We get so stuck on categories and labels that you completely miss the point of really beautiful, authentic forms of art.
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Thursday June 16, 2022
REDEF
Black Midi's Morgan Simpson at the Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, Sept. 10, 2021.
(Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images)
quote of the day
We get so stuck on categories and labels that you completely miss the point of really beautiful, authentic forms of art.
- Meghan Stabile, 1982 – 2022, jazz (and much more) promoter
rantnrave://
Running Up the Numbers

Between streams, downloads and actual album sales, KATE BUSH’s entire catalog was seeing the equivalent of just under 2,000 album consumption units per week in the US for the first five-plus months of 2022, which is the current, awkward way of saying her catalog was officially being credited with that many album sales per week. According to Billboard, that translates to around $12,000/week in sound recording royalties. Then “RUNNING UP THAT HILL” happened. The week the new season of STRANGER THINGS dropped, Bush’s physical album sales more than doubled and her streams increased more than 20-fold. The following week was even better. In those two weeks, Billboard estimates, her sound recording royalties were worth $415,000. Not to mention: whatever Netflix paid upfront for the sync. And her songwriting royalties for all those Netflix views. And her songwriting royalties for all that album consumption, which is separate (and unequal) from the sound recording royalties. In case you’re wondering what a moonshot sync can do for an artist’s wallet when everything goes right. “Running Up That Hill” is #4 on the Hot 100 this week. The album, HOUNDS OF LOVE, is #12.

Rhyming Assassin

Hey MARKET HOTEL in Brooklyn, please re-read your own announcement of your decision to cancel failed presidential assassin JOHN HINCKLEY JR.’s sold-out show next month. Which was a good decision. But which came with a lengthy defense of the initial booking, which said Hinckley has paid his debt to society, is harmless, and “Hosting provocative happenings for its own sake is valid, and should be part of any venue’s reason to exist.” Fine. Yes even. But you went on to say you “don’t care about [Hinckley] on an artistic level,” he “hasn’t had to earn” either the booking or the paycheck, and he wouldn’t have sold all those tickets if wasn’t, in fact, a failed presidential assassin. Perhaps a re-read will prompt you to reconsider, in the future, whether someone whose music neither you nor your patrons care about and who did, in your words, a “violent thing,” is the kind of provocative happening you or any venue should be promoting for its own sake. What, you might ask yourself, is the nature of the provocation? And why? Hinckley, who’s also been un-booked in Chicago and Hamden, Conn., told the New York Times he understands the decision and he “would have only gone on with the show if I was going to feel safe at the show and feel that the audience was going to be safe.” He’s looking for another venue in New York.

Johnny on the Block

A pair of test pressing of the SEX PISTOLS’ “ANARCHY IN THE UK” single got the highest bid at an auction of records and other items from the late JOHN PEEL’s collection in London. They sold for £20,400. Other high-ticket items included a SMITHS demo cassette and a QUEEN album with a letter from FREDDIE MERCURY... Next on the block: Vinyl records, turntables, disco balls, clothes and more from the collection of hip-hop pioneer DJ KOOL HERC, which will be auctioned by CHRISTIE’s in New York in August.

Rest in Peace

MEGHAN STABILE, a New York jazz promoter (and networker, community builder and more) who was a crucial figure in the careers of several major artists over the past decade—and in the arc and direction of jazz in general. Her “curious mission,” the New York Times wrote in 2013, was “to make jazz matter to the hip-hop generation.” “Her influence on the reconnection of jazz and contemporary African-American music from hip-hop and beyond has had enormous reverberations on the art form," Bill Bragin, executive artistic director of The Arts Center at New York University Abu Dhabi, told WBGO.

- Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator
hot girl summer
Passion of the Weiss
Black Star’s ‘No Fear of Time’: Or, How Uploading an Album as a Podcast Could Take Back Control From Big Streaming
By Will Hagle
The new Black Star album could have been a reminder of the web’s great potential, rather than another easily-mockable example of its worst qualities.
Rolling Stone
Megan Thee Stallion Will Not Back Down
By Mankaprr Conteh
She's reigning over rap and pop culture while reeling from loss, violence, and a feeling of betrayal. Here, the superstar opens up about all of it like never before -- including her most detailed interview yet on the shooting and its aftermath.
Essence
The Enigmatic Janet Jackson
By Gerrick D. Kennedy
As she prepares to take to the stage again, the music legend offers a tantalizing glimpse of the woman she is today..
WBGO
Meghan Stabile, promoter who united jazz and hip-hop, dead at 39
By Nate Chinen
Meghan Stabile, a promoter, presenter and producer whose impassioned advocacy helped spark a resurgence of mainstream interest in jazz, particularly among young artists and audiences of color, died on Sunday, June 12 in Valrico, Fla. She was 39.
The New York Times
RETRO READ: The Making of a Modern Impresario
By John Leland
Meghan Stabile has emerged as an ardent advocate for a new generation of young musicians fluent in both jazz and hip-hop.
Marketplace
Merck Mercuriadis says hit songs are in an asset class all their own
By David Brancaccio and Rose Conlon
The Hipgnosis founder says his goal is to make money for shareholders and “change where the songwriter sits in the economic equation.”
Variety
The Ins and Outs of Music Catalog Sales, Explained by the Experts
By Shirley Halperin, Marc Cimino, Sherrese Clarke Soares...
For this week's edition of Variety's " Strictly Business" podcast. we're bringing you a panel discussion from the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills on May 4. On the agenda: the booming business of catalog sales.
VICE
Why the BTS ‘Break’ Isn’t That Big of a Surprise
By Junhyup Kwon and Koh Ewe
While fans around the world expressed shock at the announcement, some pointed to signs that the break was a long time coming for the boy band.
The Atlantic
TikTok Killed the Video Star
By Spencer Kornhaber
MTV turned music into spectacle. The app is doing the opposite.
Stereogum
80 Artists Pick Their Favorite Paul McCartney Song For His 80th Birthday
By Ryan Leas
Sir Paul turns 80 this Saturday. As we did with Bob Dylan last year, we decided to turn to artists themselves — to discuss their favorite Macca composition, the undying legacy of the Beatles, or even personal anecdotes about McCartney. Happy birthday Paul!
girls in the hood
Variety
'Creem' Rises Again: 10 Classic Pieces Written by Cameron Crowe, Patti Smith, Lester Bangs and Others for the Irreverent Rock Mag
By Roy Trakin
In advance of premiering a new print edition, one of the classic rock magazines has put up a complete 1969-89 archive. Here are 10 articles that exemplify the spirit of the era.
The New York Times
Can Luke Combs, Country’s Everyman, Grow Up Without Losing Touch?
By David Peisner
The unflashy 32-year-old star makes irrepressibly catchy and relatable country anthems. Now he’s walking a tricky line: finding ways to evolve without straying too far from his roots.
The Ringer
The Ever-Changing Process Behind Pixar’s Greatest Soundtracks and Scores
By Tim Greiving
In the 27 years since the release of ‘Toy Story,’ the music behind Pixar has changed substantially-united by its power to elicit raw emotion.
Billboard
Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows: Why the Future of Music Is Web3
By M. Shadows
NFTs will serve as incredibly useful touchpoints for the many tentacles and endeavors that will define the music business in the era of Web3.
iHeartRadio
Questlove Supreme: Rick Astley
By Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Rick Astley
Rick Astley tells Questlove Supreme about rekindling an appreciation for his biggest hit, "Never Gonna Give You Up." He also discusses leaving the industry for over a decade, saving money, and discovering the Rick-Roll from a friend.
MSNBC
Criticized for an offensive lyric, Lizzo sets a standard for how to apologize
By Eric Garcia
Examining our own use of ableist language is harder than criticizing a celebrity on social media.
The New Yorker
A Country Star from the First Nations
By Susan Orlean
Shane Yellowbird, as it happens, was an accidental singer.
Dallas Observer
Some Musicians Don't Feel Safe in Deep Ellum These Days
By Danny Gallagher
A sour note is spoiling the neighborhood's soundtrack.
DownBeat
The Peoples Arkestra Speaks Out
By Aaron Cohen
When pianist Horace Tapscott saw a need for more performance opportunities in Los Angeles in 1961, he created the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, which became a crucial showcase for the city's jazz composers. 
Billboard
Joel Whitburn: An Appreciation of the Ultimate Chart Historian
By Steve Greenberg
Joel Whitburn had a major influence on the lives of so many people like me, interested in the many thousands of songs that rose and fell on the Billboard charts. His books provided the essential scaffolding upon which we could all build our knowledge of pop music history, enabling an understanding of which music was popular when, and how big for how long.
what we're into
Music of the day
“pour up”
Yaya Bey ft. DJ Nativesun
From "Remember Your North Star," out Friday on Big Dada.
Video of the day
“God Said Give 'em Drum Machines: The Story Of Detroit Techno”
Kristian R. Hill
Kristian R. Hill's Detroit techno doc is playing at the Tribeca Festival, which is also making it available via VOD.
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