Music Mensch Podcast

Ja Rule has plans to start another festival and app, because his last ventures worked so well. Both R. Kelly and Ryan Adams are under fire for new sexual assault allegations. TIK TOK is catching heat after Inida, which makes up 40% of its fan base, believes that the app is adding to 'cultural degradation'. Spotify spends $340 million on new podcasting acquisition, which make them the Doctor Evils of the podcasting world. It's all on this episode of the Music Mensch Podcast! 

Assistant lighting director on Pantera's 'Cowboys From Hell' and 'Vulgar Display Of Power' tours, Dale Bridges, sat down with me in the green room of Cowboys Red River to talk about his experiences.  The stories are great, the sentiments are touching, and the music is metal as hell. Long live Pantera!

Deadmau5 takes to Reddit to vent his frustration about Twitch suspending his account after using a homophobic slur. 'Hate speech' is against their personal policy... But is that the best policy for Americans? Article 13 reaches its final stages and the proposal has changed so much, many large corporations, songwriters, and publishers are wondering whether or not it will have the same affect... Or would it just harm thousands of businesses to same just one?

This week we cover 5 TOPICS!!! Grammy's Fiasco: Ariana Grande pulls out due to a fight with Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich, Cardi B thanks a dead celebrity for sending her flowers (whoops), and Childish Gambino is a sour puss despite the fact he won all the awards he was nominated for. AEG/SMG Merger: Onex cuts a deal with SMG to merge with AEG subsidiary AEG Facilities, creating the new ASM Global. This new venture will own and manage 310 venues worldwide. Kane Brown Lawsuit: Heaven isn't quite like this. Kane Brown blatantly disregards a deal he cut with his past producer Polow da Don of Zone 4 Records and instead continues his unauthorized deal with RCA Nashville, resulting in a lawsuit filed by da Don for all the royalty money he missed out on. Fight Fyre with Fyre: Billy McFarland has been ordered by a New York County Court Judge Joel H. Cohen to pay EHL the $3 million they invested into Fyre Festival, plus the 30% interest they were promised in the contractual agreement. McFarland's net worth sits at a wonderful negative $5 million. New Controversial Michael Jackson Documentary: The Sun Dance Film Festival unveiled a new documentary by Dan Reed that follows the account of two boys (now men) who claimed to have been sexually abused by Michael Jackson when they were kids. How did audiences react? But more importantly, when can you watch it? Bonus: At the end of this episode, catch a small clip of the interview being released Friday with lighting assistant from Pantera's 'Cowboys From Hell' Tour, Dale Bridges. Teaser: He tells a great story about Dimebag Darrell

Maroon 5 gets a big thumbs down for their Super Bowl performance. However, there brings to mind one question: Were you advocating artists to step down in solidarity with Kaepernick? If so, you have no right to complain about the quality of the show. 21 Savage faces deportation, and apparently nobody is allowed to joke about his recently discovered heritage. Demi Lovato learned this the hard way after she was forced to delete her Twitter account. The two candidates for the position of the new Mechanical Licensing Collective get into a bloody battle as the decision continue about who will represent songwriters when it comes to mechanical royalties from digital downloads.

Fyre Fest Fury: The incredibly horrendous tales from Fyre Festival 2017 come back to life in two separate documentaries on Netflix and Hulu, directed by Chris Smith and Jenner Furst/Julia Willoughby Nason respectively.  Incredibly young, successful entrepreneur Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule teamed up in 2017 to host what was to be the hottest luxury music festival at Pablo Escobar’s old Bahamas hangout, Norman’s Cay. Instead what they got was stranded patrons with a third-world-country-like atmosphere surrounding the location. A New (i)Heart Beats: At the turn of 2018, Texas-based radio company iHeart was $20 billion in debt with seemingly no way to turn the situation around. However, after a fourth revision, their Chapter 11 plan was approved by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas that will reduce their debt to $5 billion. Part of their agreement will involve a split with Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, while the current presidents keep their positions in the company. Chris Brown Does More Bad Things: Chris Brown was detained in Paris after he was hit with accusations of rape and drug abuse. Multiple women with whom Brown was attending an after-show part with at a hotel had confirmed that he was locking women into his room at several points in the night and forcing them to have sex with him. 

The culture wages war on itself with the debate of free speech. And you can bet that musicians will be affected.

In this episode, we talk potential candidates for the MMA's Mechanical Licensing Collective, R. Kelly's imploding career due to new sexual assault allegations, and why the Rock HOF gets blasted every year. It's just mayhem out there...

From sound engineers to digital streaming services, the newest copyright law becomes effective Jan. 1, 2021, and it affects all of us.  On this episode, we talk royalties, compulsory licenses, why I hate bar germs, new copyright terms, and how the government plans to regulate the royalties paid to songwriters from digital streaming services. Will the new agency do its job, or will it flop harder than Garth Brook's alter ego? Tune in to find out!

The Music Modernization Act is supposed to be a fair shake for the songwriter. But why are most songwriters skeptical? And why does the bill seem to protect digital streaming services and corporations more than songwriters?

How and why would they do this? Won't they piss someone off? Like me? Also, check out Donald Passman's book "All You Need To Know About The Music Business" here: https://www.mattvanhielmusic.com/store

So... why are top execs at iHeartMedia getting bonuses during a bankruptcy?

As of January 2018, a group of bipartisan senators have been pushing a bill that hopes to create a fair shake for the songwriter. If implemented, this plan will include a new, yet-to-be created agency, a song database, and a blanket licensing reform. But why are musician pushing back? Take a listen!

YouTube changed its terms for monetization "effective immediately" back on February 20th of this year. The new standard: 10,000 total views within the last 12 months and 1k subscribers. Many had to wave bye-bye to their payment. What happens next?

Getting this one out a day after I recorded it, so happy belated motivational Monday! Austin, Texas is on high alert after 3 package bombings occurred only miles from the festival. Be careful out there, music lovers!

Thank you to all who have listened to Season 1! Season 2 starts March 25th, in the meantime let's keep the daily feed going. Today's topic: Why you should never give up and why it's more important to work hard than settle.

In lieu of International Women's Day, Spotify has created a tool that will show you how often you listen to female artist. However, they have also stated this is to "help with biases". Do you think that is a bit of an overreach? Take a listen!

Gibson Guitars is in a tight position as they struggle to pay off half a billion dollars in loans within the next 3 and a half months. What will become of the company? Hit me up with your thoughts!

Don’t let anything or anybody tell you what to do

How do you define selling out? If you think it's just making a business decision like selling your publishing or licensing to other business... sorry, but I think you're wrong. Take a listen!