Rolling Stone covers ponders why Canada’s PM can’t be US president

Justin Trudeau is trying to Make Canada Great Again. He is using, let us say, different methods — Stephen Rodrick

Why is the cassette tape all over pop culture?

It makes cameo appearances in many new films and TV series  — Jen Chaney, vulture.com

Pop’s glass ceiling: why new female stars can’t break through

From Anne-Marie to Zara Larsson, the music industry is promoting more women than ever – but few seem to be making it to stardom. Is it because labels treat them differently to their male counterparts? — Harriet Gibsone, The Guardian

ASCAP, BMI launching joint music rights database

Expected next year, the PROs have ambitions to broaden the scope of rights ownership in the US — Variety

China’s consumers paying to stream

Over the past five years, digital-music revenues for the recording industry nearly quadrupled, to $195M — The Economist

Lyor Cohen tips Google’s power play in music

YouTube's head of music confirmed that the company is planning on merging its Play Music service with YouTube Red to create a new streaming offering during a panel session at the New Music Seminar conference in New York — The Verge

AI a hot investment draw in Canada

Artificial Intelligence attracted US$162 million in investments across 12 deals in the first half of 2017, the highest amount of funding in Canada in the past five years — Canadian Underwriter

NAMM launches music history podcasts

Featured guests include Sun Records engineer, Matt Ross-Spang; Sun house drummer, J.M. VanEaton; Sun house guitarist, Roland James; drummer, W.S. Holland; lead sheet writer, Vernon Drane; Echoplex inventor, Mike Battle; and artists Sonny Burgess, Carl Mann, Scotty Moore and Ike Turner — NAMM press release

The fascinating sonic illusion that makes Christopher Nolan's movies so tense

If you've never heard of a Shepard Tone, buckle in for some super interesting music knowledge — digg.com

Question Period: Shauna de Cartier, ’89 BA, ’98 MBA

The founder of Six Shooter Records talks about finding success in the ever-changing music industry — Scott Rollans, ualberta.ca

Ben Gibbard on Teenage Fanclub: 'A reminder of beauty in the world'

The Death Cab for Cutie singer has re-recorded Bandwagonesque, Teenage Fanclub’s 1991 album. How did an ‘incredibly romantic’ Seattle teenager get hung up on four blokes from Scotland?  — The Guardian

The best Toronto songs of 2017 so far

Picks for the most notable local singles and deep cuts include Feist, Teenanger and Jesse Reyez —NOW

Trent Reznor’s soundtrack to the apocalypse

With our political norms crumbling, our social fabric fraying, and our planet literally on fire, the Nine Inch Nails mastermind is back to make sense of it all  Village Voice

David Crosby on Punk, The Talking Heads and The Velvet Underground: “Pretty much all dumb stuff.”

Loudmouth rocker sounds off — Spin

Ten acts to check out at WayHome festival — beyond the headliners

Before the sun goes down and the headliners come out, here are some less-famous worthies to check out at the WayHome Festival this weekend  —  Nick Krewen, Toronto Star

Seven things to do in Vancouver this week, July 28-Aug. 3

Options include Rodriguez, Wanderlust, and Blessed Coast —  Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Sun

Toronto's hosting of pro-Putin conductor Gergiev and his sexual politics is problematic

In Western capitals, his appearances are often met with protests: Gergiev is cozy with the Putin regime and, in 2013, he defended its anti-gay legislation, telling a Dutch newspaper that the law that prohibits giving minors information about homosexuality was intended to protect children against pedophilia —  Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail