jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 10/04/2022 - 100 Million Songs, Louis Vuitton v. David Mancuso, Rolling Stone Reinvented, Sinead O'Connor, SZA...

I don't have any deadlines, because at the end of the day, when my s*** comes out, it comes out. Open in browser Tuesday October 04, 2022 In Ctrl: SZA at the Global Citizen Festival, Accra, Ghana, Sept. 24, 2022. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images) quote of the day "I don't have any deadlines, because at the end of the day, when my s*** comes out, it comes out." - SZA, whose second album will come out when it comes out rantnrave:// A Hundred Milli APPLE MUSIC says there are now 100 million songs in its catalog, which is a lot of songs, and my first, admittedly snarky, reaction was, "OK, but which ones?" Do you have FRANK OCEAN's "LOVECRIMES" or "STRAWBERRY SWING"? Do you have the studio version of the CURE's "KILLING AN ARAB"? Do you have MATT LAJOIE's STAR MAPS album? My second reaction was to do some quick back-of-the-napkin math. (OK, maybe I used a calculator.) Starting with the somewhat wild guess that the average song across all genres and decades clocks in around three and a half minutes, I worked out that 100 million songs adds up to 350 million minutes of music, and it would take you 666 years of nonstop listening to hear to all of it. I swear I didn't play around with the song lengths before I landed on a nice round number like 666. I got that on my first try. Make of the numerology what you will while you ponder if it's possible that more music is worse than less music—that there might simply be too much. Ponder the mark of the beast while you ask yourself if you can identify with MEG LETHEM, who was trying to pick a soundtrack one morning for the bakery where she works. "She opened SPOTIFY, then flicked and flicked, endlessly searching for something to play," LIZ PELLY reported in the Guardian. "Nothing was perfect for the moment. She looked some more, through playlist after playlist. An uncomfortably familiar loop, it made her realise: she hated how music was being used in her life." And that's Spotify, which claims a mere 80 million songs. Would 20 million more have made her search any easier, or that much harder? Is it possible there's such an abundance of streaming music that overwhelmed music fans, "faced with everything at once," are intentionally avoiding almost all of it, as another piece in the Guardian's recent "Discovery Channels" series suggested? There are, of course, counterarguments. Maybe 100 million of them. "We've gone from 1,000 songs in your pocket to 100,000x that on Apple Music," the service's global head of editorial, RACHEL NEWMAN, wrote Monday. "You can explore genres you never knew existed and find your new favorite artist in places you would never expect." Me, I've listened to countless songs, albums and artists I never dreamed of hearing in the pre-streaming age. Classic albums I read about but could never afford, or find. New songs from countries and genres that were once all but unknown to me. Endless roots and branches. In his Streaming Machinery blog, G.C STEIN wonders if the problem others have identified isn't about overabundance but underorganization, for which the streaming services and the labels who license music to them can share the blame. (Maybe the services and labels could redirect some of the time and money they've spent building the former to do some work on the latter.) Anyway, also on Monday, I read ARIA HUGHES' feature on SZA for Complex, in which SZA, who grew up in the age of NAPSTER and was already in college when Spotify launched, talks about how she developed her expansive taste in music. "Her music diet growing up was jazz her father favored," Hughes writes. "But thanks to her older sister, a mixtape she received at a bar mitzvah, and an iPod she found at a gymnastics camp, she was introduced to a wide swath of sounds ranging from BJÖRK to WU-TANG to LFO to LIL JON." The internet no doubt played a part in that journey, but I'm going with her sister, whoever made the mixtape and whoever programmed that iPod as the most important sources. Trusted guides. Random hands to hold. Maps and almanacs. 100,000x what a hundred million songs are worth, if you ask me. Or, as a social mediaite might put it, a hundred million songs is great but have you ever found one or two friends to tell you which ones to actually play? Appropriations What would the late DAVID MANCUSO, the DJ behind the LOFT, have thought of LOUIS VUITTON co-opting his name and spirit for its "Fall in Love" men's collection? A searing critique, with great historical and cultural context, by TIM LAWRENCE (h/t DADA STRAIN)... What would PRINCE have thought of his own estate denying director KATHRYN FERGUSON permission to use SINEAD O'CONNOR's version of "NOTHING COMPARES 2 U" in the new doc NOTHING COMPARES? Billboard's MELINDA NEWMAN doesn't answer that exact question but provides the background, including O'Connor's allegation in her 2021 memoir that Prince abused her and the estate's ungenerous assertion that "His version is the best" and she, therefore, doesn't deserve the sync. The director, for her part, tells Billboard the estate was within its rights and she's "very happy with that section of the film," which is now focused on her, not him. Rest in Peace MARYBETH PETERS, who headed the US Copyright Office from 1994 to 2010, when the internet was erupting like a volcano. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act was passed on her watch. "She was very strong about saying that the rights don't change—the technology does," remembered RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier... Yemeni oud player AHMED ALSHAIBA, known for his oud covers of Western pop hits... KYLE MAITE, guitarist for Ohio pop-punk band Hit the Lights... New Zealand drum and bass DJ producer JAY BULLETPROOF... Icelandic rock singer/songwriter PRINS PÓLÓ. - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator million reasons Tim Lawrence David Mancuso and Louis Vuitton: Can they "Fall in Love"? By Tim Lawrence The world's most profitable luxury corporation had a good, long think and concluded it would be entirely reasonable to align itself with a person who paid almost no attention to his appearance, spent the very minimum on clothes, placed no value on material possessions (other than stereo equipment and vinyl!) and ran a house party that placed anti-commercialism and egalitarianism at the centre of its ethos. Vanity Fair "It's Gotta Grow to Stay Alive": Inside Noah Shachtman's Raucous Reinvention of Rolling Stone By Charlotte Klein The scoop-hungry, Twitter-happy editor has turbocharged the magazine's digital metabolism-"back in the game," says Gus Wenner-and chafed some staff along the way, who wonder if the new Rolling Stone is becoming the old Daily Beast. Vulture When America Met Sinead O'Connor By Allyson McCabe O'Connor's stand at the 1989 Grammys showcased her power - and made her a threat. Billboard The CD Turns 40: How the 'Shiny, Tiny' Discs Took Over By Steve Knopper A coalition of label marketers worked with MTV, radio stations and music stars to sell skeptical executives on the format - and delivered a boom that lasted for nearly 20 years. Rolling Stone Aretha Franklin Was Tracked By the FBI for 40 Years. Here's What's In Her File By Jen Dize and Afeni Evans The agency tried - and failed - for decades to tie the Queen of Soul to "extremists." Complex SZA: Her Next Act By Aria Hughes As SZA gears up for the release of her highly anticipated sophomore album, she's putting herself first—whether you like it or not. The Verge Spotify keeps making it harder to listen to music By Russell Brandom Maybe podcasts and audiobooks should not be in a music app. Los Angeles Times Gov. Newsom signs bill restricting use of rap lyrics in criminal trials By August Brown The bill restricts the use of artists' lyrics in criminal trials and has been championed by the hip-hop community, the music industry and free-speech advocates. Music Business Worldwide After 10 long years, the handcuffs are coming off Universal Music Group in Europe. By Tim Ingham In 2012, the European Commission banned UMG from making a wide range of deals in Europe. That ban just expired. The New York Times Unraveling One of Rock's Deepest Mysteries: Les Rallizes Dénudés By Ben Sisario The Japanese band that emerged in the late 1960s was known for its rumbling rhythms and ear-shredding feedback - but almost nothing was known about its leader, Takashi Mizutani. one in a million BBC Radio 4 Kate Bush: The Power of Strange Things By Ann Powers and Clem Hitchcock NPR music journalist Ann Powers pays tribute to the inspirational talent of Kate Bush. Jezebel Solange Knowles Breathed Life Into the New York City Ballet By Emily Leibert The artist created her first original score for a ballet at New York City Ballet's Fall Fashion Gala, and it attracted a whole new fan base of first-timers. The Vinyl Factory The delicate art of reinventing the Rhodes By Hugh Morris For the past 15 years, Dan Goldman has been the go-to person for the notoriously temperamental electro-mechanical instrument. Business Insider Why Oboes Are So Expensive By Enxhi Dylgjeri A specialized woodwind with a wistful yet powerful tone, the oboe is one of the most expensive instruments you can buy. But why? The New Yorker An Undercover Rock Star at the Virgil Abloh Exhibition By Adam Iscoe Leezy, the bassist for the band Khruangbin, who appears publicly only in disguise, takes in a retrospective of her late friend's work at the Brooklyn Museum. NPR The Syrian Cassette Archive, preserving a disappearing history By Ari Shapiro and Patrick Wood When Yamen Mekdad and Mark Gergis met in 2018, the pair combined their love of Syrian cassettes into a project aiming to save them - and share them more widely. Synchtank Syncing or Rising? How Synchronization Fees Are Evolving By Eamonn Forde What does a new focus on sync mean for anyone who isn't Kate Bush? Andscape Was Jay-Z right? Rihanna's Super Bowl performance proves many are 'past kneeling' By Justin Tinsley The NFL is the same league with the same types of high-profile scandals Rihanna previously denounced. The only difference between now and then is Jay-Z's stamp of approval. Catapult On Fatherhood, Masculinity, and Steely Dan By Matt Mitchell But of course, all of this isn't about 'Gaucho' or masculinity, really. It's about trauma, about breaking a cycle you didn't consent to entering. The World of Dust-to-Digital Presenting Beauty to the World: Remembering Joe Bussard By Lance Ledbetter The first conversation lasted more than two hours. I think maybe I got in ten sentences. Immediately, I could tell that Joe went beyond the role of what I thought a collector would serve and was acting more as a proselytizer for the music he loved and was driven to preserve. what we're into Music of the day "Millions" Young Thug 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