Random music news for Saturday, August 1, 2026
Why do monkeys in a Costa Rican rain forest need AI? I guess we’ll find out. Now some music news for August 1, 2026.
- The White House has started a war with Katy Perry. First, they used the song “Firework” in a video without her permission. Second, she went pubic about how she hated it. And now, the White House is doubling down. How much do you want to bet this is because she’s dating Justin Trudeau?
- Meanwhile, Noah Kahan is also being trolled by the White House social media team. These are not serious people.
- The estate of George Michael is suing his former manager after he shared some unreleased footage online.
- A music supervisor for Nike is in big trouble. Yes, Nike has a music supervisor.
- There was a big data breach at Suno, the AI music generator. There’s now a class action lawsuit.
- Willie Nelson: A fan of farmland, not data centres.
- Remember Winamp? It’s trying for a comeback.
- Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam as a new collection of photographs coming this fall.
- Apple TV+ has some awesome shows and leads all the streamers in prestige. Too bad so few people are watching. Then again, Apple is a US$5 trillion company, so they can afford it.
- Oh, and Apple will now let you lease their gear. That’ll include the iPhone 20 when it’s released
- This is interesting. people who listen to Spotify’s ad-supported streams are “downscale” and “very small,” compared to what advertisers think.
- Want a complete radio station on your Mac Mini? Here you go.
- Sloan bassist Chris Murphy is touring Europe with an REM tribute band fronted by actor Michael Shannon. Cool summer job, no?
- This looks good: A book on the history of electronic music by pioneer Jean-Michael Jarre.
- Yes, there’s still more unreleased material from The Beatles, The latest come on a new reissue of Rubber Soul.
BONUS: Meta wants BILLIONS of people to use its AI. What could possible go wrong?
