The New Music Business is not supported by the major record labels. It’s not about a hit, but a career. It’s not about capitalizing on hilarious memes, but building relationships with fans. … Getting signed[…]
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Category: Music
“What does it mean to be a hip-hop parent?”
What does it mean to be a hip-hop parent? For me, it means moving heaven and earth to protect my daughter from any hint of the menace that threatened my own teenage years. It means[…]
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Yankee Doodle’s “lyrics were venomous”
The lyrics were venomous. “Yankee” was a withering word for a colonist. A “doodle” was a rube or a fool, and the doodle in this song rides a pony, instead of a horse, which makes[…]
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“I can’t believe ‘Across the Stars’ is in Star Wars – it’s so rich”
I still listen to this piece and I get chills. I can’t believe it’s in Star Wars – it’s so rich. I mean there’s this sort of like very gentle love story emerging and then[…]
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“…the parade music at the end [of The Phantom Menace] is ‘The Emperor’s Theme’ in disguise”
“The Emperor’s Theme” shows up, you know, a couple times, so “The Emperor’s Theme” happens at the very beginning, then when he checks in during the invasion, you get “The Emperor’s Theme” again, then when[…]
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Star Wars “is a very, very rich soundtrack”
It is a very, very rich soundtrack; there’s so much going on and it’s a very diverse soundtrack. And, of course, it sticks to kind of the Romantic orchestral tradition of the 19th century, what[…]
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“The charting system was predicated on a segregated market”
Rock and roll is usually explained as rhythm-and-blues music—that is, music performed by black artists for black listeners – repurposed by mostly white artists for a mostly white audience. How do we know this? Because[…]
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“…rock and roll…is music that anyone can play (or can imagine playing) and everyone can dance to”
…rock and roll…is music that anyone can play (or can imagine playing) and everyone can dance to. The learning curve for performing the stuff is short; the learning curve for appreciating it is nonexistent. The[…]
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“As a rapper, Glover has made a point of blurring the line between himself and his alter egos…”
As a rapper, Glover has made a point of blurring the line between himself and his alter egos, between self-awareness and self-consciousness. And even this distinction is explicitly confronted: “I mean, where’s the line between[…]
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“In order for a music for young people to come into being, young people have to have a way to play it”
In order for a music for young people to come into being, young people have to have a way to play it. The jukebox was one delivery mode: kids could listen to the music in[…]
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