An excellent text by Matthew Ball about the connection between technology and music, how the development of tech has changed or steered the way through the future of music. He predicts that the next big step in the development of technology and music will be based on user-generated content, somebody just has to find the right model. His argument is that "almost all new music today, with exception of indie rock, is 'all digital' and thus fully separable by instrument, beat, vocals, etc. In many cases, a hit track is made up of numerous samples, beats, and sounds that come from a patchwork of creators", so everything is already there, except the model.

Spotify has announced a new feature through which artists, labels and rights holders can promote specific songs within the service's autoplay and Radio algorithms, The Verge reports. This visibility boost will be available at the cost of lower royalty payouts. Spotify hasn't yet announced how much lower.

American Recording Academy is changing the name of its best world music album category to best global music album, reflecting a change, rather an evolution in the world. The renamed Grammy will be announced on November 24 and given in February 2021. The Academy sees the new term as "a more relevant, modern, and inclusive", symbolizing "a departure from the connotations of colonialism, folk, and ‘non-American’ that the former term embodied while adapting to current listening trends and cultural evolution among the diverse communities it may represent”, Billboard reports. This year's Best World Music Album winner was Celia Angelique's 'Kidjo'.

Tracy Chapman performed on television night for the first time since 2015 to sing her most famous song 'Talkin' Bout a Revolution' on Seth Meyers' show, to remind American viewers to vote on Election Day. The 56-year-old songwriter did get some grey hair, but she sounds as fresh and powerful as ever..

A great read in Tusk Is Better Than Rumours by Marshall Gu about mostly forgotten classic music composer Leo Ornstein who once, well, not so famously, said that "if his music were any good, it would survive; if not, it would be deservedly forgotten". TIBTR argues he should be remembered as the one preceding Stravinsky and Schoenberg, and the most innovative of the three. Great text - a pleasure to read!

A few interesting thoughts by Public Enemy's Chuck D, via Guardian:

Hip-hop rerouted my life. I wanted to be an artist and I came out of university highly skilled, but hip-hop music bit me in 1979 and I immediately knew where I had to take my art and my politics and my attention

I prefer the term Black to African American. You can be Charlize Theron, who’s from South Africa, and be African American. Black covers the whole gamut. Black is all over the planet

Try to do as many positive things in life as you can... You’ve got to get up and do things

I have a terrible memory for lyrics. It’s caused problems for almost 40 years

Catchy children’s song 'Baby Shark', recorded by South Korean company Pinkfong, has become the most viewed video ever on YouTube with 7.04bn views over four years after it was first uploaded, Inquirer reports. It surpasses 'Despacito', the 2017 single by Puerto Rican pop stars Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee. Catchy 'Baby Shark' has prompted a spin-off live tour, merchandise, books and more, plus reworkings of the song, including one featuring - Luis Fonsi...

"The nearly two-hour show was part music, part comedy, part documentary, with cinematic production values that rival those of a home video release" - CoS writes about Mr. Bungle's Halloween show The Night They Came Home. "Instead of treating the camera like an audience member that isn’t there, Mr. Bungle used it like a film director, making the concert portion more like a performance video than a webcam stream", CoS adds, praising the use of guests - Josh Homme, Henry Rollins, Buzz Osborne - to bridge moments of silence between songs.

A viral video of Paul Harvey, 80, a former music teacher with dementia, performing a piece based on just four notes, has inspired a £1m charity donation from Scotland's first ever billionaire Sir Tom Hunter. Mr Harvey is suffering from dementia, but has continued to be able to play and compose piano pieces. His improvisation, 'Four Notes' has also reached the top of the iTunes and Amazon charts last week.

A very useful article by Henry Prince about monetisation features at the biggest platforms for artists and managers turning to live-streaming. The article provides artists with a beginner’s guide to ways of making money from live streaming at Twitch, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter...

The latest Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band album, 'Letter To You' debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart for this week, making Springsteen the first act with a new Top 5-charting album in the United Sates in each of the last six decades, from the '70s to the '20s, Billboard reports. Luke Combs has also set a record this week - his 'What You See Is What You Get' comes back to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, following its deluxe reissue on Oct. 23, with a streaming total of 102.26 million weekly streams, setting a new weekly streaming record for a country album.

'Looked Over Your Shoulder' is signed by Busta Rhymes, when maybe it's more a Kendrick Lamar/Michael Jackson song (it heavily samples 'I'll Be There'); 'Happy' is Danny Elfman's first new song in 36 years, accompanied by a spooky video; 'Babylon Exists' by The Late One is an activist reggae ballad with a strong political message; yet another protest song 'New America' sees the underestimated newcomer A$AP Twelvyy getting a helping mic from Conway the Machine; Karen O and Willie Nelson covered the iconic David Bowie and Queen classic 'Under Pressure'; an awesome video of icy soundworld by Dan Holdsworth for a Patten song 'Cerulean'; R-Mean features Method Man in good form on 'Circus'; 'Evans a Gift' by Loud Tides is a smoothy jazzy song; Riz Ahmed is moody, affirming the basics on 'Once Kings'; Patrick Watson drops a soothing piano on 'Lost With You'.

Among the fifty best-selling records of August on Discogs.com, three of the top five entries were just different vinyl pressings of Khruangbin's 'Mordechai', including the top spot. In all, six of the top fifty best-selling records were by Khruangbin, topping both current hot acts such as Phoebe Bridgers and catalog titles like David Bowie. It goes down to music of course 'Mordechai' is a “record that is fun and full of heart, and also really calming", Hannah Carlen, head of marketing at Khruangbin’s label, Dead Oceans, told Texas Monthly.

"Running helps me maintain a deep physical connection to the electronic music that I love: The same pulsating energy that once fueled peak-time dance marathons now carries me over the next hill, through the next mile, toward the next goal" - Indy Week's Nick Williams writes about a change of floor for the electronic music lovers, who found a similar thrill in running. The music also makes people try harder - "a consummate DJ set can keep a club churning long past the point where everyone should be in bed; the right music can push runners beyond their physical limitations".

The excellent Cherie Hu highlights three major themes not just in how big-tech music strategies are constructed, but also when and why their execution falls short. Her latest blog post:

1. The commoditization of music streaming is nothing new, but must be acknowledged in any conversation about big tech’s role in the music industry.
2. Thinking about the impact of content-driven music strategies, three interlocking parts come to mind: Licenses, ecosystems and interfaces.
3. No corporation is a monolith, but most of them are generalists

Veteran music executive and Lollapalooza co-founder Marc Geiger has been working on an initiative of his own called SaveLive this year with a plan to save American indie venues, the New York Times reports. Geiger’s plan is to buy at least 51 percent equity in dozens of music clubs nationwide, and help them expand into “regional forces” with the help of sponsorship opportunities and create a “network effect”. Geiger has already collected $75 million from the first investment round.

Moses Sumney made a stellar short show at the digital edition of Planet Afropunk with reinterpretations of four songs from this year's album 'Græ' and his debut project 'Aromanticism'. Sumney starts on the rear of a truck with his band projected on the back, to continue with an in-nature performance, and finishing with darkness. A much bigger emphasis on the sonics here. Awesome!

Deftones have announced a 20th anniversary deluxe reissue of their landmark 2000 album, 'White Pony', featuring a bonus LP of brand-new remixes dubbed 'Black Stallion' with reworkings by the likes of DJ Shadow, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, and more. In advance of its December 11th release, Deftones have unveiled Purity Ring’s remix of 'Knife Prty'. Other remixers on Black 'Stallion' include Phantogram, Tourist, Clams Casino, Squarepusher, Blanck Mass, and others.

The 22-year-old daughter of Michael Jackson has released her debut solo single 'Let Down', ahead of her solo album 'Wilted' being released on November 13th, CNN reports. She described her music as alternative folk, and it's fair to describe it as indie-rock with touches of Americana. A nice song, and a brave move from young Paris Jackson to move quite away from her father's sound. The only daughter of Michael Jackson has previously made music with her now ex-boyfriend Gabriel Glenn as part of their band The Soundflowers.

Bruce Springsteen scored his 12th Number 1 album on UK Official Chart with 'Letter To You', sold in 51,800 units. The entry means Springsteen is the first credited solo artist to have a Number 1 album in five consecutive decades, topping the charts in the 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s and 20s. With 12 Number 1 albums, Bruce Springsteen is now tied with Madonna for chart-topping albums – Robbie Williams and Elvis Presley are the only solo artists to have had more Number 1 albums in the UK.

Hyperpop pulls heavily from SoundCloud rap, emo, lo-fi trap, PC Music label, as well as from trance, dubstep and chiptune, Vice writes about the fluid genre. They hear Charli XCX, sonic fusionists/chaos-makers 100 gecs, glitchy rappers David Shawty, and animated electronic producers Gupi as representatives of hyper-pop. What is distinctive with this new genre is that its "identity is less rooted in musical genetics than it is a shared ethos of transcending genre altogether, while still operating within the context of pop".

Country music singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, a hero of "outlaw" country, whom Willie Nelson once called "the greatest living songwriter" died Wednesday at the age of 81, the New York Times reports. Shaver was often referred to as part of the "outlaw country" movement of the 1970s along with figures like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, both of whom recorded his songs, as well as Kris Kristofferson, His songs were recorded by Elvis Presley, David Allan Coe, Patty Loveless, Tom T. Hall, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Paycheck and Doug Kershaw, Johnny Cash. His own recording career encompassed 17 studio albums.

Greek prog-sludge metal band Kevel picks up pieces of death metal, black metal, and post-metal to make the "ultimate, tumultuous majesty" on their album 'Mutatis Mutandis', Invisible Oranges writes. Dusted magazine goes deeper into the concept - "Kevel articulates an engaging, challenging riff, and then works it, allowing the musical statement to build its own significance". Listen to the powerful and raw album on Bandcamp.

Garrett Bradley's documentary 'Time' tells the story of Sibil Fox Richardson and her 20-year battle to bring home her husband Rob, who was sentenced to 60 years in prison for attempted robbery of a credit union. The docu is set to the music of Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, Ethiopian nun and piano player, because, as Bradley says in Pitchfork interview, "it’s got this incredible blending of melodies that is reminiscent of New Orleans. There’s also a fluidity, repetition, and singularity in its range. There is quite a bit of nuance from one track to the next, but overall, you can float through the whole thing. I wanted the film to feel like a river, and not like a collage".

Atlantic Records has launched the 36% Campaign, named after the fact that only 36% of eligible voters aged 18-29 voted in the 2018 midterm election in the US, with songs stripped down to 36% in the innovative campaign. Atlantic artists Portugal. The Man, Kelly Clarkson, Jack Harlow, Meek Mill, and Cordae are releasing rough-cut, shortened videos of some of their biggest hits, Variety reports. Pta. T M's five-time platinum Grammy award-winning 'Feel It Still' (or 'Fl Sl') has been edited to be 36% visible and stripped of key instrumental elements, including its signature bassline. In other political-related news, Snoop Dogg says he believed his criminal records precluded him from being able to vote (it didn't), The Atlantic reports.

"There's two sides to what made me a rapper. One was how articulate and clever can I be with the lyric. And then the other side of it was, what am I doing in my real life that can relate to the music?" - south London rapper Che Lingo says presenting himself and his debut album 'The Worst Generation'. It was released last week on actor Idris Elba's label. BBC talked to the rapper - "one of the UK's most versatile MCs, equally at home on a hard-hitting grime track as on a sultry R&B jam"...

The proportion of black, Asian and minority ethnic staff in the music industry in the UK has risen from 15.6% in 2016 to 22.3% this year, according to trade body UK Music. But, there are bigger differences when it comes to pay - among those earning more than £100,000 per year, just 27% were women and 12.2% were not white. In low-paid jobs - where salaries are less than £15,000 - the figures were 59.4% and 33.6% respectively. Overall, female representation was at 49.6% in 2020 - roughly the same as in 2016, Independent reports.

Nothing released a leaned back and mighty 'Famine Asylum'; Aquiles Navarro & Tcheser Holmes dropped a great afro-beat jazzy 'Pueblo'; Chelsea Wolfe released a creepy cover of 'In Heaven' from David Lynch's classic 1977 film 'Eraserhead'; Cass McCombs assembled a powerful front with Angel Olsen, Bob Weir, and Noam Chomsky to send a 'Don’t (Just) Vote' message; Zack de la Rocha remixed Outkast's 'Bombs Over Baghdad', adding a rock-rap riff to it; Portrayal of Guilt melt post hardcore with black metal on 'It's Already Over'.

Megan Thee Stallion was the big winner at the 15th annual BET Hip Hop Awards taking home three awards -- hip-hop artist of the year, best collaboration (for 'Savage' with Beyonce) and hustler of the year. Rapsody became the first woman to win for lyricist of the year. Roddy Ricch’s 'Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial' won hip hop album of the year, the first time that an artist’s first studio album has won that award. Pop Smoke won best new hip hop artist posthumously. Check out the complete list here.

It's a match made in heaven (or hell maybe?) - Johnny Depp produced a documentary about the Pogues leader Shane MacGowan, directed by Julien Temple, responsible for the Sex Pistols movie 'The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle' as well as docs on the Pistols and the Clash. 'Crock Of Gold — A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan' features animation by Ralph Steadman, it traces MacGowan’s life, culminating at his 60th birthday blowout on Christmas night 2018 with an all-star tribute concert featuring performances from likes of Bono, Nick Cave, Sinéad O’Connor and Johnny Depp. It's coming to theatres and VOD in December.