jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 01/12/2022 - Florida Man v. Music Fest, Battle Rapping on Twitter Spaces, TikTok Duets, Janet, Fontaines D.C....

Being a viral sensation on YouTube prepared me for the way that the music business exists in 2022.
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Wednesday January 12, 2022
REDEF
Your turn. Kiana Lede at the Lights Up Music Festival, Concord, Calif., Sept. 19, 2021.
(Steve Jennings/WireImage/Getty Images)
quote of the day
"Being a viral sensation on YouTube prepared me for the way that the music business exists in 2022."
- Muni Long, aka Priscilla Renea, '00s YouTube star turned '10s in-demand pop songwriter turned '20s TikTok star
rantnrave://
Florida Man v. Florida Fest

In Australia, three festivals have canceled or postponed dates in the past 24 hours. Just one of those cancellations, of the pop-and-food fest GRAPEVINE GATHERING, will cost 1,400 jobs and $5.2 million, the Guardian reports. In Seattle, almost every show coming up has been scrapped and "ticket sales have stopped" for shows further on down the road, says the owner of NEUMOS. Tour managers for those artists who's been able to stay on the road, meanwhile, are trying to figure out new Covid rules on the fly every time they cross a state line. "There are going to be tours and artists who are going to face a lot of moral and social dilemmas in just trying to do the right thing by everyone," OLD DOMINION tour manager TOMMY GARRIS tells Rolling Stone.

It's really, really hard out there, still. The live music business could use every bit of help it can get.

And here comes FLORIDA MAN, right on schedule, intent on using his political clout to pull funding for a singer-songwriter festival not because it's requiring attendees to show proof of vaccination—a so-called "vaccine passport," which Florida has outlawed—but because it's *allowing* them to show such proof if they don't want to get tested for Covid, as attendees are otherwise required to do.

It isn't enough, says Florida Man, to ensure that people in the state aren't required to be vaccinated to attend large public events like the 30A SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL, which will bring EMMYLOU HARRIS, JENNY LEWIS and others to South Walton in the Florida Panhandle this weekend. They must no longer be permitted to show they've been vaccinated even if they want to.

This is madness. Anti-business madness. Anti-consumer madness. Anti-choice madness. Anti-public health madness. Anti-music madness.

Everyone understands this, right?

Just checking.

Shout him down, songwriters. Play louder. Play harder. Wear your boosters on your sleeves.

Broken Record

Did KATY PERRY's 2013 single "DARK HORSE" plagiarize Christian rapper FLAME's 2008 song "JOYFUL NOISE"? Yes, said a federal jury that in 2019 awarded a $2.8 million judgment to Flame. No, said a federal judge in 2020, throwing out the jury ruling on the grounds that the elements the two songs share are too common and mundane to deserve copyright protection. OK let's try to sort this out for the last time, says a three-judge panel now hearing Flame's appeal of that reversal. Based on their questions in a hearing Tuesday, the judges might be inclined to agree with label execs and others who've been saying "enough is enough" after the recent run of plagiarism suits. JUDGE RICHARD CLIFTON said he had to listen to the two songs several times just to "figure out exactly what the purported similarities were," after which "I began to wonder: How exactly does that become something protectable?" Which, if I'm not mistaken, is legalese for "seriously?!?" Not quite the standard that musicologists may be looking for, but one that a lot of music fans, and even music execs, may find strangely refreshing.

Etc Etc Etc

Oops: Music Business Worldwide, recalculating its analysis of MRC's 2021 music consumption report after MRC corrected a key number in that report, says 82.1% of all music consumed in the second half of 2021 wasn't in fact catalog music. It was actually 73.1%. Still a big number, just a different number. Catalog music, as defined by MRC, is any music that was at least 18 months old at the moment it was consumed, which means, for example anything from the WEEKND's AFTER HOURS album that you might be thinking of streaming today, but not BTS' "DYNAMITE," which doesn't officially become catalog until a month from now... Two suspects are being held in the November murder of YOUNG DOLPH in Memphis. JUSTIN JOHNSON, who announced on INSTAGRAM last week that he was innocent and planned to turn himself in, and then didn't, was arrested Tuesday by U.S. marshals in Indiana. The second suspect, CORNELIUS SMITH, was indicted Tuesday on a first-degree murder charge... It's possible the most impressive part of playing bits of the drum parts for every RUSH song ever recorded in a single 24-minute take is setting up the drum kit required to complete the task. Kudos BRANDON TOEWS, and we continue to salute you, NEIL PEART, who died two years ago last week... POPE CRATE DIGGER I (h/t DAWN EDEN GOLDSTEIN).

Rest in Peace

BURKE SHELLEY, lead singer and bassist of Welsh proto metal band Budgie... American mezzo-soprano MARIE EWING... Folk singer/songwriter BILL STAINES... French live music promoter GÉRARD DROUOT... Guitarist MARC LEE DÉ HUGAR of Sydney, Australia, glam-rock band Candy Harlots.

- Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator
migration
Complex
Battle Rap Is Thriving on Twitter Spaces
By Andre Gee
Imagine your favorite rappers ditching the labels, linking up and putting together teams to create mixtapes. Imagine the intrigue of Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole recruiting artists to their teams, trying to win a year-end grand prize. And imagine them all talking through the process on a daily basis in front of the whole world.
Music Week
UMPG MD Mike McCormack's message to Merck Mercuriadis and the big spenders buying up catalogues
Universal Music Publishing Group UK MD Mike McCormack has used a Music Week interview to deliver a strong message to the new entrants in music publishing - including Hipgnosis' Merck Mercuriadis - who have been buying up songwriters' catalogues.
The New York Times
How Big Can a TikTok Duet Get?
By Jon Caramanica
The singer-songwriter Sadie Jean performed a lovelorn track and left room for a response. Lil Yachty took the bait. But their duet isn't the track available for streaming.
protocol
In Sonos' war with Google, customers are the real losers
By Janko Roettgers
The patent dispute between Sonos and Google is far from resolved, but some device owners already had enough.
Allure
Janet Jackson Is Still in Control
By Robin Givhan
The pop superstar gets real about her career, her body, and her future.
Vulture
The Weeknd's 'Dawn FM' is a Dirge, a Mirror, and an Echo, Echo, Echo
By Charlie Harding and Nate Sloan
The pop star compellingly regurgitates past hits to soundtrack the grim present and future of celebrity.
The Guardian
'A journey through the past': lost music of the Palestinian uprising is restored
By Bethan McKernan
Mo'min Swaitat uncovered 10,000 tapes in the West Bank during lockdown, and digitised Riad Awwad's intifada album.
Los Angeles Times
A street musician spent years building a one-of-a-kind drum kit on wheels. Then, one morning, it was gone
By Kenan Draughorne
For years, Sheriff Drumman and his cherry-red pickup truck, custom-fitted with his prize drum kit, were a fixture around L.A. Car thieves changed everything.
VICE
Fontaines D.C. Are Sick of Their Own Stereotype
By Colin Gannon
As the Dublin band rockets to greater and greater heights, they discuss their reputation as "punk poets" and their upcoming third album, 'Skinty Fia'.
Variety
With Viral Smash 'Hrs and Hrs,' Muni Long Shows the Music Industry How It's Done
By Mike Wass
Overnight success has been a long time coming for Muni Long. The artist formerly known as Priscilla Renea landed a major label record deal with Capitol in the late '00s due to viral success on YouTube.
the north borders
The Guardian
'We've fallen off an abyss': three music festivals cancelled in 24 hours as Australian industry reels
By Sian Cain
Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide events called off due to state restrictions, with thousands of jobs impacted in 'perfect storm on steroids.'
Billboard
Concert Venues Are Going Mixed-Use to Diversify Revenue and Offer Artists Better Deals
By Taylor Mims
Necessity is the mother of invention, and in the pandemic it's driven clubs to incorporate daytime businesses.
Pollstar
From The Metaverse To IRL & Beyond: How deadmau5 Keeps Pushing Boundaries (And Cubes)
By Ariel King
Before COVID-19 reared its ugly head, deadmau5 was already busy exploring new digital frontiers for his fans. As he prepares to go back out on the road, both with a residency and tour, there may be no better artist equipped for the third wave of the pandemic.
Music Business Worldwide
'These last 18 months have taught me resilience, determination and that you just have to figure it out and keep going'
By Rhian Jones
Amy Morgan, manager of Glass Animals, discusses breaking the Oxford band around the world, working with Polydor/Republic and dealing with imposter syndrome.
Spotify for Artists
Paramore's Hayley Williams on How Artists Can Avoid Burnout
By Chris Mench
The veteran star gives tips on artistry and mental health in our educational Song Start series.
Billboard
Katy Perry's 'Dark Horse' Copyright Accuser Faces Skeptical Appeals Court
By Bill Donahue
A rapper who sued Perry wants to revive $2.8 million copyright verdict against her, but a federal appeals court had tough questions for his attorney.
Music Business Worldwide
About that catalog music stat we published the other day
By Tim Ingham
MRC Data has issued a correction to its numbers for 2021. As a result, MBW has had to re-run our own calculations based on that data.
what we're into
Music of the day
"Otomo"
Bonobo ft. O'Flynn
From "Fragments," out Friday on Ninja Tune.
Video of the day
"Rhyme & Reason"
Peter Spirer
"Anyone can find archival footage of a Bronx block party in the Seventies," Rolling Stone recently wrote of Peter Spirer's 1997 hip-hop doc. "It takes skill, though, to tie the genre back to its jazz and gospel roots without sounding didactic."
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