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5 Things Songwriters Need to Know About the Consent Decree

Headphones
Jason Tate

Brian Penick, writing for Soundstr, details the “consent decree” and how it impacts songwriters and publishers:

While the music industry can seem glamorous, it does have its “unsexy” parts just like any other business sector. For songwriters, one of the least discussed (yet most important topics) is music licensing. But major changes to the consent decree – the federal agreement that governs how ASCAP and BMI operate – is bringing this topic to the surface.

The truth is, these changes could be the biggest in the music industry in 75 years and greatly impact your career.

Blog: The Republicans Waged a 3-Decade War on Government. They Got Trump.

Jason Tate

Norman J. Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann, at Vox:

As scholars who had worked for more than four decades with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, we faced a ton of scorn from sitting Republican lawmakers and outside observers for making this argument — and denial from most of the mainstream media. For reporters, professional norms and concerns about accusations of partisan bias dictated that the parties be treated equally, whatever the underlying reality. The safe haven of false equivalence led the press to ignore one of the most consequential developments in contemporary American politics: the radicalization of the Republican Party.

‘Carpool Karaoke’ Series Coming Exclusively to Apple Music

Jason Tate

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Apple has bought the rights to “Carpool Karaoke” and will be releasing episodes exclusively on Apple Music:

The viral segment that broke out on the Late Late Show With James Corden is being turned into its own series, which will air first exclusively for subscribers to Apple’s music streaming app.

Carpool Karaoke, which will be produced by CBS Television Studios and Fulwell 73, the production company of Late Late Show executive producer Ben Winston, will expand on the segment’s format with celebrity guests who sing along to their favorite songs and surprise fans during their ride. The host of the series is expected to be announced at a later date; Corden is not expected to take the wheel.

Of Mice & Men’s Austin Carlile Talks About His Heart Surgery

Of Mice and Men
Jason Tate

Austin Carlile from Of Mice & Men spoke with Christina O’Neill at Team Rock about how he was “clinically dead for three hours” during heart surgery:

It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. It’s hard to go through something like that that’s dangerous in general, and just to not know if you’re gonna be there, four, five or six hours later. When I had my heart surgery, my heart was stopped.

“They put my head in a whole thing of ice, to stop your brain activity, you’re dead. I was clinically dead for three hours while they did the procedure.

Spotify Rolls Out Programmatic Ad Buying

Jason Tate

Matthias Verbergt, writing for The Wall Street Journal:

Swedish music-streaming company Spotify AB on Wednesday launched programmatic ad buying for all its markets, allowing advertisers to target its 70 million nonpaying users by age, gender, genres and playlists in real time […] such as listeners who are commuting, working out, dining, dating, partying or relaxing.

Nothing says “great date night” like an advertiser breaking into your playlist to sell you something.

Verizon Buys Yahoo for $4.8 Billion

Jason Tate

Vindu Goel, reporting for The New York Times:

Verizon, seeking to build an array of digital businesses that can compete for users and advertising with Google and Facebook, announced on Monday that it was buying Yahoo’s core internet business for $4.83 billion in cash.

The deal, which was reached over the weekend, unites two titans of the early internet, AOL and Yahoo, under the umbrella of one of the nation’s largest telecommunications companies. Verizon bought AOL for $4.4 billion last year. Now it will add Yahoo’s consumer services — search, news, finance, sports, video, email and the Tumblr social network — to a portfolio that includes AOL as well as popular sites like The Huffington Post.

Yahoo and AOL, once giants of the industry, now just another part of Verizon. I wonder what Tumblr’s fate will be?

The Last VCR Will Be Manufactured This Month

Technology
Jason Tate

Ananya Bhattacharya, writing for QZ:

Surprising fact: there’s a company still making video-cassette recorders, or VCRs. But that will change at the end of this month.

Japan’s Funai Electronics, which makes its own electronics, in addition to supplying companies like Sanyo, will produce the last batch of VCR units by July 30, Nikkei reported (link in Japanese). The company cites difficulty in obtaining the necessary parts as one of the reasons for halting production.

Blog: Reddit Is Still in Turmoil

Reddit
Jason Tate

Kate Conger, writing at TechCrunch:

However, sources say Reddit’s internal turmoil can be traced back to the company’s ongoing struggle to leave its antagonistic culture behind. Several employees fended off uncomfortable comments from users and management alike, sources claimed. “Management is terrible, a complete reflection of what the site is like,” one source said.

Donald Trump’s Nomination Is Terrifying

Jason Tate

Ezra Klein, writing for Vox, on the nomination of Donald Trump for President:

He has had plenty of time to prove me, and everyone else, wrong. But he hasn’t. He has not become more responsible or more sober, more decent or more generous, more considered or more informed, more careful or more kind. He has continued to retweet white supremacists, make racist comments, pick unnecessary fights, contradict himself on the stump, and show an almost gleeful disinterest in building a real campaign or learning about policy.

Here is what we know — truly know — about Trump. Here is why he should not be president.

It is downright terrifying that there’s even a chance this man could be President of the United States.

Tesla’s Master Plan, Part Deux

Tesla
Jason Tate

Elon Musk, writing at Tesla, has shared the second part of the company’s “master plan”:

By definition, we must at some point achieve a sustainable energy economy or we will run out of fossil fuels to burn and civilization will collapse. Given that we must get off fossil fuels anyway and that virtually all scientists agree that dramatically increasing atmospheric and oceanic carbon levels is insane, the faster we achieve sustainability, the better.

Here is what we plan to do to make that day come sooner:

Musk aims high and then raises his own bar. Call it crazy, call it a pipe dream, but I still find his ambition nothing short of inspirational.

Breaking Down the (Fake) Team’s Decisions in ‘Draft Day’

The Ringer
Jason Tate

If you’ve listened to more than a handful of episodes of Encore you’ve heard me rant about the movie Draft Day at one point or another. Riley McAtee, at The Ringer, breaks down the trades in that abomination of a movie and there’s just no way I can’t share this:

But the Browns’ owner (a how-did-I-get-here Frank Langella) wants Weaver to make a splash in the draft, and he’s infatuated with Bo Callahan, a quarterback widely expected to go no. 1 overall. And why wouldn’t he want him? A linebacker or a running back can’t SAVE FOOTBALL IN CLEVELAND. So when Seahawks GM Tom Michaels (Patrick St. Esprit) lays out a deal that would give Cleveland the no. 1 pick, it’s Weaver’s chance to … you guessed it: SAVE FOOTBALL IN CLEVELAND. By the end of the movie, Weaver’s made three deals and numerous other decisions. But did he SAVE FOOTBALL IN CLEVELAND? Let’s grade every major draft-related decision in the movie to find out:

This movie is worth watching just to prop up your local liquor store’s monthly take.

Unilever Buys Dollar Shave Club

Stratechery
Jason Tate

Unilever purchased the Dollar Shave Club for $1 billion. Ben Thompson, writing at Stratechery, has a really good analysis of the purchase and how it fits with the disruptive power of the internet:

Probably the most important fact when it comes to analyzing Unilever’s purchase of Dollar Shave Club is the $1 billion price: in the world of consumer packaged goods (CPG) it is shockingly low. After all, only eleven years ago Procter & Gamble (P&G) bought Gillette, the market leader in shaving, for a staggering $57 billion.

To be sure Gillette is still dominant — the brand controls 70 percent of the global blades and razors market — but there is little question that Dollar Shave Club is a much better deal, in every sense of the word.

Twitter Just Permanently Suspended Milo Yiannopoulos

Twitter
Jason Tate

Charlie Warzel, at Buzzfeed:

According to Twitter, it was Yiannopoulos who led the harassment campaign against Ghostbusters actor Leslie Jones that inspired the SNL cast member’s decision to leave Twitter. The tweets, many of which targeted Jones for being black and a woman, were the final straw for Twitter, which is taking steps to try to solve its harassment problem.

About-fucking-time.

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Taking Back Sunday Threaten Military Campaign to Take Back Rest of Week

Taking Back Sunday
Jason Tate

Steven Kowalski, throwing down the satire at The Hard Times:

Lazzara, sitting on his throne high atop his Sunday Fortress, looked out upon a crippled, unassuming week. “People think I’m going to take back Monday first,” Lazzara said to his legion of fans, “But no! We’re taking back Tuesday from the people that took it from us. Once we take back Tuesday, we can attack the rest of the week from both ends.”