A Homage to “What’ll I Do” (covered by Frank Sinatra)

Text by Bruce Gallanther (Downtown Music Gallery, September 11, 2025) 

Aside from the five different Star Trek series, my favorite TV show of all time was—and still is—Northern Exposure. It is about a Jewish doctor who’s stuck in Alaska working for a small town of lovable misfits.

There is an episode called ‘War and Peace’ about a famed Russian singer named Nikolai who comes to town, enchants the customers/old friends at the Brick (the local bar), and whose sworn enemy is a local bigshot/former astronaut named Maurice Minifield, a wealthy/right-wing/radio station owner. They trade insults and eventually decide to duel with guns, but the duel is called off at the last minute.

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CELEBRATING a DECADE of MUSIC ADVOCACY: MFM TURNS 10!

MFM – The Birth of a Movement and A Decade of Fighting for Fairness!

By Dawoud Kringle

Back in 2015, as I was reshaping my musical path and publishing my second book, fate introduced me to one of the most extraordinary visionaries I’d ever met: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi (SoSaLa). Our connection deepened over unforgettable moments (including an impromptu jam session at the legendary jazz man Ornette Coleman’s apartment). But it was Sohrab’s fiery passion for justice that sparked something even bigger.

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Gig Review: Spaghetti Eastern Electro Dub in New York

Spaghetti Eastern Electro Dub, live at Otto’s Shrunken Head, June 29, 2025

Review by David Belmont

I was looking forward to catching Spaghetti Eastern Electro Dub at Otto’s for a couple of reasons. One, I have a perverse liking for the East Village dive bar that has been the scene of lots of independently produced entertainment and artistry over the decades, including a monthly poetry reading that I have participated in for the past several years. Two, I was interested in checking out the band in person after having gotten heavily into their Live at Green Kill Sessions CD when I was reviewing it for DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY. I wanted to see/hear what made this highly eclectic band tick, and, in my experience, there’s no better way to do that than check them out in an intimate setting.

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AI

Next-Level Criminality: Is Your Music Yours Anymore?

An Editorial by Dawoud Kringle

When you thought it couldn’t get worse, the corporate overlords took things to the next level. Music distributors have been sneaking clauses into their user agreements allowing them to use our music to train AI models.

This is how it works. Many distributors (e.g., DistroKid, TuneCore, etc.) include broad licensing terms in their contracts, granting themselves the right to use uploaded music to train AI models. They use terms such as “machine learning,” “data analysis,” or “service improvement” to describe this. Artists often unknowingly consent by agreeing to the terms. The user agreements frequently have no option to refuse to allow the distribution service to use their music for AI training. These clauses usually allow the unrestricted, perpetual use of music for AI without paying royalties or compensation to artists or rights holders. Some distributors sell or provide AI companies like OpenAI or Google DeepMind access to their music libraries to train generative models, including vocal clones, melody generators, etc. The raw audio is still used even if the artist removes the metadata from their uploaded files. This can easily replicate an artist’s unique styles without attribution.

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