Meet the Old Boss

Out with the new, in with the old? Writing in the Baffler about the one thing that seems to be attracting more money these days than NFTs, RICH WOODALL suggests that song publishing investment funds like HIPGNOSIS have the potential to create an industry that's openly hostile to new music. I've never seen anyone make this case so clearly and directly. Because MERCK MERCURIADIS' fund, like nearly all such enterprises, specializes in hit songs that have already proven their worth, Woodall argues, it has an explicit fiduciary interest in making sure new, unproven songs don't displace the old ones from radio, movies, streaming playlists and anywhere else where they might generate income for shareholders. "Every original song that gains cultural traction," Woodall writes, "drains potential listeners—and therefore revenue—away from the Hipgnosis portfolio, diluting the value of their assets." Of course, anyone over 30 or 40 who watched the GRAMMYS on Sunday and complained that they didn't recognize any of the songs or performers (which, based on some alarming ratings numbers, might be pretty much everyone who watched the Grammys) is well aware that the world and the airwaves are as full as they ever have been with new hits. But will the nine-figure publishing buyouts of 2020 and 2021 lead to a different landscape in 2023 or 2024? Woodall leads with a conspiracy-theoryesque horror story about MILEY CYRUS somehow being manipulated into covering BLONDIE's "HEART OF GLASS" by Hipgnosis, which owns Blondie's songwriting catalog. It's a preposterous theory. Covering classic rock songs is a thing that comes naturally to Cyrus, and her interest in the music is clearly sincere, and I'm not sure how the manipulation would work. But what's not preposterous is that someone, or a lot of someones, would look at the evidence and come to the same conclusion Woodall does. Why *wouldn't* someone be trying to get Miley Cyrus to cover songs from their billion-dollar investment fund? Why *wouldn't* someone who noticed that song being relentlessly pushed at them by YOUTUBE think something fishy's going on? Why wouldn't someone, not Miley Cyrus, but someone, eventually say yes? What would the price be?

Unwatched

Speaking of those Grammy ratings, what to make of the twist ending that saw a show widely praised for its pop-culture smarts get such terrible numbers, especially in the 18-to-49 demo that includes almost all its target audience? Some thoughts: First of all, no one watches live network TV anymore, do they? That's one of the basic disadvantages every awards show starts with. And no matter how good the production and performances by DUA LIPA and BTS and DABABY and CANDACE OWENS' favorite duo MEGAN THEE STALLION and CARDI B were, do the ratings reflect what happened on the 2021 show or do they reflect what music fans *expected* to happen based on previous shows? Can't blame the show's new production team for that, unless you want to blame them for not marketing this year's show very well, or at all, in which case you might have a point. But in either case, if the demo you most cherish is the demo that would rather watch 45-second clips the next day on social media, should you just start producing the show as 45-second clips on social media in the first place?... There's a separate Grammy ratings discussion to be had around the show's ongoing struggle to convince fans of current Black music, especially hip-hop, that it has anything to offer them. The awkward ending of Sunday's show, in which BILLIE EILISH devoted her Record of the Year acceptance speech to the notion that Megan Thee Stallion should be making the speech instead—she seemed quite sincere—fed into a long history of awkward, at best, voting results. A nagging question remains: Why should the hip-hop audience watch its favorite stars entertain the people who largely refuse to give them meaningful awards?

Etc Etc Etc

COACHELLA postponements have reached the meta stage. Variety reports that the never-officially-announced fall 2021 dates for a festival previously scheduled for spring 2020, fall 2020 and spring 2021 have been scrapped, too, and the festival is now planning on a spring 2022 return. California's tough Covid restrictions combined with a tough landscape in general for artists trying to plan tours doomed any thoughts of a fall festival, according to the magazine's sources. But don't write off fall festivals elsewhere in the US: "There’s a big difference between having two weekend of Coachella in California and throwing a country festival in Florida," one source told the mag... SXSW, on the other hand, is going on as we speak... Musicians protested outside SPOTIFY offices in 31 cities around the world Monday, with a list of demands including a penny-per-stream royalty rate and a user-centric royalty system (those two things are somewhat in conflict with each other), increased transparency and expanded musician and production credits. The UNION OF MUSICIANS AND ALLIED WORKERS organized. Because they targeted 31 Spotify offices, with, let's guess, 100 people per protest, they officially owe Spotify three and a half cents... How's this for an alternative royalty model?... Oh my god this profile (paywall) of the late JUDEE SILL by Rolling Stone's ANGIE MARTOCCIO... What it's like to go from covering the Grammys to winning one... NATHAN APODACA, who skateboarded to TIKTOK viral success to the tune of FLEETWOOD MAC's "DREAMS," is selling the video as an NFT and he's asking $500k for an opening bid. The catch: For obvious reasons, he's selling the video without that soundtrack. But what if songwriter STEVIE NICKS and her band (and PRIMARY WAVE, which owns 80 percent of Nicks' copyrights) wanted to play along? What would that sync deal look like?

Rest in Peace

Talented, monstrous conductor JAMES LEVINE, who led the METROPOLITAN OPERA and the BOSTON SYMPHONY but whose career ended amid allegations of sexual abuse... EULALIO "SAX" CERVANTES, saxophonist and co-founder of Mexican rock band LA MALDITA VECINDAD, who was known for playing two or three saxes at the same time... OSCAR GUITIÁN, pioneering Latin music producer, promoter, manager and label exec... GERRI MILLER, longtime editor of METAL EDGE magazine... Original TITUS ANDRONICUS keyboardist MATT "MONEY" MILLER... Australian classic rocker DOUG PARKINSON... House and hip-hop DJ PRINCE QUICK MIX.