| I couldn't begin to estimate the number of times that folks like Tom Petty, Paul McCartney, Steve Lukather, Tom Johnston, Roger McGuinn, George Harrison and Donald Fagen have told me that selling their songwriting catalogs was one of the biggest mistakes they ever made. So, why the sudden push to sell publishing rights now? |
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Tokimonsta at Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, Los Angeles, Nov. 12, 2016.
(Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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“I couldn't begin to estimate the number of times that folks like Tom Petty, Paul McCartney, Steve Lukather, Tom Johnston, Roger McGuinn, George Harrison and Donald Fagen have told me that selling their songwriting catalogs was one of the biggest mistakes they ever made. So, why the sudden push to sell publishing rights now?”
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Meet the Old Boss
Out with the new, in with the old? Writing in the Baffler about the one thing that seems to be attracting more money these days than NFTs, RICH WOODALL suggests that song publishing investment funds like HIPGNOSIS have the potential to create an industry that's openly hostile to new music. I've never seen anyone make this case so clearly and directly. Because MERCK MERCURIADIS' fund, like nearly all such enterprises, specializes in hit songs that have already proven their worth, Woodall argues, it has an explicit fiduciary interest in making sure new, unproven songs don't displace the old ones from radio, movies, streaming playlists and anywhere else where they might generate income for shareholders. "Every original song that gains cultural traction," Woodall writes, "drains potential listeners—and therefore revenue—away from the Hipgnosis portfolio, diluting the value of their assets." Of course, anyone over 30 or 40 who watched the GRAMMYS on Sunday and complained that they didn't recognize any of the songs or performers (which, based on some alarming ratings numbers, might be pretty much everyone who watched the Grammys) is well aware that the world and the airwaves are as full as they ever have been with new hits. But will the nine-figure publishing buyouts of 2020 and 2021 lead to a different landscape in 2023 or 2024? Woodall leads with a conspiracy-theoryesque horror story about MILEY CYRUS somehow being manipulated into covering BLONDIE's "HEART OF GLASS" by Hipgnosis, which owns Blondie's songwriting catalog. It's a preposterous theory. Covering classic rock songs is a thing that comes naturally to Cyrus, and her interest in the music is clearly sincere, and I'm not sure how the manipulation would work. But what's not preposterous is that someone, or a lot of someones, would look at the evidence and come to the same conclusion Woodall does. Why *wouldn't* someone be trying to get Miley Cyrus to cover songs from their billion-dollar investment fund? Why *wouldn't* someone who noticed that song being relentlessly pushed at them by YOUTUBE think something fishy's going on? Why wouldn't someone, not Miley Cyrus, but someone, eventually say yes? What would the price be?
Unwatched
Speaking of those Grammy ratings, what to make of the twist ending that saw a show widely praised for its pop-culture smarts get such terrible numbers, especially in the 18-to-49 demo that includes almost all its target audience? Some thoughts: First of all, no one watches live network TV anymore, do they? That's one of the basic disadvantages every awards show starts with. And no matter how good the production and performances by DUA LIPA and BTS and DABABY and CANDACE OWENS' favorite duo MEGAN THEE STALLION and CARDI B were, do the ratings reflect what happened on the 2021 show or do they reflect what music fans *expected* to happen based on previous shows? Can't blame the show's new production team for that, unless you want to blame them for not marketing this year's show very well, or at all, in which case you might have a point. But in either case, if the demo you most cherish is the demo that would rather watch 45-second clips the next day on social media, should you just start producing the show as 45-second clips on social media in the first place?... There's a separate Grammy ratings discussion to be had around the show's ongoing struggle to convince fans of current Black music, especially hip-hop, that it has anything to offer them. The awkward ending of Sunday's show, in which BILLIE EILISH devoted her Record of the Year acceptance speech to the notion that Megan Thee Stallion should be making the speech instead—she seemed quite sincere—fed into a long history of awkward, at best, voting results. A nagging question remains: Why should the hip-hop audience watch its favorite stars entertain the people who largely refuse to give them meaningful awards?
Etc Etc Etc
COACHELLA postponements have reached the meta stage. Variety reports that the never-officially-announced fall 2021 dates for a festival previously scheduled for spring 2020, fall 2020 and spring 2021 have been scrapped, too, and the festival is now planning on a spring 2022 return. California's tough Covid restrictions combined with a tough landscape in general for artists trying to plan tours doomed any thoughts of a fall festival, according to the magazine's sources. But don't write off fall festivals elsewhere in the US: "There’s a big difference between having two weekend of Coachella in California and throwing a country festival in Florida," one source told the mag... SXSW, on the other hand, is going on as we speak... Musicians protested outside SPOTIFY offices in 31 cities around the world Monday, with a list of demands including a penny-per-stream royalty rate and a user-centric royalty system (those two things are somewhat in conflict with each other), increased transparency and expanded musician and production credits. The UNION OF MUSICIANS AND ALLIED WORKERS organized. Because they targeted 31 Spotify offices, with, let's guess, 100 people per protest, they officially owe Spotify three and a half cents... How's this for an alternative royalty model?... Oh my god this profile (paywall) of the late JUDEE SILL by Rolling Stone's ANGIE MARTOCCIO... What it's like to go from covering the Grammys to winning one... NATHAN APODACA, who skateboarded to TIKTOK viral success to the tune of FLEETWOOD MAC's "DREAMS," is selling the video as an NFT and he's asking $500k for an opening bid. The catch: For obvious reasons, he's selling the video without that soundtrack. But what if songwriter STEVIE NICKS and her band (and PRIMARY WAVE, which owns 80 percent of Nicks' copyrights) wanted to play along? What would that sync deal look like?
Rest in Peace
Talented, monstrous conductor JAMES LEVINE, who led the METROPOLITAN OPERA and the BOSTON SYMPHONY but whose career ended amid allegations of sexual abuse... EULALIO "SAX" CERVANTES, saxophonist and co-founder of Mexican rock band LA MALDITA VECINDAD, who was known for playing two or three saxes at the same time... OSCAR GUITIÁN, pioneering Latin music producer, promoter, manager and label exec... GERRI MILLER, longtime editor of METAL EDGE magazine... Original TITUS ANDRONICUS keyboardist MATT "MONEY" MILLER... Australian classic rocker DOUG PARKINSON... House and hip-hop DJ PRINCE QUICK MIX.
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| Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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| soft sounds from another planet |
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The Baffler |
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| Mass Hipgnosis |
| by Rich Woodall |
| A new crop of investors would like you to keep Vanilla Ice on infinite repeat. |
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Austin 360 |
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| An oral history of the cancellation of SXSW |
| by Deborah Sengupta Stith |
| The cancellation of SXSW 2020 was the first blow in a devastating year for Austin music. Austin musicians, industry workers and club owners reflect. |
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Vulture |
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| On the Talented, Monstrous James Levine |
| by Justin Davidson |
| He was king of the American musical world and emperor of opera. He was also a monster who sexually preyed on children |
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The New York Times |
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| Taking Stock of James Levine’s Tarnished Legacy |
| by Anthony Tommasini |
| His career ended with allegations of sexual abuse and harassment. But the Metropolitan Opera’s longtime conductor, who has died at 77, changed that company in ways that will outlive him. |
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Billboard |
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| So You Want to Sell Your Publishing Rights? A Veteran of the Business Says Take a Beat |
| by Randall Wixen |
| Randall Wixen, founder of Wixen Music Publishing, offers guidance for artists tempted to get swept up in the latest trend to sell off ones publishing rights. |
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British GQ |
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| ‘There are 250 vocals in Dynamite’: how BTS’s hit song was written in record time |
| by Olive Pometsey |
| Last year, BTS’s first all-English song broke streaming records and earned the band their first Grammy nomination. GQ speaks to one half of the British songwriting duo behind the song’s funky, pop perfection to find out exactly how they did it. |
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Los Angeles Times |
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| A BTS card that depicted the K-pop band beaten is pulled amid anti-Asian violence |
| by Julia Barajas |
| Topps apologized for "upsetting" BTS fans with a sticker card that showed band members bruised and beaten, but critics say the company should do more. |
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Variety |
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| It’s Time for the Grammys to Abolish the 33% Rule (Guest Column) |
| by Ross Golan |
| Imagine a World Series-winning baseball team not giving any of their starting pitchers championship rings because they only started 20% of the team’s games. |
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NPR Music |
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| The Racist Roots Of Rap On Trial |
| by Rodney Carmichael, Sidney Madden, Kara Frame... |
| Since the 1990s, police and prosecutors have used lyrics to build criminal cases against rap artists. It's a practice that blurs the distinction between entertainment and criminal confession. |
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Wax Poetics |
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| Family Affair: Cynthia Robinson & Sly and the Family Stone |
| by Michael A. Gonzales |
| Cynthia Robinson was a single mother when she joined Sly and the Family Stone as a trumpeter and vocalist in 1966. As one of the band's most prominent figures, she became lovers with Sly, giving birth to their daughter, Sylvyette "Phunne" Stone, in 1976. Years later, as Robinson carried the torch with the Family Stone into the next century, Phunne would have the chance to join her mother onstage. |
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South China Morning Post |
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| Jay-Z is now worth US$1.4 billion: he shares on Jack Dorsey and Tidal, LVMH and Armand de Brignac, Black Lives Matter and bitcoin |
| by Jacqueline Tsang |
| The hip-hop billionaire businessman on his lucrative deals with Square and LMVH, a soon-to-drop bitcoin announcement with Jack Dorsey, and why he wants to be ‘surrounded by great people.' |
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The New York Times |
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| How the Harp Got Hip |
| by Alexis Garcia |
| An instrument long associated with angels and virtue surfaces across musical genres, on TikTok and even in pornography. |
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Texas Monthly |
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| Why Selena Is Still the Queen of Tejano (and Punk Rock!) |
| by Paula Mejía |
| La Reina's spirit lives on among a new era of Texas musicians, whether they pluck a bajo sexto or shred on a Stratocaster. |
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Kitco News |
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| What are NFTs and why pay millions for them, with Ian Rogers |
| by David Lin and Ian Rogers |
| Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are minting new millionaires overnight, and this brand new asset class is not only here to stay, but on the way to revolutionizing commerce as we know it, said Ian Rogers, chief experience officer of Ledger. |
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David Gerard |
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| NFTs: crypto grifters try to scam artists, again |
| by David Gerard |
| Banksying the unbanksied. |
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Tidal |
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| Billie Holiday and the Cult of Jazz Machismo |
| by Natalie Weiner |
| How Lady Day was the first woman allowed to be a jazz musician. |
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Los Angeles Times |
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| How John Coltrane has sustained me during the pandemic |
| by Natalie Ruth Joynton |
| I've probably listened to John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" 50 times during the pandemic, because it does what only great art can do - it holds me up. |
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Clash Magazine |
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| Putting Police In Nightclubs Is The Worst Response Imaginable |
| by Megan Walder |
| In an attempt to be seen to respond to acts of abuse and violence against women, the UK government has mooted a new endeavour called . Set to be trialled at sites around the UK, it would see plain-clothed police officers placed in clubs, seeking to actively identify predatory and suspicious offenders. |
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The Guardian |
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| Harriet Harman proposes plan for UK musicians to tour EU post-Brexit |
| by Laura Snapes |
| Labour MP says government ‘cocked up’ negotiations on touring and is ignorant of the value of music to the economy. |
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NPR Music |
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| Justin Bieber: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert |
| by Justin Bieber and Stephen Thompson |
| Watch the pop superstar and his band perform four songs from the forthcoming Justice, including a world premiere of "Peaches." |
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The Music Network |
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| Are User-Centric royalties a gamechanger or just a really big ‘meh’…? |
| by Arlo Enemark |
| 'It’s painful to see large parts of the industry calling for a mostly insignificant change rather than concentrating on growing our revenue base.' |
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Billboard |
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| How Ice Cream Can Help Make Sense of Streaming Royalties |
| by Thomas Hesse |
| Dreamstage founder Thomas Hesse on how the $10 streaming model created an incentive to get a critical mass of music lovers to subscribe to DSPs, though it's probably not fair for the long term. |
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Austin Chronicle |
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| Struggling to Connect With My Downtown Life Through Virtual Reality |
| by Kevin Curtin |
| Immersing my avatar in SXSW XR. |
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| Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech |
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“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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| Jason Hirschhorn |
| CEO & Chief Curator |
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