Wednesday, March 9, 2022

jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 03/09/2022 - Women in the Mix, Ukrainian Rockers Resisting, Rap Memes, Pop F-Bombs, Superchunk, Ed Sheeran...

Please... don't play shows [in Russia]... Maybe if they don't care that people are dying in Ukraine, they will care that they can't go watch f***ing Nick Cave.
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Wednesday March 09, 2022
REDEF
Ukraine rocks: The crowd at the Atlas Weekend festival in Kyiv, June 29, 2017.
(Sergii Kharchenko/NurPhoto/Getty Images)
quote of the day
"Please... don't play shows [in Russia]... Maybe if they don't care that people are dying in Ukraine, they will care that they can't go watch f***ing Nick Cave."
- Lesyk Mahula, drummer for Ukrainian metal band Somali Yacht Club
rantnrave://
Run the World (Or at Least Trying To)

On Tuesday, International Women's Day, we got a couple in-depth updates on how women are faring in the music business, and guess what?

In overwhelming numbers in every corner of the US industry, women say they're discriminated against and/or treated differently because of their gender. Artists and other creators in particular are likely to say gender bias directly affects their jobs. And in a finding that RECORDING ACADEMY co-president VALEISHA BUTTERFIELD JONES said was "hard to read but important to see," fewer than two of 10 women working in music in have children under age 18, and the culture of their jobs appears to be to blame. The percentage is even lower for women making less than $40,000 a year, which is more than a third of all women and almost half of those who identify as artists or creators. If you're at a show and there's a woman onstage, she's statistically unlikely to have a child and her profession is one of the reasons why.

Those are some of the depressing, if not especially surprising, findings in "Women in the Mix," a major study by the Recording Academy, Arizona State University and Berklee's Institute for Creative Enterpreneurship of "the socio-economic landscape of women and gender-expansive people working in the music industry across the United States."

"We don't have the support systems in place so they can make those choices [to have children]," one of the study's authors, Arizona State director of popular music ERIN BARRA, told Billboard. "Everyone should have the right to choose to have a family. We want people working in the music industry to be able to make those choices."

In another report that zoomed in specifically on electronic music festivals around the world, an advocacy group called FEMALE:PRESSURE crunched the numbers and found that female acts represented 27% of the artists booked at fests in 2020-21, which is a nice jump from just 9% in 2012, but still underwhelming. Representation of non-binary artists increased by a similar percentage, from 0.4% to 1.3%, over a shorter period, 2017 to 2021. Women and non-binary artists do worse at large fests than at small fests.

None of the numbers from either study is especially surprising, and the issues for the most part are by no means exclusive to the music business. But it isn't unfair to expect better of an industry that prides itself on liberal values and regularly trumpets its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Music should be leading on these issues.

Both studies come with recommendations and calls to action, many of which you've heard before and all of which are worth hearing and re-hearing as long as the problem they're trying to address persists. Create more opportunities for women, from internships through corner offices. Make and enforce diversity pledges. Creative safe and supportive work environments. Etc.

Or just do the most obvious thing you can think of. CHICO DUB, founder of the Brazilian festival NOVAS FREQUÊNCIAS, told Female:Pressure that once he realized he needed to diversify his festival, "the action taken was quite simple actually... It was all about researching more female artists and booking them."

Do you run or book a festival? You can do that, too.

Do you have a recording studio? You can do this.

Another simple solution comes from the credits database JAXSTA, which is partnering with mastering engineer EMILY LAZAR's WE ARE MOVING THE NEEDLE nonprofit to add gender pronouns to the database for anyone who wants them, and make them searchable, to encourage networking with female and non-binary engineers, producers, mixers and songwriters.

Plus Also Too

Add UNIVERSAL and PRS FOR MUSIC to the entities that have pulled out of Russia—while, in Universal's case, pulling even further *into* China, as several people have pointed out... Winners at the SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS & LYRICISTS' SCL AWARDS included GERMAINE FRANCO's ENCANTO score (studio film) and DANIEL HART's THE GREEN KNIGHT score (indie film), with original song nods going to BILLIE EILISH and FINNEAS O'CONNELL for "NO TIME TO DIE" (drama or documentary) and ARIANA GRANDE, NICHOLAS BRITELL, KID CUDI and TAURA STINSON for DON'T LOOK UP's "JUST LOOK UP" (musical or comedy). "Dramatic of Documentary Visual Media Production" is a strange mashup of a category, but it's cool they're at least thinking of the documentary song people... APPLE announced this at Tuesday's Apple Event and I can name two film composer friends who had ordered it, for north of $5,000 each, before the day was done.

Rest in Peace

Australian musician and YouTube star LIL BO WEEP.

- Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator
precision auto
SPIN
From Rock Clubs to the Resistance
By Franz Nicolay
Franz Nicolay of the Hold Steady explores the solidarity and heartbreak Ukrainian musicians face as they shelter, flee, and take up arms against Russia
Billboard
For Russia's Stalled Music Industry, There's No 'Precedent' for Global Clampdown
By Alexei Barrionuevo, Richard Smirke and Dave Brooks
Russia was once one of music's most promising emerging markets - until Ukraine invasion sent streamers, labels and promoters scrambling.
Recording Academy
Women in the Mix [PDF]
By Erin Barra-Jean, Mako Fitts Ward, Lisa M. Anderson...
This report by the Recording Academy, Arizona State University and Berklee presents the results from a survey designed to examine the socio-economic landscape of women and gender-expansive people working in the music industry across the United States. 
Complex
How Memes Changed the Rap Game
By Andre Gee
Behind most hit songs these days are viral campaigns. From Gunna's "Pushin P" to Drake's 'Certified Lover Boy,' here's how memes are changing the rap game.
Los Angeles Times
For young female pop stars, dropping choice F-bombs in songs proves liberating and profitable
By Mikael Wood
From Gayle to Olivia to Demi to Taylor, the Spotify charts are filled with young women gleefully deploying expletives with a newly found freedom.
KEXP
Superchunk's Laura Ballance: 'My Hearing Problems Have Ruined My Life As A Musician'
By Emily Fox and Laura Ballance
Laura Ballance, bassist for Superchunk and co-founder of Merge Records, talks about how her hearing issues have impacted her career in music.
female:pressure
FACTS 2022 [PDF]
The female:pressure FACTS survey quantifies the gender distribution of artists performing at electronic music festivals worldwide. FACTS 2022 reveals a rise in the proportion of female acts from 9.2% in 2012 to 26.9% in 2020—2021. The data on non-binary artists shows an increase from 0.4% to 1.3% from 2017 to 2021. 
MusicTech
MetaMusic -- Web3 and the future of the music industry
By Clovis McEvoy
We speak with VNCCII, Julian Mudd and Daniel Allan about what it means to be an artist in an evolving virtual world.
Fast Company
The 10 most innovative music companies of 2022
By KC Ifeanyi
Whether helping to connect fans or helping to connect musicians, these 10 companies are establishing new standards for the music industry.
BBC News
Ed Sheeran sings Nina Simone during copyright case
By Mark Savage
The star serenades London's High Court in an attempt to prove he didn't copy his hit "Shape of You."
driveway to driveway
DJ Mag
After Astroworld, what is being done to stop crowd crushes from happening again?
By Will Pritchard
Will Pritchard examines the science, politics and history of crowd crushes at mass gatherings, and asks experts how organisers can make future large music events safer.
Complex
What's Next For Travis Scott?
By Eric Skelton
When is the appropriate time for Travis Scott to perform again? How and when should he release music again? What's next for his music career?
KHOU 11 News
Travis Scott announces 'Project HEAL' program; expects to find solutions that support event safety
By Chloe Alexander
Project HEAL is said to cover a number of other initiatives ranging from academic scholarships, free mental health resources and a creative design center.
Billboard
'Euphoria' Synchs Drive Streaming Gains 'Unlike Any Other TV Show'
By Kristin Robinson
The HBO hit has brought bumps up to 2,316% and Shazam searches surges up to 10,000% for its featured songs.
Los Angeles Times
Lin-Manuel Miranda's complex quest for simplicity with 'Dos Oruguitas' from 'Encanto'
By Michael Ordoña
Lin-Manuel Miranda plumbed the depth of his experiences -- familiar, new and imagined -- to craft 'Dos Oruguitas,' his Oscar-nominated song from 'Encanto.'
TechCrunch
Amazon launches a 'live radio' app, Amp, which lets you play DJ with the Amazon Music catalog
By Sarah Perez
Amazon's Clubhouse competitor has arrived. The retail giant on Tuesday launched a new mobile app, Amp, which allows people to create live "radio shows" where they can act as a DJ by taking callers and playing tracks from its catalog of tens of millions of licensed songs.
The New York Times
Reggaeton's Global Expansion and Wide-Open Future
By Jon Caramanica, Isabelia Herrera and Katelina Eccleston
As the genre grows in worldwide popularity, it is engaging with the pop music mainstream and stratifying into subsets, introducing new opportunities and dilemmas.
The Ringer
Where Are Hip-hop's Superstars?
By Charles Holmes and Justin Charity
Examining the current dilemmas that make it hard to sustain a career in hip-hop.
Dazed Digital
After seven years of hell, Stromae is back
By Jeremy Allen
The Belgian pop star soared to fame in the early 2010s before withdrawing from public life with depression -- now he's returned with a new album.
MusicTech
What does Apple's new Mac Studio mean for musicians and music producers?
By Hollin Jones
Apple played up the appeal of its fastest-ever Mac to creatives of all kinds, from musicians and producers to artists and filmmakers.
what we're into
Music of the day
"Overpowered"
Somali Yacht Club
From Lviv, Ukraine. "This is our big 'F*** YOU' to fascist tumor called russian federation."
Video of the day
"Live at Kharkiv Hardcore Fest (2018)"
Death Pill
Drummer Anastasia Khomenko is currently sleeping in the bathtub in her home in Kyiv, for safety.
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