jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 12/15/2022 - The Future Record Execs of TikTok, Spotify of the Middle East, Rosalía, Gunna, K-Pop's Best...

It's wonderful to watch. We were so totally out of touch with each other.
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Thursday December 15, 2022
REDEF
And the crooners from Mars: Bing Crosby and David Bowie at the taping of Crosby's "Merrie Olde Christmas" TV special, Borehamwood, England, Sept. 11, 1977.
(Bettmann/Getty Images)
quote of the day
"It's wonderful to watch. We were so totally out of touch with each other."
- David Bowie, in 1999, reflecting on his 1977 Christmas summit with Bing Crosby
rantnrave://
Tok of the Town

You may not be cut out for the music business if you, like me, see the Billboard headline "TikTok Is Launching Careers for Tomorrow's Music Executives" and assume it's going to be a story about those future execs parlaying entry-level jobs at the video app into slightly-less-entry-level jobs at QUALITY CONTROL (psst...) or UNITEDMASTERS. Because it's actually about TIKTOK users, with no entry level jobs in sight, who've been uploading video clips with music recommendations and maybe a little music news, finding an audience, and parlaying *that* into major-label A&R gigs, curator jobs at SPOTIFY and DJ slots at SIRIUSXM. One of the aspiring execs profiled by Billboard's KRISTIN ROBINSON just launched his own label using TikTok's SOUNDON as his distributor. Of course. If LIL NAS X and PINKPANTHERESS can do it, why can't their future managers, agents and label bosses? Call it DIY corner-officing. "I wasn't born into this business, so I had to find my own way in," says JAYLIN HAWKINS, who turned their TikTok feed into a social media job at UnitedMasters. That's one lesson. Another, from one-time WARNER college rep (old school!) and current TikTok curation superstar ARI ELKINS: "It's crazy how you can build something yourself and leapfrog these [early steps] in the music business. Now you don't have to wait on anyone." Either way: Old story. New plot.

Meanwhile, DAVID TURNER, who does a consistently great job looking under the hood of the music biz in his PENNY FRACTIONS newsletter, weaves several dozen links from the past couple years into an illuminating financial history of TikTok as well as a rocky and complicated love story between TikTok and record companies, which has the aura of two dance partners who, well into the night, still haven't figured out if they should be holding hands or not. Maybe those next-gen execs will figure it out for them.

Dot Dot Dot

BAD BUNNY's $435 million gross from his 43-show WORLD'S HOTTEST TOUR is the highest grossing year any touring artist has ever had, Pollstar says, topping ED SHEERAN's $432 million take in 2018... WHITE LOTUS theme becomes dancefloor hit... Final round of GRAMMY voting began Wednesday... HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR's TÁR score (not enough original music) and DOJA CAT's ELVIS song, "VEGAS" (too much interpolating) are officially ineligible for OSCARS... BRAD MEHLDAU demonstrates how the BEATLES swing.

Rest in Peace

STEPHEN "TWITCH" BOSS, dancer, singer and, most familiarly, enormously popular in-house DJ on "Ellen." "I don't think anyone has showcased the joy dance can bring, in an era when dance is everywhere, on our screens big and small, as well as Twitch did," Nadira Goffe wrote in Slate. "It's heartbreaking," Justin Timberlake tweeted, "to hear that someone who brought so much joy to a room, was hurting so much behind closed doors"... New York rapper GRAND DADDY I.U., whose best work was for Cold Chillin' Records in the late '80s and early '90s... Puerto Rican salsa singer LALO RODRIGUEZ.

- Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator
peace on earth
Billboard
TikTok Is Launching Careers for Tomorrow's Music Executives
By Kristin Robinson
The pandemic spurred many young music business hopefuls to join TikTok, now they are some of the industry's most sought-after talents.
Penny Fractions
TikTok Cannot Afford the Music Industry
By David Turner
The recorded music industry or at least its executives' mixed perception of the company obscures TikTok's own bumpy ride to global reach.
CNN
Anghami became the 'Spotify of the Middle East.' Now it's moving into live events
By Bijan Hosseini
With nearly 20 million active users, Abu Dhabi-based Anghami is growing its footprint from the virtual world to the real world.
Rolling Stone
How Rosalía Became Pop's Most Fearless Superstar
By Cat Cardenas
The Spanish artist resisted industry pressures, refused to compromise and made one of 2022's boldest albums. At the end of an incredible year, she opens up about all of it.
The New York Times
Atlanta Rapper Gunna Reaches Plea Deal in YSL Gang Case
By Joe Coscarelli and Richard Fausset
The artist born Sergio Kitchens was among the 28 people, including the rap star Young Thug, who were charged this year with violating Georgia's racketeering laws.
Slate
Why Ellen Fans Are So Devastated By the Sudden Death of Her DJ
By Nadira Goffe
What Twitch brought to the show was everything.
Culture Notes of an Honest Broker
How Neuroscience Confirms the Most Ancient Myths About Music
By Ted Gioia
In this extract from my book 'Music to Raise the Dead' I reveal a surprising convergence of modern science and the oldest song traditions-and a pathway to an alternative musicology of immense value in the current day.
I Care If You Listen
Editor's Picks: 2022 New Music Albums
By Amanda Cook
These are the projects that encouraged me to put everything down and enjoy the act of listening.
Dazed Digital
The best K-pop tracks of 2022
By Taylor Glasby
From Billlie to Ive, Dreamcatcher to J-Hope, we look back on the K-pop tracks that ruled the last twelve months.
Billboard
The Changing World Of Record Labels: Physical Retail
By Dan Rys
A look at how the role of physical retail and merchandising in the modern music business is evolving, from five of the top executives in the middle of that evolution.
can it be?
The New York Times
The 'Twin Peaks' Theme Isn't Just a Song. It's a Portal
By James Poniewozik
Angelo Badalamenti, who died at age 85, left behind the bum-bommm that feels like home.
Variety
TV Series Theme Songs Are Back in Fashion as Big-Name Composers Tune Into the Small Screen
By Jon Burlingame
The reasons why are surprisingly complex.
Music Business Worldwide
'The vinyl business is only going to grow. At the moment it's where MP3 players were in the '90s'
By Murray Stassen
Steve Rhodes co-founder and CEO of UK-based 'vinyl-on-demand' startup elasticStage, talks about challenges in the global vinyl production business.
Music Ally
7 reasons why AI music was a fascinating space in 2022
By Stuart Dredge
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made great strides in recent years, and one area where it is beginning to have an impact is music.
NPR
Willie Mae Thornton was a foremother of rock. These kids carry her legacy forward
By Allyson McCabe
Women are underrepresented as artists and songwriters and make up less than 3% of credited music producers. For women of color that number is even lower. That's why Willie Mae is so important.
Guitar World
The 10 best guitar solos of 2022
By Jonathan Horsley
As voted for by you, and featuring the lead guitar skills of Nita Strauss, Sophie Lloyd, John Frusciante, Polyphia, Steve Vai and more, here are the solos that lit up your year.
The Guardian
'It was a gateway for people to get into electronic music': 30 years of Warp Records' 'Artificial Intelligence'
By Joe Muggs
Taking cues from Detroit techno and showcasing Autechre and Aphex Twin, the famed compilation found hedonism in the wind-down. As it is reissued, famous fans from then and now explain why they love it.
The Ringer
Vanilla Ice's Great White Hype
By Rob Harvilla and Tom Breihan
Making sense of rap's biggest punching bag with help from Tom Breihan.
Fifteen Questions
Interview with Manuel Göttsching about Vibrations, Inspirations, and Irritations
A sublime form of historiography.
what we're into
Music of the day
"My Ma Was Good"
Nakhane
From their "Leading Lines" EP, out Friday on BMG.
Video of the day
"Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy"
David Bowie and Bing Crosby
Ian Fraser, Larry Grossman and Alan Kohan wrote "Peace on Earth" in 75 minutes after Bowie walked into the TV taping and said he hated "Little Drummer Boy." Bowie and Crosby—who died a month later—had an hour to learn it.
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