jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 05/25/2018 - Spotify Reversal, Detroit Techno City, J Balvin Wants the World, Shawn Mendes, Vevo...

To see so many white people dancing to this music that blacks made and they could dance, they had rhythm, it was tripping me out because they were in the groove.
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Celebrities Listening to Music on Headphones: Meow.
(Hulton Deutsch/Corbis/Getty Images)
Friday - May 25, 2018 Fri - 05/25/18
rantnrave:// Well this is awkward. Two weeks after pulling R. KELLY and XXXTENTACION from its playlists under a controversial new policy on "hateful conduct," SPOTIFY is planning to reverse course on one of the two artists, according to BLOOMBERG's LUCAS SHAW. (Multiple sources confirmed the news to VARIETY, while one source said "nothing has been decided.") Care to guess which one of the two? Care to guess which unadjudicated allegation Spotify still considers a dealbreaker, and which one it apparently doesn't? Care to guess if APPLE and PANDORA, which don't have similar policies but did follow suit vis-a-vis R. Kelly, will keep following suit? Does anyone want to play a game of TWISTER? Will Spotify's programmers have to promote the artist's music now, or will they merely be given the choice? Will it actually be a choice? (And hey, is everyone still good with BRAND NEW on their playlists? Just checking.) One root of the problem, of course, is Spotify's decision to go public with its policy in the first place, rather than simply stop promoting the artists it wasn't comfortable with. If XXXTentacion stopped showing up on RAPCAVIAR without an announcement, there hardly would have been a basis for anyone to complain—Spotify is under no obligation to promote anything it doesn't want to promote—and lots of people would have welcomed his absence. By putting it in writing, Spotify raised way more questions than it could possibly answer, no matter how good its intentions were. The other root of the problem is the unilateral nature of the decision. By most accounts, labels and managers weren't consulted in advance, but they certainly made their unhappiness known afterward. Bloomberg says several acts threatened to pull their music from the service, and both Bloomberg and Variety said Spotify's head of artist relations, TROY CARTER, was instrumental in getting the company to reconsider. Could a few discussions among key stakeholders, in advance, have prevented all of the fallout? Or, I don't know, should we be thankful that Spotify started the public discussion, no matter how awkward the first act turned out to be? How do we keep the discussion going and make act two better?... VEVO throws in a towel... EPs have always felt less "important" than LPs in artist discographies, in artist histories, on radio, in stores, pretty much everywhere, for reasons having nothing to do with the music on them. The streaming era has made that lack of importance tangible. I'm with TRENT REZNOR... I'm with short albums in general... It's FRIDAY and that means new music from J BALVIN, PUSHA T, SUDAN ARCHIVES, CHVRCHES, SHAWN MENDES, A$AP ROCKY, KAMAAL WILLIAMS, JOSHUA REDMAN, BROWNOUT, LAMONT DOZIER, DEL MCCOURY, JONATHAN DAVIS, ZAYTOVEN, JENNY HVAL, SNOW PATROL, OTZEKI, TRACYANNE & DANNY, THUNDERPUSSY, ARI ROAR, JEFFREY OSBORNE, and JOHN POWELL's score for SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY... MONDAY is MEMORIAL DAY and MusicREDEF will be taking the day off to get our linen clothes out of storage and start pondering what the Song of the Summer will be. Maybe you'll be in DETROIT. See you Tuesday.
- Matty Karas, curator
summer sun
Detroit Metro Times
Detroit is Techno City, and techno is black
by Imani Mixon
How a homegrown artform took over the world.
NPR Music
J Balvin Won't Settle For Anything Less Than World Domination
by Stefanie FernΓ‘ndez and Felix Contreras
After cracking the American pop charts last year, the Colombian reggaeton star is following the success of "Mi Gente" with his fifth album, Vibras. And he knows you're still listening.
Billboard
As Music Modernization Act Enters Senate, Anti-Copyright Activists Come Out Of The Woodwork
by Robert Levine
It's fair enough to debate the legislation formerly known as the CLASSICS Act. But some of this criticism is factually inaccurate, most of it is hysterical, and all of it is coming from Make-The-Internet-Great-Again die-hards who haven't gotten over the Supreme Court's ruling that held the post-Napster file-sharing service could face liability for copyright infringement.
Bloomberg
Spotify Plans to Change XXXTentacion Policy After Outcry
by Lucas Shaw
Facing a rebellion among artists and even some of its own employees, Spotify Technology SA will partially walk back a move to punish musicians for their personal misconduct.
UPROXX
How 'Billions' Uses Music As An Emotional Accelerator
by Caitlin White
From Jason Isbell to Metallica, the soundtrack choices in Showtime's hit series 'Billions' are left of center -- and that's for a reason.
Highsnobiety
Can "A$AP Forever" Mend the Fence Between Moby & Hip-Hop?
by Robert Blair
Today's hip-hop community could do a lot worse than follow A$AP Rocky's lead by embracing Moby as not only a fervent admirer of their work, catalogues, and artistry but as a potentially valuable source of inspiration.
Vulture
What Shawn Mendes Has Gone Through
by Dan Hyman
The teen-pop megastar reveals a dark — or at least darker — side on his make-or-break third album.
recode
Vevo could have been 'an existential threat' to YouTube, but YouTube won in the end
by Peter Kafka
The music business thought about building its own YouTube competitor. Instead, it's letting YouTube do what YouTube always wanted to do.
Refinery29
Let's Be Real: Asian And Black Artists Aren't "Celebrating" Each Other Through Hip-Hop
by Andrew Chow
Black rappers have long used Asian references in their music. Same with Asian hip hop. But instead of kinship, this relationship is based on caricatures.
Lefsetz Letter
The Bob Lefsetz Podcast: Ethiopia Habtemariam
by Bob Lefsetz and Ethiopia Habtemariam
The president of Motown Records (and president of Urban Music/Co-Head of Creative at Universal Publishing Music Group) shares the story of her rapid rise through the Atlanta music scene. She discusses race in America, being a female executive in the music industry, the future of hip hop, and how she develops global strategy for the artists under her wing. 
something's begun
The Guardian
'DJ culture became weaponised elevator-music': how Despacio is fighting EDM
by Andy Beta
A collaboration between LCD Soundsystem and Soulwax, Despacio plays deep disco and classic rock but, with a rig heavier than Metallica's, it holds its own against the big drops of mainstream DJs.
Pitchfork
Lessons From the Closing of NYC's Silent Barn, A DIY Institution
by Jenn Pelly
The sprawling Brooklyn complex may have been unsustainable, but its anti-gentrification, pro-diversity approach should be a model for the next generation of DIY venues everywhere.
Complex
How the Executive Producer of 'Drop the Mic' Teaches Your Favorite Celeb to Rap in Two Hours
by Shawn Setaro
Jensen Karp turned battle rap into a million-dollar record deal back in 1999. Now he's writing rhymes for The Rock, Halle Berry, and Anne Hathaway.
The New York Times
How Neko Case Finally Unleashed Her Feminist Rage
by Joe Coscarelli
The singer and songwriter has spun tragedy into plainly angry action on her new album, "Hell-On."
Mixmag
Will there ever be another Summer Of Love?
by Joe Muggs
We really hope so...
The Fader
Here are all the contenders for Song of the Summer 2018
by Myles Tanzer
Our Song of the Summer playlist including Drake, Cardi B, Lil Uzi Vert, and Playboi Carti.
The Muse
The Very Gay, Very Black Gospel According to serpentwithfeet
by Rich Juzwiak
It took decades for Josiah Wise to find his voice. This is figuratively true for most developing adults, but for Wise, who performs music under the name serpentwithfeet, it was also literal.
Red Bull Music Academy
Ken Collier: The Pivotal Figure of Detroit DJ Culture
by Marke Bieschke
He was known as "The Godfather." The story of Ken Collier is the story of three pivotal generations of Detroit nightlife, and how one phenomenal gay DJ held the door open for techno.
Complex
How Kanye West Helped Reinvent DJDS
by Brendan Klinkenberg
The L.A. production duo helped produce five songs on 'The Life of Pablo.' The experience taught them how to make the best album of their career.
The Guardian
'I'm not sorry I said it': Erykah Badu on music, motherhood and wildly unpopular opinions
by Lanre Bakare
The neo-soul star has sold millions, raised three kids and embodied wokeness before the word was even coined. But can her reputation survive January's "I saw something good in Hitler" comment?
MUSIC OF THE DAY
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"One of Those Summers"
P-Funk All-Stars
"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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