If pop music can't be streamed in 2017, does it exist? We've asked this question before (see: 2016, 2015, 2014...), but as streaming continues its inevitable creep from significant mode of consumption to dominant mode of consumption to only mode of consumption (have you even seen your CD player lately?), the range of answers to the basic question is getting smaller and smaller. The streaming singularity approaches. But wait, you say, KENNY CHESNEY sold 205,000 CD copies of his new live album last week! But wait, BILLBOARD reminds you, close to 200,000 of them went to fans redeeming coupons for a free CD that came with tickets for his 2018 stadium tour. So. Back to the singularity, and the single question about it: Will she or won't she? It's Wednesday, and while the consensus appears to be that TAYLOR SWIFT's sixth album won't be available for streaming when it's released on Friday, neither she nor any of the major streaming services has said a word about it on the record. Industry insiders polled by VARIETY predict she'll keep her REPUTATION away from streaming for anywhere from a few weeks to several months, though one says it's always possible she'll accept a huge last-minute cash offer for a streaming exclusive. BLOOMBERG's sources say at least a week, definitely. Tipping its hand, perhaps, SPOTIFY left Swift's "CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT" off its NEW MUSIC FRIDAY playlist last week, even though "Call It," like all her new singles, is streamable. "Our policy is to work with artists and managers who want to work with us," Spotify spox GRAHAM JAMES told the NY TIMES. Fair and sensible and ouch. The remaining mystery: How much does holding out pay in 2017? Will "Reputation" put up ADELE (or, hey, Taylor Swift) numbers? Kenny Chesney numbers? Or is there a new standard yet to be set?... Rock and roll pols: DANICA ROEM, elected Tuesday to VIRGINIA's HOUSE OF DELEGATES, will be the first openly transgender state legislator in the US. She will also be the first working thrash-metal singer to hold such a position. That's her taking the stage with her band, CAB RIDE HOME, around 0:45 here. And six hours to the north via AMTRAK, hardcore-guitarist-turned-activist JUSTIN BRANNAN appeared on his way to election to the NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL as of early this morning... Did the judge who sentenced MEEK MILL to two-to-four years in prison ask him to cover a BOYZ II MEN song and namedrop her in it? And did she also try to get him to dump ROC NATION and take on a friend of the judge's as his manager? Those are the jaw-dropping accusations the rapper's lawyer is making after the judge jailed his client against the recommendations of both a prosecutor and a probation officer... A look back at the unnecessarily bumpy road to the CMA AWARDS, which BRAD PAISLEY and CARRIE UNDERWOOD host starting at 8 pm ET tonight on ABC... Pure, unadulterated gospel joy.