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Epic Ask Court to Keep Google from Removing Bandcamp

Bandcamp
Jason Tate

Jay Peters, writing at The Verge:

Epic Games has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop Google from removing independent music storefront Bandcamp from the Android app store — which Google has apparently threatened to do because Bandcamp is using its own billing system instead of paying Google an app store fee.

Bandcamp, which Epic acquired in March, has used its own billing system on Android since 2015, and was able to do so because of rules exempting digital music from having to use Google’s billing system, according to a blog post from Bandcamp co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond. “However, Google is now modifying its rules to require Bandcamp (and other apps like it) to exclusively use Google Play Billing for payments for digital goods and services, and pay a revenue share to Google,” Diamond says

Naomi Judd Passes Away

Jason Tate

Country music star Naomi Judd has passed away:

Naomi Judd, who as one half of the mother-daughter duo the Judds dominated the country music charts in the 1980s with a blend of tight vocal harmonies, traditional arrangements and modern pop aesthetics, died on Saturday outside Nashville. She was 76.

What Went Wrong At Netflix?

Jason Tate

Kim Masters, writing at Hollywood Reporter:

And now, back to the drama. Several important Netflix creators voice a very consistent theory about what’s gone wrong with the streamer’s culture. They see a link between Netflix’s problems and the 2020 fall of Cindy Holland, who played a key role in launching the service’s originals — brilliantly and often expensively — with House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black and Stranger Things, among others.

These sources say Holland was the one who nurtured strong relationships with talent and took time to offer thoughtful development notes while still making people feel safe and supported in pursuing their passion projects.

Important multihyphenates who work or have worked with Netflix say it was Holland rather than Ted Sarandos, then chief content officer, who gave Netflix its profile as a home to buzzy, quality shows. (It was also Holland who warned Sarandos, to no avail, that continuing to order specials from one of his comedy heroes, Dave Chappelle, would lead to internal strife and bad press.) 

Relient K Talk About the Future

Jason Tate

Canton Rep:

”We had so much fun playing together,” he said of the recently concluded tour. “It’s been about five years since our last show, and honestly, I wasn’t sure if we would ever get back to this. I think there is a certain sense of gratitude and joy that is present now in our live shows. I think a lot of our fans weren’t sure if we would ever tour again, either, so I think it’s part of the reason for the excitement and overall good vibes.”

Asked how long he thinks Relient K will last, Thiessen didn’t flinch: “Matt and I always said the band will always exist as long as we’re having fun.”

The Midtown Reunion is For the Children

Midtown
Jason Tate

Gabe Saporta talked with Stereogum about Midtown’s upcoming shows:

Saporta was wary about the expectations these types of reunions set for both fans and musicians. “I’m always on the fence on these things. It takes so much work,” he explained. “I also am not the hugest fan of nostalgia. When I’ve seen my favorite bands get back together, I’ve always been disappointed. So I don’t ever want to disappoint anybody and not live up to the vision that they have in their head.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers Top the Charts

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Jason Tate

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have the number one album in the country:

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Unlimited Love leaps onto the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 16) at No. 1, marking the band’s second leader and first chart-topping effort since 2006’s Stadium Arcadium. The new set was released on April 1 and bows with 97,500 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 7, according to Luminate, formerly MRC Data. In total, the group has tallied eight top 10 albums on the Billboard 200.

Why Everyone Wants to Work With Travis Barker

Travis Barker
Jason Tate

Billboard:

“I was [once] a trash man there playing in a punk-rock band called Feeble, so to go back in 2022 with my fiancée and just have a day laying on the beach… I can’t say how amazing it is,” Barker reflects. “I feel like I’m learning how to structure my time, trying to work enough to where I feel comfortable and feel like I earn days off and vacations, which I never took until this past year.”

Deryck Whibley Talks With Spin

Sum 41
Jason Tate

Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 talks with Spin:

Now 8 years sober, Whibley prepares to release a new Sum 41 record. They’ve crafted a double LP (a first for the band) titled Heaven And Hell, which deftly threads a line from their early pop punk days to their current metal era. The first disc, full of songs harking back to the golden age of ‘00s pop punk, was written in the wake of a proposed deluxe-reissue of their debut LP, All Killer, No Filler. Universal Records asked Whibley if they had any songs leftover from their early days. He didn’t, but the challenge presented itself to come up with one or two.

Before long, Whibley had written enough songs to make a record and opted to collect them all as a new record instead of extras on a nostalgic repackaging. At the same time, he had been writing new material that was much more of-the-moment for Sum 41, a band that has moved away from the pop punk songs of their youth into heavy metal arenas.

Ed Sheeran Wins ‘Shape of You’ Plagiarism Case

Ed Sheeran
Jason Tate

The New York Times:

Ed Sheeran did not steal from another songwriter when he wrote his 2017 megahit “Shape of You,” according to a highly anticipated court ruling here on Wednesday.

Justice Zacaroli, the judge overseeing the case, said “Mr. Sheeran neither deliberately nor subconsciously copied” the track “Oh Why,” by the British songwriter Sami Chokri, who records as Sami Switch.

There was “no more than speculative” evidence that Mr. Sheeran had even ever heard “Oh Why,” Justice Zacaroli added, dismissing Mr. Chokri’s claim of copyright infringement.

Brian Fallon Explains Why The Gaslight Anthem Have Reunited

Jason Tate

Uproxx:

Well, I think it’s two sides that have always been there. Even on like the early, early records, like Sink Or Swim, you have “The Navesink Banks” and “Red At Night” that are more Americana. But I know that when I finished doing Local Honey, there was very strong sense of completion. When that record was done, I felt I had achieved something, whatever it was that I was working at. And I was like, “Well, chapter closed. What am I going to do now? You know what’s pretty cool? Rock music. Playing guitars. I want to turn up something to 10 and play. Kick an amp over or something. That sounds great right now.”

Sum 41 Announce New Double Album

Sum 41
Jason Tate

Sum 41 talk with Rolling Stone about their upcoming double album, Heaven and Hell:

What came out of this creative renaissance was Heaven and Hell. The first part of the two-part LP, known as “Heaven,” taps back into the current nostalgia surrounding pop-punk — a style Whibley started writing in before it became a thing again: “When that happened, I was like, ‘What kind of luck is that?’ ” he says. The album’s second, heavier side (“Hell”) features metallic tracks closer to the band’s most recent sound. “As I listened to almost all of it, it just kind of dawned on me,” he recalls. “‘Did I just make a double record by accident?’ “

Lil Durk Tops the Charts

Jason Tate

Lil Durk has the number one album in the country:

Lil Durk scores his second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart (dated March 26) as 7220 debuts in the top slot. The rapper previously topped the list with The Voice of the Heroes, a collaborative set with Lil Baby, for one week in 2021.

7220 launches with 120,500 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending March 17, according to Luminate, formerly MRC Data – Lil Durk’s best week for a non-collaborative project. 7220 was released on March 11 via Alamo Records.