| As groundbreaking as it felt to hear a woman explicitly singing about being with another woman [in 2008], it would take another 13 years for a man explicitly singing about being with another man to appear on the charts | | | | |  | Hotter than (your average) July: Stevie Wonder circa 1980.
(s.e.t./ullstein bild/Getty Images) | | | | | "As groundbreaking as it felt to hear a woman explicitly singing about being with another woman [in 2008], it would take another 13 years for a man explicitly singing about being with another man to appear on the charts" | | | | Paying It Forward
Over the past eight years, the NBA's MILWAUKEE BUCKS have paid their superstar power forward, GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO, $108 million. They've spent millions more in overhead to coach him and train him—to, essentially, develop his talent and turn him into the player they thought he could be when they gambled on the untested teenager in 2013. That hefty investment has paid off handsomely for everyone involved. He's their BILLIE EILISH, or they're ADELE—the teenage signing that made up for all the others that didn't pan out. And that's where this basketball and pop music analogy ends, because in exchange for that investment, the Milwaukee Bucks got nothing more, and nothing less, than those eight years of service. If Giannis and the team hadn't agreed to a whopping $228 million deal in December, which will keep him around for five more years, he could have walked away this summer and left the team with nothing—no royalties on future earnings, no continued sales of 2019-20 season tickets and t-shirts, no copyrights, no unstoppable drives to the basket that the team could repackage and reissue when it needs a few more wins in 2023. Nope—if he left (and he had other chances to leave several years earlier), the door would have closed behind him and the team would've had to start over with someone else. That's why the Bucks forked over $228 million. If they wanted to continue benefiting from his work, they had no other choice.
Record companies, by contrast, are generally guaranteed more time upfront with their signees, in whom they invest significantly less money. And if their stars ever do walk away, they don't get to take their old work with them. The labels get to keep profiting long after they're gone—their reward, they'll tell anyone who asks, for however much money did invest. Which will fall way short of $108 million.
If you're reading this, I know you know all of this. But does it seem fair? Does it make sense? Are the old arguments still good arguments?
Should pop singer/songwriter RAYE, signed to POLYDOR seven years ago when she was 16, shut up and sing? Or—as she more or less accused the label of making her do in a tweetstorm this week—shut up and not sing ("I have been on a 4 ALBUM RECORD DEAL since 2014 !!! And haven't been allowed to put out one album.") Should indie label SECRETLY CANADIAN get to own alt-pop singer SHURA's album FOREVHER for, well, ever, as Shura implied in her own tweets in support of Raye? Polydor said Wednesday, "We were saddened to read Raye's tweets last night and have reached out to her management team to discuss and offer our full support." No public response from Secretly Canadian yet. Lots of response from other artists offering their support to Raye, some even offering strategies for breaking her contract.
Is an artist revolt at hand? With more and more options becoming available for working outside the label system, from investment startups to mature artist-services companies, where is the leverage? What are the incentives? What would you do if you were managing a teen pop artist right now? What would you do if you were a label trying to sign her? Should Raye and Shura and Billie Eilish get to be free agents one day soon? When? How soon is then?
Britney's Father' Day
As I noted in this space recently, most of us aren't privy to the details of what's being discussed behind closed doors in the BRITNEY SPEARS conservatorship case (the Los Angeles County court system took new steps Wednesday to make sure it stays that way). Nor do we know everything going on behind the closed doors of her personal and business lives. But still: Huh.
It should be noted that the ruling made public Wednesday wasn't in response to Britney's explosive testimony this week in which she asked to have her conservatorship terminated altogether. And it wasn't the most consequential or shocking celebrity court decision handed down Wednesday, obviously. But a surprise nonetheless, and another reminder that public opinion and judicial opinion don't always align so neatly.
Nobody Beats the Biz
Sending love. (And reminding well-meaning fans to be mindful of their social media sources.)
Rest in Peace
Idaho honky-tonk singer/songwriter PINTO BENNETT... Drummer DAVID GAMBLE, who was one-half of the Athens, Ga., post-punk band the METHOD ACTORS.
| | | | Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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| | | jammin' until the break of dawn |
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|  | | The New York Times |
| | 'It Taunts the Eye': Footwork's Fast Moves Loom Over Chicago | | by Brian Seibert | | Projected onto the Merchandise Mart, "Footnotes" honors a style that's become popular around the world but isn't always given recognition in its hometown. | |  | | Clash Magazine |
| | Raye's Tears Should Be A Wake Up Call For The Music Industry | | by Robin Murray | | Her voice needs to be heard. | |  | | New York Post |
| | How MTV stopped playing music — and lost its relevance | | by Chuck Arnold | | When VJ Alan Hunter trekked down to Daytona Beach, Fla., to cover "the chaos that was spring break" for the first time in 1986, little did he know that it was the beginning of the end for the M - music - in MTV. | |  | | The Pudding |
| | 'I Kissed a Girl' to 'Call Me By Your Name' | | by Jan Diehm | | A story about hearing yourself represented with same-gender lyrics for the first time. | |  | | CBC |
| | Live music venues struggle to stay afloat amid skyrocketing insurance rates as pandemic recedes | | by Michael Smee | | Iconic Horseshoe Tavern could leave province if it can't find liability insurance, owner warns. | |  | | KQED |
| | Outdoor Music Took Off During COVID Shutdowns. SF Might Make It Permanent | | by Chloe Veltman | | The JAM Permit gave businesses a way to host performances outside during COVID-19 shutdowns. Mayor London Breed wants to make it a fixture in San Francisco. | |  | | Music Business Worldwide |
| | Kobalt: We are profitable | | by Tim Ingham | | Kobalt Music Group says it's just come good on its plan to develop into a profitable company. | |  | | The Ringer |
| | 'Planet Her' and the Chaotic Evolution of Doja Cat | | by Justin Charity | | The pop star's third album feels far removed from her original "Bitch, I'm a cow" viral sensation and the social media scandals that followed. | |  | | The New Yorker |
| | Tyler, the Creator's Victory Lap | | by Sheldon Pearce | | The rapper teams up with the mixtape legend Drama for his triumphant new album, "Call Me If You Get Lost." | | | | The New York Times |
| | Britney Spears's Father Calls for Inquiry Into Singer's Control Claims | | by Joe Coscarelli, Liz Day and Samantha Stark | | A week after the singer's impassioned courtroom speech, the man who has long overseen her conservatorship called for an investigation into her claims that she had been abused under it. | | | jammin', jammin', jammin', jam on |
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|  | | The Bitter Southerner |
| | Art & Magic: A Conversation Between Wayne White & Tyler Mahan Coe | | by Wayne White and Tyler Mahan Coe | | Our guest editor Wayne White talks with Tyler Mahan Coe, host of the podcast "Cocaine & Rhinestones." | | | | Music Business Worldwide |
| | Indie labels loathe Spotify's Discovery Mode -- but DIY giants are loving it | | by Murray Stassen | | Late last year, Spotify unveiled its controversial 'Discovery Mode' tool, which enables artists to benefit from additional algorithmic plays on the platform… in return for accepting a lower royalty rate for the streams in question. | |  | | Texas Monthly |
| | Skid Row Front Man Johnny Solinger Was Rock and Roll Personified | | by Rose Cahalan | | The Dallas singer never quite became a huge star in his own right, but that didn't seem to bother him. | |  | | Salon |
| | As a teenager, I hated Britney Spears and decades later I'm owning up to this misogyny | | by Jessica Kelton | | It was a visceral feeling from the moment I first saw her, clad in a schoolgirl uniform. | |  | | The New Statesman |
| | How I learned to love the Rolling Stones | | by Tracey Thorn | | I was primed to dislike the Stones – but eventually I realised it wasn't them, it was me. | |  | | DJ Mag |
| | How Maya Jane Coles' 'What They Say' became the backbone of major pop hits | | by Katherine Rogers | | Even if you've never consciously set out to listen to 'What They Say' by Maya Jane Coles, you've almost certainly heard it before. Over the years, 'What They Say' - once a staple of underground club sets - has become the backbone of an almost improbable number of hits, including songs by pop royalty like Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. | |  | | The Tennessean |
| | Ty Herndon: 7 years after coming out, country singer is 'astounded at how far we've come' | | by Dave Paulson | | Ty Herndon was the one of the first major country artists to come out as gay. This week, he hosts his seventh annual 'Concert For Love and Acceptance.' | |  | | Variety |
| | Oscars 2022 Rule Changes Include Tweaks to Sound and Music Categories | | by Clayton Davis | | The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled its rules and campaign regulations for the upcoming awards season on Wednesday, roughly a week before the Cannes Film Festival opens in France. That festival often hosts a number of possible Oscars contenders, with the likes of "Parasite" and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" screening in the 2019 edition. | |  | | Songs in the Key of Death |
| | Omie Wise | | by Courtney E. Smith | | When we talk about the sexism of murder ballads, "Omie Wise" jumps to the forefront as one of the most prominent examples. Whether the true story involves a woman who was drowned because she became inconvenient or because she stood up to a no-good man, they both end the same way — with Naomi Wise dead, and many tales that got it wrong. | |  | | The Creative Independent |
| | Writer Jessica Hopper on continually refining what you do | | by Caitlin Wolper and Jessica Hopper | | Author and journalist Jessica Hopper discusses revisiting past projects, truth-telling, and learning more about her own work through the work of her community of writers. | | | | "Everyone's feelin' pretty / It's hotter than July." | 2008 doc directed by Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala Lough and narrated by Benicio del Toro. | | | Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech | | "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?'" | | |  | | | Jason Hirschhorn | | CEO & Chief Curator | | |  |
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