Toxic shock: Southern California indie-rock label, record store and festival promoter BURGER RECORDS, citing its own "culture of toxic masculinity," announced Monday that one of its two founders has left the label and divested his interest and the other has been demoted to a "transitional role." The label is also starting a women-only imprint, promising to create safe spaces for women at its events and, for some reason, shortening its name to BRGR RECS. This is why. Whether the personnel shakeup and promises will be enough to even begin to address what the label, the store and nine Burger bands have been accused of by multiple women including the frontwomen of the bands the REGRETTES and SLOPPY JANE—"toxic masculinity" is an astonishing understatement for what they've been accused of—remains to be seen though it's hard, at this point, to see how it can be. For now, perhaps there's a lesson for other labels and bands in indie-rock, a scene where similar accusations have become far too common in recent years. Root it out and address it before nine bands, a store and a label can all stand accused. Before a toxic incident grows into a toxic culture. Before everyone on INSTAGRAM knows. Root it out now. Please... Add Q magazine to the growing list of music publications and websites that won't survive the pandemic. Editor TED KESSLER announced Monday, via tweet, that the retrospective issue of the British mag that hits newsstands next week will be its last, ending a 34-year-run. Q, which made its name on classic rockers and their '80s and '90s heirs, had pivoted in recent years to more current coverage, but the pandemic doesn't care about that. The news comes on the heels of announcements of significant cuts across the editorial departments at the GUARDIAN and VOX MEDIA, which aren't directed specifically at cultural coverage but will absolutely affect it. Among those losing their jobs at Vox: the VERGE's DANI DEAHL, whose reporting on the business and technology of music is as good as it gets, and which a thousand SUBSTACK newsletters can't easily replace; budgets and time and editorial organization matters. A number of other music titles have disappeared, gone on hiatus or deeply downsized in the past few months, part of an accelerating trend across media in general. This newsletter, obviously, is greatly indebted to their work. The music business is, too, not just for the obvious synergies but for the light that work shines on the walls, ceilings and doors all around them... Another rock music mag, which published its last issue in 2008 (remember *that* recession?), is returning not as a magazine or website but as a film and TV production brand. There's a live-event component, too, to the revived HIT PARADER brand, which is being run by ASH AVILDSEN, JOSH BERNSTEIN and our friend MATT PINFIELD, who'll handle artist relations and co-host a music competition show called NO COVER. Is 2020 an insane time to start a business like this? Or is there a weird genius in reviving a brand that died 12 years ago just to pivot away from the only thing it ever did? Wishing you luck, guys... The BLACK MADONNA is now the BLESSED MADONNA... SPOTIFY will not provide a safe space for your racist song about ZAYN MALIK. The song appears to have been wiped from APPLE MUSIC, too... This is a probably terrible future-of-music idea from ELON MUSK.