Issue 63: It's Britney B*tch

A Dissection Of Ancient Gleek Culture | 08

Billboard Goes Global | 32

Disney Love Triangles in Music | 40

northeastern students on music

No 63

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Meet the Staff

About Desmond LaFave Position Interviews Editor Major Journalism and Media & Screen Studies Graduating 2023 Favorite Venue First Avenue, Minneapolis Tastemaker Since Fall 2019

Livia Lemgruber Position Designer Major Communication and Graphic Design Graduating 2024 Favorite Venue Irving Plaza, NYC Tastemaker Since Spring 2021

Chelsea Hendersen Position Promo & Content Major Journalism & Communcation Graduating 2023 Favorite Venue Paradise Rock Club Tastemaker Since Fall 2019

Listening to

Miloe “Change Your Music” Tierra Whack “Peppers and Onions”

Quote

“Listen to ‘Toothaches’ on WRBB, Monday mornings at 2 AM”

Reggie “Southside Fade”

Phoebe Bridgers Punisher Mother Mother “Body”

“Whatever, English isn’t my first language”

Rina Sawayama “Bad Friend”

The Polar Boys “Nothing has changed” Coast Modern “Hollow Life”

“Have you ever seen Teen Wolf?”

Mother Mother “Burning pile”

Rayven Tate Position Photo Director Major Mechanical Engineering Graduating 2021 Favorite Venue Brighton Music Hall Tastemaker Since Spring 2017

Lou Phelps “MUST BE” Flo Milli “Roaring 20s’” slowthai TYRON

“...this song kinda bangs”

TV Girl, Sonia

Photo by Rayn Taveres (Mechanical Engineering)

Table of Contents Cover Story

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36

30

The world of music licensing is anything but glamorous, but can be incredibly important to small and large artists’ careers alike.

It’s Britney, Bitch: A Look Into the Iconic Pop Sensation’s Work: Dive into the discography and turbulent career of The Princess of Pop, one of music’s biggest and most influential stars.

Sync Licensing Survival Guide:

44

Music’s Gentle Giant: Rick Rubin: One of music’s most influential voices and producers, Rick Rubin provides direction to artists that need it most.

Features

Driving is one of music’s favorite metaphors, able to immerse listeners in a situation and make any story feel relatable.

38

Do a kickflip, dude!: The Importance of Soundtracks in Skate Videos: Music plays a crucial role in describing rider’s personalities in skate videos and maximizing the impact of a track.

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24

6

Music has long played a role in the inauguration of a new president, but the playlist brings a new format for an administration to share their message with the world.

Environmentalism of the Music Industry: The music industry isn’t people’s first thought when it comes to environmentalism, but the impact of festivals and streaming alike is no longer ignorable.

8

EDM Pop: The Rise and Fall: Look back on the career of one of the most captivating modern pop stars whose constant style changes never fail to make her a topic of discussion.

10

Billboard Goes Global:

32

Like them or not, the charts are an important metric of success, and Billboard’s new global charts seek to open the doors for nonAmerican and non-English artists to climb them.

A Mixtape for the Nation: Inaugural Playlists:

20 28

A Dissection Of Ancient Gleek Culture: Glee was a pop cultural phenomenon that existed beyond any sense of logic or reason, but however questionable it may have been, its influence cannot be understated.

For the Love of Playlists: Playlists are the new mixtapes, a new-age act of love and an extension of self.

40

The Legacy of a Song: Pachelbel’s “Canon in D”: Pachelbel’s ‘Canon in D’ reaches far beyond just weddings and graduations, from The Beatles to Maroon 5, here’s a look into the legacy of the song.

Disney Love Triangles in Music: Everybody loves a little bit of drama, and that’s exactly how Disney markets hits like Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘drivers license’”

Etcetera

27

In Defense of: “Bad Liar” by Selena Gomez: Selena Gomez will probably never sound more like herself than on her fluke hit, “Bad Liar”.

Local Talent

35

Motion, Music, and Pandemic Silence: Bryan Grady reflects on how the pandemic has changed how we experience music.

Highlights from The Umbrella Academy Soundtrack: The Umbrella Academy soundtrack masters tone and mood with its diverse and impactful song choices.

Editorials

12

Let’s Go For a Drive: The Prevalence of Driving Themes in Music:

Local Talent: Myia Thornton Maya Lucia talks to Myia Thornton about her new record and the Boston music scene.

Reviews

42

Album Reviews Black Country, New Road and Arlo Parks

Editorial Spring 2021

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a mixtape for the nation:

INAUGURAL PLAYLISTS

“...the playlist was able to capture a snapshot of the spirit of the nation...” early 2010s that look shockingly out of place on a presidential playlist.

One does not need to look far to decipher the message Obama’s campaign was attempting to send by including “Turn Up the Love”

by Far East Movement, but they may wonder why the electronic club anthem was the song chosen to send it. Another startling choice is “Future” by Mindless Behavior, a group made up of several teenage boys. Few songs seem less presidential than “Future,” which is about

the 13-year-old singers taking their hypothetical girlfriends to the Taj Mahal.

But beyond the absurdity of some of the selections, there was an overarching theme tying the tracks together, and this becomes more clear the further we are from the inauguration. By celebrating culturally relevant songs of the time, the playlist was able to capture a snapshot of the spirit of the nation – at least, as portrayed by pop

“...the enjoyment of music transcends political and social divides.”

Designer: Vanessa Peng (Business Administration and Design)

Inauguration day ceremonies have been an integral tradition of American democracy for over 200 years. They are idealized representations of the peaceful transfer of power and they give the incoming president a chance to set the tone of their forthcoming administration. Beyond introducing themselves to the public through a formal address, some Presidents have begun to use the inauguration as an opportunity to introduce Americans to their music taste.

Musicians have performed at inaugural ceremonies since the inception of the nation. Up until the 20th century, most music came in the form of galas and balls thrown in celebration of the new president on the night of the inauguration and over the following weeks.

However, the now-standard practice of inviting celebrities to perform at the festivities did not begin until 1941, when Franklin Roosevelt included movie stars, Charlie Chaplin and Mickey Rooney, on his inaugural guest list.

Ever since, inaugural ceremonies have featured appearances and performances by pop culture icons. From Ella Fitzgerald at John F. Kennedy’s inaugural ball in 1961 to Michael Jackson at Bill Clinton’s 1993 ceremony, Presidents have enlisted some of the most soughtafter acts to commemorate their first days as commander-in-chief.

As the nation’s music consumption methods have shifted towards streaming and playlists, campaigns have followed. The digital inauguration playlist was introduced by Barack Obama’s campaign for his second inauguration in 2013. Released the week before the swearing-in ceremonies, the playlist was simply a collection of 16 songs on Spotify. The format of the playlist was fairly ahead of its time – enough so that Billboard’s announcement of the playlist had to clarify that Spotify was a “digital media service” for readers that may have otherwise been unaware.

The 2013 inaugural playlist included tracks from Stevie Wonder, Usher, fun. and Beyonce, who would all perform live at the swearingin ceremony and the inaugural ball that followed. More interestingly, it also compiled songs that were intended to be some of Obama’s personal “favorites.” The playlist was surprisingly contemporary and included tracks, like “Higher and Higher,” performed by Walt Whitman and the Chicago Youth Choir, which attempted to capture Obama’s campaign messages of hope and unity. Alongside these themed choices were a seemingly random assortment of hit songs from the

culture. While their inclusion on the inaugural playlist may seem ridiculous, songs, such as the Glee Cast’s cover of “Edge of Glory” by Lady Gaga are poignant cultural reference points for 2012.

Through music, we may be reminded of the beliefs and attitudes we held over an era. Obama’s inaugural playlist, though at first glance appears scattered, is a reflection of our own culture at a periodic inflection point in the nation’s history.

Though Donald Trump did not release an official inaugural playlist in 2017, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris resumed the new tradition in 2021.

Biden’s inaugural playlist is far more diverse in genre, era and significance than Obama’s 2013 mix. Tracks like “Now or Never” by Kendrick Lamar, “Destiny” by Burna Boy, “Mirage” by Toro y Moi, and “Good Days”

by SZA exemplify the more adventurous approach to the inclusion of contemporary pop music. However, the 46 song playlist includes plenty of classics, ranging from Steely Dan’s “Do It Again” to Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up.” The mix also contains tributes to artists that have recently passed away, with songs by Bill Withers, Mac Miller, and MF DOOM.

The playlist featured both Biden and Harris’s symbolic walkout songs for the swearing-in ceremony. Harris selected “Work That” by Mary J. Blige, referencing the history she made as the first woman and the only Black person to hold the vice presidency. Meanwhile, Biden made his entrance to Bruce Springsteen’s “We Take Care of Our Own,” calling back to his campaign’s signature call for unity and an end to the pandemic.

Whether or not Harris and Biden were actually picking out their own music, the selections fulfilled their purpose of inspiring hope and connecting to their millions of new constituents. Attempting to brand themselves through song is a safe bet on the part of their administrations, as the enjoyment of music transcends political and social divides. The messages and lyrics of their walkout songs are not particularly subdued or complex, but they don’t have to be – music easily holds a variety of meanings to different listeners.

Perhaps in 10 years, we will be able to appreciate Biden’s inaugural playlist as a time capsule of 2020. The selection of various throwback songs may be indicative of the nostalgia induced by the pandemic, while contemporary hits like “Good Days” could remind us of the musical styles and sentiments we had surrounded ourselves with over the year defined by a pandemic.

Though we may not be able to see it now, inaugural playlists may become sentimental remembrances of past eras, landmarks in cultural history that encapsulate a nation’s reflection of itself.

• Desmond LaFave (Journalism, Media and Screen Studies) 7

Editorial

A Dissection of Ancient

ge ek culture

The year is 2009. Your friends are playing Farmville on Facebook, the housing bubble just burst, and Lady Gaga’s probably roaming the streets somewhere in thirty-inch heels. Given the general chaos that defined the late ‘00s, almost no one could have expected that one of the most defining trends of the era would be a network television show about a high school glee club. But alas, Glee was a pop culture phenomenon that existed beyond any sense of logic or reason. In its run under the primetime spotlight, the Glee cast sold over 30 million digital downloads in the U.S. alone, and until March 2020, they held the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 chart entries in the entire 62-year history of the chart—single handedly surpassing music industry legends, such as Madonna and Michael Jackson, in the span of its six years on air. Whether or not you believe Will Schuester deserved capital punishment, the cultural dominance of Glee over the former half of the past decade cannot be understated.

The same show that flipped Journey deep cuts into the emasculated art of competitive show choir was also launching the serenades of gay teenagers, set to both Adele and Fleetwood Mac, into the Top 40 stratosphere. Given pop music’s inextricable linkage to queer culture throughout modern history, Glee, and its accompanying soundtracks, were actually landmark moments for representation in American television. In a time where visibility for marginal groups was sidelined and patriarchal views of gender roles in music prevailed, mashups of classic Aerosmith with Spring 2021

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Britney Spears were, in all honesty, kind of progressive. Of course, there were gaffes, and they were egregious, as a Fox primetime show about high school outcasts may not have been the best vehicle for social critique. But Glee dared to celebrate inclusion through music, in a time where mere existence was borderline blasphemous.

At the turn of the last decade, conversations about music were not generous to pop, which at the time, was a genre with women at its forefront. Breakthrough megastars, such as Katy Perry, Ke$ha, and even Nicki Minaj, were critically annihilated for their performative antics and escapist, clubcentric dance music. At the heart of it, critics longed for a return to “real music,” which was language that often served as a means to devalue the theatricality of the pop music of their time. Nevertheless, Glee persisted in covering anything from The Beatles to AC/DC with production that was so sanitized and pitch-corrected you could practically hear it

Designer: Maia Fernandez Baigun (Communications and Graphic Design)

sparkling. With layers of added backing harmonies and fanciful costumed choreography to match, Glee took pride in crafting performances brazen enough to put a theatre kid to shame. Given the inherent fragility of masculinity, having critically acclaimed classic rock anthems paraded around by high schoolers covered in leotards and glitter was a radical statement. Industry titans, such as Slash and Foo Fighters, even specifically requested for their music to not be covered by the cast when approached by the show’s creator Ryan Murphy.

The show’s penchant for the grandiosity of pop music made it an excellent repellant for those who sought to demean and denigrate the genre.

But even moreso, Glee recontextualized pop anthems across generations of people, introducing audiences across America to music they had never been exposed to. In 2010, Darren Criss’ acapella rendition of “Teenage Dream’’ blasted into the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 as the highest selling digital song in the country, with over 200,000 copies sold in its first week. A feat usually accomplished only by chart-topping popstars now belonged to a show where a gay high school sophomore could sing to his future fiancé about the starry-eyed wonder of young love.

Between the late Naya Rivera’s character coming out to her best friend through a Fleetwood Mac cover and a literal episode-long tribute to Rocky Horror Picture Show, Glee became an avenue for queer culture to enter the mainstream. With some of the highest ratings its network had ever seen, Glee was in an unprecedented position of influence over pop culture and the American media, and it centered its musical performances around a core message of acceptance at a time that it otherwise would not exist.

That being said, it wouldn’t be Glee if it didn’t make an inane amount of campy missteps that teetered on the edge of being blatantly offensive. You might be able to argue that Santana Lopez declaring herself a proud lesbian through an overtly-sexualized performance of “I Kissed A Girl” to a hollering all-male audience was only mildly fetishistic, but it’s hard to imagine Unique Adams, a trans woman, tearfully belting out “If I Were A Boy” to the choir room as anything other than woefully misguided writing.

By no means should anyone ever try to claim that Glee is a quintessential example of queer representation in media, but it indisputably was one of the first primetime shows to really dissect and question our roles of gender and sexuality in the mainstream. Though it may live in infamy as a questionable cultural staple of the early 2010s, Glee quite literally gave a voice to those who were conditioned to live in silence, and for that at least, we might be able to put down our slushies — at least for a little while.

• Neeloy Bose (Bioengineering)

9

Editorial

L ove of Playlists

for the

Words of affirmation, acts of service, physical touch, receiving gifts, quality time, and… playlist making? Gary Chapman’s 1992 book about the five love languages might need an update. Whether it be for a friend, family member or significant other, a customized song curation represents thought, dedication and care. Playlists aren’t anything new; cassette tapes and burned CDs were once the main media for mixtapes, but digital playlists are the new-age act of love.

Personalized playlists aren’t necessarily just for a loved one or a larger audience. Playlists by you and for you can be the greatest type of self-care; they’re a therapeutic way of control and organization.

Carefully choosing the most intricate parts of a playlist, such as its name, cover art and length, can make you feel on top of the world. You hold all of the creative decisions in your hands; you are the creator.

But where to start? What makes the perfect playlist? One must begin with a theme. This may sound intimidating, but there are endless options. It can be anything from fitness, genres, moods, artists, car rides, breakups, decades, seasons and even to music that reminds you of that one beach vacation in 2008. You name it, there’s probably

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to different playlists I’ve made over the years. These curations are something you can always rely on and always look forward to—no matter how often you change them.

If you’re having curator’s block, services like Spotify have algorithms that offer similar songs based on the existing accumulation.

Say your streaming service doesn’t provide this, though. A great alternative is to peruse playlists similar to yours, whether it be by a friend, a stranger, a streaming service or even an artist.

Artists have more control over playlists than one might realize.

Monetization of playlists occurs through paid placement, in which labels and distributors pay to have their artists’ songs featured on popular playlists. This is especially common among unknown artists who want to grow their audience. Promotion services include SubmitHub, Repost Exchange, MySphera and Soundplate. Some streaming services, such as Spotify, allow artists to promote their own playlists from their artist profiles. The platform’s service is called Spotify for Artists, and it helps artists verify themselves, upload music and add their tracks to popular playlists.

There’s something so beautiful about your own playlist. Rather than the limitation of a giant, holistic song library, playlists allow for more definition and structure to your listening experience. There are few things in life we have complete control over, and this, again, is why playlists are so therapeutic. You can totally escape into a playlist as you dive into the hundreds of thousands of songs, choosing which select few belong on this special curation. They’re not just a certain collection of different songs you like—they’re also an extension of yourself and your personality. The intended audience of a playlist is only secondary; playlists themselves are symbols of time, love and care. So, what are you waiting for? For the love of playlists, go make one!

Designe: Angela Lin (Business Adminstration and Design)

a playlist for it—and if not, just create your own! Themes are crucial, as they define the playlist’s structure and provide a guide as to which songs to include.

An overarching theme like “2020” can be difficult, as so many songs across several genres were released that year. The more specific, the better. Why not name your playlist something like “Strutting Down Mass Ave OMW to Class,” with songs that make you want to power walk? Playlist makers aren’t strangers to this idea, and there was even a Tik Tok trend last year in which users showcased their niche playlist names and themes. Users are also going viral on the platform for having accounts solely dedicated to playlist curation. For example, user @katsplaylist made a video about her playlist “wait whats [sic] that song? that one about being seventeen?” She amassed over 263,000 views on the Tik Tok and gained more than 25,000 followers of the playlist on Spotify.

Okay, so you have your punny name and your particular theme… what now? The songs themselves! Shuffle-ability is key. You want a seamless collection of tracks with no outliers; there’s not much worse than totally zoning out to a playlist until a deviating track snaps you right back into reality. No distractions and certainly no skips. Playlists that aren’t meant to be shuffled are also possible, but they take a lot of trial and error through repeated listening and small tweaks. Each song must be known well to ensure peak flow between tracks.

The beauty of playlists is their flexibility. You don’t necessarily have to begin with a theme—a single song can spark inspiration for an entire playlist. What if you make that playlist, and you end up removing that original song? A-OK. Playlists aren’t definite. They grow along with their creator. I constantly add songs new and old

• Lacie Foreht (Communication and Media Studies)

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Feature

Editorial

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Strobeck also incorporates songs from Mazzy Star, Brenda Lee, and Funkdoobiest, all of which belong to very different genres of music.

However, the eclectic selections work together to form a cohesive project which moves through phases in accordance with song changes. The resulting effect resembles a compilation of Strobeck’s shorter videos but with thoughtful and well-placed transitions between them.

“the sudden change from excitement to respect and inspiration is made possible entirely by the choice of music, and marks one of the most beautiful points in the entire project."

The most ambitious work that Strobeck has created is ‘BLESSED,’ an 85-minute feature length skate video which combines and pushes all the filmmaker’s signature techniques to new levels. It also serves as the most effective and wide-ranging example of a soundtrack’s effect on a video, as the music is able to reflect and dictate the moods across different parts of the film in addition to jump-starting new phases of tricks and clips with a specific atmosphere that holds for the entirety of the part. A strong example of this occurrence would be Ben Kadow’s part, where Strobeck channels Ben’s raw energy and releasing of aggression approach to skating through alt-rock and metal tracks that display a wild and forceful energy to start the video. In addition to Ben Kadow, each skater for Supreme has their own defined part of the video with accompanying music that very clearly defines their style. While there are similar techniques deployed to ensure that music is an integral part of tricks, the sheer range of different music made possible by the length of the project allows for huge changes of intensity between parts. Perhaps the best example is that of Tyshawn Jones’ part, where “B.M.F” by Rick Ross starts out of nowhere to announce the start of his segment. The song acts as a hype track to match Tyshawn’s skill level, but the part is totally changed by Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” playing over the second half of the segment. The sudden change from excitement to respect and inspiration is made possible entirely by the choice of music, and marks one of the most beautiful points in the entire project. The clips are cut perfectly to match the start and ends of verses, and Tyshawn’s final trick coincides with the end of the song.

Strobeck’s specific techniques are unique, but the importance of music to a skate video is not. Without music, the emotional connection to tricks couldn’t be fully realized and there wouldn’t be such a tight knit community of skating present across the world.

Skate videos form a central pillar of skate culture, and the music present in them informs the ways that skaters become fans of pros.

Designer: Livia Lemgruber (Communications and Graphic Design)

The rise of contemporary skate culture throughout the late ’80s and early ‘90s conveniently coincided with the widening popularity and accessibility of personal video recording equipment that wasn’t too cumbersome for the average person to bring around. This democratization of filming abilities was immediately utilized by the skating community in what has become an absolute staple of the subculture, that being skate videos. Since their inception, skate videos have featured a soundtrack of relevant songs chosen by either directors or skaters for each segment of the video. Without them, the videos would be far less sonically interesting, as the sound of skateboards slapping metal or concrete and the cries of support from team members is only interesting for so long. While there are literally decades worth of fantastic skate videos and their partnering soundtracks, the work of William Strobeck has proven to stand taller than videos by other directors in the past decade. First filming for Alien Workshop’s 2000 video ‘Photosynthesis’ and then going on to direct numerous other videos, Strobeck’s true creative potential was realized by a wider audience with Supreme’s 2014 video “cherry.”

Since then, he has directed nearly a dozen skate videos, each with a soundtrack that definitively enhances the performances of the skaters within them.

Perhaps the most telling of Strobeck’s skill as a soundtrack curator comes through in his shorter clips. On videos such as ‘the red devil.’ and ‘SICKNESS,’ both of which run less than 5 minutes in total, there are a flurry of tricks and lines over two songs at most.

In the case of ‘the red devil.’ the chosen track is “Dunkelheit” by Burzum, where on ‘SICKNESS’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus and “Jugghouse” by G-Herbo are spliced together. The choice of “Dunkelheit” was advantageous to the tricks being performed throughout the video, since the heavy drum lines and crashing bass drum hits were synchronized with landings, enhancing the landings themselves. Strobeck shows a deep consideration for the relationship between specific moments in a skate clip and corresponding moments in a song, going to great lengths to arrange the video so that the technical complexities of tricks ascend at the same rate as the intensity of the song. The result is an exceptionally well-crafted video which draws viewers in and then holds them rapt with the Norwegian black metal of Burzum providing a mounting sense of anticipation.

Strobeck’s use of a Burzum track should also be recognized as ironic given the white supremacist leanings of the group. When juxtaposed over a diverse group of skaters on a single team, the song is entirely repurposed. Many of the same concepts appear in ‘SICKNESS,’ most prominently the rising sense of anticipation provided by the extended intro of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” However, ‘SICKNESS’ stands apart from ‘the red devil.’ due to its sudden switch in pace with the beginning of “Jugghouse” over a clip of Tyshawn Jones running towards the camera with his board. The rest of the video reacts to the high energy of the song through a barrage of intense and technical tricks that showcase the skill of the team.

Strobeck’s most recent project is ‘CANDYLAND,’ a collaborative video between San Francisco based GX1000 and New York City’s Supreme. The video showcases an ability to make music of vastly different genres work together effortlessly, as the video features both classic hip hop and dream pop in a single 27-minute run time. Starting with “Buck Em Down” by Black Moon, the first clips are imbued with a relaxed energy that matches the mood of the visual effects. After a brief intermission in the video, the music picks back up with “In Our Angelhood” by Cocteau Twins, which marks a strong departure from the previous track. The clips match the flowing yet high-energy beat of the music and works with it in similar ways to ‘the red devil.’ to emphasize landings and impacts by skaters.

• Terrance Dumoulin (Civil Engineering and Architectural Studies)

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Feature Local Talent Spring 2021

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It shouldn’t be a controversial statement to say that our planet is in the midst of an ongoing environmental disaster. Global temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions are reaching record highs, and environmentalists have become increasingly aware that our current way of life is not sustainable and never has been. Furthermore, if continued, this lifestyle will degrade the Earth to a point where it can no longer sustain our consumption and exploitation.

This conversation is becoming increasingly mainstream and corporate conglomerates and fossil fuel industries have been commonly identified as the main perpetrators. Unfortunately, the truth is that every aspect of society must be inspected and critiqued in order to shift our lifestyles to a sustainable model. So, what does this mean for the music industry?

When discussing environmentalism, the music industry is not a typical part of the conversation. However, there are many hidden detriments to the immaterial art of music. To start, music festivals.

CNN estimates that in the United States, festivals generate 53,000 tons of waste annually. This waste stems from single-use plastics from food vendors and individuals camping out as well as larger litter, such as abandoned plastic tents. In the UK, an estimated 22,700 plastic tents are abandoned at music festivals annually (CNN). Furthermore, accessories, such as festival glitter, can have a large impact on the natural environment due to the microplastics that remain in the soil and water sources.

Festivals represent a very concrete environmental cost for enjoying live music and these effects have been addressed in the past several years. REVERB, a nonprofit partner of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), works with artists, festivals, and venues to promote the greening of the music industry through initiatives and implemented policies. Through their work, an estimated 2.4 million single-use water bottles have been eliminated from North American concerts since 2013, addressing some of the waste from live music. However, environmental issues extend far beyond in-person musical events and possibly have astronomical hidden effects.

Designer: Nick Alonzo (Architecture)

A 2019 study conducted by Dr. Kyle Devine of the University of Oslo brought attention to a new source of environmental degradation in the music industry: streaming. On the surface, streaming seems to have less environmental impacts than physical CDs or cassette tapes.

However, it is quite the opposite. Dr. Devine’s study estimates that the amount of greenhouse gas equivalents used to stream music could be anywhere between 200 to 350 million kilograms, which is almost six times the amount of waste it took to produce physical records in the early 2000s. This hidden waste stems from the electricity of downloading gigabytes of data which comes from power streaming sites that rely on fossil fuels. This doesn’t even take into account the environmental costs of producing the technology that supports streaming services or the corporations themselves.

However, no one’s saying to get rid of streaming or festivals. Not only are concerts and festivals important exposure for smaller artists, but they’re vital experiences for music listeners worldwide. Like many issues of sustainability, greening the music industry doesn’t imply changing the whole format and losing the values that consumers cherish; sustainability can evolve from altering and changing the way music is enjoyed and shared.

Artists themselves have begun to take on the responsibility of altering and changing their own actions as well as the industry’s when it comes to environmental standards. In 2019, REVERB partnered with Fleetwood Mac to promote the #CleanSeas pledge of the UNEP to educate and connect fans to nonprofit partners. Furthermore, Dave Matthews Band eliminated over 121 million pounds of CO₂ and 478,000 singleuse plastic water bottles from their tours since 2005. These pairings are valuable to environmentalism as they capitalize on the free publicity and fan support of successful artists, but they also allow artists to remediate some of their own environmental impacts in an age of increased scrutiny and responsibility.

So, where do we go from here? As sustainability is such a complex and multifaceted issue, there is never one clear answer. For artists, their profession comes with innate environmental costs. A simple step that artists can take is using their platforms to speak out while urging their fans to progress environmental causes. However, for big names that are consistently in the limelight, there is a thin line between having an influence and being performative. Along with verbal

indications of environmental responsibility, artists themselves should also attempt to model sustainable practices and living.

By making efforts to fly commercial or use public transportation, artists can avoid the environmental impacts that often accompany wealth and success. With large platforms and worldwide fans, artists have the opportunity to encourage action against the environmental crisis and mitigate the consequences of their own industry.

However, consumers also have a responsibility to the environment when enjoying the music and events of the industry.

By simply downloading music from streaming platforms instead of using data each time, consumers can cut down the amount of energy needed to listen to their favorite songs, according to Dr. Devine’s study. But, on a larger scale, music listeners have the ability to apply pressure to the corporations they support to be more environmentally conscientious. By understanding the impacts of the choices we make, consumers have the ability to deny business to those who choose to ignore the gravity of our environmental crisis.

There is no simple solution to progressing sustainability and environmentalism. Every option comes with a challenge and potential change to our current lifestyle. For something as seemingly immaterial as music, it can be upsetting to recognize the environmental impact of an industry that brings so much joy to its consumers. However, like everything in our modern society, music can have detrimental environmental effects that must be addressed.

It’s up to artists to recognize the impact they have this crisis and for us as consumers to recognize and demand progress in the industry.

With a collective effort and understanding, there is a chance to make the music industry green and sustainable.

• Rachel Cerato (International Affairs and Environmental Studies)

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Cover Story Designer: Michelle D’Alessandro (Business Administration and Design)

it’s

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I R B TNEY

A Look Into An Iconic Pop Sensation

b*tch

Leader of a decade and paparazzi induced scandals, Britney Spears has always been relevant. Despite a turbulent career and personal life, her influence on the history of pop music have been monumental. The recent #FreeBritney movement showcased Britney as more than a pop star prop. Spears does things her way – both in her personal life and career – experimenting in the pop genre while collaborating with top songwriters and producers. Britney’s career showcases the struggles she’s overcome while creating iconic music and shows for fans across the world. She has always deserved more than the image the media has painted.

...Baby One More Time (1999) As Britney’s debut album, ...Baby One More Time skyrocketed her into stardom. When first releasedv, it received mixed reviews from critics who labeled it as “silly” and “premature.” But undoubtedly it has become one of her most influential works fueled by the iconic music video and impact on the history of pop culture. It is the quintessential embodiment of Britney Spears and reigns as her most successful album.

Recommended Tracks: “...Baby One More Time”, “The Beat Goes On”, and “(You Drive Me) Crazy”

Oops!... I Did It Again (2000) Nine months after her first release, Britney was ready for another album. Exploring more funk and R&B sounds with her sophomore record, Oops!...I Did It Again followed similar popularity and praise as ...Baby One More Time. Britney’s record again made history with the most records sold for an album by a female artist, holding the title for 15 years after its initial release.

Recommended Tracks: “Oops!...I Did It Again”, “Lucky”, and “Stronger”

Britney (2001) Britney snapped with this one.

Britney was Spears’ self titled album intended to reflect a new image, along with her co-writing abilities featured on several songs on the record. Songs rely on heavy breathing and whispers to transport Britney from teen pop icon to mature sex icon.

Fans and critics alike were uneasy about her increasingly provocative image. Many felt she was unnaturally forcing herself away from her “virgin adolescence” image previously established, which is particularly evident between tracks like “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,” and “I’m a Slave 4 U.” Recommended Tracks: “Boys”,“I’m A Slave 4 U”, and “Overprotected”

In The Zone (2003) Spears began writing songs for In The Zone while on tour and at the end of her relationship with Justin Timberlake. As Britney experimented with new producers, the first track recorded was “Touch of My Hand,” which Spears considered an establishing track of the mood for the album. With the majority of the songs being co-written, she explained the sexual nature of In The Zone was subconscious. Spears also collaborated with Madonna and the Ying Yang Twins, highlighting the mix of different styles that were executed on the album.

Recommended Tracks: “Toxic”, “Me Against the Music”, and “(I Got That) Boom Boom” 17 17

Cover Story

Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (2004) By the time of Britney’s first greatest hits compilation, she had only been in the music industry for 5 years. The Greatest Hits: My Prerogative was led by two singles: “My Prerogative,” originally written by Bobby Brown in 1988 and “Do Something.”

Originally, “Do Something” was not incorporated in the compilation, but after a push from Britney to shoot a music video for the song – which she would be credited as stylist and choreographer – it was added.

Recommended Tracks: “My Prerogative”, “Do Something”, and “(I’ve Just Begun) Having My Own Fun”

Blackout (2007) We’re welcomed into the next era with the icon line, “It’s Britney, Bitch!” Although Blackout was recorded in 2006 to mid-2007, Britney was in the middle of a crisis by the time of its release. Leaving rehab after a day and shaving her head, Blackout was plagued with Britney’s personal struggles and public breakdowns. The album was rush released on October 30, 2007 after being leaked online. Blackout is noted as Britney’s most progressing and consistent album yet, attributed to the producers and songwriters credited throughout the album.

Recommended Tracks: “Gimme More”, “Why Should I Be Sad”, and “Radar”

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Circus (2008) The contrast in cover art between Blackout and Circus establishes a switch from Britney’s dark era to a “lighter” image. Circus was a chance for Britney’s management to get her career back on track after the rush of personal scandals Britney faced. She was placed under a conservatorship – which endured past its “temporary” date and fueled the current #FreeBritney movement.

Circus infused “glam-rave” into Britney’s traditional pop-style and features backup vocals from the then unknown star, Kesha.

Recommended Tracks: “Womanizer”, “Phonography”, and “Shattered Glass”

Britney Jean (2013) Britney Jean comes after Britney’s previous label, Jive Records, was dissolved into RCA. Spears considered this album as her most personal, with integral writing credits on every track. Collaborations on Britney Jean included Sia, David Guetta, will.i.am, and younger sister Jamie Lynn. Britney Jean encountered mixed reviews, as many critics felt despite Spear’s large role in the writing of the album, it felt detached from the singer’s authentic feelings.

Recommended Tracks: “Work Bitch,” “Til It’s Gone,” and “Chillin’ With You (feat. Jamie Lynn Spears)”

The Singles Femme Fatale Collection (2008) (2011) The Singles Collection served as a 10 year commemoration since Britney’s entrance into the music industry. “3” was the only single from the album, however The Singles Collection showcased Britney’s transformation from teen-pop sensation to dance icon. Tracks included can be seen as a timeline for pop music’s development, as well as Britney’s best work as a performer.

Recommended Tracks: “3”, “I’m So Curious”, and “Outrageous”

Femme Fatale holds a stark contrast from Britney’s previous work. It’s adventurous, and it’s a club album with strong EDM, electro, and Eurotech influences. Spears was largely criticised for her lack of input on the album, with only one songwriting credit – ”Scary” – included on the Japanese deluxe release. But the album would foreshadow an era of mixed bubblegum pop and EDM infused pop yet to hit top 40 charts.

Recommended Tracks: “(Drop Dead) Beautiful (feat. Sabi)”, “Criminal”, and “How I Roll”

Glory (2016) In the early phases of Glory, Britney was dissatisfied with the sound. Karen Kwak was then brought on as executive producer, a choice that made the record Britney’s favorite of albums she’s worked on. Kwak drew upon the sounds from earlier works like Blackout and In The Zone, choosing producers based on this. The record took nearly 2 and half years to make with 4050 tracks created in the process. Glory was re-released in 2020 as a deluxe album with 6 additional songs included.

Recommended Tracks: “Clumsy”, “What You Need”, and “If I’m Dancing”

• Maya Lucia (Communications and Media and Screen Studies)

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Designer: Maura Intemann (English and Design)

Editorial

Motion, Music, and Pandemic Silence

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Last January, in what feels vaguely like tempting fate, I wrote an article about how hectic times made me want to change my listening patterns a bit, and I started exploring jazz as a way to get away from my usual abrasive metal and rock consumption.

Turns out I didn’t know the least of it, as I now write this article a full year later, having spent the past 9 months living through a global pandemic, messy election, and a failed insurrection. I’d have thought that if I could somehow predict that I’d be locked indoors for months, that music would have been a useful crutch through it all.

I was wrong, extremely so. Thankfully, unlike many others I haven’t (yet) lost anyone important to me, and I have a wonderful family to rely upon through these

tough times. But I’ve still lost something meaningful, though not necessarily critical: music, or at least music in its best form. It’s quickly become apparent that the role music played in my life was as a travel companion: on the bus to work, on the train to see my partner, or on my walk to class. Now that I’m not going anywhere, music almost only serves as a reminder of lost freedoms, friends, and experiences.

Working from home this past year, doing classes and research work, basically the only playlists I listen to are easylistening. Tossing on some bossa nova while taking notes, or maybe some lo-fi beats while seeing what new and depressing development I come across on social media.

I’m naturally disinclined to listening to

something complicated while multitasking; it’s just too much of a distraction usually. The idea of putting on an album I care about and just leaning back to listen, in the same room I’ve been stuck in for months, seems strangely uncomfortable.

At the risk of generalizing my own relatively minor affliction onto others, it’s quite possible that many people might be facing similar issues. Music is largely the only art form that adapts so readily to transportation and motion. Dance, which is an art form itself, is the act of intentional movement based on that music. Other mediums, such as film, games, or paintings are essentially fixed in location.

Sure, you can watch a movie on the bus, but in doing so, you are withdrawing from your surroundings, replacing it with the images on

your screen. Music complements the surrounding world, imbuing it with meaning and vibrancy that it may have previously lacked.

Of course, music wasn’t always this way. In the era before radio and recordings, it was limited to live performances, where upper-class individuals went to symphonies, working-class people listened to a bar pianist, or laborers sang while enduring tough conditions. But with the invention of transportable music, such as the car stereo, the tape cassette, the MP3 player, and eventually digital streaming, music has transformed into an accompaniment rather than the main focus. Stationary music in the contemporary era is more of a reverent experience: pricey concerts that people eagerly anticipate, or expensive and space-consuming vinyl collecting.

Those stationary experiences, where one stays in one place and focuses on the music alone, have mostly become the minority of our listening time. Portability is king, and I’d argue that’s not just because of “convenience.” Using music as a companion for one’s travels can be a deeply evocative experience, turning what would have been a drudgery into a memorable moment. If you asked people what some of their favorite musical memories are, you’d probably mostly hear about exciting concerts, which is understandable. But suspect that perhaps subconsciously, quietly,

they’d recall a time when just the right song came on while they were going somewhere, and it spoke to the moment.

Maybe a warm summer night, driving home from a teenage part-time job, with the windows down, as a soft ballad played? Or perhaps a train ride through the city, the cymbals of a jazz track matching the clatter of the old wheels on rusty tracks? What about a more embarrassing memory, like the time you were a freshman in high school, just got dumped by someone after only a week, and you’re listening to some bad punk rock while brooding on the bus home? We all have memories like these, even if they’re not quite so specific as those mentioned here.

There’s plenty of discourse out there about what makes a good soundtrack for film, how it accentuates the mood of a scene and can completely elevate a middling movie to a great one (like most of Christopher Nolan’s filmography).

While referring to good music as “the soundtrack of your life” is perhaps overdramatic, it’s not entirely inaccurate. People use energetic music to hype themselves up for athletics or tough challenges, others use relaxing songs to slow things down and reflect. When we’re stationary, with unchanging physical conditions, the music becomes the main

“ Music complements

the surrounding world, imbuing it with meaning and vibrancy that it may have previously lacked. ”

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focus, not a complement to our experiences.

Ultimately, it’s that ability for music to act as the accompaniment to travel that I’d argue has gradually shaped the industry.

8-Track never took off because it was too large and clunky, but compact cassettes could go in both a car stereo and your pocket. CD was popular for a time because it’s actually the highest quality common physical media (sorry vinyl obsessives), but ultimately, issues with size and audio skipping in portable players meant it quickly fell out of favor after the iPod popularized digital players. The MP3, a significantly worse audio source than CD or vinyl, became the default way most people listened to music throughout the 2000s, because people could finally carry their whole library with them wherever they went. This not only was convenient but meant that you could choose the song to fit the mood you wanted with far greater ease. Now with streaming, your soundtrack can be whatever you want it to be: almost the entire world of recorded music, at your fingertips, even sorted into pre-made thematic playlists.

Admittedly, the loss of something as seemingly unimportant as our “background music” pales in comparison to the loss of the actual freedom of movement that went with it. Or beyond that, the much greater costs that many of us have had to deal with this

past year. But to neglect the importance of the arts, and how they color our challenging lives, would be a significant error. Music can help pull us out of darker moments, inspire us to great achievements, or just give us the space for a moment of quiet reflection. A year (or more) without humankind’s most reliable travel companion is something worth mourning, though I can only hope that there will soon come a day where new musical memories can be made again.

• Bryan Grady (Political Science)

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Feature Feature Fall 2020 Spring 2021

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Designer: Maryanne Fu (Business Administration, Marketing and Marketing Analytics)

EDM Pop Music: The

& EDM owned pop music in the mid 2010s. By 2015, the Billboard Hot 100 was dominated

by DJs, with tracks like “Lean On” by Major Lazer and DJ Snake prospering in the top 5 for months. Within only eight months of being released, it was Spotify’s most streamed song of all time. Skrillex hit his peak popularity around this time, amassing hundreds of millions of streams on “Take U There,” while his contemporary Calvin Harris saw a similar surge with his hits “Blame” and “How Deep Is Your Love.” Even less established artists, like Zedd, were relishing in the zeitgeist of party EDM, and it seemed as if the future of music was in the hands of DJs and producers.

But within a year, charts were already flooded with rap, trap, and dancehallinfluenced tracks by the likes of Rihanna, Drake, and Desiigner instead. While there certainly was still some EDM in the Hot 100, pop overall seemed to have moved on. The Chainsmokers’ later hits of “Don’t Let Me Down” and “Closer” felt more nostalgic than archetypal, while Rihanna’s ANTI and Twenty One Pilots’ punk-inspired Blurryface transcended their previously more niche audiences. So, what caused this sudden dissipation of EDM pop’s critical acclaim and boundless commercial success?

Finding its Place in Pop

Dance music was by no means new in the 2010s. While solo pop icons, like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, along with sultry hip-hop monopolized the 2000s, hits from Usher and The Black Eyed Peas included light

dance-pop influences and commanded the club scene with their powerhouse basslines.

Lady Gaga’s 2008 The Fame and Ke$ha’s 2010 Animal also saw massive success as synthesizers and autotune claimed the spotlight. “Tik Tok,’’ in particular, resembled the future success of EDM, but its minimalist approach and vocal-focused sonics placed it as an electropop hit. Though powerhouse vocalists, like Adele, exploded onto the scene in 2010 as potent lyricism took the stage, at the same time, LMFAO began to dominate radio as one of the first true EDM pop success stories. Their 2011 “Party Rock Anthem,” Billboard’s #2 end-of-decade hit, was accompanied by Calvin Harris’ “We Found Love” as isolated hits when Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” were topping the charts. These hits, alongside Rihanna and Katy Perry dabbling with electronic synths across both Loud and Teenage Dream respectively, sowed the seeds for a full-blown EDM takeover of pop music.

The late Swedish artist Avicii’s approachable dance pop saw some commercial success as early as 2011, but it wasn’t until 2013 with “Wake Me Up” and his debut album Levels that authentic EDM became widely recognizable in the U.S. While Baauer’s EDM track “Harlem Shake” sat at #4

on Billboard’s 2013 end-of-year chart, this success came as a result of YouTube virality, as opposed to an artist’s recognizability and artistry. But even before Avicii, Calvin Harris became a household name through his 2012 hits “We Found Love” with Rihanna and “I Need Your Love” with Ellie Goulding, catapulting him to international prominence. David Guetta, another experienced DJ, likewise soared to popularity through globally successful features, like “Titanium” with Sia and “Turn Me On” with Nicki Minaj. This relatively new typology of the pop DJ icon who sourced vocals from secondary artists lent Harris and Guetta to a yet-to-be-categorized EDMesque persona. Their previous recordings clearly belonged in the club, but this newer work did the same while topping the charts as well. Coupled with Avicii’s burgeoning success, Harris and Guetta’s combination of female pop-star vocals with catchy, danceable synths helped launch EDM into pop mainstream success.

“It was never possible for the genre to independently evolve within the rest of the pop music industry.”

Commercialization

After 2013, a plethora of influential DJs burst onto the scene, with seasoned acts, like Diplo, finally seeing massive commercial success, while DJ Snake, Zedd, Disclosure, and Steve Aoki saw similar growth. Dance

music dominated live performances, with festivals, such as Ultra Music, seeing unprecedented ticket sales. The type of music clubs and raves were playing remained the same, but it could now be heard in shopping malls and the earbuds of millions of people as well. The DJ pop-sona became a brand within the industry, as Calvin Harris’ name alone was enough to draw massive crowds like Mariah Carey and Britney Spears had been doing for years prior. What little influence EDM previously had on pop music suddenly exploded into a multi-billion dollar presence in every aspect of music culture.

This prolific commercialization of EDM was inescapable. YouTube’s relatively newfound prowess as the magnifier of high-production music videos bolstered this success, as electronica soundtracked every internet user’s life. On Spotify, Calvin Harris became the first solo artist to reach 1 billion streams, and Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” was the most-streamed song on the platform for 506 consecutive days. Being featured by a DJ became a milestone in its own right, as performing alongside the same artists who topped the charts with Rihanna and Sia promised future growth. These same pop singers who frequently appeared in EDM were glorified even more, while newer artists utilized EDM’s universal playability to break into the music scene. EDM became more than a subgenre of pop, but a vital component of the music industry that impacted how fame was achieved and marketed.

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Feature

Inevitable Homogeneity

While DJs relished in their newfound popularity and continued to enjoy commercial success, pop music quickly became oversaturated with EDM. Unlike other, broader genres, like hip-hop and rock, EDM’s purpose as a crowd energizer is inherently onedimensional. It

“...critics and listeners alike became cognizant of how the genre was not innovating, but simply becoming more efficient.”

was never possible for the genre to independently evolve within the rest of the pop music industry, and it quickly became monotonous. Major Lazer’s massive hit “Lean On” with MØ and DJ Snake, releasedin early 2015, was catastrophic in its ability to represent the entirety of EDM pop in under three minutes. The track was ubiquitously playable and easily consumable for even the most casual of listeners. Remixed by Avicii himself, it was the star of YouTube’s 2015 Rewind, and it amassed hundreds of millions of views for an even greater audience. The track almost entirely depleted the creative possibilities of EDM pop, and after its massive success there was little room for other DJs to expand the market. Major Lazer’s similarly successful “Cold Water” served a similar purpose, and together with tracks like Skrillex’s “Where Are U Now,” EDM pop began to succumb to its own strengths.

2016 saw the rise of The Chainsmokers, who grew to be the most popular duo in the world due more in part to their mass marketability than artistry. Their earlier work was quite successful as emblems of “good” EDM, with “Roses” in 2015 sparking their imminent growth. “Don’t Let Me Down,” their first release of 2016, fully brought the duo to the mainstream, as it immediately dominated radio and streaming services alike, and it even won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording. However, this success unfortunately came at the tail end of EDM pop’s diversification, and the genre had already been depleted of original content.

At this point, their subsequent releases of “Closer,” which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Paris” failed to impress past

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quantity of plays. While not necessarily the fault of their creators, both tracks’ releases coincided with the resurgence of hip-hop, with artists, such as Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar, producing genre-bending work. Compared to this explosion of creativity, monotonous dance synths that sounded almost identical to ones in 2012 were extremely underwhelming. While all of these tracks saw commercial success and earned the duo the #1 and 2 spots on Billboard’s 2017 year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart, as well the #6 spot on the 2010s end-of-decade chart, critics and listeners alike became cognizant of how the genre was not innovating, but simply becoming more efficient. Their 2017 collaboration with Coldplay on “Something Just Like This’’ fully displayed the schism between where pop music was going and where it was.

Dissolution and Future Promise

By 2018, The Chainsmokers, along with Zedd and many other newer EDM artists, failed to see any more commercial growth.

Any charting dance music was relegated to isolated success stories, with Zedd’s “The Middle” being the only notable track for years.

While more established DJs, like Calvin Harris, continued releasing successful singles, pop music was no longer dominated by electronic synths and bass drops. Marshmello, who leans much heavier into hip-hop, has been the primary solo DJ to emerge and continue growing over the past few years. Practically every recent EDM hit has owed its success more to hip-hop influences or rap features than the paradigm electronic synths that originally brought the genre into the spotlight.

While nowhere near as dominant as its 2015 state, this attenuated form of the genre has successfully incorporated the evolution of other pop music. For club electronica to dominate the top charts again, artists and DJs must continue innovating upon a genre that many would consider has passed its prime.

• Ethan Matthews (Architecture)

Calling Selena Gomez a pop star would be an insult to actual pop stars everywhere. Being a legitimate pop star requires a certain level of presence, be it vocally, on the stage, or in the form of a mildly engaging personality, all of which Gomez has yet to demonstrate she possesses. That’s, of course, not without lack of trying: Gomez most frequently releases colorless, algorithmic pop songs that are at best, conventional and competent. This is justifiable, since Gomez’s biggest hits are markedly neutral; “It Ain’t Me”, her collaboration with producer Kygo, bores as what can best be described as TJMaxx EDM, and her only U.S. #1 thus far, 2019’s “Lose You To Love Me,” is so dull it ought to be a medical replacement for ambien. Largely, her singles have the relative warmth of a hospital waiting room, their interiors both cold and opaque, familiar and forgettable.

Yet, “Bad Liar,” a one-off, 2017 Gomez single, burns surprisingly and subtly bright, and that’s precisely because of its unconventional nature as a pop song. Particularly, “Bad Liar” is hardly big or bubblegum; it instead finds its magnetism as an intimate and idiosyncratic experiment in restraint. The instrumentation on “Bad Liar” is sparse, its few layers, which include hand claps, snaps, and brisk background vocals, are the most vital and purposeful component to its intrigue. But essentially, the track’s peculiar groove is thanks to the Talking Heads sample it is built around. In the original Talking Heads song “Psycho Killer,” the bassline serves to imbue the track with feelings of fear and unease. “Bad Liar” uses the anxiety of this same bassline similarly, but to slightly lower stakes, as Gomez sings of a crush rather than a killer. Still, the tension is palpable, and the effect is hypnotic: through the precise use of just these few elements, “Bad Liar” brims with a near secret lightness and lustre that’s so cautious and contained you might miss it.

Much can be said of Selena Gomez’s voice, or more accurately, lack thereof. Gomez’s vocal quality is neither strong nor striking, and she mostly delivers lines with a breathy, flat malaise. And though Gomez’s voice isn’t exactly exceptional in a traditional sense, its

Designed by Megan Lam (Architecture)

in defense of BAD LIAR elena Gomez in defenseby Sof

subdued style may have actually been unintentionally ahead of the curve. The 2010s saw pop music trend towards the more melancholy and minimalist, deriving its connection and seduction where less is more. Lana Del Rey is most often credited in this shift, her downtrodden, melodramatic stories of sadness slowly but surely becoming a popularized aesthetic within the culture. Moreover, Lorde’s “Royals” might mark the most concrete beginning of these tendencies within the pop charts with its pared down instrumentation and detached vocals. This minimalism continued with the success of stylistically similar artists like Billie Eilish, Khalid, and even Tik Tok star turned attempted singer Dixie D’Amelio.

The lo-fi, new wave nature of “Bad Liar” finally finds Gomez using these trends to her advantage, allowing the fragility of Gomez’s voice to be part of its design. It’s a performance with an unexpected amount of nuance; she flutters through every verse with deliberate reserve, punctuating particular lines with bursts of conviction. The song’s climax works entirely because of Gomez’s strained delivery, her pleading tangible as she lets its bridge fly (“and oh baby let’s make!”).

It’s Gomez’s vocal shadings that command “Bad Liar,” fitting its strange and slight contours.

“Bad Liar” doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel, nor does it indicate a shift in any sort of trends that weren’t already fairly established. Nevertheless, it exists as an eccentric little bite of pop that sounds like nothing else on the radio, a dizzying cycle of restraint and release. And for all her attempts at pop stardom and chart topping hits, the simplicity Gomez finds in “Bad Liar” is a foremost charm; she will probably never sound more like herself.

• Willa Shiomos (Computer Science and Design)

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The Influence of

Pachelbel’s Designer: Catherine Terkildsen (Health Science)

Editorial

Canon in D

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If you have been to a graduation or wedding ceremony, you are probably familiar with Pachelbel’s Canon in D. The song is arguably one of the most famous compositions to emerge from the Baroque era, and is a staple of classical music. Even if, somehow, you have been able to dodge the melodic swells of the original Canon, chances are you are familiar with it in another way- its famous chord progression.

Be it from classic rock, Christmas carols, or even the Soviet Union’s national anthem, Canon in D’s influence is everywhere. Songs by artists ranging from Tupac to My Chemical Romance have utilized the same chord sequence as Johann Pachelbel, tying a surprising array of musicians into an intricate web of musical similarities.

“... tying a surprising array of musicians into an intricate web of musical similarities.”

Pachelbel’s Canon in D is a surprising hit from the original composer. Johann Pachelbel was mainly known for his work composing religious hymns for the organ. Canon in D, originally part of a gigue written for stringed instruments, was not Pachelbel’s usual production. Contrary to its current popularity, this trip outside of Pachelbel’s comfort zone did not pay off with Baroquian audiences.

Canon in D slipped into obscurity for most of its existence, only to rise in popularity around the 20th century. The popularity of the rest of Pachelbel’s music now pales in comparison to Canon in D, a surprising twist of fate considering his original musical pursuits.

The Canon would eventually evolve into one of the most popular choices for processional marches, second only to Felix Mendelsshon’s Wedding March.

A large part of what makes Canon in D so iconic in its sound is the consistency of the piece. The cello part is the driving force behind the entire song, much to the dismay of the cellists who have to endure it.

While the violin and viola parts add intrigue with beautiful cascading runs that chase after each other in accordance with traditional canonic style, the cello line remains rather monotonous. The same eight quarter notes are repeated over and over from beginning to end of the piece, with no variation in rhythm or key. These eight notes indicate the chord progression of the entire piece, which moves in the order of I-V-VI-III-IV-I-IV-V. The order and repetition of the notes in the cello part makes Pachelbel’s Canon an instantly recognizable piece, and the order proves recognizable in many other songs.

Pachelbel’s Canon is easiest to hear in the songs that directly borrow from the original piece. One of the most notable of these is the reworking of the Canon into a popular Christmas song by the TransSiberian Orchestra, which overlays a chorus of children with the original score in their appropriately titled “Christmas Canon.” A benny blanco song featuring late rapper Juice WRLD is one of the more recent revamping of Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Their song “Graduation” is an angsty look back on high school, nodding to the popular usage of Canon in D as a popular processional choice for graduation ceremonies. This song actually samples from Vitamin C’s 1999 song of the same title. The original “Graduation (Friends Forever)” utilizes a proper orchestra, sampling directly from Pachelbel’s Canon itself to drive home the nostalgia associated with the end of high school.

Pachelbel’s Canon also appears in much less obvious places when you look for it. One of the most famous usages of Pachelbel’s chord sequence appears in the Beatles’ “Let it Be.” The steady cello line of Canon in D lives in the chords of the piano, which adds a bluesy tone to the original progression. Though the torch of chord progression is eventually passed back to the bass line, the gentle hum of Pachelbel’s Canon can be heard throughout the entire piece. Some twenty years later, another chart-topping iteration of Pachelbel’s Canon appearedthis time in the pop-punk scene. Canon in D finds itself a new home and new key in the fast-paced bass and guitar lines of Green Day’s “Basket Case.” While “Basket Case” features a slight variation on the original chord sequence, the instrumentals still bear a striking similarity to that of Pachelbel’s Canon, considering it is written in a completely different genre and style.

“What’s beautiful about all of the pieces that share a chord progression with Pachelbel’s Canon in D is that each has its own narrative.”

From the lengthy list of artists who have used Pachelbel’s chord progression, few have actually credited or acknowledged the influence of the original Canon. There’s really no need for them to do so — most chord progressions are shared by multiple, if not hundreds of songs. Pachelbel’s Canon in D was by no means the first to use the progression found within the piece, but its popularity makes it difficult to not instantly associate the progression with the Canon. Even if Pachelbel had invented this progression, Canon in D’s age puts it well within the rights of public domain. Even though there’s nothing legally wrong with borrowing a bit from Pachelbel, it’s hard to ignore the more obvious iterations of the song. “Memories” by Maroon 5, which got more than its fair share of radio play in 2019, borrows not just the chord progression, but snippets of the melody of the Canon.

What’s beautiful about all of the pieces that share a chord progression with Pachelbel’s Canon in D is that each has its own narrative. Vampire Weekend pays homage to Souls of Mischief with their song “Step”, Tessa Violet sings of her crush in “Bad Ideas”, and Aerosmith wrote their famed rock ballad “Cryin’” using variations on the same chord progression. Pachelbel’s Canon in D lives in each and more if you listen for it, and will continue to make its appearance in songs as long as music is made.

• Jessica Gwardschaladse (Criminal Justice)

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Songs about driving are all around us. Conduct a quick search on your music streaming service of choice and you’ll encounter hundreds, if not thousands, of songs with the word “drive” in the title. Take, for example, songs like “Drive” by Halsey, “Drive” by Oh Wonder, “Drive By” by Train, and “Shut Up And Drive” by Rihanna. Driving imagery is also present in songs that reference driving, like “Crash My Car” by COIN, “Life is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts, and “Tokyo Drifting” by Glass Animals and Denzel Curry. It’s clearly an extremely pervasive theme in music, which raises the question: why are there so many references to an act that may seem so mundane to many?

Perhaps the answer to this question lies in the qualities of the act of driving itself. It can be reckless and dangerous, like the type of driving you see in Formula 1 car racing or movies like the Fast and Furious franchise. Given that these qualities are evident in songs like “Ride Out” by Kid Ink from Furious 7 or the aforementioned “Shut Up And Drive,” it seems audiences often have an innate fascination with a perceived sense of danger. On the other hand, driving can be a relaxing experience – one where the drive symbolizes a journey of life that the listener is experiencing. “Life is a Highway” is about taking what life gives you, while “Jesus Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood is about resting one’s life and faith in the hands of a higher power. “Vroom Vroom” by Charli XCX is simply about having a good time and living the life you want to live. The metaphor can even be used to narrate a specific situation or the status of a relationship. In “Drive” by Miley Cyrus, she describes a relationship she was trying to move on from, yet was unable to. “Sunday Drive” by Brett Eldredge is about finding meaning in your everyday life, and “When We Drive” by Death Cab for Cutie describes remembering a person when you drive because of your shared memories of driving together. Driving is imagery that, no pun intended, acts as a vehicle for the artist’s message. It’s a versatile tool that can be used to describe a variety of experiences, all depending on how the musician chooses to characterize the act of driving and the emotions tied to it. The use of the metaphor can also vary depending on genre, evident in the way that different artists choose to utilize the metaphor to reflect recurring situations and themes in the genres.

Most recently, the world of popular culture has been swept up in the phenomenon created by “drivers license,” a newly released

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single from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actress Olivia Rodrigo. It’s a song that uses the imagery of driving to show the singer’s emotions surrounding a particular heartbreak. However, “drivers license” does more than just make listeners vicariously experience heartbreak; it’s also an example of how driving is such a uniquely unifying experience for listeners, specifically those in the United States.

Getting one’s driver’s license at the age of 16 is an important milestone for many because it signifies the first stage of independent life. This milestone is uniquely American, though. Driving for the first time is often tied to one’s teenage years in America simply because of the legal driving age. It’s particularly meaningful when you no longer have to rely on your parents to drive you places, like to school or friends’ houses.

This important moment in one’s life is also accompanied by the rush of emotions that come with being a teenager. High school is full of drama, stress, and hormones, stirring intense feelings in teens. However, these feelings make for some of the best songs, as they are often so full of raw emotions and describe a time period that everyone experiences in their lives. Even for listeners that grew up in an area that is not conducive to driving, it’s an experience that still feels familiar because of the way it hearkens back to the times of their youth. Perhaps fans’ fascination with songs like Rodrigo’s “drivers license” can be taken as proof of our society’s attachment and nostalgia for youth and the teenage years. It’s also an example of how artists use driving as a metaphor. In addition to its excellent storytelling and vocals, the 17-year-old’s song reflects driving’s ability to bring audiences into specific scenes in order to better understand the emotions of the artist.

While many songs about driving are directly related to high school and teenage years due to the symbolism of newfound independence, it is evident that driving is a relevant theme throughout many songs because of its significance to the larger human experience. Driving is a microcosm of life – by describing the state of one’s drive or experience driving, one can draw parallels to the state of one’s life. Songs about driving may be a small portion of all the songs available to listeners, but their popularity is because driving can easily serve as a storytelling tool to immerse audiences into a variety of different situations.

• Chelsea Henderson (Journalism and ComWmunications)

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global Billboard’s solution is two new charts: the Billboard Global 200 and the Global (Excluding the US) charts. Announced and implemented in September of 2020, these two charts were meant to decentralize the US as the standard for commercial success in the music industry, as the prominence of non-US acts rose over the past few years, specifically with Latin-American artists like Bad Bunny dominating streaming and K-pop acts such as BTS and BLACKPINK generating some of the most dedicated fan bases in pop culture. Billboard has stated that the charts rank songs worldwide by pulling data from over 200 territories. The metrics that determine placement on the charts are the same as those used for the Billboard Hot 100, with the exception of radio/airplay being left out. At surface level, this seems like a long-awaited leveling of the playing field for artists who are based outside of the US, but it isn’t so simple.

First, it is important to note the differences among the relative charts as reported each week. How diverse are these new charts and what discernable differences are apparent when looking at all of them side by side?

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“Number one hit” is a phrase that holds immense weight in both pop culture and the music industry, yet remains relatively undefined.

Oftentimes, “number one hits” are identified as songs that have topped the Billboard charts, specifically the Hot 100. Since its inception in 1955, it has become the highest revered reporting system of success within the recorded music industry. The metrics used to evaluate commercial performance have changed over the course of the music industry, with digitization of the industry leading Billboard to shift its focus from things like jukebox plays to on-demand online streams. What we have today is a standardized system that ranks songs based on their combined performance of digital and physical sales, airplay (radio) and online streams. However, only recently has Billboard’s reporting system evolved to capture the most significant development of the modern music industry: globalization.

How does an internationally recognized organization account for the fact that it no longer focuses purely on domestic content, so much in fact that it has international acts breaking records and turning the whole industry on its head?

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Acknowledging the differences in appearance of these charts over their first few months is simple enough, but to gain a deeper understanding of their efficacy, their means for accumulating data should be evaluated as well. It is obvious enough that it makes sense for the Hot 100 to be drawing data that refers to online streaming, airplay and sales of music. These are all very common and accessible forms of consumption within the United States. However, music is not accessed the same way across the globe. Because of the lack of standardization in radio across the globe, the charts exclude airplay from their metrics which alters the relative weights of the other two metrics, sales and streaming. This is significant because airplay is often the driving force behind the performances of many songs that find success on the Hot 100, so until there is a reliable way to extract airplay data from the 200+ territories surveyed for these global charts, that discrepancy in their reporting will remain.

Additionally, not all countries implement the laws of intellectual property and copyright as strictly (if at all), which guides consumption to take place outside of the easily acquired metrics that the Hot 100 utilizes. What could be known as piracy is actually quite a prominent form of music consumption in territories like Ecuador, where the licensing statutes that guide public performance (including airplay) and sales in the US are simply not in place and have not been favorably perceived when presented. Evidence of this is shown by an organization called IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), which reports information on the global recorded music industry and works to drive its commercial value. The organization released a 2019 report that revealed a staggering presence of piracy in the consumption of their surveyed audience. 27% of those surveyed had used copyright infringement to access music within the past month and 23% self-reported that they use stream ripping to consume music. This is the practice of creating music files that are available for playback by ripping the content from an available streaming service online.

Designer: Hannah Jean Ahn (Business Administraion and Design)

In its first week of reporting on the Global 200, Billboard proudly announced the presence of artists from over 30 international territories (including Kosovo and Argentina), although its first chart topper was an effort from two US-based artists, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP.” Notably, since their reporting, the charts have shown a clear domination of Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez’s “DÁKITI,” which has spent 5 separate weeks on the Global (Excluding the US) chart. The same track has only cracked the top 5 of the Hot 100 once, perpetuating the unfortunate, but not entirely shocking, statistic that an exclusively Spanish-speaking track that has yet to top the Hot 100 (Billboard has expressed hopes that this will no longer ring true after 2021 in an article released at the top of the year). Other artists who are getting some Top Ten attention as a result of the introduction of these new charts include Colombian acts Karol G and Maluma as well as Japanese acts YOASOBI and LiSA. When the consumption of music is recontextualized, as the purpose of these new charts seeks to accomplish, consumers are able to see that the aggregate consumption of music across the globe is much more diverse than the charts would otherwise have reported to us in previous years.

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Where copyright is not a looming threat, these forms of consumption are, in fact, very common and go completely under the radar, evading the wide net of data pulling that companies like Nielsen and MRC do to obtain numbers that the Billboard charts eventually reflect.

Furthermore, VPNs, which secure and privatize internet connection, are becoming increasingly common and allow for users in the US to disguise their origin as that of another global territory. Certain criticisms of the Billboard global charts highlight the probability of them being hijacked by stan groups who can continually stream music on privatized, remote servers. This would alter the chart data even more because of these charts’ concentrated focus on streams and sales in the wake of airplay’s removal from their determining metrics.

The new charts introduced by Billboard in the final quarter of 2020 do bring an exciting new opportunity for artists across the globe to snag a number one song. While they do not account for the various forms of consumption that occur outside of the US when gathering data for their reporting, they do create space for non-English speaking acts to get their due credit for their popularity, especially when the US is no longer the central surveyed territory. Within the first calendar year of their debuts, the Global 200 and Global (Excluding the US) charts have proven to be refreshingly diverse, even with their shortcomings in reporting that are sure to be ironed out as best as possible over the coming years. As these emergences allow the charts to become increasingly more reflective of the listening public’s diversity, it is still important to realize the progress that the Hot 100 has yet to make. An exclusively Spanish track topping the Hot 100 can happen first, but the other respective charts are proving that there is a great amount of representation that has yet to manifest itself on the Hot 100 and, hopefully, it isn’t too long before those are chipped away at, too.

• Drew Quercio (Music Industry)

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 Local Talent

Myia Thornton Tastemakers Magazine (TMM): Your most recent release is titled Myia’s Jaunt 1.0. What does Jaunt mean to you and what influences did it have on the creation of your record?

Myia Thornton (MT): It originally wasn’t supposed to be called Myia’s Jaunt at all. I knew I wanted to call it something specific to me and it was going to be called something like “Myia’s Take” which felt kinda cheesy. My friend, Alec Winters and I have worked on music together ever since we met freshman year. We would send files back and forth and we started calling it “Myia’s Joint” but we had too many versions so it would be like Myia’s Joint 3,000. So I was like “Why don’t I call it Myia’s Jaunt?” Also being from Virginia, we said that word a lot. It’s just another way to say “joint” or “place” so I spelled it how I say it.

TMM: Do you have a favorite track from the record?

MT: It changes a lot. I think my favorite right now is “Go Far” because it still means so much to me. I had just graduated from Berklee and the song is inspiring to me to go far during this transitional period. Or to be successful in whatever way I define that. It talks a lot about manifesting and having faith in your dreams.

TMM: One of my favorite parts of the record is “Voice Memo (Halfcrazy Verse).” It’s very distant on the record in terms of length and overall recording style. Can you talk about the placement of that track on your record?

MT: The reason I put second to last on the album was because before that, I had been focusing on other people. Like no, I need to focus on myself. I put it right before “Go Far” as an interlude to break the theme I had at the beginning of the album – of being there for other people and sending love to them. It was me giving myself to other people. And I was like, hold up! I need to focus on me. I need to give a fuck about me.

TMM: I listened to an interview where you said you have to be encouraged by others not discouraged. Who are some producers or artists that you feel encouraged by?

MT: I’m always going to say Missy Elliott. Even lately, she’s been posting empowering and motivational quotes and I’m like “Yes! I needed that.”

Teyana Taylor, Nikki Minaj. I try to stay encouraged by the people around me. When I said that I was talking a lot about people within your own network. Let what people are doing inspire you and motivate you to create, rather than be discouraged by. I never want someone to look at me and get discouraged, like I’m not perfect. I’m not always motivated or inspired. It’s easier said than done but I’m gonna manifest.

TMM: You attended Berklee College of Music and graduated recently.

Who have been some of your favorite local producers/artists to collaborate with in Boston and why?

MT: Definitely Zora. They’re a really dope producer and artist. It was really fun to work with them because we are friends. I really think you should collaborate with people you know and like. I feel like we’re on the same wave, even though they produce the weirdest shit. I love it. We have a song called “Run It Up,” and they sent me this crazy beat. It was challenging but so fun. Also Clemlo. He was the

first person at Berklee that really helped me find my voice. I felt like my rapping voice was manly and he was like “No, do your thing. You have a powerful voice, use it!” He’s really dope.

TMM: You also have an ebook that you wrote called “Starting From Scratch.” What made you want to write that?

MT: Alec (Winters) has a business called Chord Academy, which is an online course for learning piano. He suggested I start something similar for production, so I wrote a book to see what I knew. There’s so much I wish I knew when I was starting out and I felt like it was important to share. I feel like I don’t see enough women on Youtube and it’s like we need some representation! So if I have to be one of them, I’m okay with that.

TMM: Have you felt creative blocks in the pandemic? If so, how have you combated them?

MT: At the beginning I didn’t because I made Myia’s Jaunt 1.0. When it was my own music it was fine, but I felt blocks when it came to other artists.

The way I combat it was to force myself to do it anyways. If I just sit at my desk and wait for a minute in stillness. I know that sounds weird but my creativity comes from my stillness. My mom always says this about “the divine download” that things just come to you but it’s true.

TMM: What are some things you’re grateful for about the Boston music scene? What changes would you like to see?

MT: I’m really grateful for all the opportunities I had. Berklee specifically had a lot of Auditions which were really helpful. I’m grateful for the community of artists I was around in Boston. I’m so grateful I have that network of people I can work with that are talent. Especially since I’m away from it now, I feel really grateful to have gone there. In terms of change, our motto at Berklee is “To be rather than to seem to be,” and I don’t think we follow that. I would love for us to be more authentic. We pretend like everyone has it together but we’re all here doing the same thing. We’re all trying to get into the same industry so we need to help and support each other more. Just to appreciate people as they are within our community – that’s something that needs to change.

TMM: You mixed, wrote, produced and mastered your first EP Mood 4 the Moment, all from your bedroom in 2018, which sounds very covid-style.

What gravitated you towards becoming a jack of all trades, especially when it comes to your music?

MT: If I’m being honest, I couldn’t trust people at first and couldn’t even trust myself! I was scared to give my first EP to someone else because I was like “Is this even good?” But for the most recent album, I wanted someone else to mix it and felt like they weren’t excited about it the way I was. It just wasn’t sounding how I wanted it. It’s really cool to do everything yourself but I also like having another set of ears on the project. Myia’s Juant 1.0 was actually mastered by Alexander Wright – no pun intended but he got me right. He was on top of everything and was excited about it, and that was important to me.

TMM: What was your favorite venue or space you’ve performed at in Boston and Why? MT: My favorite was the Agganis Arena. I performed my Junior year for the Berklee commencement concert and Missy Elliott was there. The rehearsals before it were so dope. The show went so well, I was genuinely surprised with myself. But in that moment, I was like I have to do this shit!

Like I performed in front of Missy and didn’t choke. I was so proud.

• Maya Lucia (Communication Studies, Media and Screen Studies)

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Editorial Spring 2021

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What do The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, What’s New Scooby Doo, The Sopranos, and Shrek have in common? On paper, seemingly nothing. Some of these works are television series, some are films, some are animated, and some have live actors. Yet these varying works of visual media, like so many others, all utilize songs as a tool to enhance their production. Whether music takes place in the opening of a work, during its credits, or is played in its cinematic universe by characters, there’s no doubt that it can leave a lasting impact on the viewer. For some, songs used in television or film may prompt memories. Others may find new music through visual media, associating a song with a favorable scene or moment. Or, a viewer

might simply know a song to be an easily recognizable television theme. Regardless of the song’s meaning to the viewer, and even whether it has positive or negative associations, a universal truth prevails: when visual media with music is consumed, a musician profits. This is the driving purpose for so many artists to enter the wonderful world of sync licensing.

Sync Licensing (Music Synchronization Licensing) is a legal agreement that allows the synchronization of copyrighted music to any other type of content. Without this type of license, there’s no possible way viewers would be able to hear the sweet serenade of “All Star” by Smash Mouth over Shrek’s opening credits, or Simple Plan’s punky rendition of the What’s New Scooby Doo theme before each episode of the show. Though there are examples in the world of television where music usage does not need a license (such as unexpectedly during a live show), any sort of media that is rebroadcast on the air will ultimately require one. Like all music licenses, sync licenses are comprised of two parts: recording master rights and composition rights. In order to actually sync a song with a visual, both a synchronization license (composition and lyrics) and master use license (sound recording) must be acquired by the party who wishes to use the song. If the music supervisor working on Shrek had forgotten to obtain one of these licenses from Smash Mouth, you would either be hearing a spoken word performance of “All Star” or an instrumental recording by a Smash Mouth cover band rather than the version everyone knows and loves.

Though the world of licensing is anything but glamorous, the potential lucrative nature of these licenses to artists certainly is.

All licenses, whether they’re sync licenses, mechanical licenses, or public performance licenses, mean royalties in addition to an upfront payment. Sync licenses are the only kind of license where both the songwriter and publisher get equal splits. For comparison, artist royalties from Spotify and other digital service providers are up to 16 times less than royalties distributed to the respective record label.

With sync licensing’s payout ratio, depending on the popularity of the visual media in question, the royalty payouts could be huge, especially for independent artists who own 100% of their work.

Imagine you’re an up and coming artist who, out of thousands of potential interests, was chosen by a music supervisor to be featured in an Apple commercial that ended up being played hundreds of times a day. This is the story of Jet, who may be better known by their song “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” than their band name. But maybe this

doesn’t align with your morals as an artist, and you’d rather stay out of corporate America. Perhaps you’re simply a fan of HBO shows.

Good news: the music supervisor working on The Sopranos just picked your hip pseudo-techno mashup to be the theme for the series. This is the story of Alabama 3, another artist who the average person probably doesn’t recognize, but whose music was featured in a show that ended up being a prevailing cultural phenomenon. Though not every sync deal is a groundbreaking success like the two above, even a mildly impactful placement could provide a steady stream of passive income for a musician. At the very least, a placement in any visual media, whether it’s an indie video game or a summer blockbuster, will provide a level of exposure for the artist that could jumpstart or maintain their career.

Everyone with some pop culture awareness has heard of The Fast and the Furious series, but not everyone has heard of the Japanese rap group Teriyaki Boyz. However, their song “Tokyo Drift,” which was featured in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift has over 100

million plays on Spotify, just a small fraction of the success and steady income stream this group had following the film’s immediate release. Though Teriyaki Boyz are inactive today, the success they enjoyed in 2006 continues to benefit them. While sync license deals for video games and commercials tend to be more short lived, movies and television shows can maintain cultural relevance for years. And this is why all aspiring artists, whether completely independent, signed to a label, or just beginning to be managed, should seek out sync deals. Sync royalties are more fruitful than mechanical licenses by design, can provide huge levels of exposure, and overall create a more diversified income portfolio. Music supervisors are drawn to artists of all calibers, their main goal being to curate a playlist that fits the mood of the visual media in question. The lucky artist who coincidentally fits into that mood will enjoy the success that follows.

• Hannah Lowicki (Marketing)

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Editorial

Highlights from

The Umbrella Academy Soundtrack

Spring 2021

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Chances are you haven’t heard of Steve Blackman, but you’ve definitely seen his work. Known as a writer and producer for shows like Bones and Fargo, he made his debut as a showrunner for The Umbrella Academy, where he gives new life to popular songs from previous decades.

The Umbrella Academy includes scenes from multiple different eras as its characters travel through time to save the world. Therefore, it’s only fitting that the soundtrack of the show includes songs both from and reminiscent of past times. While the show needs to be seen in its entirety in order to get the full impact of its soundtrack, there are a few musical highlights from each season that warrant discussion.

Season One In season one, character Five is introduced as the show’s key time traveler. His abilities to travel through time are first displayed following a disagreement with his father, after which Five ignores his father’s instructions to avoid time travel until it can be done safely.

The steady beat of “Run Boy Run” by Woodkid plays in the background as Five travels through time with rage and confidence, only to get lost in the post-apocalyptic future. The song serves to provide an eerie warning for Five, as the lyrics suggest to him that “[he’ll] be a man boy, but for now it’s time to run.” This song is an unexpected but fitting choice to convey the seriousness of the situation Five is about to encounter as he approaches the grim future. And as this song shares a title with the episode itself, “Run Boy Run” sets a precedent for the rest of the soundtrack of the show: the soundtrack is meant to be taken seriously and not overlooked.

Season Two Season two’s soundtrack starts with a song said by Blackman to be one of his favorite song choices for the show. As the scene is set involving the U.S. in nuclear war with the Soviet Union, the calm jingle of “My Way” by Frank Sinatra’s introductory chords coincides with a missile being released in slow motion into the air. And while this scenario probably isn’t what Sinatra had in mind when he sang this song, the lyrics are surprisingly fitting for the situation. As Sinatra sings “and now the end is near,” this certainly appears to be true, as the world is seconds away from nuclear meltdown. This song also helps the episode set up the rest of the season, with Sinatra’s calming voice leaving the audience eagerly awaiting what happens next. This scene then ends synchronously with the conclusion of the song, and the fading strings and trumpets play in the background as the world goes up in flames.

Designer: Laura Mattingly (Communication and Design)

If you’re familiar with the show, you’ll know that it’s littered with gracefully choreographed fight scenes. As expected, the show’s soundtrack largely contributes to the reason why these scenes are so enthralling to watch. Also in the second episode of the first season, the audience has reason to be excited, as the first fight scene of the show is featured. The sneaky crescendo of “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen signals the fight to come, with bullets beginning to fire along with the introduction of the music. “Don’t Stop Me Now” provides an upbeat backdrop to the fight, straying the focus away from the gory aspects of the struggle and adding a more comical element. The song provides an almost musical-like element, making the scene seem more like an elegant dance than just people trying to kill each other.

The final song to be highlighted from season one is sung by none other than Gerard Way himself, who also wrote the comic books that this series is based on. Although the song “Happy Together” was originally a hit released in 1967 by The Turtles, it’s refreshing to hear it in Gerard Way’s version featuring Ray Toro. This song is played after yet another exhausting fight scene involving some of the show’s main characters. After this fight, no one manages to gain the upper hand, resulting in everyone just trying to run away from each other and buy time. The song adds irony to the scene, as the characters are certainly not happy to be together in this moment. However, it may provide the audience a laugh or two to hear such a lively song in the background of such a tense and anticlimactic scene.

An admirable aspect of the show is the emphasis it puts on different historical events and eras during the 1900s, and one it specifically highlights is the cult era of the 1960s. If you’ve ever heard of the Manson Family saga, you know what this is all about. As the characters of the show have now landed in the 1960s, one character in particular, Klaus, manages to become the head of a cult. The song “Sunny” by Boney M. plays in the background of a montage in episode three that shows Klaus coming to lead this cult. While the happy melody of “Sunny” may not be what one expects to accompany such a scene, this cult is far from the violent reputation that the Manson Family has ingrained into the connotation of such groups. Hence, the song comfortably suits the more flowery and spiritual atmosphere of this particular cult. In leading this cult, Klaus is at his prime as he gains popularity and a following that he has never had before.

Therefore, this song is definitely fitting for the bright, saturated frames of the montage, and when the lyrics ring “I feel ten feet tall,” Klaus certainly does.

To end the highlights from season two, yet another fight scene needs to be called to attention. “I Was Made for Loving You” by Kiss plays during a key fight scene in the fourth episode of the second season. This scene is a turning point in the show, as new enemies are revealed among friends. The romantic lyrics of the song play to a budding romance between two characters: Diego and Lila.

Unfortunately, Diego realizes during this fight that Lila is actually working for the enemy. Perhaps the song’s lyrics hint to Lila’s true feelings: she really was made for loving Diego, and has to choose between her feelings and the job she was commissioned to do.

Nevertheless, the rhythm of the song adds another musical-like scene to the show, as the choreography is in sync with the song’s pulsing beat. There’s tension in the air, and this song serves to portray it.

The reason The Umbrella Academy’s soundtrack is so impressive is because each song helps the audience understand the tone of the scene and the mood of the characters in that moment. While the songs mentioned above provide only a few tastes of the show’s full soundtrack, the highlighted songs do justice in providing a glimpse into the soundtrack’s mastery. These songs add irony, humor and feeling to the show’s most iconic scenes, and the show wouldn’t have been the same without this music accompanying the production.

Because of the diversity of the sound, anyone can listen and enjoy this soundtrack, and it’s refreshing to see a show with as much focus on the soundtrack as the other details of the show.

• Amy Oh (Finance and Psychology)

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Spring 2021

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Editorial

Disney

Love Triangles in Music

“However, the bottom line is the music that results from these love triangles. By pushing these narratives along with whatever music is released, Disney and other large corporations profit directly from the drama. “

As if in response to Rodrigo’s single, both Bassett and Carpenter came out with their own songs regarding the issue within weeks of “driver’s license.” Although it is a mystery how the actors were able to perfectly write and produce rebuttals to Rodrigo’s song with so much haste, neither got as much traction, yet all the fans of “drivers license” were obligated to listen in order to see the love triangle from all three points of view. However dramatic and exciting the Rodrigo-BassettCarpenter love triangle may be, behind it all is a big check for Disney.

Although Disney is not behind any of the young stars’ record deals, all the publicity from the drama benefits Disney’s views for HSMTMTS, as well as other songs produced by Disney such as Rodrigo’s “All I Want” that gained virality in 2020.

This is not the first time Disney has marketed music through co-star love triangles in order to profit. In fact, it has happened countless times in the Disney universe with other drama-sparking songs, similar to the nature of “driver’s license.”

One of the most famous Disney love triangles took place in 2002 between Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff and Aaron Carter. After dating Lizzy Maguire star, Duff, Carter dumped her for Lohan, before eventually getting back with Duff. This sparked a seemingly ongoing feud for the two actresses, who would continuously make the front cover of gossip magazines every time they insulted each other in interviews or appeared at each other’s movie premieres. Their feud resulted in them releasing music alluding to one another, with Duff’s single “Hater” and Lohan’s debut album “Speak.” The Duff versus Lohan drama was incredibly popular, which helped increase their album streams and purchases.

Another example of Disney’s long list of love triangles is the feud between Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus and Nick Jonas that also hashed itself out within the music that they released. According to J-14’s timeline of the quarrel, the drama started in 2006 when Jonas and Cyrus started dating. After two years, they split and Jonas quickly got together with Gomez. This was the start of a very long rivalry, which peaked during the song “Wouldn’t Change A Thing” that the three had to sing together. The tension and drama associated with the song encouraged many listeners to tune in, despite the lyrics not pertaining to the feud.

These feuds compared with Rodrigo’s single offer a lot of similarities. It seems as if every feud between two actresses starts with an actor who behaves poorly, sometimes even cheating, and leaves one for another. In almost every situation, it produces heartbreak and anger for both parties, leading to drama that fans are quick to follow and absorb. However, the bottom line is the music that results from these love triangles. By pushing these narratives along with whatever music is released, Disney and other large corporations profit directly from the drama.

Marketing songs through love triangles encourages more streams and attention towards whatever Disney shows or movies include the actors involved, because no one can resist some good old-fashioned celebrity drama. Entire publications exist in order to report these feuds, and those following these actresses, whether it be Rodrigo, Lohan or even Cyrus, will want to listen to their music to understand their stories in relation to the gossip. Even people that aren’t fans of Disney will want to listen if everyone else is talking about it.

The appeal of gossip transcends generations, making it luring to people that aren’t even directly consuming Disney media. Not everyone has watched HSMTMTS, yet “driver’s license” can find its way to audiences through virality in apps like Tiktok, leaving listeners wanting to know the full story behind the lyrics. It is a smart and cunning way to market music and attract viewers, and Disney has done it yet again.

Designer: Norman Zeng (Graphic Design)

Olivia Rodrigo’s new hit single “driver’s license” took less than a week to hit No. 1 on both Apple Music and Spotify charts with over 100 million streams. This led the heartbreak ballad to become one of 2021’s most globally successful songs only a maonth into the new year.

Rodrigo, a 17-year-old actress known for her lead role on Disney’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (HSMTMTS), released the song, which quickly became the soundtrack for TikTok trends and even broke the record for Amazon Music’s biggest first week streaming debut globally. Although Rodrigo sings about heartbreak with great emotion and power, it is not just her singing that led her to record-breaking heights; it is the drama behind the lyrics.

Ever since Rodrigo’s single dropped on January 4, rumors spread like wildfire as to whom the devastating lyrics were about. During the shooting of HSMTMTS, it was speculated by many gossip magazines and Disney fans that Rodrigo and her co-star, Joshua Bassett, were romantically involved, just as their characters are in the show. When “driver’s license” came out, listeners immediately concluded that the lyrics were about Bassett and Rodrigo’s failed relationship.

According to magazines, such as Vanity Fair and Glamour, Rodrigo was three years younger than Bassett, and the two actors separated as Bassett started seeing Disney star, Sabrina Carpenter, who is closer to Bassett’s age. Lyrics in Rodrigo’s song even seem to confirm this theory: “You’re probably with that blonde girl Who always made me doubt She’s so much older than me She’s everything I’m insecure about.”

• Nora Holland (Journalism and English)

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Black Country, New Road For the first time Released February 5, 2021 Label Ninja Tune Genre Alternative/Indie Tasty Tracks “Sunglasses,” “Track X,” “Opus” “I open the lid of my MacBook Pro. I watch pop music videos on YouTube by Kanye West and Miley Cyrus. And I don’t have to search, because the suggestions bar guides me. The suggestions bar knows me better than ever before, and it’s almost like love.

Like the feeling of intense belonging when a barmaid addresses you by name, and you know in some way you have transcended.”

These are the opening lyrics to the unreleased Black Country, New Road song “Algorithm,” a song that does not appear on For the first time, but nonetheless epitomizes singer Isaac Wood’s lyrical idiosyncrasies and the ethos of the album perfectly. It’s easy to call the band what they are: pretentious, privileged, upper-middle class UK kids who spent their formative years listening to Slint and The Fall, but it’s so much harder to describe what a band like Black Country, New Road means to music in 2021. If anything can be said definitively about the group, it’s that Black Country, New Road moves with a purpose, one that always feels a few steps ahead of everyone and a few steps off the beaten path.

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up work than anything in the moment. And perhaps that’s why with the release of For the first time, the lyrics to the previously-released “Athen’s, France” and “Sunglasses” were changed drastically, much to the chagrin of fans. Black Country, New Road’s music feels so unintentional in it’s zeitgeist capturing brilliance. Each idea they share with the world teems with intrigue and inspiration, passion yet prose, but doesn’t veer into the dangerous territory of artistic vision or character. This is to say Black Country, New Road is more than the sum of its parts. However incredible their songs are in a vacuum, the greater context of cultural fatigue, rampant overstimulation, and hopeless yugen informs their works and elevates it to new heights.

Those new heights come in the form of Black Country, New Road’s signature sound, which adds a klezmer influence and punk sensibility to their more traditional post-rock base and song structure. The band builds songs around guitar riffs from Wood and simple drum rhythms that morph into blistering noise with the addition of saxophone, violin, synths, and layers of guitar.

The songs have the energy and chaos of a live performance, which crucially grounds them against Wood’s surrealist, referential lyrics.

In “Sunglasses,” Wood screams to “leave Kanye out of this” and “leave your Sertraline in the cabinet” over dissonant blasts of saxophone. As he goes on to reference the Fonz and chemtrails, it’s easy to get lost in the sardonic nature of the lyrics. There’s an incredulous feeling as you question whether such ridiculous lyrics belong in such a serious song, but simultaneously, there’s a feeling that that’s just life. So much of Gen Z’s consciousness is a product of references. It’s not so much finding poetry in the everyday as it is claiming the everyday is poetry. Our view of mental health is inevitably skewed by the lens of celebrity and the Internet; it’s not really possible to “leave Kanye out of this.” There’s a duality of feeling invincible behind our sunglasses, or really any of our omnipresent defense mechanisms, but hollow and inadequate behind the walls. Wood feels “so ignorant now, with all that I have learnt,” a sentiment that reflects with beautiful simplicity on how hopeless things can feel.

Time moves forward, and there’s nothing more to do than stay ahead of it.

For better or for worse, For the first time feels like a milestone in a new generation of music.

The title is beyond apt in its coy proclamation that this is the start of something. Wood has stated that the album is supposed to be representative of Black Country, New Road’s first 18 months together as a band, and that the band’s next phase and album will tell a different story. It’s all about an honest and genuine portrayal of the group’s growth, as people and as musicians. And behind the metaphors, that honesty is tangible. Black Country, New Road feel like they’re still figuring things out, and they’ve already made such a masterpiece.

Grant Foskett (Computer Science)

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Arlo Park Collapsed in Sunbeams Released January 29, 2021 Label Transgressive Records Genre Neo-Soul/Indie Pop Tasty Tracks “Eugene,” “Too Good,” “Caroline”

Arlo Parks is the pure, comforting friend who everybody needs in their life. “We’re all learning to trust our bodies making peace with our own distortions,” is a line from the opening track, a spoken word poem by the 20-year old London-native’s debut album.

It serves as the thesis of the record, which lives very much within the scope of youthful disillusionment, hopefully optimistic yet bold. In fact, it is Parks’ poetry that bolsters this entire 12-track project so enticingly. She tackles topics like debilitating mental illness (“Black Dog”) and homophobia (the Clairo co-write, “Green Eyes.”) with both pain and dignity. Using eloquent language and delivery, she allows the cutting sentiments of her stories to live respectfully within each track. This strikes a satisfying balance that lends itself to an especially versatile listening experience, changing with the degree to which the listener internalizes each song.

The charm of Collapsed In Sunbeams is this double-edged quality. It is thematically charged with heavy topics, yet constantly soothed by Parks’ tender vocals, which are reminiscent of fellow Brit, Corrine Bailey Rae’s, soft and intimate tone. This gentleness is entrancing and clean when it wants to be, but the harmonic dissonance on the hook of “Caroline,” for example,

showcases that it can be presented in both unexpected and impactful ways. The indie and R&B influences that come together for this project of self-declared “soft songs” feel natural and comfortable, as uniform as they may appear throughout the record (perhaps the most glaring possible criticism). Over these instrumentals, many of the songs read lyrically as storybooks, with new characters introduced in each track and abandoned for the next. In terms of fluidity, this can appear as counterproductive at times because of the way it disconnects the various themes and stories of the album as they are developed. However, the London-native’s ability to move from poetic, flowery prose to matter-of-fact narration keeps the project afloat without getting lost in description, or even worse, dry and uninteresting.

Perhaps the peak of this balance is found in the searing “Eugene,” a track detailing the painful, unrequited love within the queer experience that gracefully weaves between amethyst kisses and holding bags of Taco Bell for a dear friend in emotional crisis.

In the grand scheme of recent releases, Arlo Parks stands out as a frontrunner in both authenticity and originality.

Accompanying each track on Spotify with a short poem and a handful of original visuals, the project is as multidimensional as Parks herself . It expands from one medium to another while maintaining palpable levels of both personality and artistic integrity.

This degree of creative independence is also reflected in the minimal number of songwriters and producers featured on the album, with the most notable collaborator being British powerhouse writer and producer Paul Epworth (“Too Good” and “Portra 400”), whose other credits span from Florence + the Machine to Adele and Rihanna. Unfortunately, it could be within this small circle of creators that the reappearing, almost identical percussive tracks throughout the course of Collapsed in Sunbeams are perpetuated. Nonetheless, Parks rectifies this with her refreshing lyrical character throughout the project by using alluring themes of produce and homey images. As a result, we end up with sweet phrases depicting “apricots and blunts on Peckham Rye” and “dragon fruit and peaches in the wine.” It is through these gentle and warm depictions that listeners

are able to fully conjure the world of Arlo Parks, and after this past year, it is definitely one that is tempting to stay in for a while.

Drew Querico (Music Industry)

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Designer: Jenny Chen (BusinessAdministration and Design)

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RICK MUSIC’S GENTLE GIANT:

RUBIN

There isn’t a corner in the music industry that producer Rick Rubin hasn’t touched. He popularized hip-hop with Run-DMC, launched the Beastie Boys from his dorm room, and revived Johnny Cash’s career. He took Mac Miller under his wing, gave Harry Styles shrooms, and befriended Tyler, the Creator. He’s been a part of so many albums and has aided so many artists that his work with stars like Lana del Rey, Lady Gaga, and Ed Sheeran won’t even make this article. He has 22 Grammy nominations (8 of which he won), two CMAs, and was named as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Whatever you’re expecting Rubin to be, you’re most likely wrong.

Rubin is a gentle giant, a tall and large man, often described as a bear, with a long beard that has been a staple of his since his days at NYU. He’s all about meditation and spirituality. He’s not a big fan of shoes.

And he doesn’t know how to use a soundboard. Well, maybe he does, but he won’t be the one to turn a knob in the studio. That’s not how he sees his job.

Rubin has always been an outsider. As he grew up, he went from being the only punk kid in his high school to one of the only white faces in ‘80s New York City hip-hop and rap. Rubin’s ear guides him; it’s how he ended up in hip-hop clubs, how he knows what a song needs, and how he finds artists that are worth his time. As a student at NYU, one of the first records Rubin produced was “It’s Yours” by T La Rock and Jazzy Jay in 1984, created because he felt no other records at the time captured how DJs sounded in clubs. This was the first time Rubin’s genius peaked through. Throughout his career Rubin’s step never falters, he never second guesses himself based on what’s popular or typical. This is what allows him to excel. And it’s why Russell Simmons, fellow NYU student and brother of Rev Run of Run-DMC, tracked him down after hearing “It’s Yours” and agreed to start Def Jam Records with him.

The Beastie Boys were Def Jam Records’ next release. Still in high school, Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA were all best friends who wound up running in the same scene as Rubin. They hired him to DJ their live shows and he ended up producing their first album Licensed to Ill. The Beastie Boys’ humor drew Rubin to them, as they loved making music

but loved making each other laugh more. They took on frat boy personas to mock the pretentious, oblivious culture. Rubin as producer curated their image and sound. He had them kick out drummer Kate Schellenbach, eased them from punk rock to rap, and pushed them lyrically. Rubin brought in his own love of metal, as seen on “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” and helped them create a raucous party anthem with “Fight for Your Right.” They were three obnoxious white kids and it shouldn’t have worked, but it did. License to Ill sold over 9 million copies and they even toured with Madonna. The Beastie Boys ended up leaving Def Jam soon after over money disputes.

In 1986, hip-hop still wasn’t mainstream and the world didn’t quite get rap yet, but Rubin was about to change that. A staple in his work is his surprising cross-genre covers. Because Rubin fits in nowhere and because he makes all of his decisions based on his ear, he has no hesitation when it comes to combining bands and songs from alien genres. “Walk This Way” by Run-DMC featuring Aerosmith changed the trajectory of the industry. With its iconic guitar riff and Steven Tyler’s fast paced singing already hinging on rapping, the 1975 song was the perfect vehicle to bring hip-hop out of Brooklyn.

Run-DMC was able to easily insert their own lyrics and shift the song from it’s rock sound to be more production based while still keeping it recognizable. The song ended up on the Billboard Hot 100 and even charted in the UK, reviving Aerosmith and starting the popularization of rap.

In 1988 Rubin and Simmons had a falling out over the future of Def Jam, and Rubin headed to Los Angeles where he began to grow his roots in California. Immersing himself in the culture of the state, he started producing for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They worked together from Blood Sugar Sex Magik in 1991 until I’m with You in 2011, Rubin guiding them as they experimented with their sound and process. Their 2006 album Stadium Arcadium won the Grammy for Best Rock Album and of the 16 songs on their Greatest Hits album,

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only two aren’t produced by Rubin. first time we truly saw all of them come together. The first two are his previously mentioned uninfluenced and unwavering dependence on his ear and his repeated strategic use of cross-genre covers. The third is his ability to revive an artist and guide them through their work. The description of Rubin in the intro wasn’t simply for the sake of it. Sure, Rubin is successful because of his innate musical talent, but what has made him the legend he is today is the way he allows artists to find their way. Cash struggled throughout the ‘80s and into the ‘90s. His shows lost their luster and he dealt with addiction, the man in black the world once knew was no longer there. That was until Rubin signed him and helped guide him back on track. Rubin influenced American Recordings, released in 1994, in a way that is different from his work on previous records. On this album he didn’t throw in his heavy metal roots or any references and samples. He used his ear to help Cash find the songs and stories that worked with him at that moment and it won him the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

In 2002 Cash released his cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt,” becoming both Cash and Rubin’s best known work. The thought of Johnny Cash covering a Nine Inch Nails song is absurd and most wouldn’t even give it an initial thought. Thus it is the perfect demonstration of Rubin’s genius. While then 29 year old Trent Reznor singing about hurting himself and the pain he felt is one thing, but a 70 year old Cash who’s seen some of the most extreme ups and downs of life and fame adds a whole new dimension, it’s haunting.

In 2004 Jay Z was coming out of retirement and asked Rubin to help him with a track on The Black Album. Jay Z wanted something that sounded like the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC, like the music he grew up on and which formed him as an artist. “99 Problems”

takes Ice-T’s “I got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one” and runs with it. What’s born is a sonic masterpiece. One of its most notable parts is the way it starts off a capella before throwing you into the 808s and Rubins’ metallic influence. In Fade to Black, the documentary about the creation of the album, we see Rubin suggest this to Jay Z in the studio, Mike D of the Beastie Boys at his side. It’s a moment of greatness caught on tape. “You’re crazy for this one, Rick,” Jay Z ad libs in the song. It was nominated for a Grammy.

In 2006 and 2008 Rubin helped The Chicks and Metallica find their ways again just as he did with Cash. On “Not Ready to Make Nice” The Chicks articulate their hurt and anger after the destruction of their career in 2003 when Natalie Maines told the crowd at a concert that the band did not endorse the Iraq war and that they were ashamed President Bush was from Texas. The single would go on to be the band’s biggest pop hit and win three Grammys. Then in 2008, Rubin helped Metallica find their sound again on Death Magnetic following the release of the documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, where the band confronted their struggles after bassist Jason Newted quit. In both 2007 and 2009 Rubin won the Grammy for Producer of the Year; Non-Classical.

Typical of his wayward approach to genre, Rubin signed North Carolina folk rock band The Avett Brothers, pulling them up to the big leagues. On their first project together, I and Love and You, released in 2009, Rubin helped reform their sound and guided them towards pop while keeping the band true to themselves. It’s another noted theme in Rubin’s career. Just as he helped Run-DMC find their place in the mainstream he did the same with The Avett Brothers. The band’s lyrics are what drew Rubin and listeners to them in the first place, but on his subsequent albums with the band he helped them expand their sound,

turning the Avett Brothers into one of the best touring bands in recent years. So far they have put out five albums together and the collaboration seems to be continuing.

Rubin nowadays is a larger than life figure in the industry. During the 2010s, he produced Adele’s Grammy Album of the year winning 21 and was the one who recommended she cover The Cure’s “Lovesong.”

He worked on Kanye West’s Yeezus and The Life of Pablo, producing hits such as “Bound 2” and “Ultralight Beam.” He’s worked with Eminem, putting samples of the Beastie Boys on “Berzerk.” His studio, ShangriLa, has quickly transformed into a place of legend. In his Rolling Stone profile, Harry Styles stops by to reflect on his time there while recording Fine Line and runs into Brockhampton. On YouTube there are conversations between Rubin and everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Pharrell to Mac Miller, who Rubin tried to help get sober at one point early in his career. And since 2018, he has co-hosted the podcast Broken Record with Malcolm Galdwell and Bruce Headlam interviewing everyone from Nas and the Beastie Boys to Tyler, the Creator and Rex Orange County. Rubin himself is a myth of a man, but if there is one thing that is certain about him, it’s that he was put on this Earth to make music.

• Alex Sumas (Journalism)

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