N+N 61
Update
Welcome to the 61st issue of the New + Noteworthy newsletter, our third issue on the Substack platform. So far so good. If you’ re more familiar with the original web version of this project, here’s the rationale for the platform shift
OK, let’s get into it…
Research
Around the web
How marketers are using music to tap into culture and reach the target demographics
Highlighting this project one more time: Sounds of the Forest Somewhat related: A payphone that plays birdsong
The Dissect podcast dedicate an entire season to the albums of Radiohead
Sound waves assist in Alzheimer’s treatment
Universal Music to cut “hundreds” of staff
YouTube reducing staff in music and media
Amazon Music have also laid off employees
Pitchfork is effectively being shut down. More from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic. Pitchfork was trying to change, but management didn’t seem to notice.
For all the new and wonderful music that’s released, yes, there’s a challenge in reaching the audience. The music industry (labels and streaming platforms) has become set on back catalogues. Easy wins! In fact, the music industry stopped serving new artists some time ago. We also need to acknowledge that today’s audience is being trained not to care who wrote/performed the track that’s currently playing. Even so, there is without question an appetite for new music. The challenge for musicians and journalists is to create new systems that better serve our needs: The crumbling of music media is a disaster for the music industry
Artists on Apple Music can earn up to 10% in royalties for songs available in spatial audio
Ai Weiwei suggests art that can be replicated by AI is “meaningless”. Related: Is AI the death of IP?
The UK’s Council of Music Makers (CMM) – the umbrella organisation for bodies representing artists, songwriters, managers and producers – insists when “the Council Of Music Makers sought reassurance from the majors that music-maker consent will be sought before allowing their music to be exploited by AI companies, we were met with a wall of silence” READ
Listening and watching
Continuing with some new, repeat and/or missed recommendations…
Things we’re interested in
“The attitude you bring to a situation determines your experience. Good bad or neutral. The experience is as difficult as your mindset dictates” - Rick Rubin
We actually prototyped one of these a few years ago: a picture frame that doubles as a speaker
Anil Dash believes that power on the Internet is shifting
Canon explores functional music with the release of Auto Focus
Question
Closing notes
You are reaching the end of the newsletter. Thanks so much for reading!
We hope it’s not been too much of an intrusion and if you liked this issue of the newsletter, please share or recommend to a friend or colleague.
Until next week…