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Tyler the Creator held his 8th annual Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival in Los Angeles over the weekend. 45,000 people came from far and wide to see artists such as Thundercat, Brockhampton, and Tyler himself. When putting out the lineup for the festival, Tyler blocked out one of the headliners, putting a series of question marks in their place. It was widely speculated that this mysterious headliner would be Frank Ocean. Frank is coveted in the music world owing to the rarity of his performances. He doesn’t tour and North American performances are few and far between. Being that Frank and Tyler are old friends and former members of Odd Future, people believed that he would be the mystery performer. “His name was all you heard while standing in line, as if the infamous recluse could be wished into existence.”

When Drake walked out, the crowd was unamused. While Drake is a stadium-filling, more-top-10’s-than-the-Beatles-having artist, he represents mainstream pop-rap; the antithesis of Frank Ocean. While Drake is a manicured, establishment rapper, Frank is a sexually fluid, multigenre artist who has rejected the world of ghostwriters and controlling record companies.

Drake could tell that the crowd wasn’t feeling his set, and seemed to be fighting for attention. He asked multiple times if the crowd wanted him to keep going, even asking “Can I do one more? Is that all right with you?” When he received boo’s and little positive reaction, he humbly ended his set, telling the crowd, “It’s all love.”

Now, who’s fault was this? While many artists at the festival are similar to Frank in their alternative take on pop, rap, and r&b; many others were mainstream artists. Artists such as YG, DaBaby, and 21 Savage all fall into the same mainstream rap category as Drake. There are two issues at hand here, and Tyler seems to be at fault for both. Tyler has been known to have ultimate creative control over his content. He designs his clothing and produces/arranges all of his own music. If it wasn’t his idea to put “???” as the headliner, he sure as hell signed off on it. If Drake had been named as the headliner from the get-go, people would probably have enjoyed it. They would not have felt let down by not seeing Frank. The second issue deals with Tyler changing as a person and an artist. Tyler has historically been an anti-establishment musician. If you told someone at the first Flog Gnaw Carnival (of which I attended) that Drake would be headlining in a few years, they would laugh in your face. Drake represents everything that Tyler always hated. Perhaps money has changed him. While he used to rap explicit lyrics condemning designer clothing, he can now be seen sporting extravagant garments from Commes de Garcon and Louis Vuitton.

All criticism aside, the Carnival is a testament to Tyler’s genius, as well as his work ethic. At 28, he has already built an empire for himself (and helped many of his friends along the way). Tyler breaks down racial and sexual stereotypes. He is a self-made, black entrepreneur. He is a rapper with lines such as “I been kissin’ white boys since 2004.” He is getting young people to dress like old golfers, and making it cool. It’s unfortunate that he decided to book Drake, and more unfortunate that he inadvertently led people to believe that Frank would headline, but all in all the festival was a success.

Sorry Drake.

(not really)

A.I. Music Making Black Mirror Come True

On October 6, 2019 By marlaynebIn Music, TechnologyLeave a comment

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Article: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/auxuman-ai-album/

Image: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/auxuman

This article comes from Digital Trends and is written by Luke Dormehl. The focus of the article is A.I. musicians and their popularity. It isn’t about vocaloids or computer-generated personalities, it’s about computers, A.I. personalities, creating music. Auxuman is the name of this A.I. personality and September 27^th, the A.I. released its first album and promises to create a full-length album every month. Computer engines create the words, melodies, and voices and creates lyrics through poems and expressions it learned online. Dormehl quotes, “Yona and her Auxuman friends are, in a sense, a reflection of human life on the internet. Expression on each song comes from stories we have told, ideas we have generated, and opinions we have shared” (Dormehl 2019). One of the reasons Auxuman was created was not to fulfill people’s need to always have new content, but rather to speed up the process of creating new genres. This article discussed how new music has a tendency to sound the same because humans stick to what is successful, they don’t want to create new genres because they like the current ones. This is why Auxuman is so different. It can create brand new types of genres and its feelings won’t be hurt if a song does poorly.

I found this article to be interesting because it was a subject that black mirror touched in June of 2019 in the episode called Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too. The premise of the episode was a popstar falls into a coma and her manager created a new album from the singer’s subconscious and used A.I. to create a holographic recreation of the singer and to generate new music and recreate the singer’s voice. This idea of A.I. personalities creating music is very interesting because it takes out the human part in music. As mentioned above, the computers learn from poetry and what they learn from human expression online. A.Is. have been used before to try and create a realistic computer that one can talk to. The outcome of those were that the internet is very hateful and these A.Is become very harsh and adapt the speech patterns of whoever talks to it the most. I listened to one of the songs from Auxuman’s first album and it was bizarre. The A.I. didn’t sing, it talked with a hum at the end and the lyrics didn’t make much sense. From their song “One” the beginning lyrics were, “I never felt alone, you never said a word. I fell from my throne, you didn’t want me there”. Coming from a computer, those lyrics are a bit chilling. This concept is very interesting and new genres can come from these A.I. personalities, but how would it feel to say the next best genre was created by a computer? Having The Beatles known as a group that shaped the genre of their time, what does it mean when the next “voice of a generation” is an artificial intelligent personality?

Meet SoundCloud’s Rival Audius

On September 24, 2019 By khelt0In Consumer behavior, Music, Nielsen, Streaming1 Comment

SoundCloud has been one of the last free streaming services for music and a home for new and upcoming artists. Many artists have made their names public due to the exposure that they received on SoundCloud but that could change. Fan and musicians are sick of SoundClouds expensive hosting costs and their take downs. On the technical and interface side of things, the app and website are slow and lagging to many consumers so that is a concern as well. Audius is supposed to be the exact opposite of SoundCloud and it’s supposed to be a new home for artists and music lovers. It is said that the artists who put their content on Audius will be available to earn 90% of revenue earned. That alone will be a good incentive for some artist to consider putting some of their music on the platform. Another incentive will be that the platform can not take down music themselves.
I found the article interesting because I like competition. I like to hear about a company coming into the market that tries to knock out the top dog. I use SoundCloud occasionally, but because that it doesn’t have a lot of music that I want, in the right versions I tend not to use it as much. It will be interesting to see how many artists begin to make a switch from SoundCloud to Audius and also how many new artists will blow up from the new platform. Audius is incorporating cryptocurrency into the app as well which is new to me, but could be something that can be picked up in the near future if proven successful. https://apple.news/AEbZw042JRKWJjHHok3ut4w

Stairway to Heaven Back in Court

On September 24, 2019 By William StroughIn Music, Technology1 Comment

Image result for Led Zeppelin — Led Zeppelin in London in 1968

Back in 2014 Led Zeppelin made the news, when the trustee of the band Spirit tried to sue Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin for stealing the opening of the song Stairway to Heaven. The case made national headlines across the country and in 2016 Plant and Page beat the case and did not have to pay any money. Cases of copyright infringement like these always bring attention to how complex and grey these laws are and how hard it sometimes is for these musicians. Big names like Katy Perry and Robin Thicke have had to pay multiple millions of dollars after being accused of copyright infringement but these laws are not easy to interpret.

When listening to both songs, you can hear some resemblances but just sounding similar is not enough for a lawsuit. When you strip both songs down to their bare bones of just notes and melodies that is when you can make a judgement on whether one song copied the other. Cases like this shine light on how hard it is to make a call whether someone “stole” someone else’s work or used it for inspiration for their song.

Looking towards the future of music and copyright law it seems like the area between the two keep becoming more and more grey. Artist since the dawn of time have used others for inspiration or cord and melodies that have been around for so long any musician can use them. The band Axis of Awesome brought showed that the same four chords are used in mostly all popular songs of the last decade but is not copyright infringement because those cords have been used forever and no one can own them. Using this mentality there could never be a copyright claim because music is constantly building on the works of others. This makes even the blatant theft of songs and melodies even harder to sue someone for. With new technologies coming out today this makes spotting a theft even easier for these bands and hopefully can help bands get the recognition they deserve.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/business/media/stairway-to-heaven-copyright-appeal.html#

Taking Plastic Straws and Making Records

On September 21, 2019 By marlaynebIn Environment, MusicLeave a comment

Article and Image: X

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In light of the climate change protest that happened on Friday, Bacardi spirits has teamed up with Lonely Whale to combat single use plastic straws. Their proposition? Taking old and used plastic straws and making vinyl records. Melissa Locker wrote this article and discussed how these two companies plan to create and produce these “vinyl’s”. Locker writes about how Major Lazer is one of the artists who will have their music pressed onto the limited-edition vinyl records in early December. She also mentioned that this weekend, Bacardi will set up a booth at a music festival in Las Vegas and show people their new idea. In November, 55 partnering bars will set up collection bins for straws and send them to Bacardi. It is Bacardi and Lonely Whale’s goal to rid the world of one billion single-use plastic straws by 2020.

What’s interesting about this article is the idea of up-cycling in a really creative way. Single use drinking straws have been a hot topic in the news for the past few months. Using reusable straws has become a very big craze because it’s a new way a person can reduce their carbon footprint in an immediate way. The idea of taking those straws and making records out of them is very innovative. Up-cycling is becoming more popular and even though many bars and restaurants use paper straws, it hasn’t stopped the issue fully. Taking the straws from the bars and making them something new is a good way to help the problem. I also find it interesting that vinyl records have become more popular in the past decade, so much so that Bacardi can create these records knowing that there will be a market for them. I think Bacardi is taking some positive steps to help resolve an issue that drinking straws have created. As mentioned, the cardboard straws aren’t the most favorable straw because they become soggy and hard to use after a short amount of time. Personally, I like this idea because it brings awareness to the issue drinking straws have created for the environment, while reminding people that there are creative ways to make something new out of single-use products. It helps to reinforce that one person’s trash can be another person’s treasure.

Netflix Premier’s New Travis Scott Documentary

On September 4, 2019September 18, 2019 By Alexa SouthardIn Music, NetflixLeave a comment

One of Netflix’s latest original documentaries zeroes in on rapper and performer Travis Scott. It is a perspective look on his recent accomplishments, his roots, and his lifestyle. The release of Astroworld, which is the artists’ latest and Grammy nominated album, was the turning point in his career, and the documentary revolves around its’ creation and legacy. His high energy and talent is another highlight in the film, and it is shown through his enthusiasm while recording and performing. The most shocking part to me was the intensity of the shows they portrayed in the documentary, and the fact he was charged with inciting a riot at one of them. Interviews with fans showed their passion for the artist, as well as the extreme conditions of the concerts which sometimes induce injury from mosh pits.

Parts of the documentary also delve into Scott’s personal life, including his upbringing in his hometown of Missouri City, Texas, and his role as a father in the present day. Travis, who’s real name is Jacques, and nickname from family members is “Jack”, has shown exceptional musical talent from the time he was a young child. The documentary shows his father’s role and influence in Scott’s early and present life, and is the reason he was involved in music at such a young age. He played the drums, and enjoyed rapping. Fastfowarding many years later, Scott is shown during his humble beginnings as an artist, pulling a crowd of only about 15 people. The support of his family has always played a role in his motivation, as his dad proudly watched him perform at the 2019 Super Bowl. Scott himself is portrayed as a very attentive father, as toddler daughter Stormi accompanies her father on tours, and is seen playing and interacting with her father.

The film shows his highs, like the birth of his first child, his legendary performances, and fame, and his lows, including not winning a Grammy, and his arrest. Scott believes his calling is to be an inspiration for the youth that listens to his music, and he has many talking points about never giving up, and focusing on the future. His involvement with other artists in his Cactus Jack label is integral, and he includes the Houston talent in the documentary. Astroworld and Scott’s influence has even inspired the mayor of Houston to restore an amusement park in the city in his honor, and he has even coined his own holiday in his hometown. The film has interesting visual components, including the production of graphics in the intro, and the opening interview being filmed on a rollercoaster ride. All in all, the documentary is an interesting and inspiring form of media that emphasizes the modern life, accomplishments, and music career of Travis Scott, one of today’s hottest performers in the media and music sectors.The article practically summarizes all of the highlights of the film. Both interested me because I enjoy his music, and am interested in having a career in the music industry.

https://www.complex.com/music/2019/08/travis-scott-netflix-documentary-look-mom-i-can-fly-takeaways

Current Issues In Media Management

Category: Music

Tyler the Creator gambles on Drake, loses.