jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 01/27/2022 - Neil Young v. Spotify, Billboard Power List, Daniel Barenboim, Tanya Tagaq, 'Encanto,' Robyn...

Thank you WARNER BROTHERS for standing with me and taking the hit—losing 60% of my world wide streaming income in the name of Truth. Open in browser Thursday January 27, 2022 Gunna at the Masquerade, Atlanta, Jan. 15, 2022. (Prince Williams/WireImage/Getty Images) quote of the day "Thank you WARNER BROTHERS for standing with me and taking the hit—losing 60% of my world wide streaming income in the name of Truth." - Neil Young rantnrave:// During the Gold Rush As a pure business decision, I can hardly think of an easier one for a tech giant like SPOTIFY to make. "They can have ROGAN or YOUNG," they were told. "Not both." They picked Rogan. They picked the wildly popular podcaster with the $100 million-plus exclusive deal and the desirable demo over the cranky 76-year-old classic rocker whose last gold album is nearly two decades behind him (his average fan probably couldn't name it) and who hasn't been in Billboard's Hot 100 since 1982. They picked what CEO DANIEL EK likes to say is the free speech of creators—and, apparently, the freedom of other creators to walk out. But. I can hardly think of a clearer acknowledgment of what Spotify is, and is not, in 2022. Because the bottom line is that a company built on the blood, sweat and copyrights of musicians had to choose between one of rock's most revered artists and a comedian who runs at the mouth and recommends dietary supplements to his listeners, and it didn't choose the artist. Let that sink in. Something like this became inevitable the moment Spotify pivoted away from music as its core product and toward podcasting. You could argue that Neil Young put the company in a terrible position by forcing it to choose between him, the maker of AFTER THE GOLD RUSH, HARVEST, TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT and RAGGED GLORY, and Joe Rogan, Spotify's $100 million baby. But maybe it was Spotify that put itself in a terrible position by investing so much of its money and so much of its business model in a talk show host who is, in his own words, "a f***ing moron. I'm not a respected source of information, even for me." Hundreds of doctors and other experts wrote an open letter to Spotify two weeks ago accusing Rogan of irresponsibly broadcasting misinformation to a young, impressionable audience in the middle of a pandemic, and asking the company to "immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform." Young's challenge to Spotify was a direct response to that. "Lies being sold for money," he wrote Wednesday. The rock great has always had an ambivalent relationship with streaming sites in general and Spotify specifically, and he has his own (very good) subscription service for his own music, which makes it easy to imagine the math wasn't personally hard for him. If Spotify rejected his demand, which it almost certainly was going to do, no big deal. But, he wrote on Wednesday, his labels, WARNER and UNIVERSAL, and his publishing partner, HIPGNOSIS, which bought 50 percent of his songwriting catalog last year, stood to take a big hit. Spotify is responsible for 60 percent of Young's streaming plays. "A huge loss for my record company to absorb," he wrote. But Warner, Universal and Hipgnosis stepped up to absorb it, which may or may not send a signal to other artists and labels. We'll have to see. "I sincerely hope that other artists can make a move, but I can't really expect that to happen," Young wrote in the second of two open letters posted to his own site Wednesday. "I did this because I had no choice in my heart. It is who I am." This note's for him. - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator prisoners of rock 'n' roll Billboard The 2022 Billboard Power List The past year's boom in music assets shaped Billboard's biggest list yet of the industry's leaders - including a tally of its top 25 executives, led by UMG chairman/CEO Sir Lucian Grainge. The Guardian 'You can never totally overcome it': harmonica legend Lee Oskar on his family's Holocaust trauma By Jim Farber The ex-member of War has confronted his family's harrowing experiences in the Holocaust for a new 'musical memoir.' The Conversation Neil Young's ultimatum to Spotify shows streaming platforms are now a battleground where artists can leverage power By D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye Young is the first high-profile artist to condemn Spotify for its handling of COVID misinformation, but far from the first person to single out Rogan's podcast on the platform. VAN Magazine For Better, For Worse By Hartmut Welscher and Jeffrey Arlo Brown Daniel Barenboim is chief conductor for life of the Staatskapelle Berlin. Three years after the first allegations of humiliating and bullying against the conductor, the situation at his opera house is more strained than ever. The Line of Best Fit Tanya Tagaq has justice on the tip of her sharp tongue By Alan Pedder Rebel with a cause Tanya Tagaq speaks about confronting Canada's ugly colonial past on her new album "Tongues." Texas Monthly The Chart-Topping Songs of Disney's 'Encanto' Give Latino Families a Voice By Cat Cardenas The characters might be fictional, but to the Latinos who see their own families reflected in them, it's a relief to see them say what we wish we could. OffBeat Magazine Jim McCormick Takes On Music Publishing in New Orleans By Jan Ramsey Jim McCormick is using his knowledge of songwriting and the music business to pump up music publishing revenues for New Orleans musicians. The New York Times Sweden's Songwriters Look to K-Pop By Alex Marshall Dozens of songwriters and producers in Stockholm make a living from K-pop - even if they can't speak Korean. Guitar World Why guitar design is undergoing a renaissance in the wake of the pandemic By Jamie Dickson Supply chain issues and the drive for sustainable production are changing the way gear is made, but, as ever, it is ultimately the players who are steering where design is going next. Pitchfork The Dream of the 2000s Is Alive in the 'Meet Me in the Bathroom' Documentary By Marc Hogan Based on the hit 2017 oral history, the film brings us back to the days when the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and LCD Soundsystem ruled New York. this note's for you The Guardian RETRO MUST LISTEN: How Robyn transformed pop By Laura Snapes After almost a decade away, Robyn is about to release a new album. Laura Snapes examines her seismic cultural impact. Stuff When your music falls between classical and popular By Lucien Johnson Musician Lucien Johnson on doing it extra tough when your music falls between the classical and popular. Billboard In Its New Era, Can SoundCloud Go From Career Launchpad to Destination? By Dan Rys An enthusiastic team of industry veterans is charting an ambitious course forward for the platform that could make it a major player in the new creator economy. DJ Mag U K, G?: the electronic music collectives opening up conversations around mental health By Jack Ramage Sticky Tapes, eott and Don't Keep Hush tell Jack Ramage how they're helping to shift perceptions around wellbeing in dance music. Mixmag Goldie: 'People never give props to drum 'n' bass for what it's done for electronic music' By Ralph Moore Goldie speaks to Ralph Moore about writing tracks for Bowie, the underappreciation of drum 'n' bass, and his motivational 'Kubrick Theory.' Stereogum The Expanding Universe Of Anaïs Mitchell By Katherine Cusumano Anaïs Mitchell is best known as the writer behind the Broadway musical "Hadestown," a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice that counts among its accolades the 2019 Tony Award for Best Musical. But before that, she was a solo musician—and in January, she'll release her first solo record of new songs in a decade. Variety Hong Kong's RTHK Blacklists Pro-Democracy Musicians (Reports) By Vivienne Chow Ten Canto-pop singers and groups, including politically vocal celebrities Denise Ho, Anthony Wong Yiu-ming and his pop duo Tat Ming Pair, have been reportedly banished from Radio Television Hong Kong.  The Ringer Tupac Against the World By Rob Harvilla Breaking down the complicated life and indelible legacy of one of the most important figures hip-hop ever produced, including his megahit "California Love." SPIN Jeff Tweedy and His Sons Are the New Kings of 'Dad Rock' -- And They Couldn't Be Happier By Jonathan Cohen Jeff Tweedy has managed to do the impossible: seamlessly work with his sons, Spencer and Sammy Tweedy in his band. Seismograf 'I want to examine sound's relationship with as much of the world as possible' By Julie Hugsted The sound of Freud's toilet in Wienna, Andy Warhol in the supermarket, and the first pirated mp3 ever—Museum of Portable Sound collects and exhibits sound as cultural objects. And the sounds in the collections are only accessible from curator John Kannenberg's iPhone 4S. what we're into Music of the day "Protection" Steve Gunn with Mikey Coltun and Ahmoudou Madassane From the "Nakama" EP, out now on Matador. Video of the day "The Cutting Edge: March 1986 - The New Orleans Show" Carlos Grasso / Asphalt Serenade This was a good era of MTV. This episode features the Dirty Dozen Dress Band, Beausoleil, Bayou Rhythm, Alex Chilton and lots of others. Music | Media SUBSCRIBE 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?'" Jason Hirschhorn CEO & Chief Curator HOME | ABOUT | SETS | PRESS Redef Group Inc. LA - NY - Everywhere Copyright ©2021 UNSUBSCRIBE or MANAGE MY SUBSCRIPTION