The primary driver at the end of the day is 'Hey, how do we create the best sound possible in the room?' And not get too caught up in what's the flavor of the day from an audio technology perspective. | | | | Crazy in love: Beyoncé at Jay-Z at the opening show of the "On the Run II" tour, Cardiff, Wales, June 6, 2018.
(Kevin Mazur/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "The primary driver at the end of the day is 'Hey, how do we create the best sound possible in the room?' And not get too caught up in what's the flavor of the day from an audio technology perspective."
| | | | | | rantnrave:// My favorite line on EVERYTHING IS LOVE, for purposes of this newsletter, is BEYONCÉ's "If I gave two f***s about streaming numbers/Would have put LEMONADE up on SPOTIFY." I fully understand that it's becoming a little weirder with each passing day for artists to withhold their work from what's quickly becoming the only place for the average fan to hear it on demand (by which I don't specifically mean Spotify, but rather any kind of streaming restriction). I stream, too, and I get frustrated, too. I have ranted about the inherent evil of retail exclusives, in both the streaming or physical world. But I will direct my anger, every time, at the retailer or streaming service that solicits that explicit content. If the artist makes her own choice, for any reason from not giving two f***s up to and including having an ownership stake in a particular service, then that's the artist's choice, and I would no sooner question that than I'd give Beyoncé and JAY-Z editing notes on the "APES***" video (which is astonishing, by the way, and which puts the idea of getting to sit so close to the action at a NETS game that Jay-Z "can trip a referee" in perspective; now he gets to make videos within tripping distance of the VENUS DE MILO). We're going to remember June 2018 for a long time. It's already blessed us with new KANYE, NAS and JAY & BEY albums, with DRAKE still to come and who knows what else, it's only the 18th. Some of these albums have come with massive advance hype, tweetstorms and strange appearances on daytime TV. Some have come with nary a peep. Some are available on Spotify. Some are not. At some point or another, pretty much all of them have been criticized for either over-hype, under-hype, over-distribution or under-distribution. But who's to say one way is automatically wrong and one way automatically right? Why can't over-eager, unhinged, nonstop bluster be good for one artist (but no trying to defend slavery, please; let's draw that line as an absolute) and quiet, studied cool be good for another? Why can't blanketing the world from DEEZER to the DIAMOND CROSS RANCH be a good strategy sometimes and barely distributing your album at all be good some other time? If the artist doesn't give two f***s, why should you? Is it better to overprice your house or underprice it? Which will get the better offer? Which is the better house? Is "SUMMER" the best pop album opener of 2018? Is "HEARD ABOUT US" more arrogant than Kanye's entire catalog? What does it cost to book the Louvre for a video shoot?... Plus also too: How long should an album be? There's one line of digital thinking that says artists should bombard you with singles and EPs, and another that says albums should always be, like, 25 or 30 tracks. With their purposefully brief takes on the full-length album form, neither Kanye nor Nas nor Jay and Bey seems to give two f***s about any of that, which may be my favorite thing about this particular June... STEVE ALBINI, WORLD SERIES OF POKER bracelet winner... Another AMOEBA getting into the weed business... "If you are easily frightened by loud noises," get out... If you're a Spotify executive, have you gotten out?... RIP NICK KNOX, GENNADY ROZHDESTVENSKY, MATT 'GUITAR' MURPHY and YVETTE HORNER. | | | - Matty Karas, curator | | | | | | | got me lookin' so crazy right now | |  | Slate | | With "Psycho," the "rapper" behind "Rockstar" confirms he's this generation's Everlast. | | | |  | Billboard | | Spotify isn't seeking ownership of artists' masters like the majors do, nor is it asking for exclusive content, sources say. | | | |  | The New York Times | | A critic's guide to the art in the couple's new video, from the Mona Lisa to "Raft of the Medusa." | | | |  | Pitchfork | | The end of a trilogy, Beyoncé the rapper, a celebration of love, and more from the power couple's joint album. | | | |  | Passion of the Weiss | | An elegiac look at memory, nostalgia, and Mike Posner's ephemeral moment in Ibiza. | | | |  | The Daily Beast | | The stars of classic rock lived hard and made music that mattered, but in the end, the romance of the road couldn't save them or make them immortal. | | | |  | The Guardian | | The Boss will play a hometown show in Asbury Park on Monday, but as luxury apartments spring up around the seaside resort, not everyone is pleased. | | | |  | Los Angeles Times | | Dozens of rap fans mulled around the outside the Globe Theatre for a little longer than they might have otherwise on a very early Saturday. They'd just seen what might be one of the last local concerts for years by rising L.A. hip-hop artist 03 Greedo, who faces a potential 20-year prison sentence on gun and drug charges after a 2016 arrest in Texas. | | | |  | Variety | | "What happened to the star who once seemed so poised for Mariah Carey-level chart longevity? In some ways, it's not her, it's us." | | | |  | Rolling Stone | | 25 of music's most underrated trailblazers across the queer spectrum. | | | | | | | jay-z in the range, crazy and deranged | |  | The Verge | | Assistant, Atmos, and more | | | | | Billboard | | In the underground clubs of the '70s and '80s, a marginalized community laid the foundation for today's dance music. So why are straight white men reaping EDM's rewards? | | | |  | The Future of What | | Called "music's monetization mystery" by Forbes, on today's episode we shed light on the "black box" -- a complicated phenomenon in the music industry where small and large sums of money don't make it to an artist. What happens to these unattributed royalties and how can musicians safeguard their income? | | | | | The Guardian | | The LA sax player, whose album The Epic and work with Kendrick Lamar have made him the poster boy of the jazz revival, on why his cosmic music has made such a splash. | | | |  | Upset | | Last year, everything changed for Mike Shinoda. With his debut solo album under his own name out now, he's finding catharsis in music. | | | |  | Bloomberg | | The U.S. Justice Department plans to review agreements that determine how songwriters are paid by radio stations, restaurants and streaming services, a move that could affect billions in royalties doled out each year. | | | |  | Smithsonian Magazine | | Rock fans do their own investigative work to understand their favorite groups' influences. So why can't the rest of us get with the program? | | | | | Pitchfork | | The kind, deliberate comedy show captures the immaculate joy of hearing your favorite song for the first time. | | | |  | The Independent | | Group that planned machete attack prohibited from writing lyrics that 'encourage violence' in unprecedented court order. | | | |  | Talkhouse | | In this passage, Schmidt and his brilliant musical weirdo compatriot Mark E. Smith chat about how no one will let Smith into any of Manchester's hip microbreweries. Also—you guessed it—Can! | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2018, The REDEF Group | | |
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