Put a fork in it: the demise of Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival
This is what happens when you let ghouls establish ownership over your culture.
Why American broadcasters will never pay performance royalties
Faced with another congressional push to close their billion dollar loophole, the AM/FM industry is fighting hard to keep performance royalties from artists.
The Dumbest Music Industry Scams (and why they still work)
How to avoid every single music industry scam every single time.
Streamwashed: Big tech, little money and how music marketing went crazy
If there's anything in your heart that still harbors something like love for the music industry, stay far away when musicians talk shop about marketing.
RIP Steve Albini, who probably hated everything we love
Steve Albini hated dance music, and "hated" was the word he used. We still admired him anyway.
The End of File Sharing?
Rising electricity prices and free streaming are doing what decades of lawsuits could not: shut down internet pirate sites.
After Moog: The most depressing story in the industry gets worse
A storied company continues to gut staff and reportedly shift product manufacturing overseas under new ownership.
The AI music company shitting up your streams
A single AI music company claims it has created 14% of the world's recorded music and are flooding streaming platforms. Who, or what, is Boomy?
Getting out of the inbox
The dopest music, we all know, lives in the margins - the hand-stamped white label, the disco/drone mix up, the strange music that comes from artists that don't sound like something we already love.
Has Chicago had enough of private festivals in public parks?
Riot Fest's contentious relationship with residents around Douglass Park has put a spotlight on the privatization of Chicago's neighborhood green spaces, locking out local residents by for-profit festivals.
How Spotify turned dance music into dance muzak
Streaming has spawned a new format for dance music that's hostile to DJs, and seemingly unaware of what a DJ even does.
“Everyone is About to Feast on the Beast”
A who's who of classic Chicago House artists have launched a legal strike to reclaim their rights from Trax Records. A reckoning over the past has been a long time coming...
“Roe & Casey Are Overruled” – Resources for a post-Roe America
Resources for a post-Roe America: how to fund and how to find abortion services after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
Fast Money: the Tech Bro & the Million Dollar DJ Gig
The spectacular implosion of a tech startup called "Fast" reveals how venture capital, start-ups & influencer culture are burning up the EDM scene.
Your AirPods Are Tiny Bombs
Your AirPods will last longer on this planet than your bones, if they doesn't explode first.
2021: A Bass Idiocy
Harold Heath drags you through another tumultuous year in dance music. You're going to re-live it, and you're going to LIKE it
Spotify has made millionaires. Almost none of them are musicians.
Spotify's Serfs: A new report breaks down the Black Box of Streaming and the brutal financial realities of the music industry's streamonomics.
My Life in Analog Hell
It started with a Roland Juno-106. Thousands of dollars later, I had all this beautiful analog gear and couldn't write a note on it. A year in analog hell by Ed Martinez.
Spotify, which pays little, wants to pay artists even less
Spotify's last money-grab from artist royalties alarmed government investigators. Now they're grabbing even more.
Unbowed by past apologies, Tulum superspreader event Art With Me is coming to America
Meditation is free but the enlightenment will cost you.
MUST READ!
5 Mag hosts panel on The Art of the Comeback and Staying Power in Dance Music...
The discussion featuring Czarina Mirani, Joe Shanahan, Mike Dunn and Lady D takes place April 26 2025 at Ramova Theater.
