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Pete Wentz Talks With Rolling Stone

Fall Out Boy
Jason Tate

Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy sat down with Rolling Stone:

It feels like every once in awhile, you’ve gotta do a hard restart that clears the cache and erases the hard drive. I think that’s what “Young and Menace” was – a big palette cleanse. I think it gave us the space to create something brand new. The world can be a big lonely place, especially for kids who are trying to figure themselves out. I think sometimes we can forget that… that’s who Mania is meant to speak to. That’s who I want to reach. I don’t think that kids should feel like they need to adjust their empathy or selves to the world – I’d rather give them the belief that they can adjust the world to fit their empathy.

Tom DeLonge Helps Track Down Alleged Predators

Tom DeLonge
Jason Tate

Tom DeLonge recently posted on Facebook about helping track down alleged sexual predators:

These asswipes are going to jail for trying to kidnapp a 15 year old girl 48 hours ago. She grew up with my family and my bandmates. We then banned together in Encinitas and we all posted about it. Then, about 10,000 San Diego people were looking for these douchbags and their ugly truck. After they staked out 2 MORE ELEMENTRY SCHOOLS YESTERDAY, the fucking idiot drove back into the SAME FUCKING NEIGHBORHOOD where everyone was looking and wiring to crucify him. So… SWAT TEAM took the fuckface down, and like the pussy he is, he ratted out his friend instantly. Still trying to connect all dots to see if it goes all the way to human trafficking and any other horrible sex crimes. But as a Father, I can speak for all other Fathers, these guys are lucky they were grabbed by police and not us.

Sia Signs With Atlantic Records

Sia
Jason Tate

Sia has signed with Atlantic Records and will be releasing a holiday album later this year:

Her first release under the recently signed worldwide deal will be a collection of original holiday songs written by Sia and producer Greg Kurstin, due later this year via Monkey Puzzle/Atlantic Records, according to a release announcing the deal Tuesday

The Inside Story of SoundCloud’s Collapse

Soundcloud
Jason Tate

Ryan Mac, writing for BuzzFeed:

In a music era dominated by Spotify, SoundCloud has been, at the best of times, a startup in stagnation, and, at the worst of times, an organization in disarray. Once harboring aspirations to be the YouTube of sound, the Berlin-based company has struggled to remain viable, hamstrung by management missteps, an ineffective business strategy, and a stubborn music industry that would rather it had never existed.

And:

With SoundCloud holding out for just under $2 billion, Twitter balked, sources said, put off by the heady price tag, music industry headaches, and the discrepancy between Soundcloud’s monthly visitors and its registered users. (Many people listened to SoundCloud’s content, but never registered with the site.)

And:

SoundCloud’s quest to build a business and find legitimacy in the eyes of labels divided the company and alienated long-time users. Internally, workers noticed a distinct shift away from creators and toward listeners. Internal key metrics changed from “tracks posted” to “number of minutes listened.” Meanwhile, the company’s short staffed engineering team focused on developing products that could better track copyrighted content. When SoundCloud killed its record button, the move was interpreted by some as a sign the company was less focused on creators. Soon it would stop supporting groups, a feature that allowed like-minded users to congregate on the site and share or comment on the tracks posted to it.

Reddit Valued at $1.8 Billion

Reddit
Jason Tate

Reddit is now valued at $1.8 billion after their latest round of funding. According to Recode, the company will be going on a hiring spree and redesigning their website:

Reddit has raised $200 million in new venture funding and is now valued at $1.8 billion, according to CEO Steve Huffman.

The new funding round, the company’s largest ever, should expedite a number of internal product and business efforts, including a redesign of its homepage and its first foray into user-uploaded video, Huffman added in an interview with Recode.

The money comes courtesy of a number of well-known Silicon Valley investors, including firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, and individual investors like Y Combinator President Sam Altman (also a board member) and SV Angel’s Ron Conway. It also includes money from the hedge fund Coatue, investment firm Vy Capital and mutual fund giant Fidelity.

Neon Trees Are Back

Neon Trees
Jason Tate

Neon Trees have announced on Facebook that they’re back:

It seems strange to say this but:

We’re back.

It’s been 3 years since our last album, and after years of being a band together, touring the world and living the dreams of our youth, we took an important break.. one that’s refreshed all of us and refocused what our band is and what we want to do next.

We are pleased to announce that next week you’ll all be getting the first taste of new music from this next era of Neon Trees.

On Friday Bandcamp Will Donate Proceeds to Transgender Law Center

Bandcamp
Jason Tate

Bandcamp:

Bandcamp is a platform for artistic expression, and all manner of variance in experience and identity, including gender and sexuality, is welcome here. We support our LGBT+ users and staff, and we stand against any person or group that would see them further marginalized. This includes the current U.S. administration, and its recent capricious declaration that transgender troops will no longer be able to serve in the military. That this announcement was motivated in part to help fund the border wall exposes it as part of the administration’s cynical, discriminatory agenda.

In response, we will be donating 100% of our share of every sale on Friday, August 4th (from midnight to midnight Pacific Time) to the Transgender Law Center, a nonprofit organization that works tirelessly to change law, policy, and culture for the more equitable. TLC does critical policy advocacy and litigation on multiple fronts, fights for healthcare for trans veterans, defends incarcerated trans people from abuse in prisons and detention centers, supports trans immigrants, and helps trans youth tell their stories and build communities.

MTV to Bring Back TRL

MTV
Jason Tate

MTV will be bringing back TRL while they attempt to stay relevant:

Then in October, MTV will unveil the revival of “TRL.” The original iteration — which featured a countdown of music videos, a studio audience and frequent appearances from star musicians — was, in a way, a throwback itself, an updated version of “American Bandstand.”

The newer version of “TRL” will initially run an hour a day, and Mr. McCarthy said that might grow to two to three hours a day as the show developed. (There will also be unique daily content for Instagram, Snapchat and other social media channels.)

I remember watching TRL when I was younger. I watched it because there was a chance Blink-182, New Found Glory, or Sum 41 would make it onto the countdown and I’d get to see thirty seconds of their video. One of the main reasons I started AbsolutePunk.net was so that I could catalog music videos for bands I loved in a place where everyone could find them easily. Thankfully, YouTube ended up doing all that way better than I could have ever dreamed.

What TRL did well was become a destination for any artist starting their album cycle. If you wanted a shot at breaking out, you had to appear on the show and do an interview/video debut/live performance. This worked great when MTV was one of the only gatekeepers for the music industry. New album information for a select group of artists could break on TRL. Now, with access to more video (and news) content for bands than I could ever consume in a lifetime on the internet, I wonder what the hook will be for TRL that makes it worth watching. As someone that barely watches any live TV, I’m skeptical about the demand for these kinds of shows. Finding the small communities, video channels, and/or podcasts that are tailored to your specific listening habits just seems more interesting to me.

Tyler Hedstrom Passes Away

Jason Tate

Tyler Hedstrom, the drummer for Anarbor, has passed away. He was 17. A Gofundme has been set up for the family:

On behalf of Anarbor and The Hedstrom Family, we regret to inform you that Tyler, our drummer, friend, and colleague took his life this week at his home in Arizona. We are devastated. Tyler was very happy and jovial beforehand, and was becoming a very successful musician. This shows us that life can indeed be fragile, even if you don’t see it.

Tesla Unveil the Model 3 Sedan

Tesla
Jason Tate

Tesla have unveiled the first of their new Model 3 sedans:

In a ceremony at Tesla’s factory complex near San Francisco, the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk, delivered the initial Model 3s off the assembly line to 30 employees chosen to be the model’s first owners.

It was a pivotal moment in Tesla’s evolution from a manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles into a producer of mass-market cars.

The company has yet to specify when it will begin selling the Model 3, priced at $35,000, to the half-million prospective buyers who have reserved cars with $1,000 deposits.

Ars Technica has a deeper look:

The $35,000 electric vehicle’s interior is more spartan than the Model S or Model X. Air ducts are hidden and there’s no instrument cluster directly in front of the driver. All the information you need about the car is found on a single, horizontal screen mounted in the center of the dashboard. The side mirrors and steering column are adjusted with two marble-sized trackballs where your thumbs might rest on the steering wheel.

Sick of It All Hit By Drunk Driver

Sick of It All
Jason Tate

Sick of It All’s tour van was hit by a drink driver last night. Thankfully everyone appears to be ok.

Last night a drunk driver plowed into the side of our bandwagon. We are all ok, aches and pains, bumps and bruises as far as we know for now. We don’t know how the guy who hit us is but he wasn’t looking good when they pulled him out. We are feeling a little stiff but we are still playing tonight at 8:00 on the Hard Rock stage! Thank you so much to Bad Cop Bad Cop and Valiant Thor for coming back to pick us up so we can make the show. Hauling our Merch and setting it up. Laila and Sonic Boom Six for lending us their hotel room for much needed rest! Dom and Bunny for selling! Thanks for all the well wishes.