Well that’s it from us for this week. If you’re an AUK supporter your new playlist will be with you at 5pm and it could be you who wins the pair of tickets for the Cambridge Folk Festival this year. My colleague Dean reminded me to point out that today is the first Bandcamp Friday of the year which as it waives its revenue share policy with all proceeds going to the musicians, we urge you to support. As Dean noted, “It’s a great thing given the exploitative practices of Spotify, Apple and other streamers. A.I.-generated “artists” are present on many of Spotify’s charts. “Art,” if you can call it that, being made by algorithms and machine-learning models is getting legitimate, valuable rewards from Spotify. Sienna Rose, an A.I.-generated artist, had three songs in the Spotify Top 50 in January. Apple Music, which is generally considered to be the “better alternative” to Spotify, is not much better. They just purchased a company whose A.I. software uses infrared light to determine speech, emotions, and vital signs based on facial micro-movements.” Urgh.
We leave you this week anyway dear reader with a new protest song from the bard of both Barking and the UK americana scene these days, Billy Bragg. It’s one of a wave of protest songs written in the aftermath of the ICE raids in Minneapolis in recent weeks. Billy wrote of the song: “The murder of Alex Pretti was horrifically shocking. All the more so as we are still reeling from the images of the murder of Renee Good. That these crimes can be committed in broad daylight, on camera and yet no one is held accountable only adds to the injustice. I wrote this song as a tribute to the bravery of the people of Minneapolis. Knowing that these trigger-happy ICE thugs operate in their midst, they are still willing to put themselves in harm’s way to defend their community. Their resistance is an inspiration to us all.”
Take care, don’t forget Palestine and keep fighting those fascists. See you next week.
