Just in time for the 33rd (!!!) edition of MTV's VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS, the NEW YORK TIMES informs us that "videos matter again." Four of the five clips up for video of the year, JON CARAMANICA reports, "are state of the art in content, concept or delivery." The other is by ADELE... Also just in time for the 33rd VMAs: BRITNEY... The GUARDIAN's DAVE SCHILLING reminds us that the VMAs can be messy, gaffe-filled affairs and they "don't always get it right," but "look back at any VMAs and it is an accurate microcosm of wherever pop culture was at that moment in time. Can you say that for the OSCARS?"... Former VJ JANCEE DUNN looks back on the golden days of M2, where "the stakes were low, and if you messed up, it was okay, and everybody was friends." Please teleport me back to 1996 and sign me up, thank you... MTV is giving KANYE WEST four minutes of airtime on the show to do whatever he wants, and the network has no idea what that is. I'm unclear on how that's different from any other KANYE TV appearance... The VMAs air at 9 pm ET SUNDAY. On MTV, duh... RUDY VAN GELDER died THURSDAY at his home/studio in ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ. He was 91. Arguably the most influential engineer in the history of recorded music, his recordings of JOHN COLTRANE, MILES DAVIS, SONNY ROLLINS and countless others "helped define the sound of jazz on record," writes the NEW YORK TIMES' PETER KEEPNEWS. Van Gelder was an early and enthusiastic adopter of several decades' worth of studio technology and an innovator in studio technique; he made records that were warm, intimate and present, and they've been prized by 60 years' worth of jazz collectors. RIP... And on day three of the UNIVERSAL-bans-streaming-exclusives news cycle, someone finally confirms the story. Thank you, BEN SISARIO. According to Sisario's source, UMG boss LUCIAN GRAINGE's private memo calls for "an end to long-term exclusive deals with a single service," which, as Sisario notes, "may still leave the company plenty of room to negotiate more limited deals with digital services." So, an important and welcome symbolic move, but let's see how it plays out in real life... BIG FREEDIA was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $35,000 for public housing fraud in NEW ORLEANS, which is the best outcome she could have hoped for... PRINCE's PAISLEY PARK is opening to the public in OCTOBER, under the same management as ELVIS PRESLEY's GRACELAND... It's FRIDAY and that means new music from BRITNEY SPEARS, VINCE STAPLES, BARBRA STREISAND, FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE, DE LA SOUL, SUBROSA, PROPHETS OF RAGE, CASSIUS, TOKYO BLACK STAR, CASS MCCOMBS, COMPASS, THE BAD PLUS, BUTCH WALKER, CELINE DION, TWIST, BANKS & STEELZ, MORGAN DELT, THE VEILS, GLASS ANIMALS, VOMITFACE and KATY GOODMAN & GRETA MORGAN.