| One of my teachers wrote in my yearbook: ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick.’ And I took that to heart apparently. |
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| One drummer army: The White Stripes' Meg White in Australia, October 2003. |
| (Bob King/Redferns/Getty Images) |
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| quote of the day |
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“One of my teachers wrote in my yearbook: ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick.’ And I took that to heart apparently.”
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- Meg White, drummer, the White Stripes
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| rantnrave:// |
Paid (Barely) to Play
SXSW MUSIC is under way. Maybe you ran into BOYGENIUS busking in baggage claim at Austin-Bergstrom Airport Tuesday afternoon. And maybe busking in baggage claim is the only sensible way to go at an international festival that’s paying you a grand total of $250 (if you’re a band, that is; it’s $100 if you’re a solo artist), minus $55 for the festival application fee, and minus the entire $250 if you decide you’d prefer a complimentary SXSW wristband instead, which is the choice most artists apparently make. Some 2,000 artists have signed a petition, sponsored by the UNION OF MUSICIANS AND ALLIED WORKERS, demanding “Fair Pay at SXSW,” and on Tuesday several of them including Memphis’ BLVCK HIPPIE, Chicago’s DIVINO NIÑO and Tacoma’s ENUMCLAW played an unofficial SXSW showcase to benefit the cause at Austin’s HOLE IN THE WALL, where wristbands weren’t required but donations were requested. (SXSW responded in February: “We appreciate the feedback from the UMAW and will be doing our policy review after next month's event.")
On a recent KEXP podcast, RENÉ KLADZYK, a journalist and artist who records as ZIEMBA, talked in depth about why this matters to musicians struggling to support themselves on the road in 2023, and connected it to another looming issue: the US Department of Homeland Security’s potentially devastating proposal to more than triple the fees for the visas international artists need to enter the country. The proposed fees, which would exceed $1,600 (and significantly more for traveling groups of more than 25 people, such as orchestras), would in part help fund the processing of asylum claims on the southern border. “They are pitting two issues against one another,” US Rep. MAXWELL FROST, D-Fla., told Pollstar. “It will... beat down an industry that’s coming back.” There’s widespread opposition among artists, presenters and arts advocates in the US and abroad, who say it could significantly hamper the ability of artists from Europe, South America and elsewhere to perform in the US at all, while creating enormous new expenses, likely to be passed on to consumers, for those who do. It should be noted it’s just a proposal for now. A public comment period ended Monday, and opponents note that past attempts at increasing the fees have been defeated. But if it passes this time, SXSW could look very different next year, as could concert lineups and other performing arts programming throughout the US.
Rest in Peace
South African jazz singer/composer GLORIA BOSMAN.
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| - Matty Karas, curator |
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KEXP |
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| Sound & Vision: 250 |
| By Emily Fox, René Kladzyk and Alaia D'Alessandro |
| The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers has published an open letter calling for higher pay for artists performing at SXSW. Letter organizer René Kladzyk (artist name: Ziemba) talks about the list of demands. Alaia D’Alessandro of the Seattle band Tres Leches talks about the prevalence of getting paid $250 at festivals. |
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Variety |
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| Pink Floyd’s $500 Million Catalog Sale Is ‘Basically Dead’ -- Or Is It? |
| By Jem Aswad |
| Pink Floyd's proposed $500 million sale of the rights to their iconic five-decade, multiplatinum recorded-music catalog is "basically dead" because the surviving bandmembers "just can't get along," four sources close to the situation tell Variety -- however, sources close to the band insist that it's not. |
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Pitchfork |
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| Arabic Music Is on the Brink of a Global Breakthrough |
| By Danny Hajjar |
| Thanks to the rise of platforms like TikTok and the breakdown of traditional music-industry gatekeeping, a new generation of Arab artists is reaching a worldwide audience on their own terms. |
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Love is the Message |
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| Love is the Message: The Gallery |
| By Jeremy Gilbert and Tim Lawrence |
| Jeremy and Tim check in to Nicky Siano’s downtown spot The Gallery, a legendary party space often uttered in the same breath as the Loft, the Paradise Garage and the Warehouse. Nicky was a highly influential and original DJ who had as much as influence on Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles as David Mancuso. |
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No Depression |
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| Musical Mission: A Trip to Havana With Trombone Shorty |
| By Hilary Saunders |
| Inside a musical exchange in Havana hosted by the Trombone Shorty Foundation, which aims to forge connections between students and musicians drawing from the rich cultures of Cuba and New Orleans, which have more in common than you might think. |
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| what we're into |
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| Video of the day |
| “Keeping the Rhythm: An Exploration of Women Drummers” |
| Sherrie Maricle/National Museum of American History |
| A livestream discussion featuring clips of Terri Lyne Carrington, Dottie Dodgion, Pauline Braddy, Viola Smith, Cindy Blackman and the stream's host, Sherrie Maricle. |
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| Music | Media |
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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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