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People enjoy live music more than sex, according to a new study. Here's an important asterisk, though: the study was conducted by concert promoter Live Nation. They partnered with a research fan to survey 22,500 respondents, who rated the satisfaction of live music as being superior to watching sports, playing video games, streaming music, or having sex. They even conducted a biometric study of attendees at a St. Vincent concert, who demonstrated a 53% increase in emotional intensity over the course of the show, about three times as much as when they just listened to recorded music.

Whatever the merits of the study, people seem to be voting with their wallets and feet: live music attendance increased 21% last year (again, according to Live Nation). (Billboard)

Congrats to Ezra Koenig and Rashida Jones

Congratulations to Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig and actor Rashida Jones, who have welcomed a new baby boy. Isaiah Jones Koenig was born last month, reports Us Weekly. The pair have been romantically linked for two years, although they've been coy about the status of their relationship. Li'l Isaiah will have quite the musical pedigree: Rashida Jones's father is legendary producer and composer Quincy Jones.

Aretha Franklin tribute planned for AMAs

Gladys Knight will lead a tribute to Aretha Franklin at the American Music Awards on Oct. 9. "This tribute will go down as one of the best in American music," says Franklin's niece about the performance, which will focus on Franklin's gospel roots. At Franklin's funeral last month, the icon sometimes designated "the Empress of Soul" sang "You'll Never Walk Alone." (Rolling Stone)

Remembering Paul Curcio

Producer Paul Curcio has died of heart failure at age 74. Curcio started his career in the '60s as a member of the Mojo Men, then founded a San Mateo studio used by artists including Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. He's best-remembered, though, for producing a historic metal album: Metallica's 1983 debut Kill 'Em All. His funeral will be held this Saturday, and attendees will be receiving guitar picks marked with Curcio's name and birth/death dates. (Billboard)

Who's still buying CDs?

CD sales continue to plummet as consumers move towards streaming. Still, Americans bought 18.6 million compact discs in the first half of 2018, making the CD market four times larger than the vinyl market. A Billboard analysis suggests that "the CD is definitely on its way to being a niche business like vinyl."

For now, who's still buying CDs? Not hip-hop fans: some of that genre's biggest releases (Eminem, Cardi B, Kanye West) don't even make it to CD. Rock is the biggest genre on CD, and certain albums by artists like Adele still move big numbers of discs. Some retailers say their customers would buy more CDs if they could: "Cardi B could have sold a million CDs, easily," says one record store owner who tells Billboard he was sorry to turn away disappointed "Bodak Yellow" fans.

Retailers are also complaining about the recent move of the industry-wide weekly release date to Friday. Since they already do relatively brisk business on weekends, the former Tuesday release date allowed retailers to generate traffic early in the week as well.

Every woman relates to this club patron with a guy screaming into her ear

The internet has been having a field day captioning a viral photo from a nightclub in Scotland, depicting a man yelling into the ear of a woman who looks bored and unhappy. Some captions have him mansplaining the Cold War, soccer, or the Arctic Monkeys album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Other less charitable captions have him making fun of the furry jacket she's holding.

What was he actually saying? The woman in the photo, Lucia Gorman, says she doesn't remember what her friend Patrick Ritchie was saying...and it doesn't matter. "I just wasn't having it," she said. "I needed to go home. Patrick always talks rubbish anyway so it could have been anything." (NME)

Songs sampled in podcast
Jahzzar: "Comedie" (CC BY 4.0)
BoxCat Games: "Against the Wall" (CC BY 3.0)
Vampire Weekend: "Oxford Comma"
Gladys Knight: "You'll Never Walk Alone"
Metallica: "Kill 'Em All"
Box Cat Games: "Mt. Fox Shop" (CC BY 3.0)
St Vincent: "Birth in Reverse"
Arctic Monkeys: "Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino"