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☆ Watch Brands Borrow Some of Music’s Cool
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Victoria Gomelsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2022, when Mark Ronson, the Grammy- and Oscar-winning D.J., songwriter and super-producer, became a brand ambassador for the Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet (A.P. ), there was an element of kismet to the partnership. through music,” Mr. Ronson recalled last month on a phone call from his home in New York City. “I had to track it down,” he said. In July, the multi-hyphenate entertainer hit a high note in his relationship with the brand when, wearing a 1982 gold Royal Oak from his personal collection, he performed at a closing-night concert that he had curated on A.P.’s behalf at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

Persons: Mark Ronson, Audemars Piguet, “, ” Mr, Ronson, ” Organizations: Montreux Jazz Locations: Swiss, New York City, “, Paris, ”, Switzerland, Lake Geneva

☆ Analysis: Tony Bennett sang in a key that Jason Aldean’s song can’t reach
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

White jazz artists were antiracists before the term was inventedMany of the tributes to Bennett mentioned his disdain for bigotry. Many White jazz artists were antiracists, long before the word was invented. Frank Sinatra, Bennett’s musical mentor, recorded with and relentlessly championed Black jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. He hired a Black jazz bassist, Eugene Wright, and refused to play in segregated venues. There are countless photos of a beaming Bennett hanging out with Black jazz artists.

Persons: Tony Bennett, Ed Sullivan’s, Bennett, ”, Duke Ellington, “, ’ ” Bennett, there’s, Jason Aldean, Aldean, Dick Gregory, Coretta Scott King, Rick Diamond, Bennett —, ” Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Bennett’s, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dave Brubeck, Eugene Wright, Benny Goodman, Jim Crow, Ellington, Louis Armstrong, don’t, It’s, that’s, Lionel Hampton, Goodman, Michael Ochs, Amy Winehouse, Winehouse, fidgety, “ We’ll, “ You’re, ” Winehouse, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Elvis Costello, Bennett’s unflappability, Bennett wasn’t, Brubeck, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Evans, Mark Allan, Greg Thomas, ” Thomas, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas, Wynton Marsalis, Bennett –, Anthony Dominick Benedetto, –, Thomas, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Toronto Star, MLK, Atlanta Civic Center, US Army, Carnegie Hall, Michael Ochs Archives, Jazz, Studios Locations: New York, Tennessee, America, Atlanta, Nazi, African, British, Turkey, Japan, London, Aldean, American, Europe, United States

☆ Analysis: Country music is at a crossroads. Two of its most viral songs show why
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Aj Willingham | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The struggle for the soul of country music is on full display now as two very different songs have been making headlines. Michael Loccisano/Getty ImagesThese two songs, so differently received yet recorded under the same big country umbrella, are an embodiment of the crossroads where country music currently stands. Like all musical traditions that fuse, evolve and splinter, country music and its legions of fans are engaged in a negotiation for the genre’s main identity. When the Dixie Chicks spoke out against the Iraq War in the early 2000s, their popularity in country music circles never fully recovered.. Small towns, fast cars and American values are as essential to country music as four chords and the truth.

Persons: Jason Aldean, Luke Combs, Tracy Chapman, Chapman, Combs, ”, Tracy, ” Chapman, “, Luke, Bryan Bedder, they’ve, Aldean, Little Richard, Otis Redding, ” Aldean, —, Holly G, Morgan Wallen, Michael Loccisano, foremothers, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, ” Combs, it’s Organizations: CNN, CMT, Billboard, Singer, Amarillo, Black Opry, Washington Post, Texas Democrat, country’s, Dixie, Grand Ole Opry Locations: Copenhagen, underrepresentation, Aldean, Macon , Georgia, Iraq

☆ Cary Elwes Is Soothed By Grunge and a Maltese Poodle
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Chris Kornelis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Elwes, 60, talked about the music, cities, pets and pastimes that similarly inspire him. Let’s face it: Nirvana and Pearl Jam changed music. It’s very charming and there’s very little traffic, so it’s perfect for a sunny day. 4Our Maltese PoodleWhen I was a kid, I had a cat, but I didn’t understand how to treat it well and to get the cat to hang out with me. I never wanted a dog, but then my daughter sent me a picture of a Maltese poodle and I just about melted.

Persons: Elwes, Pearl Jam, there’s, I’m, I’ve Organizations: Marylebone London, Maltese Locations: Marylebone, Maltese

☆ Dick Biondi, Fast-Talking Star of Top 40 Radio, Dies at 90
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dick Biondi, an exuberant, fast-talking Top 40 radio personality, nicknamed “the Screamer,” who in the early 1960s became one of Chicago’s most popular disc jockeys and, thanks to the strength of his station’s signal, was heard well beyond the city, died on June 26 in Chicago. His death was confirmed by Pamela Enzweiler-Pulice, the director of a forthcoming documentary, “The Voice That Rocked America: The Dick Biondi Story.”Mr. Biondi was a yeller, though not a shock jock, at WLS-AM, which had just changed its format to rock ‘n’ roll when he was hired for the late evening shift in 1960 for $378 a week (about $3,900 in today’s dollars). The station’s reach into 38 states and Canada provided Mr. Biondi with a platform that made him a major media personality as rock music’s popularity surged. Mr. Biondi, who was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998, quickly established himself as a Chicago star. He called himself “the Wild I-tralian”; hosted record hops and charity events; and recorded a novelty song, “On Top of a Pizza,” a parody of “On Top of Old Smoky” that in 1961 became a local hit.

Persons: Dick Biondi, ”, Pamela Enzweiler, ” Mr, Biondi Organizations: WLS, Radio Hall of Fame Locations: Chicago, America, Canada

☆ How Shahzad Ismaily Became Musicians’ Favorite Musician
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Grayson Haver Currin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Shahzad Ismaily cannot regulate his body temperature. When he was a month old, his parents rushed him to the hospital because he was beyond feverish and struggling to breathe. “The hardest part of playing music with people is a kind of nonverbal, total empathetic awareness of how another person feels, how a room feels. I’m moving with the world around me. His Brooklyn studio, Figure 8, remains an affordable and inclusive hub for experimental musicians, even as Ismaily becomes a marquee session player.

Persons: Shahzad Ismaily, ectodermal, Ismaily, “, I’m, he’s, Bonnie “ Prince ” Billy, Yoko Ono Organizations: Brooklyn Locations: Netherlands, New York

☆ The New York Philharmonic’s Season of Mixed Boons
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Zachary Woolfe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

David Geffen Hall, the New York Philharmonic’s gut-renovated home at Lincoln Center, isn’t perfect. The decorating tends cheesy and clashing — even if seating that wraps around the stage has done wonders for intimacy. But for the orchestra, which ends its first season in what is essentially a new hall this weekend, Geffen has been a kind of talisman. Sales have been robust all season. In February, another talisman appeared: the star conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who was named the orchestra’s next music director.

Persons: David Geffen, Geffen, Gustavo Dudamel, Dudamel won’t, won’t Organizations: David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, Geffen Locations: York

☆ Review: Gustavo Dudamel Leads His New York Philharmonic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Zachary Woolfe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Gustavo Dudamel began his reign at the New York Philharmonic on Friday with an ending. The program was planned long before Dudamel’s appointment, but it turned out to be ideal for this moment. Nearly an hour and a half long, Mahler’s Ninth fills a concert on its own. On Friday it provided a long, focused communion between a conductor and the players he’ll be leading in the years to come. (Dudamel’s predecessor, Jaap van Zweden, finishes next season and, because of classical music’s ludicrously slow planning cycles, Dudamel, currently at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, won’t officially start his five-year contract until 2026.)

☆ Opinion | The Flaws of Perfection
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Warren Zanes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Mr. Springsteen’s prior release, “The River,” was his first No. “Nebraska” was dirty, kind of mumbled in sections, its hushed tones punctuated by a few screams; it told scary stories. Warren Zanes is the author of “Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’” and “Petty: The Biography.” A former member of the Del Fuegos, he teaches at N.Y.U. and continues to write and record music, sometimes with the poet Paul Muldoon’s Rogue Oliphant band, sometimes on his own. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

☆ Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott and More to Join Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Neil Shah | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame named its latest inductees on Wednesday: Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners will join the institution’s ranks at its 38th annual ceremony on Nov. 3. The class of 2023 pays homage to rock ‘n’ roll’s roots by including artists across racial and genre lines, from hip-hop (a descendant of the blues) to country, to reflect the music’s diverse, heterogeneous origins. This year’s awards also acknowledge the particular achievements of hip-hop—“the new rock ‘n’ roll,” as John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, put it in an interview. The induction ceremony will take place at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in New York, the birthplace of hip-hop, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

☆ Streaming boosts recorded music revenue, China market growing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Among the trends highlighted by the IFPI, a trade body for the recorded music industry, were China nudging into the top five markets globally for the first time, and income from the use of recorded music in adverts, film, television and games, rising by 22.3%. Subscription audio streaming revenues rose 10.3% to $12.7 billion, IFPI said, adding there were 589 million users of paid subscription accounts by end-2022. Overall, streaming accounted for 67% of total recorded music revenues. Global music revenues enjoyed their eighth consecutive year of growth. Puerto Rican singer and rapper Bad Bunny's "Un Verano Sin Ti" topped the 2022 IFPI Global Albums Chart while Britain's Harry Styles won the IFPI Global Single of the Year Award 2022 for hit "As It Was", the body said last month.

Several of this year's Grammy nominees, including "abcdefu" singer Gayle and R&B artist Muni Long, rose in popularity after influencers and everyday users posted TikTok videos with their music. Even as the music industry gathers in Los Angeles to celebrate artists and their songs at Sunday's Grammy awards, the relationship between hitmaker TikTok and music labels is showing signs of strain. As deals with the major music companies expire, the labels are looking to receive some of TikTok's ad revenue, according to Tatiana Cirisano, music industry analyst for Midia Research. One music industry insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "it’s open to interpretation" why this is happening now. "TikTok has become really integral to the way that younger people relate to music, discover music and consume it,” Cirisano said.

☆ Iggy Pop Isn’t About to Whitewash His Past
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +18 min

Mamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times Talk Iggy Pop Isn’t About to Whitewash His PastIggy Pop’s life and work constitute one of music’s most remarkable survival stories. Iggy and the Stooges around 1969 — from left, Scott Asheton, Ron Asheton, Dave Alexander and Iggy Pop. But if you quietly say it to some sepulchral music, that’s a different thing, because you’re facing darkness once you hit 50. I don’t think that I was really thinking about anything. My doctor tells me I have a strong immune system, but I don’t think that’ll do it for you.

The Mexican grupera (a form of regional music) band Los Bukis become the first Latin music band to sell out two shows at the 70,000-seat SoFi Stadium. The magnitude of generational diversity could be seen when the Grammy award-winning Mexican band Los Tigres del Norte were on stage. Hernán Hernández and Jorge Hernández of the band Los Tigres del Norte perform Saturday. Scott Dudelson / Getty Images"Before, we really were invisible,” said Leila Cobo, a renowned Latin music expert and Billboard’s vice president of Latin content. "Now I think the kids go to see their parents’ music and Bad Bunny."

☆ Cameron Crowe Had a Front-Row Seat for 1970s Rock
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Alan Paul | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Cameron Crowe was one of rock’s top journalists before he had a driver’s license, a 16-year-old traveling the country with groups like the Allman Brothers Band and writing cover stories for Rolling Stone magazine. Yet the prodigy grew up in a San Diego house where listening to rock and roll was forbidden. Mr. Crowe’s mother Alice felt so strongly about the music’s lack of redeeming value that she wrote a letter to NBC complaining about Simon and Garfunkel performing “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.”How did she handle her son’s immersion in a world she had tried so hard to keep him away from? “I think she got a big kick out of it,” Mr. Crowe says. “She was a teacher, and she felt that she taught me well enough to write from my heart.

☆ Bad Bunny makes history as first Latino named Apple Music’s Artist of the Year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Crystal Minaya | Crystal Minaya Is An Editorial Assistant For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Puerto Rican trap-reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny is Apple Music's 2022 Artist of the Year, the first Latin artist to receive the award. The four-time Latin Grammy and two-time Grammy winner has achieved all-time records in the past year, according to Apple Music. “Watching Bad Bunny ascend from an Apple Music Up Next artist in 2018 to our Artist of the Year this year has been nothing short of extraordinary,” Schusser said. “When I started, I didn’t have a global fan base,” Bad Bunny told Apple Music in an exclusive video released Wednesday. In an interview with GQ in May, Bad Bunny said: “Latino culture is very machista.

The publisher of Vogue magazine has sued rappers Drake and 21 Savage for promoting their new album using a fake Vogue cover and the magazine’s name without authorization, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday. And none of it has been authorized by Condé Nast,” the publisher alleges in its lawsuit. “Vogue magazine and its Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour have had no involvement in Her Loss or its promotion, and have not endorsed it in any way.”A representative for Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Graham, declined comment. Their “deceptive campaign” has caused unmistakable confusion over the veracity of the magazine cover and “underscores the tremendous value that a cover feature in Vogue magazine carries,” the lawsuit stated. The distribution of a fake Vogue cover is among several spoofs the rappers rolled out in support of their album release.

☆ Bono Is Still Trying to Figure Out U2 and Himself
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +28 min

Mamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times Talk Bono Is Still Trying to Figure Out U2 and HimselfThere are different Bonos to different people, including the man himself. You say, “But you’re U2 — you don’t need that.” What’s interesting is that we want that. But I also wrote the book to try to figure out what was going on with U2. They sound like U2 songs. Do they sound like U2 songs?

☆ Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ album is out. So, what’s the verdict?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Toyin Owoseje | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Taylor Swift is endorsing late nights with her first original album in two years. The 11-time Grammy Award winner unveiled her 10th studio album, “Midnights,” on Friday, following a surprise announcement at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. Taylor Swift performs onstage during NSAI 2022 Nashville Songwriter Awards at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on September 20, 2022. Another said: “Taylor Swift mothered so hard with Midnights no one will ever come close to her level of prodigiousness. “She’s playing with cadence and emphasizing the grain of her voice like never before … eventually you stop caring what’s drawn directly from Swift’s real life and what’s not,” he writes.

☆ Megan Thee Stallion launches website with mental health resources for fans
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Megan Thee Stallion is encouraging her fans to check in on their mental health. The 27-year-old musician appeared to confirm she recently launched a mental health resources website. Love y’all so much — @theestallion.”The website features links to free therapy organizations and other mental health resources like helplines. At the bottom of the website, there is a link to help fans find a therapist and sign up for updates for new resources. Throughout her career, Megan has been open about her mental health struggles.

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