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Twitter Opens Up Verification Requests

Twitter
Jason Tate

Nick Statt, writing at The Verge, on Twitter’s new program that will allow anyone to request a verified account:

Starting today, the company will let users request a verified account on its website by filling out a form with a verified phone number and email address, a profile photo, and additional information regarding why verification is required or helpful. In defining who will get approved, Twitter says “an account may be verified if it is determined to be of public interest.”

Until Twitter can get their harassment problem under some kind of control, I see all of their other announcements through that frustrating lens. Even when they’re things I think they should be doing and could be great for the company.

Taking Back Sunday Not Pleased With Emo Night

Taking Back Sunday
Jason Tate

Steve Baltin, writing for Billboard, on the feud between Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazarra and the emo night party formerly called “Taking Back Tuesday”:

“Those motherf—ers owe me some money. They’re using our name, they didn’t ask,” he tells Billboard. “It’s flattering, I get it. But also, I don’t want to become a parody of something I take real seriously. That’s the line that those people are walking. They need to understand that they’ve got to take care with that sh–. You don’t make shirts that say, ‘Sad as f—.’ Like you’re making a f—ing joke out of it? F— you.’”

The event organizers have responded:

It is unfortunate that Adam feels so much animosity towards a night created to celebrate and support the genre of music that continues to embrace his band. Our events have brought together like-minded people who have become a family that support each other. In regards to the financial compensation, what began as Taking Back Tuesday (We never once used the name ‘Taking Back Sunday’) turned into Emo Nite in a full rebrand in 2016… We have always respected and been fans of this genre and will continue to support it. If Adam ever wants to come experience the event for himself, we’re positive he’d have a different opinion and we’d welcome him with open arms. And, at the end of the day, the night was meant for everyone to just have a great time.

I wonder if Sonny Curtis thinks Taking Back Sunday owes him some money for their take on “I Fought the Law”?

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The Surprisingly Interesting Story Behind the Filet-O-Fish

Food
Jason Tate

Karl Smallwood, at Today I Found Out:

According to McDonald’s executives, approximately 23% of the Filet-O-Fish sandwiches sold by the chain each year are sold during Lent. While the exact rules vary somewhat from region to region, in general, Catholics traditionally abstain from eating most meats on Fridays and Saturdays during this period. In some regions, the requirement is even that members of the Church avoid non-seafood meat on every single Friday of the year.

Apple Music Getting Audio Fingerprint Matching

Jason Tate

Jim Dalrymple, writing for The Loop, on how Apple Music has started to use fingerprint-based song matching to fix the (annoyingly bad) metadata-based system it was using before:

Apple has been quietly rolling out iTunes Match audio fingerprint to all Apple Music subscribers. Previously Apple was using a less accurate metadata version of iTunes Match on Apple Music, which wouldn’t always match the correct version of a particular song. We’ve all seen the stories of a live version of a song being replaced by a studio version, etc.

I can’t believe this isn’t what the service launched with. The key feature for me has been the combination of my library with a streaming library and every time this fucked up I wanted to randomly delete a line of code from whomever wrote the system so they could feel my pain.

Netflix Launches Flixtape Service

Jason Tate

Sara Perez, writing for TechCrunch, on Netflix’s new “Flixtape” service that lets you create mixtape/playlists of TV shows and movies:

The new tool lets you create these lists based on a genre or theme of some sort, then share them with friends or family over text message, email or social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

There are a number of ways you can use something like Flixtape. You can make your own mixes of favorite movies or shows, just for reference’s sake, or you could create curated recommendations for friends.

I’ve only got one current obsession I’d put into a flixtape: Stranger Things.

Apple Proposes New Streaming Music Royalty Structure

Jason Tate

Robert Levine, writing for Billboard, about Apple’s new proposed royalty structure for streaming music services:

Apple’s suggested royalty structure would make accounting simpler and more transparent, but it would also make it more costly to run a free service, since streaming companies would have to pay a minimum rate, rather than a percentage of revenue. The current system arguably benefits Spotify and YouTube, since their free tiers don’t generate much revenue compared to paid services.

Seems win/win for Apple here: They score points with artists, and they make Spotify look bad.

Taylor Swift and Kanye West Again Dominate The News

BuzzFeed
Jason Tate

I can’t believe that with everything going on in the world right now the internet is parsing words about if Taylor Swift knew, or didn’t know, about specific words in a Kanye West song. But, that’s what the internet is doing. It’s newsworthy enough that I feel it’s worth covering – even if I don’t feel great doing it. Jemima Skelley, writing for Buzzfeed, details what’s happened now that Kim Kardashian has uploaded to Snapchat a phone call Kanye had with Taylor Swift discussing his song “Famous,” a video that does not ever mention the specific portion Taylor Swift apparently had a problem with in the song, but has still tossed the internet into pure chaos:

Though Taylor never denied that she had a conversation with Kanye, it does seem weird that she would publicly call the song misogynistic when she told Kanye that it was a compliment. It does prove, however, that Taylor never actually heard the lyric where Kanye calls her “that bitch”. On the other hand, Kim should have released this right at the beginning of all this drama, instead of holding it to promote her show. Kanye also shouldn’t have recorded Taylor without her permission.

The song bugs me, the video bugs me, and the internet reaction bugs me. Nothing about this feels right.

Behind the Playlist Professionals

BuzzFeed
Jason Tate

Reggie Ugwu, writing at Buzzfeed, with a really great profile on the professional playlist creators at Apple, Spotify, and Google:

We’ve come to expect that virtually all of our problems can be solved with code, so much so that we summon it unthinkingly before doing almost anything: from choosing what movie to watch, to finding a doctor, to deciding where to wake up the next morning and who with. But what if music is somehow different? What if there’s something immeasurable but essential in the space between what is now called “discovery” and, you know, that old stupidly human ritual of finding and falling in love with a song? Algorithms excel at the former, but the latter is stubborn heritage: It’s your father’s old record collection, your sister’s stash of mixtapes, a close friend’s desert island soundtrack of choice.

Mötley Crüe Singer Sued by Assault Victim

Mötley Crüe Singer Sued by Assault Victim
Jason Tate

Kimberly Lawson, writing for Broadly, on Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil being sued for physical assault:

Guerrero said Neil and Cage were engaging in “horseplay”—Cage had put Neil in a headlock—as she attempted to catch Cage’s attention.”My son loved you in Ghost Rider and City of Angels,” she called out to him as the group passed by.

“Then,” the suit contends, “as Mr. Cage let go of Vince Neil and was walking away, Vince Neil attacked Kelly without warning or provocation. Neil grabbed Kelly’s hair from behind, yanking her down to the pavement on her back.”

Spotify Adding Two New Radio Shows

Jason Tate

Rich McCormick, writing for The Verge, on Spotify’s two new radio shows:

Swedish streaming service Spotify is launching two new radio shows today, both of which feature musicians talking about the kind of music that they like listening to while they’re making their art. The first, AM/PM, will feature artists like electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre and Terry Hall of ska icons The Specials talking about the music they listen to in the mornings before work, and in the evenings after a day spent creating. The second, Secret Genius, speaks to the songwriters and producers behind major songs, and features the actually-pretty-well-known James Blake, among others.

Warped Tour’s Pro-Life/All Lives Matter Tent Drawing Criticism

Warped Tour
Jason Tate

Zac Gelfand, writing for Stereogum, on the controversy over a pro-life/all lives matter tent appearing on Warped Tour this year:

Over the weekend, I noticed my Twitter feed begin to light up with photos of a tent in the middle of the Warped Tour dedicated solely to pro-life/All Lives Matter organization Rock For Life. Many tweeters were appalled that Warped Tour, whose target demographic consists mostly of individuals still in their teens, would allow this tent — which, it has been noted is being run by mostly men — to ask young, impressionable festival-goers when they think rights should begin for a fetus.

And from Caitlin White, over at Brooklyn Mag:

[I]t does raise the question why a festival that puts so little effort into booking women to play their stages feels comfortable bringing along an organization that will eagerly tell their young teen audience members what to do with their bodies.

I’ve seen quite a few bands posting about this on Twitter, and I gotta say, at the very least, selling “all lives matter” shirts is flat out disgusting. And for those that keep wondering why I have an issue with this phrase, this article from the New York Times does a good job explaining why:

When some people rejoin with “All Lives Matter” they misunderstand the problem, but not because their message is untrue. It is true that all lives matter, but it is equally true that not all lives are understood to matter which is precisely why it is most important to name the lives that have not mattered, and are struggling to matter in the way they deserve.

Claiming that “all lives matter” does not immediately mark or enable black lives only because they have not been fully recognized as having lives that matter.

Update: It looks like the organization is not actually selling their “all lives matter” shirt at Warped Tour stops, just at the other festivals they attend.

Ontario Opens Second Largest North American Vinyl Pressing Plant

Jason Tate

Kerry Doole, writing for FYI Music News, looks at a new vinyl pressing plant opening in Ontario. The plant will be the second largest in North America:

The company has been pressing vinyl in Prague since January, filling orders for Universal and Sony Canada plus some independent labels. “In phase one we can do 4.5 million units out of the Burlington plant plus 2 million from the Czech plant,” says McGhee. “We’ve already put phase two into motion and that is adding five new automated presses. That’ll put us over the 11 million mark, making us the second largest plant in North America. We’ve already bought a plant in the US based in the Midwest and there’ll be a west coast plant so we’ll have three in North America.”

US Record Industry Sees Album Sales Sink to Historic Lows

Jason Tate

Ed Christman, writing for Billboard:

It’s the worst year (so far) for music sales since the 1991 debut of SoundScan (now Nielsen Music). Album sales, including track-equivalent albums (TEA, whereby 10 track sales equal one album unit) are down 16.9 percent in the first half of this year. But sales figures no longer tell the whole story of the record business.

Not great, Bob.

Marvel Announces New Iron Man

Marvel
Jason Tate

Time has announced that Riri Williams will be taking over the Iron Man suit for Tony Stark.

Riri is a science genius who enrolls in MIT at the age of 15. She comes to the attention of Tony when she builds her own Iron Man suit in her dorm. Creator and Iron Man writer Brian Michael Bendis spoke exclusively to Time about the creation of Riri Williams with book artist Stefano Caselli and Marvel’s increasingly diverse cast of characters.

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