YouTube Will ‘Frustrate’ Some Users With Ads So They Pay for Music

Jason Tate Mar 22, 2018

Lucas Shaw, writing for Bloomberg:

People who treat YouTube like a music service, those passively listening for long periods of time, will encounter more ads, according to Lyor Cohen, the company’s global head of music. “You’re not going to be happy after you are jamming ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and you get an ad right after that,” Cohen said in an interview at the South by Southwest music festival.

Correct, in fact I’d be so annoyed I’d go sign up for a music service like Spotify or Apple Music instead.

John O’Callaghan of the Maine Is Releasing a Book

Jason Tate Mar 22, 2018

John O’Callaghan of The Maine is releasing a book full of his tweets:

For the last 8 or so years I have committed (more or less) to “tweeting” once a day, however long and mysterious or short and sarcastic it may be. I don’t claim to possess the secret of life or the trick to being happy or the migratory patterns of the robin, I just have a brain and some thoughts, two thumbs and a twitter so I decided to just kinda stuck with it. In this book, I’ve compiled 365 of my favorite tweets to date (that’s a full year for those of you who believe in that sort of thing) for you to chew on.

Sing With Thrice

Jason Tate Mar 22, 2018

Thrice want you to sing on their upcoming album. All of the instructions for what and how to record are up on their website and the clip you’ll be helping to sing is on YouTube.

Glenn Howerton Is Dead Serious About Being Funny

Jason Tate Mar 21, 2018

Glenn Howerton, best known as Dennis on It’s Always Sunny…, but also very good in the new show A.P. Bio, was recently profiled by GQ:

You know what I think it is? [The characters are] an interesting parallel to what I think is wrong in society in general, which is, it’s the most extreme version of someone who is out only for themselves. In a weird way, here we are in a free market economy, in a democracy, you’re given permission to get whatever you can get, as long as you’re acting within the confines of the laws, you’re encouraged to. “Hey, if you can go make a billion dollars, go make a billion dollars.”
And that’s great in theory. But I do think it lends itself to a mindset like “Yeah, I stepped on a couple heads on my way, but I didn’t break any fucking laws. So fuck you. Fuck you.” And that doesn’t build communities, it doesn’t lead to happiness. And yet we still celebrate it.

This is a really great interview.

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Jimmy Iovine Said to Be Transitioning Roles at Apple

Jason Tate Mar 21, 2018

Jimmy Iovine will reportedly be moving into a reduced role at Apple Music:

The latest update to Iovine’s reported on-again-off-again relationship with Apple Music comes by way of The Wall Street Journal, which positions the move not as a full exit, so much as a reduced role. According to the report, Iovine will be swapping his current oversight role in August for something more of the consulting variety.

Anti-Flag Launch Podcast

Jason Tate Mar 21, 2018

Anti-Flag have started a new podcast. The first episode on gun control is now up via iDobi Radio.

Neck Deep on Carson Daly

Jason Tate Mar 21, 2018

Neck Deep had a performance air on Last Call with Carson Daly last night. Video of the performance can be found on NBC’s website.

7 Seconds Break Up After 38 Years

Jason Tate Mar 21, 2018

7 Seconds have broken up:

Those who have worked closely with us or who have followed us throughout our 38 years know how dysfunctional we can be but we always managed to pull our shit together at just the right time.
This time around, the reality of being middle-aged, working class, not terribly relevant and not being able to bounce back from injuries and personal problems has become a weight just too great for us to bear and all signs finally point to retirement.

Travis Barker, John Feldmann, and Jason Butler Talk The Fever 333

Jason Tate Mar 21, 2018

Forbes (sorry for having to link to this user hostile website) sat down with Travis Barker, John Feldmann, and Jason Butler to talk about The Fever 333 and their upcoming music, label, and much more:

This is the first and only interview that Barker, Feldmann and The Fever 333 have done collectively. With their debut EP being released this Friday, here, in their words, Barker, Feldmann and the trio reveal all.

And:

I stayed close to Jason, then when Jason was working at Shinola in Venice selling watches he came to the house and had a come to Jesus talk with me. “What do I do?” So I kind of filed it away in the back of my mind. Three months later Travis and I signed a couple of pop/punk bands and we started developing stuff together. It came to the forefront, Jason Aalon is the greatest frontman probably still relevant, but he is working at a watch store.

There’s lots of new information about this project and how it came together in here.

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Spencer Chamberlin Talks With Music Feeds

Jason Tate Mar 19, 2018

Sam Bauermeister of Music Feeds sat down with Spencer Chamberlin of Underoath to talk about the band’s upcoming album:

If we’re doing things the way we used to do it and keep saying “That’s not Underoath enough”, it wouldn’t work. I’m not the same person I was in 2006 when we wrote Define the Great Line, I’m a way different person and in a much better place in my life mentally, spiritually and musically. So I’m not going to write the same as I did when I was at that point in my life. Whether it’s you as a journalist, a football player or a business person, there’s no way you’d be doing things the same as you did twelve years ago. So I find it unfair when people expect that of us.

Logic Tops the Charts

Jason Tate Mar 19, 2018

Logic has the number one album in the country this week:

The set, which was released on March 9 through Visionary/Def Jam, bows with 119,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 15, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 32,000 were in traditional album sales.

Toys ‘R’ Us Plans to Close All U.S. Stores

Jason Tate Mar 15, 2018

Reuters:

Iconic toy retailer Toys ‘R’ Us Inc will shutter or sell its stores in the United States after failing to revamp its struggling business, putting 30,000 jobs at risk and leaving a void for vendors who supplied the company with $11 billion worth of goods a year.

As a kid there was no place I wanted to go more than Toys ‘R’ Us.

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Spotify Testing Voice Control of App

Jason Tate Mar 15, 2018

Spotify is testing voice control of their iOS app. Casey Newton of The Verge got a chance to try it out:

Tap it and you’ll get a brief walkthrough of the search feature, which is currently available only in English. After giving Spotify access to your phone’s microphone, you can tap the mic icon and speak your command. If Spotify understands you, it will begin playing the song, artist, album, or playlist you want.