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☆ Grammys 2024: There’s a new category for African musicians at the awards. Meet the nominees
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Lamide Akintobi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Lagos, Nigeria CNN —For the first time, African music will have its own category at the Grammys. The Recording Academy will showcase three new categories for this year’s awards, including “Best African Music Performance” — featuring some of Afrobeats’ global superstars. The Nigerian singer best known as Davido is also nominated for Best Global Album and Best Global Music Performance. Burna BoyVideo Ad Feedback The night Burna Boy became a Hollywood star 03:19 - Source: CNNBurna Boy, whose real name is Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, is up for a total of four Grammys this year for Best Global Music Album, Best Melodic Rap performance, Best Global Music Performance and Best African Music Performance — and will perform at the awards. No stranger to the awards circuit, he won the Best Global Music Album Grammy in 2021 for his album “Twice as Tall.” Burna Boy ended a historic 2023 at No.

Persons: ”, Harvey Mason Jr, Arya Starr, Sarah Aderibigbe, Ayra Starr, “, Barack, Kelly Rowland, Stormzy, Tiwa Savage, ” Asake, Ahmed Ololade, Amapiano, Olamide, Tyla Tyla, John Lamparski, Musa Keys, David Adeleke’s, Davido, “ I’m Organizations: Nigeria CNN —, Recording Academy, Recording, Spotify, YouTube, Mavin Records, CNN, Vibe, Art, Olamide, Getty Images, South, Hollywood, Best Locations: Lagos, Nigeria, Los Angeles, Square , New York City, AFP, South African, Nigerian, Africa

☆ YouTube CEO's No. 1 success tip: It's 'the secret sauce'—I wish I got 'that advice early in my career'
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has four words of advice for anyone looking to succeed: Be true to yourself. "I wish somebody had given me that advice early in my career, because nothing rings more true." The experience at YouTube, Mohan said, taught him about the value of authenticity. By his estimation, the most successful creators on YouTube are transparent about their real lives and show their personalities in videos. "Whether they're sports creators, whether they're musicians or artists … of course, they're incredibly talented and know how to tell stories, but they're true to themselves," Mohan said.

Persons: Neal Mohan, Mohan Organizations: YouTube, Stanford Graduate School of

☆ TikTok is about to find out if it can survive without Taylor Swift and Ice Spice
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Hannah Getahun | Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Universal Music Group said it could not reach a deal with TikTok to license its music. The label says TikTok pays a "fraction of the rate" that other platforms do for licensing. The current contract between UMG and TikTok expires Wednesday, per the letter. 2", Ice Spice's "In Ha Mood," and Taylor Swift's "Cruel Summer" are a part of the label's catalog. "TikTok has been able to reach 'artist-first' agreements with every other label and publisher," TikTok told Business Insider.

Persons: UMG, TikTok, —, Taylor Swift, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, Beyonce, Doja, Taylor, Shou Zi, Chew Organizations: Universal Music Group, Service, UMG, Business Locations: UMG, TikTok, China

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Fans of the soulful sounds of Detroit’s Motown and Memphis’ Stax Records will be able to enjoy music from both brands in the same place if they watch and listen to a free, online show streaming during Black History Month in February. Registration has begun for “Stax Meets Motown,” which features musicians from Stax Music Academy playing hits from both of the influential soul and R&B music labels. “Think Glee meets Grease meets Fame meets Hairspray, all with classic 1960s soul music,” Stax said in the release. Stax Music Academy began these virtual presentations in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. “This year’s show is a lively comparison of Stax and Motown,” said Stax Music Academy Executive Director Isaac Daniel.

Persons: Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Marvis Gaye, Tammi Turrell, Otis Redding, Sam, Dave, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, Booker T, “, ” Stax, Stax, ”, Isaac Daniel Organizations: Motown, Memphis ’ Stax Records, Stax, Stax Music Academy, Jackson, Booker, Washington High School, Detroit Riots Locations: MEMPHIS, Tenn, Memphis

☆ Universal Music Group pulls Taylor Swift’s songs off TikTok in dispute over payments
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Universal Music Group has pulled its music off TikTok, preventing more than 1 billion users of the platform from streaming a vast catalog of songs by Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Rihanna and other artists. TikTok allows its users to add music to their videos. TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, had proposed paying a “fraction” of the rate that similarly-sized social media platforms pay, Universal said. Like other music companies, Netherlands-based Universal charges royalty fees when its songs are played on social media platforms. TikTok is allowing its platform to be “flooded” with AI-generated music, and provides users with tools to create their own AI-generated recordings, Universal said.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Universal, TikTok, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, J Balvin, Amy Winehouse, ”, ” TikTok, ” Elizabeth Wagmeister Organizations: London CNN — Universal, TikTok, Universal Locations: Netherlands

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Underneath his umbrella, NFL legend Dan Marino stood nearly drenched on the sideline watching Prince’s epic “Purple Rain” Super Bowl halftime performance in 2007 during a torrential Miami downpour. “The halftime performance has come a long way,” said the Hall of Fame quarterback who played 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins and competed in the 1985 Super Bowl. His show will be vastly different than the NFL’s first Super Bowl halftime show in 1967, which featured marching bands from the University of Arizona and Grambling State University, a historically Black college, along with hundreds of flying pigeons, thousands of balloons and two soaring men wearing jetpacks. After the inaugural Super Bowl, the NFL kept bringing back other marching bands, drill teams, signed Chubby Checker and Up with People, an organization that stage positive thinking through dance and song performances. Dudowsky recalled when Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said the “Super Bowl of music is the Super Bowl.” He said the halftime show has been able to grow thanks to the NFL's ability to adjust to the current culture and giving deserving artists the platform to express their artistry.

Persons: Dan Marino, Marino, Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Aerosmith, ”, Marino's, Rihanna, Katy Perry's, Scarlett Johansson, doesn’t, she’s, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson ’, Gaga, ” Johansson, “, you’ve, Kris Jenner, Jenner, ” Usher —, Chubby Checker, Gloria Estefan, Billie Jean, Diana Ross, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Seth Dudowsky, Jay, —, don’t, Dudowsky, Chris Martin, Dr, Dre, Snoop Dogg, Dogg, Roger Goodell, ” Dogg, Usher, he's Organizations: ANGELES, of Fame, Miami Dolphins, Super, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Associated Press, Bowl, University of Arizona, Grambling State University, NFL, New, Rose Bowl, Coldplay, Roc Nation Locations: Miami, Las Vegas, U.S, Southern California

☆ The quiet American: US reveals pavilion design for World Expo 2025
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Christy Choi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —At next year’s World Expo, a grand carnival showcasing different nations’ achievements, the US is planning something unusually quiet. Courtesy Trahan ArchitectsWorld Expos, or World’s Fairs as some are known, have celebrated some of the major inventions of their time, including stereoscopic photography, vulcanized rubber, the zipper, the internal combustion engine and IMAX. Courtesy Trahan ArchitectsTrahan’s design features an elongated outdoor space sandwiched between two triangular buildings. Courtesy Trahan ArchitectsBut as well as representing American interests overseas, the pavilion design also draws on the nature, culture and history of the Expo’s host country. Expo 2025, which marks the second time Osaka has hosted the event, is expected to welcome almost 30 million visitors.

Persons: ”, Trey Trahan, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, George Westinghouse, Rahm Emanuel, Biden, Donald Trump, Trahan, “ wabi Organizations: CNN, Fairs, Trahan Architects, Architects World Expos, Chicago World’s, Expos, US State Department, ES Global, Imagination, Trahan Locations: Osaka, Japan, Tokyo, Chicago, Seattle, Philadelphia, Paris, —, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, United States

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 66th annual Grammy Awards are on Sunday, airing live from Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena on CBS and Paramount+. In 2021, they had the idea to turn musicians into each other’s audiences when there couldn’t be one, a concept that has informed every Grammys since. We’ve really just tried to make it a loving room for the music community.”Some elements of the stage – like the gramophone in the middle – will remain the same. There are three new categories at the 2024 Grammy Awards as well, including the first-ever best African music performance award. If Victoria Monét ’s “Hollywood” wins best traditional R&B performance, her daughter Hazel Monét will become the youngest Grammy winner in history at 2 years old.

Persons: Raj Kapoor, Ben Winston, Jesse Collins, “, ” Winston, “ We’ve, ”, — “, Trevor Noah, “ There’s, There’s, Harvey Mason jr, Winston, “ I’m, Kapoor, we’re, It’s, ” Mason, we’ve, ” “, Burna, Dave McLeod, Mason, Taylor Swift, she’d, Victoria Monét, Hollywood ”, Hazel Monét, Karol G, Jack Antonoff, Babyface, Kelly Clarkson, Kendrick Lamar, Baby Keem Organizations: ANGELES, CBS, Paramount, COVID, Associated Press, Recording Academy, —, WHO, Hollywood, “ Locations: Los Angeles, people’s, urbana, Será

NEW YORK (AP) — Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, the longtime wife and manager of Brian Wilson whom the Beach Boys co-founder often credited for stabilizing his famously troubled life, has died at age 77. Wilson died Tuesday at the couple's home in Beverly Hills, California, Brian Wilson announced online. Brian Wilson's spokesperson Lauren Mele said Wednesday that she passed away “suddenly,” but no other details were available. We are lost,” Brian Wilson wrote on his web site. One day, in the mid-1980s, Brian Wilson turned up, looking to buy a car.

Persons: Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, Brian Wilson, Wilson, Brian Wilson's, Lauren Mele, “, ” Brian Wilson, “ Melinda, Melinda Wilson’s, Elizabeth Banks, Melinda Ledbetter, ”, Ledbetter, Melinda, Dr, Eugene Landy, Landy, Wilson ., Marilyn Rovell, Carnie, Wendy, Wilson Phillips, Melinda Wilson, can’t Organizations: Beach Boys, Washington Post Locations: Beverly Hills , California, Pueblo , Colorado, Whittier , California, Los Angeles

“The group participants remain detained at the immigration center in a shared cell with 80 people,” the post said. The seven band members were arrested last Thursday after playing a concert on the southern resort island of Phuket, reportedly for not having proper working papers. After paying a fine, the band members were sent to the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok. The detained musicians “include Russia citizens as well as dual nationals of Russia and other countries, including Israel and Australia,” the group Human Rights Watch said in a statement Tuesday. Andrei Lugovoi, a member of the lower house of Russia's parliament, called the band members “scum” for their criticism of Russia's military operations in Ukraine.

Persons: Ilya Ilyin, “, ”, Elaine Pearson, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Gudkov, Gudkov, Andrei Lugovoi, ” Lugovoi, Alexander Litvinenko Organizations: —, Facebook, RIA Novosti, Immigration Detention, Human Rights Watch, Rights Watch, AP, Kremlin, Russian Foreign Ministry, YouTube, Spotify Locations: BANGKOK, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Russian, Phuket, Bangkok, Australia, Asia, ”, Britain, London

☆ What 25 musicians looked like at their first Grammys awards
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Jessica Booth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Toni Braxton won her first two Grammys in 1994. Toni Braxton at her first Grammys. Robin Platzer/GettyBraxton walked the carpet at the 1994 Grammy Awards show, where she scored two big wins for best new artist and best female R&B vocal performance. Currently, she has seven Grammys.

Persons: Toni Braxton, Robin Platzer, Getty Braxton

☆ Odawara: Japanese castle town invites travelers to become ‘daimyo’ for a day
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Julian Ryall | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Simon Celestine arrived at Odawara castle as a tourist from France but he is now lord of one of the most impressive feudal-era fortresses in Japan – if only for a day. Odawara Tourism AssociationOdawara has been selected as one of the first recipients of government assistance to tell its story and local tourism authorities have been busy devising initiatives that play on its strengths. Five generations of the Hojo clan made Odawara castle one of the most formidable in the country and it was never successfully stormed in battle. Odawara Tourism AssociationThe innermost courtyard is across another bridge over a moat, up a flight of steep steps and through a gate set into a two-meter-thick wall. The “Lord of the Castle” experience can be booked through the official Odawara Tourism Association website.

Persons: Simon Celestine, Hojo, Naoya Asao, ” Celestine, ”, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Hideyoshi, Meiji, Celestine, Tomomi Iwayama, Iwayama, sashimi Organizations: CNN, Japan CNN, Odawara Tourism, Odawara, Odawara Tourism Association, CNN Travel Locations: Odawara, Japan, France, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hakone, Izu, Sagami Bay, Mount Fuji, Edo, Kanto

☆ Moneyball-Plus: What Happens When Investors Treat Athletes Like Startups
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Joseph Bien-Kahn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

What if athletes could sell a percentage of their future earnings to investors, the same way tech entrepreneurs offer a stake in their promising new ideas in return for venture capital? "We look at the game very, very differently than everyone else," Schwimer tells the pitcher. Finlete is launching a fund that allows fans to buy shares in a prospect's future earnings. What if you could sell a share of your future earnings, he asked, for $10,000? Today, he says, more than 80% of the players BLA has invested in are outside the league's top 300 prospects.

Persons: They're, Michael Schwimer, —, Schwimer, BLA, haven't, Fernando Tatis Jr, We've, it's, Daniil, David Liberman, Garrett Broshuis, he'd, He'd, Houdini, Christian Petersen, Erik Kratz, Kratz, Cole Hamels, Hamels, Sean M, Marvin Bush, George W, Bush, Paul DePodesta, bankroll BLA's, Bill Miller, Miller, HBO's, Michael, Jeff Bezos, Bezos, I'd, I'm, Steven Duncker, Goldman Sachs, Elly De La Cruz, Dylan Buell, phenom, Scott Boras, Yermín Mercedes, Francisco Mejía, countersue Mejia, Gervon Dexter, they're, Dexter, Wharton, He's, he'll, isn't, scoffing, he's Organizations: Philadelphia Phillies, Big League, San Diego Padres, Benchmark Capital, Sports, Wharton Sports Business, MLB, University of Virginia, Partners, Phillies, Getty, AAA, Arizona Fall League, Ritz Carlton, Cleveland Browns, Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Big League Advance, Chicago Bears, University of Florida, Huntsman, NCAA Locations: Maryland, Philadelphia, United States, baseball's, Latin America, America, Dominican Republic, Cleveland, Florida

☆ Icon of the Seas: The world’s largest cruise ship sets sail on maiden voyage
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Terry Ward | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —There is nothing subtle about the world’s largest cruise ship. The commotion brought traffic to a halt along the causeway to Miami Beach that parallels the cruise ship channel. Icon of the Seas’ list of superlatives and firsts is longFinding time to fit in everything onboard Icon of the Seas promises to keep passengers busy. A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said Icon of the Seas is 24% more energy efficient than required for ships designed today. Royal Caribbean International is clearly pitching Icon of the Seas to a market that goes beyond cruising.

Persons: Lionel Messi, ”, Hurricane Hunter, Oz, Bryan Comer, Comer, Colleen McDaniel, McDaniels, ” McDaniels, Michael Verdure, Rob Clabbers, Q, ” Clabbers, Wagyu, Michael Bayley, ” Bayley, Jay Schneider, Royal, “, ‘, ’ ” Schneider, Terry Ward Organizations: CNN, Port, Hurricane, Storm, Royal, The International Council, Clean Transportation, Royal Caribbean International, Cruise, CNN Travel, Seas, Star, Royal Caribbean Locations: Port of Miami, Turku, Finland, Miami Beach, Argentine, Miami, Eastern Caribbean, Sedona , Arizona, Royal Caribbean, Florida’s Port Canaveral, Orlando, Chicago, Izumi, Caribbean, Vegas, Florida, Tampa

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Regional Mexican music — a catchall term that encompasses mariachi, banda, corridos, norteño, sierreño and other genres — has become a global phenomenon, topping music charts and reaching new audiences as it crosses borders. Overall, regional Mexican music grew 60% in the U.S., accounting for a whopping 21.9 billion on-demand audio streams. On Spotify, Mexican music grew 400% worldwide over the last five years, according to Uriel Waizel, lead editor at Spotify Mexico. And I think that is exciting.”Waizel says that while Mexican music is centuries old, “current Mexican music is breaking because it is the music that young people listen to." Actor and singer Lucero, a veteran performer of regional Mexican music, also remembers those days.

Persons: Selena Quintanilla, Eslabon, Pluma’s “ Ella Baila Sola, ”, Eslabon Armado, Junior, Leila Cobo, Billboard’s, Uriel Waizel, Pluma, Taylor Swift, ” Cobo, Waizel, Édgar Barrera, Drake, Barrera, Carín León, Maluma, Don Juan, León, ” Maluma, Pedro Tovar, wasn't, Juan Gabriel, Vicente Fernández's, “, ’ ”, Gabriel Abaroa Jr, Lucero, Becky G, couldn't, it’s, I’m, ” ___ Sherman Organizations: MEXICO CITY, — Regional, Spotify, Grupo Frontera, U.S ., Fuerza Regida, Associated Press, Cobo, Spotify Mexico, YouTube, Fuerza, Premios Juventud, AP, Latin Recording Academy, Mexicans Locations: MEXICO, Mexican, “, U.S, Mexico, Frontera, Puerto Rico, ’, Mexican American, Los Angeles

☆ A Child of Another War Who Makes Music for Ukrainians
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Carlotta Gall | More About Carlotta Gall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When the owner of an underground club in Kyiv reached out to Western musicians to play in Ukraine, long before the war, there were not so many takers. But an American from Boston, Mirza Ramic, accepted the invitation, spawning a lasting friendship with the club’s owner, Taras Khimchak. “I kept coming back,” Mr. Ramic, 40, said in an interview at the club, Mezzanine, where he was preparing for a performance during a recent tour of Ukraine. The country, he said “is one of the places that has welcomed me most and been the most supportive of my music.” And so especially after the Russian invasion two years ago, he added, “I wanted to come now, to show my support in these hard times.”

Persons: Mirza Ramic, Taras Khimchak, “, ” Mr, Ramic, ” Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Boston

☆ The Sleepy Copyright Office in the Middle of a High-Stakes Clash Over A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Cecilia Kang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For decades, the Copyright Office has been a small and sleepy office within the Library of Congress. Each year, the agency’s 450 employees register roughly half a million copyrights, the ownership rights for creative works, based on a two-centuries-old law. Thousands of artists, musicians and tech executives have written to the agency, and hundreds have asked to speak at listening sessions hosted by the office. The attention stems from a first-of-its-kind review of copyright law that the Copyright Office is conducting in the age of artificial intelligence. The agency plans to put out three reports this year revealing its position on copyright law in relation to A.I.

Persons: Shira Perlmutter Organizations: of Congress, Microsoft, Google, Copyright

☆ ‘Tired of Being Quiet,’ Sarah Jarosz Tests the Mainstream
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Jon Pareles | More About Jon Pareles | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jarosz, 32, is a luminary in acoustic Americana, where bluegrass, folk, jazz and chamber music mingle with pop and rock. The instrument sounds a little darker and twangier than acoustic guitar in the same range — a hand-played lower voice that answers Jarosz’s own hovering mezzo-soprano. She made her first four albums in Nashville, and she was urged to write songs with more seasoned musicians; she chose not to release any of them. “The quote-unquote ‘Nashville co-writing’ thing had been pushed on me when I was like 18, 17, making my first record,” she said. “I was really closed off to it back in that time, because I felt like I was still finding my voice.

Persons: Jarosz, ”, “, Hemby, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga Locations: Austin , Texas, Wimberley, Nashville

☆ Review: The Philadelphia Orchestra Revels, and Struggles, in Jazz
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Anastasia Tsioulcas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Much of 20th-century classical music owes a deep thanks to jazz. And while on paper, the Philadelphia Orchestra’s concert at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday night was organized for a festival at the hall, Fall of the Weimar Republic: Dancing on the Precipice, the subtext was American jazz. All three of the composers on the program (Stravinsky, Weill and Gershwin) loved and, to one extent or another, made references to the style in their music. Weill, who left Europe for the United States after the fall of the Weimar Republic, was also steeped in jazz. The orchestra staked out rhythmic details with crystalline precision and saw each phrase through with patience and a rich sound.

Persons: Stravinsky, Weill, Gershwin, wouldn’t, “, ”, Patrick Williams, Yannick Nézet, Nitzan, Edward Hopper Organizations: Philadelphia, Carnegie Hall Locations: Weimar Republic, Europe, U.S, United States

The website, beloved for being one of modern music’s true centers of gravity and renowned for its daily record reviews scored 0.0 to 10.0, will be folded into GQ, parent company Condé Nast announced Wednesday. Schreiber sold Pitchfork to Condé Nast in 2015. Says Snapes: “Music is so much more than a ‘men’s interest’ or leisure pursuit. Pitchfork paid close, longform critical attention to so many different types of music, and so many different niches. “It’s the independent, experimental artists that are going to suffer.”___ Maria Sherman writes about music for The Associated Press.

Persons: Condé Nast, Anna Wintour, ” Wintour, Ryan Schreiber, Pitchfork, Schreiber, ”, Laura Snapes, ” Snapes, “, ” Ann Powers, ” Powers, Wintour, Melissa Consorte, Condé, P4K, Consorte, Joanna Melissakis, Gareth Paisey, Yasmin Williams, Sam Sodomsky, Williams, Paisey, “ We’ve, Taylor Swift, ” ___ Maria Sherman Organizations: ANGELES, Pitchfork, GQ, Associated Press, Napster, “, SPIN, Blender, PITCHFORK, AP, Condé Nast, The Associated Press

☆ Another Hollywood strike? Musicians union ‘prepared to do whatever it needs’ for AI protections and streaming residuals
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Elizabeth Wagmeister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The American Federation of Musicians (AFM), a union representing musicians across the entertainment industry, will begin negotiations Monday on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The union said it is seeking a deal to better reflects the current state of streaming media. The AFM is also seeking AI protection, increased wages, health care improvements, improved working conditions and residual payments for streaming content. According to the AFM, musicians who record on soundtracks make 75% less on streaming content due to less residual income. And the AFM is not the only union in the entertainment industry which might strike in 2024.

Persons: Los Angeles CNN —, ”, Tino Gagliardi, “, ” Gagliardi, “ We’ve, they’ve, Matthew Loeb, ” Loeb Organizations: Los Angeles CNN, American Federation of Musicians, Alliance, Television Producers, CNN, Federation, Writers Guild of America, Screen, American Federation of Television, Radio Artists, WGA, SAG, International Alliance, “ Locations: United States, Canada, Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks, California

☆ Protecting Opera, ‘a People’s Art Form’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Farah Nayeri | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Is opera an endangered art form that needs to be protected and preserved for the generations to come? For a group of about 30,000 Italian music professionals and practitioners, the answer was yes. Consisting of singers, musicians, scholars, composers, conductors and directors, the group formed a committee supported by Italy’s leading opera houses and musical institutions, then persuaded UNESCO to add “the practice of opera singing in Italy” to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The inscription was made official in December. The list identifies what UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization, calls “fragile” nonphysical elements that play a crucial role in “maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization.”

Persons: Italy’s, Italy ”, ” Organizations: UNESCO, Intangible, Heritage, Humanity, United Nations Locations: Italy

☆ A New York Art Debut, a Los Angeles Love Song
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Siddhartha Mitter | More About Siddhartha Mitter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Video — four channels projected floor-to-ceiling — is just one part of this multi-sensory experience. Completing the immersive effect, shadows projected on the rear wall evoke Los Angeles street art and sights — an Olmec head; a raven on a power line. A bespoke scent — inspired by the earth and flora of Griffith Park — wafts through the gallery. “I find L.A. beautiful and horrific, and I love trying to see it that way,” Smith said. “You can have such profound rage at the city and then be gobstopped at a giant feral bush of bougainvillea.

Persons: Meshell Ndegeocello, Kelsey Lu —, Coleman, Ebony L, Haynes, Walker, ” Smith, ” Locations: Los Angeles, Griffith

☆ How unregulated radio stations out of Mexico fueled the country music boom in America
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Yoonji Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Known as "border radio," the unregulated American radio industry sprung up on Mexico's northern border in the 1930s. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesIn the years that followed, other border radio stations sprung up in Mexico. Hank Thompson, another country music star who grew up in Waco in the 30s, said border radio stations were the only stations where one could listen to country music most of the time. But the legacy of border radio stations continued to live on in the country music they helped popularize, as well as its cousin genres. According to American honky-tonk star Webb Pierce, country music "might not have survived if it hadn't been for border radio."

Persons: —, Bill Crawford, Crawford, weren't, Will Horwitz, Horwitz's, Jimmie Rodgers, Carter, Michael Ochs, Jesus Christ, Dallas Turner, John Romulus Brinkley, Brinkley, Pope Brock, Minerva, Minnie, Jones, Patsy Montana, Slim Rinehart, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Hank Thompson, Lydia Mendoza, Rosa Dominguez, Mexican Nightingale, Dominguez, Maybelle, Webb Pierce, It's Organizations: Service, Business, Amazing Broadcasters, American Airwaves, Keystone, Gamma, Getty Images, US, charlatans, Houston, Country, Michael Ochs Archives, Kansas he'd, The Kansas State Medical Board, Federal Radio Commission, Soibelman, Tejano, Getty, Thunderbirds, ZZ Locations: American, West, Mexico, Canada, United States, Mexican, France, Tamaulipas, KFKB, Kansas, New York, Waco, South Dakota

☆ Sleater-Kinney’s 10 (or Actually 11) Best Songs
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Lindsay Zoladz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dear listeners,I first heard the band Sleater-Kinney when I was a teenager, and it’s not an exaggeration to say it changed my life. The drummer, Janet Weiss, played harder than pretty much anyone I’d ever seen, of any gender, and she sometimes wore pigtails. I still believe that Sleater-Kinney’s two-decade, eight-album stretch from 1995 to 2015 ranks among the strongest runs ever by an American band. But its last three albums, released since Weiss left the group, have largely left me cold. But I’d be lying, or blindly stanning, if I said I rank this new album with the band’s best work.

Persons: Kinney, it’s, —, I’d, Janet Weiss, Weiss, Carrie Brownstein Locations: American

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