I only could be me. The features might change. Even the producer names might change, but I go for a certain sound. I bring people to my world. I never go to people’s world. | | | | Zoom Head Soup: The Rolling Stones on the "One World: Together at Home" broadcast, April 18, 2020.
(Getty Images) | | | | | |  | “I only could be me. The features might change. Even the producer names might change, but I go for a certain sound. I bring people to my world. I never go to people’s world.”
| | | | | | rantnrave:// Happy 4/20... To answer two questions that may have been on your mind this weekend: Everything was pre-recorded, and if you saw, say, four people, or any number of people, playing together in separate ZOOM boxes, they weren't actually playing together; there was editing involved. Which is totally, 100 percent fine. We don't generally turn to TV for raw live performance, Zoom isn't quite cut out for live musical collaboration, and what mattered at ONE WORLD: TOGETHER AT HOME, Saturday's eight-hour, home-alone update of LIVEAID for a different kind of crisis, was the feeling of community, the uniqueness and intimacy of the performances and the fact that it raised $127.9 million for the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION and regional charities without begging viewers for money. That's a good haul of both money and humanity. Shoutout TAYLOR SWIFT and BURNA BOY and STEVIE WONDER and LADY GAGA and dozens of others who performed across six hours of streaming and two hours of TV. The full eight hours is available for viewing here, and there's a live album... I have a feeling that by the time pandemic music programming is over—if it's ever over—I'm going to know what pretty much every pop musician's living room looks like. Have we forever altered the distance between pop star and fan even more than the internet had already been doing for the past decade or two? Will our invitation into their homes be fleeting or permanent? Is the very notion of what constitutes a stage changing?... Happy 4/20 once again... Some songwriters, musicians and engineers will be exempt from California's controversial AB5 gig-economy law under an agreement reached last week between music organizations and legislators. The law, which took effect this year, requires employers to reclassify many independent contractors as full-time employees. But what's good for UBER drivers wasn't necessarily good for session musicians, and there were fears the state's music industry would take an unnecessary hit. Under the agreement, most people involved in recording would be exempt, while the law will continue to apply to symphony orchestra, theatrical and theme park musicians... RIP MATTHEW SELIGMAN, HENRY GRIMES, GIUSEPPI LOGAN, MORAES MOREIRA, BARNEY ALES, EBOW "METROPOLIS" GRAHAM, EDDIE COOLEY, GENE SHAY, SIBEL THRASHER and SAM HARGRESS JR. (At least four of those men and women were victims of the coronavirus. MusicSET: "The Toll: Artists Lost to the Coronavirus.") | | | - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator | | | | | | | taking drugs to make music to take drugs to | |  | Bloomberg | | Many artists and promoters don’t think there will be live music at all in 2020. | | | |  | Los Angeles Times | | Epidemiologists and government officials agree that large-scale concerts and festivals can't be safely held until 2021, a crushing blow. | | | |  | Vulture | | “Nowadays, I try to remember who I was before all this started.” | | | |  | The Washington Post | | A tete-a-tete with the Wu-Tang Clan mastermind is a psychedelic experience. | | | |  | The New York Times | | As the world added decibels, so did orchestras. | | | |  | GQ | | The Buffalo rapper and the Louis Vuitton designer talk about working together on Gunn's new album 'Pray for Paris'-and plenty more. | | | |  | Spotify for Artists | | The Recording Academy's philanthropic arm is offering grants to music industry professionals whose livelihood has been affected by the pandemic. | | | |  | Variety | | Lady Gaga's jaunty "Smile," Taylor Swift's worried "Soon You'll Get Better" and the Stones' playful, practical "Can't Always Get What You Want" hit the right combination of notes. | | | |  | Slate | | The idea of “crossover” has become passé in Latin music-the songs travel, in any language. | | | |  | Pitchfork | | "The Colonial Manuscript" puts together Berman’s poems and short stories post-"Actual Air" for the first time. | | | | | | | ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space | |  | The New Yorker | | A live feed feels like a sign of life, a connection bridging our social distances. | | | |  | VIBE Magazine | | VIBE takes a look back at record store release Tuesdays. | | | | | Los Angeles Times | | "Other Music," "Record Safari" and "Vinyl Nation" offer bittersweet reminders, in a time of coronavirus, of the emotional pull of record stores and vinyl. | | | |  | Rolling Stone | | As other revenue streams start to dwindle, sync deals are increasing coveted by the music industry - but the window of opportunity is small and fast-moving. | | | |  | Music Industry Blog | | New music is the fuel in the streaming engine, creating a virtuous circle of increased label and artist output to meet DSP-stimulated user demand. Now though, with COVID-19 disrupting the production of music, everything is set to change. The streaming services haven't realised it yet, but their underlying modus operandi (MO) is going to need to change, too. | | | |  | The Bitter Southerner | | With music venues shuttered, musicians across the South face huge losses — but from young to old, many can’t help chasing the notes that might sustain us. | | | |  | Americana Highways | | Right now the Chuck Wagon Gang should be on the road playing churches, fairs and festivals as they have over two centuries. The perennial touring gospel quartet is used to meeting fans who regal them with stories of how earlier generations of their families gathered around the radio to hear "I'll Fly Away." | | | | | Variety | | It's the second career (or "career," in a loose, charitable manner of speaking) that top agent Richard Weitz never would have imagined he'd have, as recently as a month ago. "I'm like a booker," laughs Weitz, a partner at William Morris Endeavor ( WME) and co-head of its scripted television department, still surprised at his dominant new role during the quarantine. | | | |  | Billboard | | With the concert industry at a standstill, the music-merchandise business has found some salvation in online sales of face masks and bandanas. | | | |  | Detroit Free Press | | As head of Motown's sales division in the '60s, Ales helped the black-owned label find pop success in a time when avenues were often closed off. | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | "This won't go back to normal / If it ever was." | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2020, The REDEF Group | | |
