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MySpace forever changed the way we listen to music. The social network shifted artists' relationships with their fans, and the site helped launch the careers of many huge stars, from Panic! At The Disco to Adele. What made MySpace such an influential platform for musicians? And why did all the music disappear? In this episode, Joanne sits down with Roslynn Alba Cobarrubias (former Head of Artist Relations at MySpace) and Josh Brooks (former VP of Programming and Music at MySpace). She also speaks to American musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Magic Hour, Damon and Naomi), creator Scott Zakarin, and Jason Scott of the Internet Archive. You'll hear more from Jason next week. See Also...The MySpace Music Dragon Hoardhttps://archive.org/details/myspace_dragon_hoard_2010 Damon Krukowski's Newsletter https://dadadrummer.substack.com/ Roslynn Alba Cobarrubiashttps://www.instagram.com/roslynnc Scott Zakarinhttps://www.instagram.com/scottzakarin/Jason Scotthttp://ascii.textfiles.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
MySpace forever changed the way we listen to music. The social network shifted artists' relationships with their fans, and the site helped launch the careers of many huge stars, from Panic! At The Disco to Adele. What made MySpace such an influential platform for musicians? And why did all the music disappear? In this episode, Joanne sits down with Roslynn Alba Cobarrubias (former Head of Artist Relations at MySpace) and Josh Brooks (former VP of Programming and Music at MySpace). She also speaks to American musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Magic Hour, Damon and Naomi), creator Scott Zakarin, and Jason Scott of the Internet Archive. You'll hear more from Jason next week. See Also...The MySpace Music Dragon Hoardhttps://archive.org/details/myspace_dragon_hoard_2010 Damon Krukowski's Newsletter https://dadadrummer.substack.com/ Roslynn Alba Cobarrubiashttps://www.instagram.com/roslynnc Scott Zakarinhttps://www.instagram.com/scottzakarin/Jason Scotthttp://ascii.textfiles.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit theculturejournalist.substack.comIn the hours before Silicon Valley Bank imploded last week, setting off a chain of events that would send the entire tech (and finance) world into an existential tailspin, Andrea and Emilie made the somewhat excruciating decision to watch Spotify's annual business presentation, “Stream On” — all hour and a half of it. Between the company's new, Tiktok-inspired interface, its Black Mirror-esque personal AI DJ tool, and the expansion of its Discovery Mode program offering artists more exposure in exchange for a lower royalty rate, the event offered plenty of food for thought about the state of cultural curation — and musical gatekeeping — in 2023.Should we believe tech companies when they say they are democratizing cultural creation and distribution — or is all that utopian language just a smoke screen for the ways they are slowly rendering human curators (like DJs, record store clerks, A&Rs, and music critics) obsolete? How did the figure of the musical “gatekeeper” get such a bad rap in the first place? And is it time, as musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi) suggests in an excellent new essay for Dada Drummer, for us to consider them in a new light?
Damon Krukowski & Salin Cheewapansri from the Union of Musicians & Allied Workers discuss the group's 'Justice at Spotify' campaign, plus the economics and ethics of the streaming business model. This week’s conversation is certainly an important one, especially right now as artists are more reliant on income generated from their recorded music because there’s no tours going on. So, this week, Mike chats with two members of the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers who helped organize its ongoing Justice at Spotify campaign. Those are Boston-based musician, poet, and author Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Magic Hour, Damon & Naomi), as well as Montreal-based drummer Salin Cheewapansri (Dominique Fils-Aimé). Together with Mike, they deconstruct the demands that UMAW and its supporters are making of Spotify in order to raise awareness and more conversation about the lack of money making its way back to creators despite the billions in revenue generated each year by the streaming giant. This is a spirited conversation about the economics and ethics of the streaming business model and how we can make the industry fairer. For more about UMAW’s Justice at Spotify campaign, go to www.unionofmusicians.org/justice-at-spotify. For more from Damon, check out his book, ‘The New Analog,’ at www.dadadrummer.com and his podcast series, Ways of Hearing, at www.waysofhearing.bandcamp.com. For more on Salin, go to www.salinmusic.com.
Ways Of Hearing has looked at how digital technology has changed our world: our sense of time, of space, of intimacy and exchange. In the final episode, Damon lays out an essential choice: between a world enriched by noise, and a world that strives toward signal only. Guests include: Dr. Alicia Quesnel of Harvard Medical School and Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary; audio engineers/musicians Steve Albini and Bob Weston (Electrical Audio, Shellac) This is the sixth and final episode of Ways of Hearing, a podcast hosted by musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi), exploring the nature of listening in our digital world. Credits: Produced by Damon Krukowski, Max Larkin and Ian Coss. Written and hosted by Damon Krukowski. Sound design by Ian Coss. Executive Producer is Julie Shapiro. Showcase is a production of Radiotopia from PRX.
When you go into a bookstore, or record store, or library, you enter another world that you have to learn to navigate. You adapt to it. But today’s digital corporations have created a musical universe that adapts, predictably, to you. Guests include: Jimmy Johnson, owner/founder of music distributor Forced Exposure; Paul Lamere, director of developer platform for Spotify; and Elaine Katzenberger, executive director of City Lights Books. This is the fifth episode of Ways of Hearing, a six-part podcast hosted by musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi), exploring the nature of listening in our digital world. Credits: Produced by Damon Krukowski, Max Larkin and Ian Coss. Written and hosted by Damon Krukowski. Sound design by Ian Coss. Executive Producer is Julie Shapiro. Showcase is a production of Radiotopia from PRX.
In the 20th century, music seemed like an object — bought and sold like any other product. But digital technology has dematerialized music, separating it from money and revealing its real terms of exchange. Guests include: Artist and writer Jace Clayton, also known as DJ /rupture; Victoria Ruiz and Joey DeFrancesco of the Providence punk band Downtown Boys. This is the fourth episode of Ways of Hearing, a six-part podcast hosted by musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi), exploring the nature of listening in our digital world. Credits: Produced by Damon Krukowski, Max Larkin and Ian Coss. Written and hosted by Damon Krukowski. Sound design by Ian Coss. Executive Producer is Julie Shapiro. Showcase is a production of Radiotopia from PRX.
On the hit podcast Song Exploder, we learn the digital secrets behind some of today's best songs. But we hardly ever hear the voice of the show's creator, Hrishikesh Hirway. In a special bonus episode to Ways of Hearing, Damon Krukowski interviews Hrishikesh — and explodes Song Exploder. This is a bonus episode of Ways of Hearing, a six-part podcast hosted by musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi) that explores the nature of listening in our digital world. Credits: Produced by Damon Krukowski, Max Larkin and Ian Coss. Written and hosted by Damon Krukowski. Sound design by Ian Coss. Executive Producer is Julie Shapiro. Showcase is a production of Radiotopia from PRX.
You don't have to be the son of a jazz singer to recognize the voice of a loved one as music, made up of sounds so basic to our understanding that they precede language. And yet our digital devices strip much of that away, trading intimacy for efficiency. But what is the essential part of our voices, and what isn’t? Guests include: jazz singer (and Damon's mom) Nancy Harrow, Roman Mars of 99% Invisible, and musicologist Gary Tomlinson. This is the third episode of Ways of Hearing, a six-part podcast hosted by musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi), exploring the nature of listening in our digital world. Credits: Produced by Damon Krukowski, Max Larkin and Ian Coss. Written and hosted by Damon Krukowski. Sound design by Ian Coss. Executive Producer is Julie Shapiro. Showcase is a production of Radiotopia from PRX.
In Tokyo, people on crowded trains pretend they’re asleep, to avoid eye contact. But in modern-day New York – richer, neater, just as noisy – count the headphones: it’s like we’re avoiding ear contact. In this episode, Damon examines how digital technology is privatizing public space. Guests include writer/activist Jeremiah Moss and historian Emily Thompson. This is the second episode of Ways of Hearing, a six-part podcast hosted by musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi), exploring the nature of listening in our digital world. Credits: Produced by Damon Krukowski, Max Larkin and Ian Coss. Written and hosted by Damon Krukowski. Sound design by Ian Coss. Executive Producer is Julie Shapiro. Showcase is a production of Radiotopia from PRX.
Contemplate the way digital audio – in music recording, and in radio and television broadcast – employs a different sense of time than we use in our offline life, a time that is more regular and yet less communal. Guests include: Ali Shaheed Muhammed of A Tribe Called Quest; and Joe Castiglione, the radio voice of the Boston Red Sox. This is the first episode of Ways of Hearing, a six-part podcast hosted by musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi), exploring the nature of listening in our digital world. Credits: Produced by Damon Krukowski, Max Larkin and Ian Coss. Written and hosted by Damon Krukowski. Sound design by Ian Coss. Executive Producer is Julie Shapiro. Showcase is a production of Radiotopia from PRX.
When the tape started rolling in old analog recording studios, there was a feeling that musicians were about to capture a particular moment. On tape, there was no “undo.” They could try again, if they had the time and money, but they couldn’t move backwards. What’s done is done, for better and worse. Digital machines entered the mix in the 1980s, changing the way music was made — machines with a different sense of time. And the digital era has not just altered our tools for working with sound but also our relationship to time itself. Part of the new Radiotopia Showcase, Ways of Hearing is a six-episode series hosted by musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi), exploring the nature of listening in our digital world. Each episode looks at a different way that the switch from analog to digital audio is influencing our perceptions, changing our ideas of Time, Space, Love, Money, Power and Noise. In the digital age, our voices carry further than they ever did before, but how are they being heard? Plus, we have a little bonus, classic episode of 99pi, featuring Sound Opinions. Ways of Hearing
When the tape started rolling in old analog recording studios, there was a feeling that musicians were about to capture a particular moment. On tape, there was no “undo.” They could try again, if they had the time and money, but they couldn't move backwards. What's done is done, for better and worse. Digital machines entered the mix in the 1980s, changing the way music was made — machines with a different sense of time. And the digital era has not just altered our tools for working with sound but also our relationship to time itself. Part of the new Radiotopia Showcase, Ways of Hearing is a six-episode series hosted by musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi), exploring the nature of listening in our digital world. Each episode looks at a different way that the switch from analog to digital audio is influencing our perceptions, changing our ideas of Time, Space, Love, Money, Power and Noise. In the digital age, our voices carry further than they ever did before, but how are they being heard? Plus, we have a little bonus, classic episode of 99pi, featuring Sound Opinions. Ways of Hearing
Radiotopia is pleased to introduce Showcase, a new podcast featuring original series of all stripes, from producers around the world. For this intro episode, Roman Mars (99% Invisible host / creator and Radiotopia partner) talks with Julie Shapiro (Radiotopia executive producer) about the project. Hint: This is a podcast for the adventurous listener. Plus! Hear a preview of the first Showcase series, a six-parter about listening in the digital age, from acclaimed musician, writer and thinker Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon and Naomi). Each episode looks at a different way that the switch from analog to digital audio is changing our perceptions: of time, space, love, money, and power. Subscribe now to hear Ways of Hearing when it launches on Friday, August 4th. Learn more at radiotopia.fm/showcase.