of people's music. When I hear Paul McCartney, I'm thinking, 'I wish Paul McCartney would call me.' Because I could put a really beautiful piece of saxophone right there. | | | | J Balvin in wonderland, Madison Square Garden, New York, Sept. 29, 2019.
(Taylor Hill/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “I think about a lot of people's music. When I hear Paul McCartney, I'm thinking, 'I wish Paul McCartney would call me.' Because I could put a really beautiful piece of saxophone right there.”
|
| |
| | rantnrave:// Hi music industry: Read BILL WERDE's BILLBOARD column on what it might mean—and what it already does mean—to be in partnership with China in light of what's been going on this week with the NBA, BLIZZARD and SOUTH PARK. China is a big music market with potential to be much bigger, and Chinese giant TENCENT reportedly is in talks to buy a significant stake of UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP at the same time it's sanctioning the NBA over a tweet. That hostile basketball diplomacy "should be a massive wake-up call," the director of SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY's Bandier program writes. "What will Universal do when LADY GAGA decides to share her thoughts on human rights violations in China and Tencent plays hardball?" There may be no bigger opportunity, and no bigger quandary, facing the global music market in the next several years, and Werde does a nice job of laying out the complicated stakes. A crucial read... P.S. And what happens when, say, Lady Gaga records another LGBTQ anthem? Chinese-owned TIKTOK has a checkered history with LGBTQ content... On day two of its look back on the decade in music, PITCHFORK turns its focus to long players and, perhaps, anoints FRANK OCEAN artist of the decade, with two albums in the top 10 including poll-topper BLOND(E). Hip-hop's AOR kings, KANYE WEST and KENDRICK LAMAR, each have two in the top 20. You are neither surprised nor mad. You may, however, find yourself wondering, after perusing the list, if anyone made metal, jazz or country records in the past 10 years. You may also wonder if it’s a tad soon to call that (very good) LANA DEL REY album that came out six weeks ago the 19th best album of the 2010s; on the other hand, the whole list is going to need a do-over in four or five years anyway (see also: all lists of anything), so why not? But on this I'd like to think we can agree: RIHANNA's ANTI, at #12, is 10 or 11 places too low... UPROXX checks in on the decade, too, and places Kanye, Kendrick and Frank in the top four, with a woman named TAYLOR in their company... NETFLIX today drops the first four episodes of its hip-hop competition show RHYTHM + FLOW, which, unlike any other major music talent show, is looking for artists who can both write and perform (and, while they're at it, make videos). Think of "Rhythm + Flow" as AMERICAN IDOL but recorded inside clubs (in LA, New York, Chicago and Atlanta) with contestants who are competing to be actual American idols circa 2019, and with judges who are CARDI B, CHANCE THE RAPPER and T.I. (as opposed to, say, NICK JONAS, who has just been announced as the newest judge on THE VOICE). Congrats to our friend JEFF POLLACK, who's an executive producer... Imagine if APPLE controlled the electrical outlets in your house and every couple years you had to replace all your lamps. And your refrigerator. And TV. And toaster. And mixer. And turntables... Always always always go for the long-term royalties over the upfront cash... Oh my god I love this story about the "World's Greatest Soul Record Dealer," JOHN ANDERSON, who died last week at age 70. The Glaswegian got his start in the '60s by traveling to the US and buying 60,000 obscure soul singles to ship back home, and spent the rest of his life trawling for unwanted vinyl in the US and selling it in the UK, where it was very much wanted. "There’s no real way to emphasize just how much present-day collections world-wide and the knowledge of America’s soul recordings would otherwise be lost or diminished," writes the DAILY BEAST's MICHAEL ROBINSON... RIP also MOLLY DUNCAN, BEVERLY WATKINS and PAUL BADURA-SKODA. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
|
|
 | Billboard |
| If you're a basketball fan, you know the drama with China over an NBA executive's tweet that supported Hong Kong protestors has been center court. But if you think the music industry is sidelined in this discussion, you haven't been watching the ball. | | |
|
 | NPR Music |
| "I think everyone got on their horse too fast," says trauma therapist Dr. Lee Norton of the many performers affected by the 2017 tragedy - but there's often no other choice for stage-bound artists. | | |
|
 | Slate |
| Netflix, Showtime, and now AMC have all have series chronicling hip-hop history. Which are actually worth watching? | | |
|
 | Pitchfork |
| The records that made the decade, starring Kendrick Lamar, Grimes, Bon Iver, Solange, Lana Del Rey, and many more. | | |
|
 | UPROXX |
| In all styles of music, the 2010s saw the emergence of new global superstars, established acts further cementing their legacies, and honestly, some of the best albums of all time. | | |
|
 | Cheddar |
| Apple is considering a super-bundle of media content for one flat fee, according to the Financial Times. The bundle would combine Apple Music and Apple TV+. That could be bad news for record labels dealing with licensing issues through streaming platforms. | | |
|
 | Time Magazine |
| Netflix is gunning for network prime-time with 'Rhythm + Flow,' an uncensored rival to family-friendly singing competitions starring Cardi B. | | |
|
 | GQ |
| "I think my playing would be good on everybody's track, on every record that's ever been made." | | |
|
 | Broken Record |
| Tyler, the Creator spent three days this summer in Italy with Rick Rubin. At the end of the three days they sat down to record a conversation about Tyler's new album, "Igor". They play through some tracks off the album and Tyler even plays some piano. | | |
|
 | Brooklyn Vegan |
| One of the many interesting things about these end-of-the-decade lists is to see how taste changes over time, and how the impact of an album either grows or wanes over time. Almost no one's top 100 albums of a decade is identical to the top 10s they made each year. | | |
|
 | The Cutaway |
| As the music industry struggles to recover from the impact of streaming services, is it taking music video directors down with it? | | |
|
 | The Daily Beast |
| Americans were notoriously careless when it came to treasuring the legacy of soul music. In the UK, they dug deeper, and no one dug harder than Anderson. | | |
|
 | The Washington Post |
| Without its suffocating layers of studio production, the country music rebel’s work can breathe. | | |
|
 | Variety |
| Mariah Carey isn't someone who rushes anything. So when it comes to a photo shoot, an afternoon naturally stretches into an evening, which turns into a late-night event. At 10 p.m. - after a marathon of costume changes and notes on lighting (one of Carey's many areas of expertise) - she's finally ready to sit down for a print interview. | | |
|
 | TorrentFreak |
| The RIAA has obtained yet another subpoena at a court in the United States in an effort to identify the owners of YouTube-ripping sites. It's the latest in a long line of similar attempts in recent times but is the practice paying off? Today we take a look at the status of the sites previously targeted to see what effect, if any, the RIAA's efforts have had on them. | | |
|
 | Rolling Stone |
| Laurence Myers’ memoir recounts his time as a rock & roll accountant, an early manager to stars like David Bowie, and a music exec in music’s heyday | | |
|
 | BBC Music |
| “Best-of” lists and conversations often exclude women. Why? | | |
|
 | The FADER |
| It took four years and 200 songs for Carly Rae Jepsen to settle on a tracklist for her latest album, "Dedicated." Don't expect her process to change soon. | | |
|
 | The Moment with Brian Koppelman |
| Robbie Robertson, music legend, on why the music still matters. | | |
|
 | The Bitter Southerner |
| Could you tell the story of the South in 10 songs about trains? We asked a fellow who studies Southern railroads for a living. | | |
|
 | YouTube |
| | | | | | RIP tenor saxophonist Malcolm "Molly" Duncan. |
| | |
|
|
| © Copyright 2019, The REDEF Group |
|
|
