| I think the significance of LPs for an artist like Sheeran—or most any of the other 30 artists represented in the vinyl shop at Target—is very little. Like so much in our economy right now, a drive for market dominance can have nothing to do with anything other than a drive for market dominance. If music was being pressed into cheese by some artisanal musical cheesemaker, Sheeran would be pressed into cheese. | | | | |  | Melanie Charles at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, Aug. 14, 2021.
(John Lamparski/Getty Images) | | | | | "I think the significance of LPs for an artist like Sheeran—or most any of the other 30 artists represented in the vinyl shop at Target—is very little. Like so much in our economy right now, a drive for market dominance can have nothing to do with anything other than a drive for market dominance. If music was being pressed into cheese by some artisanal musical cheesemaker, Sheeran would be pressed into cheese." | | | | Rolling Out in the Deep
Damn, that's an old-school album rollout week—network TV special Sunday night (with healthy ratings), a coordinated blitz of glowing reviews Tuesday night (who even finishes their albums three whole days before release date anymore?), and a barrage of vinyl to come, somewhat controversially (read this), Friday. In an era of TIKTOK campaigns, video game concerts and playlist tastemakers, ADELE's rollout of 30 feels like a throwback to a magical time when there was less competition from other media, more diamond-selling records and shelves full of warm, analog musical pleasures. Which is ironic inasmuch as Adele herself, who's a mere two years older than TAYLOR SWIFT and the WEEKND and not much older than YOUNG THUG or DABABY, has never existed in such a time. She's a child of the late CD era whose three previous albums were all released during the decade when the music industry was at or near its financial nadir. Her enormous success, until now, hasn't reflected the business around her so much as it's defied it. If there's a sense of luxuriating now, maybe it's because for the first time in her career it's possible. But also maybe because her phenomenal vocal instrument has somehow become better. (But how does one go about saving an industry that no longer needs saving, and what happens when one tries?)
Dot Dot Dot
IHEARTRADIO says from now on it will only play TAYLOR SWIFT's new versions of songs for which such versions exist. "Listeners have made it known" that's what they want to hear, iHeart programming chief TOM POLEMAN says. Terrestrial radio stations in general have been favoring the original versions of Swift's songs even while her rerecorded versions are winning at on-demand streaming, so this one's a win for her (and for fans of Taylor's "Freebird")... A note on the unexpected speed of Taylor Swift vinyls... CRYPTO.COM ARENA is going to be America's go-to black metal venue, isn't it?... SPOTIFY's pop playlist guru, NED MONAHAN, is leaving, apparently for a label startup... Best and worst hold music.
| | | |  | | Dada Drummer Almanach |
| | Ed Sheeran's Vinyls | | by Damon Krukowski | | Market share is a zero-sum game. | |  | | Atlas Obscura |
| | Early On-Demand Music Streaming Required Lots of Nickels | | by Michelle Harris | | In the Pacific Northwest 70-plus years ago, a telephone-based jukebox connected callers to their favorite tunes. | |  | | NPR Music |
| | Review: On '30,' Adele walks among us | | by Ann Powers | | The star who commands a planetary position in the galaxy of pop chronicles divorce and soul-searching recovery on an album that thrillingly redefines her artistry by bringing her gently down to earth. | |  | | The Limnal Space |
| | The future of PROs; cost focus, competition, rights exclusion, commoditisation | | by Dan Fowler | | Should founders be targetting PROs for disruption, or just building around them? | |  | | Slate |
| | In the '60s and '70s, People Kept Dying at Huge Concerts. Punk Rock Had an Answer | | by Kevin Mattson | | Make it small, and keep your people close. | |  | | The New Statesman |
| | Billy Bragg: Why I've made my old lyrics trans-inclusive | | by Billy Bragg | | Gender-critical activists disagree with my decision to rework my song "Sexuality". But I want to be an ally to the trans and non-binary communities. | |  | | Music Business Worldwide |
| | 'The music industry can feel like playing the lottery for musicians. But those building communities on Twitch are getting rewarded' | | by Murray Stassen | | Should record labels be worried about Twitch's potential to offer artists an alternative to a 'traditional route' to market? Twitch's Tracy Chan calls the platform's new livestream incubator program "part of our ongoing efforts to invest in music, help innovative music creators build their communities, help them earn money and build successful careers on Twitch". | |  | | The Washington Post |
| | Melanie Charles knows the impact Black women have had in jazz | | by Shannon J. Effinger | | With "Y'all Don't (Really) Care About Black Women," singer-flutist Melanie Charles pays tribute to those that preceded her as she reimagines the work of luminaries such as Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Abbey Lincoln and Sarah Vaughan. | |  | | The Quietus |
| | A Wing And A Prayer: Jaimie Branch Of Fly Or Die Interviewed | | by Stewart Smith | | Ahead of Fly Or Die's EFG London Jazz Festival gig, Stewart Smith spoke to Jaimie Branch about her various projects and the significance of avian imagery in her work | |  | | Pollstar |
| | An Ode To Live Latin Music Performances | | by Ernesto Lechner | | Now that we are slowly returning to a semblance of the normalcy we used to take for granted, the small clubs housing Latin music are more relevant than ever in keeping the genre alive, especially considering the profound revolution that has shaken these sounds in recent years. | | |  | | The Undefeated |
| | The tangled history of hip-hop and boxing | | by Adam Aziz | | From Mike Tyson and Tupac to Zab Judah and Lil' Kim, new book examines the connections between musicians and the fight game. | |  | | SPIN |
| | Thank You for the Music, Sesame Street | | by Gen Handley | | Having recently celebrated its 52nd birthday, Sesame Street continues entertaining and educating children with great guest artists. | |  | | NME |
| | Independent artists and labels say Brexit has had 'outrageous' impact in shipping music and merch to and from Europe | | by Andrew Trendell | | Independent artists and labels have spoken of the "outrageous" impact and "spiralling costs" of sending music and merchandise to Europe in the wake of Brexit. | |  | | The Sydney Morning Herald |
| | Insurance safety net for events set to boost confidence of promoters | | by Linda Morris | | NSW is poised to join Victoria and set up a government-backed insurance scheme to boost the confidence of organisations staging live music, festivals, and shows in the shadow of COVID-19. | |  | | God's Music Is My Life |
| | Her Way: Donna McElroy's Vision of a Bigger World | | by Tim Dillinger | | 30 years later, McElroy reflects on an album that attempted conversations about the things that divide and (could) unite humanity. | |  | | Please Kill Me |
| | Ruth Underwood: A Mother Of Invention | | by Ingrid Jensen | | An integral part of Frank Zappa's band the Mothers of Invention, Ruth Underwood stayed mostly in the background on stage and in the studio, filling the sound with her indispensable contributions on marimba, harp, xylophone, vibraphone and drums. Her reputation has grown since the Mothers disbanded in the '70s. | |  | | GQ |
| | How Korn Outlasted Nu Metal | | by Grant Rindner | | Ahead of their 14th album, 'Requiem,' the infamous '90s aggro band is in a healthier place than ever. | |  | | The Independent |
| | The music groups giving a lifeline to people with dementia | | by Will Pritchard | | Across the country, an increasing number of new programmes are helping people with the condition reconnect through songwriting and performance. Will Pritchard meets the players to find out why 'social prescribing' is taking off - and the OAPs getting into Clean Bandit. | | | | Music Business Worldwide |
| | Wax on, wax off: unblocking the great vinyl logjam | | by Eamonn Forde | | Columnist Eamonn Forde's 12-point checklist to fix the vinyl backlog. | | | |  | | | Music of the day | | "Woman of the Ghetto (Reimagined)" | | Melanie Charles | | Originally recorded, and co-written, by Marlena Shaw. From "Y'all Don't (Really) Care About Black Women," out now on Verve. |  | | YouTube |
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Originally recorded, and co-written, by Marlena Shaw. From "Y'all Don't (Really) Care About Black Women," out now on Verve. | Jazz + hip-hop, circa 1994. | | | Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech | | "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?'" | | |  | | | Jason Hirschhorn | | CEO & Chief Curator | | |  |
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