jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 10/13/2022 - BMI Pivots, Magic's in the Mistakes, Viral Jazz, Latto, Primary Wave...

An entire history of innovations in recorded music could be told through the lens of so-called musical mistakes. Open in browser Thursday October 13, 2022 Percussionist Etienne Charles and pianist Sullivan Fortner during the premiere of Charles' "San Juan Hill" at David Geffen Hall, New York, Oct. 8, 2022. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images) quote of the day "An entire history of innovations in recorded music could be told through the lens of so-called musical mistakes." - Piotr Orlov, "In Praise of Musical Mistakes" rantnrave:// Profits and Losses That vague feeling of anxiety you might have noticed in the collective musical conscience Wednesday was the sound of songwriters learning that BMI, the biggest performance rights org in the US, is switching to a for-profit model after nearly a century as a not-for-profit business. This follows BMI's failed attempt to sell itself earlier this year at an asking price that Bloomberg reported was north of $1.5 billion. The change, which BMI announced to staff via email Wednesday morning, "gives us more financial flexibility" to invest in new technology and expand/diversify, possibly through acquisitions, the organization said. It won't take money from songwriter/publisher royalty funds to pay for any of that, and its consent decree with the US government won't be affected, BMI told reporters. But this summer, sources told Bloomberg's LUCAS SHAW that BMI had suggested to potential buyers it might change *how* it doles out those royalties, possibly, for example, "paying [artists] less upfront in exchange for equity in the business." It also floated the possibility of cost-cutting. Which is, perhaps, why a vague feeling of anxiety hangs in the air. More to come. Dot Dot Dot Speaking of profits and royalties: The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reports that TIKTOK's parent company, BYTEDANCE, which operates the streaming music service RESSO in India, Indonesia and Brazil, is negotiating with record companies to expand to another dozen-plus markets (not including the US, at least not yet) in the hope of creating a self-contained global ecosystem where "users can discover songs on the short-form video app and then easily subscribe to music." Sticking points in the negotiations, sources tell the Journal, include the poor rate of conversion from free to paid subscriptions in Resso's existing markets and the usual arguments between the royalties the labels want and the "promotional value" the tech company says it's providing. The labels have the negotiating advantage that they can just say no and walk away. ByteDance has the negotiating advantage that no one actually wants to say no and walk away from TikTok. Or, as MOTÖRHEAD might say, everything more of an upper hand than everything else... Electronic composer IKUE MORI, jazz cellist/composer TOMEKA REID and musician, scholar and activist MARTHA GONZALEZ are among this year's recipients of MACARTHUR FOUNDATION "genius" grants. The prestigious awards, for which you can't apply and which are chosen by an anonymous panel, come with no-strings-attached payouts that were increased this year to $800,000 over five years... Accidents will happen, sometimes not by accident. The lead story in today's mix is a beautiful essay by PIOTR ORLOV that zooms in on a theme in DAN CHARNAS' J DILLA biography, DILLA TIME, about musical mistakes that aren't in fact mistakes, and how sometimes what needs fixing/adjusting aren't the strange new sounds we're hearing but our expectations for how we hear them. And then it zooms out and asks what happens when data sets and algorithms discourage such mistakes in a mechanized, quantized world. An enlightening read on how music moves forward, and how to hear it when it does... WU-TANG meets rhythm and blues. Rest in Peace Artist manager GREG EPLER, best known for his long association with Fuel. - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator performance royalties Pioneer Works In Praise of Musical Mistakes By Piotr Orlov On Dilla Time, deforming mastery, and a limitless question: at the level of intention, are errors ever actually errors? Vulture How Atlanta Created a Gang Stereotype of Its Hip-Hop Community By Christina Lee The YSL Records indictment is the latest example of a city intent on establishing a connection between local rappers and a supposed growing gang presence. WRTI What is viral jazz? By Nate Chinen Hard to define, for one thing. But in our disorienting digital age, these image-savvy, genre-fluid, proficient yet irreverent artists can seem like the only ones who've gleefully cracked the code. Billboard What Will Be the Role of A&R in Tomorrow's Music Business? By Kayode Badmus-Wellington Veteran executive Kayode Badmus-Wellington has a message for fellow A&Rs: "You and the consumer are one in the same." Variety Unpacking the New Grammy Songwriter of the Year Award -- It's Not for Taylor Swift or Paul McCartney (Unless…) By Jem Aswad The most remarkable thing about the new Grammy award for songwriter of the year is that it didn't already exist. Los Angeles Times At age 8, she knew she wanted to be a rapper. Today, Latto has the Grammys in her sights By Jewel Wicker In the past year, the 23-year-old Atlanta native scored her first Top 10 hit with "Big Energy," performed alongside Mariah Carey and toured arenas with Lizzo. Bloomberg Opinion Taylor Swift Will Always Be Bigger Than AI By Tyler Cowen When it comes to art, music and culture, fans seem to want a little bit of human celebrity along with the work itself. The New York Times Prince Photo or Just Formerly Known as One? Supreme Court Weighs Warhol's Art. By Adam Liptak In a lively argument over copyright law that included many references to pop culture, the justices struggled to determine when a new work transforms an older one. Music Business Worldwide Music catalog acquisitions cooling down? Not at Primary Wave: 'We've never been busier' By Tim Ingham CAA's acquisition of a minority interest in Primary Wave might prove to be the most interesting thing about last week's deal announcement.  Los Angeles Times I'm playing an Art Laboe album to counteract the noxious vibe from L.A. City Hall By Gustavo Arellano Multiple communities are looking for healing right now. Everyone is looking for someone to bring us together, to take us to that promised land of integration and allyship that always seems to be just out of grasp in Los Angeles. We had that person. His name was Art Laboe. mechanical royalties TechRadar Netflix's drama about the making of Spotify has no right to be this good: The Playlist review By Tom Goodwyn The Playlist, which is keen to stress that it's a fictionalized account of what happened, tracks Spotify's origins. Pitchfork Hua Hsu's Memoir 'Stay True' Is as Affecting as a Great Pop Song By Jenn Pelly The New Yorker writer talks about how breaking down the binaries of cool, Nirvana's radical legacy, and Beach Boys' heavenly harmonies informed his poignant new book. Vulture Is Releasing an Album a Painful Breakup or a Beautiful Link to the World? By Charlie Harding, Amelia Meath and Reanna Cruz Sylvan Esso's Amelia Meath talks to Maggie Rogers, Jeff Tweedy, Bartees Strange, and Katie Gavin about the emotional difficulty of releasing a record. Billboard The Promise & Perseverance of Detroit Rap's Rising Stars By Neena Rouhani Lifted by the recent success of Icewear Vezzo, Babyface Ray and Baby Money, Motor City hip-hop is gaining steam. The New York Times The Young Women Who Make TikTok Weep By Jon Caramanica and Rachel Brodsky Songwriters who have found success on the app via emotional catharsis have expanded its range, and piqued the music industry's interest. Vulture The Jon Brion Method By Craig Jenkins The super-producer has spent 30 years perfecting the art of collaboration with everyone from Beyoncé to Elliott Smith. The New Yorker 'Tár,' Reviewed: Regressive Ideas to Match Regressive Aesthetics By Richard Brody Starring Cate Blanchett as a conductor accused of misconduct, the film takes bitter aim at so-called cancel culture. Norah Jones Is Playing Along: Norah Jones Is Playing Along: Tarriona 'Tank' Ball By Norah Jones and Tarriona "Tank" Ball Norah and Tank are by all means 'friend goals' so they cover everything from the news, to cooking, writing, attending the Grammys and of course love. The music in this episode takes some surprising turns while they play new versions of Tank and the Bangas songs, a collaboration with Norah titled 'Playing Along' and a new take on 'Don't Know Why.' Broken Record Broken Record: Bartees Strange By Justin Richmond and Bartees Strange Justin Richmond talks to Bartees Strange about his ascent into the upper echelon of indie rock. what we're into Music of the day "Atemporal" Lucrecia Dalt From "¡Ay!," out Friday on RVNG Intl. Video of the day "The Playlist" Per-Olav Sørensen Director Per-Olav Sørensen's six-part, fictionalized series about the birth of Spotify is out today on Netflix. 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