| That is actually a major through-line in the history of this thing that’s called jazz—Black artists defiantly showing up and being present in white spaces. |
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Keyon Harrold at the Apollo Theater, New York, Feb. 27, 2021, during D'Angelo's Verzuz show.
(Shahar Azran/Getty Images)
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“That is actually a major through-line in the history of this thing that’s called jazz—Black artists defiantly showing up and being present in white spaces.”
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Exclusionary Tactics
I loathe the word "exclusive" in almost all forms, from streaming companies who boast about keeping songs and albums out of the hands of any music fans who'd dare spend their $9.99 per month on any service but theirs, to music sites claiming to have exclusive interviews (as if ST. VINCENT isn't going to talk to anyone else during this album cycle), to bonus tracks you have to go to TARGET to buy, which, bizarrely, is still a thing. How does any of that benefit anyone who might be listening or reading or buying? Thankfully, the concept of the streaming exclusive has waned in popularity in the US, but until recently in China, they were taking it to the extreme: exclusive streaming deals with entire major labels (which included the right to sub-license the same rights to competitors, at noncompetitive prices). Enter the Chinese government, which, as we learn in this Reuters so-called exclusive, is stepping in and demanding an end to that kind of exclusivity, as part of a wider crackdown on internet giants. Thank you, China, for this one thing, even if, as some analysts suggest, it might be a little too late as well as a little too little. The country isn't cracking down on its dominant streaming music player, TENCENT MUSIC, as it strongly as it could have, possibly because Tencent, which has been under government scrutiny for some time, had already backed away from most such deals. Tencent still controls an enormous part of the Chinese market thanks to its acquisition of rivals KUWO and KUGOU, which the government is also unhappy about. And it still has the exclusive streaming rights to Taiwanese superstar JAY CHOU's music, which, if you ask me, would be fine if Chou decided entirely on his own that he only wanted to license his music to one service, but which is all kinds of problematic if Tencent was the instigator. Music should be an enterprise of inclusion, not exclusion. In my exclusive humble opinion.
Plus Also Too
In a different kind of Asian music crackdown, South Korea has ordered gyms not to play music over 120 bpm in exercise classes, in an attempt to prevent the kind of over-exertion that could help Covid germs spread. Or, as the British site GRM Daily put it, grime has basically been banned. Say goodbye also, says the Guardian's BEN BEAUMONT-THOMAS, to BTS' "PERMISSION TO DANCE," LOONA's "PTT (PAINT THE TOWN)" and A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS' "I RAN (SO FAR AWAY)"... In other music and gym news, here's the longest article you'll ever read on why PELOTON, which hasn't always been on the best of terms with music providers, has one of the highest effective per-stream royalties in the business. TL;DR version: It's complicated, and the word "sync" probably doesn't appear enough times in the article... The night STEVEN SEAGAL opened for SAMMY HAGAR... The day CAPTAIN BEEFHEART's TROUT MASK REPLICA came to music streaming (spoiler: That day has come if you're a QOBUZ user; it comes in a month for everyone else)... BLEACHERS at NPR Music's virtual TINY DESK.
Rest in Peace
ESTHER BEJARANO, a Holocaust survivor who was forced to play accordion in the Auschwitz Women's Orchestra and spent the rest of her life singing Jewish resistance songs and fighting racism... Chicago drill rapper KTS DRE, at least the 14th rapper to be murdered in the US in 2021, which is barely half over... Pioneering Kuala Lumpur DJ/producer GABRIEL CHONG.
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| Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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Slate |
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| How the Hell Is Peloton the Best-Paying Music Streaming Service? |
| by Nitish Pahwa |
| The exercise bike company improbably has Spotify and Apple Music beat when it comes to cashing out artists. |
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Vox |
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| Why won’t American radio play more K-pop? |
| by Aja Romano |
| BTS was supposed to usher in the K-pop invasion. Where is it? |
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British GQ |
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| ‘You’ve never seen The Beatles like this before’: Peter Jackson on his epic 'Get Back' docuseries |
| by Dylan Jones |
| Filmed a year before their split, the infamous documentary "Let It Be" presented a band fissured by acrimony. It would be 25 years before the history of John, Paul, George and Ringo began to be revisited, retold and remastered, but only now will the truth about that studio session in January 1969 be seen. |
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GQ |
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| DJ Drama Hears You Talking |
| by Julian Kimble |
| The veteran DJ on his rise and restoring Gangsta Grillz energy on Tyler, The Creator's new album. |
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Reuters |
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| China to order Tencent Music to give up music label exclusivity -sources |
| by Pei Li |
| China's antitrust regulator is set to order the music streaming arm of Tencent Holdings Ltd to give up exclusive rights to music labels which it has used to compete with smaller rivals, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. |
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Stereogum |
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| How Italian Rockers Måneskin’s Terrible Four Seasons Cover From 2017 Took Over Spotify |
| by Chris DeVille |
| It has to do with TikTok, of course, but also the Eurovision song contest, and I guess the perversity of fate. It’s a very strange story, and my appreciation for it is inversely proportional to my hopes of ever hearing Måneskin’s godawful rendition of “Beggin'” ever again. |
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The New York Times |
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| The (Not So?) Tentative Return of Live Music |
| by Jon Caramanica and Ben Sisario |
| A look at the challenges touring musicians faced over the last year, and how the industry is adjusting to the new normal. |
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Billboard |
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| Stadium Concerts Are Back: Inside Garth Brooks’ Huge Show at Las Vegas’ ‘Death Star’ |
| by Melinda Sheckells |
| "If you're going to kick something off, this thing right here, 'the Death Star' is more famous than anybody that's going to play it. You want to hang out at places where your name is smaller than the [venue]." |
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DownBeat |
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| Combat Art! |
| by Phillip Lutz |
| It would be a mistake to assume that Vijay Iyer, who on the cusp of age 50 has secured the trappings of an establishment existence, has foresworn his outsider status. |
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Black Music and Black Muses |
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| Not Whistling Dixie |
| by Harmony Holiday |
| A broken history of black and blues whistling. |
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| jukebox (don't put another dime) |
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Pollstar |
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| Mdou Moctar: The Tuareg Guitar Virtuoso Brings The Desert To The West |
| by Ryan Borba |
| Sometimes it takes the unusual to remind us of the universal. |
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Vulture |
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| My Afternoon With Papa Roach |
| by Tom Scharpling |
| An excerpt from Tom Scharpling’s new memoir, "It Never Ends." |
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Paper |
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| 2021 Is the Year of NCT Dream |
| by Crystal Bell |
| "Our dream is world peace," Mark Lee says with a smirk. While I'm fairly confident the 21-year-old rapper is being facetious, with NCT Dream you never really know. That's part of the K-pop septet's charm: the line between sincerity and absurdity is consistently blurry. |
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The Guardian |
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| ‘There is no fear’: how a cold-war tour inspired Pakistan’s progressive jazz scene |
| by Haseeb Iqbal |
| A US state department initiative was the unlikely catalyst for a creative explosion of Pakistani rhythm and western improv. |
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The Daily Beast |
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| The Celebrated Jazz Musician Who Was Secretly Trans |
| by Nick Schager |
| The doc ‘No Ordinary Man’ examines the life of Billy Tipton, a talented jazz artist in the 1940s and 1950s who, upon his death, was revealed to have been assigned female at birth. |
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Complex |
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| The Power of a Name Change |
| by Jessica McKinney |
| In 2021, we’ve seen how powerful name changes can be when artists execute correctly. Shelley FKA Dram explains how he pulled it off at a pivotal career moment. |
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WTF with Marc Maron |
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| WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 1243 -- James Murphy |
| by Marc Maron and James Murphy |
| LCD Soundsystem is one of the hippest, most beloved bands of the early 21st century, but its frontman says he’s spent a lifetime being uncool and no fun. James Murphy talks with Marc about the personal and global tragedies that precipitated the founding of the band, the character traits he had to come to terms with in order to lead the band, and more. |
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The Guardian |
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| ‘The revolution could not be televised’: why were so many black concert films erased from history? |
| by Steve Rose |
| New documentary "Summer of Soul" recalls an iconic moment in '60s music -- but it has taken far too long for us to see the footage. |
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Bitch Media |
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| Why Won’t They Let Britney Have a Baby? Eugenics |
| by Samantha Chavarria |
| The history of forced sterilization of disabled communities has been hidden for too long, but stories like Britney Spears’ allow us the opportunity to educate and liberate. |
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| Video of the day |
| "Vieux de Niafunké" |
| Media1044 |
| Vieux Farka Touré doc directed by Ian Campbell |
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Vimeo |
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Vieux Farka Touré doc directed by Ian Campbell
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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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