Music

Apple Music Raises Streaming Subscription Prices for First Time in Nearly Four Years

• Apple Music raised subscription prices across all tiers for the first time since 2022, with the individual plan now $11.99/month
• The increase mirrors Spotify's strategy of regular price adjustments; Spotify's individual plan currently costs $12.99
• Apple Music justified the move by touting its lack of a free tier, arguing ad-supported options undervalue songwriters and artists

The service last raised prices in October 2022.

Ariana Grande Surprises Fans as Ty Dolla $ign Joins Eternal Sunshine Tour to Duet ‘Safety Net’

• Ty Dolla $ign joined Ariana Grande for a surprise "Safety Net" duet during her Brooklyn residency
• The collaboration originally appeared on Grande's 2020 album Positions and reached number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100
• Grande's Eternal Sunshine tour continues with remaining Brooklyn dates and a three-night Boston engagement

Grande invited Ty to the stage during her Brooklyn residency on Thursday

What was the last song Layne Staley ever performed live?

• Layne Staley's last live performance was July 3, 1996, at Kansas City's Kemper Arena, opening for Kiss, concluding with "Man in the Box"
• He suffered a heroin overdose shortly after the show
• His progressive addiction, worsened by his fiancée's 1996 death, left him increasingly reclusive and physically compromised

"You can't understand a user's mind..." The post What was the last song Layne Staley ever performed live? first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Gracie Abrams captures pain of early adulthood in new album – but you’re left wanting more

• Gracie Abrams' third album tackles personal responsibility and romantic dissolution through vivid, penetrating lyrics, particularly using knife metaphors to convey emotional damage.
• The album's delicate, understated production undermines the potency of its sharp writing, creating disconnect between lyrical weight and sonic insubstantiality.

The singer's third album is full of incisive, witty lyrics that are let down by muted production.

Casually shootin a reel for the new #Inpatient song at the Guinness World Record TMNT Lair !! 🐢⚔️🕸

• Source is a YouTube Short, not a text article
• Appears to show filming for song "Inpatient" at a TMNT-themed set
• Set reportedly holds a Guinness World Record; no further details available

This is a short YouTube video, not a written news article, and no transcript or description content was retrievable beyond the page's cookie-consent notice. Based solely on the title, it appears to show behind-the-scenes footage of someone filming a promotional reel for a new song titled "Inpatient" at…

Lorde Calls Out Spotify Over AI “About The Song” Feature: “We Don’t Want This”

• Lorde says Spotify's AI song-context feature misrepresented one of her songs.
• She wants artists to be able to opt out of AI descriptions.
• Spotify removed the inaccurate text but the beta feature remains live.

New Zealand singer Lorde has publicly criticised Spotify's "About the Song" feature, an AI-powered tool currently in beta that pulls context and background information about tracks from third-party sources. She said on Instagram that artists "don't want this", arguing that the AI-generated descriptions reduce songs to a single…

DGA, WGA & SAG-AFTRA Protest Emmys’ Decision To Cut Categories From Telecast, Say It “Devalues” Contributions Of People Academy Means To Honor

• DGA, WGA and SAG-AFTRA jointly protest Emmys cutting five categories from telecast.
• Categories moved to Creative Arts Emmys ahead of 14 September NBC broadcast.
• Dispute tied to Academy's ratings push and upcoming broadcast rights renewal.

Three major Hollywood guilds — the Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA — have jointly criticised the Television Academy's decision to cut five categories from the main 2026 Emmy telecast, arguing the move "devalues" the contributions of the artists the awards are meant to…

3 Early 1950s Hits That Almost Everyone Still Knows Today

American Songwriter has revisited three novelty and romantic ballads from the early 1950s that remain widely recognisable today, highlighting how the decade's tight harmonies and clever lyrics produced enduring pop standards. The feature underscores how these songs, despite their age, still resonate with modern audiences, reflecting their lasting…

3 Classic Rock Songs From 1975 That Sound Like the End of the Party

• Article lists three 1975 rock songs evoking a party's end.
• Featured: Neil Young's "Tonight's The Night", Elton John's "Curtains".
• Also includes Bruce Springsteen's "Jungleland" from Born to Run.

American Songwriter has put together a short retrospective highlighting three classic rock songs from 1975 that the author argues perfectly capture the feeling of a party or evening winding down. The piece is a curated, opinion-led list rather than hard news, drawing on tracks from Neil Young, Elton…

“Is What I Call Midwest Mall-Crawler Music”: The Genre Evolution Neither Linda Ronstadt nor Tom Petty Could Get Behind

• Ronstadt and Petty criticised modern country as too pop-influenced
• Ronstadt dubbed it "Midwest mall-crawler music"
• Petty called much of it "bad rock groups with a fiddle"

Linda Ronstadt and Tom Petty, both revered for their rock careers deeply rooted in country influences, expressed frustration with how modern country music has evolved into a more pop-oriented sound. Having come up during the genre's 1960s and 1970s heyday and worked alongside country greats such as Dolly…