"We daydreamed a lot; we were trying to escape what was around us and were listening to much more immersive music, music that had lefts and rights and corners and different streets" - Dublin noir-rock champions Fontaines D.C. tell NME's Mark Beaumont about their new album 'A Hero's Death' (out July 31). The primary influence on the new album - “It’s inspired by the stillness of the sea. Kinda like later Beach Boys".

A great essay in Electronic Beats about electronic music as a platform to gain freedom: "Nightclubs bear a long legacy of being one of the very few spaces in society where Black and Brown people are able to freely express themselves, where they are able to, for a few short hours, reclaim the bodies that are systematically regulated, attenuated, and deliberately destroyed by the state... Freeform dancing, the process of trusting an innate, rhythmic impulse that shirks a set of codified behaviors, becomes a powerful gesture of resistance".

The Future of Music Coalition explained in a great Twitter thread how is it possible for Bandcamp to waive its share of revenue, and still make it work for itself. A few arguments: a "niche-oriented" business model; a decision to do only one round of VC funding; a commitment to iteratively asking artists what they need. What lies behind it - "smart, idealistic music-loving people". Pitchfork investigates how much more money artists make on Bandcamp, compared to streaming services - experimental hip-hop duo 75 Dollar Bill put out a digital-only album, 'Live at Tubby’s', exclusively on Bandcamp on May 1 and made $4,200 in just two days - more than they made through streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube over the last six years.

"Love needs fury to fight hate. Clearly none of this is lost on the pair of indie, old head, no-fucks-giving, chain-snatching, self-professed menaces to sobriety behind this project. Their boisterous new album, 'RTJ4', makes time for trash-talking and chin-checking amid insurrection" - Pitchfork highly suggests Run the Jewels' new album (tagged it Best new music, grade 8.3). The P argues 'RTJ40 is closest to who Killer Mike and El-P are - "weary but unbroken, wary but not hopeless, eager to knuckle up".

Universal Music Group has established a $25 million “Change Fund” that will be invested across six areas of focus, including aid/charitable giving, global, internal/institutional change, legislative/public policy, partners and programming/curation, Billboard reports. Spotify has pledged to match $10 million in donations, after being called out by its employers, and give $1 million worth of advertising to social justice groups, Digital Music News reports. Blood Orange's Dev Hynes helped raise $500,000 in just two days, with a limited edition t-shirt, Uproxx reports.

"I’m not going to pay my police to kill me. We never felt protected by the police" - producer Terrace Martin told Complex about his new song 'Pig Feet' where he's joined by Denzel Curry, Kamasi Washington, G Perico, and Daylyt. He says the message of ‘Pig Feet’ is "A, awareness, B, strength, and C, fearlessness. The song is very fearless. I want people to instill that in their lives. It's okay to be fearful, but to be fearless is much stronger right now. So, instead of pumping out Kumbaya, I want to pump out awareness and stay ready for whatever".

The UK’s first permitted, socially distanced rave has been held in a forest near Nottingham, featuring sets by Latmun, Ben Sterling and Dafs, Mixmag reports. Everyone in attendance had to keep two metres apart at all times – save for those who live together – so as to comply with the government’s health and safety guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. 750 people signed up to attend, but only 40 were allowed to the rave. The party was hosted as part of a documentary film exploring socially distanced events in Britain and how the hospitality industry might adapt to new restrictions.

Guardian's Alexis Petridis might not especially like Sweet, but he does see the influence British glam-rock band had: "British punk was staffed largely by people who had grown up in front of the glam-era TOTP, underlined when the Damned covered Ballroom Blitz. Moreover, they were a huge influence on 80s metal: Axl Rose claimed they were his favourite band, Def Leppard covered 'Hell Raiser' and 'Action', the nascent Mötley Crüe attempted to seek them out for career advice. You didn’t have to examine hair metal too hard to see the Sweet’s ghost, you just had to look at the photos: straight boys covered in makeup, possessed by a desire to shock, every one of them metaphorically Steve Priest’s offspring"

Death Row Records is now on Bandcamp, which means Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic' is on Bandcamp, as is Snoop Dogg's 'Doggystyle', 2Pac's 'All Eyes On Me', Tha Dogg Pound's 'Dogg Food', and more - check it out all here. The release is just in time for this month's Bandcamp First Fridays fundraiser, Exclaim reports. Death Row was bought by eOne music in 2013, and then acquired by toy company Hasbro when Hasbro bought eOne for $3.8 billion last year.

Kanye West has donated $2 million to support the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor - three unarmed African-Americans recently killed by police officers or a former police officer. West also set up a 529 education plan to cover the full college tuition for George Floyd's 6-year-old daughter Gianna Floyd, All Hip Hop reports. West was also seen joining protestors in the streets of Chicago.

Vice suggests a handful of ways to get involved in the fight for racial justice in the music industry. One way is to purchase music and merch directly from Black artists and Black-owned labels (especially today Friday, June 5, on Bandcamp when the platform is once again waiving their revenue share on all merch and music purchases made on the site; DJ Techtools made a spreadsheet of 1,000-plus black artists and producers whose work you might consider buying). Another is reading and sharing works of Black journalists. A broader action music lovers can undertake is lending their voice to the wider fight for fair pay in the recorded music industry. The Movement for Black Lives suggests ways to help as well.

Warner Music Group Corp. raised $1.925 billion with the offering of 77 million shares in its IPO this week, in the biggest U.S. listing so far in 2020, Reuters reports. The stock opened at $27 and extended gains in early trading to $28.75, gained more than 20% in their debut on Wednesday, and rose another 5% Thursday on their second day of trading, Market Watch reports. Billionaire Len Blavatnik still owns the vast majority of Warner, having bought the company in 2011 for $3.3 billion in a highly risky investment. Warner and Blavatnik have announced a $100 million fund to support charitable causes related to the music industry, social justice, and campaigns against violence and racism, Variety reports.

Taste of Country has pointed out to a deeply symbolic and interesting Instagram post by a country music fan Rachel Berry, who asked "Before you buy tickets to a show, have you ever looked up the name of the town/city and then 'racism'? I have". The 28-year-old New Jersey resident added "there have been a few shows that I have had to pass on because the first 2 or 3 links that popped up were about acts of racism that have happened there".

The photo of Kurt Cobain's head among dolls and in front of wilted flowers "distilled what this work is about for me: trying to interpret as closely as I can who my subject is, while at the same time staying loyal to my point of view. Marrying those two things is always the starting point" -  Mark Seliger told Guardian about his favorite photo. This shot is on sale as part of Christie's online auction in aid of charities combatting Covid-19 (bids close on 12 June), along with photos of Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Johnny Cash, U2, Jennifer Lopez...

Loudwire made a selection of 40 best debut thrash metal albums, starting with Metallica's 'Kill 'Em All' released in June of 1983. The list is dominated by '80s era albums - proving the first five years of genre were the most fruitful. It contains all the biggest names - Slayer, Sepultura, Exodus, Anthrax, Megadeth...

The Weeknd, Lizzo and John Legend have signed an open letter calling for police budgets to be cut following the death of George Floyd, All Hip Hop reports. The open letter was launched by Patrisse Cullors, one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter and a founding member of the Movement 4 Black Lives (M4BL) and calls for local officials to cut police spending and budgets and instead increase spending on health care, education and community programs.

Consequence of Sound praises K-pop fans for mobilizing on social media for a good cause. Usually, they use social media to support K-pop stars, this week however, they're using their powers to commandeer racist, right-wing social media hashtags like #whitelivesmatter, #bluelivesmatter, and #MAGA. On both Twitter and Instagram, K-pop fans have flooded the aforementioned tags with videos of their favorite K-pop groups (called fancams), GIFs, and memes. The barrage of these posts has, at least for a short time, effectively drowned out posts actually related to the hashtags.

Emma Ruth Rundle leads a mighty pack - Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher, YOB’s Aaron Rieseberg, and Old Man Gloom’s Santos Montano - covering Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill', a strange, serious-funny song; Jack Colwell's 'Conversion Therapy' is a dramatic pop song with a strong message; 'Lovers Fool' is a smooth jazzy rap from Osquello self-produced debut album; Bent Arcana is a supergroup featuring members of Oh Sees, TV on the Radio and others - their first single 'The Gate' goes into prog, kraut-rock, experimental ambient music; Travis were a late Brit-pop band, they still do what they did, but hey, 'A Ghost' is a good song.

Terrace Martin has made a powerful protest song with an equally strong video, recorded in reaction to George Floyd’s murder and the protests that have happened afterward. "Someone asked, how do I feel? I told them hurt, fearless, angry, aware and fully ready to protect me, my family & my people at all cost” Martin said about the song. Denzel Curry, Daylyt, Kamasi Washington, and G Perico joined him on it. The song’s equally powerful video begins with a message - “the video to this song is happening right outside your window” - and features footage from the protests. It ends with a long list of black men and women who have been killed by the police.

The World Health Organisation has issued their latest recommendations on holding mass gatherings during the current coronavirus pandemic advising that governments and local authorities can consider allowing mass gatherings to take place when it is safe to do so, Republic World reports. "Mass gatherings are not merely recreational events; they have important implications on the psychological well-being of large number of individuals (eg religious events), can play an important role in promoting healthy behaviours (eg. sports), provide employment for a great number of people, and could leave a legacy of improved assets or capacities developed as a result of hosting a mass gathering event” - WHO suggests in their latest recommendations. “Since mass gatherings have substantial political, cultural, social, and economic implications, authorities should assess the importance and necessity of an event and consider the option that it may take place, provided all associated public health risks are adequately addressed and mitigated”.

NME has made a compilation of 23 best drill songs from the history of genre. After being pioneered by Chicagoan producer Young Chop in 2012, drill has become rap’s most popular sub-genre. The list covers everything from Chief Keef's 2012 'I Don't Like' to last years' 'Dior' by Pop Smoke.

Reading & Leeds Festival managing director Melvin Benn has proposed an increase in coronavirus testing in order to enable the full re-opening of music venues, NME reports. Benn advocates widespread public use of the NHS COVID-19 App, which aims to automate the process of contact tracing and spark an increase in population testing, as the UK’s leisure industries “cannot operate with the measures that are currently in place”.

Jay-Z has published full-page ads in numerous US newspapers honouring tragic Black Lives Matter icon George Floyd, CNN reports. The ad quotes Martin Luther King's 1965 speech to protesters in Selma, Alabama: "A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right... So we’re going to stand up amid horses... We’re going to stand up right here, amid the billy-clubs... We’re going to stand up amid tear gas!". In similar news, The Weeknd has donated $500,000 to a number of organisations that are committed to racial equality, Variety reports. Killer Mike appeared on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' talking about the same issue, suggesting to white people to "send financial help to some of the organizations... on the ground. Then get your butt down there and help those organizations in the physical" (watch that video here). Speaking broadly about the problem, he added - "what I need white America to do beyond right now is understand that right now is always. It isn't just helping in the now -- it is being a part of fixing it always".

“I am a Yolngu Man from North East Arnhem Land. I am angry. I am scared. I feel every negative emotion that there is to feel about what happened to George Floyd” - Australian hip-hop star Baker Boy wrote in his Instagram post about police violence in the USA. As he wrote, it also happens in the, seemingly, much fairer communities - “I feel these emotions EVERY DAMN DAY... This is my life and I am scared, I have anxiety about going to unknown places like a different cafe from my usual, not to mention the challenge of touring from the fear of racism, that, yes, is still rampant here in Australia too”. He shared advice - "I truly hope your activism goes further than your social media. Activism starts at home, with hard conversations”.

Bandcamp will be donating 100% of its share of sales on Freedom Day to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The music company said that this move is in response to “the ongoing state-sanctioned violence against black people in the US". Bandcamp is also continuing their tradition of revenue waiving day - this Friday (6/5) all the money made from purchases at Bandcamp will go to artists.

On Saturday, at the height of protests over George Floyd's death, hacker group Anonymous has tapped into Chicago Police Department’s radios and played N.W.A.’s 'Fuck Tha Police'. Later, on Sunday evening, somebody blocked the Chicago police scanner by playing Tay Zonday’s song-turned-meme 'Chocolate Rain', too.

Warner Music, the world's third-biggest record company, is to list on the US Nasdaq today, with an evaluation of $13.3bn. It is the first big-name flotations since the coronavirus pandemic hit the world’s financial markets and the largest initial public offering (IPO) of the year. The coronavirus pandemic has failed to dent the streaming revolution - Warner Music’s streaming revenues have risen 12% in April alone, the New York Times reported. Warner delayed the pricing of its initial public offering on Tuesday to avoid the shares being sold on a day the music industry set aside to support protests against police brutality in the U.S., Financial Times reports. The pricing is scheduled for Wednesday morning. Warner has finally announced the pricing of its initial public offering at $25 per share, Music Week reports.

"Give black artists their master recordings back tomorrow instead…Those that want out of their contracts, let them out tomorrow" - producer WhoAreI suggested prior to Blackout Tuesday. He might not be entirely right, but there's a sense of fairness behind his words - "These white millionaire major label owners gonna sit down to reflect on black lives tomorrow? is that so…they’re finally going to dedicate a day.. the day of June 2nd, 2020 to think about black lives and the black communities..black pain they constantly exploit??? they’re really gonna take a day to sit down with their company and talk bout it? Well shit…haha let me shut up actually…if they say so ill take it…pls god I hope they do & I hope they listen. Unfortunately they won't. They’re going to sit with their pr and figure out how to deflect the fact they are a clear reflection of the very problem at hand".

“I want the oppressors, the enemy, to know that they haven’t created complete hopelessness yet” - El-P of Run The Jewels told Guardian about protests in the USA. He explained - “It’s getting to the point where your whole system of racism does not apply any more to the spiritual and mental mindset of the new generation. We have outgrown you, despite your best efforts to keep us in the same place. You are in power, but you are outmoded. You’re the old form of human. And the new form is coming for your neck”. His bandmate Killer Mike adds - “They’re going to preach separation, they’re going to preach fear, conservatism v liberalism – they’re going to keep stoking those fires. So, we have some action to do now. Giving a shit is the first phase: now let’s progress it”. RTJ release their new album this week.

10-year old Nandi Bushell has offered her support of Black Lives Matter with her cover of 'Guerrilla Radio' by the Rage Against the Machine. Bushell played the drums, bass, and guitar for the 1-minute activist performance. A description of the performance on her YouTube channel and social media pages reads, “Solidarity in the Fight to End Racism! #fightracism #blacklivesmatter #enoughisenough".