The Daily Chord Weekly Recap – Friday, May 4

What is happening today in music? What new artists are emerging? Which companies will thrive in the streaming-based landscape? Who is advancing new ideas? Which lessons of the past are important? These are among the questions that the Daily Chord answers each weekday. Subscribe to the email blast for each new edition.

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Monday, April 30

• Pandora learns the cost of ads, and of subscriptions
  Story from Wired
• In A&R, 'gut vs. data' isn't a binary choice
  Post from Music Business Worldwide
• Music activates regions of the brain spared by Alzheimer's disease
  Post from Science Daily
• Sony Music revenue hits $4 billion as streaming soars
  Post from Variety
• Stagecoach reveals the many niches within country
  Review from LA Times

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Tuesday, May 1

• 'It's a great shot in the arm': Record Store Day 2018 album sales up by a third
  Post from Music Week
• J. Cole clams fifth no. 1 album and biggest week of 2018 with 'KOD'
  Post from Billboard
• Women fighting sexism in jazz have a voice. And now, a code of conduct.
  Story from NY Times
• Women of Color of Time's Up asks the music industry to cut ties with R. Kelly
  Post from The Verge
• The National made a better music festival by going smaller
  Post from The Ringer
• 10 K-Pop artists to watch in 2018
  List from Rolling Stone

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Wednesday, May 2

• Gibson Guitars files for bankruptcy protection
  Story from NPR
• Sony has sold half of its Spotify shares
  Post from Variety
• Thomas Mapfumo, Zimbabwe's lion, roars for his fans
  Story from BBC News
• Resolving discord in indie music payouts
  Post from PYMNTS
• 20 songs you're sleeping on right now
  List from The Fader
• Jabo Starks, drummer for James Brown, dies at 79
  Obituary from NY Times

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Thursday, May 3

• Pirate radio stations explode on YouTube
  Post from NY Times
• Wall Street doesn't like Spotify's first-ever earnings report
  Post from Recode
• Billboard charts change to count paid streams more than free
  Post from Pitchfork
• All 214 artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ranked from best to worst
  List from Vulture
• Lil West is the Delaware loner forging rap's strange future
  Profile from Noisey
• Live Nation acquires Rock In Rio festival
  Post from Variety

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Friday, May 4

• Nathan Hubbard once ran Ticketmaster - now big Silicon Valley names are funding his attempt to build a better version
  Post from Recode
• Jaak hails its first blockchain music rights pilot with rightsholders
  Post from Music Ally
• Liz Phair is not your feminist spokesmodel
  Story from NY Times
• The greatest Scottish indie bands - ranked!
  List from The Guardian
• Pandora shares up 8% after surprise earnings beat
  Post from TechCrunch
• How the Kent State massacre changed music
  Story from Washington Post