Sifting through the glut of online sources for music news is a waste of time. Surf quickly for important stories with the Daily Chord, a carefully selected group of links posted each weekday. Subscribe to the email blast and enhance your inbox.

Get caught up on music news for the week of August 20 below and then grab your Music Badge for SXSW 2019 today!

Plus, Showcasing Artist applications are now open for the 2019 SXSW Music Festival – learn more about deadlines, fees, and how to apply here.

Friday, August 24

• Sony confesses to releasing fake Michael Jackson music
  Post from Vibe
• Nicki Minaj accuses Travis Scott manager Irving Azoff of 'smear campaign' against her tour
  Post from Variety
• Riding the new wave of anti-fascist black metal
  Story from Noisey
• Eventbrite files for U.S. IPO
  Item from Bloomberg
• Leslie 'Lazy Lester' Johnson, architect of Louisiana swamp blues, dies in California at age 85
  Obituary from New Orleans Advocate
• John Lennon assassin Mark David Chapman denied parole
  Post from NY Post

Thursday, August 23

• The major labels now turn over more than $1bn a month, but who's ruling 2018?
  Post from Music Business Worldwide
• How Dev Hynes, English misfit, became Blood Orange, R&B miracle worker
  Profile from NY Times Magazine
• Ariana Grande's Snapchat lens lets fans try on album merch
  Post from Engadget
• 10 music-related charities you need to know about now
  List from Hypebot
• Michael Nesmith of The Monkees loves vaporwave. Seriously.
  Interview from Rolling Stone
• The dearth of music performances on late night TV speaks to a larger cultural shift
  Post from Uproxx

Wednesday, August 22

• TV ratings: Video Music Awards hit all-time-low on MTV
  Post from Hollywood Reporter
• Aretha Franklin left no will or trust, attorney says
  Story from Detroit Free Press
• The new All My Friends festival had star power to spare. Now to lock in its audience.
  Review from LA Times
• How K-Pop conquered the world
  Story from Rolling Stone
• Brian Eno, Damon Albarn, more petition imprisonment of Ugandan musician, politician Bobi Wine
  Post from Pitchfork
• John Lydon, of Public Image and Sex Pistols fame, comes to terms with 'anniversary rot'
  Interview from Variety

Tuesday, August 21

• 2018 MTV VMA winners
  List from MTV
• Features and benefits of official artist channels
  Post from The Daily Rind
• Wayne Kramer: 'I knew there was more to my story than most'
  Story from The Guardian
• The sounds of music in the twenty-first century
  Story from New Yorker
• T.I. on 15 years of 'Trap Muzik': "I wanted to make a classic"
  Interview from Noisey
• Eddie Willis, original Motown Funk Brother, dies at 82
  Obituary from Billboard

Monday, August 20

• Beating the king of pop, The Eagles have the no. 1 album of all time
  Item from AP
• Amazon is ready to take on Apple and Spotify in streaming music
  Post from Bloomberg
• Nicki Minaj takes aim at Travis Scott and Spotify after 'Queen' debuts at no. 2 in US charts
  Item from NME
• Lana Del Rey says performing in Israel 'is not a political statement'
  Post from Pitchfork
• Something from nothing: Stories of punk in Arlington
  Story from ARL Now
• Can a music festival make Kosovo cool?
  Story from NY Times