jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 01/26/2021 - I Sell the Songs, New Wave Love Affair, MP3 Revolution, Ashnikko, Lil' Kim...

Humor is my coping mechanism. I can't go that singer-songwriter route without like, throwing up.   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌ Open in browser Tuesday - January 26, 2021 Ashnikko in London, Jan. 29, 2020. (Lia Toby/Getty Images) quote of the day "Humor is my coping mechanism. I can't go that singer-songwriter route without like, throwing up." — Ashnikko, rantnrave:// rantnrave:// The Man Who Sold the Bonds Three things about BOWIE BONDS, the famously forward-thinking financial instrument DAVID BOWIE and banker DAVID PULLMAN came up with in the mid-1990s, decades before everyone from BOB DYLAN to IMAGINE DRAGONS to RZA to POST MALONE/CAMILA CABELLO collaborator LOUIS BELL started cashing in their future royalties for hundreds of millions of dollars: You couldn't buy a Bowie Bond. PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE bought Bowie's entire offering in for $55 million in 1997 and kept it for itself. Bowie didn't sell his songs. He sold Prudential a 10-year security at a fixed interest rate, backed by the royalties from his pre-1990 master recordings and publishing—the entirety of what was then considered his golden years. In essence, he gave up a decade's worth of royalties on "HEROES," "LIFE ON MARS?" and everything else in exchange for an immediate payout—some of which he used to buy the pieces of his catalog he didn't already own. Though he had the vision to imagine the Wall Streeting of royalties long before almost anyone else did, Bowie may or may not have foreseen something else—the financial meltdown of the music business just a few years after he and Prudential shook hands on the 10-year deal. Moody's Investors Service initially gave Bowie Bonds a glittering A3 rating, but within a few years it had downgraded them to near-junk status. The downgraded rating, which Moody's removed before the 10-year deal ended, would have mattered only if Prudential wanted to resell the bonds, which it didn't. But still. (Bonus fourth thing: Some financial analysts think Bowie Bonds, by helping to popularize the idea of asset-backed securitization, may have contributed to the 2008 financial crisis and the recession that followed. Others think that's a little far-fetched.) (Bonus fifth thing: When reporters and analysts revisited Bowie's financial innovation after his death in 2016, the prevailing feeling was that it wasn't likely be replicated anytime soon. Because of low royalties in the streaming era, BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC's JOHN KELLOGG told the LA Times, "It's extremely difficult for someone to try to put together a securitization of future royalty streams of copyrights.") (LOL.) MusicSET: "I Sell the Songs That Make the Whole World Sing." What's in a Name? One thing about MERCK MERCURIADIS' HIPGNOSIS SONGS FUND. You've heard that name before. You may associate it more with provocative album cover design than with provocative financial instruments. But you may not know there's a connection. Mercuriadis was close friends with STORM THORGERSON, co-founder of the original HIPGNOSIS, and named his son after him. Shortly before Thorgerson died, he gifted Mercuriadis the name and designed the songs fund's upside-down elephant logo. Merck: "I said to him, 'Look Storm, what does an upside-down elephant have to do with my business?'" Thorgerson called Mercuriadis an idiot and said, "That's not an upside-down elephant... It's an elephant that is blown away by how good the songs are." Etc Etc Etc SUB POP opens a new flagship record store in Seattle's DENNY TRIANGLE neighborhood. But, um, now? "We just wanted to give our lives a vote of confidence," Sub Pop's JONATHAN PONEMAN tells the Seattle Times, "by opening up this store at a time many people would probably find an odd time to do such a thing"... The TOURING PROFESSIONALS ALLIANCE is serving meals twice a week to out-of-work road crew members in Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago and New York through its TOURING PROFESSIONALS RELIEF KITCHEN. "Food and music has always had such a strong connection," says chef EDWARD LEE, whose LEE INITIATIVE partnered with the alliance to launch the program in December... The K-pop fans who disrupted an anti-JOE BIDEN hashtag on TWITTER may have violated the service's (kind of strange) rules... Hip-hop al dente? SPOTIFY playlists that double as pasta timers... MUDDY WATERS' descendants are turning his Chicago house into a museum. Rest in Peace JAMES PURIFY, who with his cousin BOBBY PURIFY had a mid-'60s hit with "I'M YOUR PUPPET"... Prolific Lebanese composer ELIAS RAHBANI... LONG RYDERS bassist TOM STEVENS. — Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator the one thing The Muse How Can I Explain: An Incomplete Oral History of Asian Americans and Our Ineffable Love of New Wave by Esther Wang Why was "Bizarre Love Triangle" widely dubbed the Asian American anthem? Why were there so many Asians of a certain age in the crowd at the one Erasure concert I went to on New Year's Eve in 2014? Was it something akin to the well-documented love that Mexican Americans have for Morrissey and the Smiths? How can I explain? TorrentFreak How the MP3, Pirates and Apple Changed The Music Industry by Ernesto Van der Sar When Karlheinz Brandenburg first released the MP3 format in the early 90s, it started a chain of events that disrupted the music industry. REDEF REDEF MusicSET: I Sell the Songs That Make the Whole World Sing by Matty Karas It's a seller's market for songs, with buyers opening their hundred million dollar wallets for the catalogs of Bob Dylan, RZA, Stevie Nicks and seemingly everyone else with a few hundred songs to sell. Who besides Merck Mercuriadis is buying, who's selling and why now? Los Angeles Times Channeling Harley Quinn and Lil' Kim, Ashnikko won the internet. Are the pop charts next? by Suzy Exposito Combining striking visuals with bubblegum trap, Ashnikko went viral on TikTok and YouTube. Now she's taking her boldly feminist pop to the mainstream. Pitchfork The Meaning of Lil' Kim by Clover Hope An essay from the new book "The Motherlode" that details the complicated legacy of one of rap's boldest provocateurs. The New York Times Rare Violin Tests Germany's Commitment to Atone for Its Nazi Past by Catherine Hickley The instrument's holders refuse to compensate the heirs of a Jewish music dealer, jeopardizing a system for restitution that has been in place for nearly two decades. Complete Music Update Dissecting The Streaming Inquiry #01: The big picture view by Chris Cooke The UK Parliament's inquiry into the economics of streaming is now well underway and last week the culture select committee published all 197 submissions that have been as part of its investigation. The inquiry was sparked by the #brokenrecord and #fixstreaming campaigns. Music Business Worldwide Audius has raised nearly $10m for its Spotify rival. Can its blockchain-based model change the game for artist payments? by Rhian Jones Does Audius offer a viable and more ethical alternative to music streaming? NME Lil Baby: 'It's not about the fame game -- I'm more about real life' by Luke Morgan Britton Lil Baby, whose 'My Turn' was America's most-streamed album of 2020, reflects on a headf*** of a year, collabing with Kanye and his passion for activism. Vulture Disney and Nickelodeon Stars Gone Pop: A Power Ranking by Jordan Crucchiola, Zoe Haylock and Milan Polk Has Miley held her position at the top? How powerful is Lesbian Jesus? And is Zendaya poised to be our next superstar? ah hear this, robert zimmerman GQ The Sounds of Happiness: 12 Culture-Shapers on the Songs That Make Them Happy by Chris Heath While interviewing people for The Happiness Project, Chris Heath asked the 12 interviewees whether there was a song that made them happy. Here is a fuller list of their wildly diverse answers. Pollstar 24kGoldn: No. 1 Without A Tour ... Yet! by Sarah Pittman Although Golden Landis Von Jones has enjoyed his sustained No. 1 success over the last few months, he, like many other up-and-coming artists, faces a purely 2020-21 conundrum: How does a hot recording artist establish their touring career side without the ability to have live shows? Holler The Unstoppable Rise of Morgan Wallen by Natalie Weiner His greatest success seems to still be ahead of him, if he can stay upright on all the tightropes he's walking while avoiding the kinds of legal and PR troubles that have so far punctuated his career. Don't Rock the Inbox Don't Rock the Inbox: Issue #4 by Natalie Weiner and Marissa Moss New year, new country (but also the same old country). The New York Times An Organ Recital, With a Coronavirus Shot by Alex Marshall Salisbury Cathedral is joining Britain's vaccination drive, and its organists are providing a musical accompaniment. They're even taking requests. Cabbages The Secret 1990s/2000s Hip-Hop Labels Hiding In Plain Sight On Bandcamp by Gary Suarez Bandcamp's business has attracted relatively obscure indie labels with deep catalogs, including a number with out-of-print or otherwise hard-to-find hip-hop albums. The Guardian System of a lockdown: the web series keeping the spirit of metal alive by Skot Thayer In Two Minutes to Late Night, a corpse-painted comedian and his musical guests cover metal classics. The result has been an unlikely Covid-era hit. The Quietus The Metal Gods At Fifty: Judas Priest Interviewed by Michael Hann KK Downing and Rob Halford, plus producer Tom Allom and Mantas from Venom talk to Michael Hann about Judas Priest being the first (metal) gang in town and their five decade history. HipHopDX What Ever Happened To Fugees Affiliate John Forté? The O.G. Hip Hop Presidential Pardon Story by Kyle Eustice Long before Donald Trump set foot in the White House, Fugees affiliate John Forté needed a Hail Mary of his own — from the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. Music In Africa Jonas Gwangwa embodied South Africa's struggle for a national culture by Gwen Ansell Through 65 years on stage, Jonas Gwangwa's playing contributed to every genre of South African jazz. Yet he chose to step away from mainstream success for 10 years, leading the Amandla Cultural Ensemble of the African National Congress to win hearts for the anti-apartheid struggle and present a vision of what post-apartheid national culture could be. what we're into Music of the day "Drunk With My Friends" Ashnikko From "Demidevil," out now on Parlophone/Warner. YouTube From "Demidevil," out now on Parlophone/Warner. 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