2023 has been a year of hard-hitting news. From the ever-changing Spotify royalty policies to the effects of climate change on live events to the use of artificial intelligence in music and the revival of the MeToo Movement in the form of the Adult Survivors Act, it is not far fetched to say that this year has been one of the tumultuous thus far. Even so, fans did get to see Frank Ocean play for the first time in over six years at Coachella, even if the set was cut short and not included in the official broadcast. That being said, let’s take a look back at mxdwn’s top 5 newsworthy stories of 2023!

5. AI Use In Music

Artificial intelligence surely has its uses. It can be used as an accessibility aid for disabled individuals, an enhancement of one’s home with various ai-powered gadgets or… in this case, it could be used to create the final Beatles song ever. “Now and Then” had an undeniable effect on the music industry, the use of AI on the late John Lennon’s original recording made it possible for the band to reunite once more in song. The track was so popular that it beat out Kate Bush’s iconic “Running Up That Hill” for longest gap between number ones. Damon Albarn of Gorillaz and Blur also expressed his interest in the use of artificial intelligence in music, stating that “there could be hundreds of my songs released after my death.” However, some are not too open about the idea of using ai in songs, with various bills proposed with the goal of restricting its use. Many listeners have also expressed worries about the use of artificial intelligence in music, especially due to the fact that a recent survey revealed that over half of artists had said they would not disclose if they used AI to create their music. The lack of transparency, licensing and compensation disagreements have spurred controversy over the subject of artificial intelligence in the music industry.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat

4. Severe Weather & Cancelation Of Live Shows

If there’s one thing that everyone in the music industry has been looking forward to, it’s live shows. After the decline throughout the pandemic era, 2023 finally seemed to revert back to a higher volume of shows. Fans were delighted to be able to see their favorite artists, musicians, who rely on touring for a sizable amount of their income, were able to hit the road at a regular pace and labels and promoters got their chance to push new music and merch. Even so, something else stood in the way this time around, inclement weather. A thirty-two-year-old man was reported dead at Burning Man Festival back in September while another 73,000 attendees were left stranded due to a storm. Blue Ridge Rock Festival and Primavera Sound Madrid both had to cancel performances due to severe weather. Swedish rock band Ghost also had to cancel two shows in Florida due to Hurricane Idalia as well as one show in South Carolina after an intense thunderstorm ruined their equipment. Carly Rae Jepsen dealt with a similar issue after a lightning storm cut her Pier 17 show short. 

Photo Credit: Adam Blyweiss

3. Frank Ocean’s Coachella Dilemma 

Prior to Frank Ocean’s 2023 Coachella performance, the singer-songwriter had not played live since 2017. He was originally set to headline Coachella in 2020, however, the Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to all live shows. It was then announced in August of 2021 that Ocean would be playing a headlining set for the 2023 edition of the prestigious music festival. However, once again, things did not go as planned. It all started when Ocean had developed ideas for staging and choreography, asking Goldenvoice to arrange an onstage ice rink to use during the performance. However, Ocean had injured his ankle during rehearsal which ultimately lead to the last-minute scrapping of the plans. The ice rink had to be melted away and replaced with new staging which caused a one hour delay of the set which was also cut short and was not streamed professionally. Ocean ended up canceling his appearance for the second weekend, being replaced by Blink-182. The dilemma reportedly created a sizable lost for the festival which had invested $4 million worth of construction and maintenance of the ice rink. 

2. Adult Survivors Act & The Music Industry

The MeToo Movement originally grew to prominence in 2017 when film producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of alleged sexual abuse. Since then, many have continued to come forward with new allegations of harassment and assault. This culminated in yet another rise with the recent passing of the Adult Survivors Act in New York which waived the statue of limitations for a period of time to allow for further claims to filed. Sean “Diddy” Combs was notably accused of alleged sexual assault in four separate cases, one by longtime romantic partner Cassie (which was settled one day after the lawsuit was filed), Joi Dickerson-Neal and two Jane Does. Justin Sane of Anti-Flag, Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Harve Pierre, former president of Bad Boy Entertainment, L.A. Reid, former Chief Executive of Epic Records and Neil Portnow, former chairman of the Recording Academy were a few named in alleged sexual assault lawsuits. 

1. Spotify & Its Changing Royalty Policies

The rise of streaming as a mechanism for music distribution has undoubtedly shifted the music industry in a way that economically disadvantages independent artists. Musicians have tried to make up for the loss of revenue by touring and selling merch, but many artists have reported that venues have taken merch cuts which continues to make earnings difficult. Spotify has also confirmed that they are planning on shifting their royalty system to cut down on low streaming tracks on their platform, raising the minimum amount of streams to 1000 before monetization, making the economic sustainability for artists look quite bleak. NYC-based rock band The Bobby Lees have called it quits over the devaluing of music on streaming services. Dee Snider of Twisted Sister also had some choice words for Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, saying in a recent interview that he should be “taken out and shot.” Weird Al Yankovich approached the issue in a more comedic way, joking that after 80 million streams, he received $12 worth of Spotify royalties with which he purchased “a nice sandwich at a restaurant.”