| Joy, for me, is connecting. Music, for me, is connecting. This has been my primary goal as the leader of this great orchestra: create joyful connections. |
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Tyler, the Creator at the Grammy Awards, Los Angeles, Jan. 26, 2020.
(Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
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“Joy, for me, is connecting. Music, for me, is connecting. This has been my primary goal as the leader of this great orchestra: create joyful connections.”
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On a Curve
The BLACK MUSIC ACTION COALITION's inaugural Report Card on the music industry's progress in social justice and equity is, it turns out, an actual report card, with a collection of letter grades for each of the three major labels and the RECORDING ACADEMY and a single satisfactory/unsatisfactory rating for DSPs, agencies and promoters. The coalition of managers, label executives, artists and other industry insiders handed out no A's and no F's in year one, and lots of B's and C's, as if to say, "We see there's work being done, but not enough—and we'll be watching." SONY is "doing better" than its major label peers in hiring at a senior level but "there remains much more work to be done" (grade: B). WARNER went public the week of Blackout Tuesday "with no Black people on their 11-person board" and still appears to have no Black execs who report directly to chairman STEPHEN COOPER (grade: D). UNIVERSAL has launched several mentoring initiatives and new diversity training in the past year (grade: B) but there are questions about the impact of the company's upcoming IPO on Black artists (grade: C). CAA and UME have made progress in diversity and inclusion but neither has focused its efforts specifically on music (rating: "Needs Improvement"). Presumably, parent companies will *not* have to sign the report cards and return them.
"While companies took the generous and needed, but relatively easy lift of donating funds or matching employee donations," lead author NAIMA COCHRANE writes, "few created mechanisms to tackle and change issues and systems such as talent and promotion pipelines internally." Even fewer, it seems worth noting, cooperated with the BMAC's fact-finding, which ended up being based mostly on info from trade publications, company announcements and similar sources. The coalition says it sent surveys to 60 executives at 20 companies and got exactly six replies, including one from an executive who "didn’t want the info they submitted included in the report." That seems worthy of an industry-wide F grade. The BMAC may be a new organization but it's run by a board of insiders who are—or should be—well known to the industry. Its work dovetails with the USC ANNENBERG INCLUSION INITIATIVE's report on diversity and inclusion in the business, released a few days earlier. One way to address the concerns of both reports would be to simply listen to the Black voices in the room, to hear their concerns and to respond to their questions. And their surveys, even if it means a bit of paperwork.
Got Live If You Want It
New York's RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL reopened Friday with a TRIBECA FESTIVAL screening of a new DAVE CHAPPELLE documentary, followed by a surprise hip-hop concert featuring DE LA SOUL, Q-TIP, A$AP FERG, REDMAN, FAT JOE, GHOSTFACE KILLAH and TALIB KWELI... A mile away, FOO FIGHTERS played the first concert at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN in 15 months Sunday night. Vaccinations were required; social distancing was not. Dave Chappelle showed up there, too... In Los Angeles, agent RICHARD WEITZ and his daughter DEMI ended their 16-month run of ZOOM fundraising concerts, which raised more than $26 million for various charities, with a Saturday night stream from the GRAMMY MUSEUM featuring NILE RODGERS, SEIDAH GARRETT, JOHNNY GILL and several other performers. One of the reasons they're stopping: It's getting harder to book musicians to perform on Zoom now that many of them are starting to play actual concerts again... In England, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, WHILE SHE SLEEPS, ENTER SHIKARI and FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES were among the bands who rocked an intentionally way-below-capacity crowd of 10,000 people at the weekend-long DOWNLOAD PILOT, a test run for the UK's summer festival season, which remains a theoretical concept at this point. All attendees had to submit proof of negative Covid tests and none were allowed to leave before the weekend was over. By all accounts the pilot was a rocking success. Which may or may not make a difference to other festival promoters trying to plan their summers.
Dot Dot Dot
VIVENDI and billionaire investor BILL ACKMAN have formally agreed on a deal, first reported two weeks ago, in which Ackman's PERSHING SQUARE TONTINE HOLDINGS will acquire 10 percent of UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP for a whopping $4 billion. Vivendi is still planning to spin off UMG in a public offering in Europe later this year, after which Pershing will still own 10 percent of the company. China's TENCENT will own 20 percent and Vivendi plans to retain 10 percent—assuming Vivendi shareholders sign off on all of this later this week... RECORDED MUSIC NZ, keeper of the music charts in New Zealand, is adding a new chart for songs recorded in te reo Māori, the language of the country's indigenous population. STAN WALKER's "TUA" tops the inaugural Te Reo Māori Music Top10.
Rest in Peace
JANET D'ADDARIO, co-founder of the guitar string and accessory company that bears her name... ANDY POLLARD, longtime Foo Fighters stage manager.
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| Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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| a woofer in tweeter's clothing |
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Los Angeles Times |
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| Joni Mitchell opens up to Cameron Crowe about singing again, lost loves and 50 years of 'Blue' |
| by Cameron Crowe |
| In a rare interview, Joni Mitchell talks with Cameron Crowe about the state of her singing voice and the making of "Blue," 50 years after its release. |
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The New York Times |
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| 50 Reasons to Love Joni Mitchell's ‘Blue’ |
| by Lindsay Zoladz |
| The singer-songwriter questioned everything on her fourth album. Twenty-five musicians speak about the LP’s enduring power on its 50th anniversary. |
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Black Music Action Coalition |
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| Black Music Action Coalition 2021 Music Industry Action Report Card |
| by Naima Cochrane, Binta N. Brown and Willie "Prophet" Stiggers |
| The Black Music Action Coalition’s inaugural Music Industry Action Report Card is a measure of accountability for public pledges and promises made in the wake of the extrajudicial murder of George Floyd and the music industry-wide observation of #TheShowMustBePaused. |
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The Undefeated |
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| How Verzuz is bridging the musical generation gap |
| by Naima Cochrane |
| The legends of the past get a cultural resurgence and a connection to younger generations. |
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The Guardian |
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| Revealed: multiple allegations of toxic culture at Sony Music Australia as Denis Handlin leaves |
| by Kelly Burke |
| Guardian Australia has talked to more than 20 former employees who describe a ‘boys club’ environment at company’s Australian arm as US parent removes CEO. |
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The Independent |
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| Kick out the drams: the musicians who went sober during the pandemic |
| by Mark Beaumont |
| Music and hedonism have always gone hand in hand but a year without gigs has forced many artists to question their unhealthy relationship with alcohol. Mark Beaumont speaks to bands and insiders about lockdown life on the wagon and why they’ve abandoned the booze. |
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Complete Music Update |
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| Could this bold new law finally fix streaming? |
| by Andy Malt and Chris Cooke |
| CMU's Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the new private members bill proposed by MP Kevin Brennan to change UK copyright law to provide musicians with guaranteed income when their music is streamed. |
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The Atlantic |
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| What Pop Culture Owes to Rebecca Black |
| by Spencer Kornhaber |
| The 13-year-old behind the viral song "Friday" is now a thoughtful 23-year-old with a personal journey that feels oddly relatable. |
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The New York Observer |
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| Why the Maels Trusted Edgar Wright to Make ‘The Sparks Brothers’ |
| by Pamela Chelin |
| No one forgets their first time falling in love, and nowhere is that more evident than screenwriter/director Edgar Wright's first-ever documentary, "The Sparks Brothers," a star-studded jubilant love letter to Sparks, in which everyone remembers their first time vividly - their first time falling for Sparks, that is. |
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VICE |
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| Polo G's Arrest Shows That the Miami Police Department Hasn't Changed Much |
| by Kristin Corry |
| In 2004, 'The Miami Herald' accused the city of targeting rappers. Nearly 20 years later, the arrests are still raising questions. |
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Hollywood Reporter |
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| Vivendi’s Universal Music to Sell 10 Percent Stake to Bill Ackman SPAC, Valuing Label at $40B |
| by Georg Szalai |
| French media conglomerate Vivendi has finalized a deal to sell a 10 percent stake in Universal Music Group to a so-called "blank check" company set up by Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square, valuing the music major at €35.0 billion ($40 billion). |
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NPR |
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| Reflections On Connections: Marin Alsop Bids Farewell To Baltimore |
| by Marin Alsop |
| The groundbreaking conductor - the first woman to lead a major American Orchestra - reflects on 14 years as music director of the Baltimore Symphony. |
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Variety |
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| ‘Black Music Is the Blueprint, Yet We’re Consistently Erased From Our Own Culture’ (Guest Column) |
| by Tiffany Red |
| Dear Music Industry: Sometimes I wonder where Black artists would be if the system was made for us too. I look at Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber album roll-outs and envision those seven-figure marketing budgets being the norm for Black artists. I daydream about a Black boy group with as much industry support as BTS. |
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USA TODAY |
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| Blacks originated much of American music. And the nation needs to right the record. |
| by Marcus Anthony Hunter |
| From George Washington Johnson to Prince, how can the music industry repair theft of intellectual property? |
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VICE |
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| Jay-Z Is Suing a Photographer for ‘Exploiting’ His Image. Does He Have a Case? |
| by Drew Schwartz |
| We spoke to a legal expert about whether Jay-Z's lawsuit has merit-or if he's simply bullying a former collaborator. |
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Vanity Fair |
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| ‘The Beatles: Get Back’—A Deep Dive Into Peter Jackson’s Revelatory New Movie |
| by Joe Hagan |
| This fall Disney+ unveils the three-part documentary, which mines long-lost footage for a portrait of the band’s final chapter that’s so unexpected it surprised even Paul McCartney. |
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Level |
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| Record Store Trips With My Dad Taught Me Self-Care |
| by Treye Green |
| By making time for the tradition he loved, my father showed me what Black joy looks like. |
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The Guardian |
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| Summer festivals are crying out for help – but the Tories don’t want to hear it |
| by John Harris |
| The pandemic has revealed the Johnson government’s attitude to the arts. |
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The Undefeated |
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| The Harlem Cultural Festival footage is getting wider recognition in the new ‘Summer of Soul’ documentary |
| by Farrell Evans |
| Questlove premiered his documentary in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park, where the festival was held in 1969. |
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Clash Magazine |
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| In Conversation: Arooj Aftab |
| by Adam Zamecnik |
| Clash spoke to Arooj Aftab about her acclaimed new record, its tragic backstory and her avoidance of genre classification, seemingly jumping from afrobeat to jazz and minimalism. |
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The Washington Post |
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| The ska revival is here, but ska never really went away |
| by Zachary Lipez |
| The evidence that we are in the midst of a ska revival is plentiful. Indie-punk phenomenon Jeff Rosenstock managed a critical hit with "Ska Dream," a reimagining of his 2020 album "No Dream." |
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Polygon |
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| The best and worst of modern movie musicals |
| by Kyle Wilson |
| Theater Kids, assemble. |
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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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