Month: June 2021

Paramore’s Influence Is All Around Us

Jason Tate

Quinn Moreland, writing for Pitchfork:

Now, Paramore’s influence is being felt by a new group of artists navigating the turbulence of youth, when every heartbreak and setback can feel apocalyptic. Beyond Moriondo, the band’s sound and snarl can be heard in the gleeful middle finger that is Olivia Rodrigo’s No. 1 hit “good 4 u,” the Hot Topic thrash of Willow Smith’s “Transparent Soul,” the diaristic bliss of girl in red’s “Serotonin,” and Billie Eilish’s caustic eye-rolls. That these artists were an average of 5-and-a-half years old when Riot! was released only underscores Paramore’s staying power—and Williams’ role as a sage pop-punk den mother.

Polo G Tops the Charts

Jason Tate

Polo G has the number one album in the country this week:

Polo G lands his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as Hall of Fame opens atop the tally, earning 143,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending June 17, according to MRC Data. All three of the rapper’s charting albums have reached the top 10.

Can Streaming Pay? Musicians Are Pinning Fresh Hopes on Twitch.

The New York Times
Jason Tate

Ben Sisario, writing for the New York Times:

Twitch, by contrast, is an alternate universe where even niche artists can make thousands of dollars a month by cultivating fan tribes whose loyalty is expressed through patronage. With its interactive chat threads and internal economy of channel subscriptions and “bits” (donations), Twitch would seem to fulfill the long-hyped but elusive promise of creative commerce on the internet. Yet the platform may work well for only some kinds of artists. (It is enormously labor-intensive.) Its relationship with rights holders is strained. And though it got a boost during the pandemic, Twitch may soon face a reckoning once artists and their fans emerge from their cocoons and return to in-person events.