Robot rock: can big tech pick pop’s next megastar?
Faced with so much new music, major labels are using algorithms to hunt down tomorrow’s hits. Is this great news for rising stars – or the recipe for a bland new future?
On my radar: Anne Enright’s cultural highlights
The Booker prize-winning author on Mare of Easttown, her favourite lockdown park and the fearsome power of folk music
Sony Music buys UK podcast producer Somethin’ Else
Sony Music is latest after Spotify, Amazon and Apple to try to cash in on boom in audio listening
In big tech’s dystopia, cat videos earn millions while real artists beg for tips
Instead of paying musicians properly, the likes of Spotify have set up ‘donation’ buttons – thus passing the buck to fans, says Guardian columnist John Harris
Paul McCartney and Kate Bush lead call for change to music streaming payments
Open letter to Boris Johnson signed by 156 musicians including Led Zeppelin and Annie Lennox aims to reword 1988 Copyright Act
Cash ‘gifts’ and strong-arm tactics: music’s problem with NFTs
Blockchain technology makes non-fungible tokens unique, but uncertainty surrounds how the rights and ownership of songwriters, producers and session musicians apply in sales
The Weeknd donates $1m in food aid to Ethiopia amid ‘senseless’ conflict
Singer also generates $2.2m in sales of NFTs, including one linked to an unreleased song sold for $490,000
Ja Rule sells $122,000 Fyre Festival NFT artwork – with real painting thrown in
Musician joins vogue for unique electronic identifiers and is happy to be rid of art: ‘I just wanted that energy out’
Lou Ottens obituary
Engineer whose invention of the audio tape cassette brought benefits to both listeners and performers
Lou Ottens, inventor of the cassette tape, dies aged 94
Dutch engineer was also instrumental in development of first CD in his work at Philips
Jay-Z sells majority stake in Tidal music streaming service to Jack Dorsey’s Square
$297m deal hands control to Twitter co-founder, with Beyoncé, Madonna, Rihanna and other Tidal co-owners retaining stakes
Kings of Leon to release new album as a non-fungible token
Band will sell a $50 limited-edition deluxe version of When You See Yourself, as well as six special NFTs
Grimes sells digital art collection for $6m
‘Non-fungible tokens’ craze sees musician sell video pieces for $7,500 each at short-notice auction
‘Record companies have me on a dartboard’: the man making millions buying classic hits
Hit songs can be a better investment than gold – and by snapping up the rights, Merck Mercuriadis has become the most disruptive force in music
New Cue the music: former Q editors join newsletter publishing boom
After the Bauer Media music title’s pandemic-triggered demise last July, Q’s former staff are launching a weekly direct-to-inbox publication