Vérité’s new song “Bout You” is up on Spotify and Apple Music.
Thrice – “Sea Change”
Thrice’s new song “Sea Change” from their Record Store Day 7″ is now up on streaming services.
‘Dunkirk’ Trailer
Over Half US Households Only Use Cellphones
Aaron Pressman, writing for Fortune:
It’s official: For the first time, a majority of American homes have only wireless telephones.
The trend to drop landlines has been growing over the last decade alongside the growth in mobile phone use, according to semi-annual surveys performed by the Centers for Disease Control, which wants to monitor how to contact people for future surveys. But it wasn’t until the end of 2016 that a majority of all households relied solely on mobile phones.
Since leaving my parent’s home for college, I’ve never had a landline. I doubt I ever will.
PVRIS Perform “Half” Live
Candy Hearts Change Name to Best Ex; Share New Song
Candy Hearts have decided to change their name to Best Ex. They’ve released the song “Girlfriend” and talked with Billboard about the changes:
Candy Hearts has always been an extension of everything I am. I came up with the idea for the band when I was a teenager, and I think it was deeply empowering at the time to be able to be in a punk band, shout on stage, and still own the fact that I felt like such a shy, insecure girl. That was always my thing — I’m powerful despite my anxieties. I think over the past five years — after the amazing whirlwind my band has been through that I still can’t believe even happened — it really transformed from an extension of myself to an extension of my anxiety and not much else.
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Nothing But Thieves – “Amsterdam”
Nothing But Thieves have shared their new song “Amsterdam.”
Future – “Mask Off” Video
Green Day Perform on Corden
Green Day performed “Still Breathing” last night on James Corden.
Halsey Performs on Fallon
Halsey performed “Now or Never” on last night on Fallon.
RVIVR – “The Tide” Video
Review: John Moreland – Big Bad Luv
A former punk, hardcore, and metalcore singer from Tulsa, Oklahoma, John Moreland made one of the greatest and most pervasively sad country records of the decade so far with 2015’s High on Tulsa Heat. “I’m so damn good at sorrow,” he sang in one of the LP’s key tracks, and he was right. Most of the songs were driven by little more than acoustic guitar and voice, and the lyrics were so heavy and despairing that the record was tough to listen to more than once in a multi-day span. If you were hurting for just about any reason, though, that album could be your best friend.
Albums in Stores – May 5th, 2017
This week sees new releases from Cayetana, Chris Stapleton, At the Drive In, and quite a few others. If you hit read more you can see all the releases we have in our calendar for the week. Hit the quote bubble to access our forums and talk about what came out today, what albums you picked up, and to make mention of anything we may have missed.
Interview: New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert on ‘Makes Me Sick’ and 20 Years of Pop-Punk
Guitarist Chad Gilbert talks about switching things up on New Found Glory’s ninth album Makes Me Sick, writing 100 percent on instinct, what coming out of Florida was like in the ‘90s, and why the band has no plans of going away anytime soon.
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The Secret Hit-Making Power of the Spotify Playlist
David Pierce, writing for Wired:
Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services have fundamentally changed how people listen to music. In the process, they’ve changed how artists and songs break. Radio may remain the most popular way of discovering music among casual fans, but unless you’re Drake or Rihanna, it’s hard to get any play. Plus, real fans—the people who go to concerts and buy merch and actually pay for music—use streaming services like Spotify.
“Spotify playlists, and Spotify charts, and Spotify plays, have become the number one tool that labels and artists and managers are using in order to break artists and measure success,” says industry analyst Mark Mulligan. Facebook has more users, YouTube has more views, but Spotify represents more important real estate. “If you get things working on Spotify,” Mulligan says, “that’s going to crank the wheel.”
I’ve heard from labels and managers that specifically target certain regions in the world to boost Spotify plays and hit charts because it may lead to getting onto a featured playlist.