"Right now, when you get songwriters in the room, they're trying to write a radio hit, because that's the only way you make money. If we create an environment where songwriters are not worried about this, if they're not freaking out about paying their rent, and they're just able to focus on being creative, there will be a musical renaissance" - US writer Emily Warren tells BBC about her initiative The Pact, a group of the world's biggest songwriters who got together to stop the practice of pop-stars taking credit for songs they didn't write any part of. It used to be rare, but in recent years, artists have started demanding a share of the publishing "ninety-nine per cent of the time", says Tayla Parx, another Pact member, whose credits include Ariana Grande's 'Thank U Next' and 'High Hopes' by Panic! At The Disco. Warren, who recently received a Grammy nomination for her work on Dua Lipa's 'Don't Start Now', says that demands for co-writing credit start with a 1% share, rising as high as 20%, with an average of about 15%. Since The Pact launched two weeks ago, more than 1,000 people have signed the open letter.

Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl have just released their first song together, a lockdown-themed number 'Eazy Sleazy' written by Jagger and performed by both the rock stars. The Rolling Stone says to the Consequence it's the only song he's written on the subject of lockdown, in a "semi-humorous way", just like the lyric “Shooting the vaccine/ Bill Gates is in my bloodstream/ It’s mind control".

The music streaming giant has stepped into music listening hardware business - Spotify is launching a smart device for the car called the Car Thing. The new voice-controlled device, which only works with a Spotify Premium account, will let users say “Hey Spotify” to ask for a song, album, artist, playlist, station, or podcast. It also features a dial to browse, select, play and pause content, a 4″ touchscreen and four preset buttons for shortcuts to user's favorite artists, playlists, stations, and podcasts. The device connects to Spotify’s app on a smartphone and connects to the car stereo via Bluetooth, AUX or USB cable, TechCrunch reports. Initially available for select US users, the new gadget’s anticipated retail price is $79.99, but is available at no cost for a limited time for those select users, with SPOT only charging $6.99 postage.

Phoebe Bridgers’ guitar that she smashed against an amplifier on Saturday Night Live in February, was sold for a shocking $101,500 in a GLAAD auction, Loudwire reports. Bridgers, who identifies as bisexual, was nominated for outstanding breakthrough music artist for Thursday’s GLAAD Music Awards. The winner was the upstart rapper Chika. Bids for the guitar had remained in the low five figures in the days leading up to the auction’s close, but the price went up in a bidding frenzy Sunday, the last day of the auction. Jason Isbell has said the guitar was worth around $85, before it got smashed, which means the price went up 1,200-fold after Bridgers had smashed it.

Streams of DMX’s catalog of songs increased 928% in the United States in the days following his death - his tracks garnered 75.7 million on-demand streams (audio and video combined) on April 9 and 10, a nine-fold increase compared to the 7.36 million they earned on April 7 and 8. In terms of music sales, DMX’s collected songs and albums sold 101,000 copies on April 9-11 – up 1,036% compared to the 9,000 they sold on April 6-8.

Jim Ward of the At The Drive-In, delivers a positive message "to die a better man" on 'Paper Fish', with help from friends, members of Incubus and Thursday; Keen Dreams share dream pop song 'Pinks & Reds'; Trade Wind shares atmospheric indie rock 'Die! Die! Die!' together with a morbid video; Mina Tindle shares a pretty live version of 'Give A Little Love'.

The London soul singer Olivia Dean has announced as Amazon Music's Breakthrough artist for 2021, NME reports. As streaming platform's Breakthrough artist, Dean is now set to receive substantial support from Amazon Music including bespoke video and audio content, global marketing support, increased visibility across Amazon Music’s playlists and programming, and a high-profile Amazon Original track which is available only on the streaming platform.

"I love streaming. I stream a lot of music myself. The access we have to all kinds of music from all over the world is incredible. But I believe streaming must be fixed" - Nadine Shah tells the Guardian about the issue ahead of a publication of the UK parliamentary report about it. She and other artists, such as Nile Rodgers, Ed O’Brien of Radiohead, as well as songwriters for stars such as Kylie Minogue, have hit out at an “archaic” streaming model that allows major labels to maximise their revenue while some musicians struggle to make minimum wage.

Deaf actor and dancer Mervin Primeaux-O’Bryant and hearing dancer and choreographer Brandon Kazen-Maddox have started a new project producing sign language covers of 10 seminal musical works recorded by Black female artists. The two men sing with their hands, giving the song a special structure, as the New York Times notes: "A good A.S.L. performance prioritizes dynamics, phrasing and flow. The parameters of sign language — hand shape, movement, location, palm orientation and facial expression — can be combined with elements of visual vernacular, a body of codified gestures, allowing a skilled A.S.L. speaker to engage in the kind of sound painting that composers use to enrich a text".

Music journalist Greg Cochrane and Savages drummer Fay Milton have launched a new podcast Sounds Like a Plan which aims to shine a light on the music community’s fight against the climate crisis, NME reports. Launched this month, SLAP will feature an “inspiring climate advocate from the music community" like The 1975’s manager Jamie Oborne, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, and Melvin Benn, director of Festival Republic, which includes Reading + Leeds, Latitude...