Opinions + thoughts

Melissa Etheridge Tells You How You Should Feel about Auto-Tune

10 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on Melissa Etheridge Tells You How You Should Feel about Auto-Tune
There are several debates in music that I am growing increasingly weary of. The Great Auto-Tune Controversy is quite possibly at the top of that list. Melissa Etheridge is the latest artist to weigh in. Sat atop a very high horse, she wrote a short piece for Billboard essentially explaining that if you use Auto-Tune, Read More

Well, This Is One Way to Stop Ticket Scalpers…

10 years ago Liv Carter 2
When singer-songwriter Yusuf Islam found out about the extortionate prices some people were asking for tickets to one of his shows, he decided to do something about it. So he canceled his show. New York state law requires tickets to be transferable so using a paperless ticketing system which would require concertgoers to show ID Read More
brad paisley moonshine in the trunk album cover

The Real Issue with Brad Paisley’s Album Leaks and/or Marketing Stunt

10 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on The Real Issue with Brad Paisley’s Album Leaks and/or Marketing Stunt
Since last week Saturday, Brad Paisley has been having fun posting various bits and pieces of his upcoming album, Moonshine in the Trunk, on social media. The whole “controversy” comes complete with screenshots of e-mails and text messages from record label execs, managers, and other players in the game, asking him to stop leaking the Read More

Keith Urban Concert in Boston Scene of Alleged Rape. When Will This Stop?

10 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on Keith Urban Concert in Boston Scene of Alleged Rape. When Will This Stop?
I was just starting to consider lunch, but I just lost my appetite. I feel sick. As The Boston Globe reports, 18-year-old Sean Murphy was charged with rape following an alleged assault in the lawn section of the Xfinity Center during a Keith Urban performance. A West Roxbury man has been arrested after allegedly raping Read More
hotel california eagles album cover

Song Covers and Copyright: Is Don Henley Right or Uptight?

10 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on Song Covers and Copyright: Is Don Henley Right or Uptight?
This is an interesting one. Alt-hip hop artist Frank Ocean apparently took it upon himself to write new lyrics to the track of ‘Hotel California,’ Eagles‘ legendary and multi-million selling rock anthem. Ocean didn’t release the song commercially but did make it available for free and performed it live. Don Henley was not impressed and Read More

March Blog Rodeo: Why Country Music Is Like the Zombie Apocalypse

11 years ago Liv Carter 3
When I first read this month’s Blog Rodeo topic, “Why does the mainstream media seem to be so in love with country music right now?”, I immediately prepared my seven-word reply: because that is where the money is. Too cynical? Anything that achieves mass popularity does so by first being appealing to a broad audience. Read More

What Young Musicians Can Learn from Jamey Johnson

11 years ago Liv Carter 4
Shortly before the 2013 GRAMMY Awards, Rolling Stone magazine caught up with some of the nominees. A very patient journalist, Dan Hyman, went to interview Country Album of the Year nominee Jamey Johnson in Chicago. The conversation was almost painful to read and it holds a valuable lesson that I think upcoming artists must take Read More

The Age of the Internet Meme: Billboard Includes YouTube Data in Charts

11 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on The Age of the Internet Meme: Billboard Includes YouTube Data in Charts
For the second time in a few months, Billboard has made a major change to its chart methodology. In October 2012, the leading music chart authority announced it was adding several new streams to the way the charts were compiled. What met with the most resistance was the inclusion of airplay on all-genre stations, a Read More

Year in Review: UCN’s Favorite Album Releases of 2012

11 years ago Liv Carter 2
The closing of a year always invites lists of favorites of all sorts of things, so this is the perfect time to share a few country music releases which especially impressed in 2012. This is not a ranked countdown but just a couple of albums which I believe should be part of the record collection Read More