Rolling Stone brings an overview of marijuana's legal status in the US. The minority of 13 states have not legalized THC for either medicinal or recreational purposes by now. 17 of the federal states have given their residents a green light to smoke up at their leisure. The rest of the 20 states have it legalized for medical use only.
UK music stars young and old - including Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Robert Plant, Stevie Nicks, Sting, Roger Daltrey, Chris Martin, Kano, Noel Gallagher, Mike Skinner, Damon Albarn, Wolf Alice, and around 150 others - have called on the UK government to reform the way musicians are paid when their songs are streamed online, NME reports. They point out that "songwriters earn 50% of radio revenues, but only 15% in streaming". On streaming services, labels retain the majority of the money - with the artist receiving about 13% on average, and session musicians receiving nothing.
“The hatred shown towards me from the creators of the Simpsons is obviously a taunting lawsuit, but one that requires more funding than I could possibly muster in order to make a challenge” - Morrissey writes on his website after a Simpsons episode which parodied the former Smiths frontman. "The worst thing you can do in 2021 is to lend a bit of strength to the lives of others. There is no place in modern music for anyone with strong emotions … In a world obsessed with Hate Laws, there are none that protect me” - the singer says. Morrissey satirised during the episode 'Panic on the Streets of Springfield', in which Lisa Simpson becomes obsessed with a fictional band called the Snuffs and befriends its frontman, Quilloughby.
As of October 2020, TikTok was reaching 732 million monthly active users around the world, which was more than double Spotify‘s global monthly active user base as of the end of 2020 (345 million), but less than half the 2 billion-plus logged-in monthly active users YouTube pulls in around the world, MBW reports on the popular app's statistics. TikTok’s average user opens the app 19 (nineteen!) times in an average day, in an average of 89 minutes per day. Nearly half (42%) of all active users on the platform were between the age of 18 and 24, a further 17% were aged between 13 and 17, and just 7% were over the age of 45.
Apple Music told artists and labels it pays a penny per stream, according to the Wall Street Journal. Apple's penny-per-stream payment structure is roughly double what Spotify, the world's largest music-streaming service, pays music-rights holders per stream. Spotify pays an average of about one-third to one-half penny per stream. However, Spotify's larger user base generates many more streams.
P-MRC, the owner of Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Billboard and Deadline, has acquired a 50% stake in SXSW LLC, making it the biggest single shareholder in the music/film/tech conference and festival based out of Texas, the Wall Street Journal reports. The SXSW 2020 event was scrapped by Austin officials due to the coronavirus outbreak, and in 2021 an online event was organized, so, when “Jay Penske approached us with an interest in becoming a partner, it was a true lifeline for us", SXSW CEO and Co-Founder, Roland Swenson, has said.
The Face presents 'Deviation Classics', a compilation of music that best represents "a key part of a healthy musical ecosystem", the London club night Deviation. With Dorian Concept, Carl Craig, Flying Lotus and James Blake featured there, it "arguably represents certain values of club culture that are worth preserving for a post-pandemic world".
Plenty of records set by Taylor Swift on Billboard 200 chart this week, according to Billboard. Re-recorded version of her 2008 album 'Fearless', titled 'Fearless (Taylor’s Version)' scores the biggest week of 2021 for any album with 291,000 equivalent albums. She's the first woman with three new No. 1 albums in less than a year - in August 'Folklore' debuted at No. 1 with 846,000 units, while 'Evermore' arrived at No. 1 in December with 329,000 units. 'Fearless (Taylor’s Version)' is the only No. 1 album of its kind: a re-recording of an artist’s (own or another’s) previously released album. Album sales of 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' comprise 179,000, making it the top-selling album of the week. The three largest weeks for an album in the last eight months all Belong to Swift. She is also the first woman with three new No. 1 albums in less than a year. Swift also becomes the first woman in the 65-year history of the chart with three new No. 1s in less than 12 months; Donna Summer held that record since 1979/1980.
Mike Mitchell, who recorded one of the most famous guitar solos of all time for Kingsmen’s 'Louie Louie' (a loose rendition of Richard Berry’s 1957 song), has died aged 77, Rolling Stone reports. With Mitchell’s rock’n’roll guitar solo adding a crazed energy to the three-chord recording, the song is a cornerstone of the garage rock sound. It also features a famous error by the band's vocalist Jack Ely as he comes back in too early after Mitchell’s solo. The band had a decades-long touring career with Mitchel as the permanent, and the only founding member left.
Russian electro group Love Object share a dance bomb 'Transparent Woman (Prozrachnaya Zhenschina)' with added cinematic video; psychedelic prog meets post-rock on Elder frontman Nick DiSalvo's 'The Reflecting Pool' which announces his solo debut; Andra Day shares a smooth banger 'Phone Dies' produced by Anderson .paak; Alfa Mist shares jazz-electronics-psych mix 'Teki'; Rodrigo Y Gabriela have covered Astor Piazzolla's flamenco instrumental 'Oblivion'.
