Never News: Music To My Ears
Hello hello to one and all. Producer Georgia here with a Friday newsletter for all to enjoy. I'm writing this as the 1997 film Batman & Robin plays in the background. Robin just whined to Batman "sometimes counting on someone else is the only way you'll win." Wise words to live by. Also, did you know that the director, Joel Schumacher, also directed one of my favorite good-bad movies of the aughts, the 2004 adaptation of Phantom of the Opera? Oh, if only we had had his campy genius for more time. Imagine the costumes!!
But lo! Onto the news.
NPR: Livenation is a monopoly. Now, tell me something I don't know
I will admit, when I first saw the result of the suit against Livenation, I felt a surge of petty satisfaction so strong that I was ready to dap up anyone in the near vicinity. In case you haven't seen it yourself, the suit concluded that yes, Livenation – which owns Ticketmaster – is a monopoly that has been overcharging buyers, choking out the competition, and squeezing venues into prioritizing them over any other service. No duh. But now is the question of what comes next. Despite this verdict, the suit isn't actually over; it's not clear yet where liability lies, nor the responsibility for damages. And chances are LiveNation will appeal it all. Now, will this wave a magic wand and return us to a place where arena tickets aren't $500? ...Probably not. At least, not any time soon. But still, I appreciated the brief moment to be able to yell "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT." A single dose of, even temporary, accountability and potential consequence does feel good.
CROSS PROMO: Mothership has it all!!
Something tells me that you reading this may be a fan of video games – if not a player of them, at least a passive enjoyer of them. I've been both, and I genuinely don't think I can readily find a better place to engage with the world of games – video games, TTRPG's, and beyond – than Mothership. It offers news, reviews, and all kinds of coverage about games from an intersectional perspective. Here's a really interesting piece about a game that simulates what it's like to be unemployed right now with...unnerving accuracy. Liking games is all you need to do in order to be the exact person Mothership is looking for. It's easy to find someone who talks freely about games online. But it's not easy to find a place that does it with so much consideration. And if you like what you read, why not support Mothership by subscribing to them? They, like us, rely on the support of real life individual people to keep the lights on.
SHOW NEWS: Hans has a new podcast!!!
Our beloved Senior Producer Hans Buetow just launched a new podcast, Mattie on the Homefront. It’s a personal project where Hans and his dad read through the letters Hans's great-grandmother wrote to his grandfather while he was in the Army during WWII. It’s about family, place, history, and geneology. With consideration and care, Hans and his dad go through boxes of letters from Mattie, tracing her life in Minnesota during the 1940's. There's so much interesting thought here about the legacies we leave behind, and how your life can leave an imprint on later generations who never knew you when you were alive. So check it out!
AP: Listen to over 10,000 concerts recorded over 5 decades
Finally, I get to offer up something that isn't unrelentingly depressing and is, instead, just one of the coolest things ever. Aadam Jacobs has been recording live shows since the 80's, and has since amassed over 10,000 recordings of artists ranging from Nirvana (1988), to Neutral Milk Hotel (1997), Television (2001), and way, way beyond. I spent a good chunk of an evening paging through the archive, listening to a bunch of indie bands at the peak of their power, when I had been too young to go see them live. I mean, God, there are multiple Belle & Sebastian recordings that range from the 90's to 2015. Most of the recordings are in Chicago, which is doubly sweet for me – it's so amazing to get to listen to a band like Animal Collective play somewhere unimaginably small like the Empty Bottle, or read about a venue that doesn't even exist anymore. It's just amazing, and a great way to spend an afternoon.
And that's all from me today. It's allergy season, so may this be the clearest reminder to start taking Zyrtec every day. Lord knows I need to. Ciao for now.
Here's a favorite from the Aadam Jacobs Collection – Rogue Wave at Schubas Tavern in 2005.