jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 04/18/2022 - Desert Storm, Shallow Catalog, After Pop Stardom, Blue Note, DJ Kay Slay, Cécile McLorin Salvant...

The game was boring until I came around. Open in browser Monday April 18, 2022 Soy el tóxico: Regional Mexican stars Grupo Firme on the main stage at Coachella, April 15, 2022. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images) quote of the day "The game was boring until I came around." - DJ Kay Slay, 1966 – 2022 rantnrave:// Desert Storm Is it just me and my social feeds, or was the world paying a little more attention this weekend to a concert in the Southern California desert than it usually does? Because it seemed—whether they were there in Indio, skipping among the three live feeds on YouTube or just checking in occasionally on Twitter—the entire music and pop culture world was wired in, as if everyone had been waiting through three long years to see what HARRY STYLES would do or which South Korean girl group would reunite or whether JUSTIN BIEBER would show up with DANIEL CAESAR or what 100 GECS would sound like with a live drummer (JOSH FREESE) or just to reassure themselves that MEGAN THEE STALLION and DOJA CAT would be there when they needed them. Anyway, here's the LA Times' full running report on the three days of COACHELLA weekend one, courtesy SUZY EXPOSITO and MIKAEL WOOD, and here's Rolling Stone's ETHAN MILLMAN and TOMÁS MIER on day one and day two. Spoiler: You might not have known that what you were really waiting for was the chance to see a buff 68-year-old DANNY ELFMAN lead a goth orchestra through music from THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and THE SIMPSONS but, by all accounts across all formats, you were. (My main interaction was via those YouTube feeds, and it was hard not to notice that, besides the ORVILLE PECK fans wearing Orville Peck masks, masks in general were extremely rare sights, which seemed not the best idea. Just because we want to be there already doesn't mean we *are* there already. Be safe, music people. But kudos to Orville Peck's drummer, who was wearing what looked like a heavy Western long-sleeve shirt buttoned all the way up and a bolo tie on a Sunday afternoon when lots of other people were wearing shorts or similar summer attire and complaining about the heat. Entertainment professionalism. Respect. Also to RUN THE JEWELS, who brought no frills, no production to speak of, and rocked full-on, start to finish. Two days earlier, for what it's worth, ANITTA came with million dollar production and guests [SAWEETIE, SNOOP DOGG] and was equally great.) Plus Also Too Nice package from Billboard on the rise of what some music execs have taken to calling "shallow catalog," meaning music from the past few years by artists who are still active, which is largely driving the current growth of catalog music in general. JOURNEY, the BEATLES and MICHAEL JACKSON are still getting their flowers but they're getting crushed in the streaming market by XXXTENTACION. And Drake, the mag reports, "may stream more than all of the recordings released before 1980 combined"... I love this video graphic showing music revenues by medium through the years (h/t DAN RUNCIE) and, though I lived through it and bought a few myself, I remain flabbergasted that there was a moment when ringtones had nearly 10 percent of the recorded music market... SPOTIFY says 20.9 percent of the songs that hit the top 200 of the service's global songs chart in in 2021 were from outside North America and Europe. The figure was just 9.5 percent in 2017... A Coachella Seder: "I snuck a shank bone into Coachella," music marketer NATE AUERBACH told Variety. "Most people sneak... other things." Rest in Peace Specialty Records founder ART RUPE, who died Friday at the age of 104, was revered as one of the great indie label pioneers of the 1940s and '50s. His label, which he set up to release what were then known as "race records," brought the world the music of Lloyd Price, Guitar Slim, the Swan Silvertones and, most famously, Sam Cooke (via his gospel band, the Soul Stirrers) and Little Richard. The histories of rock, R&B and gospel can't be told without him. Nor can the history of artist exploitation. Rupe was renowned for the care he put into the label's recordings—"Specialty was a little like the Blue Note label in jazz," musician and music history Billy Vera told the New York Times—but also for taking 100 percent of the publishing of the songs his artists recorded and paying them pennies in royalties compared to what white artists at the time were earning. I bring this up not to demean the recently deceased, but because it would be a disservice to the industry he helped build not to tell the full story. Some 75 years later, the recording industry is still trying to apologize for practices like these. Rupe had a sharp ear for what young Americans wanted to hear, to a point. He let Sam Cooke walk away, along with his own right-hand man Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, because he couldn't stand the secular records they were trying to make—the ones that would turn Cooke into a pop star at his next label, Keen. (Cooke, perhaps not coincidentally, formed his own publishing company soon after leaving Specialty.) When Little Richard called from England a few years later to try to get Rupe to sign a certain quartet of young Englishmen he was sharing a bill with, Rupe told him, "Richard, I am not interested in anybody but you." RIP also: Graffiti writer turned mixtape DJ KAY SLAY, an essential figure in New York hip-hop, who succumbed after a lengthy battle with Covid-19... Nigerian highlife saxophonist/singer ORLANDO JULIUS... Actor RIO HACKFORD, who owned the New Orleans rock clubs One Eyed Jacks and El Matador. - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator karol g Billboard More Swift Than Dylan: How Newer Hits Overtook Classic Rock to Rule the Catalog Market By Steve Knopper and Glenn Peoples Catalog music now accounts for almost 70% of U.S. music consumption, but that doesn't mean classic rock. The Guardian 'That's it? It's over? I was 30. What a brutal business': pop stars on life after the spotlight moves on By Nick Duerden Musicians from Bob Geldof to Robbie Williams and Lisa Maffia reveal what they did - and how they felt - after the hits dried up and the crowds vanished. Los Angeles Times Live updates from Coachella 2022 By Suzy Exposito and Mikael Wood The Times' Mikael Wood and Suzy Exposito report live from the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. The Ringer Size Matters: Inside the Politics of Festival Posters By Ben Lindbergh Joyner Lucas's Lollapalooza meltdown is just the latest manifestation of one of the touchiest subjects in the concert industry: how big the name is on the flyer. To get to the heart of the matter, we spoke to some experts about all things font size. Recording Academy We Pass The Ball To Other Ages: Inside Blue Note's Creative Resurgence In The 2020s By Morgan Enos The foundational jazz label Blue Note Records has ebbed and flowed over the years, but they're charging into the 2020s with renewed energy. Streams are way up; fresh talent is being signed left and right. And label president Don Was has a few ideas why. The New Yorker Danyel Smith Tells the History of Black Women in Pop Music By Emily Lordi The author discusses Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, racism in magazines, and why she's so hopeful for the future of music and writing. 5 Magazine Jacked: How Demuir Beat the Beat Thieves By Terry Matthew What do you do when your music's been stolen? When Toronto house music producer Demuir found out someone had plagiarized his tracks, he got mad. Then he fought back. The Cadence Should DJs Pay Producers With Gig Money? Aslice tackles DJs vs. producers inequity with goodwill and peer pressure. Los Angeles Times Art Rupe, pioneering rock 'n' roll mogul who helped launch Little Richard, dies at 104 By Randall Roberts Rupe founded Specialty Records, which helped establish the L.A. music industry and jump-started careers of Little Richard and a gospel-era Sam Cooke. The New York Times RETRO READ: DJ Kay Slay: Hip-Hop's One-Man Ministry of Insults By Lola Ogunnaike Profile of DJ Kay Slay, also known as The Drama King, whose mix tapes and underground recordings, sold on street corners and in specialty shops and now distributed free, have influenced all important hip-hop performers. natanael cano Billboard Supreme Is Filling Tower Records' Sunset Strip Spot, But the Iconic Brand Eyes a Comeback By Pamela Chelin As the streetwear brand transforms the currently hollowed-out storefront in West Hollywood, Tower Records is preparing for a second act. 12tone Why Does Metal Have To Be So Loud? Many genres can be enjoyed perfectly fine at a nice, comfortably quiet level, but metal resists that, and metalheads reject those efforts. So what's going on? Why does metal only work when it's loud as hell? Trapital The Future Of Music Business With Economist Will Page By Dan Runcie and Will Page Scottish economist Will Page believes the music industry is transitioning from a "herbivore market" to a "carnivore" one. In other words, future growth will not come from brand-new customers — it'll come from the streaming services eating into each other's market share.  Tidal Cécile McLorin Salvant: Further Still By Martin Johnson By going deeper into her own life and art, the best jazz singer of her generation is creating a bold new archetype, free from genre. The Tennessean 'The world is wild': Joy Clark's success is a magical moment for Black female guitarists By Marcus K. Dowling The New Orleans-based singer-songwriter is breaking out and continuing a larger surge by Black female singer-songwriters. Pollstar Roaring Back With A Vengeance: Pros Take Stock Of Exploding Sector In Pollstar's 2022 Festival Survey By Eric Renner Brown Pollstar convened pros from festivals of all shapes and sizes to discuss where the corner of the industry stands today and where it's headed this summer and beyond. Resident Advisor After Sobriety, Raving Became More Than an Excuse to Party By Alice Austin When Alice Austin's father suddenly passed away, she tried to escape her grief by partying it all away. But the synthetic highs and crushing lows eventually had her questioning her own decisions. Metal Hammer Peter Steele: the life and death of the Godfather Of Goth Metal By Rich Hobson Type O Negative frontman Peter Steele lived a life like no one else. This is the story of a giant of the 90s metal scene. The Guardian 'Holding the artist to ransom': musicians struggle to break even as venues and Universal cream off merch sales By Eamonn Forde The Guardian found that Universal Music Group is profiting from the 25% cut that UK music venue chain AMG takes from gig merchandise sales - at a time when artists are feeling the pinch. The New York Times She Never Stopped Loving Otis Redding. Her City Never Stopped Needing Him. By Richard Fausset The soul singer has been gone for more than half a century. Zelma Redding's love affair with him - and his with Macon, Ga. - has never ended. what we're into Music of the day "Oxytocin (live at Coachella)" Billie Eilish Video of the day "Songs for Drella" Ed Lachman Director Ed Lachman's film of Lou Reed and John Cale performing their "Songs for Drella" album at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1990, a film that was long believed to have been lost. Screening now at https://mubi.com. 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