Politico reports that the music industry is in an uproar about the approval of a new “.music” domain last month by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the nonprofit organization that oversees the Internet addressing system). The fear is that a proliferation of such domain names will facilitate piracy by giving the appearance of legitimacy. For example, www.toriamos.com is the official website for Tori Amos. An unaffiliated entity could register www.toriamos.music, either holding the URL hostage for a big payoff or offering illegal downloads. This is already something of a problem with permutations of .com, .org, .net, etc., but specifically linking the domain name to the category “music” exacerbates the problem.
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Tags: Internet music by Jon O
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On a recent trip to New York, my partner and I visited specific locations referenced in songs by our favorite artists while we listened to the song. The concept of a musical tour of the city made for an intriguing plan. Our first stop was Washington Square Park. In “Garlands,” Tori Amos sings about two lovers meeting up here to go see a Chagall exhibit uptown. The paintings seem to chronicle elements of their love. The song was a bonus track on The Beekeeper. Tori originally considered titling the song “Washington Square.” [Read more →]
This much is indisputable: Prince is one of the greatest musicians alive. His musical output has been prodigious — perhaps too prodigious for his own good. But even putting aside the mediocre songs, his body of hits and his songs that are great despite limited commercial success put him at the top of the heap. And though his years of peak influence may be limited to the crazy 80s (just as the Beatles’ peak influence was limited to the trippy 60s), most artists would kill for a fraction of that kind of influence. 
I’m a huge MeShell Ndegeocello fan. I like all of her albums — something I can’t say about any other artist. But her recent performance covering Prince songs was a bit hit and miss. MeShell is a formidable interpreter of other people’s music. She has recorded phenomenal versions of songs by Fela Kuti, Marvin Gaye, Les McCann, Sonic Youth, and others. On June 16 she performed in Falls Church, Virginia, a range of hits and lesser known gems from Prince. 
