State Champ Radio Business
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A Manhattan federal jury on Thursday (May 4) cleared Ed Sheeran of allegations that his “Thinking Out Loud” infringed the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s famed “Let’s Get It On,” allowing the star to avoid millions in potential damages.
After a closely-watched trial before a packed courtroom, the seven-person jury issued a verdict that determined Sheeran had proved he didn’t infringe upon the copyright of the soul classic. Following the verdict, he briefly put his hands over his face in relief and hugged his lawyer, according to the Associated Press. As jurors left the courtroom, Sheeran quietly mouthed the words “thank you” in their direction. He then spoke for about 10 minutes with the plaintiffs, including the daughter of Ed Townsend, who co-created the 1973 soul classic with Gaye. They hugged and smiled with each other.
If he’d been found liable, Sheeran would have been facing millions in potential damages and could have been forced to change the credits on his song. After a jury verdict in 2015 that found Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams‘ megahit “Blurred Lines” had infringed Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up,” the two stars were ultimately ordered to pay a $5 million judgment, plus ongoing royalties from their song.
The verdict came nearly seven years after Sheeran was first sued by the heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s longtime producer who co-wrote “Let’s Get It On,” over “Thinking Out Loud” — a commercial and critical success that hit No. 2 on the Hot 100 before winning the Grammy Award for song of the year. (Gaye’s actual heirs, who won the verdict over “Blurred Lines” are not involved in the case.)
In their suit, Kathryn Townsend Griffin and other heirs of Ed Townsend said Sheeran had “knowingly and intentionally infringed” the earlier tune, stealing the “heart” from one of the most “instantly recognizable songs in R&B history.”
The trial, taking place at the U.S. federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, kicked off Tuesday with opening statements from both sides. Benjamin Crump, representing Griffin, told the jury to use their “common sense” to see that the pop star had stolen the “magic” from the earlier song. But Sheeran’s attorney, Ilene Farkas, said Griffin had not right to monopolize the “exceedingly common musical building blocks” featured in both songs. “Plaintiffs do not own them, because nobody does,” Farkas said. “All songwriters draw from this same basic toolkit.”
Later that same day, jurors then heard testimony from Sheeran himself, who strongly denied the allegations and insisted that he be allowed — over complaints from opposing attorneys — to offer additional context to defend his actions: “I feel like you don’t want me to answer because what I’m going to say is going to make quite a lot of sense,” Sheeran said.
One key piece of evidence during the trial was a video clip from a 2014 concert, in which Sheeran seamlessly switches from “Thinking” to “Lets” and back again, drawing huge cheers from the crowd. Crump called it a “smoking gun” against the star: “That concert video is a confession.”
But Sheeran and his lawyers said the video simply underscored the fact that he had done nothing wrong by using a basic set of chords that appear in many songs: “Quite frankly, if I’d done what you’re accusing me of, I’d be an idiot to stand up in front of 20,000 people and do that,” the singer said from the witness stand.
Later in the week, jurors heard testimony from Amy Wadge, who co-wrote “Thinking” with Sheeran (but isn’t named as a defendant), and Jake Gosling, who produced the song (also not named as a defendant). And both sides called their own musicologists — Lawrence Ferrara for Sheeran and Alexander Stewart for the Townsends — who offered dueling expert testimony about whether the similarities between the two tracks met the legal requirements for copyright infringement.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
Pick a lane. How many times have you heard that? For me, I’ve lost count. I’ve never been one for labels, boxes, or genre assignments. I feel that extends to every vertical of my life – down to how I live, work, love, and find joy.
In some ways, I took the whole “dances to the beat of my own drum” as far as I could. Just call me an Avril Lavigne lyric, because I am “anything but ordinary,” honey! Maybe that has stifled some of my success, but I would argue that it’s helped me more than it’s hurt me. I am resourceful, adaptable, resilient, and I relate to so many different human experiences – which in my line of work(s) has been nothing short of an asset.
For example I’ve been a songwriter for over 19 years professionally, a performer since the age of three, a major label signed artist at the age of 19, and I’ve worked behind the scenes as an industry professional since 2014. That being said, even as someone with years of professional experience it took me years to land a mid-to-senior level role working for a reputable music company. No one wanted to hire me, because I didn’t have a college degree and I never worked as a coordinator. For some reason that never applied to the men I used to tour with, but that’s a story for another day.
The question is… why aren’t we looking at future employees with a holistic viewpoint? Why are we assigning only one genre tag and then disregarding their potential because we can’t place them?
When I pitch music, the more metadata tags the better; I want to know the song can fit many opportunities, not just when all the stars align. Why are we afraid when a future teammate offers layers? Often in my interview process, I would get asked if “being an artist” was going to get in the way of my prospective job. It’s such an odd question to me, because as a freelancer most of my life was and is about time allocation. No one is more mindful of how I spend my time… than me. There’s also no one way to be an artist.
I see a lot of fear when it comes to hiring in the music industry. Hands-on experience in the creative music space is a huge asset and shouldn’t be looked at as a liability. Often, a potential employee goes to college, scores an internship, lands an assistant gig, and then shoots up the ladder… but they’ve never been to the factory. They don’t know how the product is made.
Here’s the thing – traditional music industry folk can’t empathize with the talent, because they have never lived it. They don’t speak the language.
When we don’t understand each other, can’t relate to each other’s experiences, and have no visibility in the day to day functions of each other’s jobs it can become a breeding ground for miscommunication.
Miscommunication is the enemy of progress and productivity aka the enemy of getting sh*t done.
Not to say there’s anything wrong with taking a traditional route to the top of the music business, but it shouldn’t be the only path and at the very least… go to the factory y’all!
When I received the opportunity to work for other companies (not just my own) – I jumped at it! To me, it’s just another tool in my arsenal. I had a front row seat to look into how the other side strategizes, rationalizes, moves mountains, and builds winning campaigns on behalf of their roster.
I got to hear the worst and the best from peers and senior executives that would have never kept it real with me as the talent/creative. I listened to everything intensely. What I heard motivated me to get to work. I saw how both sides need each other, that it’s a marriage and that marriage is rocky at best.
How do we save this union? Like anything in life… we seek to understand and we find better ways to communicate effectively. A strong tool I can offer you? Hire a former creative or active creator. Let them help fix what’s not working – they know how to. They’ve been small businesses for years. They’ve been on the road, they’ve had the odds stacked against them and they still got on that stage and SERVED. That’s someone I want on my team. The show must go on and they know how to deliver the goods.
As a songwriter I listen, internalize, and then externalize. I aim to understand and have others find themselves in the work. I create. I am a little big problem solver, so why would this be any different in behind the scenes business?
Open up your doors to creators and allow them to bring the positive tension this industry desperately needs. We only grow when we allow ourselves to be uncomfortable, so embrace the fear.
Creatives are builders, let them build. They may show up with big dreams, but they’re going to have the know-how to see it through. Give them a chance to bring home the bacon. They’ve been singing for their (YOUR) supper anyways, now let them sit at the table.
Jessica Vaughn is the head of sync at Venice Music and president of Head Bitch Music. Before breaking into the business side of the industry, Jessica began her career as an artist under the name Charlotte Sometimes, releasing a debut album on Geffen Records and later appearing on season 2 of NBC’s hit series The Voice.
A federal judge in Georgia ordered the hip-hop mixtape site Spinrilla and its founder Jeffery Copeland to pay Universal Music, Warner Music, Sony Music and others $50 million for copyright infringement related to the streaming and downloading of thousands of songs by Bob Marley, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and more, according to a settlement agreement filed Wednesday.
As part of the agreement, Copeland is also permanently forbidden from operating Spinrilla or any other website, platform or similar projects anywhere in the world.
The settlement this week stems from a six-year-old lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on behalf of UMG, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic Recording Corporation and LaFace Records, alleging that Spinrilla and Copeland allowed users to stream and download unlicensed content.
Copeland founded Spinrilla in early 2013 as an app for approved users to listen to and discover “independent and emerging hip-hop artists.” When the music industry filed its lawsuit, Spinrilla had 19 million users, including 14,000 who could upload content to the platform, and around 1.4 million songs available on the platform.
Over the course of the case, the RIAA said it identified more than 4,000 songs by Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Kanye West and others that were infringed, and in late 2020, U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg found Spinrilla liable for copyright infringement.
UMG, WMG, Sony Music Entertainment and Spinrilla did not respond to requests for comment.
As part of the agreement, Spinrilla will transfer the domain name for its service to the music industry companies, which they have agreed not to use.
DistroKid is all grown up, with the launch of its first-ever branded mobile app.
Initially available for iPhone, DistroKid’s app puts the independent digital music distributor’s tools at the fingertips of artists, all the time.
From today (May 4), clients can upload new releases, receive instant payment alerts, access stats from Apple and Spotify, and edit metadata, all from their devices, according to a presser.
“The number one request we’ve gotten from DistroKid members is a dedicated mobile app,” comments Matthew Ogle, VP of product at DistroKid. “With music consumption, promotion, and increasingly even music creation happening predominately on mobile, we are meeting artists where they’re at, on their phones.”
British R&B singer Xadi participated in the beta-rollout, and, in a statement, vouches that the app “felt so familiar and easy to use.”
It’s unclear when the app will be available for Android.
The DistroKid iPhone app is the latest innovation from DistroKid, which claims to distribute 30-40% of all new music in the world and, in 2021, was valued at $1 billion.
Earlier in 2023, the business pressed the button on Mixea, an AI-powered intelligent mastering tool that helps artists prep their tunes for radio.
Last year, DistroKid officially got busy in the music video space with the launch of DistroVid, which enables artists to upload an unlimited number of music videos to leading digital service providers for one flat price.
And in 2021, the rollout of Upstream, a service that would allow independent artists using the platform to share data with record labels in hopes of grabbing attention, and getting signed.
Now in its 10th year, DistroKid pays artists 100% of their earnings, and claims to have processed more than 25 million songs.
Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday that it’s opening a review of the artificial intelligence market, focusing on the technology underpinning chatbots like ChatGPT.
The Competition Markets Authority said it will look into the opportunities and risks of AI as well as the competition rules and consumer protections that may be needed.
AI’s ability to mimic human behavior has dazzled users but also drawn attention from regulators and experts around the world concerned about its dangers as its use mushrooms — affecting jobs, copyright, education, privacy and many other parts of life.
The CEOs of Google, Microsoft and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI will meet Thursday with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris for talks on how to ease the risks of their technology. And European Union negotiators are putting the finishing touches on sweeping new AI rules.
The U.K. watchdog said the goal of the review is to help guide the development of AI to ensure open and competitive markets that don’t end up being unfairly dominated by a few big players.
Artificial intelligence “has the potential to transform the way businesses compete as well as drive substantial economic growth,” CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said. “It’s crucial that the potential benefits of this transformative technology are readily accessible to U.K. businesses and consumers while people remain protected from issues like false or misleading information.”
The authority will examine competition and barriers to entry in the development of foundation models. Also known as large language models, they’re a sub-category of general purpose AI that includes systems like ChatGPT.
The algorithms these models use are trained on vast pools of online information like blog posts and digital books to generate text and images that resemble human work, but they still face limitations including a tendency to fabricate information.
As the tech hype shifts from crypto to AI, the Web3 space is left trying to figure out sustainable use cases for NFTs and blockchain technology. Progress is being made through shared streaming royalties, Web3 fan clubs that unlock exclusive content, and a new wave of independent artists finding their first supporters and early fans by releasing their music on-chain.
However, Web3 still attracts cash grabs and, sometimes, outright scams. This mix of good and bad was reflected in April as many independent artists stood shoulder to shoulder with Snoop Dogg in terms of sales — but the month was marred by a rushed Soulja Boy NFT that was delisted from major platforms.
Overall, April was the worst month for NFT volume (in ETH terms) on the popular sales platform OpenSea since July 2021 and that weakness was reflected in the music NFT market. Volume across the 10 biggest projects netted 278.4 ETH, down from 381 ETH in March. In dollar terms, it’s $509,714, compared to March’s $697,393. Based on analysis of sales data from 19 different NFT platforms, independent releases combined with secondary sales volume on OpenSea, here are the 10 biggest-selling music NFTs and collections in March 2023.
1/ Soulja Boy – 3D Game NFT (Delisted by OpenSea)Monthly trading volume: 114 ETH ($208,734)Primary sales (March): N/ASecondary sales: 114 ETH ($208,734)Drop date: April 6
After Soulja Boy was charged in March for promoting cryptocurrencies without disclosure by the SEC, the rapper dropped a series of NFTs, with one collection removed by OpenSea for copyright infringement.
Soulja Boy launched a collection of 500 3D NFTs which promised to unlock exclusive extras in his upcoming video game. The NFTs sold out within hours, generating 68 ETH ($124,508), but the collection was later taken down by leading NFT platform OpenSea because the artwork featured the Ferrari logo — a copyright infringement. The NFTs still exist on the Ethereum blockchain but cannot be traded or sold by holders. A second collection followed (without the Ferrari logo) generating 10 ETH ($18,310) volume, and a third collection of pixel art generated 36 ETH ($65,916).
The NFT community hit back at Soulja Boy, not only for the fumbled NFT projects but for pocketing as much as $730,000 over recent years for promoting crypto and NFTs — many of which turned out to be scams.
2/ Snoop Dogg – Various collectionsMonthly trading volume: 39.896 ETH ($73,049)Primary sales (March): 5.775 ETHSecondary sales: 34.121 ETHDrop date: various
A rare Snoop Dogg NFT — the “golden egg” from his XYZ track — sold for 20 ETH in April, the highest price paid for a single music NFT on Web3 music platform Sound.xyz. The “golden egg” is a unique 1/1 collectible associated with the song within the bigger collection of 10,000. Golden eggs are often valued highly by music collectors on the platform. Snoop Dogg also dropped another song, Let Me Hit That, on Sound.xyz last month, netting a further 5.74 ETH ($10,509), while his “Bacc on Death Row” NFT collection generated 14 ETH ($25,634) in trading volume on OpenSea.
View the collection on Sound.xyz.
3/ DeafbeefMonthly trading volume: $61,314Primary sales (March): $46,000Secondary sales: $15,314Drop date: March 2021
Deafbeef is a music project valued like fine art by many in the Web3 space. It’s a collection of generative music, created by an algorithm, and coded into existence on a 10-year old computer by musician Deafbeef. Minted straight to the Ethereum blockchain at the moment of creation, it represents an experimental art form only possible through Web3 and it’s considered one of the most important early NFT experiments. These rare items are often referred to as “grails” and thought of like art pieces. A single edition changed hands for $46,000 last month, while Deafbeef also sold a new piece at auction for $15,314.
View the collection on OpenSea.
4/ KINGSHIP – “Keycards”Monthly trading volume: 23 ETH ($42,113)Primary sales (March): N/ASecondary sales: 23 ETHDrop date: May 2022
The Bored Ape Supergroup has become a permanent fixture of the monthly roundup with another month of strong trading volume on OpenSea through April. KINGSHIP recently launched a way for holders to generate rewards called ‘Crowns’ by participating in the community, which they can use to buy exclusive items and NFTs via a new auction system.
View the collection on OpenSea.
5/ PLS&TY – “New Color”Monthly trading volume: $37,229Primary sales (March): $37,229Secondary sales: N/ADrop date: April 27
PLS&TY is a prolific EDM producer with hundreds of millions of streams across his music on YouTube and Spotify. He’s also an early adopter in the NFT space. The producer’s latest collection on GALA Music — a Web3 music platform that Snoop Dogg called his home for Death Row Records featuring several NFTs drops from artists on the label — generated $37,229 with a collection of 300 audiovisual NFTs.
View the collection on OpenSea.
6/ X Li – “think i’m in love with you”Monthly trading volume: 20.121 ETH ($36,841)Primary sales (March): 20.121 ETHSecondary sales: N/ADrop date: April 26
Independent LA singer X Li exploded onto the Web3 music scene in April with a heartbreak ballad — a departure from the typical EDM and hip- hop sounds that dominate the space. The track quickly rocketed to the top three3 most collected songs on Sound.xyz with over 4,000 mints. X Li has previously worked with Sony Music Entertainment China but is now embracing Web3 and building a music community called Liberal Mafias.
View the collection on Sound.xyz.
7/ Violetta Zironni – “Another Life”Monthly trading volume: 11 ETH ($20,141)Primary sales (March): N/ASecondary sales: 11 ETHDrop date: Feb. 20
Italian singer-songwriter Violetta Zironi launched an NFT collection, Another Life — an EP encompassing five tracks and 5,500 unique profile picture illustrations. Holders get access to virtual shows, live concerts and the ability to use the songs for their own projects. The project launched in February but continued to generate strong secondary sales through April.
View the collection on OpenSea.
8/ LNRZ – “Satellites”Monthly trading volume: 6.3 ETH ($11,535)Primary sales (March): 6.3 ETHSecondary sales: N/ADrop date: April 21
LNRZ is a music collective founded by Reo Cragun, a pioneering artist in the Web3 music space and vocalist on Flume’s EP “Quits.” The collective is known for releasing music NFTs every week through curated drops with select artists, but in April they released their first original body of work. Satellites is a six-track album featuring five emerging musicians that came together at a songcamp in Las Vegas. The LNRZ community voted on the price, supply and rarity structure of the NFT drop, which sold out 1,250 editions in 24 hours.
View the collection on Sound.xyz.
9/ Culture Code, Araya & RUNN – “After All”Monthly trading volume: ~$9,697Primary sales (March): ~$9,697Secondary sales: N/ADrop date: April 10
After All is a dreamy electronic track that racked up 800,000 streams since its release in February. DJ and producer duo Culture Code sold a percentage of streaming royalties in the track via music rights platform Royal. The pair sold approximately 100 gold tokens offering 0.1228% ownership each, and three diamond tokens at $899 each offering 1.6204%.
View the collection on Royal.
10/ Illenium – “Illenium Fire, Ice & Ash” digital deluxe albumsMonthly trading volume: $8,908Primary sales (March): $8,908Secondary sales: N/ADrop date: April 27
DJ and producer Illenium entered the top 10 in March with a Web3 access pass that granted access to a fan club powered by tech company Medallion. He returned in April with the release of a digital deluxe album, available in three limited editions, only to the fan club. Fans that own the first two editions can unlock the ultra-exclusive third edition, or two fans can team up to unlock the third.
Only available to fan club members.
Methodology: The chart was compiled using data from primary music NFT sales across 19 different NFT platforms, independent releases and combined with secondary volume data from OpenSea. Data was captured between April 1 – April 30, 2023. Conversion rates from crypto to US dollars were calculated on April 30.
Disclaimer: The author owns NFTs from LNRZ and Snoop Dogg, however, the above list is based purely on sales data.
Urbano star and reggaeton veteran Chencho Corleone has launched a “new musical phase” by signing a global record deal with Sony Music Latin, the company tells Billboard. The agreement comes on the heels of Chencho’s upcoming debut album as a solo artist; he was previously one-half of the duo Plan B, who rose to fame in the early 2000s.
“I’m very happy with what we’ve been creating and what’s coming up,” said the Puerto Rican hitmaker in a statement. “I’m sure my fans will enjoy this new musical phase, adding another milestone in my career.”
Corleone is set to drop the first single from the set, “Un Cigarrillo,” on Thursday (May 4) along with a music video directed by Jessy Terrero. “I had the opportunity to sit down with production and the team to create a visual concept that projects and marks the new solo path at the beginning,” Chencho added in his statement.
The deal comes amid a career spike for Corleone. Last year, he scored his first No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart thanks to “Me Porto Bonito” with Bad Bunny, which ruled the tally for 20 weeks. He also notched his first No. 1 on Billboard‘s Latin Airplay chart with his feature on Rauw Alejandro‘s “Desesperados.”
About the signing, Sony Music U.S. Latin president Alex Gallardo, added, “We’re extremely happy to welcome Chencho Corleone to the Sony Music family. Chencho has proved to be one of the leaders in his genre with his distinctive style and powerhouse collaborations, reaffirming his position worldwide. We are committed alongside his team to take his career to new levels and establish him as one of the biggest names in the music.”
ByteDance is closing the free tier of its music streaming service Resso, the company announced on Wednesday (May 3). The move to premium-only streaming takes place on May 11, according to a statement from ByteDance, and current users on the ad-supported tier will be offered a 30-day free trial of the premium service.
“Resso premium is already a best-in-class music service with ad-free listening and a host of personalized and social features,” Ole Obermann, ByteDance’s global head of music, said in a statement. “Resso’s move to a premium-only service will allow the development of a better user experience for music fans, while increasing opportunities for rightsholders and artists. We are committed to building the world’s leading social music streaming platform and ensuring artists and music creators can rightly benefit from its growing success.”
ByteDance initially launched Resso in March 2020; it is currently available only in India, Indonesia, and Brazil. Last year, ByteDance entered into conversations with major music rights holders about moving its music streaming service into additional countries in Latin America, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Those conversations are complicated by the fact that the music industry is hoping for better payouts from another ByteDance company, the massively successful app TikTok.
“No one right now wants to help ByteDance expand into significant material marketplaces without them fixing the TikTok situation,” an executive told Billboard last year. And Sony Music’s contract with Resso expired in September, meaning its catalog, including the music of stars like Beyoncé and Doja Cat, is not available on the service.
Streaming subscriptions are a key driver of music industry revenue. Paid subscription streaming revenue cracked $10 billion in the U.S. for the first time in 2022, according to the RIAA, accounting for 77% of all streaming revenue and nearly two thirds of total revenue. This means it’s likely that the music industry will be heartened by Resso’s focus on growing its premium subscriber numbers.
“Their plans in subscription are something we definitely want to encourage,” a major label executive told Billboard last year. “We love to see that huge funnel of a billion consumers connected to a value-creative experience.”
Right now, our artificial intelligence future sure seems to look a lot like… Wes Anderson movies! Over the past week, various AI programs have used the director’s quirky style to frame TikTok posts, rethink the looks of movies and even, more recently, make a trailer for a fictitious reboot of Star Wars. The future may be creepy, but at least it looks color-saturated and carefully composed.
The fake, fan-made Star Wars trailer, appropriately subtitled “The Galactic Menagerie,” is great fun, and its viral success shows both the strengths and current limitations of AI technology. Anderson’s distinctive visual style is an important part of his art, and the ostensible mission to “steal the Emperor’s artifact” sounds straight out of Star Wars. But the original Star Wars captured the imaginations of so many fans because it suggested a future that had some sand in its gears – the interstellar battle station had a trash compactor, and the spaceport cantina had a live band (and, one assumes, a public performance license).
Right now, at least, AI can’t seem to get past the surface.
“Heart on My Sleeve,” the so-called “Fake Drake” track apparently made with an artificial intelligence-generated version of Drake’s vocals, also sounds perfectly polished precisely in-tune and on-tempo. So do most modern pop songs, which tend to be pitch-corrected and sonically tweaked. (Most modern pop isn’t recorded live in a studio so much as assembled on a computer, so why shouldn’t it sound that way?) It’s hard to tell exactly why this style became so popular – the ease of smoothing over mistakes, the temptation of technical perfection, the sheer availability of samples and beats – but it’s what the mass streaming audience seems to want.
It’s also the kind of music that AI can most easily imitate. AI can already create pitch-perfect vocals, right-on-the-beat drumming, the kind of airless perfection of the Wes Anderson Star Wars trailer. It’s harder to learn a particular creator’s style – the phrasing and delivery that set singers apart as much as their voices do. So far, many of the songs online that have AI-generated voices seem to have put it on top of the old singer’s words, although most pop music is less about technical excellence than style of delivery. And quirks of timing and emphasis are even harder to imitate.
Most big new pop stars are short on quirks, but they might do well to develop them. Whatever laws and agreements eventually regulate AI – and it pains me to point out that the key word there is eventually – artists will still end up competing with algorithms. And since algorithms don’t need to eat or sleep, creators are going to have to do something that they can’t. One of those things, at least for now, is embracing a certain amount of imperfection. Computers will catch up, of course – if they can avoid mistakes, they can certainly learn to make a few – but that could take some time.
Until relatively recently, most great artists had quirks: Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham played a bit behind the beat, Snoop Dogg started drawling out verses at a time when most rappers fired them off, and Willie Nelson has a sense of phrasing that owes more to jazz than rock. (Nelson’s timing is going to be hard for algorithms to imitate until they start smoking weed.) In most cases, these quirks are strengths – Bonham’s drumming made Zeppelin swing. But many producers came to see these kinds of imperfections as relics of an age when correcting them was difficult and the sound of pop changed so much that they now stick out like sore thumbs.
I don’t mean to romanticize the past. And newer artists have quirks, too – they just tend to smooth them over with studio software. But this kind of artificial perfection is easier to imitate. So, I wonder if the rise of AI – not the parodies we’re seeing so far, but the flood of computer-created pop that’s coming – will push musicians to embrace a rougher, messier aesthetic.
Most artists wouldn’t admit to this, of course – acknowledging commercial pressure is usually considered uncool. But big-picture shifts in the market have always shaped the sound of pop music. Consider how many artists created 35-to-45-minute albums in the ’60s and ’70s, and then 60-to-75-minute albums in the ’90s. Were they almost twice as inspired, or did the amount of music that fit on a CD – and the additional mechanical royalties they could make if they had songwriting credit – drive them to create more? These days, presumably also for economic reasons, songs are getting shorter and albums are getting longer.
It will be interesting to see if they also get a bit rougher, too. In Star Wars, at least, the future isn’t all about a sparkling surface.
For the Record is a regular column from deputy editorial director Robert Levine analyzing news and trends in the music industry. Find more here.
Veteran artist managers Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch are joining forces with Aaron Frank for a new venture — Q Prime AF.
Announced today (May 3), the fresh division will sit under the umbrella of Burnstein and Mensch’s Q Prime, the artist management company through which they guide the careers of Metallica, Muse, Foals, Disturbed, Cage The Elephant, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Three Days Grace and more.
Through the alliance, Frank will bring his Nashville-based team, plus an artist roster that includes Greta Van Fleet, Marcus King, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Houndmouth and All Them Witches.
“Cliff and Peter are the reason I became a manager,” comments Frank. “They have always been the gold standard of managers in my eyes, and their independent spirit and savviness is unmatched. I’m so excited to join their amazing team to elevate our work, and excited for what we can build together at Q Prime AF.”
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The partnership is at least eight months in the making. Over lunch, “Cliff and I decided that we needed to move Q Prime past the normal standard of management company rating: Gold, platinum standard just wasn’t enough,” explains Mensch in a statement. “We wanted to establish a new standard. Tantalum, a rare earth precious metal found in eight countries and an absolute necessity in the digital world, totally fit the bill.”
Frank, with his group of “amazing artists, had a similar vision and, under the theory that the modern age needed a new standard of excellence, agreed to create the Tantalum standard of management companies.”
Frank cut his teeth in 2009 working for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s management company, Night Castle Management, in New York. In 2014, he relocated to Nashville where he co-founded ABI Management, and subsequently forming AMFM — nabbing GVF as his first client.
Q Prime also houses Q Prime South, founded 2001 in Nashville by John Peets; and Q Prime U.K., established 2007 in London and run by Steve Matthews and Tara Richardson.
