Why the music industry needs to learn to live with AIIt has been some time since I last posted here. Most of my blog activity now takes place over at MIDiA Research https://www.midiaresearch.com/blog and in the MIDiA newsletter (including the newsletter-only ‘Letter from the MD’). Follow me there and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmulligan/ for regular updates and posts. Now onto today’s Music Industry Blog post. It’s a controversial one, so hold onto your hats…

If life is a party, AI gate crashed it in 2025. With financial losses rising even more quickly than critical voices, AI will not find things quite so easy in 2026. You don’t have to look very far to find alarm bells being rung. Deutsche bank said of OpenAI’s $143 billion cumulative negative cash flow, “No startup in history has operated with losses on anything approaching this scale” (per Adweek). Meanwhile, at the World Economic Forum, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella said that we must “do something useful” or lose “social permission” for the vast quantities of electricity it requires. So much of the financial system is vested in AI’s success that a bubble burst akin to the dot-com era is possible. However, with an MIT report claiming 95% of businesses are getting “zero return” from AI investments, something is going to have to change. 

This is the state of AI at the start of 2026 – but it is not the state of music AI. Music is emerging as a case study of where AI is actually delivering (and getting better by the day). This means that everyone in the music industry needs to start thinking about how to co-exist with AI, whether they like it or not.

The impact of generative AI on music creation

The music creator economy may be the canary in the coal mine for AI’s impact on music. Leading company Native Instruments just announced that it is entering preliminary insolvency (per Music Radar). Native Instruments make beautiful software, hardware, and sounds that appeal most to established, successful music creators – creators that have spent years honing their craft. What it doesn’t do so well is cater for the emerging generation of younger creators that want to go to 0-100 in a millisecond. 

This new breed of creators want making good music to be as easy as taking good photos and videos on their phones. A growing number see making music as personal entertainment rather than chasing dreams of multi-platinum success. It is a dynamic we explore in our brand new report: Music creator survey | Creation: Rise of the new breed.

AI did not create this dynamic but it did supercharge it. If music software democratised the means of production, AI has set it free. Thom York sang “anyone can play guitar” but anyone who has tried  (as I have done since I was five) will tell you that you have to spend a lot of time being bad before you are good. This is the case with all instruments. Gen AI, however, takes away being-bad-to-be-good. Anyone can write a text prompt. Now, is a single line of text ‘creation’. I’d personally say ‘no’, but those doing it will likely think ‘yes’. It is a similar question to whether an unmade bed installation in a gallery art? Does that text prompt become creative if it is a deeply considered paragraph of text defining melodic feel, lyrical content, instrumentation and arrangement? If so, what is the word count cut off between being creative and not?Is entering a text prompt ever going to be creative in the same way as sitting down at a piano and writing a song? No. But neither is opening a DAW and building a track from samples and typing in MIDI notes. But does that make electronic music not creative? (And before you answer, I know there are still plenty of people out there who would say electronic music is not ‘actual’ music!). And we should expect gen AI music to develop and become more sophisticated, as all consumer apps do over time. But whereas most consumer apps improve convenience and reduce friction, gen AI music will likely go in the opposite direction. It started as zero friction but make music creation too easy and the creative satisfaction soon wears thin. Creative friction is what make music making so important to people. And, from a cynical perspective, the longer it takes to make music, the more time spent on an app.

Regardless of whether current gen AI is creation or not, the result is a whole new wave of people making music – and the number paying do so is rising rapidly. In 2025, gen AI music users were already 10% of all music creators, and the number paying to create with AI doubled. Meanwhile the number of people buying traditional music software fell in both 2024 and 2025, as did revenues. This indicates that not only are new creators flowing in, established creators are shifting activity and spend to AI too.

One of the reasons is that gen AI music is improving. While licensing disputes roll on, gen AI has learned from the best chord progressions, vocal performances, arrangements, etc., that music has to offer and – crucially – what consumers do with that. The constraint on quality was always going to be computation technique, not innate capability. 

Industry stakeholders can make the AI slop argument, and music critics can claim that they can identify even the best AI songs as not being made by humans. But that misses the point. AI is for the masses, both on the creation side and the consumption side. 

Tracks on Suno can sound convincing enough to the average listener. AI artists like Sienna Rose command millions of Spotify listeners, while earlier this month ‘Jag vet, du är inte min’ hit the top of the Swedish charts only to be banned for being AI (per the BBC). AI is not going to replace human content, but it will increasingly displace it. 

AI is here to stay in music

The music industry needs to learn not just where AI fits in it, but where it fits in AI. This requires work from the industry, such as creating ‘lanes’ for AI as we argued in our Future of music streaming report. However, it also requires artists to put in work too. 

Last year, YouTube-first music creator Mary Spender laid bare the challenge: 

“First it was about gigs and selling CDs, then it was streams, then it was about content, now it is something else entirely.”

Her solution? To use her YouTube channel as her ‘proof of work’, the thing that communicates the humanness of her music. As this piece from It’s Nice That lays out, this is an approach being pursued throughout the creative industries.

Gen AI music enters 2026 of the back of two years of hockey stick growth. The coming 12 months will likely be more of the same. None of this is to suggest that creators and rightsholders should simply sit back and let unlicensed activity continue unabated – those battles still need to be fought. But, just as happened with music piracy, consumer behaviour is accelerating regardless. 

Some rightsholders are already leaning into AI’s capabilities – as explained by UMG’s Jon Dworkin at MusicAlly’s great Connect conference. Others are resisting with every effort they can muster. Neither approach is more right or wrong than the other. Part of carving out a role is deciding whether you want to be part of or apart from. Whatever your choice, music AI is not going away – at least not anytime soon.Gen AI music is going to get bigger before (if) it gets smaller. Legislation isn’t going to be fast enough to stop this near term surge. Until it does, everyone in the industry needs to work out what they want to do in that time. To be ‘part of’ or ‘apart from’. Doing nothing and hoping for it to go away is not an option anymore. And whether AI stays or goes, it has catalysed the consumerisation of creation. That genie is out of the bottle. And the implications for music listening are clear. The more time that people spend making music, the less they spend listening to music. Whether the music they make finds an audience is almost besides the point. As I wrote about consumer AI music back in 2023: the music industry should worry less about the song with 1 million streams and more about the 1 million songs with 1 stream.

Guitar Center Business Solutions Announces ResonateThis week, Guitar Center Business Solutions announced the inaugural Resonate, "the company’s first dedicated industry expo, launching in Nashville to showcase the future of integrated audio, video and control technology, according to a company statement.

"The free, one-day event will take place Thursday, April 9, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CDT at the Music City Center in Nashville," they added. "The expo will bring together leading brands, integrators and decision-makers across music, education, venues and enterprise. Nashville was selected as the host city for Resonate because it reflects the convergence shaping today’s market and serves as the headquarters of Guitar Center Business Solutions."

“We created Resonate as systems are converging faster than organizations can adapt, and the industry needs clearer leadership around how everything connects,” said Curtis Heath, president of Guitar Center Business Solutions, in a statement. “Our experience across education, performance and enterprise environments positions us to help the market move forward with solutions that are practical, scalable and built to last.”

“Nashville is the perfect place to close the gap between creators and the systems that amplify their work,” Heath told MC. “Resonate brings together music, pro audio, and pro AV—along with the networked, enterprise-grade technology behind it—to show what’s possible when you design the entire experience end-to-end. No other organization connects these worlds at this scale.”

Resonate Event Details:- Resonate, presented by Guitar Center Business Solutions- Thursday, April 9 | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CDT- Music City Center | Nashville, TN- Registration is free for early registrants; space is limited.

For more information and to register, visit resonate-expo.com.

The post Guitar Center Business Solutions Announces Resonate first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

60,000 AI tracks hit Deezer daily as platform moves to license detection tech to wider music industryDeezer also revealed that up to 85% of all streams on AI-generated music were fraudulent in 2025
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OpenWav fan app launched by Wyclef Jean and 88rising’s Jaeson Ma forms joint venture with Loud House for new artist commerce platformThe new project seeks to provide artists and IP owners a way to launch, test and scale consumer products globally without holding inventory.
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Song Biz, February 2026: What's Going On This MonthSMP Signs Spiro

Sienna Spiro signs to global publishing with SMP. With 6.6+ M Spotify listeners/1.5 M TikTok followers, EP SINK NOW, SWIM LATER hit 122+ M streams, “MAYBE,” hit 600+ M TikTok views alone. U.K./E.U. headline tour sold out; supported Sam Smith in NYC/Teddy Swims’ U.S. tour.

Marc Anthony/GoDigital

Marc Anthony’s publishing sells with Latin collection ($115 million including Los Socios del Ritmo, Marisela, 3BallMTY, Tierra Cali, LDNE), adding 30,000+ assets to GoDigitial Music. Including “Vivir Mi Vida,” “Rain Over Me,” “Ahora Quien,” Anthony’s catalog is rumored to have sold for eight figures.

Wesli Releases Makaya

Haitian-Canadian singer-guitarist Wesli releases a tribute to the musical traditions, strength and beauty of the Haitian people in his latest 24-track release, Makaya (“leaf” in Kikongo). Rhythms of solidarity and resilience blend tradition and modernity, celebrating hope for the future of Haiti.

Listening Room Retreats

With over 2000 songwriter participants from over 30 countries since it launched in 2002 (from total beginners to seasoned professionals), attendees have gone on to record, co-write, tour outside their home countries, and release commercially, from relationships that began at the retreat. The week of inspiration and enthusiasm remains unmatched in the industry.

Upcoming retreats include Ireland, Greenland, California, and Denmark, with early registration discounts, paid referral programs, and interest-free monthly payment plans making it easier than ever to attend. Details and registration at listeningroomretreats.com.

SXSW Austin Returns

South By Southwest (SXSW) returns to Austin, Texas, March 12–18. What is it? SXSW 2026 includes 850+ conference sessions, 600+ mentor and networking events, 4,400 musicians performing over 300 live showcases, 460 film and TV screenings, four nights of comedy, and 450 brand activations over seven days. Leaning into its 40th anniversary, this year’s event follows a walkable downtown footprint with designated clubhouses instead of using the convention center. “Connect. Discover. Create What’s Next.” Details and registration at sxsw.com.

SongsAlive! Songwriter Events

With workshops, showcases, camps, webinars, and song critique opportunities, the SongsAlive! community has the power to transform lives. Connecting songwriters, composers, and lyricists from various backgrounds, members get inspired by and connected to like-minded songwriters from around the world. Develop your songwriting skills through virtual and live events inside a supportive creative community. Details and membership at songsalive.org.

Kassner Signs Sutherland 

Glaswegian topliner Katie Sutherland signs global publishing with Kassner Music. Syncs include Vodafone, Orange, Google, Victoria’s Secret; Credit: 100 (The Hunna’s), Sigala, Sub Focus, Dan Smith, DYLAN, Becky Hill, MEEK, A. Van Buuren, Poppy Bascombe, Gabry Ponte, Roger Sanchez.

SESAC Latina Conexiones

SESAC Latina launches “Creando Conexiones,” a matchmaker portal for songwriters to foster songwriter collaboration with virtual or in-person creative opportunities. Leveraging existing relationships and resources, SESAC Latina aims to strengthen the songwriting community through an organic ecosystem (including hitmakers and rising creatives) to connect, experiment, and grow with intentional spaces for collaboration to foster ideas and nurture partnerships. With distinct phases, it began with Regional Mexican, then Pop/Latin Rhythm, then a full combination, and integrates songwriting camps, showcases, events, and special projects. More at sesac.com/sesac-latina-lanza-creando-conexiones.

BMI Awards Neda

2025’s Charlie Feldman Award goes to Miami-born Carlos Neda. Raised in El Salvador, Neda wrote poetry to process his uncertain surroundings, before returning to Miami as a teen and finding his voice through music. Busking around the world in over 90 cities, he survived by singing and playing his guitar. Hitting No. 4 on Spotify’s Viral Mexico chart, “Sin complejos de Disney” launched his career. Debut EP, PARA CAÍDAS, out soon.

Established in 2021 to honor and celebrate retired BMI Vice President, Creative, Charlie Feldman, whose tireless advocacy supported artists for 31 years (including the Neville Brothers, James Brown, the Holland Brothers, Carole King, Chip Taylor, Greg Allman, Rihanna, and Nile Rogers), the annual Charlie Feldman Award grants $2,000 to an emerging BMI songwriter in any genre. More at bmifoundation.org.

Lyric Capital’s Weeknd

Closing a publishing and master recording rights deal with New York’s Lyric Capital Group, ASCAP artist The Weeknd (Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) and his team remain shareholders with ‘creative control’ in a joint venture deal rumored to be worth $1 billion. With over 120 million monthly Spotify listeners, and creating Spotify’s most-streamed track with “Blinding Lights” (bumping Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You”), The Weeknd’s agreement includes work through 2025 (future releases excluded). Chord Music Partners (XO/Republic/Universal Music Group (UMG))’s 50 percent publishing partnership remains. Universal Music Publishing Group continues administration.

DSE Ventura Returns

The Durango Songwriting Expo returns to Ventura, California February 19-21. For 30 years, Durango has been the industry’s best-kept secret: a twice-yearly event for songwriters to access publishers, A&R executives, and music supervisors who can change their career. What makes DSE different? Personalized connections, honest feedback, curated showcases, and career-empowering knowledge. With open mics, industry panels, song listening sessions, workshops and networking events, it is the perfect opportunity to accelerate your songwriting career. Details and registration at durangosong.com.

Eclipse Scoops Shackleton

ASCAP’s Emily Shackleton has sold her catalog to Eclipse Music Group, in a deal that includes songs recorded by Carly Pearce, Reba McEntire, Runaway June, David Nail, Sara Evans, and Mickey Guyton. Best known for multi-platinum / CMA-winning “Every Little Thing” (Carly Pearce), Shackleton’s writing joins Eclipse’s portfolio of songs that includes “Tennessee Whiskey,” “Chasin’ You,” “Getting’ You Home,” “May We All,” and others. 

Since 2017, Eclipse has been committed to empowering artists, songwriters, and helping them make the most of their catalogs, bringing decades of experience to support publishing, acquisitions, masters, and strategic partnerships. The Eclipse ecosystem is designed for creative and commercial success as it signs rising hitmakers, nurtures business collaborations, and adds catalogs to their roster.

KISS on the Hill

2025 Kennedy Center Honoree and legendary bassist, co-founder and co-lead singer of KISS, Gene Simmons joined SoundExchange President/CEO Michael Huppe in testifying before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the bipartisan American Music Fairness Act bill (AMFA) (S.326/H.R.861). Big radio corporations—who made $13.6 billion in ad revenue in 2024—are being taken to task to start paying artists performance royalties for their music. Marking the first time in over ten years the Senate has held a hearing on AMFA, Simmons’ support joins over 300 artists who sent a letter to congress encouraging leaders to pass the bill. 

The National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) has also encouraged Senate support for the Bill, with over 60 NITO members companies writing in to lend support. A rival measure presented by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Local Radio Freedom Act (endorsed by over 200 members of the U.S. House of Representatives) opposes any type of new charge on local radio (perhaps stemming from historic pay-to-plug radio protocols in the early days of music). NITO emphasizes that AMFA protects independent stations with minimal ($1.37/day) cost, and indirectly benefits independent managers, agents, and more. More at recordingacademy.com/advocacy/news/american-music-fairness-act-gene-simmons-senate-hearing.

Yellow Days’ Album

Out this month, Yellow Days’ new album Rock And A Hard Place follows debut EP Harmless Melodies. George van den Broek’s latest project draws Otis Redding, Bootsy Collins, James Brown, George Clinton vibes with fresh soul atop a backdrop of Newcastle jazz fusion band, Knats.

TikTok’s Non Blondes

ASCAP’s 4 Non Blondes’ resurgence from TikTok viral user videos (“What’s Up/Beez in the Trap”), Spotify Billions Club, two billion YouTube views, has Linda Perry launching Kill Rockstars imprint, 670 Records. Solo album (Let It Die Here) and 4 Non Blondes album (33 years later) coming soon.

Moreland’s Songwriting Win

Oklahoma’s John Moreland Wins Top Honors at 30th annual USA Songwriting Competition with “Visitor.” He was No. 83 on 2024’s Billboard Hot 100 for “Memphis, The Blues” (Zach Bryan) and opened for Jason Isbell, Dawes, Patty Griffin. 2026 contest on now. See songwriting.net/winners.

Franco’s Sweet Petunia

Indie-folk duo Sweet Petunia (Madison Simpson/Mairead Guy)—with unapologetic identity, political beliefs and moral compass— sign to Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records, a dedication to community and social activism shines through ‘DIY grit-meets-Appalachian soul.’ Listen at youtube.com/watch?v=9AYHE4RNOdA.The post Song Biz, February 2026: What's Going On This Month first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

What Spotify For Artists is building in 2026 as payouts top $11BSpotify For Artists has kicked off 2026 with a state-of-the-union announcement from Charlie Hellman, the platform’s Head of Music. The update reflects on a record-breaking 2025 while outlining a strategic. Continue reading
The post What Spotify For Artists is building in 2026 as payouts top $11B appeared first on Hypebot.

Free 24/7 Music Industry Mental Health Hotline LaunchesThe music industry finally has a 24/7 immediate response system for mental health. Today, Backline, in partnership with Spotify, Live Nation, and Noah Kahan have launched B-LINE - a dedicated crisis support line created exclusively for musicians, music professionals and their families.
The post Free 24/7 Music Industry Mental Health Hotline Launches appeared first on Hypebot.

Carole King’s Tapestry Celebrates 55th AnniversaryLou Adler and Harvey Kubernik 2008 Interview

Carole King’s extraordinary career has defined American popular music for more than half a century. Born in New York City in 1942, she shaped the soundtrack of the 1960s with “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and other classics written with her first husband Gerry Goffin. King was a leading figure in the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s, with dozens of hits and music awards. Her 1971 album Tapestry won four Grammys and remains beloved across generations in America and around the globe.

Yet King struggled to reconcile fame with her roles as wife and mother and retreated to the backwoods of Idaho, only to emerge in recent years as a political activist and the subject of the Tony-winning Broadway show Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Carole King: She Made the Earth Move was published September 16, 2025 by Yale University Press.

Drawing on numerous interviews as well as historical and contemporary sources, this book brings to life King’s professional accomplishments, her personal challenges, and her lasting contributions to the great American songbook. Journalist and author Jane Eisner places King’s life in context, revealing details of her humble beginnings in postwar Jewish Brooklyn and exploring the roots of her musical genius.

“A robust celebration of a legendary musician.”—Publishers Weekly “A thorough knowledge of King’s musical output inform[s] Eisner’s sensitive investigation.” —Kirkus Reviews “A thoughtful, nuanced, and intelligent take on a reluctant pop star.”—Booklist.

Readers will come to understand the ways King’s four marriages intersected with her artistic production, her fruitful collaborations across genres, her conflicted relationship with fame, and her engagement with politics. Music is at the heart of this biography, and Eisner shows us that the key to understanding King’s music is to appreciate the centrality of the piano in her songwriting and performance. Throughout, Eisner describes how King created melodies and innovative chord structures that continue to resonate today.

All who have been moved by King’s work will relish this deep insight into her unique creativity. Carole King’s songs have become worldwide anthems to friendship, longing, and love.

Jane Eisner is a journalist, educator, and nonprofit leader. From 2008 to 2019 she was editor-in-chief of The Forward. Under her leadership, The Forward became the most influential Jewish news outlet in the country and won numerous regional and national awards. From 2019 to 2023, she was director of academic affairs and an adjunct professor at Columbia School of Journalism.

From 1980 to 2005, she worked at The Philadelphia Inquirer as a reporter, foreign correspondent, editorial page editor, and national columnist. She was vice president of the National Constitution Center from 2006 to 2008. She is known for her interviews with President Barack Obama, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others.

Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. She has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Wesleyan University, Columbia Journalism School, and was the first Katharine Houghton Hepburn Fellow at Bryn Mawr College. She is the author of Taking Back the Vote: Getting American Youth Involved in Our Democracy.

King was inducted into the Rock and roll Hall of Fame in 2021. At the time Carole wrote: “I wanted to be a songwriter so I could meet all the great artists and they would know who I was. I thought being inducted into the Rock Hall as a songwriter with Gerry Goffin was the pinnacle. Until now. Thank you for ALSO inducting me as an artist. And to my fans always.”

The apt choice to induct the 79-year-old King at the Oct. 30 Rock Hall ceremony was Taylor Swift. In her speech, Swift, born 18 years after Tapestry was released, called King “the greatest songwriter of all time.”

The 1971 landmark Tapestry album from singer/songwriter and pianist Carole King, produced by Ode Records label owner Lou Adler, with engineer Hank Cicalo at the board in California at A&M Studios in Hollywood, spent 15 weeks at #1, garnered four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female) Record of the Year, “It’s Too Late;” and Song of the Year “You’ve Got a Friend.” 

Producer Quincy Jones was a 1972 Grammy recepient for an arrangement on his own L.P. of King’s “Smackwater Jack.” The album resided fulltime on the music record charts for six years, generating over 24 million in sales worldwide, making it one of the most successful discs of all-time. 

The first-pressing of Tapestry, as an LP, arrived in March 1971 with little fanfare and modest expectations.  55 years later it holds an exhalted place in the pantheon of pop music; a triumph of master craftsmanship married to a feminine sensibility that transformed both its audience and the marketplace. 

King’s Tapestry was re-relased with a second CD of live performances in retail outlets on April 22nd 2008 on the Epic/Ode/Legacy record label, a division of Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

In 2008, Lou Adler invited me to write the 5,000-word liner notes to this Tapestry Deluxe Edition CD released by Sony Legacy Recordings.

During 2009, I also penned a liner note essay for Sony Legacy’s THE ESSENTIAL CAROLE KING. Author and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Andrew Loog Oldham (founding manager and producer of the Rolling Stones) also wrote an essay for the compilation, produced by Lou Adler, Steve Berkowitz, and Rob Santos.  

The 2008 Tapestry model finally offers a chance to experience Carole King in "unplugged" recital. The second CD in the deluxe package finally realizes Adler's decades-long dream concept, as it marries a newly remastered version of the classic 12-song album with a second CD containing previously unreleased live piano-voice concert versions of songs from the album (in the same order) recorded in 1973 (Boston; Columbia, Maryland; and New York's Central Park), and 1976 (San Francisco Opera House).  Tapestry Live underscores, as Adler knew before anybody when he signed King to Ode, that Carole King had an instinctive grasp of the job she was born to do. 

With Tapestry Live, King has reimagined her monumental 1971 iconic effort and employs a new and different set of vocal and piano musical muscles to her now proven soul-bearing copyrights inhabiting the concert stage.  The unwinding drama built around King’s grand Steinway refurbished visions are displayed in a live setting.

In the April 29, 1971 issue of Rolling Stone, Jon Landau opined, “Carole King’s second album, Tapestry, has fulfilled the promise of her first and confirmed that she is one of the most creative figures in all of pop music. It is an album of surpassing personal intimacy and musical accomplishment and a work infused with a sense of artistic purpose. It is also easy to listen to and easy to enjoy. The simplicity of the singing, composition, and ultimate feeling achieved the kind of eloquence and beauty that I had forgotten rock is capable of. Conviction and commitment are the life blood of Tapestry and are precisely what make it so fine.”

By late 1970, the rock music scene was going through a huge sea change. The glory days of worshiping bands such as Love, Buffalo Springfield, The Doors was fading into a narcotic distance. The deaths of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin (and Jim Morrison just around the corner), the ongoing horror of Vietnam, and the break up of The Beatles all contributed to a subtle but overt change that made the audience desire a different relationship with the music. And that was an intimate, one on one rapport with the message, and that message was delivered by the artist and the singer-songwriter.

Carole King was one this new genre’s throughbreds; a veteran of the late-50’s and early ‘60s immortal Brill Building scene, and artist with an immaculate pedigree. After writing hits for The Byrds, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin and others, by 1968 she had become Canyon-ized, a fixture in this new music community...

Released in late-March 1971, Tapestry struck a universal chord at an opportune time in pop and rock music history - the intersection of folk-rock's introspective and a socially conscious sense of disturbing forensic romanticism in a planet-gone- wild. With the escalating rise of West Coast naturalism centered in the saturated Los Angeles music sector known as Laurel Canyon.

Just prior to Tapestry coming out was the deregulation of the FM bandwidth, which resulted in a mini-explosion of so-called new 'progressive' or 'underground' or 'free-form' radio stations eager to spotlight their own artists and playlists separate from the mainstream Top 40.

In 2003, as yet another milestone of its importance, Tapestry was one of 50 recordings selected by the Library of Congress and placed in the National Recording review.

In a recorded conversation between Carole King and Lou Adler inside A&M Studio B on October 18, 1972, in Hollywood, Ca., King shed some light on her songwriting aspect of Tapestry.

“The music is always again inspiration but I have more control of the musical inspiration. In other words, if I get a musical idea, if I just get a glimmer of a musical idea, I can make that go much more how I want it to go. If I get a lyrical inspiration, I really have to work hard at controlling it. I really can’t control it. And most of the good lyrics that I have written have just sort of come to me without any control.

“The only control that I excert is in editing which I’ve always done to Gerry’s lyrics and Toni’s lyrics. I’m a very good editor and that’s the craft. Once I got to the stage of recording, I have feelings of wondering about whether it going to make it or not for a time, but the big questions about, you know, whether it’s going to make it or will people like it, all the big insecurities really happen when I’m writing the song. Once the song is being written and once it’s finished and I play it for you, and a few people whose opinions I respect, I begin to get a feeling. Sometimes I already have the right feelings. Sometimes I don’t know. When I write my own lyrics, I’m conscious of trying to polish it off but all the inspiration is really inspiration, really comes from somewhere else.”

In their 1972 interview Adler conducted with Carole at studio B at A&M Records, she disclosed the album title origins.

“It is typical of the magic that seems to surround that album, a magic for which I feel no personal responsibility, but just sort of happened, that I had started a needlepoint tapestry, I don’t know, a few months before we did the album, and I happened to write a song called ‘Tapestry,’ not even connecting, you know, the two up in my mind. I was just thinking about some other kind of tapestry, the kind that hangs and is all woven, or something, and I wrote that song. And, you being the sharp fellow you are, (giggles), put the two together and came up with an excellent title, a whole concept for the album.”

In 2008 I interviewed Lou Adler at his office in Malibu, Ca.  

Q: You’ve always been a song man.

A:   Going back to my early days with Sam Cooke and Bumps Blackwell. The first thing that Bumps, Sam’s producer, a man from Seattle who had worked with Quincy Jones when Quincy was 16 or 17. Bumps took us to school. He made us go through stacks of demos, made us break them down. ‘What was good about the first verse?’ ‘The second verse?’ ‘The bridge, and how do you come out of the bridge?’ So, from the beginning part of my career in the music business I was a songman. That was very important to me. When I’m working with Carole on the songs from Tapestry, and she is playing me these songs, she is playing songs that are the best. From track to track, you don’t get a bad song. You might get one song that I would have had a problem with sequencing, but they’re solid songs even just with piano and voice.

Q: Tell me about your stint at Aldon Music in the very early 1960s that later in the decade became Screen Gems Music, who were the publishers of Carole’s songs on Tapestry?

A: Lenny Waronker brought Randy Newman to meet me and I gave Randy a stack of Carole King demos. I thought that was the best education that anybody that wanted to be a songwriter could have. I mean, at one point I said to Snuff Garrett, who was producing Bobby Vee, “I’ll let you hear this, but you’ve got to give me the demo back,” because they were keeping the demos.

“Well, the thing that she did in singing and playing -- and she also sang all the parts that eventually would show up on the followup records, the hits.  Once a producer got a hold of her record, she pretty much laid out the arrangement. Both instrumentally and the vocal parts that would end up on the record. Her demos when I first started working for Aldon Music, the way that we worked, Donnie Kirshner, myself and Al Nevins, and the staff would find out what particlar artist that had a hit and was looking for follow ups.

“That assignment was then given to all the writers to go to their cubicles and knock out some songs. They were there from the beginning.  And actually, wrote the song.  I mean, she -- History shows most of her hits, until she became a recording artist and wrote “You’ve Got a Friend” and “So Far Away,” were with Gerry Goffin. They didn’t just write records, like in ’58 and ’59, for Fabian and Avalon.  But they wrote songs first, and then wrote the record and showed how the song sould be interpreted.

Q: Some thoughts about Gerry Goffin who co-wrote a few tunes on “Tapestry.”

A: Gerry Goffin is one of the best lyricists in the last 50 years. He’s a storyteller, and his lyrics are emotional. “Natural Woman,” “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” both on “Tapestry.” These are perfect examples of situations, very romantic, almost a moral statement. Coming out of the 1950s, with the type of bubble gum music, and then in 1961, Gerry is writing about a girl who just might let a guy sleep with her and she wants to know, “is it just tonight or will you still love me tomorrow?” Goffin could write a female lyric. If he could write the words to “Natural Woman,” that’s a woman speaking. Gerry put those words into Carole’s mouth. He was a chemist before he was a full-time lyricist. He’s very intelligent and obviously emotional.

Q: What about Carole’s growth as a songwriter?

A: Watching her writing her own lyrics as the principal lyricist I saw her develop as a lyrtic writer, “You’ve Got a Friend.”  A famous Carole King song. She was not confident as you can imagine then in writing lyrics, having worked with Gerry, as I’ve said, arguably one of the best lyricists over the last 50 years, maybe. But she gained her confidence within this Tapestry album and I think she had been writing a little bit, but really once we started on Tapestry she felt confident enough to complete those songs. 

“We went by songs. The only thing we reached back for, which was calculated in a way, which of the old Goffin and King songs that was hit should we put on this album? And, that’s how we came up with “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” I thought that song fit what the other songs were saying in “Tapestry.” A very personal lyric. 

“Tapestry was such a partnership between Carole, myself, Hank Cicalo, the engineer, and the musicians, so it’s hard to say anyone suggested because we did it all together. Because it was really that kind of record.  On Carole’s demos that leads to the sound on Tapestry, her piano out front, and the bass drums, maybe a guitar, but she put in all the parts. Within her piano you could hear a string part, or hear another background part, and she did the background parts. After The City album and Writer Carole began writing for herself.

Q: Talk to me about Carole King in 1970, before her “Writer” debut solo LP on your Ode Records label, and just before “Tapestry” began.

A: The climate of the late ‘60s had no women in the Top Ten charts, except Julie Andrews on ‘The Sound Of Music’ soundtrack. Before the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 I flew to New York and tried to sign Laura Nyro. I invited her to perform at the festival.   Carole was in a group the City, who I produced for Ode in 1968. The L.P. was called “Now That Everything’s Been Said.” The City’s album was supposed to be a group, even though it sounds a little like ‘Tapestry,’ not so much in the subtleties, but in the way that group plays off of each other. At the time Carole did not want to be a solo artist. She wanted to be in a group and she was more confortable in a group. She didn’t want to tour that much or do any interviews. And we started to get those kinds of songs that would then lead us to Tapestry.

“Toni Stern, a writer for Screen Gems, collaborated with Carole earlier on the Monkees’ Head soundtrack and The  City album, and Carole’s debut album Writer. I knew her a little bit. She was introduced to Carole by Bert Schneider of RayBert Productions, producers of the Monkees. I saw her when the songs were presented with Carole to me for Tapestry.

“Danny Kootch and Charlie Larkey were on The City’s Now That Everything’s Been Said  album, they are the core certainly of Tapestry. Larkey on both electric and acoustic standup bass and his relationship with Carole at the time, husband and babies to be.  And father of babies to be.  His bass was very important to the sound and feel of Tapestry.

“As music often does, it becomes the soundtrack of the particular time.  What I think happened in ’70 or late ’70, ’71, James Taylor and Joni Mitchell and Carole, is that the listening public and the record-buying public bought into the honesty and the vulnerability of the singer-songwriter, naked in the sense -- You know, what James was singing about, “Fire and Rain.”  Their emotions that they were laying out there allowed the people to be okay with theirs.  And I think the honesty of the records, there was a certain simplicity to the singer-songwriter’s record, because they either start with vocal-guitar or piano-voice.

Q: Reflect on Tapestry.

A: I really knew that it was special.  It brought out emotions that no other record at least at that time had. Tapestry was really special and hit a real chord with the public.”

Q: The pre-production period was fundamental to Tapestry. You cited the influence of jazz vocalist June Christy’s Something Cool LP with arranger Pete Rugolo.

A: It’s one of the first albums that I started noticing sequence and continuity of songs and thoughts, so that it wasn't a roller coaster emotional ride, it was a smooth ride. Musically, if there's one other thing, Peggy Lee with George Shearing, who connected some instrument to his piano playing. He doubled the vibes, he doubled the guitar, you know? You'll hear on Tapestry, if you go back and listen to it, I doubled a lot of Carole's parts with Danny Kortchmar's guitars.

So, for me as a producer, those were two real influences, but especially the June Christy album. Carole’s piano playing on the demos dictated the arrangements. What I was trying to do was to re-create them in the sense of staying simple so that you could visualize the musicians that were playing the instruments. And also tie Carole to the piano, so that you could visualize her sitting there, singing and playing the piano, so that it wasn't 'just the piano player,’ it was Carole. And that came from the demos, which would start with Carole playing and singing, as well as doing some of the string figures, always on piano.

During pre-production I had in my mind to use a lean, almost demo-type sound. Carole on piano playing a lot of figures with a basic rhythm section, Russ Kunkel and Joel O’Brien on drums, Charles Larkey, bass, Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, guitar, Ralph Schuckett on the electric piano, along with David Campbell doing the string section.

“I also had Curtis Amy on sax and flutes, his wife Merry Clayton, and Julia Tillman. James Taylor added acoustic guitar to ‘So Far Away,’ ‘Home Again’ and ‘Way Over Yonder’ on the album. James is also on ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ and along with Joni Mitchell is one of the backing vocalists on ‘You’ve Got a Friend.’”

Q: Explain to me about selecting the songs for Tapestry.

A: In selecting the songs, we had 14 songs that we were considering. One of which was “Out In The Cold” that didn’t make the initial album. Which we later issued as a bonus track that’s on CD. Carole would play the songs, some that she had written, or was finishing, and some that she wrote during the album. Everything that we selected I obviously felt should be on the album and we didn’t have that many songs that we were leavng out.

The pre-production consisted of coming up to my office on the A&M Records lot.  We eventually recorded all of those tracks in the A&M Studios, B and C. After Carole would play all the songs, and at that point we think about musicians that would fit. We had this little core group of musicians. The difference on the tracks realy lies with the drummer. On things like “Home Again” and “So Far Away” was Russ Kunkel, and on the more uptempo ones was Joel O’Brien.

Q: Tell me about the initial playback of Tapestry.

A: I recall wallking out of the studio after a playback with Danny Kooch, and he said, “what do you think of this?” He misinterpreted I think when I replied, “it’s the musical equivilent of Love Story, which was a number one move at that time. And Kootch, felt, “that’s a little soft.” What I meant was that it was an emotional album that was going to be very big and bring out emotions in people that no other record at least until that time had.

Q: What about the post-production after the recording aspect was completed.

A: Carole never expressed this is really good or this is going to be really big. I think she was happy with what we were doing. During the Tapestry sessions she was very confident, very business-like and organized.

“She takes problems that occur in the sessions as good as anybody I ever worked with, fine, get it fixed. She had a real calmness about her., if there is a fire you don’t see it on the surface as far as the post production, after you do all the recording, mixing, I closed the doors to the mixing room, and I played Carole the mixes after they were done, if she had any suggestions we would then go in and fix the mix. But she never asked to be there during mixing and I don’t feel she felt left out.

“When I felt the mix was final to a point, then she would listen and might have suggestions or comments like, ‘That’s it,” “That’s fine” or “I think the vocal has to be up or you missed that part.”

Q: The sequencing on Tapestry was crucial.

A: When I started sequencing Tapestry, I remembered and thought the sequenceing on June Christy’s Something Cool was incredible, the transition from song to song just kept you in the album. It was something that I tried to accomplish with Tapestry.

“I took the tapes home and I went through a lot of changes. I finally fixed on the sequence and took a vacation to my house in Mexico that had a small cassette player and that’s when I came up with the final sequencing. But I went through a lot of changes.

“John Phillips of the Mamas & Papas influenced me a lot on sequencing and what the final chord on one song is to the first note on the next one so it’s not jarring music transitions.

“Sequencing meant a lot in those days, the journey, or the experience or the adventure of lisitening to a new album and sitting down by yourself puttng on that vinyl, The story that it told, the sequencing was very important. I was sequencing for the person who was listening at home, alone.

Q: How does Tapestry fit into Carole’s body of work?

A: Well, I think it is the epitomy the matching of the songwriting with her piano playing. And her vocalizing. The producion allows all of those things to be forefront. It’s not a ‘Spector’ sound as her own sound. We got a little away from the subsequent albums we did after that.

“The group of Tapestry songs have that many right songs on an album, songs that compliment each other. Songs that trasmit everything that is right about Tapestry. What would I do different? Everything was done right for whatever the reasons were. Once again, it’s Carole King as a songwriter.

Q: Tell me about the atmosphere at A&M Records when you produced Tapestry. You did the album on their lot. They distributed your Ode label.

A: A&M itself, you can’t imagine the heads of some labels coming to some sessions and then standing next to you and saying thing, but with Herb (Alpert), because we had been previous business partners and his musicianship, and my respect for him, as co-head of that label, I was totally confortable with that.

“You could talk to him on a music level.  I had my own promotion man within the A&M structure so that helped a lot. The people at A&M loved music. They were not there for any other reason. The fact that a musician who co-owned a label. As far as the first Tapestry playback and the advance buzz, you didn’t have to do much.

We sent out the mailing to radio stations and record reviewers. The first review we got back from The Long Beach Press Telegram was a bad review. Whoever wrote it talked about Carole’s voice being thin. But there was no other plan other than get it out there and let people hear it. The response on the lot itself, visualize it at the time was like a college campus.

“Everybody talked to each other about all the products during lunchtime, and the word on the A&M lot was fantastic, and the kind of responses that validated what we had done. ‘This album is so personal.’ ‘This album I can listen to over and over and it reminds me of things that I’m going through.’ That permeated throughout the years it has continued to sell.

“Each time from vinyl to CD to downloads. Somebody buys Tapestry again because they want to listen to Tapestry in the new mode. It just became personal to everyone who listened to it. There were enough songs in there for people to pick up this song and that song. “So Far away” is my favorite song. At the time of the initial release, we were still thinking AM radio as far as singles. FM radio still had an undergound feel to it.

“The choice of “It’s Too Late” as a single came from (A&M co-owner) Jerry Moss. The differnce between Tapestry and other albums I had been involved in was the word of mouth. On “It’s Too Late” Curtis Amy is on sax. He had played on the Doors’ “Touch Me.” But the distinctive flavor he added to “Tapestry” was his flute. 

“He hadn’t played flute in a very long time and he was nervous about it ‘cause he had just been playing sax. I said, ‘we’re gonna use flute on this.’ Curtis said, ‘Give me a couple of days to work on it.’Curtis and his wife Merry Clayton were both fantastic and were a very important part of Tapestry.

(Harvey Kubernik is the author of 20 books, including 2009’s Canyon Of Dreams: The Magic And The Music Of Laurel Canyon, 2014’s Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll In Los Angeles 1956-1972, 2015's Every Body Knows: Leonard Cohen, 2016's Heart of Gold Neil Young and 2017's 1967: A Complete Rock Music History of the Summer of Love. Sterling/Barnes and Noble in 2018 published Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik’s The Story Of The Band: From Big Pink To The Last Waltz. In 2021 the duo wrote Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child for Sterling/Barnes and Noble. 

Otherworld Cottage Industries in 2020 published Harvey’s Docs That Rock, Music That Matters. His Screen Gems: (Pop Music Documentaries and Rock ‘n’ Roll TV Scenes) was published in January 2026 from BearManor Media.

Harvey spoke at the special hearings in 2006 initiated by the Library of Congress held in Hollywood, California, discussing archiving practices and audiotape preservation. In 2017, he appeared at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in its heralded Distinguished Speakers Series and also a panelist discussing the forty-fifth anniversary of The Last Waltz at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in 2023).The post Carole King’s Tapestry Celebrates 55th Anniversary first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

David Checa joins Warner Chappell Music Colombia as Managing DirectorThe industry veteran will oversee WCM’s operations in one of Latin America’s most influential music markets.
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New Wave of Anonymous Musicians Are Thriving On Their Own TermsA growing number of anonymous musicians are thriving despite - and in part because - they are resisting conventional wisdom to (over)share on social media. By withholding their identities and letting music talk for them, a new wave of elusive artists are building momentum, fanbases, and critical acclaim.
The post New Wave of Anonymous Musicians Are Thriving On Their Own Terms appeared first on Hypebot.

Don’t Sell What You Don’t Have: Why AB 1349’s Crackdown on Speculative Tickets Matters to Touring Artists and FansAfter years of just talk, there is new momentum federally and in the states to fix how concert and event tickets are sold and resold. California AB 1349 confronts what musician and artist advocate David Lowery calls "one of the most corrosive practices in touring: speculative ticketing."
The post Don’t Sell What You Don’t Have: Why AB 1349’s Crackdown on Speculative Tickets Matters to Touring Artists and Fans appeared first on Hypebot.

The Super Bowl on ShuffleWith Green Day and Bad Bunny primed to elicit controversy and conversation, we look back at some of the best (and strangest) performances throughout the history of the Super Bowl. Who should bring home the trophy and who should be sidelined for the rest of the season?

NMPA promotes Danielle Aguirre to Chief Legal Officer & Chief Operating Officer; Charlotte Sellmyer upped to EVPThe pair's new titles reflect how their roles have expanded within the organization.
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The Music Connection February 2026 Playlist is Live!Listen along with MC!

Our monthly issue playlists allow you to hear the featured artists as you read about them, and the February, 2026 playlist is live now!

Check out cover star PinkPantheress, the DIY Spotlighted Leilani Kilgore, and all of the artists included in our Signing Stories, Album Reviews, New Music Critiques, and Live Reviews (as long as they are on Spotify).

Hear the playlist here

While you're there, please "Like" the playlist and "Follow" Music Connection's profile so you'll never miss the chance to listen along with MC!

Previous playlists:

Hear our January playlist here!

Hear the December playlist here!The post The Music Connection February 2026 Playlist is Live! first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

New TikTok Music Terms, Feeds & Outages: All You Need To KnowUS TikTok creators and users are experiencing outages and irrelevant content in feeds as new owners take control. But new TikTok Music Terms Of Service may pose the biggest threat to musicians and labels who rely on the platform.
The post New TikTok Music Terms, Feeds & Outages: All You Need To Know appeared first on Hypebot.