jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 08/25/2020 - When the Band Whistled Dixie, Competing Visions of Radio, Roc Nation, BTS, Charlie Parker...

If you are having trouble viewing this email, click here.

The godlike power that you have of affecting the emotional response of the viewer is incredible. Is this interest remix not displaying correctly? | View it in your browser. The week before everything stopped: A double exposure of Tame Impala's Kevin Parker at the Forum, Inglewood, Calif., March 10, 2020. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) Tuesday - August 25, 2020 Tue - 08/25/20 "The godlike power that you have of affecting the emotional response of the viewer is incredible." -  Trent Reznor, on scoring movies and TV shows rantnrave:// "The BAND has their myths. I have mine," TA-NEHISI COATES wrote in 2009 about a then-40-year-old song by one of the most critically acclaimed and literate bands of the classic-rock era. It's one of the most devastating reviews I've ever read of a pop song, in this case an ambiguous, well-researched yet historically inaccurate story song set in Tennessee in the aftermath of the Civil War, told from the point of view of a defeated but proud Confederate farmer, and empathetic to his plight in the way that poems and books and films tend to be empathetic toward their subjects. Coates' review is not at all empathetic toward its subject, and there's no reason why it should be. We live in a divided world. It was divided in the 1860s, it was divided in the 1960s, it was divided in 2009, it's divided now, and Coates does not want to sing along with the "na na na na na na" chorus of "THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN," as both the Band and JOAN BAEZ, who turned it into a major pop hit a couple years later, all but beg you to do. What, then, are we to do with "THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN" in 2020, in this year of toppling Confederate statues and jettisoning words like Dixie and antebellum from polite culture and facing up to those centuries-old divisions in so many other ways? Can you still sing along with those na-na-nas? Can you—must you—change the words? Can you defend an anti-war song written in 1969 as an allegory that might not be about the Civil War at all? Does it matter if ROBBIE ROBERTSON, the Canadian songwriter who was inspired to write it by his drummer/singer's Arkansan father, has always been a little vague about what he was getting at? Is that even a songwriter's job? Does it matter that it's fiction? What does the fact that this has come up for discussion this summer say about 2020, or any year that came before? MusicSET: "The Classic Rock Song That Whistles 'Dixie'"... When is a stream not a stream?... TIKTOK sues the US government... Peripatetic streaming brand NAPSTER sold to virtual reality company MELODYVR in a $70m deal (the seller is my old employer REALNETWORKS)... Two very different approaches to soundtracking two of the best HBO series of the past year, one with underscore and one with hip-hop and R&B needle drops... You can't dance in Ibiza anymore. - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator across the great divide Water & Music Spotify and Apple Music Disagree on the Future of Radio. Who's Right? by Cherie Hu On one end of the spectrum, Spotify is in direct, self-proclaimed competition with terrestrial radio for both listener share and music-industry advertising dollars. On the other end of the spectrum, Apple Music is leaning more into linear radio experiences than ever. Fast Company For Jay Z's Roc Nation, social justice is personal by KC Ifeanyi Inside Roc Nation, there's Team Roc, a group that's driving the company's social-justice initiatives through bespoke campaigns. REDEF REDEF MusicSET: The Classic Rock Song That Whistles 'Dixie' by Matty Karas What to make of the Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," a 1960s song about an 1860s war with ambiguous sympathies, in 2020? Classic? Problematic? Can it be both? Pitchfork The Summer of Quarantine Sex Jams by Jayson Greene At a time when so many people are barely allowed to touch each other, pop music is once again giving voice to our thirstiest desires. Music Business Worldwide BTS's 'Dynamite' topped 12.6m streams on Spotify on day one -- but 4.9m of them were erased from its Chart by Murray Stassen Spotify confirms that  "Dyamite" was streamed 12.6 million times in total Vulture BTS Is Way Ahead of Us by Craig Jenkins BTS has made inroads with American listeners before, but never quite like this. Global News Why companies are buying up the rights to thousands of songs by Alan Cross There's a big gold rush in the area of intellectual property and some musicians are getting very, very rich. JazzTimes Charlie Parker, the Birth of Bebop, and America's Greatest Recording Session by Colin Fleming Colin Fleming re-examines November 26, 1945, when Charlie Parker led what is arguably the most monumental recording session in the history of music. The New Yorker The Tragic Charisma of Justin Townes Earle by Amanda Petrusich The singer-songwriter understood the richness and cruelty of the modern world. American Songwriter Justin Townes Earle: Remembered Too Soon by Holly Gleason Justin Earle never seemed to be afraid of anything. A lanky little boy, he'd turn up sometimes caught on fire and ready to take on the world. By the time his dad had some success, the dark-headed child with the hubcap eyes that took in everything was immortalized on the second side of the iconic debut Guitar Town. up on cripple creek Vulture Michaela Coel Always Knew How She Wanted 'I May Destroy You' to Sound by Monica Castillo A soundtrack so good, the series didn't need a traditional score. The New Yorker How Wagner Shaped Hollywood by Alex Ross The composer has infiltrated every phase of movie history, from silent pictures to superhero blockbusters. Pollstar How Trivium's Livestream Moved 12,000 Tickets: The Twitch Effect by Ryan Borba While it seems any band can put on a livestream right now, it takes a small army – and years of artist development – to pull off what Trivium did with its "A Light Or A Distant Mirror" ticketed stream, which sold just under 12,000 tickets and grossed $108,000 July 10. Salon The enduring resonance of Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill,' 35 years later by Annie Zaleski Futuristic with a propulsive underbelly, evocative and spiritual, the song has been covered by a variety of artists. NPR Music Tame Impala: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert by Bobby Carter and Kevin Parker Kevin Parker brings his "Tame Impala Soundsystem" to life in a Tiny Desk from Australia. The New York Times How Merchandise Bundles Undid the Album Chart by Jon Caramanica and Ben Sisario For today's biggest artists, an album release isn't just about the music. Talkhouse What Does It Even Mean To Be a 'Successful' Musician? by Molly Hamilton Widowspeak's Molly Hamilton talks unemployment and creating art under capitalism. Music Business Worldwide 'As soon as you enter the stupid deal business, you risk all of your deals becoming stupid' by Tim Ingham Believe's Denis Ladegaillerie envisions a bright, bold future for the UK market. Trigger warning: major record labels might not completely love it. Highsnobiety Inside the Cult of the Mysterious Masked RMR by Sarah Osei Genre fusion, secret identities, a Timbaland cosign... RMR may be a rising artist but he's just about got it made. The New York Times Bettye LaVette Didn't Know the Beatles' 'Blackbird.' Then It Helped Her Fly by David Peisner Ten years ago, the Fab Four's song about civil rights gave the soul singer a creative spark. Now she's releasing an album of tracks originally popularized by Black women. MUSIC OF THE DAY YouTube "Black Rage" Lauryn Hill "Black rage is founded on two-thirds a person..." Recorded in 2014. "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 REDEF, Inc. NY - LA - EVERYWHERE redef.com YOU DON'T GET IT? Subscribe Unsubscribe/Manage My Subscription FOLLOW REDEF ON © Copyright 2020, The REDEF Group