Last week, an interview with M83 by Consequence went semi-viral after he shared his thoughts on the EDM community and respective DJs who regularly play his 2011 hit “Midnight City” in their sets.
To refresh your memory, he said, “For me, the struggle with being a successful artist with that album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, and especially with that track, ‘Midnight City’, is that all of a sudden, I had this huge EDM following. EDM is probably one of the styles of music that I hate the most. All of a sudden, I have these bro EDM DJs playing my music, and I just can’t even care less. Sometimes I wish that I could erase that fan base but I don’t think it’s possible to do that.”
Yesterday, he shared a follow up on Instagram stories addressing the interview and the backlash he’s been receiving for his words. “I do not hate the EDM community, no!” he says. “I’m forever grateful for the love and support. I’m French and my English sucks so sometimes the journalist has to figure it out… and it often comes up wrong. Apologies for that.”
As part of the community, I appreciate the apology. However, the then doubles down on DJs, “What I do hate though is that community of DJs using my songs without any permission, waving their hands at the crowd and doing nothing but pressing a f****** button. This I truly find disrespectful and gross. […] When you use someone’s music maybe you can ask first, no?”
Part of M83’s hate for DJs playing his music appears to be a gross misunderstanding of how rights management and royalties work. Festivals, venues, even small bars and restaurants pay license fees to organizations like BMI and ASCAP who handle, among other things, performance royalties for artists. By holding these licenses, the original artists get paid for their work. No DJ has to ask to play a song (in the vast majority of circumstances), especially in an establishment or setting that holds one of these licenses.
“If I was a DJ playing in front of a huge audience I would like to ask before doing anything .. I would be too scared to offend artists,” he continues. “But maybe I live in a fantasy world … the story of my life.”
From an outside perspective, it’s hard to believe he doesn’t understand when French DJs like David Guetta, Daft Punk, Madeon, DJ Snake, Kavinsky, even legends like Laurent Garnier, have surely been in his sphere of observation at some point. But we also just don’t know. Hopefully this experience will be an educational moment for him as he tours his new album.
Lil Yachty, Soulja Boy, Ne-Yo and Akon have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for illegally promoting cryptocurrency. The artists were accused of accepting money to tout the crypto asset securities Tronix and BitTorrent without disclosing that they were paid to do so or the amount they received. Other celebrities charged include Jake Paul, Lindsay Lohan, Austin Mahone, and adult film actress Kendra Lust. With the exception of Soulja Boy and Mahone, each agreed to pay more than $400,000 in “disgorgement, interest, and penalties” to settle the charges without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings. Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Lil Yachty, Soulja Boy, Ne-Yo and Akon for comment.
The SEC announced the news alongside charges against cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun and three of his companies—Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. (formerly BitTorrent Inc.)—for the unregistered offer and sale of Tronix and BitTorrent. Sun is charged with violating federal securities laws by orchestrating a scheme to artificially inflate Tronix’s trading volume. Sun then allegedly further induced investors to purchase Tronix and BitTorrent by paying celebrities with large social media followings to promote the company’s offerings while directing them to not disclose their compensation.
In a statement accompanying the announcement of the charges, the director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement said:
While we’re neutral about the technologies at issue, we’re anything but neutral when it comes to investor protection. As alleged in the complaint, Sun and others used an age-old playbook to mislead and harm investors by first offering securities without complying with registration and disclosure requirements and then manipulating the market for those very securities. At the same time, Sun paid celebrities with millions of social media followers to tout the unregistered offerings, while specifically directing that they not disclose their compensation. This is the very conduct that the federal securities laws were designed to protect against regardless of the labels Sun and others used.
Sun purchased BitTorrent Inc., the parent company behind the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol, in 2018. Upon the sale BitTorrent author and company founder Bram Cohen left the company to start his own “green” cryptocurrency Chia.
In 2020, the SEC charged T.I. with promoting fraudulent initial coin offerings in connection with a company called FLiK. In 2018, the commission charged DJ Khaled with failing to disclose payments received for promoting an initial coin offering from a company called Centra Tech.
Twenty-seven years ago this April, a curious Kiwi track jumped to No 1 on the Australian music charts. How Bizarre by OMC (which stands for Ōtara Millionaires Club, made up of frontman Pauly Fuemana and producer Alan Jansson) was the little song that could, eventually taking out No 1 in five countries, topping the US Mainstream Top 40 and reaching No 5 in the UK.
Fuemana’s captivating brand of Pasifika gangster-rap-lounge-lizard swagger was born out of duality: his troubled childhood in Ōtara combined with the vibrancy of 1990s High Street, then the epicentre for Auckland’s youth culture, fashion and music. When How Bizarre became a hit, Fuemana’s life turned into a chaotic collage of international travel, VIP treatment and live appearances spanning UK’s Top of the Pops to Australia’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday. All pretty overwhelming for a 26-year-old who’d never been on a plane until he flew to Sydney to sign his record deal.
Unsurprisingly, the steep ascent to fame and the resulting millions – Fuemana said he had made NZ$5m in royalties from the song by 2007 – lead to creative differences and legal wrangles. Branded a one-hit wonder, Fuemana stepped out of the spotlight in 1998. That same year, the song’s co-writer, Alan Jansson, sued Fuemana for lost royalties. The matter was settled in arbitration.
The pair reunited in 2007 to work on the OMC song 4 All of Us, featuring Lucy Lawless, a year after Fuemana was declared bankrupt. But even then, it was clear he was unwell: he died three years later from respiratory failure resulting from an auto-immune disorder, leaving behind his wife, Kirstine, and their six children.
Today, a new generation of listeners has fallen in love with the track, which has been streamed more than 150m times on Spotify and has generated billions of views on TikTok as an audio meme. More importantly, How Bizarre remains a cultural icon, symbolising New Zealand’s coming of age in the 1990s – the decade where Kiwis realised that anything was possible.
‘They said we couldn’t do it’
Alan Jansson (OMC member, producer): My record label guy back in the day told me I had a better chance of winning the lottery than having a No 1 in America. It drove me nuts. So I set that as a goal.
Simon Grigg (owner of The Box and Cause Célèbre nightclubs in the 90s and Huh! Records): We were told over and over, you can’t do it from New Zealand. I had owned record labels all through the 1980s, it was hard. You’re dealing with the time delay. We were lucky that the internet arrived around the same time, but even then, you still couldn’t send an MP3 file. It was all done on cassette.
Pauly was one of the cool guys around my clubs, Cause Célèbre and The Box. One of the great things about the clubs was the multiculturalism – if you were cool enough, you got in.
Adam Holt (record executive,now head of Universal Records New Zealand): You’ve really got to point to Simon and that early nightclub scene. He came from punk rock and a lot of the boot-boys were Polynesian or Māori. We always saw a multicultural audience. It came into sharp focus at Cause Célèbre and The Box. That was inner-city Auckland at that time, and Pauly came out of that.
Jasmin Chew (backing singer and actor in the music video, now a lawyer): The song was born from the High Street scene, where every cafe, fashion boutique and club was in a one-kilometre radius. High Street was the epicentre of creativity.
Grigg: Because the internet wasn’t around, and because of our geographic isolation, we had a very skewed view of the world. Now, every time Rihanna puts a tweet up, the whole world knows what she’s said. But back then, we saw everything through a strange filter of three-month-old magazines. At The Box we tried so hard to be in-touch; I had a credit card with a record shop in Manchester and I said to the guy, “Every week I want your five hottest records.” He’d send me a box every two weeks – that’s how we managed to stay ahead.
‘He was fearless. He knew he wanted to do things differently’ … Pauly Fuemana. Photograph: Deborah Smith/Simon Grigg/Huh Records
‘Pauly was like a Polynesian Elvis’
Chew: I met Pauly socially at The Box when I was 18. He was so stylish: denim jacket with a leather collar, Johnny Reb boots, cool ethnic shirt. Like a Polynesian Elvis. He was extremely shy and humble, very softly spoken. And so respectful. He was a true star.
Holt: Pauly was so mercurial and so cool. Everyone else was wearing hip-hop gear and there’s Pauly in his plaid jacket. He was also the boldest artistically. He got a bit of shit from his peers – “you’re selling out” – but he was fearless. He knew he wanted to do things differently.
Jansson: There was a bang on the studio door and it was Pauly. “Has your brother Phil sent you to beat me up?” I said. I was quite scared of Pauly on a creative level, not physically. He was just way ahead of anyone and he could think outside the box. He said, “Bro, is it OK if I hang out with you?” He loved being in the studio because it had a big solid door and he felt safe.
He was really artistic too. He wanted to go to Elam [the fine art school], but wanted to do music first. He asked me how long he should give it, and I said, “Give it three years, Pauly. If we don’t have a hit in three years, go to Elam.”
Chew: The world was looking for someone that looked like him, with his style, swagger and voice. Spoken-word, rap – he was way ahead of his time. He was extremely talented and was given the offer of his life. He wasn’t quite sure, but when it blew up, he didn’t look back.
‘I knew we had a huge hit – but how do you turn it into an international hit?’
Grigg: Alan and I have known each other since the early 80s. I thought his Proudcompilation [a hip-hop and R&B compilation showcasing mostly Pasifika talent]was the best thing I’d ever heard. I said to him at the time, “If you’re doing anything else, I want first option.” He told me he was working with a guy who hangs out in my club. It was Pauly.
Simon Grigg and Pauly Fuemana. Photograph: Simon Grigg/Huh Records
Jansson: I was asked to bring over the Proud bands for Australia’s Big Day Out, but the only ones who wanted to sign the contract were Pauly and Sina. We wrote eight songs for the set one night in the studio kitchen; How Bizarre was one of them. I showed Pauly the chords and I strummed it to him: C, G and F. Pauly said, “Wow, that’s cool.” That’s when he came up with, “Every time I look around.” And then he went, “You’re not there,” but I changed it to, “It’s in my face.” We put it all together and worked up the raps. I remember Sina saying she’d never heard anything like it in her life.
When we did the Auckland Big Day Out, the whole rap community got up and walked out, to show they didn’t approve of what we were doing. I was disgusted. When we got to Sydney, there was only about 50 people there. Pauly sang brilliantly and talked to the Samoans in Samoan and the Māori in te reo. They loved him.
There was a guy at the back with a cowboy hat and crocodile skin boots – it was Clinton Walker from Rolling Stone magazine. He kept saying that Pauly was the Marvin Gaye of the Pacific. “Mark my words,” he said. “How Bizarre is going to be huge.” When we left New Zealand no one wanted to know us, but when we got back, there were people waiting for us at the airport! That was because we got the middle two pages of Rolling Stone. That was the beginning of it all, really.
Grigg: Alan started playing me stuff. We knew it had something special and part of it was Pauly’s rap. That nasal talking thing. Not classic hip-hop. Even then, Pauly kept saying, “I’m not a hip-hop artist.” But he also said he wanted to be famous – yeah OK, let’s make the record first! So I gave Alan NZ$5,000 to record some songs. It was a lot of money back then.
Around June 1995, Alan played me a finished version of How Bizarre. It was phenomenal. Pauly came into the room and we hugged. I said, this is going to be massive. That was the moment. I knew we had a huge hit on our hands. But the big question was, how do you turn it into an international hit?
Jansson: I said to Pauly, do you realise if this is No 1 around the world, it should make you about NZ$4m and me about NZ$2.5m? He thought I was crazy. But when that money started coming in, he said, “How did you know, bro?”
Chew: The success of that song is due to a lot of things. Alan Jansson is a genius. He knows how to make a hit. But to have Pauly front it with his unique persona and voice, and with the mariachi, the trumpet, Sina’s vocals. That’s magic.
Cruisin’ down the freeway in the hot, hot sun … Pauly Fuemana. Photograph: Simon Grigg/Huh Records
‘The music video was a seat-of-the-pants thing’
Grigg: For the How Bizarre video, we invited cool kids from the club to come along and six or seven people did. It was a seat-of-the-pants thing, all thrown together at the last moment.
Chew: I remember thinking it was kind of cheesy, but that it could work. It felt really fun but we didn’t know if it was going to go anywhere. I got paid three CDs! We were young and I have no regrets – that’s what you did to support your friends.
Grigg: I knew Adam Holt, who was the head of Polydor in Australia, so got on a plane to play it to him. That was one of the pivotal moments in the whole thing. As Alan and I were driving into Sydney, I said, “This is either going to be a worldwide smash or we’re mad.” Alan said, “We’re not mad.”
Holt: Simon and Alan came into my office. The walls were really thin – when they put the cassette on, it was instant. My boss came straight out of his office and said, “What the hell’s that?” He said right away that it was going to be a top five hit. It was undeniable. Anyone with a pair of ears could have heard that.
Grigg: Adam said, “I give you my word, this will be No 1 in Australia.” And he was good to his word.
Holt: It sounded like nothing you’ve heard before, and it sounded like everything – Spanish Stroll, Herb Alpert, Polynesian rap. Pauly’s delivery was so iconic. The influences were all over its sleeves, but it sounded like nothing else. They’re the songs that break through.
‘A hit in New Zealand used to stay in New Zealand’
‘It was a different world’ … Fuemana, pictured in Paris in 1996. Photograph: Simon Grigg/Huh Records
Grigg: It was overwhelming. Australia was full-on – especially the racism Pauly faced there, it was ugly. But when we got to the UK, it turned into another thing entirely. It just steamrolled. And then America. It was madness. I’d come into my office and there would be piles of faxes, from Polydor offices all over the world, asking for things, issues to deal with. The first album cover had my personal email address on it!
Holt: It was a different world. Records didn’t come out globally at the same time. A hit in New Zealand used to stay in New Zealand. The power of it being a top five hit in Australia made every sit up and take notice.
Chew: Sina and I also did backup vocals for Pauly at the 1996 New Zealand Music awards, when he won single of the year. I travelled in the limo with Pauly, Simon and Sina. Everyone was going crazy on the red carpet. The after party at Cause Célèbre was insane! I think it meant the most to Pauly to have won New Zealand single of the year, even though he’d got all these number ones in other countries. He was so proud.
Six billion shares on TikTok
Grigg: The song’s been used hundreds of times, all over the world – from a phone company ad in Europe, to a biscuit ad in New Zealand. And a lot of films, because every time a film producer tries to think of a song that symbolises the 90s, they think of How Bizarre. Since streaming arrived, it’s always been up there. It’s on loads of playlists and keeps generating money. Then in 2019 the TikTok audio meme came along – there have been 6bn views of that meme.
Chew: I’m shocked at how successful it was. At the time no one knew it was going to blow up like that or be internationally recognised. Nearly 30 years on, people can’t believe I was involved [in it].
Holt: How Bizarre is a cultural icon. As a record exec in New Zealand, it made me realise we can do it. It really energised me and still does to this day. It removed that ceiling of expectation. It’s one of our great moments. So much comes off it – what it did for independent labels, what it did for artists,what it did for culture and multiculturalism.
Grigg: It’s still the biggest hit to come out of New Zealand on a New Zealand-owned record label. I’m very proud of that. They said you couldn’t do it, and we did it.
Caroline Barron is an award-winning author. Her debut novel, Golden Days, set in Auckland in the 1990s, is out now (Affirm Press, A$32.99)
Last week, an interview with M83 by Consequence went semi-viral after he shared his thoughts on the EDM community and respective DJs who regularly play his 2011 hit “Midnight City” in their sets.
To refresh your memory, he said, “For me, the struggle with being a successful artist with that album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, and especially with that track, ‘Midnight City’, is that all of a sudden, I had this huge EDM following. EDM is probably one of the styles of music that I hate the most. All of a sudden, I have these bro EDM DJs playing my music, and I just can’t even care less. Sometimes I wish that I could erase that fan base but I don’t think it’s possible to do that.”
Yesterday, he shared a follow up on Instagram stories addressing the interview and the backlash he’s been receiving for his words. “I do not hate the EDM community, no!” he says. “I’m forever grateful for the love and support. I’m French and my English sucks so sometimes the journalist has to figure it out… and it often comes up wrong. Apologies for that.”
As part of the community, I appreciate the apology. However, the then doubles down on DJs, “What I do hate though is that community of DJs using my songs without any permission, waving their hands at the crowd and doing nothing but pressing a f****** button. This I truly find disrespectful and gross. […] When you use someone’s music maybe you can ask first, no?”
Part of M83’s hate for DJs playing his music appears to be a gross misunderstanding of how rights management and royalties work. Festivals, venues, even small bars and restaurants pay license fees to organizations like BMI and ASCAP who handle, among other things, performance royalties for artists. By holding these licenses, the original artists get paid for their work. No DJ has to ask to play a song (in the vast majority of circumstances), especially in an establishment or setting that holds one of these licenses.
“If I was a DJ playing in front of a huge audience I would like to ask before doing anything .. I would be too scared to offend artists,” he continues. “But maybe I live in a fantasy world … the story of my life.”
From an outside perspective, it’s hard to believe he doesn’t understand when French DJs like David Guetta, Daft Punk, Madeon, DJ Snake, Kavinsky, even legends like Laurent Garnier, have surely been in his sphere of observation at some point. But we also just don’t know. Hopefully this experience will be an educational moment for him as he tours his new album.
An ever-expanding list of 40+ creative organizations, including music, sports, and acting coalitions, have joined the Human Artistry Campaign to promote a list of principles for advancing artificial intelligence within the creative space.
First announced at SXSW in Austin at an event discussing the potential of AI and immersive technology, the Human Artistry Campaign outlined principles advocating best practices for artificial intelligence within the creative space. These principles emphasize transparency and adherence to copyright law and intellectual property.
The core principles that the coalition outlines include that using copyrighted works for training AI requires authorization, licensing, and compliance with all state and federal laws.
“AI developers must ensure any content used for training purposes is approved and licensed from the copyright owner, including content previously used by any pre-trained AIs they may adopt,” the principles read. “AI must not receive exemptions from copyright law or other intellectual property laws and must comply with core principles of fair market competition and compensation. Creating special shortcuts or legal loopholes for AI would harm creative livelihoods, damage creators’ brands, and limit incentives to create and invest in new works.”
“Incredible music originates from individuals,” says NMPA President and CEO David Israelite. “As we face growing AI capabilities, we as an industry are united around the fact that human artistry must be protected by strong copyright law and policy and that AI tools are developed in ways that do not undermine the value of songwriters’ work.”
Several more names now appear on the list of those in support of the Human Artistry Campaign than when the coalition first announced its debut at SXSW. The growing list of organizations now exceeds 45.
Rudolph Isley has sued his brother, Ronald Isley, claiming he improperly registered the trademark for “The Isley Brothers” as a sole individual, excluding him from an asset in a partnership in which they are equal members, documents viewed by Pitchfork confirm. The suit seeks a declaration that the mark “The Isley Brothers” is jointly owned by each brother and an asset in which they “sole and equal members.” Rudolph Isley also asserts that he is “unaware of the degree to which Ronald exploited the Mark, the licenses and/or other transactions that Ronald entered into,” and he seeks a judgement forcing Ronald to account for and pay his 50 percent share of the proceeds he’s collected on the trademark.
When reached by Pitchfork, a representative shared the following statement from Ronald Isley: “This is an unfortunate family matter that will get resolved in litigation.” Pitchfork has also reached out to Rudolph Isley’s attorney, Steven P. Mandell, for comment.
Documents obtained from the United States Patent and Trademark Office show that on November 2, 2021, Ronald Isley applied to register exclusive rights to “The Isley Brothers” trademark for “Visual recordings and audiovisual recordings featuring music and animation” as a sole individual. The USPTO registered the trademark on August 16, 2022.
Rudolph and Ronald Isley co-founded the Isley Brothers with their brother, O’Kelly, in 1954. Rudolph claims that after O’Kelly’s death in 1986 he and Ronald each held 50 percent share of ownership in the group and “The Isley Brothers” trademark. Both parties agree Rudolph retired from performing and recording with the band in 1989. Rudolph asserts in his suit that he “remained active in promoting and managing the Group’s properties,” citing a 2018 publishing deal and a recent sync of “Shout” in a 2023 Super Bowl commercial.
The current lineup of the Isley Brothers includes Ronald and Ernie Isley; they shared a re-work of their 1975 hit “Make Me Say It Again Girl, Pts. 1 & 2,” featuring Beyoncé, in August, and, a year earlier, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform “Friends and Family” with Snoop Dogg. In April 2021, Ronald and Ernie Isley squared off against surviving members of Earth, Wind, & Fire in a Steve Harvey–hosted Easter special Verzuz battle.
In his suit, Rudolph Isley included a letter as evidence written by Navarro W. Gray, an attorney representing his brother Ronald, in response to a letter sent by Rudolph’s attorney Brian D. Caplan. The letter addresses several claims: That Ronald repaid a $2 million loan from Rudolph with his share of a tax credit for the Isley Brothers, LLC; that Ronald did not “set up a separate entity to receive Isley Brothers related revenue” but to do business solely related to his own career; that “fake sites” not affiliated with Ronald Isley are selling unauthorized merch; and that SoundExchange, the rights management firm charged with distributing the Isley Brothers royalties, has always issued payments in equal share and no corrections to royalty payouts need to be made.
The letter also directly disputes Rudolph’s claim that he owns 50 percent of the group’s name and trademark, since “There has always been more than two (2) members in the Isley Brother’s [sic] Group.” It cites the Trademark Act §1, 15 U.S.C. §1051, claiming that the owner of the trademark is the person “who is actually and actively using the mark in commerce during or near the time of registration,” and that Rudolph “has not used the mark in approximately 36 years.”
Last week, an interview with M83 by Consequence went semi-viral after he shared his thoughts on the EDM community and respective DJs who regularly play his 2011 hit “Midnight City” in their sets.
To refresh your memory, he said, “For me, the struggle with being a successful artist with that album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, and especially with that track, ‘Midnight City’, is that all of a sudden, I had this huge EDM following. EDM is probably one of the styles of music that I hate the most. All of a sudden, I have these bro EDM DJs playing my music, and I just can’t even care less. Sometimes I wish that I could erase that fan base but I don’t think it’s possible to do that.”
Yesterday, he shared a follow up on Instagram stories addressing the interview and the backlash he’s been receiving for his words. “I do not hate the EDM community, no!” he says. “I’m forever grateful for the love and support. I’m French and my English sucks so sometimes the journalist has to figure it out… and it often comes up wrong. Apologies for that.”
As part of the community, I appreciate the apology. However, the then doubles down on DJs, “What I do hate though is that community of DJs using my songs without any permission, waving their hands at the crowd and doing nothing but pressing a f****** button. This I truly find disrespectful and gross. […] When you use someone’s music maybe you can ask first, no?”
Part of M83’s hate for DJs playing his music appears to be a gross misunderstanding of how rights management and royalties work. Festivals, venues, even small bars and restaurants pay license fees to organizations like BMI and ASCAP who handle, among other things, performance royalties for artists. By holding these licenses, the original artists get paid for their work. No DJ has to ask to play a song (in the vast majority of circumstances), especially in an establishment or setting that holds one of these licenses.
“If I was a DJ playing in front of a huge audience I would like to ask before doing anything .. I would be too scared to offend artists,” he continues. “But maybe I live in a fantasy world … the story of my life.”
From an outside perspective, it’s hard to believe he doesn’t understand when French DJs like David Guetta, Daft Punk, Madeon, DJ Snake, Kavinsky, even legends like Laurent Garnier, have surely been in his sphere of observation at some point. But we also just don’t know. Hopefully this experience will be an educational moment for him as he tours his new album.
Last week, an interview with M83 by Consequence went semi-viral after he shared his thoughts on the EDM community and respective DJs who regularly play his 2011 hit “Midnight City” in their sets.
To refresh your memory, he said, “For me, the struggle with being a successful artist with that album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, and especially with that track, ‘Midnight City’, is that all of a sudden, I had this huge EDM following. EDM is probably one of the styles of music that I hate the most. All of a sudden, I have these bro EDM DJs playing my music, and I just can’t even care less. Sometimes I wish that I could erase that fan base but I don’t think it’s possible to do that.”
Yesterday, he shared a follow up on Instagram stories addressing the interview and the backlash he’s been receiving for his words. “I do not hate the EDM community, no!” he says. “I’m forever grateful for the love and support. I’m French and my English sucks so sometimes the journalist has to figure it out… and it often comes up wrong. Apologies for that.”
As part of the community, I appreciate the apology. However, the then doubles down on DJs, “What I do hate though is that community of DJs using my songs without any permission, waving their hands at the crowd and doing nothing but pressing a f****** button. This I truly find disrespectful and gross. […] When you use someone’s music maybe you can ask first, no?”
Part of M83’s hate for DJs playing his music appears to be a gross misunderstanding of how rights management and royalties work. Festivals, venues, even small bars and restaurants pay license fees to organizations like BMI and ASCAP who handle, among other things, performance royalties for artists. By holding these licenses, the original artists get paid for their work. No DJ has to ask to play a song (in the vast majority of circumstances), especially in an establishment or setting that holds one of these licenses.
“If I was a DJ playing in front of a huge audience I would like to ask before doing anything .. I would be too scared to offend artists,” he continues. “But maybe I live in a fantasy world … the story of my life.”
From an outside perspective, it’s hard to believe he doesn’t understand when French DJs like David Guetta, Daft Punk, Madeon, DJ Snake, Kavinsky, even legends like Laurent Garnier, have surely been in his sphere of observation at some point. But we also just don’t know. Hopefully this experience will be an educational moment for him as he tours his new album.
Today March 24th, 2023 the bassist & composer Paolo Dinuzzi releases his new album Invisible with GleAM Records
GleAM Records is proud to announce the release of Invisible, the second album by the leader of Italian bassist and composer Paolo Dinuzzi, available on CD and digital download/streaming from 24 March 2023 and distributed by IRD International and Believe Digital.
Invisible is an album that looks at the wide mediterranean musical universe, merging the sense of melos linked to the Apulian origins of the leader with the use of odd meters, probably the result of his 21 years in Germany, during which he had long collaborations with musicians from the Balkans and the Middle East. Fundamental in this sense is the contribution of drummer Riccardo Gambatesa who forms with the leader a rhythm section able to playthe pulse and, at the same time, redefine the perspective through simple and musical use of polyrhythms. Paolo Dinuzzi develops his harmonic vision by combining modal and tonal language in favor of solutions with ambiguous color, but that offer through a particular relationship with the guitar, a wide spectrum of possibilities for improvisations. The tenor saxophonist Sabino Fino and the leader move in a territory in which lyricism is combined with the idiomatic elements of Jazz giving moments from the solid narrative construction. More on a cerebral and post-shorterian ground is the language of guitarist Giancarlo Pirro, in which angular phrasing and rhythmic displacement enrich the album with a darker perspective.
Lil Yachty, Soulja Boy, Ne-Yo and Akon have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for illegally promoting cryptocurrency. The artists were accused of accepting money to tout the crypto asset securities Tronix and BitTorrent without disclosing that they were paid to do so or the amount they received. Other celebrities charged include Jake Paul, Lindsay Lohan, Austin Mahone, and adult film actress Kendra Lust. With the exception of Soulja Boy and Mahone, each agreed to pay more than $400,000 in “disgorgement, interest, and penalties” to settle the charges without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings. Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Lil Yachty, Soulja Boy, Ne-Yo and Akon for comment.
The SEC announced the news alongside charges against cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun and three of his companies—Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. (formerly BitTorrent Inc.)—for the unregistered offer and sale of Tronix and BitTorrent. Sun is charged with violating federal securities laws by orchestrating a scheme to artificially inflate Tronix’s trading volume. Sun then allegedly further induced investors to purchase Tronix and BitTorrent by paying celebrities with large social media followings to promote the company’s offerings while directing them to not disclose their compensation.
In a statement accompanying the announcement of the charges, the director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement said:
While we’re neutral about the technologies at issue, we’re anything but neutral when it comes to investor protection. As alleged in the complaint, Sun and others used an age-old playbook to mislead and harm investors by first offering securities without complying with registration and disclosure requirements and then manipulating the market for those very securities. At the same time, Sun paid celebrities with millions of social media followers to tout the unregistered offerings, while specifically directing that they not disclose their compensation. This is the very conduct that the federal securities laws were designed to protect against regardless of the labels Sun and others used.
Sun purchased BitTorrent Inc., the parent company behind the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol, in 2018. Upon the sale BitTorrent author and company founder Bram Cohen left the company to start his own “green” cryptocurrency Chia.
In 2020, the SEC charged T.I. with promoting fraudulent initial coin offerings in connection with a company called FLiK. In 2018, the commission charged DJ Khaled with failing to disclose payments received for promoting an initial coin offering from a company called Centra Tech.
