I don't want to be defined in my life by just one thing. I feel like, in a sense, I've kind of beat the game. | | | | Pit stop: Tyler, the Creator at the Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, July 17, 2011.
(Roger Kisby/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “I don't want to be defined in my life by just one thing. I feel like, in a sense, I've kind of beat the game.”
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| | rantnrave:// Less than two hours after star tight end AARON HERNANDEZ was arrested in a murder investigation six years ago—not charged, not convicted, just taken into custody—the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS released him. He had just signed a five-year, $40 million contract. In summarily cutting him, the team, in addition to losing one of its best players, was risking both a huge financial loss and legal action. "We realize that law enforcement investigations into this matter are ongoing," the team said. "We support their efforts and respect the process. At this time, we believe this transaction is simply the right thing to do." My friend JEM ASWAD does a great job here in trying to explain why RCA RECORDS continues to avoid doing what nearly every sentient observer now agrees is the right thing to do with R. KELLY. Among the reasons floated by the experts Aswad talked to: "Kelly has never been convicted of a crime and has steadfastly maintained his innocence." And it might be easier and cleaner to wait for his current contract to expire. I'm glad my hometown Patriots didn't choose the easy, clean route with Hernandez (who was later convicted of murder and took his own life in prison). The right call is as clear now as it was then. We don't know for sure why RCA has chosen to continue doing business with Kelly; the label has steadfastly declined to explain itself. It wouldn't talk to Aswad, nor to ROLLING STONE's KORY GROW. The label's refusal to break with Kelly is "shocking" and "seems a little defiant," KENYETTE TISHA BARNES, co-founder of the #MuteRKelly campaign, told Grow. Prosecutors aren't sitting on the sideline. Following last week's broadcast of LIFETIME's SURVIVING R. KELLY, authorities in Chicago and Fulton County, Ga., are showing renewed interest in the singer's life. One hopes that, behind their silence, record executives are, too... Among the choices viewers are allowed to make while watching NETFLIX's interactive storytelling experiment BANDERSNATCH are what cassette protagonist STEFAN BUTLER listens to on his WALKMAN on a bus and what LP he buys at a WHSMITH record store (and plays in subsequent scenes). I'm an old, non-video-game-playing luddite and I hate everything about the "Bandersnatch" concept, but CHERIE HU makes a compelling case for how the choose-your-own soundtrack adventure could be applied elsewhere in the music sync world, especially in video games. It's a smart, insightful read and it all makes sense to me as long as you keep it out of my scripted TV and movies. I don't want to choose which comedy albums MIDGE MAISEL listens to in her bedroom and I don't want to pick the non-diegetic music that plays while she glides around New York. I want those choices to tell me something about her, not something about me. I want her to act like a human, not a puppet. And when I chat about the show with JASON around the REDEF water cooler the next day, I want us both to have seen, and heard, the same thing. I don't care how many options SPOTIFY and Netflix allow; 30 years from now, I don't want to live in a world where 30 million people remember JOHN CUSACK playing 30 million different songs on that boombox... Oh, and speaking of JOHN CUSACK, this happened... With 20/20 hindsight, it's sort of easy to understand how an indie-rock blogger, and not, say, ROLLING STONE, BILLBOARD or MTV would build the 21st century's most influential music editorial brand. But would you have placed that bet in 1995? RYAN SCHREIBER, who founded the online zine that became PITCHFORK 23 years ago in Minneapolis, is stepping away, three years after selling the company to CONDÉ NAST and three months after stepping down as editor-in-chief. He tells BILLBOARD he'll pursue other opportunities in technology and music. So who are you going to bet on to rule the space for the next 20 years?... RIP PHIL THOMAS and JIM CARADINE. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | Pitchfork |
| Though it’s easy to deem a musician “cancelled,” the reality of dealing with their work is often much murkier. | | |
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 | Variety |
| A major reason is the fact that, despite the number and specificity of the allegations, Kelly has never been convicted of a crime and has steadfastly maintained his innocence. | | |
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 | Music Business Worldwide |
| If movies become more interactive on our televisions, what will it mean for licensing? | | |
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 | Rolling Stone |
| His work with the Black Keys and the Shins made him one of rock’s most valuable sidemen and producers, but addiction brought him down. | | |
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 | Vulture |
| Scarcely a week into 2019, there’s still no escaping Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin’s 2018 single “I Like It.” Reviving fellow Bronx denizen Pete Rodriguez’s 1967 hit “I Like It Like That” by way of sampling, the repurposed boogaloo bursts with an opalescence bolstered by the added trap bass and star turn from the former "Love & Hip-Hop" reality-television personality. | | |
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 | The Ringer |
| Micah Peters and the ‘On Shuffle’ team present five key happenings in music in 2018. | | |
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 | The Atlantic |
| The upset Golden Globes victory of "Bohemian Rhapsody" over "A Star Is Born" hints at which is the more comforting retelling of the same rock-and-roll myth. | | |
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 | The Audiophile Man |
| Not many people realise that Bing Crosby was at the heart of the introduction of recordable master tape which revolutionised radio entertainment, studio facilities, vinyl recordings and, later, TV and video recording. Engineer, Bob Phillips -- who was there while it happened -- tells the story. | | |
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 | Magnetic Magazine |
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| Pitchfork |
| As he moves on from the company he began, the 42-year-old takes a look back at the songs and albums that have meant the most to him, five years at at time. | | |
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 | Noisey |
| A conversation with one of Spain’s most important musical artists of the last decade. | | |
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 | NPR |
| Japanese boy band SMAP and its powerful agency, Johnny's Entertainment, are largely responsible for creating the K-pop model. Even though SMAP broke up last year, its influence is still being felt. | | |
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| Music Business Worldwide |
| The number of streams attracted by the Top 50 audio streaming hits last year went DOWN. | | |
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| Rolling Stone |
| Spotify’s flagship Discover Weekly feature gets in-playlist and native ad sponsorship as the streaming service enters a new age. | | |
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| Vulture |
| The New Group’s production of "Clueless, the Musical" will close its two-month, sold-out Off Broadway run this Saturday (Jan. 12). But according to Amy Heckerling, the writer and director of the 1995 teen classic movie as well as the author of the musical it inspired, that does not mean you’ve seen the last of a plaid-clad Cher Horowitz on a theater stage. | | |
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 | Billboard |
| Jackson releases Fool on Jan. 18 and begins his Four Decade Tour on Feb. 5. | | |
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 | Songtrust |
| We asked ourselves - can we use music publishing data trends to help advice creators on how to be successful in the coming year? The answer is yes. In this downloadable report, we’ve broken down some of the global trends in copyright attached to musical compositions to help you set yourself up for the new year. | | |
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 | Big Shot Magazine |
| Label founder Joakim Haugland reflects on the Norwegian label's 25th anniversary. | | |
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 | Resident Advisor |
| The French DJ and producer is a living chapter in France's dance music history. He spoke to Holly Dicker about overcoming his personal demons to reconnect with the music he loves. | | |
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 | Esquire |
| The Captain, from the Captain and Tennille, died on January 2. Here he is in all his 1970s glory. | | |
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 | YouTube |
| | | | | | Well, it was either this or something by Isao Tomita. |
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