I really believe this: It's gonna be music that brings us out of this. That is the one thing that is gonna save the entire world. Politicians are about division. Music is about unity. | | | | Lifetime Achievement Award winner Charley Pride (right) sings with Jimmie Allen, who presented it to him, at the CMA Awards, Nashville, Nov. 11, 2020.
(Terry Wyatt/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "I really believe this: It's gonna be music that brings us out of this. That is the one thing that is gonna save the entire world. Politicians are about division. Music is about unity."
| | | | | | rantnrave:// And to think, a year or two ago we were debating the big brotherly pros and cons of replacing concert tickets with facial recognition technology, or of simply connecting digital tickets to our identities. They were worthwhile debates, never quite resolved, and they were quaint next to the reality we'll be facing when medicine delivers a vaccine and it becomes safe to concert again. Billboard's DAVE BROOKS reports that TICKETMASTER is developing plans to directly connect concert and sports tickets to our health. Smart phones, if all goes according to plan, will be able to tell the ticketing giant if we've been vaccinated or, if not, if we've had a recent negative test for Covid. No vaccine, no test, no entry. This would have seemed remarkably invasive—and unimaginable—as recently as 10 months ago. Today it seems as sensible as it is obvious. I mean, of course, right? Brooks has the details on how it might work, what companies might be involved (unsurprisingly, it's complicated) and how our privacy will (theoretically) be protected. Similar checks no doubt will happen in various other areas of our lives, and if sharing our medical records with ticket sellers and venues seems weird, it also seems like a fair price to pay for resuming our regular lives, reconnecting with artists and other fans and feeling the visceral thrill of speakers pushing air at us and over us. Right??? Which leaves the rather large question of: Is this going to be permanent? Will this be the new reality? Do the new protocols go away when the virus disappears or do we decide this is a better, safer way to share public spaces even when it's gone? Is there no going back? Does anyone want to go back? Will there be a live music underground of bands who don't care about disease and fans who don't care if anyone else is vaccinated? Will that be the new punk? (Please, no.) And how do ticket resellers fit into this? Is there a place for STUBHUB and VIAGOGO in a world where the primary seller and venue both need to know not only who we are but *how* we are?... Not waiting for a vaccine was the COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION, which broke with 2020 awards-show protocol by staging the CMA AWARDS Wednesday night as a live broadcast with (mostly) live performances and live acceptance speeches in front of a small, socially distanced live audience of nominees and guests, indoors at Nashville's MUSIC CITY CENTER. Either a brave or bonkers decision, depending on your point of view, and it led to situations like LEE BRICE bowing out of a duet with CARLY PEARCE after he tested positive for Covid, and his replacement, LADY A's CHARLES KELLEY, hanging around just long enough to pre-tape that duet before he, too, had to pull out of the ceremony along with the rest of his band because of an exposure within the Lady A's camp. Quite a few performers had to cancel. There was enough outrage on TWITTER at the celebrity audience sitting around socially distanced tables without masks to prompt the association to publicly defend the show while it was still going on. "We are following all protocols that have been put in place by the CDC as well as the creative unions to ensure we provide the safest environment possible," it told reporters, mid-broadcast. Some of the performances—by ASHLEY MCBRYDE, by INGRID ANDRESS, by CHRIS and MORGANE STAPLETON, by Lifetime Achievement Award honoree CHARLEY PRIDE with JIMMIE ALLEN—were thrilling. They were also frightening to watch, knowing that singing in enclosed spaces may be a virus-spreading activity. I wish everyone in that room good health. The show went to great lengths to pay tribute to the late CHARLIE DANIELS, KENNY ROGERS, MAC DAVIS and JOE DIFFIE, while neglecting to mention the names JOHN PRINE, BILLY JOE SHAVER, JERRY JEFF WALKER. This did not go unnoticed. Also not mentioned: What killed Joe Diffie. It was Covid. Congratulations to big winners ERIC CHURCH and MAREN MORRIS, and may I be so bold to suggest sticking with a sparse live audience of nominees at banquet tables even after we beat the virus? For other awards shows, too. There was an air of intimacy in the room that's much harder to pull off in an arena full of strangers, and it arguably made for better television... Has the Trump Administration forgotten it wants to ban TIKTOK or force its parent company to sell it? By, like, today?... This mini-documentary on HÜSKER DÜ, part of an ongoing TWIN CITIES PBS series on1980s Minnesota hardcore (dear other public broadcasting channels around the country: you can do this, too, please!), is hüskerrific... RIP MO3, DJ SPINBAD and ALEC BAILLIE. | | | - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator | | | |  | Stereogum | | Detractors like to refer to the (usually Black women) divas who sing dance record hooks as "anonymous," but for Martha Wash, that's what actually happened to her — at least on paper. | | | |  | Billboard | | Ticketmaster has been working on a framework for post-pandemic fan safety that uses smart phones to verify fans' vaccination status or whether they've tested negative for the coronavirus within a 24 to 72 hour window. | | | |  | The New York Times | | The 27-year-old musician focuses on lighthearted topics. But one of his latest songs has become an anthem of resistance. | | | |  | New Socialist | | Art has always flourished against the odds-but it shouldn't have to. Gaps in Government support for working class artists present an opportunity to rethink culture from new principles. | | | |  | LinkedIn | | We were told when we started our company that the institutions within the music industry were always going to be against us. | | | |  | Variety | | Maren Morris, whose "The Bones" was a pop and country smash, won a leading three awards at Wednesday's 2020 CMA Awards. Eric Church won only one award, but it was the big one | | | |  | Engadget | | Riot explains how the tracks, AR performance and social media campaigns were put together. | | | |  | JazzTimes | | In the digital age, the most hotly contested/debated ideological zone is the space between downbeats. Anwar Marshall, Nate Smith, Kassa Overall, and Karriem Riggins on merging the digital and live worlds in their beat. | | | |  | Rolling Stone | | What came out of all this was, arguably, the greatest year for great albums ever. | | | |  | GQ | | First his pinpoint satire lit up Twitter. Now he's in Drake videos. | | | |  | The Guardian | | It's been a welcome return in some cities -- but with bands pushing their bodies and bank accounts to the limit, are Covid-safe concerts sustainable? | | | | | Variety | | Twitch, after getting blasted by major music-industry orgs for turning a blind eye to the use of unlicensed songs on its service - and frustrating and confusing Twitch users over the issue - is vowing to do better. | | | |  | NPR Music | | Rest assured, says writer Danyel Smith: There's always a Sade song for how you feel. Whether you live as a "King of Sorrow" or a "Soldier of Love" is up to you. | | | |  | NME | | The Music Venue Trust launches new traffic light campaign to #savethe30 spaces still at risk of being lost forever due to coronavirus closures. | | | |  | The New Statesman | | As I watch the documentary "Ronnie's," I am reminded of the complicated man who brought the New York jazz scene to Soho. | | | |  | More Fire | | Being introduced to new rappers via unfortunate headlines makes me wonder how much greatness we lost in the pre-internet years. | | | |  | I Care If You Listen | | Infinity Willner shares their personal experience with creating disabled music and offers ways to make arts spaces more accessible. | | | |  | Twenty Thousand Hertz | | Technology has the power to transform the way our world sounds. It could even give us entirely new ways to experience our surroundings. In this episode, we explore the sounds of the future, and how can we use the tools we already have to build a better sounding world. | | | | | The Guardian | | She went platinum by plugging Bach into 20th century machines, and was soon working with Stanley Kubrick. But prejudice around her gender transition pushed Wendy Carlos out of sight. | | | |  | Metal Hammer | | When Marilyn Manson hung up on our interviewer, we asked him to respond to a series of questions. He didn't, but his PR gave us a statement. | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | From "Send Them to Coventry," out Friday on Atlantic/Warner UK. | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2020, The REDEF Group | | |
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