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Composing Frees A Musician’s Mind

Or so says cellist and composer Nancy Ives. "Something has to happen where the elements are transmuted into something new in relationship to each other," she says of her piece in honor of Beethoven's 250th birthday. - Oregon ArtsWatch

Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren, Other Musicians Join Neil Young In Removing Music From Spotify

"The latest developments are escalating pressure on Spotify to clarify how it will weigh promoting the free speech of its content creators against the impact that some can have on public health during the pandemic." - Washington Post

All You Need To Make A Living As A Piano Player Is YouTube And Some Hot Air Balloons

Well, and a boat, and Buckingham Palace, and literally millions of subscribers. - BBC

Author Gish Jen On Going Back And Forth Between Fiction And Nonfiction, And How She Thinks About Representation

"One of the problems that minority writers face is: How many writers are there? If it’s just you, you’ve got to be pretty careful. As times change, and there are more voices, you can relax a little. But there is still a little voice in the back of my head." - The New York Times

How Contemporary Science Is Uncovering The Secrets Of Stonehenge

"The building of Stonehenge was not a single event but a series of interventions in the site, beginning in 3000BC with the first earthworks and spanning 1,500 years – or 90 truncated human generations." - The Observer (UK)

Who’s Buried In Yeats’ Grave?

Well, it's not Yeats, after "a somewhat cack-handed, though reasonably successful, conspiracy ... involving a local pathologist, a number of French (and probably Irish) diplomats, certain member of the Yeats family, and god knows how many bemused gravediggers and customs officials." - LitHub

Spotify’s Choice Proves It’s Not Really About Music Anymore

Musicians aren't getting paid well, but Spotify "pays most of its revenues from songs back to labels and artists and has rarely turned a profit. In 2019, the company announced a new focus on 'audio,' meaning recorded books, live chats, and the booming medium of podcasts." - The Atlantic

The Family Of Slain Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins Is Considering A Lawsuit

Meanwhile, "officials in New Mexico are still examining how a live bullet got on set and then into the gun that Baldwin was practicing with and whether anyone should be held criminally responsible." - The New York Times

Just How Did Encanto Get So Big *After* It Left Theatres?

Something about another wave, the seeming impossibility of it all - and a family pulling together, maybe? Or, well, a lot of repeat watchings and non-stop soundtrack listens, driven by at-home kids - The Guardian (UK)

If You’re Following Joni Mitchell And Neil Young Off Spotify, Here Are Your Other Options

First, of course, you could just buy music. But if you're a streaming fan, there are a lot of other options, some of which even seem to pay musicians in a half-decent way. - Los Angeles Times

Tito Matos, Master Of The Tiny Drum Known As The Requinto, Brought Afro-Puerto Rican Music To The World

Matos, who has died at 53, and his colleagues reinvigorated and made famous the Afro-Puerto Rican music plena and bomba "by infusing them with jazz textures, exuberant horn sections and Cuban batá rhythms." - The New York Times

As Voting Begins, Whose Rep Is Rising For The Oscars?

After all of last week's guild nominations, it's not looking great for Lost Daughter, but Being the Ricardos showed in force. - Vulture

When A Performer Runs Afoul Of TikTok’s Chinese Censors

This is not great. "It’s a fine line that creators have to walk. You can be a creator and true to yourself and true to your opinions, but that may come at the risk of your creator business." - Los Angeles Times

What’s A Crime In The Metaverse?

Probably things very similar to crimes offline - assault, murder, torture, etc. Unfortunately, the so-called Web3.0 isn't missing any of that, or the racism, transphobia, sexism, and homophobia that drives so much of offline violence. - Wired

So-Called Urban Fiction Shapes A Lot Of Culture, But It Gets No Respect

"Over the decades of its enduring popularity among Black people, street lit has consistently been treated like second-class literature" – at least by the Big Five publishers. But small indie publishers know what their audiences want. - Vice

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