| I know how hard it is to be a woman in the music business, and how hard it is to also use your platform for good, and the things that go with that. We have to work twice as hard in all of our fields, and we're all very aware and trying to make decisions that are right. But then all of us are like, f*** it, who needs a career if we have no rights to our bodies? |
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Fiddle me this: Amanda Shires at the Newport Folk Festival, Newport, R.I., July 24, 2021.
(Douglas Mason/Getty Images)
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“I know how hard it is to be a woman in the music business, and how hard it is to also use your platform for good, and the things that go with that. We have to work twice as hard in all of our fields, and we're all very aware and trying to make decisions that are right. But then all of us are like, f*** it, who needs a career if we have no rights to our bodies?”
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Hand to Hold On To
Two songs on my mind as I write on a Wednesday evening with buckets of Ida's rain having finally reached me here in Brooklyn—my little corner of the borough seems OK but I've seen enough video to know not all my friends nearby will be able to say the same—and sheets of metaphoric rain pouring down elsewhere. AMANDA SHIRES' "THE PROBLEM," recorded during the pandemic as a duet with her husband, JASON ISBELL, is a ballad about a young woman's abortion, although the word is never uttered and the procedure is referred to only indirectly ("Is it even legal here?"... "The scars won't even show / At least that's what I've heard"). It's sung as a conversation between two friends and it blends the past and present tenses in a way that allows you to distance yourself from the subjects—and the subject—of the song at first and then pulls you into the moment before you have a chance to look away. The woman has questions. The man, in a chorus he sings alone at first but with her the next time it comes around, doesn't attempt to answer them. He simply tells her: "I'm on your side." He offers, in the words of an earlier, much more angry abortion song, ANI DIFRANCO's "LOST WOMAN SONG," a "hand for me to hold... stability and calm." Shires wrote the song after she got an abortion, accompanied by a friend who "didn't believe the same things as me, but she was there for me." (This year she released a slightly rewritten version, recorded with several other women including CYNDI LAUPER, SHERYL CROW and MORGANE STAPLETON, on the 48th anniversary of the US Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.) The other song on my mind right now is MADONNA's "PAPA DON'T PREACH," an independent-woman anthem about a teenager who decides, against her father's wishes, *not* to have an abortion. "Papa" managed to draw the wrath of the left when it was released in 1986; some prominent feminists recoiled at one of the world's biggest pop stars telling a story about teen pregnancy while seemingly suggesting that carrying the pregnancy to term was her only option. But "Papa Doesn't Preach," written with BRIAN ELLIOT, doesn't suggest that. Like "The Problem," it's a song about choice; its subject simply makes the opposite choice that the subject of Amanda Shires' song makes. "I may be young at heart but I know what I'm saying," Madonna young mother-to-be sings, before asking her father explicitly for non-judgmental advice and implicitly for a hand to hold, stability and calm. To respect her choice, that is. And to accept it. Is that too much to ask? Is it still legal to ask that?
Rest in Peace
Greek composer and political activist MIKIS THEODORAKIS... Cuban pianist and bandleader ADALBERTO ÁLVAREZ.
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| Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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Bloomberg |
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| YouTube’s Music Service Eclipses 50 Million Subscribers |
| by Lucas Shaw |
| The free video site now operates the world’s fastest-growing paid music service. |
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On An Overgrown Path |
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| How classical music slipped a disc |
| by Pliable |
| For years the classical industry has been lecturing us on the vital importance of multi-million pound acoustically perfect concert halls so that audiences can enjoy perfect concert sound. While over the same years the classical industry has chased recorded sound down the rabbit hole of low-resolution streaming. |
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Billboard |
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| Bonnaroo Cancellation Tests New Festival Pandemic-Era Payment Terms |
| by Dave Brooks |
| Bonnaroo was supposed to mark a victory for the return of festivals, but instead it's serving as the first major test of new artist deals dealing with cancellations. |
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The New York Times |
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| Little Simz’s Big Moment |
| by Emma Madden |
| The British rapper’s laser focus has been trained on fame since she was a child. Now, she’s ready to take it to the next level. |
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CMT |
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| Nelly's "Country Grammar" Created Country And Rap's Best Cross-Cultural Communication |
| by Marcus K. Dowling |
| The rap icon's 2000-released hit highlights two musical worlds joining forces and positively impacting the world at large. |
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Synchtank |
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| Music's Next Challenge: Licensing for the New Wave of Social Platforms |
| by Nick Bennett |
| A look at the historic limitations of music licensing and what it might take for the music industry to get the most from the new wave of social platforms. |
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Entertainment Weekly |
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| The song behind the scene: How teen TV's most iconic music moments are made |
| by Sydney Bucksbaum |
| EW rounds up music supervisors from 'The O.C.,' 'Gossip Girl,' 'The Vampire Diaries,' 'Teen Wolf,' 'Euphoria,' and more teen TV shows to find out what it takes to elevate a scene from good to legendary -- all because of a song. |
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Slate |
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| Ex–Bad Boy Rapper Shyne Explains Why He Should Be the Prime Minister of Belize |
| by Nitish Pahwa |
| Twelve years after he was deported following an infamous nightclub shooting, he's back in the U.S. as a statesman. |
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Vulture |
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| Meanwhile, R. Kelly Grooves to His Music During Sex Crime Trial |
| by Victoria Bekiempis |
| Kelly’s stoicism came to a sharp stop Wednesday (Sep. 1) at two strangely telling moments during a sixth alleged victim’s testimony. |
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Christianity Today |
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| 1 out of 3 New Guitars Are Purchased for Worship Music |
| by Daniel Silliman |
| Industry study says church bands are core business. |
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Billboard |
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| Split Decisions: Olivia Rodrigo Has Given Up Millions in Publishing Royalties |
| by Kristin Robinson |
| Although most of her debut album, "Sour," was written by Rodrigo and co-writer/producer Daniel Nigro, the duo now cedes half of the publishing revenue for “good 4 u,” “deja vu” and two thirds of it for “1 step forward, 3 steps back” with other writers who were likely inspiration but had nothing to do with the songs directly. |
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The Daily Beast |
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| How Kari Faux Is Changing the Rap Game |
| by Tirhakah Love |
| The Houston-based indie rapper is launching her own record label, Lowkey Superstar, in order to provide a more artist-friendly platform for herself and other independent acts. |
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The New York Times |
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| Coming to Terms With the Legacy of Rick James |
| by Candice Frederick |
| For a new documentary, the director and the star’s daughter examine both his pioneering work and his misogyny, as well as a sexual-assault conviction. |
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The Ringer |
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| I’m in Trouble: 40 Years of the Replacements’ ‘Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash’ |
| by Elizabeth Nelson |
| Celebrating the incendiary 1981 debut of one of the most influential and adored American rock bands of their era. |
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Music Business Worldwide |
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| NFTs and Music Royalty Streams: 5 Legal Issues To Be Aware Of |
| by Adrian Perry, Jenny Konko and Juliana Moraes Liu |
| Selling NFTs associated with music royalty streams without proper due diligence and planning can quickly land artists and other royaltors in hot water legally, resulting in hefty fines, or even jail time. |
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The New Yorker |
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| Two Artists’ Visions of Motherhood |
| by Sheldon Pearce |
| Halsey’s album dramatizes the horrors of being a mother; another new record, Cleo Sol’s “Mother,” takes a more subdued approach. |
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Westword |
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| Meet Denver Hip-Hop's Pint-Sized Princess, Seven-Year-Old London Monroe |
| by Cleo Mirza |
| Seven-year-old rapper London Monroe just released her first single "Fleek," with help from her dad, rapper M6. |
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Country Insider |
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| 'It Infuriates Me': Labels React To Bobby Bones’ No. 1 Comments |
| The radio and TV host says half of No. 1 country records “aren't legitimate” and labels “trade them out like baseball cards." "It’s annoying on all fronts," one label executive says, "because Bobby is correct." |
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Los Angeles Times |
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| Argentine rocker Andrés Calamaro, both loved and loathed, is back again with some old and new friends |
| by Sergio Burstein |
| Outspoken and influential for 40 years, the singer, songwriter and pianist has released his umpteenth album, 15 duet covers from his own bulging songbook that are notably gentler than the originals. |
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BBC News |
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| Nocturnes and Max Richter: The best music for falling asleep |
| by Arwa Haider |
| From Chopin and Debussy to modern-day Nocturnes, night music can help us navigate pandemic-induced insomnia. |
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| Music of the day |
| "Lost Woman Song" |
| Ani DiFranco |
| "They keep pounding their fists on reality, hoping it will break / You know I don't think there's one of them leads a life free of mistakes." From her self-titled 1990 debut album. For the women of Texas, and everywhere. |
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YouTube |
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"They keep pounding their fists on reality, hoping it will break / You know I don't think there's one of them leads a life free of mistakes." From her self-titled 1990 debut album. For the women of Texas, and everywhere.
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2006 doc directed by Kerri Koch.
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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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