‘That’s called robbery’: Gene Simmons urges US Congress to end loophole that allows radio stations not to pay for using recordings
December 10, 2025 by Daniel Tencer

KISS frontman Gene Simmons has urged the US Congress to pass a bill that would require US broadcast radio stations to pay royalties for the use of recordings for the first time.

“American artists have never been paid for radio airplay. Not one cent,” Simmons said in prepared remarks in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on intellectual property on Tuesday (December 9).

“Let me say that again: Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Garth Brooks, George Strait – none of them ever got a royalty check when their songs played on the radio. Meanwhile, radio made $14 billion this year.”

The US has long followed a practice under which broadcast radio stations pay music publishers and songwriters for the use of a composition, but they don’t pay artists and producers for the use of a recording. That sets the US apart from most developed countries, where terrestrial radio stations pay for both compositions and recordings.

It also stands in stark contrast to other music media, such as streaming services and satellite radio, which do pay for recordings in the US.

“They play our songs. People tune in to hear our songs. Advertisers pay big money to reach those listeners. And the artists who created the music that makes it all work? They get bupkis. I don’t know about you, but where I come from, that’s called robbery,” Simmons said.

Quote:“American artists have never been paid for radio airplay. Not one cent.”

--Gene Simmons

Quote:“We are in the company of the most notorious abusers of property rights in the world – joining North Korea, Iran, and Cuba.”

--Michael Huppe, SoundExchange

“Shake It to the Max” Fallout Deepens: Ex–Grammy Official Says He Was Fired for Enforcing Academy Rules
by Donovan Watkis



In a detailed and personal statement, former Recording Academy genre manager Sean Thwaites is breaking his silence following his abrupt termination on November 21st—just two days after Billboard published a story about a Grammy eligibility ruling he helped oversee.

“Hi, my name is Sean Thwaites. Until recently, I served as a genre manager in the Recording Academy’s Awards Department, overseeing five categories, Global Music Performance, Best African Music Performance, Contemporary Instrumental, New Age Ambient and Chant, and Global Music Album.”

Billboard published story in November stating that The Grammys and gamma. CEO Larry Jackson were at odds after the Recording Academy ruled Moliy’s global hit “Shake It to the Max (Fly)” remix ineligible for consideration in the Global and African music categories. The Academy says the issue is straightforward: “Remixes are just not eligible” for the Global Music Performance category, a rule that immediately disqualified the submission. In a statement, the Academy acknowledged the song’s impact but reiterated its stance: “Unfortunately… it was submitted as a remix, and as per our longstanding and published rules, remixes are just not eligible in these categories.”

Jackson strongly rejected the decision, calling it a technicality that undermines the artists’ achievements. “To be disqualified because we decided to call it a remix instead of ‘Part Two’ is an interesting choice,” he said, adding that “The answer of ‘That’s just the rule’ doesn’t feel respectful toward what these artists achieved.” He argued the recording is effectively a new version — with fresh verses, a revised intro, and its own ISRC — and noted that it was the only version submitted. For Jackson, the ruling is “devoid of any common sense” and emblematic of how independent and global artists are constrained by rigid systems.

That seems to be at the heart of Thwaites dismissal which he said came without warning, despite a strong performance record and recent recognition of his work.

“On November 21st, I was terminated just 48 hours after Billboard published a story about an eligibility ruling involving the song Shake It to the Max. My committee followed Grammy rules exactly as written, and the vice president of awards confirmed in writing that my decision was correct. The Recording Academy also told Billboard, we understand the impact of the song, but it was submitted as a remix and does not meet eligibility requirements. That is the exact rule I enforced.”

According to Thwaites, nothing in his recent evaluations suggested that his position was in jeopardy.

“On August 8th, I received a positive performance review and a pay increase with no warnings, no concerns, and no indication that my job was at risk.”

He also notes that the industry continued to rely on him as a representative of the Academy up until the days before his termination.

“And on November 17th, just days before I was terminated, RCA Records requested me by name to interview Davido at the Grammy Museum. At that time, I was managing 43 nominees across all five categories.”

gamma. appealed for nearly a week, but the Academy held firm. Jackson, a music executive who ranked in Billboard’s top 100 power players, questioned what message this sends to rising artists from Africa and the Caribbean, saying, “How discouraging is it… that such an undeniable global success may not be honored because of rigid conventionalism?” Ironically, the remix also couldn’t qualify for Best Remixed Recording, since simply adding featured vocalists doesn’t meet that category’s criteria.

Despite heavy chart success — including 26 weeks at No. 1 on U.S. Afrobeats Songs and a 20-week run on the Hot 100 — the track will be absent from the 2026 Grammys. As Jackson summarized, the dispute highlights “the lack of leverage that independent artists and independent music companies systematically have against the machine.”

Thwaites, who has been widely recognized for his advocacy for global and African artists, emphasized that he would never intentionally sideline African music.

“And I want to be clear, I would never snub African music. I am the person who wrote the proposal that created the best African music performance category. I’ve spent years uplifting African artists and building the Academy’s bridge to the continent. African music is part of my purpose and identity.”

Concerns About Departmental Patterns
In his statement, Thwaites also raises concerns about the broader pattern of Black employees being dismissed from the Awards Department.

“When I started at the Recording Academy, there were six black employees in the awards department. One black colleague was terminated in August, just three months before me, making me the fourth black employee terminated during my time there. That pattern is deeply concerning.”

Thwaites says he is speaking publicly now because of the broader implications of his experience.

“I’m speaking today because transparency matters, fairness matters, and no one should lose their job for following the rules. I’m seeking the proper legal support and I’m standing firmly in my truth. Thank you for listening.”

Megan Thee Stallion Gives ’90s Glamour & Plenty of Twerking in Cinematic ‘Lover Girl’ Video: Watch
The only thing missing is a Klay Thompson cameo.
By Michael Saponara
Billboard 10/24/2025

Megan Thee Stallion is head over heels for Klay Thompson. The Houston Hottie gushes about her NBA boo throughout her new single, “Lover Girl,” and she delivered a stunning accompanying visual on Friday (Oct. 24).

Between the stylish ’90s glamour wardrobe, sharp visuals and storytelling, Megan spared no expense in this video.

A black-and-white clip finds Thee Stallion flanked by four women in lingerie twerking in unison and moving into refreshing choreography. The scene’s aesthetic feels like Meg was taking a page out of the Beyoncé playbook, inspired by Bey’s 2011 “Dance for You.”

The Houston Hottie turns the neck of a martini glass into a stripper pole and she makes a lucky chair her dance prop. There’s plenty more twerking, and Meg even plays the role of Cupid in a corset and wings with a bow and arrow, searching for love.

Viewers who stayed until the very end of the video were in for a treat, as Megan left an Easter egg teasing what’s to come. Without much context, there’s an animal that appears to be a wolf growling in the darkness.

“Lover Girl” serves as Megan’s second single of 2025, following April’s “Whenever,” as she looks to be entering a new chapter of life with Thompson happily by her side. She pulled up to support her NBA boyfriend’s first game of the season earlier this week in Dallas.

Watch the “Lover Girl” video

Read the original article here.

Selena Gomez gets real about her and Benny Blanco’s family plans after wedding
By Sophia Melissa Caraballo Piñeiro
From PageSix Published Oct. 10, 2025, 11:04 a.m. ET

Selena Gomez is ready for her next role — being a mom.

In celebration of her finale episode on the “Wizards of Waverly Place” sequel, “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place,” she took to Instagram Story Thursday night with a sweet message.

“Alex Russo is a mommy,” she captioned a clip from the Season 2 finale, referring to her character.

“Hopefully one day that’ll be me.”

Gomez, 33, has been making brief cameos in the Disney+ show, which focuses on the new generation of wizards in Waverly Place, including a young Billie who is sent to live with Alex’s older brother, Justin, to be trained.

In the Season 2 finale, Billie is revealed to be Alex’s daughter — before Gomez’s character sacrifices herself by falling into a portal to save her family.

The “Kill Em with Kindness” singer’s post comes almost two weeks after she tied the knot with music producer Benny Blanco in an intimate California wedding.


Back in March, Gomez and Blanco said on the “Jay Shetty” podcast that they can’t wait to start a family together.

“I don’t know what will happen, obviously, but I love children,” Gomez told host Jay Shetty. “I love making [children] laugh; they’re just so sweet. So absolutely, when that day comes, I’m so excited for it.”

Blanco, who went public with Gomez in December 2023, doubled down on those hopes in a June interview with InStyle.

“I love kids; I love being an uncle. I want to be a dad, though, God willing,” he told the outlet, adding, “I’m just dreaming and praying every day.”

However, last year, the “Emilia Perez” actress revealed that she can’t carry her own children due to medical issues amid her battle with lupus.

Nonetheless, she confirmed to Vanity Fair in October 2024 that she would be interested in starting a family by using a surrogate or adopting.

“It made me really thankful for the other outlets for people who are dying to be moms. I’m one of those people,” she said at the time. “I’m excited for what that journey will look like, but it’ll look a little different.”

 

'The Information' Finds Beck at His Best
October 9, 200612:00 AM ET
Heard on Day to Day
By Christian Hoard


Beck is something of a musical chameleon — he's been called a cracked folkie, a hip-hop joker, a sonic innovator, even a pop star. His latest CD, The Information, finds him in all these guises, and more.

The 15-song collection is his most difficult descent into narcotic funk and psychedelic rock. And it may well be a classic.

"Cellphone's Dead," the lead single from Beck's new album, is a wobbly electro dub-fest that sounds like it could have been transmitted from a remote desert. If it sounds like an odd choice to introduce Top 40 listeners to his tenth album. But Beck has always been able to create masterworks out of elements that could easily have fallen flat.

The Information is  is Beck's weirdest album yet, full of tricky rhyme schemes, narcotic funk, sun-baked melodies, electronic blurps and strange ear candy. But it's also the psychedelic rock record of the year, and an album that could prove a favorite for years to come.

"Elevator Music" is one of the catchiest cuts on the record, but it's also slightly retrograde in its big funk sound and junkyard-rap shtick. Beck's coherent lyrics manage to make you feel relatively traditional post-modern thoughts about a modern world where mountains of data have replaced genuine human interaction.

The artist has been tackling similar issues for years. But now his lyrics are more smartly introspective than ever, and his music is more ambitious, more nuanced and ultimately more seductive than ever.

Take, for example, the Kraftwerk-meets-disco-meets-Duran Duran hookiness of "We Dance," the serrated, tape-looping, washing-machine tumble of the genius "1000 BPM," or sun-baked, uneasy affection of "Think I'm in Love."

How exactly does Beck pull it off? For one thing, he's got Nigel Godrich, who worked Beck on 1998's folkier Mutations and was the producer behind Radiohead's seminal CD OK Computer. Godrich knows how to keep disparate, experimental sounds coherent, and with his help, everything on The Information just works.

Every song has a memorable yet subtle melody, or arresting rhymes that are more schooled and skilled than any in Beck's career. More importantly, every song goes somewhere. So when Beck actually bears down and tosses out a big, show-stopping chorus on the song "Strange Apparition," it sounds like the culmination of a lots of great little moments, and one to grow on.

Hear Beck’s Re-Recorded Rendition of ‘Where It’s At’ From New Audible Special ‘Dear Life’
Singer reworks old classics and shares the origins of some of his best-known tracks in latest installment in Words + Music series
By Daniel Kreps
Rolling Stone June 30, 2022

Beck has shared a newly recorded rendition of his 1996 single “Where It’s At” and breaks down the origins of the Odelay classic in these exclusive clips from the singer’s upcoming episode in Audible’s Words + Music series.

For the episode dubbed “Dear Life” — named after a cut off his 2017 LP Colors — Beck revisits and re-records some of his most popular songs, including “Loser” and “Where It’s At,” to give each track a fresh perspective following his decades-long tenure as a music pioneer.

Beck previously hinted that he was re-recording some older songs — a.k.a. pulling a Taylor Swift — from his catalog during a SXSW keynote earlier this year, but didn’t specify why until now. “I think it’s a bit arbitrary that you make a record and that’s the only version that exists,” Beck said at the time. “You look back at your work and you see things you want to fix. That’s what drives the next album. You constantly try to not evolve but crystallize.”

The re-recorded rendition of “Where It’s At” doesn’t stray structurally from the Odelay original, but it does temper the song’s chaotic exuberance, offering a more mature, refined version from an artist now in his fourth decade in the music industry.

In addition to the new version, Beck also reminisced about performing that song live in 1996 while on the Neil Young-headlined H.O.R.D.E. tour. “[Young] has set up his deck chair on top of his touring bus on the side of the stage, and I remember the sun was going down, [I’m singing] ‘Where’s it at! Clap your hands!,'” Beck says. “And I looked over and he was on top of his bus on his deck chair with a beer, clapping his hands.”

Beck added of “Where It’s At,” “That song came at a time when music was a bit more… had a harder edge, it was a bit more angry, loud guitars. And this song was sort of completely the opposite, a bit anachronistic as well as being a bit of a throwback. People thought it was kinda retro, but it was kinda celebratory at a time when that wasn’t really cool in music.”

To this day, Beck noted that he performs the track at every concert. “It’s a rallying of people. Let’s lose ourselves in the music for a minute,” Beck said. “It’s not an easy thing to do, to invite people to lose themselves, and the best music does. You can’t hope for anything more as a musician.”

“Dear Life” premieres as part of Audible’s Words + Music series on Friday, July 1.

Back Off, Jerk: Primitive Radio Gods’ “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand”
By Michael Yellin
November 26, 2014

Porno For Pyros Play “Pets”
Published by Rob Jones on August 9, 2012

Taylor Swift’s ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ Breaks Spotify Record for Most Streams in a Single Week
By Steven J. Horowitz
Oct 9, 2025 1:20pm PT

"For a while I was bummed out about the fuss it caused because I was worried my mum would find out:" the story behind L7's Pretend We're Dead
By Dave Ling ( Classic Rock ) published 19 November 2023
L7’s 1992 hit Pretend We're Dead led to a UK TV ban and permanent notoriety at the Reading Festival