The Afterword

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Not On Spotify

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The recent threads on Vinyl and CD versus streaming threw up a number of considerations, but several object-heads talked about the fact that they owned the music and that no-one could take it away from them was really important. Five years ago the discussion would have been dominated by the artists who weren’t on Spotify. Since then the last big hold-outs: Floyd, AC/DC, Swift, Zeppelin, Beatles have all taken the green dot shilling. But the question’s still valid, and was raised. Today, when I played Lloyd Coxson’s King of Dub Rock and realised that only volume one was on Spotify. A quick check on my itunes (yes, still digital but I do own the files at least) revealed that yes vol 2 was Not On Spotify. So here we go, your nominations for the Not On Spotify awards.

I’ll kick off with some obvious categories. The Spotify licensing and royalties model clearly doesn’t work at all for compilations. Ace Records – whose excellent Stax Funk series I am currently enjoying – are barely represented. Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures only exists as the somewhat melancholic user playlists.

Even worse than compilations (where at least you can reconstruct the album) » Continue Reading.

Van news

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In case you’re not aware, the Van Morrison Cyprus Avenue gig this Friday is going out on Radio Ulster, with a TV screening on BBC NI – all should be easily available on the iPlayer. Here’s a bit from the Radio Ulster website:

Van Morrison Live On Cyprus Avenue: On Monday 31 August, the day of Van’s birthday – BBC Radio Ulster will exclusively broadcast Van Morrison’s full 70th birthday concert live from Cyprus Avenue – the street which famously inspired the Astral Weeks track of the same name. Broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle from 2.45pm, this is a unique opportunity for Van Morrison lovers to hear the artist in all his live glory as he performs his sold-out matinee concert as part of the Eastside Arts Festival. Prior to the concert starting, Ralph McLean will be setting the scene for listeners as he takes in his surroundings at the Cyprus Avenue concert and chatting to fans lucky enough to get tickets for the event.

BBC Northern Ireland viewers will also have the chance to witness Van Morrison in action and relive the concert when it receives its exclusive television broadcast on BBC One NI on » Continue Reading.