Music news
Tracking listing and artwork for Pop Smoke’s posthumous album coming July 3 has been announced. The cover art done by Virgil Abloh was largely slammed by fans after its release and will be reworked.
Jennifer Hudson is Aretha Franklin in the new Respect trailer.
CozyRoom is a spacial audio voice-chat room. It’s like VR, but just for your voice.
TikTok has licensed Prince’s entire catalog of songs.
Sufjan Stevens will release his new solo album, The Ascension in September with a 12-minute song, “America” coming on Friday.
Songs
Washed Out’s new song “Time To Walk Away” comes from the upcoming album Purple Noon.
Kanye West released “Wash Us In The Blood” featuring Travis Scott.
Phoebe Bridgers’ studio version cover of John Prine’s “Summer’s End” is out now.
Q&A with TRASH app founder and CEO Hannah Donovan
(Note from me, Tyler, here: Go download the app and try it if you haven’t yet — it’s fresh and fun.)
How do you quickly describe TRASH app and what it does?
TRASH is a way to share your vibe in video.
Select a clip or a few (shoot with TRASH or another camera app on your phone), hit one button and TRASH will instantly create a video you can tweak because you’re the storyteller!
Share the video out to TRASH and all the usual places. TRASH’s instant video creation allows you to share how you’re feeling in video in the moment – you don’t have to go to the effort of creating a complete “video” in the film sense if you don’t want to. TRASH is the evolution of the “story” format that everyone has taken to in the last couple years.
Non-techy people who try making a video get it right away, and are surprised by how easy it is.
What is the music video initiative? Why pursue the music space?
It’s true that TRASH isn’t specific to any genre. We provide video editing services to all those who need or want to make videos to highlight their craft and musicians certainly fall within that space.
Simply put, TRASH for Artists came from the many requests we received from users who wanted to use their own music in the app. These were requests that I was eager to fulfill as a leader and innovator in the music technology scene with a deep respect for musicians. Not to mention that musicians are being hit particularly hard by recent events and the inability to perform live.
What has the feedback from artists been?
Generally speaking, artists have been very excited about the opportunity to create visuals and promotional content for their music in a way that is quick and lightweight because it allows them to focus more on the thing they love, making music.
They have also expressed interest in the opportunity to share their music with new audiences on TRASH and to invite their existing fanbase to collaborate with them in new ways.
We have already had two artists run video remixing contests on TRASH where they have invited their fans to create visual content using their music including D’LEAU and Tyshaun. D’LEAU commented on his experience: "I love that TRASH allows artists to have a dialogue with fans and listeners by including them in the process of making our music videos. It's a great way to connect and have a visual conversation with our audience." Additional artist testimonials include: “I like is that it's super easy” (OkayCeci), “ I love how much time is saved with TRASH” (BlxckCxsper), and “Trash gives creatives the keys to the castle” (Trace William Cowen). You can see all of the videos that artists are making in our Music Videos channel.
During our initial testing of the TRASH for Artist features we collected feedback from over 70 independent artists to truly understand their needs. Apart from video and content creation, we noted that artists also need help with landing playlist curations, tracking royalties, and accessing quality recording equipment while in quarantine. When touring becomes an option again artists need help with streamlining tour routes that consider fan demographics, cost-effective travel accommodations, and appropriate venues.
How are you and your team doing through the pandemic? Have plans drastically changed?
We were already a remote team, so we were very lucky not to be affected.
Who are you listening to this week?
Ungodly Hour by Chloe x Halle