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Behind the Collapse of Vice

Jason Tate

Elizabeth Lopatto, writing at The Verge:

Sometimes certain lines of business weren’t told about the revenue goals they were expected to fulfill. Meanwhile, the company’s actual accounting and expense controls were messy. For instance, Vice’s digital division had expenses from NetJets — a private jet service — on its profit and loss statement, two sources told me. (A third confirmed the NetJets account existed without saying which balance sheet it was on. Two sources took credit for eventually canceling the NetJets account. “Since at least 2021, Vice has not had a NetJets account,” according to Vice spokesperson Samira Sorzano.) One executive source alleged that the digital division was funding a production executive’s $350,000 salary — an executive who the source claims did virtually nothing. Another exec heard, to their shock, that someone had reportedly spent $24,000 on a one-way ticket from New York to London.

Spotify to Raise Prices in 2024

Jason Tate

Bloomberg:

The streaming giant will increase prices by about $1 to $2 a month in five markets by the end of April, including the UK, Australia and Pakistan, according to people familiar with the matter. It will raise prices in the US, its largest territory, later this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential plans.

Matt Farley Tries to Match Every Search Term on Spotify

The New York Times
Jason Tate

Brett Martin, writing for the New York Times:

Largely, though not entirely, on the strength of such songs, Farley has managed to achieve that most elusive of goals: a decent living creating music. In 2008, his search-engine optimization project took in $3,000; four years later, it had grown to $24,000. The introduction of Alexa and her voice-activated sistren opened up the theretofore underserved nontyping market, in particular the kind fond of shouting things like “Poop in my fingernails!” at the computer. “Poop in My Fingernails,” by the Toilet Bowl Cleaners, currently has over 4.4 million streams on Spotify alone. To date, that “band,” and the Odd Man Who Sings About Poop, Puke and Pee, have collectively brought in approximately $469,000 from various platforms. They are by far Farley’s biggest earners, but not the only ones: Papa Razzi and the Photogs has earned $41,000; the Best Birthday Song Band Ever, $38,000; the Guy Who Sings Your Name Over and Over, $80,000. Dozens of others have taken in two, three or four digits: the New Orleans Sports Band, the Chicago Sports Band, the Singing Film Critic, the Great Weather Song Person, the Paranormal Song Warrior, the Motern Media Holiday Singers, who perform 70 versions of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” substituting contemporary foods for figgy pudding. It adds up. Farley quit his day job in 2017.

New Interview with Dave Baksh

Sum 41
Jason Tate

Dave Baksh of Sum 41 talked with Rodeo Magazine:

“I always think of [All Killer No Filler] as a boot camp in songwriting, and how to play guitar,” Dave recalls. “We had a producer on that record named Jerry Finn. I think the biggest mistake we made in our career was not working with him on every single record. He had such a great vibe in the studio and was such a great teacher. He sat me down and told me I was a garbage guitar player and I needed to get better. He taught me the art of treating every section – whether it be four bars, twelve bars, whatever – as a composition in itself, and you deliver that performance in whatever pocket that is.”

Tennessee Signs ELVIS Act

Legal
Jason Tate

Tennessee has unveiled the ELVIS act, aiming to protect the voices of artists as a protected personal right:

Present law provides that every individual has a property right in the use of that person’s name, photograph, or likeness in any medium in any manner. This bill adds to the present law by providing that an individual also has a property right in the use of that individual’s voice. […]

This bill adds to the present law by providing that any person who knowingly uses or infringes upon the use of an individual’s voice, in any manner directed to any person other than such individual, for purposes of advertising products, merchandise, goods, or services, or for purposes of fundraising, solicitation of donations, purchases of products, merchandise, goods, or services, without such individual’s prior consent, or, in the case of a minor, the prior consent of such minor’s parent or legal guardian, or in the case of a deceased individual, the consent of the executor or administrator, heirs, or devisees of such deceased individual, is also liable to a civil action.

The goal is to protect musicians against unauthorized AI usage.

Pitchfork Lived and Died by the Internet

Pitchfork
Jason Tate

Nick Heer:

If your music listening experience is mostly driven by playlists and suggestions, you might be less interested in reviewers and critics. That is not a denigration of how anyone listens to music, mind you — I am not a prescriptivist about this kind of stuff. You should experience art in the way you choose.

But streaming music is ultimately just a catalogue into which anyone can dive. It reduces the bar to entry and, on the other side of the same coin, reduces the cost of exiting. If you do not like an album, there is not a $20 sunk cost compelling you to keep going. But you also do not need to spend $20 to experiment with something you are unsure if you will like.

Spotify Experimenting With Online Video Courses

Jason Tate

Jon Porter, writing for The Verge:

Spotify’s UK users are getting access to a fourth category of content to sit alongside its existing library of songs, podcasts and audiobooks: online courses. The company is today launching a new experiment that’ll see video-based lessons from BBC Maestro, Skillshare, Thinkific, and PlayVirtuoso made available via Spotify’s apps on mobile and desktop. The experiment is running in just the UK, and there are currently no guarantees that it’ll get a wider more permanent launch.

Sum 41 Talk With Kerrang

Sum 41
Jason Tate

Sum 41 sat down with Kerrang to talk abut their final album:

“It was the music that told me,” Deryck says of the tipping point. “I thought, ‘This is the moment. This is the best idea that Sum 41 has ever had for a record.’ It straddles that line between heavy music and pop-punk that I feel like only we have done over the years. I felt this was the record that I could walk away and hang my hat on. Musically, it’s our evolution, while the title, Heaven :x: Hell, represents our journey. If there’s one record that defines who we are, it’s this one.”

Report: Anti-Flag’s Justin Sane ‘Plans to Flee U.S.’

Anti-Flag
Jason Tate

Rolling Stone:

Anti-Flag’s lead singer Justin Sane is planning to imminently flee the United States amid a sexual assault lawsuit brought against the punk rocker, according to legal documents obtained by Rolling Stone. 

Kristina Sarhadi filed an amended complaint in the Northern District Court of New York on Thursday, alleging that Sane — real name Justin Geever — has “purposefully and unlawfully attempted to avoid service” of her November 2023 sexual assault lawsuit. 

Instead, she claims in her lawsuit and an accompanying statement on Tuesday that Geever recently sold his Pittsburgh home and has “sought to hide his assets by transferring funds overseas to an Irish bank account.” Geever — who allegedly maintains a dual citizenship and has an Irish passport — “plans to flee to Europe within the next few days,” the suit claims. 

And:

But according to Sarhadi, the band has “taken extreme steps to avoid responsibility” and “sought to coax my forgiveness through a Restorative Justice process” only to abandon talks in early 2024. “To date, no member of Anti-Flag has owned up to their actions or apologized for failing their duty to reasonably protect their fans and community,” Sarhadi said in a press release. 

The Delivery Rider Who Took on His Faceless Boss

Jason Tate

Financial Times:

UberCheats was an algorithm-auditing tool. Samii, who was working as a cycle courier for Uber in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the time, had lost trust in the automated system that essentially functioned as his boss. He had become convinced the Uber Eats app was consistently making errors and underpaying him. After weeks of trying and failing to get a human being at Uber to explain, he felt he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

Spotify Adding Music Videos

Jason Tate

Spotify is rolling out music videos as a new beta feature for some artists.

The beta version of music videos on Spotify begins rolling out today with a limited catalog of music videos, including hits from global artists like Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, and Ice Spice, or local favorites like Aluna and Asake.

New Music Streaming Bill Aims to Increase Streaming Royalties

Pitchfork
Jason Tate

Pitchfork:

U.S. House representatives Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman have introduced to Congress a new bill aiming to boost streaming royalties for artists. The Living Wage for Musicians Act would create a new payment system, the Artist Compensation Royalty Fund, that circumvents record labels and other intermediaries, funneling listeners’ money directly to artists. Tlaib said in a statement, “Streaming has changed the music industry, but it’s leaving countless artists struggling to make ends meet behind. It’s only right that the people who create the music we love get their fair share, so that they can thrive, not just survive.”

The funds would come from two sources: an added subscription fee (proposed as an extra half, with a $4 minimum and $10 maximum) and a 10 percent cut of streamers’ non-subscription revenue, from sources such as ads. The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) has long supported the bill, noting that streaming platforms are already planning price hikes, and the proposal ensures extra fees go to the artists themselves.

Dave Grohl Unveils New Signature Model Guitar

Dave Grohl
Jason Tate

Dave Grohl and Epiphone have teamed up for the new DG-335 signature model guitar.

A longtime Gibson user, his previous Gibson signature guitars have remained extraordinarily popular and command premium prices on the used market—when you can find one. Now Epiphone is extremely proud to once again partner with Gibson Custom on the release of the Dave Grohl DG-335. It features the combination of ES-335 and Trini Lopez model features Dave requested and that fans expect, including a semi-hollow ES™ body with bound diamond-shaped sound holes, a one-piece mahogany neck with an elliptical profile, Trini Lopez-style headstock with Grover® Mini Rotomatic® tuners, laurel fretboard, and split diamond inlays. The pickups are Dave’s preferred Gibson USA Burstbucker™ models, with a Burstbucker 2 in the neck and a Burstbucker 3 in the bridge position. They’re wired to CTS® potentiometers, Mallory™ capacitors, and a Switchcraft® 3-way toggle switch and 1/4” output jack.

Read More “Dave Grohl Unveils New Signature Model Guitar”

Rising Costs to Tour the United States

Legal
Jason Tate

Anthony Pawelski, writing at AILA:

International artists face another barrier: a U.S. work visa. The O or P visa are commonly used for musicians. They are each limited to specific purposes and not a substitute for a green card. An artist may even have multiple O visas depending on their overall activities in the United States. Both O and P visas can be labor intensive depending on the musical genre, profile of band/artist, nature of the arrangement, and timeline. Like any U.S. visa, there are associated filing fees and attorney fees but, unlike the H-1B work visa, the O or P do not mandate the sponsor/employer pay all legal or government filing fees.

And now, touring is getting even more expensive. On April 1, 2024, the new fee schedule from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will take effect. Applications for most work visas and employment-based green cards will now have higher filing fees and require a new mandatory asylum fee ranging from $300 to $600 (non-profits are exempt). This new fee will be used to fund part of the costs of administering our nation’s asylum program and will be paid each and every time an O or P visa is filed (side note that it is possible that the final fee rule will be challenged in court and all or part of the new fee rule may be enjoined).