Yesterday, Spotify’s old West Hollywood office was crowded with songwriters advocating for better pay, according to a Billboard reporter. Tiffany Red was the event organizer, a professional songwriter with clients like Jennifer Hudson and Jason Derulo. She founded The 100 Percenters, who stated on their website that the mission was to host “a peaceful protest in Los Angeles in support of better royalty rates for music creators from Spotify and other streaming platforms.” With picket signs, they demanded one cent per stream.
Protesters brought up the fact that Spotify gave notorious podcaster Joe Rogan a $200 million deal despite his repeated behavior of spewing misinformation and saying the N-word: “They tell us they can’t pay us more and then they go and give a podcaster that much money?” artist and songwriter Bianca “Blush” Atterberry said. They pointed out that Spotify is worth $67 billion. The protest, though, is a part of the group’s larger goal to get all streaming services to pay better including Apple Music, Amazon, and Pandora.
Meanwhile, UK indie group The Pocket Gods recently protested Spotify’s royalty rates for artists with 1000X30 – Nobody Makes Money Anymore, an album that consisted of 1,000 songs that all run for about 30 seconds. Bandleader Mark Christopher Lee noted his band earns about £0.002 (about a quarter of a US cent) from each Spotify stream of their songs.
Keeping track of all the new albums coming out in a given month is a big job, but we’re up for it: Below is a comprehensive list of the major releases you can look forward to in March. If you’re not trying to potentially miss out on anything, it might be a good idea to keep reading.
Friday, March 4
Allegra Krieger — Precious Thing (Northern Spy)
Babehoven — Sunk EP (Double Double Whammy)
BabyTron — Megatron (The Hip Hop Lab/EMPIRE)
Bahamas — Live To Tape, Volume III EP (Brushfire / Republic Records)
Band Of Horses — Things Are Great (BMG)
Benee — Lychee EP (Republic Records)
Bob Moses — The Silence In Between (Astralwerks)
Broken Field Runner — Runner (Secret Audio Club)
Cécile McLorin Salvant — Ghost Song (Nonesuch)
Ceramic Animal — Sweet Unknown (Easy Eye)
Charlotte Adigéry And Bolis Pupul — Topical Dancer (Deewee)
Chelsea Carmichael — All We Know EP (Native Rebel Recordings)
Chief Cleopatra — Luna EP (Royal Mountain Records)
The Dip — Sticking With It (Dualtone Records)
Diplo — Diplo (Higher Ground)
Dolly Parton — Run, Rose, Run (Butterfly Records)
El Ten Eleven — New Year’s Eve (Joyful Noise Recordings)
Fieh — In The Sun In The Rain (Jansen Records)
The Flower Kings — By Royal Decree (InsideOut Music)
Guided By Voices — Crystal Nuns Cathedral (GBV Inc.)
Ilhan Ersahin, Dave Harrington, and Kenny Wollesen — Invite Your Eye (Nublu)
Jody And The Jerms — Flicker (JATJ)
Jordan Rakei — Bruises EP (Ninja Tune)
Klangstof — Ocean View EP (Northern Transmissions)
Kojey Radical — Reason To Smile (Asylum/Atlantic)
Léon — Circles (LL Entertainment/BMG)
LEYA — Eyeline (NNA Tapes)
Luna Li — Duality (AWAL/In Real Life)
Madi Diaz — History Of A Feeling EP (ANTI-)
Matt Anderson — House To House (True North Records)
Maylee Todd — Maloo (Stones Throw)
Melissa Aldana — 12 Stars (Blue Note Records)
Michelle — After Dinner We Talk Dreams (Canvasback Music/Transgressive)
Morgan Harper-Jones — While You Lay Sound Asleep EP (Play It Again Sam)
Morgan Reese — Letters From The Invisible Girl EP (Empire)
Nashvillains — Tumbling Down (Fate Entertainment)
Nilüfer Yanya — Painless (ATO Records)
Olovson — Storytelling (1136 Diamond)
Peach Pit — From 2 To 3 (Columbia Records)
RZA And DJ Scratch — Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater (36 Chambers ALC/MNRK Music)
Scott Hardware — Ballad Of A Tryhard (Telephone Explosion)
Scott Metzger — Too Close To Reason (RPF Records)
Shane Parish — Liverpool (Dear Life Records)
Songs: Ohia — Live: Vanquishers (Secretly Canadian)
Stereophonics — Oochya! (Ignition Records)
Stromae — Multitude (Mosaert)
Wah Together — Let’s Wah Together (Dedstrange)
The Weather Station — How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars (Fat Possum)
Zander Schloss — Song About Songs (Blind Owl Records)
Friday, March 11
A. Billi Free & The Lasso — Holy Body Roll (Mello Music Group)
Alex Cameron — Oxy Music (Secretly Canadian)
Amber Lewis — Lips & Teeth (Day Off Recordings)
Apollo Ghosts — Pink Tiger (You’ve Changed Records)
Bodega — Broken Equipment (What’s Your Rupture)
Brad Armstrong — Heart Like A Sigil (Flower Moon Records)
Bryan Adams — So Happy It Hurts (BMG)
Charlie Collins — Undone (Island Records Australia/UMA)
The Districts — Great American Painting (Fat Possum Records)
E-L-R — Vexier (Prophecy Productions)
Ella Henderson — Everything I Didn’t Say (Atlantic Records)
Ferris & Sylvester — Superhuman ([Integral]/PIAS)
Franz Ferdinand — Hits To The Head (Domino)
Fly Anakin — Frank (Lex Records)
Goose (BE) — Endless (Universal Music)
Holo — In Limbo EP ( Ellipse Records Artist)
Hoodoo Gurus — Chariot Of The Gods (Big Time)
The Human Tornado — Love Is Démodé (Rockshots Records)
Jackson Dean — Greenbroke (Big Machine Records)
Jeremy Ivey — Invisible Pictures (Anti)
Junk Drawer — The Dust Has Come To Stay EP (Art For Blind Records)
Lil Durk — 7220 (Sony)
Maia Friedman — Under The New Light (Last Gang Records)
Mary Simich — How Does One Begin (Ernest Jenning)
Messa — Close (Svart Records)
MoE — The Crone (Vinter Records)
Nicolas Rage — Personal Party EP (Revival Recordings)
Orion Sun — Getaway EP (Mom + Pop Music)
Paul Cherry — Back On The Music (Sunset Music Productions)
PJ Harvey — The Hope Six Demolition Project — Demos (Island/UMC)
Rex Orange County — Who Cares? (Sony)
Rust n’ Rage — One For The Road (Frontiers)
Shenseea — Alpha (Rich Immigrants/Interscope)
The Sully Band — Let’s Straighten It Out! (Blue Élan Records)
Summer Salt — The Juniper Songbook (Cherry Lime Records)
Tanya Tagaq — Tongues (Six Shooter Records)
Thomas Headon — Victoria EP (Elektra)
Tony Price — Mark VI (Telephone Explosion Records)
Viji — Cali EP (Dirty Hit)
Widowspeak — The Jacket (Captured Tracks)
The Wiggles — ReWiggled (ABC Music)
Young Guv — Guv III (Slumberland Records)
Friday, March 18
250 — PPONG (Beasts and Natives Alike)
Alai K — Kila Mara (On The Corner Records)
Audio Karate — ¡OTRA! (Iodine Recordings)
Babeheaven — Sink Into Me (Believe)
Ben Lukas Boysen — Clarion EP (Erased Tapes)
Berthold City — When Words Are Not Enough (WAR Records)
Blanck Mass — Ted K (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Sacred Bones)
Blue States — World Contact Day (Memphis Industries)
Suffolk, England’s Latitude Festival took 2020 off for COVID reasons, but the fest actually went ahead in 2021. Things are a go in 2022 as well, as organizers have announced the lineup for this year’s event, which is set to go down at Henham Park from July 21 to 24.
The headliners are certainly true to the festival’s UK setting, as at the top of the bill are Lewis Capaldi, Foals, and Snow Patrol. Other highlights include Phoebe Bridgers, Maggie Rogers, Little Simz, Modest Mouse, Fontaines DC, Caroline Polachek, Rina Sawayama, Mdou Moctar, Nilüfer Yanya, Let’s Eat Grandma, and Bartees Strange.
Your first @cinchuk presents Latitude 2022 announcement is finally here!
Elsewhere on the poster are A Certain Ratio, The Afghan Whigs, Akala, Azure Ryder, Bad With Phones, Berwyn, Bessie Turner, Beth Orton, Billie Marten, Cassia, Cavetown, Cktrl, Example, Freya Ridings, Gaffa Tape Sandy, Groove Armada, Hudson Taylor, Hurray For The Riff Raff, JP Saxe, James Arthur, Joe Armon-Jones, John, Kae Tempest, Katy J Pearson, Keg, Larkin Poe, Los Bitchos, Mahalia, Manic Street Preachers, Mark Owen, Maximo Park, Melt Yourself Down, Oklou, Orlando Weeks, Penelope Scott, Porridge Radio, Rumer, Self Esteem, Shed Seven, Tamzene, Tina Boonstra, and Tribes.
Check out the poster above. For more information on attending the festival, check out the Latitude website.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Yesterday, Zendaya and Labrinth unveiled the sprawling song, “I’m Tired,” that played at the end of the overwhelming Euphoria finale. A version was released in early February after the fourth episode without Zendaya, but her vocals caught the attention of the watchers who lingered during the credits of the show on Sunday night, especially since the lyrics seemed very relevant to Rue’s character.
After tweeting the track, famous rapper Kid Cudi quote-tweeted it and noted that he wants in: “Please dear GOD put me on a remix of this @Zendaya @Labrinth,” he wrote. Zendaya responded by saying, “Yoooo! What a dream that would be… @Labrinth ???” Labrinth agreed: “Let’s open a new dimension,” he wrote.
Even though the Euphoria season is over, hopefully we’ll at least get some new music to hold us over while the cast prepares for the next season. Fans, meanwhile, are still wondering about the ballad that Dominic Fike’s character Elliot launched into for five whole minutes which sparked a lot of talk online. It sparked so much talk that Fike reacted to it, saying he’d been humbled. The full soundtrack for the episode included Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” Francis Lai’s “Concerto Pour La Fin D’un Amour,” and more.
While it mostly traditional pop or hip-hop songs that hang out near the top of the charts, things have been different lately as standout Encanto hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has enjoyed a sustained run atop the Billboard Hot 100. It spent a fourth frame at No. 1 last week, and now it once again occupies that spot for a fifth time on the new chart dated March 5.
Billboard notes the song’s success this week is due to a significant uptick in radio airplay impressions (7.9 million of them, a 23-percent increase from the previous week) despite declines in streams and downloads.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” drew 29.9 million U.S. streams (down 7%), 7.9 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 23%), and sold 6,600 downloads (down 12%) in the Feb. 18-24 tracking week, according to MRC Data.
A fifth week on top extends the song’s record for most weeks at No. 1 for a song from a Disney movie. In fact, it now has more weeks at No. 1 than the next two-biggest Disney songs combined: Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, Sting’s “All For Love” from The Three Musketeers spent three weeks at No. 1 while “A Whole New World” from Aladdin logged a week on top.
Meanwhile, Gayle is having a moment, as her viral hit “ABCDEFU” has hit a new high on the Hot 100, rising from No. 4 last week to No. 3 today.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Plenty of people making their way through the music industry have some family members who have already fared well in it. Among those is 15-year-old Grace Franklin, whose grandmother is the iconic Aretha Franklin. She auditioned for the current season of American Idol, but, despite her lineage, she did not make it past the audition stage.
In a pre-taped segment, Franklin said, “I feel like people expect me to sing exactly like her, but I am my own artist and I have my own voice.” She then got to showing off that voice with a rendition of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” (inspired by the Lauryn Hill cover). While Lionel Richie was happily reminiscing about Aretha before Franklin sang, he commented on her perceived nervousness after the song. Meanwhile, Luke Bryan thought the performance was “sleepy and subdued” and Katy Perry called it “soft.”
Perry encouraged Franklin to take another crack at it, so she tried again with her grandmother’s “Ain’t No Way,” which she sang with more force than she used for “Killing Me Softly.” Perry was more receptive of that performance and so was Bryan, although he wasn’t completely swayed. Both Richie and Bryan encouraged Franklin to develop her voice more.
When it came time for the vote, Perry gave Franklin the go-ahead, while Richie and Bryan both passed, even after Perry’s fervent campaigning and playfully storming off set in disagreement.
Anybody who thought the vinyl resurgence was just a fad was mistaken: The industry has experienced a legitimate revival. As a result, music fans are interested in physical media in ways they may not have if the decades-old medium hasn’t made a comeback. That doesn’t mean everybody is listening to just their parents’ old music, though. That’s part of it, sure, thanks to rereleases that present classic albums in new ways. A vital part of the renewed vinyl wave, though, is new projects being released as records, of which there are plenty.
Whatever you might be into, each month brings a new slew of vinyl releases that has something for everybody. Some stand out above the rest, naturally, so check out some of our favorite vinyl releases of February below.
Beach House — Once Twice Melody
Once Twice Melody is Beach House’s first album since 2018’s 7, and now the expansive project has gotten an expansive vinyl box set edition; check it out in the unboxing video above. In her review of the album, Uproxx’s Caitlin White notes, “Once Twice Melody might expand their palette a bit, but it’s no experimental reach or brand new direction. Why mess with perfection? Their gauzy soundscapes are vague enough to sustain quite a bit of emotional projection, but there’s depth of meaning lurking within the songs that few other bands yield.”
Tkay Maidza — Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2 & Vol. 3
Vinyl Me, Please
The Last Year Was Weird trilogy came to an end with the final two volumes, which are now available in a gorgeous gold pressing, exclusive to Vinyl Me, Please. Maidza recently told Uproxx of naming the series, “The term ‘weird’ is the way I described the plunge of going into the deep end and knowing that where I was. What I wanted was like a big leap forward, but I would have to start from nothing again. I was at that lowest point every day: ‘What the hell is going on?’ But in a way, I always had a feeling that it would work out because this was the only way it could be.”
Paul McCartney And Wings — Wild Life (50th Anniversary Limited Edition)
UMe
Last December was the 50th anniversary of the debut album from Paul McCartney’s Wings, a major project in the immediate aftermath of The Beatles’ dissolution. To mark the occasion, the album gets a fresh reissue, with this edition having been mastered at half speed for supreme audio quality.
Yusuf/Cat Stevens — Harold And Maude (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
A&M/Cat-O-Log/UMe
Harold And Maude has become one of the defining films of its era, and Yusuf/Cat Stevens played a part in that with his soundtrack. That first came out 50 years ago, and now this vinyl reissue of it combines Stevens’ songs with dialogue from the film for the first time.
In June 2004, Pixies took to London’s Brixton Academy for four sold-out shows that marked their UK reunion, and now those shows are preserved in a new box set. This eight-LP release marks the first time these recordings are officially available, and on top of that, they’ve also been freshly remastered.
Sturgill Simpson has been in a productive stretch that most recently featured the 2021 album The Ballad Of Dood And Juanita. Now, it’s finally available on vinyl, and since this may be the final Sturgill Simpson album, this one’s worth grabbing.
Keef’s debut album was a big moment in hip-hop in that it helped popularize drill music. Vinyl Me, Please has now honored the album by making it one of their rerelease picks for March, which marks the first time the record has ever been made available on vinyl.
Modest Mouse — The Lonesome Crowded West (Vinyl Me, Please Reissue)
Vinyl Me, Please
Modest Mouse is going on tour this year, but if you’re unable to catch one of those shows but still want to throw a few bucks at a cool Modest Mouse experience, Vinyl Me, Please has a fresh reissue of one of their iconic albums, The Lonesome Crowded West. This version comes pressed on “Bottom Of The Sky”-colored vinyl and is accompanied by fresh listening notes.
Sasami got a Haim co-sign as she’s heading out on tour with the sister trio, and indeed, her new album is worth checking out. It’s a diverse effort that touches on everything from nu-metal to folk to classical, and now it’s available on a gorgeous translucent red vinyl pressing.
Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard curated a collection of Yoko Ono covers for the new Ocean Child project, and now the endeavor is available to grab on vinyl. It’s a strong get if you want to add some variety to your vinyl library, as the collection features recordings by Death Cab, Japanese Breakfast, Sharon Van Etten, David Byrne, and a heaping handful of others.
UK indie group The Pocket Gods decided to protest Spotify’s royalty rates for artists with 1000X30 – Nobody Makes Money Anymore, an album that, as the title indicates, consists of 1,000 songs that all run for about 30 seconds. Spotify actually caught wind of the project and have since changed some part of how they do things.
Pocket Gods leader Mark Christopher Lee was inspired to take on the project by a 2015 article from The Independent, which ponders the future of music given that royalties are paid on a Spotify stream after a track has been played for at least 30 seconds.
“I saw the article and it made me think, ‘Why write longer songs when we get paid little enough for just 30 seconds,” Lee told i News. He continued, “We wrote and recorded 1,000 songs, each a shade over 30 seconds long for the album. The longest is 36 seconds. It is designed to raise awareness about the campaign for fair royalty rates.”
He also noted his band earns about £0.002 (about a quarter of a US cent) from each Spotify stream of their songs.
The project was first presented earlier this month and Spotify has been paying attention, as Lee now says he was invited to meet with Spotify’s head of artist relations. He said that since the release of the album, the streaming platform has changed one of its rules: “Spotify said we’re ahead of the curve as shorter songs are the future — just look at TikTok. They said that I can pitch 30-second tracks to their playlists for consideration — I wasn’t able to do this previously as the songs were considered too short. So next week I’m releasing a 30-second single called ‘Noel Gallagher Is Jealous Of My Studio.’”
Lee says he was also told songwriters would see increased pay rates when Spotify rolls out an increase in its subscription price.
Hot Press notes The Pocket Gods are used to dropping atypical sorts of albums like this: They’ve released 74 albums since 1998, multiple of which have over 100 tracks.
Every second of a show’s season finale is precious, especially when it’s a show with such a jam-packed plot and massive audience like Euphoria. This is why watchers found it funny and a little weird that Dominic Fike, playing the role of Elliot, took up a whole scene performing a song.
When Rue (Zendaya’s character) visits Elliot, she’s coming to forgive him for snitching on her; his response is to play a song he wrote on acoustic guitar… for five whole minutes. The song, which remains untitled, is about creating distance from someone you care for with the hope that they’ll use the time to improve themselves and return as a better person.
While many fans were fawning over this emotional moment, most were posting memes to Twitter about how he was getting too much screen time for promoting his own music rather than being his actual character. (A lot of fans were also wondering what happened to the plotline with the suitcase…). All in all, the online conversation made Fike and other Euphoria-related keywords trending topics on Twitter.
sam levinson after leaving half the storylines this season unfinished while still managing to spend 3 whole minutes of the finale having dominic fike sing an original song unprompted pic.twitter.com/pTqKk0v8ZV
To be fair, Fike has previously said that his character Elliot is “exactly like me.” So maybe Elliot is just the type of guy to break out into song at the most inappropriate of times. You know the type. The situation, at least, provided a lot of meme content, so check out some more of that below.
They sacrificed Kat’s entire storyline for a 4 minute Dominic Fike spotify unplugged performance I’m gagging
Not Dominic Fike tryna plug his music career right now when all we want is to see Maddy beat Cassie’s ass after that perfect slap #Euphoriapic.twitter.com/MyEOy5ENva
Tonight is an important night for film and TV — it’s the 2022 SAG Awards. After the last several months of canceled events and virtual appearances, an in-person red carpet is a treat for stylists, who are back at work, and all the artists and creatives who are eager to celebrate their work together once more. Especially during a time when unease is spreading in other ways, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it’s a welcome distraction for some. However, plenty of other artists and actors are more than willing to show their support for the suffering of the people in Ukraine, and Lady Gaga is one of them.
Gaga is up for several nominations for her work as Patrizia Reggiani in her second starring role in a major feature film, House Of Gucci, but still had plenty of time to discuss foreign politics on the red carpet. When E! correspondent Laverne Cox approached Gaga about the event, her succinct response acknowledged both the impact of Covid-19, and the situation in eastern Europe. “What story are you telling us tonight with this gorgeous, gorgeous ensemble?” Cox asked.
“The story I’m telling is the truth, which is that I’m just really honored to be here,” Gaga said. “This is a beautiful night when we get to celebrate art together, and celebrate each other. There’s so much going on in the world, and my heart really goes out to Ukraine. I think tonight we should all sit in the gratitude of this.”
Meanwhile, Gaga stans are on the exact same page as Mother Monster:
Sorry about the lack of updates, got arrested at a #UkraineRussiaWar protest in Moscow
Who’s excited to see Lady Gaga tonight at the #SAGAwards?
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(@itseIishabitch) 
