I’m not a gatekeeper... I feel like the gatekeeper era is over. The gatekeeper era is the past, when magazine editors, A&Rs, program directors, they all could determine people’s lives and everything. I consider myself a facilitator. My job is not a bouncer to keep people out or to kick people out, it’s to get people in. | | | | One bassist under a groove: Bootsy Collins in the 1990s.
(PYMCA/Universal Images Group/Getty Images) | | | | | | “I’m not a gatekeeper... I feel like the gatekeeper era is over. The gatekeeper era is the past, when magazine editors, A&Rs, program directors, they all could determine people’s lives and everything. I consider myself a facilitator. My job is not a bouncer to keep people out or to kick people out, it’s to get people in.”
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| | rantnrave:// While music-tech companies were being sold left and right at the end of last week, embattled SOUNDCLOUD wanted to make one thing clear: It isn't going anywhere. Is a SoundCloudless world still possible? Without a doubt. Is it likely? CHANCE THE RAPPER, who was worried enough about the situation to get on the phone with ALEX LJUNG on Friday, swears it isn't. And as either a show of faith or a gesture of support, he and YOUNG THUG surprise-dropped a SoundCloud exclusive Friday afternoon (streams as of Sunday night: 1.29 million)... Meanwhile at SPIN, JORDAN SARGENT reports on the unlikely rise of SoundCloud rap as a dominant genre while also pointing to one of the reasons it may not be the salve SoundCloud needs: The bigger SoundCloud rappers become, the more likely they are to find their listeners moving elsewhere... Care to guess what the world's third-largest streaming service is?... Fascinating, if not exactly surprising, to read about how much data lay behind TUMA BASA's instincts. Also, if you want to wow him with your hot new track, make sure there's a wow moment in the opening seconds. "I won’t listen to a whole song; that's a waste of time," he tells BILLBOARD. "At least until the beat drops and then you can tell"... I had no idea that writing ED SHEERAN into GAME OF THRONES (tiny tiny spoiler alert) literally meant writing Ed Sheeran into GoT. I don't even think he had to do hair and makeup for that role. I was actually surprised to learn that GoT composer RAMIN DJAWADI, and not Sheeran, wrote the tune he was serenading his fellow KING'S LANDING soldiers with (though if I were Djawadi, I'd want those sync fees, too)... PITCHFORK gives APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION a perfect 10... From Monday nights at ARLENE'S GROCERY to Saturday morning children's gigs all over NEW YORK to Sunday nights on IFC to touring with the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA to joining the metal supergroup ADRENALINE MOB, DAVID ZABLIDOWSKY was me and you living the rock and roll dream, and living it well. The dream ended tragically Friday afternoon while Adrenaline Mob was en route to a gig in BILOXI, MISS. A horrible reminder: There's no greater danger from the rock and roll lifestyle than the very road where it is almost always lived. RIP. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| It was a Shawnee who introduced the power chord to rock and roll. But American Indians' massive influence on rock and pop history has largely been buried - until now. | | |
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| Imaginary musicians bend reality in strange ways. Why doesn’t their music sound stranger? | | |
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| Spotify's Tuma Basa walks Billboard through the process of pitching and placing artists and songs on playlists at the world's largest streaming service. | | |
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| By mapping a technology’s past, you can predict what future customers will want. | | |
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| Suffice to say he doesn't seem bothered about criticism of his music, having pioneered the crossover EDM hit with tracks like "Sexy Bitch" and the Black Eyed Peas song "I Gotta Feeling", which he produced, and which led to artists such as Calvin Harris and Avicii being able to reach mainstream radio in the United States. | | |
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| At Empac, musicians and technicians are learning to work with sophisticated advances in spatial audio technologies. | | |
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| Dear The Eavis family, and all who make Glastonbury happen, So I write a lot of letters, but I promise this one will be worth reading - stick with it. This isn't complaining about the crowds or the headliners, or telling the world how life changing the week was for me to provoke envy inducing... | | |
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| If you want to understand Magritte, Dalí and de Chirico, fire up "Doolittle." | | |
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| SoundCloud’s current precarious position has sent a ripple of anxiety through the global music community. | | |
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| "Gangnam Style" blew up in 2012 and graced the world with one of the most popular music videos ever. Five years later, Psy looks to the past and is ready for the future. | | |
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| | | the bear and the maiden fair |
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| “In case this is our last dance, I want to thank all our fans in southern California,” Don Henley told the full house. | | |
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| Dave Weigel’s ‘The Song That Never Ends’ chronicles the genesis of progressive rock-the bands, the music, and the fans of 45-minute pop songs. But it all begins with a cruise. | | |
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| The temple of audiophilia. | | |
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| If there’s a downside to the rise of streaming in artistic terms it’s that people listen to albums less frequently than they used to because they can stream individual tracks on demand. There are far fewer concept albums, or albums whose tracks have a broader meaning or purpose collectively than they do individually. | | |
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| Remixing reality with AR and UK garage's very own phoenix | | |
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| Blues legends Keb' Mo' and Taj Mahal are distinctly different individuals. One grew up in Compton, California, the other grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. One was raised on Caribbean music, the other got schooled in the Southern Blues. One is quiet and contemplative, the other is an excitable storyteller. | | |
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| There are two differing stories about Soundcloud currently percolating in the media. They are: The rise of "Soundcloud rap," which, as reported on most prominently by the "New York Times," is currently the driving creative force of the rap underground. And Soundcloud, which recently laid off hundreds of employees, may go out of business imminently due to lack of money. | | |
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| From four-wheeling with Johnny Cash to providing contemporary country with one of its most popular guitar tones, the band's Music City roots run deep. | | |
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| Carson's doctoral dissertation, a 34-track rap album, went viral. This fall, he'll teach hip-hop history and composition in the hope of giving his students tools to engage in difficult conversations. | | |
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| In this excerpt from his autobiography, the Asian rapper remembers how the group came together. | | |
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