jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 05/17/2023 - TestifyGPT, The Last Recording Artist, The Weeknd, Cigarette Songs, Jack Harlow, Boldy James...

There's nothing better than hearing something catchy. You're walking on the street later and you're like, 'Oh no!' That's when you're doing your job—where you've made something that is just so infectious that it's burrowed itself into someone's subconscious. So they start singing it when they're cooking, later. You know? Open in browser Wednesday May 17, 2023 Elect this: Dexter Gordon, Cecil Taylor and the Young Tuxedo Brass Band's Mathew "Fats" Houston on the South Lawn of the White House, June 18, 1978. (Chuck Fishman/Getty Images) quote of the day "There's nothing better than hearing something catchy. You're walking on the street later and you're like, 'Oh no!' That's when you're doing your job—where you've made something that is just so infectious that it's burrowed itself into someone's subconscious. So they start singing it when they're cooking, later. You know?" - Hannah Jadagu, whose debut album, "Aperture," is out Friday on Sub Pop rantnrave:// ThoughtExchange There are plenty of good reasons to lose sleep over artificial intelligence—the future of news, the future of information, the future of your livelihood, the future of civilization. But this is a music newsletter, so we're here to suggest you focus your anxiety on all the things that relate to that and to single out the work of US SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN, who used her one-on-one time with OpenAI CEO SAM ALTMAN at Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on AI oversight and regulation to cut right to the musical chase: How can artists and songwriters be protected from being remixed, remade and replaced by AI, and how does the AI industry intend to pay them? The history of music tech startups, as you're no doubt aware if you're reading this newsletter, is the history of companies disrupting the market today and worrying about how to license and pay for it tomorrow. To his credit, Altman, whose company is behind the viral AI tool ChatGPT, said at Tuesday's hearing that the company is "talking to artists and content owners about what they want," and "very clearly, no matter what the law is, the right thing to do is to make sure people get significant upside benefit from this new technology." To his, let's say, debit, Altman didn't say who those artists and content owners are or what exactly he and they are talking about. There are "a lot of different opinions, unfortunately," he offered. So, "How do you compensate the artist?," the Republican senator from the great music state of Tennessee asked, cutting the CEO off to try to get him to get to the point. When he didn't quite answer, she asked if a SOUNDEXCHANGE-like model might work, and Altman said he'd never heard of the nonprofit responsible for collecting and distributing artist royalties from satellite and internet radio. Wrong answer. The senator wagged her left index finger at the 38-year-old CEO—he's only five years old than TAYLOR SWIFT and three years older than RIHANNA—and said, "OK, you've got your team behind you. Get back to me on that." You're within your rights to be skeptical that anyone will get back to anyone on that in a productive, artist-benefiting manner. But I'm prepared to hold onto some optimism. Washington is broken but Republicans and Democrats from music-producing states including Tennessee, California and New York have demonstrated they can work together and make progress when it comes to protecting their creative constituents. Maybe ChatGPT can train itself on *that* knowledge and come up with the right answer soon enough. Etc Etc Etc Elsewhere in the artificial musicverse, Billboard reports the three major labels are working with SPOTIFY, APPLE and AMAZON on creating protocols that would allow them to issue takedown notices for AI soundalikes, based not on copyright but on the right of publicity... Slate's HI-PHI NATION podcast stages a battle of the guitar solos between an AI guitarist and two humans... Who owns WARNER MUSIC?... The VILLAGE PEOPLE are going after DONALD TRUMP yet again, this time over a viral video of people dancing to "MACHO MAN" at Mar-A-Lago... On its fourth try, Utah's LITTLE MOON wins NPR Music's TINY DESK CONTEST. Rest in Peace Scottish session bassist JOHN GIBLIN, who played with Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and countless others. - Matty Karas, curator after hours The Seat of Loss The Last Recording Artist By Jaime Brooks A comprehensive guide to ghostwriters, virtual pop stars, and the world to come. Vanity Fair The Weeknd Remade Pop Music. Will 'The Idol' Remake The Weeknd? By Dan Adler Abel Tesfaye leveraged an auteur-scale vision to become an unlikely megastar. With a transition to film and TV, and a seamy fantasia of an HBO series on the way, he's realizing his grandest ambition. Variety Music Publishers: The Writers' Strike Should Inspire Fair Pay for Songwriters By Tiffany Red As I watch the Writers Guild of America and 11,500 of their members on strike for fair pay for screenwriters, I admire those with the courage to fight for a better tomorrow for their industry. And I wonder where that spirit is for songwriters' compensation in the music industry.  Billboard Major Labels to Send 'Takedown Notices' to Streaming Services for AI Soundalikes By Kristin Robinson Companies will lean on artists' rights of publicity to request removals, which platforms seem open to acting on. Anxiety Shark You're Scaring The Kids By Niko Stratis The opening flame to a series about cigarettes in song. Dada Drummer Almanach Got to Give It Up: Ed Sheeran's Victory for AI By Damon Krukowski Ed Sheeran effectively sold a jury a story, while Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams did not. But what was that story? Backseat Freestyle I'm Not White, I'm Jack Harlow! By Jayson Rodriguez The story of his third album, 'Jackman,' and the politics behind white rappers. Stereogum Boldy James Can't Stop Rapping By Yousef Srour In his first interview since a devastating car accident, the veteran Detroit rapper reflects on his life and legendary prolific streak. The Guardian 'I'm a very spiritual person!' Eurovision winner Loreen on fear, fame, family and fighting for human rights By Zoe Williams Fresh from her second victory in the world's most over-the-top pop contest, the 'nomad from the Atlas mountains' talks about life in Sweden, the pain of competing and her search for a purpose. Brooklyn Magazine America's longest-running underground music magazine is based in ... Park Slope? By Christopher Heine Punk journalism godfather Jack Rabid moved "The Big Takeover" to Brooklyn 20 years ago and hasn't looked back (except for this article). dawn fm Variety Lenny Kaye on How the Original 'Nuggets' Compilation Changed Rock -- and Reviving That '60s Garage Spirit With an L.A. Tribute Concert By Chris Willman There has never been a compilation album in the history of rock as influential as " Nuggets," a 1972 double-LP that revived a period and style that was seen as having ended about five years before. The FADER How an AI-assisted album is asking big questions about music's uncertain future By Jordan Darville patten, a London-based producer and artist, used a text-to-sound program to create the samples on his latest full-length album "Mirage FM." Money 4 Nothing The Great Music AI Contradiction (Live at Wavelengths Summit) By Saxon Baird and Sam Backer Is our rapidly-approaching deep-fake future really (or at least, FULLY) being driven by technology? Sam and Saxon offer a dissenting voice to the cloud of excitement hovering around our up-and-coming machine overlords—arguing that the entertainment landscape we end up with isn't actually going to be determined by technology in and of itself.  Billboard Will AI Value Human Creators? Now's the Time to Decide the Future of Our Culture By David Israelite and Mitch Glazier The NMPA's David Israelite and the RIAA's Mitch Glazier say policy must start with the core value of creative consent. Sound Expertise Approaching Joni Mitchell with Ann Powers By Will Robin, D. Edward Davis and Ann Powers For our Season 3 debut, a deep conversation with Ann Powers about her in-progress Joni Mitchell book, the complexities and anxieties behind thinking through Joni's life alongside her own, and what it means to write about women making music. The Moment with Brian Koppelman The Moment with Brian Koppelman: Warren Zanes -- 05/16/23 By Brian Koppelman and Warren Zanes Author/musician Warren Zanes on Bruce Springsteen and how and why rock and roll saves souls.  Music Business Worldwide The 3 major music companies are now jointly generating approximately $2.9m per hour By Tim Ingham Which works out to approximately $48,000 every minute… or $800 per second. The New York Times Hannah Jadagu Turns Small Moments Into Big Pop Songs By Jon Pareles The 20-year-old N.Y.U. student's debut album, "Aperture," aims for emotions and earworms. Texas Monthly Selena and the Geto Boys Changed Texas Music at the Same Time By Andy Langer The Geto Boys and Selena set the stage in the early nineties for the transformation of Texas music. The Stranger I Stopped Performing Music Because Venues Are Ableist By Mindie Lind The next time you think access is "too expensive" or "too difficult," "the building is too old" or upgrades are "impossible," dig deeper and ask "Why are we okay with our ableism?" Rolling Stone Nirvana Smashed His Hotel Room -- And He Covered Kurt Cobain's Death. Kurt Loder Looks Back By Brian Hiatt With MTV News shutting down, the longtime anchor recalls interviewing Madonna, Prince, and Axl Rose, discusses his recent "Yellowjackets" deepfake, and much more. what we're into Music of the day "Rebuke" Kaytranimé Summer vibes. From the dynamic duo of Kaytranada and Animé, whose self-titled debut album as Kaytranimé is out Friday on CLBN. 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?'" 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