Los Angeles Times interviews the newspaper’s former music critic Robert Hilburn about his forthcoming biography on country music god Johnny Cash. The abstract of the book that the Times published was very intriguing in how it showed an unvarnished snapshot of Cash. Hilburn asserts that his book gets closer to the true story of Cash’ life. “I knew the guy and his heart, but I didn’t know his life story,” he said. (Read the report)
While promoting CNN’s new documentary, CNN.com suggests Miley Cyrus’ media takeover has been an orchestrated strategy. Really? (Read the report)
Various reports suggest Pharrell Williams and Will.i.am are inching closer to a legal faceoff. (Read the report)
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Spin.com has been documenting a flurry of opinion pieces about the pluses and minuses of online music services like Spotify and Pandora and its impact on the music industry, particularly concerning artists. Talking Heads mastermind David Byrne wrote a piece for the British newspaper, The Guardian, last week suggesting the current setup of said services will favor blockbusters and offer little financial trickledown to cutting-edge artists. Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich echoed many of Byrne’s arguments about how streaming services compensate musicians and also took issue with a study that said file sharing wasn’t as damaging to content creators as some have argued. However, Dave Allen, bassist for British post-punk heroes Gang of Four, has responded in support of streaming. He likens what’s happening to the industry as akin to “societal shifts.” (Read the reports here, here and here)
