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Post by Admin on Mar 1, 2023 21:39:51 GMT
Gracie Abrams is ready for the next chapter, but not before taking a long, hard look at herself first. “I think a lot of the songs feel like almost versions of an apology,” the singer-songwriter tells NME of her debut album ‘Good Riddance’ over video call from Los Angeles, sprawled on her front the way you might scribble in your diary or gossip with a friend. “It felt new to me to write from that place, rather than using a song as a place to throw blame and almost point fingers,” she adds. “There was definitely more to the story than just ‘I hate you’. I’m like, ‘Well, I actually hate myself’.” It’s precisely this introspective self-awareness that has established Abrams as one of Gen Z’s most unfiltered storytellers since signing with Interscope in 2019 and releasing her diaristic debut EP ‘Minor’ the next year. Following it up with the beautifully refined ‘This Is What It Feels Like’ in 2021, this project possessed all the trappings of a debut album – from its bare-all storytelling down to the cover art, which depicts the singer laying pensively on a green lawn with the record’s name burnt into the grass. But all these “fragments” didn’t feel like a cohesive work to Abrams, who recalls being too “chaotic internally” to think about a debut. “At that time in my life I was definitely sorting through a lot mentally and emotionally, that I think I needed to do some more work on myself before even having the intention of sitting down and starting something, [and being] interested in seeing it through,” the 23-year-old says. The daughter of film director J.J. Abrams and producer/Time’s Up movement activist Katie McGrath – the latter of whom makes Abrams’ screen momentarily glitch when she calls during our interview – the singer is far more introverted by nature than a Hollywood upbringing might suggest (she recently insisted that she’s tried to keep her parents “separate” from her career). Rather, her wistful, delicate observations on life were penned down into notebooks and shared quietly online long before she had dreams of being a pop star. First retreating to Dessner’s fabled Long Pond studio in a forested area of New York’s Hudson Valley about two years ago – which has most notably hosted Abrams’ musical hero Taylor Swift, who she will support on the ‘Eras’ US tour this year – Abrams found that her most confronting reflections arose in the company of a collaborator who both “respects” her as an artist, and equally pushed her to be the best version of herself. It’s a deeply vulnerable record that feels distantly related to the indie-folk isolationism of Bon Iver’s ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ or the fragile intimacy of Swift’s ‘folklore’. Using simple but stirring beats, earthy acoustic arrangements and lots of “picking and strumming” on guitars which tenderly elevate Abrams’ wispy purr, ‘Good Riddance’ sounds as organic as the natural setting it was recorded in. “I learned through making this album, at least at this point in my life, [about] having real space from the noise,” Abrams says. But after the months of solitude and stillness that nurtured ‘Good Riddance’, Abrams is now preparing to share more of herself than ever before as she looks ahead to a huge year of live shows – both on her own headline tour and as support on 30 dates with Swift. She shakes her head in disbelief when we mention the latter. “The second I found out, I texted [Taylor] like, ‘Dude, what the fuck?’” she laughs, adding that there was also “lots of screaming”. “We’ll see if I survive night one,” she adds, fearing she might “slowly pass away”.
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Post by Admin on Mar 3, 2023 18:00:33 GMT
Scooter Braun is known as the man who brought up musicians like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato. However, along with his successes, he’s also well-known for infamously purchasing Taylor Swift’s catalog of music in 2019. That sparked a highly publicized feud, and it resulted in the mega-star deciding to re-record her first six albums. Now, with Taylor’s Versions in the world, and more on the way as she re-creates her first six eras, the artist made it clear she is livid over Braun’s decision to buy her catalog, and the manager is opening up about how he feels regarding how everything went down. Braun acknowledged the ups and downs of his career, specifically the acquisition of Big Machine Records, the singer’s record label, and Swift’s catalog. While chatting with Bloomberg, he spoke about how he’s tried to grow from the situation, saying: I choose to look at it as like, these moments that you think someone is attacking you or these moments you think are unfair, one you play a role in every one of these moments because you are part of the story. And two, you can choose to be angry, resentful, bitter, and actually become the story in your anger, or you can choose to say thank you for playing a role in my growth and move on. The music industry juggernaut admitted that he would have done things differently while speaking with NPR a few months ago when asked specifically about Swift. He discussed how he was under a strict NDA while that deal was being worked out, and he couldn’t tell any of the artists what was happening. Braun spoke about the conflict with Swift, without specifically mentioning the popstar’s name, saying: I think a lot of things got lost in translation. I think that when you have a conflict with someone it’s very hard to resolve it if you’re not willing to have a conversation. So, the regret I have there is that I made the assumption that everyone, once the deal was done, was going to have a conversation with me, see my intent, see my character and say ‘Great, let’s be in business together.’ And I made that assumption with people that I didn’t know. Following Swift speaking out about the manager and those involved not letting her have a say in who owned her music, Braun sold the singer’s masters to Shamrock Holdings for $300 million in 2020, according to Time, however, the singer is allowed to re-record the songs five years after their commercial release, and she'll own those masters, per Rolling Stone. So, that's exactly what she's doing. The businessman finished the discussion about Swift with NPR, by admitting he felt like he was treated unfairly, but he also acknowledged that she might feel the same way, explaining: I didn’t appreciate how that all went down. I thought it was unfair. But, I also understand from the other side, they also probably felt it was unfair too. I choose to look at it as a learning lesson, a growing lesson, and I wish everyone involved well. I'm rooting for everyone to win because I don't believe in rooting for people to lose. Now, almost three years after the deal, Swift has released four brand new albums that she owns – Midnights, folklore, evermore and Lover – and two re-released albums – Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version). With the release of Midnights, there have been Easter eggs peppered through music videos like “Bejeweled” and “Lavender Haze” that have fans convinced Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) will be up next on Swift’s long list of upcoming projects.
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Post by Admin on Apr 20, 2023 19:11:50 GMT
It's 4/20. Elon Musk is removing the blue checkmarks from the around 420,000 "legacy verified" accounts that were granted the icon through Twitter's now-defunct identity verification process. From this point forward, only users who pay $8 per month (or $11 per month on mobile devices) will have the blue checkmark badge affixed to their Twitter username. As a result, the check mark will no longer serve its original function as an indicator that an account was authentic. So far, not too many users have signed up. Only around 600,000 out of Twitter's reportedly 250 million users have subscribed. When it comes to previously verified users – made up of actors, artists, pro athletes, and media figures – even fewer are paying. So far, fewer than 5 percent of those 420,000 legacy verified accounts have decided keeping the checkmark for $8 is worth it. So who is paying? Some of the biggest celebrities to cough up the $8 include musical artists like Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Miley Cyrus. In fact, of the few celebs that have signed up, singers and artists probably make up the bulk of it. Britney Spears, The Weeknd, Joe and Nick Jonas, Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, Coldplay, David Guetta, Shawn Mendes, and Snoop Dogg are among the other big names in music who have subscribed. Over in Hollywood, actors Ryan Reynolds, Chris Hemsworth, Hugh Jackman, and Neil Patrick Harris are keeping their blue checkmarks for a monthly fee.
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Post by Admin on Apr 28, 2023 20:41:05 GMT
The National - The Alcott (feat. Taylor Swift) The Alcott (feat. Taylor Swift)' is taken from 'First Two Pages Of ' out now via 4AD Stream/buy: thenational.ffm.to/f2pofDirected and edited by Michael Brown Filmed by Chris Sgroi, Tom Berninger, and Aaron Dessner Photography by Shaun Gibson
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Post by Admin on Jun 25, 2023 20:10:02 GMT
Taylor Swift turned down the chance to appear on Meghan Markle's Spotify podcast, despite the Duchess of Sussex personally extending the invite, The Wall Street Journal reported. The claim came as part of a widely reported feature about her and Prince Harry's attempts to break into Hollywood after stepping back from royal life. Citing people familiar with the matter, the report stated that Meghan worked with Spotify's Gimlet unit to come up with a list of potential guests for her podcast after she and Prince Harry signed a deal with the streaming service worth about $20 million in 2020. The report says that Meghan wrote a personal letter inviting the "Midnights" singer to come onto her podcast, but Swift declined through a representative. Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside of normal working hours. "Archetypes" debuted in August 2022 and featured a number of high-profile guests such Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, and Paris Hilton. Over the course of 12 episodes, Meghan and her guests discussed some of the stereotypes facing women.
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