| The majority of musicians had an opportunity to make a dollar. Whether they snorted it, shoved it up their arms or drank it is not my concern; you had the opportunity because you were a songwriter... Roadies don't have that opportunity. Roadies work 15 hours a day, drive the truck, unload the gear, have a passion for their band... the same that I had for every band that I ever worked for. | |  |  | | Twangy New Year: Jimmie Allen seeing out 2021 during Nashville's five-hour Big Bash, broadcast on New Year's Eve. | | Photo by (Jason Kempin/Getty Images) | | | | quote of the day | | "The majority of musicians had an opportunity to make a dollar. Whether they snorted it, shoved it up their arms or drank it is not my concern; you had the opportunity because you were a songwriter... Roadies don't have that opportunity. Roadies work 15 hours a day, drive the truck, unload the gear, have a passion for their band... the same that I had for every band that I ever worked for." | | - Ted Gardner, tour manager, artist manager and Lollapalooza co-founder, who died last week at 74 | |
| | rantnrave:// | YHLQMDLG-19
Of the 60,000 people who showed up for BAD BUNNY's two-day "P FKN R" concert in San Juan in mid-December, about 2,000 caught Covid-19, according to the New York Times, which says the event "helped usher in an explosion of Covid-19 cases in Puerto Rico." That's one of every 30 people who were at the show, and a sobering (hopefully) reminder of what we're still facing. I share this not as a knock on Bad Bunny, who's far from the only pop star to play a major show as Omicron was spreading around the US and the world (hell, New York invited 15,000 people to crowd themselves into Times Square three full weeks later), or on Puerto Rico, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the US and whose case count had been consistently low since last summer. I share this as one more cautionary tale.
The venue, ESTADIO HIRAM BITHORN, required all ticketholders to show proof of vaccination and wear masks. The ticketholders by and large shed those masks as soon as they got to their seats, according to Billboard, which had a reporter there. That sequence of events isn't unique to Bad Bunny or San Juan. If you've been to concerts in the past year in any size venue, there's a good chance you've experienced it yourself. "We did so well; we followed the rules," an interior designer named LAURA DELGADO, who was one of the 2,000, told the Times. "Our vaccination rate was so high that we let our guard down. The second Christmas came, we were like, 'We're going to party!'" Laura could have been a blogger in Brooklyn or a tech multimillionaire in Seattle. They, too, believe in masks, are tired of masks, and want to party. Which is a terrible combination, no matter how strong that belief may be.
ScienceREDEF, of which I am the imaginary curator, thinks you should go to as many shows as your budget, your situation and your anxiety allow. Live music is important. And that you should get your booster if you haven't already. And keep your mask on. End of today's PSA.
Plus Also Too
Good prompt, CHELSEA CUTLER, and good thread, BILL WERDE, about why not all artists want to be "content creators" and why not all tech disruptions are good and not all labels are bad. "I've always loved my management team's approach of marketing my music slowly and sustainably, creating a long term fan base that feels like a community," writes Cutler, whose 2020 debut album is called, not coincidentally, HOW TO BE HUMAN. "This rapid cyclical culture that has emerged feels like a tornado"... Long before the era of holograms, when promoters wanted to put dead rock stars like JANIS JOPLIN and JIM CROCE back on the road, all they had to do was find a few singers willing to get enough plastic surgery to look the part. Maybe it was just one promoter. Maybe it didn't get much further than a few casinos and state fairs. But it really happened. A stranger-than-fiction longread from Rolling Stone's DAVID BROWNE... It isn't only aging rock and pop stars selling their music holdings for a few hundred million dollars these days. Music Business Worldwide reports that LEN BLAVATNIK's ACCESS INDUSTRIES, the majority shareholder in WARNER MUSIC GROUP, has agreed to sell 8.56 million of its shares to MORGAN STANLEY for $351 million. Along with the 2.34 million shares Access shed in September, that leaves the global investment company with a little over 365 million shares in Warner, the site reports.
Rest in Peace
TED GARDNER, the colorful Australian who tour-managed Men at Work, production-managed Frank Zappa and manage-managed Jane's Addiction, Tool and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. And who co-founded Lollapalooza with Perry Farrell, Don Muller and Marc Geiger in 1991... MADLAINA PEER, bassist for Swiss post-punk groups the Noknows and Onetwothree... Florida rapper J $TASH, who died on New Year's Day in what Los Angeles County authorities said appeared to be a murder-suicide.
Correction
The LA CONVENTION CENTER, where the 2021 GRAMMY AWARDS were held, is across the street from CRYPTO.COM ARENA. In Tuesday's newsletter, I inadvertently moved the Convention Center to the other side of town, possibly as part of my secret wish to move everything as far away as geography allows from anything called the Crypto.com Arena. My apologies.
| | - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator | |
| | if there's something you want to try |
|  | | Zogblog |
| | We Are All Musicians Now—What If That's Bad? | | By Nick Messitte | | The tools we use to make, produce, distribute, and market music require constant financial upkeep. Want to record a song in Pro Tools? That'll cost you $38 a month. Want to mix it with all the plugs the top dogs use? $300 a year. Want to make artwork for it? That'll run you about $10 per month, at the very least, in Adobe. No wonder artists charge for access instead of product. | | |  | | KEXP |
| | Ketamine Music Therapy | | By Rachel Stevens | | Ketamine treatment centers use the psychedelic drug to help with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and other ailments. These treatments look and feel much different than most mental health treatments. It also sounds different because music is an important part of Ketamine infusions. | | |  | | Pitchfork |
| | Pitchfork's 45 Most Anticipated Albums of 2022: The Weeknd, Mitski, Big Thief, Charli XCX, and More | | By Evan Minsker, Nina Corcoran, Matthew Strauss... | | New releases to look forward to in the coming months, from Rosalía, 100 gecs, Beach House, Earl Sweatshirt, Kaina, and others. | | |  | | Complex |
| | Rap Fandom Was Complicated in 2021 | | By Andre Gee | | In theory, we'd be able to just press play on our favorite music and enjoy the experience without any guilt or conflict. But that's becoming more difficult than ever, and it doesn't seem like it's going to change any time soon. | | | | | |  | | DJ Mag |
| | Jlin: unifying sound and motion | | By Bruce Tantum | | With her new 'Embryo' EP on Planet Mu, Jlin's body of work takes another step toward unifying sound and motion. DJ Mag's Bruce Tantum catches up with the busy Indiana-based composer to find out more. | | | | | | | |  | | Facebook |
| | Becky G & Mickey Guyton: Battling Systemic Racism in Country Music | | By Becky G. and Mickey Guyton | | Becky G and 2022 multiple Grammy nominee Mickey Guyton talk about Mickey's personal experiences confronting racism and sexism in country music as a Black female artist. Mickey discusses the ways she fights against systemic racism through her music that stands up for change, breaks down barriers, and opens the door for everyone. | | | |  | | Black Music and Black Muses |
| | Snatched, Part One. | | By Harmony Holiday | | On James Brown, Michael Jackson, D'angelo, and when the music demands that the body follow its laws. | | | |  | | Cocaine & Rhinestones |
| | Hell Stays Open All Night Long: George Jones, Phase III | | By Tyler Mahan Coe | | CR029/PH15: Oh, you're back to hear more things that will chill you to the bone? Then we can talk about what George Jones' life was like in the period leading up to and through the biggest hit of his career. | | | | what we're into |  | | Music of the day | | "Emanation" | | Immanuel Wilkins | | From the alto saxophonist's album "The 7th Hand," out Jan. 28 on Blue Note. With Micah Thomas on piano, Daryl Johns on bass and Kweku Sumbry on drums. | | |
|  | | Video of the day | | "Spencer" | | Pablo Larraín | | Continuing our tour of Jonny Greenwood's beautiful barrage of late-2021 film scores. | | |
| |
| | Music | Media | | | | | | Suggest a link  | | "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?'" |
| | | |
| |
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment