After we rage against Spotify Wrapped and follow up on our previous episodes, Carson unpacks three recent stories related by the theme of AI blowback: a maximally high-effort and human album, an anti-AI revival of Vine, and a platform that might get enshittified by its buyer.(0:00) Intro(4:11) Does Will do year-end lists?(5:57) Canada Music Fund $16 million top-up update(7:42) Side Door correction & updates(11:38) AI blowback?(16:59) Lux by Rosalía(31:34) Jack Dorsey-backed DiVine: bring back Vine?(53:50) Spotify acquires WhoSampled(1:03:41) RecommendationsRecs: Will - listen to Strays by Way Ahead Trio, Carson - listen to What of Our Nature by Haley Heynderickx & Max García ConoverFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
We discuss the story of the Canadian live show platform "where every space is a venue" called Side Door, from the company's founding to its coming end, as announced on Nov. 4.Correction: at about 53 minutes, we say Arlene invested out of Dragon's Den, and we later say that Side Door didn't raise again afterward. Per Simpson's comment on the YouTube version of this episode (Nov. 25), it fell through like many of those DD offers do, but Side Door did raise once more afterward: "Arlene did not actually invest...that's a long story, but just to say Dragon's Den is entertainment first. We did get further investment after this from BDC instead."(0:00) The World Series, the Grey Cup, & JP Saxe sang the anthem(3:28) Side Door Access is winding down on Dec. 31(10:53) Act I: founding to pandemic(32:08) Act II: covid momentum(55:13) Act III: end of the runway(1:04:01) Aftermath & discussion(1:17:59) Outro & recommendationsRecommendations:Will – Check out the New Feeling Co-Op of Canadian music journalistsCarson – listen to Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2 by Chris ThileFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
Carson declines to jinx the Jays. Then it's time to lock in for one of our most theoretical conversations yet, in response to the Never Post podcast episode titled "A.I. and New American Fascism". Will chases it with a Canadian story about the possible non-renewal of a $16 million boost to federal music funding. Correction: at pretty much the very end, I say Universal is the majority shareholder in NTS. They're not; they're merely the largest shareholder.Scheduling note: the next Upsample will drop three weeks from now instead of two.(4:07) Never Post episode overview(14:18) Walter Benjamin(21:13) Sora, OpenAI, and agitslop machines(28:32) Hackers, free marketeers, and their fascist fear-monsters(36:01) A CD with Aura - because you can't see it on the audio pod, it's Brighton Train by Madeleine Elkins (with Will on bass and Kevin Romain on drums) and it's out now!(38:49) How does PragerU fit into this?!(44:56) Activism around the Canada Music Fund and Budget 2025(54:19) Will goes full Ezra(58:24) Recommendations: Will - listen to radio show Self Soothe by Margeaux on NTS, Carson - listen to album Nested in Tangles by Hannah FrancesCanada Music Fund links:Letter/advocacy pageDetails of the fundRoots Music Canada piece by Heather KitchingFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
Madelyn Read (musician, songwriter, and BC Co-Op Association Community Engagement & Education Manager) is our first-ever guest!(01:07) Introducing Madelyn and her work (05:26) VSO musicians strike update (it's over) (10:33) How Madelyn set up her Europe tour in 2024 (21:54) Talking about streaming (26:44) Leaving Spotify(31:14) Madelyn's nuanced disagreement with us(32:45) Madelyn and Will's history at the Ampled co-op(37:26) The Subvert co-op as a Bandcamp competitor(42:29) Madelyn enables Sports Upsample!(45:26) What happened at the end of Ampled(50:23) Co-op considerations for Subvert's future (55:04) Recommendations Links: Madelyn wrote about streaming, on her websiteSubvert: "Q3 Transparency Report"Subvert features updateRecs: Madelyn - listen to Wild and Clear and Blue by I’m With Her, Chandler by Wyatt C. Louis, Good Buddy by Fontine.Carson - listen to Getting Killed by Geese.Will - read Chokepoint Capitalism (2022) by Rebecca Giblin & Cory DoctorowFIND US: MadelynBandcamp: https://madelynread.bandcamp.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madelynread/Will YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/CarsonYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/
Update from later today: VSO musicians have begun their strike. After Will vents about the Canadian Football League controversy, we discuss a potential strike by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) musicians (4:32), purported salary discrepancies (17:52), and we catch a brief response by the VSO in real time while recording (23:22).We jumped the usual schedule to talk about this news, so the next episode of Upsample will drop three weeks from now.VSO musicians' strike announcement videoDaily Hive story which includes response from the VSO1999 CBC story about Toronto and MontrealRecs: Will - watch, listen to, read anything made between 1941 and 1956, inspired by Ted Gioia "Is Mid-20th Century American Culture Getting Erased?"Carson - listen to Bleeds by WednesdayFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
We begin by jinxing the Jays. Then we get into the KARRA story “I invested $100,000 to create my album & Spotify deleted it” & part 2 (2:24), are labels bad if they just use DistroKid? (19:49) and is this gonna make us all leave finally? (35:31) Recs: Carson - listen to God's Gonna Give You a Million Dollars by Shallowater, Will - watch Pablo Torre Finds Out FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
Be careful out there or you'll get yelled at by shirtless dudes in Pontiacs! Will has a music library app now on his desktop, and Carson needs a new website (02:10), Bandcamp launches Clubs (08:38), EVEN is a hip-hop-coded post-Bandcamp platform (25:35), we check out the familiar mission of another challenger called Ampwall (31:12), and some people really hate Stripe (46:19).Bandcamp Clubs: https://bandcamp.com/about_clubsEVEN: https://get.even.biz/Ampwall: https://ampwall.com/Recs: Carson - The Bear season 4, Will - TANG! by Steph WallFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
(0:00) Will LOVES that you don't read his emails(1:52) Subvert turned down $200K and want to launch with no fees(18:15) "AI Music Night" in Texas(27:26) We need skills to make the platform internet suck less(38:28) Which tech move is Will going to make first? (48:19) JP Saxe's tour got canceled(1:05:18) RecommendationsSubvert 0% Platform Fees links: Changelog linkBlog postAI Music Night links: Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio venue in Denton, Texas announces "AI Music Night"Cancels later the same day after viral backlashJP Saxe tour situation links: First videoFollow-up videoVariety coverageSaxe writes to VarietyHis Substack"Why Some Artists are Rethinking Touring" on Chartmetric's blog by Sonia ChienWill's 2022 article about Cadence Weapon's tour lossesRecs: Will - album Different Strokes for Different Folks by Charlie Hunter & Ella Feingold, Carson - album Baby by DijonFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
We have closure on The Velvet Sundown! Then we get into the very creative ticket pricing, or lack thereof, at Bumbershoot in Seattle and the Guelph Jazz Festival in Ontario (11:43), and a Vancouver city council motion that put several of our favourite ideas on the table, but didn't pass (27:42).Recs: Carson - Tyler Childers album Snipe Hunter, Will - Brighde Chaimbeul album SunwiseFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
After clearing the WeTransfer air, we get into subvert.fm, a collectively owned music commerce platform in development. The Subvert team calls the platform a direct alternative to Bandcamp. We discuss the concept of Subvert and who founded it (11:17), Bandcamp controversies: being sold twice and union drama (15:08), Carson vs. Will on enshittification (29:46), Subvert's structure and current status (38:04), and how we feel about it + are we signing up as artists? (49:46)Recs: Will - podcast episode All One Song :: Jeff Parker on “The Needle and the Damage Done” by Aquarium Drunkard, Carson - album Swag by Justin Bieber FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
The story around Daniel Ek's military tech investments has reached a fever pitch, and nothing about it is likely to improve. Is now finally the time to quit using Spotify? We dive into Deerhoof's announcement about pulling their music from Spotify (4:03), our feelings about what to do as an artist (18:30), and what to do as a user (36:57).Recs: Will - Without A Stage: LA's Independent Jazz Scene directed by Michael DiPietro by The Terrarium on YouTube , Carson - Andor season 2FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
We're back from going to festivals! We kick it off in urban affairs with "The Uncertain Future of Granville Island" by Uytae Lee on the YouTube channel About Here (2:23), then swing into AI as Carson shares the Timbaland music training/generating controversy (24:31) and Will gets into The Velvet Sundown, an accelerationist mix of AI-generated everything + bot playlist marketing (47:09).Timbaland links:“Timbaland’s AI music project is a ghost in a misguided machine” by Sheldon Pearce for NPRZarah Scully claims Timbaland trained Suno using her voiceYouTube video: Curtiss King interviews Zarah ScullyVelvet Sundown links:"The Velvet Sundown are a seemingly AI-generated band with 325k Spotify listeners" by Stuart Dredge for Music AllyBenn Jordan’s IG post claiming Velvet Sundown are 100% AI gen. Rick Beato agrees They are supposedly tweetingRecs: Carson - album Tether by Annahstasia, Will - album Gadabout Season by Brandee YoungerFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
We hang at Carson’s house to celebrate 5 years of Will’s music website Rhythm Changes!(0:00) Intro(2:28) The very beginning of RC in the summer of 2020 with 50 email sign-ups, (7:11) “The worst gig of my life” story and reuniting with David Blake, (15:50) Is vancouverjazz dot-com lost forever? (20:04) The curse of always being The Podcast Guy, (23:29) Times that Will touched a nerve with subjects? (28:35) Caity Gyorgy and 'never write alone', (32:59) Why Will didn't cover the scene's most controversial story, (42:38) How the 2021 heatwave, RC’s failed first jazzfest, and Thad Bailey-Mai's set at Ocean Artworks led to Will meeting Tim Reinert before Tim started presenting shows, (54:26) The tech stack at RC, (1:01:10) Why Will replies to over 80% of music submissions, (1:02:31) Why the Infidels Jazz t-shirt is the most meaningful piece of clothing he owns.Recs: Will - album Ce qui tourne dans l’air by l’Oumigmag, Carson - album All Ashore by Punch Brothers We’ll take a short break now and return in July.FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
Shout-out to our friends in The Shorties! We then get into a story called "Why it’s Time to Support Grassroots Venues with a £1 Ticket Levy" by Dan McCarthy in The Quietus (5:09), an out-of-nowhere but relevant reference to the 2015 vote on our local transit authority in Vancouver (21:41), and the video "Why EVERY Artist should be on YouTube" by Jon Talks Beats (26:55).Recs: Will - album Sancocho Trifásico by Empanadas Ilegales, Carson - album Caroline 2 by CarolineFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
After Will admits to giving Meta his money again, we get into a big hairy question: what is the meaning of ‘labour’ we use in the arts (03:14)? Anti-streaming labour activism (14:21), the labour economics of playing gigs and small local shows (21:38), a detour into Vancouver venues closing (32:46), the Cultural Land Trust (38:10), and which things that an artist does are actually labour? (49:41)Recs: Carson - album 2 by Foxwarren, Will - Canadian Football League season opening weekendFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
(0:00) Will has a camera! (3:07) "'A Billion Streams and No Fans': Inside a $10 Million AI Music Fraud Case", by Kate Knibbs of WIRED(17:24) Spotify tracks on the wrong artist profiles (37:59) What happens when the AI-gen floodgates burst?(44:27) Is Will being too naive about AI videos?(52:52) RecommendationsWe reference Search Engine's podcast episode "The Russian Cake Switcheroo" and the Anthony Fantano video "Massive Problem on Spotify" . The music project from the WIRED story is here.Recs: Carson - setting up your own music server at home, Will - Dialectic podcast hosted by Jackson Dahl with guest Alex Danco, start at 59:00 for music scene discussionFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
(0:00) Will dreams of his Brentwood show & advertiser bucks(05:47) Feature on studio owners written by Nathan Caddell in the Georgia Straight(32:12) André 3000's 7 Piano Sketches project(53:50) RecommendationsRecs: Will - Giacomo Turra scandal & Adam Neely "The Ethics of Fake Guitar", Carson - album Under Tangled Silence by DjrumFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
Spotify's favourite metric? We don't love it. We can't even guess our own monthly listener figures! (0:00) Will has the notebook out to plan his jazzfest(2:37) The monthly listener figure on Spotify(47:47) A Rhythm Changes SEO digression(50:34) "What number should we look at instead?"(55:50) RecommendationsRecs: Carson - Blue Prince, Will - 2025 NHL playoffs (Leafs, Oilers, Jets)FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
We discuss a controversial, but relatively tame and annoying online jazz battle: Patrick Bartley’s #BoycottAI vs. JazzMemes' Chase Maddox with the blog post "There's no 'AI' in Art" on AI-generated images. Was 'slop' invented in November 2022, does the fate of art itself hang in the balance, and what else can we do? (0:00) Reacting to our show being out in the world(1:36) Bon Iver(5:55) AI finally lands in the jazz world(10:48) Patrick Bartley & JazzMemes(32:24) Our views on the AI issues(53:54) Recommendations and a big anniversary for CarsonRecs: Carson - album Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes, Will - Venus Theory YouTube video "The Future of Music is Noise"FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.
We’re live! To celebrate, we get into the topic that brought us together for the idea of this podcast in the first place: Liz Pelly’s book Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist.(0:00) We have a name(1:50) Liz Pelly's Mood Machine(1:09:57) RecommendationsRecs: Carson - artist Queralt Lahoz, Will - Land & Lore YouTube channel videos on the Vancouver Stock ExchangeFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.