The fact that he was a unique and gifted musician doesn't change the fact that XXXTENTACION was accused of doing some horrible things. The fact that the accusations include assaulting his pregnant girlfriend do not change the fact that his music connected with real people. His life and career were complicated to say the least, and listening to him required confronting some of the darkest ideas hidden beneath the surface of too much pop culture. Which he sometimes rapped about. He was a 20-year-old kid. He may or may not have deserved a long, severe punishment, but he definitely did not deserve the one he got: Murdered in cold blood in the front seat of his car Monday afternoon. We mourn a dark, difficult young life. RIP... XXXTentacion was not the only rising rapper shot to death in his car Monday afternoon. I have no more words. RIP JIMMY WOPO... Is TIDAL on its last legs and is the BEYONCÉ and JAY-Z album proof? Is PANDORA's way of doing radio a strange and wonderful relic of a business and culture that's changed more in the past five years than the PHILADELPHIA 76ERS? Is there room for anybody else to muscle their way into the room right now, like, say, YOUTUBE MUSIC, which launched wide on Monday with a service whose main goal is to get you play the same songs you played yesterday again today? If SPOTIFY wants you to, um, discover weekly, YouTube wants you to discover yourself as often as possible. I admit to all sorts of fascination with the service, whose homepage has shelves of content devoted to "Listen Again" (albums you've played recently), "Your Favorites" (more albums you're played recently plus "Your Mixtape," which algorithmically dishes your own favorite music back to you) and "Similar To," which is content based on a specific artist you've recently played. There are also plenty of mood and genre playlists, some obvious, some a little more adventurous and/or surprising (I'm looking at you, Daytime Chic, which I believe is an attempt at a light electronic yacht rock soul mix, and which sounds like something that would have taken quite a bit of time to get right in Pandora). YouTube's artist radio stations are, well, let me describe the RIHANNA station I clicked on: A N.E.R.D. and Rihanna collaboration, followed by a J-LO/KHALED/CARDI B collaboration, then two Rihanna songs, a DRAKE song and, I am not making this up, 20 more Rihanna songs. In a row. I'll say this for that algorithm: I was never unaware that I was on a Rihanna station. There's lots and lots of video, of course, and hidden buttons to do things as basic as add a song to your queue or look at the album that the song you're currently listening to is on. YouTube is trying its hardest to get you to stick with what you already have and already know, and company execs have made it clear that's no accident. It's a strategy, one of their differentiators. A lie-flat lean-back service. Whether that sounds like first class or coach to you will depend, I imagine, on who you are... BEY and JAY's LOVE IS EVERYTHING showed up Monday on YouTube, Spotify and other services after a two-day TIDAL exclusive. Spotify, at least, seems to be going out of its way not to promote it... How they got their crew into the LOUVRE, in case you were wondering... WARNER MUSIC welcomes back an old friend, or at least an old friend's brand name... Sales (DAVE MATTHEWS BAND) top streams (KANYE and KID CUDI) on BILLBOARD 200... DRE producing GAYE movie... EDDIE VEDDER stagedive, remembered... RIP PATRICK KENNEALLY.