AT&T and Cordae Explore How Technology Feeds Creativity With Emerging Voices Initiative
Every so often, you stumble across an artist so intriguing that simply enjoying their music isn’t enough; you have to know more. Who are they? How did they get into music? What does their creative process look like?
Lil Nas X Goes All In for Taco Bell's Toasted Breakfast Burritos
Nas narrates the ads, which focus on sweet dreams and waking up early for a bite at Taco Bell. In the best of the bunch, the "Old Town Road" rapper rocks a pink suit and matching pompadour, sending up his own persona in a sparkly talk-show spoof. (Muse by Clio)
Tiffany Solicits Help Of Beyoncé And Jay-Z To Draw Younger Buyers – Will It Backfire?
Beyoncé has become the first black woman to wear the famous yellow Tiffany diamond, in the jewelry company’s latest attempt to rebrand itself for a younger, more diverse audience.
Spotify Expands its Radio DJ-like Format, Music + Talk, to Global Creators
Last fall, Spotify introduced a new format that combined spoken word commentary with music, allowing creators to reproduce the radio-like experience of listening to a DJ or music journalist who shared their perspective on the tracks they would then play. Today, the company is making the format, which it calls “Music + Talk,” available to global creators through its podcasting software Anchor. (Tech Crunch)
Vinyl's Big Secret
No one was surprised the past two weeks when Billie Eilish’s new album landed at number one and stayed there. What did catch our attention was the fact that in its first week, 54% of the album equivalent units use by Billboard to rank the “sales” of the release were actual albums. As in, 73,000 vinyl LPs, 46,000 CDs and nearly 10,000 cassette. (The Cadence)
.MUSIC Domain Moves Closer to Launch with ICANN Agreement
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the international organization responsible for managing and coordinating the Domain Name System (DNS). The RIAA and others have warned that .MUSIC could be a haven for piracy if not managed properly. This new agreement with ICANN should calm those fears. (Hypebot)
Hip Hop Fandom is Driving the Music Business' Future in Gaming, Live Streaming and Beyond
The music industry is at a pivot point as new ways of interacting and monetising music arise with unprecedented speed. Kanye West’s Donda live stream generating $7 million in merch sales demonstrates the financial scalability of a unique live stream event that cannot be replicated in the on-demand era. (Midia Research)
RCRDSHP Innovates Electronic Dance Music with New Gamified Digital Collectibles Platform
RCRDSHP (pronounced “record shop”), the new platform for electronic music enthusiasts, is now live. To celebrate, RCRDSHP is dropping its very first series of packs stuffed with digital collectibles from global dance music artists and brands. (Medium)
The Strange and Wonderful World of Weird Spotify Playlists
Launched in May of this year, the Twitter account Weird Spotify Playlists has more than 516,000 followers and a companion sub-Reddit has 14,000 signed up. Not always easy to listen to, these playlists are usually jokes based on the playlist and song titles. But any promotion is good promotion. Right?
Blockchain-Based Music Streaming Service Audius Up to 5M Monthly Users
Audius – a music streaming platform that uses both the Ethereum and Solana blockchains – hit a major milestone on Thursday, as 5 million people a month now use the platform to stream music, making it one of the largest consumer applications on any blockchain. (Coindesk)
Facebook Has Added Social Music and the Industry Needs to Pay Attention
Facebook has just rolled out a new option to share clips of music videos to its Stories, which will be fully available to users by August 16th. The move has two main sets of implications. (Hypebot)
The 2020-21 “Lockdown Winners” of Spotify
As the entire world went into lockdown for a year, the music scene shifted from live events to streaming. Viberate looked into the numbers to pinpoint the top 5 Pop, Hip Hop, Latin, Rock, R&B and Electronic artists on Spotify who’ve made the most of the pandemic year. (Viberate)
China Is Banning Music That ‘Insults Or Defames Others’ in its 50,000 Karaoke Venues
China’s karaoke (KTV) venues typically host a music library of over 100,000 tracks each, according to local media. From October, these venues will shoulder responsibility for censoring music that breaks any of the above rules. Chinese government agents will be holding “inspections and spot checks” to ensure compliance, with violations “handled in accordance with [the] law”.
R. Kelly And Britney TV Docs Tap into 'Consequence Culture,' Not Cancel Culture
Cultural critic and filmmaker dream hampton, an executive producer on Surviving R. Kelly, says this project hit the world in a crucial moment: Social media spread word quickly, a younger generation was less tolerant, and viewers were drawn in by the power of seeing a succession of survivors telling their stories directly to the camera. (NPR)
A Look Inside Homer, Frank Ocean’s New Jewelry Store in NYC
For the past three and a half years, Frank Ocean has been diligently working on a new passion project and business venture — Homer, his own independent American luxury company. (Hype Beast)
The Napster Of Social Media
Over the past four years, Jay-Z has tweeted precisely four times. Dr. Dre has posted on Facebook twice in that span. And Kanye West’s Instagram history consists of one post (though, to be fair, he’s been known to delete). Each member of this triumvirate boasts millions upon millions of followers. So why, in the supposed golden age of social media, do three of the wealthiest musicians on the planet hardly ever post anything? (Zogblog)
Roc Nation Sports Partners With GameSquare To Create Esports Initiatives For Athletes
JAY-Z’s Roc Nation Sports has teamed up with the Gaming Community Network, Inc., which is a part of GameSquare, to create worldwide global gaming solutions for athletes, according to a memo released on Wednesday (Aug. 18).
BYTES
DJ Khaled
Here's The Thing with Alec Baldwin - Hans Zimmer Scores

Hans Zimmer tells Alec Baldwin, whether he’s working on animated films or live-action ones, his scores enrich a film’s emotional journey. Listen to full podcast here.
Bad Bunny
Remi Wolf - “Quiet on Set” / "Grumpy Old Man"

Following up on the first taster of the record, last month’s delightfully sweaty ‘Liquor Store’, she describes ‘Quiet On Set’ as “full on psycho”, adding that “as much as the song is silly and fun, it really does reflect my life and feelings at the time…overworked, manic, reckless, and childish.” (Dork)
Jadu
Vinylly Dating App: Musical Matchmaking

Vinylly is an inclusive app and matches users through analysis of their streaming history, how they listen to music and a few other questions to round out the role music plays in their lives.
Melanie Martinez
CODA Soundtrack from the Apple Original Film

The film’s soundtrack, on Republic Records, features a combination of a subtle, but swelling emotional orchestral score by composer Marius de Vries, who earned his film music bonafides working under Baz Luhrmann on both “Romeo & Juliet” and “Moulin Rouge,” as well as songs heard in the film, ranging from The Clash’s “I Fought the Law” to Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “You’re All I Need to Get By,”