jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 07/13/2022 - The 'Stranger Things' Effect, $7.8B Case of the Century, Pilfered Easy Feeling, Black Midi, Lofi Girl...

I've been doing this long enough that I have resigned myself to not completely understanding where the alchemy is, how it works and how it really connects on a bigger level.
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Wednesday July 13, 2022
REDEF
Notorious: Lil' Kim performing with the Roots at Essence Fest, New Orleans, July 3, 2022.
(Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
quote of the day
"I've been doing this long enough that I have resigned myself to not completely understanding where the alchemy is, how it works and how it really connects on a bigger level."
- Jonathan Palmer, senior VP of syncs at BMG
rantnrave://
Music for Films (& TV)

Today's quote of the day is about the serendipitous magic of the perfect TV or movie song placement, but let's stipulate that BMG sync czar JONATHAN PALMER could be talking about almost any facet of the music business. Thirty percent planning and 70 percent crossing your fingers. Or, as the Guardian's EAMONN FORDE puts it in his piece about "the STRANGER THINGS effect," it "cannot be orchestrated... only capitalised upon." Your music biz MasterClass for a Wednesday morning.

(For your movie biz MasterClass, here's THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER director TAIKA WAITITI explaining how "Stranger Things" "ruined" KATE BUSH, possibly because "I've become one of those old arseholes who's like: 'These kids never listened to Kate Bush, they've heard one song on a TV show!,'" but also possibly because the TV sync pre-empted his own plans to use other Kate Bush songs, including "THIS WOMAN'S WORK," in "Love and Thunder." Instead, he decided to ruin GUNS N' ROSES, ABBA and ENYA.)

(And speaking of: "Stranger Things" music supervisor NORA FELDER, who picked that one song to be MAX MAYFIELD's song for this year's fourth season, was nominated Tuesday for an Emmy for the episode where it's most prominently featured. ZENDAYA and LABRINTH have multiple nominations for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for songs from EUPHORIA (but not this one). Here are the nominees in all the music-specific categories. Other notable nominees include GET BACK and CONTROLLING BRITNEY SPEARS in documentary categories; the miniseries PAM & TOMMY, which got 10 nods; and LIZZO'S WATCH OUT FOR THE BIG GRRRLS, up for Outstanding Competition Program.)

Meow Mix

LOFI GIRL's hugely popular "beats to relax/study to" YOUTUBE stream has been restarted, two days after YouTube disabled it over a copyright claim the service later determined to be false and "abusive." Lofi Girl's other continuous stream, "beats to sleep/chill to," was still down as of Tuesday night but should be back shortly. YouTube apologized to Lofi Girl, which controls the rights to all the music it uses through its label, LOFI RECORDS. But YouTube hasn't explained why it acted so quickly to block a popular, long-running channel based on a single spurious claim.

It's no doubt an enormous, and enormously delicate, task to balance the competing needs and deeds of legit and not-so-legit content channels and legit and not-so-legit copyright owners on a platform as massive as YouTube. But it's the price of operating a platform as massive and ubiquitous as YouTube. (And SPOTIFY and other platforms where false claims apparently are rampant.) "We're shocked and disappointed to see that there's still not any kind of protection or manual review of these false claims," Lofi Girl tweeted. "There was no way to appeal beforehand/prevent it from happening." It goes without saying there should be. Lofi Girl's cat, which had been staring out a window for two years uninterrupted before the shutdown, has resumed its perch with no comment.

Etc Etc Etc

SPOTIFY buys HEARDLE, the WORDLE-inspired name-that-tune game, for an undisclosed price... LOL this fantastic Spotify playlist that explains exactly, via 51 song titles, how to make kimchi fried rice. It's the work of San Francisco designer NOAH CONK, and I'm guessing it took more work to create than Heardle, in case Spotify is looking for its next acquisition... Ten years after Florida's Supreme Court declared a law barring drivers from playing "rhythmic bass" music at excessive volume to be unconstitutional, Florida is trying again. A new law makes it illegal to play music on car radios that can be heard more than 25 feet away, without specifying what kind of music the state has in mind and without exempting commercial and political vehicles, as the old statute did. Miami Beach is considering enforcing it with noise cameras... The DESCENDENTS weigh in.

Rest in Peace

Longtime label promo exec DON GRAHAM... Irish flutist SÉAMUS TANSEY.

- Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator
they threw outrageous parties
Puck
The $7.8 Billion Music Case of the Century
By Eriq Gardner
In just a few weeks, an obscure three-judge panel will oversee a trial in the shadowy recesses of the Library of Congress that could decide the fate of Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, YouTube and more.
The New York Times
Rare-Book Dealer Charged After Pilfered Eagles Lyrics Come to Light
By Ali Watkins
Glenn Horowitz and two other men are accused of conspiring to sell Don Henley's notes, including the words to "Hotel California."
The Guardian
That syncing feeling: how 'Stranger Things' supercharged the music industry
By Eamonn Forde
The chart success of first Kate Bush and now Metallica thanks to 'syncs' in "Stranger Things" shows how TV shows and TikTok are increasingly crucial for heritage acts.
Rolling Stone
How Mexican Sounds Are Shaping the Most Popular Music in the World
By Julyssa Lopez
New generations on both sides of the border are reinventing Mexican traditions in thrilling new ways -- and the world is listening.
TechCrunch
Youtube ends Lofi Girl's two-year-long stream over bogus DMCA warning
By Amanda Silberling
False DMCA takedowns are "an underlying problem on the platform," Lofi Girl said.
Water & Music
Meeting in the musical metaverse: Expectations vs. reality
Cutting through the hype to present tangible, focused opportunities for growth and improvement around one of the most in-demand and fundamental use cases for musical metaverse experiences today: Having fun with friends.
Pitchfork
S***-Talking and Boat Riding With Art-Rock Misfits Black Midi
By Jazz Monroe
Amid a water-spraying cruise around London, the unruly trio pull back the curtain on their new album "Hellfire" and trade theories on why Muse, Green Day, and (especially) Ed Sheeran are so repellent.
The Ringer
The Newly Refined Methods of Interpol
By Justin Sayles
Frontman Paul Banks talks about the band's new record, 'The Other Side of Make-Believe,' plus working with legendary producer Flood and why Kendrick Lamar is one of the most important artists ever.
Welcome to Hell World
Paying Your Dues (Literally)
By Larry Fitzmaurice and Luke O'Neil
Larry Fitzmaurice reports on the regressive practice of music venues charging bands -- even the smaller struggling ones -- a tax on any merch they sell. This is widespread despite the fact that merch sales are one of the only ways left for most bands to (maybe) break even on tour.
The Conversation
Roe v. rap: Hip-hop artists have long wrestled with reproductive rights
By A.D. Carson
Songs that represent a diversity of viewpoints and a variety of perspectives – from guilt-ridden, would-be mothers and apprehensive fathers to the imagined vantage point of the unborn themselves.
they paid heavenly bills
Variety
Here's How the Music Industry Can Help Fight Climate Change
By Kurt Langer
The music industry has never been better positioned to lead consumer culture into a climate-challenged future — and in the process not only create a windfall of new business opportunities but ensure the longevity of our industry.
Slate
The Russians Invaded. The Opera Played On
By Mary Harris and Ekaterina Tsymbalyuk
Russian missile strikes and a blockade haven't stopped the music in Odesa, Ukraine's 19th century opera house.
The New Arab
Hindutva pop: The rise of India's hate music scene
By Muheet UI Islam and Pirzada Shakir
As attacks against India's Muslim community escalate, a popular genre of Hindu supremacist songs have provided a new soundtrack to the nation's religious violence.
Longreads
'I Had to Face the Blues Every Day'
By David Gambacorta
Soul and gospel singer Candi Staton let no hardship stand in the way of her voice, one that helped define the music of her generation.
The New York Times
Earl McGrath Was a Character. His Closet Was Filled With Rare Recordings
By Bob Mehr
When the art and music world figure died in 2016, he left behind a trove of reels from his years scouting for his own label and the one he ran for the Rolling Stones.
HUCK Magazine
Seun Kuti is continuing a political and musical legacy
By Jeremy Allen
"I do politics to relax from music and I do music to relax from politics," says Afrobeat musician Seun Kuti. "I'm always relaxing." Anyone who caught Kuti's highly-energetic performance with Egypt 80 at Glastonbury recently may detect a note of irony in this statement.
Music Data Pro
DJ Mixes in the world of streaming music (and video) —Part 3
With the recent proliferation of DJ mixes on Spotify and Apple Music, plus the availability of such mixes on Mixcloud, Soundcloud, and to a lesser extent YouTube, a music producer or musical artist may wonder — how many DJ mixes are my songs included in?
Billboard
Judge Says NBA Youngboy Lyrics Can't Be Used as Evidence as L.A. Gun Possession Trial Begins
By Kristin Robinson
During opening statements on Tuesday (July 12), the prosecution and defense offered dueling accounts of the rapper's March 2021 arrest in Los Angeles.
Trapital
Why Artists Shouldn't Rely Solely on Music Festivals
By Denisha Kuhlor
The short-term upside (largely financial) has real impacts for the long term.
The New Yorker
How Oscar Hammerstein Remade the American Musical
By Adam Gopnik
A new collection of letters shows him to be a master craftsman of the theatrical experience-and that's both a blessing and a curse.
what we're into
Music of the day
"Eat Men Eat"
Black Midi
From "Hellfire," out Friday on Rough Trade.
Video of the day
"Menudo: Forever Young"
Angel Manuel Soto/Krístofer Ríos
Four-part docuseries on HBO Max.
Music | Media
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