Independent is a mindset. If someone comes in and dilutes what you offer, then you are not independent. Some of the biggest artists on the biggest labels don't talk to their labels about everything creatively, because their relationship might not be about that. | | | | Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in 1964.
(Tony Evans/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “Independent is a mindset. If someone comes in and dilutes what you offer, then you are not independent. Some of the biggest artists on the biggest labels don't talk to their labels about everything creatively, because their relationship might not be about that.”
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| | rantnrave:// Me and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer JON BON JOVI, a short story: I was interviewing him for the ASBURY PARK PRESS, his local newspaper. I had written some less-than-kind things about his band's live shows for the same newspaper. We had talked before, and that particular fact had never come up. Why would it? We were on the phone. He was being unusually short and unhelpful with his answers. He had a cold. He was in a hotel room in VIRGINIA, or maybe it was DELAWARE, and he was miserable. He was making me miserable, too. After 15 or 20 minutes, I asked what I thought was a softball question about opening bands and what he thought was me directly attacking him (the details of exactly why are unimportant). He said, and I quote, "Why do you hate me, MATTY?" He continued: Why did I hate his band? This was possibly meant as a rhetorical question, but I took it as a direct, actual question, and after a moment to gulp for air, I decided to answer. I told him I did not hate his band. I told him there were some things about his band that I liked less than others. I tried to explain some of those less-than things. I stumbled over my words and I may or may not have made any sense, and I may have been a little snotty but I tried my hardest to be respectful and honest. I don't remember much of anything I said. I do remember that he listened, never interrupted or protested, and when I was done he thanked me for sharing my thoughts, and he did so in the warmest, sweetest, most welcoming voice imaginable, and we dialogued a little bit about whatever I had said, and a glacier's worth of ice had been broken, and we had a fantastic and engaging and fun conversation after that. One of my favorite interviews ever. i could not, at that moment, imagine talking to a nicer human anywhere in the world. There may not have *been* a nicer human anywhere in the world at that moment. I have since heard about his kindness and warmth and generosity from numerous people in numerous situations. I'm glad he helped me find my way to experiencing it myself. Congratulations on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, JBJ. I'm honored for the tiny role I played in the journey... Meanwhile, thank you karma gods of 2017 for the rest of the Rock Hall voting, specifically SISTER ROSETTA THARPE (read my favorite rock critic, QUESTLOVE, on why) and NINA SIMONE (REDEF friend and contributor COURTNEY E. SMITH makes the case here), whose elections are a goodnews exclamation point on a year that's been badnews upon badnews for women in general and black women in particular. The RRHOF has a long road ahead to even things up with women overall, but as both a response to the year that was and a recognition of historic greatness in areas where it hasn't spent enough time looking, this was a vote worth shouting about... But the badnews doesn't stop. Three women tell the NEW YORK TIMES that RUSSELL SIMMONS raped them. Simmons "vehemently" denies the allegations from a DEF JAM executive, a singer he managed and a journalist, while re-affirming his recent admission to "thoughtlessness in my consensual relations." Shoutout to all the women who continue to speak out... RIP WARREL DANE. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | The New Yorker |
| With rappers like Migos and Lil Yachty, the impresario known as Coach K wants to both build a company and build up the city. | | |
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 | The Common Reader |
| Throughout her career thus far (it is hard to remember that she is just 33 years old), Esperanza Spalding has proven that hers is a unique voice in the music industry, easily crossing genre boundaries, yet continuously lauded by jazz musicians and audiences. | | |
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 | Music Business Worldwide |
| Will music identification app prove to be an essential subscriber funnel for Apple? | | |
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 | Billboard |
| While there are countless differences between Apple and Shazam, perhaps the most culturally significant one is that "Apple" is not yet a verb. In contrast, "Shazaming" a song is now second-nature in music discovery, and the namesake audio recognition app has become the top utility for music identification, discovery and monitoring -- for consumers and content creators alike. | | |
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 | Signals Music Studio |
| A simple note pattern can be heard all over music, yet can't be described without notating it or playing it. Here how it fits in to four examples of relatively modern music. | | |
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 | The Northumbrian Countdown |
| On twitter, I expressed a hope that the #RockHall2018 announcement would include some kind of surprise…hopefully not an agonizing one. That didn’t quite happen–which isn’t to say that there wasn’t the element of the unexpected. | | |
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 | NPR Music |
| The guitarist Fred "Freak" Smith was an outsized figure within Washington, D.C.'s vibrant '80s hardcore punk scene. His descent and death, which remains a mystery, is an all-too common story. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| Mr. Simmons, a powerful gatekeeper in the entertainment and media worlds, damaged careers and self-confidence with his pattern of sexual assault and harassment, the women say. | | |
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 | Pigeons & Planes |
| Ty Dolla $ign has multi-platinum hits and huge success but he's dreaming bigger. We spent the day with him and his label The MVMNT to find out more. | | |
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 | Very Smart Brothas |
| To be honest there aren’t many projects released this year that I can say I viscerally hated, but that won’t stop me from complaining about some of this year’s biggest and most acclaimed albums that I just couldn’t go up for. | | |
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 | Forbes |
| Here’s an update on what’s happening in the music industry and what to keep an eye on for 2018. | | |
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 | Dazed Digital |
| Artists who had previously trodden coyly around their sexualities began to relish singing freely about f***ing other women. | | |
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 | Complex |
| Drake, The Weeknd, Giggs, Tinchy Stryder-Twin has had a hand in helping them all. Complex gets to know the music executive that little bit deeper. | | |
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 | The Bitter Southerner |
| 21 Savage, the Hernies, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Future, Lilly Hiatt... | | |
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 | Noisey |
| A head-in-the-clouds look back at the gang brawls, austere dirges, and arena shows that made an American icon. | | |
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 | BuzzFeed |
| "I turned my back to him and then he put his arm around my neck in what could only be described as a chokehold." | | |
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| Billboard |
| Smithereens frontman Pat DiNizio inspired devotion for his band's meticulous, '60s-inspired rock and power pop, and because he was also an uncommonly approachable musician who always welcomed fans into his world, and never took their support for granted. | | |
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 | No Effects |
| Sharon Van Etten tells me about her open mic days, "trying to make people cry," her first tours, and how motherhood has changed her. And much much more. Big thanks to the Ace Hotel in New York for hosting us! | | |
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| Noisey |
| Dave Otero has worked with everyone from Primitive Man and Khemmis to Cephalic Carnage, so we went to Denver to find out what makes him tick. | | |
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 | Pitchfork |
| The influential guitarist reimagined what holiday records could say, in a way experimental musicians haven’t even attempted since. | | |
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 | YouTube |
| | | | Ibeyi ft. Kamasi Washington |
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