Andrew Mall 4/29/24 Andrew Mall 4/29/24

Musi, a new, free music streaming app, begs the question: Can anything compete with Spotify?

Northeastern Global News (2024). A new music streaming service –– Musi –– is turning heads with its free, silent ad-based platform that runs on audio from millions and millions of YouTube videos. Musi isn’t like major streamers like Spotify or Apple Music, but its entry into the streaming wars begs the question: Can anything compete with the likes of Spotify, or is the music streaming landscape set in stone?

Andrew Mall 4/22/24 Andrew Mall 4/22/24

Live Nation and Ticketmaster face an impending federal antitrust lawsuit. Will the government finally break up the monopoly?

Northeastern Global News (2024). The 2010 merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster is “essentially unfixable,” says a Northeastern antitrust expert. But could the Justice Department take the incredible step of breaking up the two companies?

Andrew Mall 4/17/24 Andrew Mall 4/17/24

Taylor Swift keeps releasing different vinyl editions of “The Tortured Poets Department.” Is this wasteful?

Northeastern Global News (2024). Billie Eilish recently called out artists who make multiple variants of the same vinyl like Swift does. But Swift is not the first artist to do this, said Andrew Mall, an associate music professor at Northeastern University. Swift is part of a larger trend of those “gamifying” vinyl collecting, where consumers will buy every variant of a record — whether they offer a different cover, record color, or bonus tracks — in order to complete their collection.

Andrew Mall 2/13/24 Andrew Mall 2/13/24

Sound not found: The disturbance within TikTok

The Arkansas Traveler (2024). From Ariana Grande to Zach Bryan, TikTok has prevented many artists' music from syncing onto the social media platform. Reporter Mark Garcia quotes Andrew Mall’s insights recently published by the Associated Press.

Andrew Mall 2/13/24 Andrew Mall 2/13/24

Here’s Why Millions of Your Favourite Tik Tok Videos Have Fallen Silent

The Quicky (podcast, 2024). Mamamia podcast house Claire Murphy speaks with Andrew Mall about the emerging licensing standoff between Universal Music Group and TikTok.

Andrew Mall 2/5/24 Andrew Mall 2/5/24

Why Taylor Swift’s album announcement during the Grammys is unusual

Northeastern Global News Magazine (2024). Swift had been dropping hints about new music leading up to the Feb. 4 ceremony, but using an awards show to announce a new project isn’t an industry standard, said one Northeastern music expert.

Andrew Mall 2/4/24 Andrew Mall 2/4/24

CBC talks with Andrew Mall about Universal Music vs. TikTok

CBC (television broadcast, 2024). On the night of the Grammys, CBC's Deana Sumanac of CBC Newsroom talks with Andrew Mall about Universal Music vs. TikTok.

Andrew Mall 2/1/24 Andrew Mall 2/1/24

Songs by Taylor Swift, Drake and more are starting to disappear from TikTok. Here’s why

Associated Press (2024). TikTok may look (or sound) a little different when you scroll through the app going forward. Earlier this week, Universal Music Group — which represents big-name artists like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny and Drake — said that it would no longer allow its music on TikTok following the Wednesday expiration of a licensing deal between the two companies. Avid TikTokers are already seeing the effects. Here’s a rundown of where things stand.

Andrew Mall 12/11/23 Andrew Mall 12/11/23

From Kate Bush to Glass Animals, how TikTok and TV help give music a new life

Northeastern Global News Magazine (2023). Whether it be reviving a decades-old holiday classic or breathing new life into an older release, TikTok, television and movies hold great sway. Where DJs and dance clubs once influenced people’s musical tastes, social media and entertainment are the new tastemakers as they introduce or resurrect music. This leads to songs released years ago hitting charts in a way they didn’t upon release.

Andrew Mall 12/5/23 Andrew Mall 12/5/23

How this class is preparing students for the world of music festivals

Northeastern Global News Magazine (2023). Want to try your hand at a designing a music festival or learn about the history of these events? These Northeastern experiential learning courses help create the next generation of festival organizers.

Andrew Mall 12/1/23 Andrew Mall 12/1/23

Is Beyoncé’s Renaissance concert film a sign of things to come for movie theaters and the concert experience?

Northeastern Global News (2023). Part concert film and part behind-the-scenes tour documentary, “Renaissance” promises to give fans a glimpse into the famously private superstar’s life during her recent Renaissance tour. It also promises to be a bright spot for movie theaters in the post-Thanksgiving box office doldrums. But could “Renaissance” be something more: a sign of things to come for the movie theater business and the theatrical experience?

Andrew Mall 11/16/23 Andrew Mall 11/16/23

Rock That Doesn’t roll, “Bookstore Guys”

Rock That Doesn’t Roll podcast (2023). Who could a 1990s Christian rock aficionado turn to in order to find the latest and greatest releases? For mainstream music fans, tastemakers included record store clerks of 1990s indie music stores, or retail juggernauts like Tower Records and Wherehouse - the kind of superfans depicted by Jack Black in High Fidelity. But for many evangelical teens of the 1990s, record stores were not the place to find kid-tested, parent-approved music. For that, Christian teens usually had to go to Christian bookstores.

Andrew Mall 10/12/23 Andrew Mall 10/12/23

Taylor-made: A Swiftie’s guide to the best ‘Eras’ movie experience

The Washington Post (2023). Deciding which movie theater to watch the upcoming “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” in might be as difficult as choosing which Swift era you want to represent. The concert film, which will start showing Thursday night, will bring Swifties, concert fans and the general public right into the middle of a Swift concert. And 3,850 theaters across North America are planning to show the film in myriad formats, giving Swifties an array of choices for how they want to experience the concert film.

Andrew Mall 10/4/23 Andrew Mall 10/4/23

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie is a lesson for other artists and the music industry

Northeastern Global News (2023). Taylor Swift will soon extend her pop culture dominating reach to the big screen, with the release of a concert film of her record-shattering Eras tour set to hit theaters on Oct. 13. It is Taylor Swift’s world –– we’re all just living in it.

Andrew Mall 8/9/23 Andrew Mall 8/9/23

The Voice at 60: On Whitney Houston’s immortal instrument

Entertainment Weekly (2023). Houston would have been 60 years old today, Aug. 9. Of course, she's no longer with us and while I, and many others, feel her absence everyday, her voice — that magnificent voice — still elicits joy.

Andrew Mall 4/21/23 Andrew Mall 4/21/23

Is K-Pop Finally Mainstream?

Nylon (2023). Look at the biggest songs in the U.S. right now and you'll find a bit of everything: Miley Cyrus’s anthemic pop comeback; SZA’s revenge ruminations; Selena Gomez’s cross-cultural collab with Nigerian singer Rema; and controversial country star Morgan Wallen’s unvanquishable return. At the forefront of the list sits Park Jimin’s “Like Crazy,” the glittery solo debut from BTS’s graceful tenor.

Andrew Mall 4/19/23 Andrew Mall 4/19/23

Our Worship Is Turning Praise into Secular Profit

Christianity Today (2023). Author Kelsey Kramer McGinnis quotes from God Rock, Inc. in her article on the the corporate consolidation of worship music.

Andrew Mall 12/23/22 Andrew Mall 12/23/22

Why the Most Riveting Scene in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody Is a Medley from 1994

TIME (2022). Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, the new biopic from filmmaker Kasi Lemmons, is filled with recreations of the singer’s iconic performances—like her 1991 rendition of the national anthem at the Super Bowl. But the film closes with a scene that pays tribute to one of Houston’s lesser-known appearances: a 1994 performance at the American Music Awards that showcased not only her phenomenal talent, but her range, versatility, and stamina as a live artist.

Andrew Mall 10/18/22 Andrew Mall 10/18/22

How Do You Get to the Dove Awards?

Christianity Today (2022). Author Kelsey Kramer McGinnis quotes from God Rock, Inc. in her article on the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards (the Christian music industry’s answer to the Grammy Awards).

Andrew Mall 10/9/22 Andrew Mall 10/9/22

Is the Future of Christian Music on TikTok?

Christianity Today (2022). Author Rachel Seo quotes from God Rock, Inc. in her article on TikTok and Christian recording artist Montell Fish.