| When bands would load in, it used to feel like sort of a hassle—but now, whenever we have a band loaded, I'm excited for the running around, and lifting heavy things, and crazy things like that. It reminds me that we're back at it. | | | | |  | Marie Ulven Ringheim, aka Girl in Red, at Music Midtown in Piedmont Park, Atlanta, Sept. 18, 2021.
(Paras Griffin/Getty Images) | | | | | "When bands would load in, it used to feel like sort of a hassle—but now, whenever we have a band loaded, I'm excited for the running around, and lifting heavy things, and crazy things like that. It reminds me that we're back at it." | | | | Underdressed
You could hardly throw a drumstick this weekend and not hit a festival somewhere in America. MUSIC MIDTOWN in Atlanta with MEGAN THEE STALLION, 24KGOLDEN, 21 SAVAGE and MACHINE GUN KELLY. RIOT FEST in Chicago with the SMASHING PUMPKINS, NINE INCH NAILS and RUN THE JEWELS. On a jam-packed beach in Asbury Park, N.J., PEARL JAM, the AVETT BROTHERS and, again, why not, the Smashing Pumpkins at SEA.HEAR.NOW. You needed proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test to get into any of them. Masks, not so much. Photos from all these fests made clear that masks aren't nearly as popular as they should be; more disturbingly, reports from Riot Fest made clear that not even the staff had much interest in covering up. "Riot Fest doesn't seem to be taking the whole COVID thing seriously," said the headline of an A.V. Club story reporting that "maybe 1 in 40, 1 in 50" festivalgoers packed tightly in front of stages were masked, while "somewhere between one third and one half of the staffers working the gates"—the people checking everyone's vaccine cards, that is—were maskless. Among the security staff, the percentage was worse. (For what it's worth, a writer for another site, Consequence, reported that his vax card and ID were "carefully scrutinized," even if it was a maskless person doing the scrutinizing.) I have no interest in scolding kids for being kids (or even adults being adults) at outdoor events, no matter how crowded, but event staff is a different story. Come on, people. Set an example. Encourage fans to follow that example, even if the final choice is going to be theirs. Show them how easy it is to do. And don't put them in literal danger every time they walk up to you to show you their ticket or their proof of vaccination. It's really, really not that hard. And this is on you, promoters and festival organizers.
You'd hope people would know better in an environment where that Covid thing isn't close to being over and the livelihoods of touring musicians remain very much in danger. Here's BOB LEFSETZ on the current economic math for touring rock bands. "You think the business is back, but the truth is it's still in flux," Lefsetz writes. And "the acts that are out there, the big ones, have Covid protocols that will blow your mind." As, I might add, they should. And here are responses from his readers, in which we learn, for example, that both LEON BRIDGES and DAWES canceled shows in Boston over the weekend. JASON ISBELL, one of music's more vocal mask and vax proponents, did play Boston, but with strict scrutiny at the door and nearly complete mask coverage inside. Which seems like the smart way forward, if not the only way forward, for reasons of both health and economics. If you cover it, they will come. Even HARRY STYLES might come.
In Totally Unrelated News
"Vaccination rates among American youth skyrocketed to 80 percent" within six months of ELVIS PRESLEY getting the polio vaccine on national TV in 1956.
Etc Etc Etc
KATY PERRY, NAS, the CHAINSMOKERS, MARTIN BANDIER and GUY OSEARY are among the musician and music industry investors in the decentralized, blockchain-based streaming startup AUDIUS. "Everyone who uploads to Audius can be an owner," Nas tells Rolling Stone. "You can't say that about any other platform"... SOUNCLOUD claims PORTISHEAD's cover of ABBA's "SOS," released this summer as part of the streaming service's experiment in user-centric royalties (SoundCloud calls them "fan-powered" royalties), earned the group six times as much income as it would have earned under a standard streaming royalty model... MATTEL has introduced a music-producer BARBIE doll as part of an initiative aimed at "leveling the playing field for girls in careers where women are underrepresented," which is more than most music companies are doing on that front... Does SPOTIFY need a dislike button?... "TV, you got what I need" is an objectively terrible chorus, even for a light tribute/parody on a TV awards show, but otherwise huge props to the EMMY AWARDS for remembering BIZ MARKIE in the opening of Sunday night's awards with a performance by LL COOL J, LIL DICKY, RITA WILSON and CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER. The Biz, who died in July, was a familiar face on TV shows including YO GABBA GABBA! and HIP HOP SQUARES... POSSESSED singer JEFF BECERRA walks for the first time in 32 years.
Rest in Peace
Master timbales player RALPH IRIZARRY... Acclaimed Cajun fiddler COURTNEY GRANGER of the Pine Leaf Boys... Up-and-coming South Florida rapper WIZDAWIZARD.
| | | | Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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|  | | Variety |
| | What Can We Expect From Universal Music Group's $40-Billion-Plus IPO Next Week? | | by Geoff Mayfield | | With Universal Music Group on the brink of launching one of the biggest initial public offerings to date, it's worth noting how much the music industry has changed -- and hasn't -- since analysts placed the business on the critical list 20 years ago. | |  | | Bloomberg |
| | Jay-Z's NFT Feud Spotlights Legal Peril in Hot Investment Trend | | by Chris Dolmetsch | | As a young rapper, Jay-Z once teamed up with Damon Dash to sell CDs of his music out of a car in the Brooklyn projects. Today, the co-founders of Roc-A-Fella Records are embroiled in a legal fight involving one of the most cutting-edge investments: non-fungible tokens. | |  | | Culture Notes of an Honest Broker |
| | Is the Three-Minute Song Bad for Music? | | by Ted Gioia | | Clinical evidence and field research indicate that longer songs have a more euphoric and hypnotic impact. So why do commercial songs end so soon? | |  | | The New York Times |
| | Nashville Didn't Make Room for Mickey Guyton. So She Made Her Own | | by Jon Caramanica | | She was failed by the country music industry until the emotional song "Black Like Me" changed her career. Now comes a debut album that proved therapeutic. | |  | | Billboard |
| | Harvey Mason Jr. on the Recording Academy's Future: 'We Needed to Improve and We Needed to Evolve' | | by Melinda Newman | | "We needed to improve and we needed to evolve," the Recording Academy CEO says. As the industry heads into Grammy season -- the eligibility period ends Sept. 30 and first-round voting begins Oct. 22 -- he spoke with Billboard about where the Academy is headed. | |  | | Vulture |
| | The Worst Things That Happened at the R. Kelly Trial This Week | | by Victoria Bekiempis | | Prosecutors in R. Kelly's Brooklyn federal-court trial are nearly done with their racketeering and sex-crimes case against the R&B singer. They have called 45 witnesses, 11 of whom are abuse accusers. | |  | | NPR Music |
| | The Learning Curve Of Lil Nas X | | by Sidney Madden, Jonaki Mehta and Mallory Yu | | "My intention was always to be as entertaining as possible," he says. "I'm not like trying to comfort anyone, or their children." | |  | | SPIN |
| | How Radio Disney Shaped Modern Pop-Rock | | by Aliya Chaudhry. | | Radio Disney shut down this year, but the sound of its classic era has influenced the modern rock and pop music resurgence in a major way. | |  | | Music Business Worldwide |
| | 'TikTok is running everything.' | | by Dave Roberts | | Frank Harris on how Jason Derulo reinvented himself on TikTok -- and the keys to building a billion dollar brand. | |  | | The Guardian |
| | 'Everything just kept getting bigger!' Genesis on prog, 80s stardom and Phil Collins's health | | by Harry Sword | | As they prepare what could be their final tour after 54 years, the British rock greats reflect on who they lost along the way, how they survived punk -- and why Phil is skiving off his vocal practice. | | |  | | Lefsetz Letter |
| | Touring Snapshot | | by Bob Lefsetz | | You think the business is back, but the truth is it's still in flux. | | | | The New York Times |
| | 5 Pros in the Concert Trenches on Getting (Carefully) Back to Work | | by Jeremy Gordon | | What's it like mixing sound, building sets and taking care of artists' health as the music industry hits pause and play? | |  | | The Independent |
| | Doc and roll: Why we're living in the golden age of music documentaries | | by Elizabeth Aubrey | | No longer empty hagiographies, docs like 'Framing Britney' and 'Reclaiming Amy' can change the way we think about pop culture. Elizabeth Aubrey charts the medium's evolution and talks to the directors behind films following Taylor Swift, Bros and Nirvana. | |  | | Complex |
| | The Reintroduction Of Squeeks | | by Joseph 'JP' Patterson | | The British rapper was at the top of his game until 2015, when he he found himself behind bars after being found guilty on conspiracy to commit armed robbery | | | | The Guardian |
| | Cedella Marley: 'The mission is to spread Daddy's music to every corner of the Earth' | | by Tim Adams | | As a new musical about Bob Marley prepares to celebrate his spirit and songs, Marley's daughter, and the director and star of Get Up, Stand Up!, discuss his legacy. | | | | Billboard |
| | Can Social Tokens Pave a New Future for Music? BitClout's Still Banking On It | | by Tatiana Cirisano | | When Bitclout launched, the idea of blending social media with crypto-token trading was met with curiosity. Since, its dedicated community has been quietly at work. | |  | | Bandcamp Daily |
| | Sixteen Years Since He First Appeared, Shackleton Remains a Mystery | | by Andy Beta | | The dubstep disruptor is back with his first album in nearly a decade. | |  | | Music Industry Blog |
| | 'Middle class' artists need niche, not scale | | by Mark Mulligan | | Most mid-tier creators are never going to be big enough to gain adequate streaming scale to use as a reliable income source. | | | |  | | | Music of the day | | "Never Wanted to Be That Girl" | | Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde | | From Carly Pearce's "29: Written in Stone," out now on Big Machine. |  | | YouTube |
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From Carly Pearce's "29: Written in Stone," out now on Big Machine. | | | | | 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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