FEATURE
How these 10 most Innovative Companies are Changing the Music Industry
Fast Company: Julia Selinger
As music and tech become more and more intrinsically linked, a crop of companies are focused on the role of AI in the industry. For SoundCloud, that meant using an AI-powered recommendation algorithm to boost under-the-radar artists. Music AI looked at the ways in which its stem separation technology can impact the use of licensed music in TV, film, and radio, thanks to a new partnership with the music tech platform SourceAudio.
RESEARCH AND OPINION
Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Environmental Music Is Enchanting a New Generation
NY Times: Eric Ducker
The Japanese musician, who wasn’t widely known before his death in 2003, has become a beacon for listeners on YouTube and beyond.
What happens behind the scenes when an opera like ‘Madama Butterfly’ faces ‘cancel culture’?
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Jeremy Reynolds
Pittsburgh Opera’s virtual-reality production of ‘Butterfly’ runs from March 22-30 at the Benedum Center.
This Japanese Sax Polymath Might Be a Postmodern Bach
NY Times: Walker Mimms
The composer and saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu is at home in free jazz, classical and art pop. Finally touring North America, he’s going big by staying small.
The Kennedy Center Performers Who Didn’t Cancel
The Atlantic: Marc Novicoff
When does quitting count as resistance, and when is it surrender?
OpenAI urges U.S. to allow AI models to train on copyrighted material
NBC: Angela Yang
OpenAI is asking the U.S. government to make it easier for AI companies to learn from copyrighted material, citing a need to “strengthen America’s lead” globally in advancing the technology.
‘It’s happening fast’ – creative workers and professionals share their fears and hopes about the rise of AI
The Guardian: Jem Bartholomew
Photographers, translators, academics and GPs are among those whose jobs are either threatened or aided by the tech.
Japanese Breakfast’s Shimmering Sadness, and 8 More New Songs
NY Times: Jon Pareles and Lindsay Zoladz
Hear tracks by Marianne Faithfull, the Waterboys featuring Fiona Apple, Debby Friday and more.
NATIONAL
What musicians did after an executive order on DEI led to the cancellation of U.S. Marine Band collaboration
CBS: Scott Pelley
“If we’re a society that’s suppressing art, we’re a society that is afraid of what it might reveal about itself. If we’re suppressing music, we’re suppressing emotions, we’re suppressing expression, we’re suppressing vulnerability, we’re suppressing the very essence of what makes us human. We are devaluing our own humanity. We are degrading our own humanity,” said 18-year-old Rishab Jain, who was among the students barred from playing with the Marines. He was born in America to Indian parents—a high school senior accepted at Harvard.
The Lost Great American Musical Returns, Over 75 Years Later
NY Times: Joshua Barone
Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner’s pioneering “Love Life” was thwarted by circumstance. Now, it is coming to Encores! at New York City Center.
S.F. Symphony’s next season has a gaping hole — and it underscores the institution’s crisis
SF Chronicle: Joshua Kosman
The outgoing music director — who was supposed to carry on a four-decade tradition of excellence at the orchestra extending back to the tenures of his predecessors, Michael Tilson Thomas and Herbert Blomstedt — is nowhere to be seen.
Graham Parker leaves Louisville Orchestra after nearly three years of leadership
Louisville Public Media: Giselle Rhoden
Last week, Parker shared the news on his LinkedIn profile, calling his decision “a rebalancing of priorities.” He cited splitting his time between New York City and Louisville, saying he plans to spend more time with his family and dedicate more time to his consulting company The Fearless Cooperative.
NSO announces extension of Gianandrea Noseda’s contract to 2031
Washington Post: Michael Andor Brodeur
Noseda, who was appointed music director designate in 2016 and launched his official tenure leading the orchestra in 2017, was engaged to lead the orchestra through the 2026-2027 season.
The Brooklyn Academy of Music Is Fighting to Regain Its Mojo
NY Times: Robin Pogrebin
America’s oldest performing arts venue does not draw the attention or audiences it once did. Now it has lost another leader as it works to adjust to an uncertain future for cultural institutions.
INTERNATIONAL
Dismayed by Trump, the Star Pianist András Schiff Boycotts the U.S.
NY Times: Javier C. Hernandez
Mr. Schiff, who has refused to play in Russia and his native Hungary because of strongman rule, said he was alarmed by President Trump’s “unbelievable bullying.”
The Irish Contemporary Dance Boom
Dance Magazine: John O’Mahony
Irish contemporary dance is enjoying an unprecedented boom. Some of it has been powered by Michael Keegan-Dolan, who has become an undisputed force in global dance.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND MUSIC BUSINESS
OpenAI Says It’s “Over” If It Can’t Steal All Your Copyrighted Work
Futurism: Noor Al-Aibai
The Sam Altman-led company is begging president Donald Trump to instate federal regulations defining “fair use,” the thorny standard at the heart of the copyright lawsuits lobbed against OpenAI by The New York Times and other companies.
100M In the U.S. Are Now Paying For Music Streaming Subscriptions
Hollywood Reporter: Ethan Millman
The RIAA revealed the new figure in its latest year-end report, while also reporting that revenue growth slowed to 3 percent.
Mariah Carey wins copyright lawsuit over ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’
Reuters: Blake Brittain
Pop singer Mariah Carey defeated a lawsuit claiming she illegally copied elements of her holiday megahit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” from a country song of the same name.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Vancouver’s Neptoon Records discovers rare Beatles audition recording
CBC News: Vanessa Vikander
It was labelled “Beatles 60s demos” and had been sitting around Neptoon Records, one of Vancouver’s most well-known record shops, unplayed. Frith, who owns the shop, had never listened to it, but had brought the recording to his friend’s studio that night, knowing he had the right player for the tape.
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