jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 01/19/2023 - Streaming Fraud?, Shunning Gunna, Van Conner, Glorilla, Miranda Lambert...

Cheating-ass, lying, controlling men... made me who I am today. Open in browser Thursday January 19, 2023 Moor Mother at the Central Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas, March 17, 2002. (Shedrick Pelt/Getty Images) quote of the day "Cheating-ass, lying, controlling men... made me who I am today." - Glorilla rantnrave:// Doesn't Have a Beat, Can't Dance to It Last week, LUCIAN GRAINGE suggested, via an open letter to the industry (thinly disguised as a memo to UNIVERSAL MUSIC staff), that the 100,000-plus tracks being added daily to some streaming services were full of "lower-quality functional content that in some cases can barely pass for 'music.'" (And you thought the critics at PITCHFORK were mean.) This week, a French governmental agency reported that between 1 and 3 percent of the music actually being streamed in that country is the result of fraudulent activity—an underhanded combination of "false plays... by robots or natural persons," "false playlists" and "[illegitimate] additions of titles on the platforms." According to Music Business Worldwide, that adds up to between $5.8 million and $17.4 million in annual shadow streaming revenue in France alone, which could translate to as much as $507 million in shadow streaming revenue globally if the same sort of thing is happening everywhere. Which, if I'm reading all this is correctly, is basically saying the streaming music biz has a very expensive "crap in, crap out" problem. Leaving aside for now the question of what actually constitutes "lower-quality functional content"—any VULFPECK fans in the house?—and the other question of the mainstream music industry's own history of lower-quality functional accounting, these January news drops seem to be setting the tables for a very specific debate/discussion about the streaming economy in 2023. It appears it won't be about how streaming companies calculate their royalties but rather how they count streams. The head of the world's biggest record company used the term "artist-centric model" in his letter, which raised some hopes he might put UMG's muscle behind the user-centric royalty system a lot of middle class artists have been asking for. But nothing in his letter suggests that. "Artist-centric," in this context, seems to mean more streams and therefore more revenue for major label artists, and fewer streams—and fewer tracks in the services—for shadowy opportunists and manipulators. By which Lucian Grainge doesn't mean Vulfpeck. Or its fans. At least I don't think he does. I hate content farms, too, I really do. But the discussion of who he, or any of us, means may turn out to be, shall we say, not so functionally simple. To be continued. Etc Etc Etc SADE, SNOOP DOGG, GLORIA ESTEFAN, TEDDY RILEY, JEFF LYNNE, GLEN BALLARD and LIZ ROSE will be inducted into the SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME in June... And while we're on the subject of songwriting... Lyric of the week: "You love your jazz like you love your sugar," intoned repeatedly, with shifting cadences, by CAMAE AYEWA, aka MOOR MOTHER, during IRREVERSIBLE ENTANGLEMENTS' set to a packed WINTER JAZZFEST crowd Saturday night at Brooklyn's SUPERIOR INGREDIENTS. Chew on that (as if you have a choice). It was aimed, one imagines, at anyone who thinks it might have been aimed at them... The physics of swing... The hip-hop song that's trying to bring the city of Durham, N.C., together. Rest in Peace VAN CONNER, Screaming Trees bassist and primary composer of the grunge band's best known song, "Nearly Lost You." He and his brother, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, who announced his death on social media, grew up in Ellensburg, Wash., where "they were treated as losers and outcasts," producer Steve Fisk told the Seattle Times. "That fueled their art, and created anger and explosion in their music"... Boston rock mainstay GARY SMITH, who owned Fort Apache Studio and produced records by Pixies, Throwing Muses, Blake Babies, Juliana Hatfield, the Feelies and the Chills. - Matty Karas, curator sweet oblivion Rolling Stone The Courts Screwed Gunna, Now He's Being Shunned By His Peers By Andre Gee The rapper finds himself squeezed between the criminal justice system and the rap world, neither of which is as humane as they claim to be. The Seattle Times Remembering Van Conner, Screaming Trees' powerhouse bassist, who died at 55 By Charles R. Cross "Van *is* the Screaming Trees," Mark Lanegan told me in 1996. "He is the heart and soul of the band." Music Business Worldwide Streaming fraud accounts for at least 1-3% of plays on services like Spotify and Deezer in France, shows investigation By Murray Stassen Landmark study into France's music industry focuses on illegitimate streaming practices. The Guardian 'A fundamental blow': anger over threat to BBC Introducing music discovery platform By Dave Simpson Fans and bands fear regional network that helped launch careers of Ed Sheeran and Little Simz will be cut back as BBC confirms changes to schedules. The Washington Post D.C.'s hardcore punk scene gets a jolt from its originators By Mark Jenkins Unexpectedly, a lot of harDCore veterans are making music together again.  Pitchfork Glorilla Suffers No Fools By Jayson Buford Get to know one of the most exciting new rappers of the last few years, whose music is an antidote to degenerate male behavior. Garden & Gun Miranda Lambert's Texas Truth By Matt Hendrickson Whether back home in East Texas or headlining in Vegas, Miranda Lambert shoots straight. Byta How Technology is Revolutionising Afrobeats By Samuel Korie Samuel Korie of The Plug Entertainment (and Nigeria-based lawyer) talks about how tech is revolutionising the Afrobeats music genre. Music Ally Kadeem Phillips: 'If we don't innovate country, the genre's going to start to fall off' By Joe Sparrow At the NY:LON Connect conference in London, mTheory CEO Cameo Carlson and Power Entertainment CEO Kadeem Phillips talked about diversity, equity and inclusion in country. Rolling Stone Remaking Your Old Songs Used to Be Considered Lazy, Shady, and So Uncool. What Changed? By David Browne From U2's just announced "reimagining" of 40 past hits to Taylor Swift's "Taylor's Version" campaign, artists are no longer ashamed to revisit their back catalogs. dust Wall Street Journal Alexa, That Isn't Elvis! New Music Shuffle Irks Amazon Prime Users By Sebastian Herrera and Anne Steele Bigger song catalog brings less choice for some; 'a lot of cussing.' Composer Magazine Hildur Guðnadóttir on balancing Oscar-winning scores with sonic exploration By Emma Warren "Curiosity is such a huge part of my practice. It's really the driving force." Tidal Jeff Beck: 'That Was the Quest' By ​David Fricke David Fricke looks back on decades of conversations with the late guitar god — including an unforgettable joint interview with Beck and Eric Clapton. The New York Times A Conductor on a Mission to Help Ukraine By Javier C. Hernández Dalia Stasevska, who leads the New York Philharmonic this week, has raised money for and delivered supplies to Ukraine, where she was born. Ari's Take Variety Music Editor on the State of Music Journalism By Ari Herstand and Shirley Halperin Shirley Halperin is an Executive Editor at Variety, where she spearheads music coverage for the print magazine and Variety.com. NPR Music Soccer Mommy: Tiny Desk Concert By Andrew Flanagan and Soccer Mommy Sophie Allison and crew finally, after a three-year delay, make their Tiny Desk debut in a lovingly performed set. Vulture Skyzoo Loves 'Snowfall' So Much He Made an Entire Album About It By William E. Ketchum III "I was like, 'What if Franklin could just tell his story?'" DJ Mag Waajeed: creating from the edge By Bruce Tantum Bruce Tantum catches up with the veteran Motor City DJ and producer to find out more about his search for musical perfection, the Underground Music Academy, and finding peace in chaos. The Africa Report At Spotify Africa, Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy runs the show By Quentin Velluet Meet Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, the woman who will bring the world's music into the phones of millions across Africa. SPIN RETRO READ: An Oral History Of Screaming Trees' 'Nearly Lost You' By Mark Yarm Seattle's unsung heroes remember (and not fondly) the grunge-pop anthem and 'Singles' stand-out. what we're into Music of the day "Same Problems (Amazon Music live)" A$AP Rocky "How many problems get solved / If we don't get involved?" The single was officially released Wednesday, the eighth anniversary of the death of A$AP Yams. Video of the day "Screaming Trees on '120 Minutes,' 1992" MTV RIP both of these men. 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