"Gone are the days when a musician could afford to take all the time they need to carve and craft the next ‘Loveless’ or ‘OK Computer’" - NME's Mark Beaumont writes, looking back in anger to Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek words that “you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough". But, there is a solution - streaming platforms like Spotify should "work with the labels to reconfigure their increasing profits to ensure that all artists get the fair share they deserve from their streams and can continue making and releasing music as and when they want".

"I like [going on buses]. I find it very grounding... I also like a nice car and I like driving too. But there’s something about that, being ordinary... I mean, I know I can’t be ordinary, at all – I’m way too famous to be ordinary – but, for me, that feeling inside, of feeling like myself still, is very important" - Paul McCartney says in a great interview for the GQ. He also talks about building and then breaking up the Beatles, suing the band for their own sake, being in lockdown, working with Rihanna and Kanye West... A great read.

Johnny Alf had, in the mid-1950s, composed 'Rapaz de Bem' - a song with a linear melody, a gentle way of singing, a series of unconventional key changes, a rhythmic dissociation of drums and bass - or, to put it simply, he invented bossa-nova. He was also Black, poor and gay in an industry aiming to attract affluent white audiences to the genre, so his legacy remained obscure, even among Brazilians, although genre’s legends always saw him as a musical guru.

White label company Maestro’ is partnering with Tim McGraw for paid concert experience, with tickets selling for $15. Livestreams usually draw in 0.5% to 2% of an artist’s Instagram following. By that estimate, McGraw, with 2.7 million followers, could’ve netted $200,000 to $800,000 (he grosses $916,000 per show on physical tours). Melissa Etheridge is currently streaming five days a week, charging $10 for individual tickets or $50 for a monthly subscription. She’s made over $32,000 by now. BTS drew in 750,000 fans who paid $26 to $35 making in between $19 million and $26 million, just in ticket sales. Rolling Stone has the story on livestreams of the near future that will be better, but fans will also have to pay for them...

"Life is very complicated, from my understanding. So I think, in certain capacities, when you listen to Lupe Fiasco music, you get a reflection of the complexity of the situations that we find ourselves in" - Lupe Fiasco says in Vulture interview about his newest EP 'House', made almost accidentally, during the lockdown. Talking about his lyrics and fans understanding them he says "I just don’t put 'Fuck the police', and that’s it. It’s like, 'Why are we fucking the police? Is it even cool to say ‘Fuck the police’? What does that do with the police? What are we going to do if we don’t have police?'. Let’s break it down and get into the nuts and bolts. I think that is where you find the solutions, if you’re willing to do the work".

Neil Young filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Donald Trump's campaign for playing his songs at campaign rallies. The complaint filed in New York federal court states that "Plaintiff in good conscience cannot allow his music to be used as a 'theme song' for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate". Young alleges that Trump's campaign lacks a license to publicly perform 'Rockin' in the Free World' and 'Devil's Sidewalk'.

Original Machine Head drummer Tony Costanza has died at the age of 52, Blabbermouth reports. Costanza joined Machine Head in 1992 and sat behind the kit for the band's first three shows, being replaced by Chris Kontos. Also, Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn said that "a big chunk" of the band's classic debut album, 'Burn My Eyes', was written with Costanza.

'I Know the End' is the closing song from Phoebe Bridgers' new album 'Punisher', but it sounds, and especially with the new video, it looks more like a transition. The video finds Bridgers in her now-trademark skeleton onesie sunken in a bathtub, running through an empty football stadium, finishing with a kinda strange makeout.

Snapchat has licensed rights from major labels and publishers, which lets customers add music to their posts within Snapchat, creating a way for young people to share songs with friends and a new promotional tool for the music industry, Bloomberg reports. The company has secured the rights to music from several major music companies, including Warner Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group and Merlin.

From Senegal to Kenya to Algeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a new generation of artists is giving voice to the grievances and aspirations of hundreds of millions of people - Guardian says in an article about African musicians fighting oppressive rules. Hachalu Hundessa was a popular Oromo singer and activist in Ethiopia, who was murdered last month. Tanzania’s highest-selling artist, Diamond Platnumz, had songs banned and was arrested. Rapper Falz from Lagos raps about country’s political class. Bobi Wine is a popular reggae star and opposition MP in Uganda and will release a new album next month that addresses “the real issues people are facing – the injustices, corruption, high taxation, misrule, abuse of human rights, dictatorship”.

"At its best, being a stan means you’re part of a wonderful community united by a shared love. At its worst, stan culture is a toxic, vindictive swamp where fans are encouraged to outdo each other with performative displays of devotion to their chosen hero" - Junkee says in an introduction to their article about abuse journalists and music stars endure, with the aim of starting a conversation to clear things up. Soon after the 1D article, some Taylor Swift published Pitchfork editor's address and phone number after a positive review of her album (8.0, which the P doesn't give so easily), The Daily Beast reports.The project started after Junkee published a light-hearted look at the One Direction boys’ respective solo careers which caused a flood of abuse and threats.

Snoop Dogg has shared the list of top 10 rappers of all time: Slick Rick, Ice Cube, LL Cool J, KRS-One, Rakim, Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels from Run-DMC, Big Daddy Kane, Ice-T, and Too Short.

Taylor Swift's lockdown album 'Folklore' reached the No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with 846,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the last week, the biggest week for any album since Swift’s last release, 2019’s 'Lover'. 'Folklore' earns Swift her seventh No. 1 album. At No. 2, Logic’s 'No Pressure' launches with 221,000 equivalent album units earned. The Kid LAROI makes his Billboard 200 debut with 'F*ck Love' at No. 8, which launches with 40,000 equivalent album units earned. The album is the 16-year-old rapper’s first full-length mixtape; it includes a guest turn from LAROI’s mentor, the late Juice WRLD.

Artists do not make their best albums by the age of 27, Medium proves with a list of 20 best rap albums by artists over 40. There's the concept album 'Undun' by The Roots, released the same yeat both Questlove and Black Thought turned 40. It took years for Jay Electronica to release 'A Written Testimony' this year (he's 43), but, as it turns out, it will end up being one the best mainstream hip-hop album of the year...

For a while, heavy metal and electronic remained sequestered to separate subcultures that rarely cross-pollinated creatively, but for a new generation of electronic artists for whom the internet has been a vital hub for exchange and hybridization, this separation has run its course - Electronic Beats wrote in a cool article about how former metal-heads incorporate metal music elements in their DJ sets. Since the beginning of 2010s - "it wasn’t uncommon to hear a club DJ slip the cheeky metal breakdown in mid-set... In the last year, this progression has come to a head, with a string of releases illuminating the strength of this intersection".

"The word jazz has very racist roots. It's totally inadequate in describing the breadth of music that has come out under its umbrella. And many of its founding players of the genre also took issue with the word as something that was not defined by them and was used to commodify their work. Miles Davis didn't like to call it jazz. Duke Ellington didn't like to call it jazz. Mingus didn't want to call it jazz" - drummer Makaya McCraven says in NPR interview. He explains further on - "So I think of 'jazz' — in quotes — as an aural tradition that you learn from playing and being around other people. And like aural traditions, they evolve and they move; it's not a stagnant thing for preservation. Like with an aural tradition, there's an actual physical touch". His new album 'Universal Beings E&F Sides' is out now.

Taylor Swift’s new album ‘Folklore’ has reached Number 1 in the UK album charts with 37,060 copies sold in its first week in the UK, the Chart reports. Swift has become the first female artist to score five UK Number 1 studio albums in the 21st century.

Last weekend's Tomorrowland livestream was a smash hit unlike anything ever done before, revolutionising the digital festival space, the 3D technology along with the DJ performances made for something truly unforgettable, We Rave You writes about the Belgium dance music fest. Over a massive one million people bought tickets, for each DJ to record their set they were placed in a studio behind a green screen and managed to perform just like they would to a real crowd, to get all of the different angles up to 38 cameras were used. The cream at the top was the new formula for compensating artists - based on ticket sales and views of their individual sets. Bigger artists got a flat fee as well, Billboard reports (behind a paywall).

Everybody's washing their hands now more than ever, including metalheads, so etsy shop Corpse Paint Soaps made bar soaps designed in the likeness of various face-painted metal musicians, Brooklyn Vegan reports. There's King Diamond, Abbath, Dead and Euronymous of Mayhem, Seregor of Carach Angren, former Gorgoroth bassist King ov Hell, and Dani Filth of Cradle of Filth. Scent-wise, the soaps don't smell of mosh-pits or men-sweat, rather the soaps run the gamut, with notes of bergamot, rosemary, ginger, pine, eucalyptus, cedarwood, and, in the case of Dani Filth, parma violets, as requested by Filth.

The Weeknd will perform next week on TikTok in an interactive livestream concert, People reports. The Weeknd Experience will feature the singer as a digital avatar, in an augmented-reality gig created especially for the platform. The unique show, scheduled to take place on August 7th, will mark TikTok's first such concert and will feature 3D graphics and picture-in-picture video. Viewers will also be encouraged to support the campaign to fight racial inequality by donating to the Equal Justice Initiative during the broadcast, with TikTok bosses agreeing to match funds "up to a generous amount".

"Some artists that used to do well in the past may not do well in this future landscape, where you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough" - Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told in a Music Ally interview, but, he claims - "from the data, there are more and more artists that are able to live off streaming income in itself". He offered a piece of advice: "The artists today that are making it realise that it’s about creating a continuous engagement with their fans. It is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans". Ek's statements have rankled musicians around the globe - Exclaim collected those.

Black Pumas released a version of 'Confines' performed with a string quartet; Billie Eilish released her new song 'My Future', a bluesy pop with a very studio Ghibli video; Mastodon's dramatic 'Fallen Torches' features Scott Kelly of Neurosis; Jorja Smith shared an instant soul classic 'By Any Means'; Toni Cornell, daughter of Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, did a lovely thing covering 'Black' by Pearl Jam; Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan shared 'Roach Hiss', a noise-metal song featuring Converge drummer Ben Koller; pop folk singer Matt Berry announced his new album with single 'Take a Bow'; Jyoti dropped a warm jazz-soul hybrid 'Mama, You Can Bet'.

Folk rocker Frank Turner played to a socially-distanced audience at London's Clapham Grand, in a trial gig for the return of live music, but it "did not succeed" in providing a blueprint for the industry, according to the BBC. Only 200 people attended, compared to the venue's normal capacity of 1,250, which meant that the show did not make enough money to cover the venue's operating costs, even before the performer's fee was taken into account.

There are around 40,000 songs added to Spotify each day, so most of the music uploaded there and other streaming services every day sinks without a trace - Rolling Stone says in a great article about new artists trying to reach out to the audience. There is a way to reach them, in certain numbers, for money - for $250 an artist will be placed on playlists with a total of 50,000 followers, while $4,000 promises a playlist reach of one million, and around half a million streams.

Pitchfork presents Portuguese disco label Príncipe Discos, run by four white guys releasing music made mostly by Portuguese-born descendants of countries on Africa’s west coast. This constellation reflects in the music with "musical rhythms of the African diaspora" like kuduro, kizomba, tarraxinha on one side, and club sounds on the other. The label began its life with 2013's 'Eu Sei Quem Sou' by DJ Marfox and the latest release was this year's 'Hard' by Nídia.

Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga have been nominated in five categories each for this year's MTV Video Music Awards. In the Video of the Year category the nominees are: Eminem featuring Juice WRLD in 'Godzilla', Future featuring Drake in 'Life Is Good', Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande in 'Rain on Me', Taylor Swift with 'The Man', and The Weeknd with 'Blinding Lights'. There are also two new 2020 categories to reflect the pandemic - Best Music Video From Home and Best Quarantine Performance, MTV reports. There is a first: three women are nominated for best direction - Taylor Swift for 'The Man', Billie Eilish for 'xanny' and Hannah Lux Davis for Doja Cat’s 'Say So', which is the first time that three women, without help from a male co-director, have been nominated in this category in the same year.

“We write songs that clearly stand against the government. They are eating up the country like pure parasites. It's depressing, cruel, oppressive and the leaders sitting above and controlling are big time scumbags” - Amir Hazarika, vocalist for Eyes of the Martyr, a progressive metal band from Guwahati, told in an i-D interview. Inspired by award-winning new documentary Extreme Nation, about the metal music scenes of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, i-D presents some bands: Mumbai thrashers Sabotage, death/black metal quintet Aempyrean, Indian folk metal Bloodywood, metalcore band DemigoD...

Members of the Locust, Slipknot, GWAR, Clinic, and the Residents have shared tips with Spin about getting around with masks in daily life. First advice: make it comfortable; general advice: you’re talking about a few moments of discomfort against the possibility of being dead, it sells itself.

A great interview in the Believer mag with producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Kramer, who talks about different jobs he did, but the best was being a touring musician - "The best years of my life happened over the course of about six months in 1985 while I was on the road with Butthole Surfers... I may die penniless, but thanks in great part to Gibby and Paul, these two Texas gentlemen who named their band Butthole Surfers and still got a major label record deal, I am, at least in terms of life experience, one of the richest men in the world". Kramer's hilarious also: "We looked like Hell had just puked us up and wanted no part of us. We looked exactly like what we were; a poverty-stricken American band with little or no idea of where we’d just been, where we were going, what we were doing, or why. It was all about surviving those twenty-three hours a day leading up to that one hour onstage. Onstage, we were a force to be reckoned with. Offstage, we were masters of nothing. And we looked it".

Pitchfork has made a selection of 12 of their favourite video game music since 2000. The list includes music by Pete Rock, Bad Religion, Frederic Chopin, Jerry Martin, Lena Raine and more, from video games such as 'GTA', 'The Sims', 'Animal Crossing', 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'...