Welcome back to Bonus Track, a soapbox for random reflections and thoughts that don’t fit in their own dedicated articles (among other things). It’s been a while since the last one, but I’m hoping to get back to the once-a-month cadence. Count on it, or don’t.
Alright, let’s dig in.
Headliners
Our 2nd Birthday Bash is September 24!
Did you know that we’re almost two years old?! Crazy how much time flies when you stay busy.
We’re going to be celebrating in style with a show at Rubies on Five Points in downtown Durham, featuring Misery Twin (Greenville shoegaze), Island Moons (Chapel Hill psych folk), and Alla Prima (Asheville avant rock). It’s fixing to be a great showcase of artists from across the state at a venue Patton Oswalt loves.
Tickets are $12, and any profit we make goes directly to our contributor fund. Buy yours here, and I’ll see you there!
Venting about AI flyers and “music”
Y’all, I have to vent some anger at the state of “AI art” right now. Despite the fact that we’re six years removed from not being able to experience live music at all (remember that?), we stand at a crossroads.
On one side, there is a continued appreciation and curiosity for music. The other? Just a bunch of slop.
To be honest, I haven’t spoken much about this out of fear that I’d be piling on to a topic that had been beaten to death. But after having some different conversations in the last few weeks and seeing more conversation around AI flyers and music made me want to write something about it.
The “too long, don’t care to read” of it is that I’m worried about our society going to great lengths to optimize the fun out of existence. Making expressive flyers, learning an instrument, or discovering new music are supposed to be the acts of humanity. If we’re outsourcing those (plus natural resources) for an imitation of humanity, what does that say about how much we really value them?
Looking at this through the “North Carolina music” lens makes this all more offensive. There are so many fucking good local bands that opting for music generated by an AI tool feels like a slap in the face to their talent. It’s inherently selfish.
Anyone who believes they like music and yet gets any enjoyment from these AI-generated audible homunculi needs to seriously ask themselves, “What am I getting out of this art form?”
Is it worth sucking attention away from the art and creativity of actual musicians?
Is it better than encouraging kids to learn instruments, suck at them, and keep going because they love it?
And is it worth the natural resources being consumed at the expense of you not putting in the effort to find real music, made by human beings?
The answer should always be “No.”
Why we use Apple Music, not Spotify
I’ve gotten some DMs over the last few months about why we use Apple Music over Spotify, so I figured I would nip it in the bud right here. I wrote a while back about finally leaving Spotify, and how I try to be more mindful about purchasing music I really love. Ever since then, I have avoided using Spotify links or embedded players in our articles, opting for Bandcamp first and Apple Music second.
Why did I leave Spotify after 13 years? And what have they done since then to keep me away?
- November 2023: Over 150 million songs stop earning Royalties due to Spotify’s new policy
- June 2024: Spotify is increasing US prices again
- January 2026: They did it again
- June 2024: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek became richer than any musician in history
- December 2024: Spotify Wrapped goes full slop-fest
- January 2025: Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine releases and unveils how toxic Spotify’s business practices and playlist curation practices are
- July 2025: Artists start boycotting Spotify after Daniel Ek’s investment into an AI weapons company comes out
- October 2025: Spotify runs ICE recruitment ads
Beyond all of those valid reasons to avoid Spotify, they also no longer allow song previews if you aren’t logged into an account. So if we embed a song from Spotify into an article, you can’t listen to a single second of it. That’s where Apple Music comes in as our alternative, even though you could probably put together a similar list about terrible things that company has done.
None of this is to virtue-signal, but to continue to emphasize that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism and that we can only do the best we can. We will continue to prioritize platforms like Bandcamp and Subvert over Apple Music, but the latter will be our last resort for sharing music in our articles.
Thanks for attending my TED Talk.
In Case You Missed It…
Given that we’ve published over 80 pieces since the last Bonus Track, I’m going to highlight all of the new contributors who have joined the team and some of their latest work!
- Interview: DJ DIL3MMA and Christian Hoefle — Old School meets New School with Charlotte’s Gothic father-daughter duo
- Interview: Candy Durant (Tenderlash) — Reflecting on the start of Charlotte’s Goth scene, the direction of the city, and Christopher Walken
- Review: The Blusterfields – Thoughts & Prayers — On their fifth album, The Blusterfields take aim at fascist overreach with pointed political satire and psychedelic dabblings
- All Day Records Opens a New Store in Pittsboro — Conversations with co-owner Charlie Hearon and reflections on the staying power of physical media
- Every Band I Saw at Warped Tour 2026 — A free pass leads to some uncomfortable questions in the wake of the behemoth punk music festival
- Interview: Megayacht — The Chapel Hill rock outfit discusses their new album, Out of Bright, and the anything-goes friendship that powers it
- Interview: Pretty Baby — The Charlotte post-hardcore quartet grapples with death in the modern age and is building buzz in the process
- Interview: Jodi Jones (Sugaree String Society) — The multi-instrumentalist Appalachian folk artist determined to heal hearts and minds with a love of history, place, and authentic connections
On My Radar
Last, but not least, here are some pieces I’ve loved recently that you should totally check out:
- If you need more reasons to hate AI “music”, Charles Morse wrote a snappier piece for Super Empty.
- Speaking of the friends at SE, they also put together a great list of their favorite albums so far this year that I’ve been working through.
- One more from Ryan Cocca at SE on this year’s Hopscotch lineup and whether it’s worth the cost. My opinion is they need bigger headliners to drive out-of-state travelers if they’re going to rely this much on local talent.
- Brian Burns at WUNC covered the launch of Read Band Books, Chapel Hill’s all-music bookstore.
- Sad news out of Charlotte: Queen City Nerve has shut down operations a month after halting print production
- ICYMI: BrooklynVegan, AltPress, Revolver, and Goldmine laid off all their writers. We had a post go viral about it (what the hell was that about?!) and the gist is covered by WXPN.
That’s all for this month’s column. Maybe I’ll see you this time next month? (That’s more of a question for me than you.)
Either way, thanks for reading! Stay well and support local music. 🤘
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