Upsample with Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff

(0:00) Toronto Blue Jays opening day (2:31) Will's physical media level-up (4:59) OpenAI shuts down Sora (17:35) Spotify Artist Profile Protection (30:29) Jasmine Sun on AI and creative writing (50:44) Triple recommendationsCarson recs:Gregory Uhlmann - Extra Stars, Photokem - A Mat in the Garden, kJADE - On Everything I Love. Will recs:Tomeka Reid Quartet - dance! skip! Hop!, Marquis Hill - (Beautifulism) Sweet Surrender, smush - standards EP.FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

let's talk about fully automated slopitalism and the threats to performance rights organizations & songwriters No episode 2 weeks from now (Mar. 13), we return later in March.(0:00) Music MCP (which got taken down)(8:40) SOCAN's AI policies & advocacy(36:23) "Pre-deplatformed" cool content(50:27) Dave King of The Bad Plus' rant(54:54) RecommendationsDarren Hemmings linking to Music MCP at Network NotesSOCAN "Stop Unlicensed AI Training" petitionRyan Broderick's story at Garbage Day: "The only taboo left is copyright infringement: the future of media is pre-deplatformed"Nate Chinen's interview at The Gig with Dave King and Reid Anderson of The Bad PlusRecs: Will - watch Sun Ra: Do The Impossible on PBS (if you can) and listen to the music of Sun Ra and his Arkestra,Carson - listen to The Call by BellbirdFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

"Move fast and break... Kings!" That's what Cory Doctorow calls for in his recent talk. We discuss a potential "post-American internet" future per that talk, then we weave in two related stories: Anna's Archive scraping virtually all of Spotify for torrenting, and Pitchfork launching a paywall.No episode 2 weeks from now (Feb. 13), we return later in February.(0:00) Intro(2:15) Cory Doctorow talk(38:35) Anna's Archive scrapes Spotify(53:17) Pitchfork paywall(1:02:17) RecommendationsLegal complaint against Anna's Archive here.Recs: Will - listen to Catalog Club podcast series by Steven Hyden at Evil Speakers on Substack, which covered Lucinda Williams in January.Carson - read Richard Powers novels, including The Echo Maker which Carson gave to Will.FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

It's Year 2 of Upsample starting now, and the leading AI music company Suno has already intruded into Will's day-to-day in the local scene. What else is in store?(0:00) Intro & Self-Taught Legend(4:27) Hooks by Suno(12:50) Suno Partner Program(32:06) Bandcamp wants to ban AI music(45:35) RecommendationsRecs: Will - listen to Julian Lage: "Opal", "Talking Drum", and "Night Shade" 3 singles from album Scenes from Above coming next week on Blue Note with John Medeski, Jorge Roeder, & Kenny Wollesen.Carson - listen to Blizzard by Dove Ellis.FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

3 days after we published the Side Door episode, a tragic incident injured a loved one of someone from the Side Door community. There's a GoFundMe that the community organized to support them through the hospitalization and recovery.We're back at Carson's house to discuss a book that has influenced our show's entire first year: Filterworld by Kyle Chayka. Stick around for when we look back at all our recommendations across the first 25 episodes and highlight some of them. See you in 2026!(0:00) Upsample Wrapped(11:24) Filterworld(57:27) Recommendations we made in 2025(1:08:54) Seasonal wishes & outroFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

After we rage against Spotify Wrapped and follow up on our previous episodes, Carson unpacks three recent stories related by the theme of AI blowback: a maximally high-effort and human album, an anti-AI revival of Vine, and a platform that might get enshittified by its buyer.(0:00) Intro(4:11) Does Will do year-end lists?(5:57) Canada Music Fund $16 million top-up update(7:42) Side Door correction & updates(11:38) AI blowback?(16:59) Lux by Rosalía(31:34) Jack Dorsey-backed DiVine: bring back Vine?(53:50) Spotify acquires WhoSampled(1:03:41) RecommendationsRecs: Will - listen to Strays by Way Ahead Trio, Carson - listen to What of Our Nature by Haley Heynderickx & Max García ConoverFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

We discuss the story of the Canadian live show platform "where every space is a venue" called Side Door, from the company's founding to its coming end, as announced on Nov. 4.Correction: at about 53 minutes, we say Arlene invested out of Dragon's Den, and we later say that Side Door didn't raise again afterward. Per Simpson's comment on the YouTube version of this episode (Nov. 25), it fell through like many of those DD offers do, but Side Door did raise once more afterward: "Arlene did not actually invest...that's a long story, but just to say Dragon's Den is entertainment first. We did get further investment after this from BDC instead."(0:00) The World Series, the Grey Cup, & JP Saxe sang the anthem(3:28) Side Door Access is winding down on Dec. 31(10:53) Act I: founding to pandemic(32:08) Act II: covid momentum(55:13) Act III: end of the runway(1:04:01) Aftermath & discussion(1:17:59) Outro & recommendationsRecommendations:Will – Check out the New Feeling Co-Op of Canadian music journalistsCarson – listen to Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2 by Chris ThileFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

Carson declines to jinx the Jays. Then it's time to lock in for one of our most theoretical conversations yet, in response to the Never Post podcast episode titled "A.I. and New American Fascism". Will chases it with a Canadian story about the possible non-renewal of a $16 million boost to federal music funding.Correction: at pretty much the very end, I say Universal is the majority shareholder in NTS. They're not; they're merely the largest shareholder.Scheduling note: the next Upsample will drop three weeks from now instead of two.(4:07) Never Post episode overview(14:18) Walter Benjamin(21:13) Sora, OpenAI, and agitslop machines(28:32) Hackers, free marketeers, and their fascist fear-monsters(36:01) A CD with Aura - because you can't see it on the audio pod, it's Brighton Train by Madeleine Elkins (with Will on bass and Kevin Romain on drums) and it's out now!(38:49) How does PragerU fit into this?!(44:56) Activism around the Canada Music Fund and Budget 2025(54:19) Will goes full Ezra(58:24) Recommendations: Will - listen to radio show Self Soothe by Margeaux on NTS, Carson - listen to album Nested in Tangles by Hannah FrancesCanada Music Fund links:Letter/advocacy pageDetails of the fundRoots Music Canada piece by Heather KitchingFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

Madelyn Read (musician, songwriter, and BC Co-Op Association Community Engagement & Education Manager) is our first-ever guest!(01:07) Introducing Madelyn and her work (05:26) VSO musicians strike update (it's over) (10:33) How Madelyn set up her Europe tour in 2024 (21:54) Talking about streaming (26:44) Leaving Spotify(31:14) Madelyn's nuanced disagreement with us(32:45) Madelyn and Will's history at the Ampled co-op(37:26) The Subvert co-op as a Bandcamp competitor(42:29) Madelyn enables Sports Upsample!(45:26) What happened at the end of Ampled(50:23) Co-op considerations for Subvert's future (55:04) Recommendations Links: Madelyn wrote about streaming, on her websiteSubvert: "Q3 Transparency Report"Subvert features updateRecs: Madelyn - listen to Wild and Clear and Blue by I’m With Her, Chandler by Wyatt C. Louis, Good Buddy by Fontine.Carson - listen to Getting Killed by Geese.Will - read Chokepoint Capitalism (2022) by Rebecca Giblin & Cory DoctorowFIND US: MadelynBandcamp: https://madelynread.bandcamp.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madelynread/Will YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/CarsonYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/

Update from later today: VSO musicians have begun their strike. After Will vents about the Canadian Football League controversy, we discuss a potential strike by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) musicians (4:32), purported salary discrepancies (17:52), and we catch a brief response by the VSO in real time while recording (23:22).We jumped the usual schedule to talk about this news, so the next episode of Upsample will drop three weeks from now.VSO musicians' strike announcement videoDaily Hive story which includes response from the VSO1999 CBC story about Toronto and MontrealRecs: Will - watch, listen to, read anything made between 1941 and 1956, inspired by Ted Gioia "Is Mid-20th Century American Culture Getting Erased?"Carson - listen to Bleeds by WednesdayFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

We begin by jinxing the Jays. Then we get into the KARRA story “I invested $100,000 to create my album & Spotify deleted it” & part 2 (2:24), are labels bad if they just use DistroKid? (19:49) and is this gonna make us all leave finally? (35:31) Recs: Carson - listen to God's Gonna Give You a Million Dollars by Shallowater, Will - watch Pablo Torre Finds Out⁩ FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

Be careful out there or you'll get yelled at by shirtless dudes in Pontiacs! Will has a music library app now on his desktop, and Carson needs a new website (02:10), Bandcamp launches Clubs (08:38), EVEN is a hip-hop-coded post-Bandcamp platform (25:35), we check out the familiar mission of another challenger called Ampwall (31:12), and some people really hate Stripe (46:19).Bandcamp Clubs: https://bandcamp.com/about_clubsEVEN: https://get.even.biz/Ampwall: https://ampwall.com/Recs: Carson - The Bear season 4, Will - TANG! by Steph WallFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

(0:00) Will LOVES that you don't read his emails(1:52) Subvert turned down $200K and want to launch with no fees(18:15) "AI Music Night" in Texas(27:26) We need skills to make the platform internet suck less(38:28) Which tech move is Will going to make first? (48:19) JP Saxe's tour got canceled(1:05:18) RecommendationsSubvert 0% Platform Fees links: Changelog linkBlog postAI Music Night links: Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio venue in Denton, Texas announces "AI Music Night"Cancels later the same day after viral backlashJP Saxe tour situation links: First videoFollow-up videoVariety coverageSaxe writes to VarietyHis Substack"Why Some Artists are Rethinking Touring" on Chartmetric's blog by Sonia ChienWill's 2022 article about Cadence Weapon's tour lossesRecs: Will - album Different Strokes for Different Folks by Charlie Hunter & Ella Feingold, Carson - album Baby by DijonFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

We have closure on The Velvet Sundown! Then we get into the very creative ticket pricing, or lack thereof, at Bumbershoot in Seattle and the Guelph Jazz Festival in Ontario (11:43), and a Vancouver city council motion that put several of our favourite ideas on the table, but didn't pass (27:42).Recs: Carson - Tyler Childers album Snipe Hunter, Will - Brighde Chaimbeul album SunwiseFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

After clearing the WeTransfer air, we get into subvert.fm, a collectively owned music commerce platform in development. The Subvert team calls the platform a direct alternative to Bandcamp. We discuss the concept of Subvert and who founded it (11:17), Bandcamp controversies: being sold twice and union drama (15:08), Carson vs. Will on enshittification (29:46), Subvert's structure and current status (38:04), and how we feel about it + are we signing up as artists? (49:46)Recs: Will - podcast episode All One Song :: Jeff Parker on “The Needle and the Damage Done” by Aquarium Drunkard, Carson - album Swag by Justin Bieber FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

The story around Daniel Ek's military tech investments has reached a fever pitch, and nothing about it is likely to improve. Is now finally the time to quit using Spotify? We dive into Deerhoof's announcement about pulling their music from Spotify (4:03), our feelings about what to do as an artist (18:30), and what to do as a user (36:57).Recs: Will - Without A Stage: LA's Independent Jazz Scene directed by Michael DiPietro by The Terrarium on YouTube , Carson - Andor season 2FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

We're back from going to festivals! We kick it off in urban affairs with "The Uncertain Future of Granville Island" by Uytae Lee on the YouTube channel About Here (2:23), then swing into AI as Carson shares the Timbaland music training/generating controversy (24:31) and Will gets into The Velvet Sundown, an accelerationist mix of AI-generated everything + bot playlist marketing (47:09).Timbaland links:“Timbaland’s AI music project is a ghost in a misguided machine” by Sheldon Pearce for NPRZarah Scully claims Timbaland trained Suno using her voiceYouTube video: Curtiss King interviews Zarah ScullyVelvet Sundown links:"The Velvet Sundown are a seemingly AI-generated band with 325k Spotify listeners" by Stuart Dredge for Music AllyBenn Jordan’s IG post claiming Velvet Sundown are 100% AI gen. Rick Beato agrees They are supposedly tweetingRecs: Carson - album Tether by Annahstasia, Will - album Gadabout Season by Brandee YoungerFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

We hang at Carson’s house to celebrate 5 years of Will’s music website Rhythm Changes!(0:00) Intro(2:28) The very beginning of RC in the summer of 2020 with 50 email sign-ups, (7:11) “The worst gig of my life” story and reuniting with David Blake, (15:50) Is vancouverjazz dot-com lost forever? (20:04) The curse of always being The Podcast Guy, (23:29) Times that Will touched a nerve with subjects? (28:35) Caity Gyorgy and 'never write alone', (32:59) Why Will didn't cover the scene's most controversial story, (42:38) How the 2021 heatwave, RC’s failed first jazzfest, and Thad Bailey-Mai's set at Ocean Artworks led to Will meeting Tim Reinert before Tim started presenting shows, (54:26) The tech stack at RC, (1:01:10) Why Will replies to over 80% of music submissions, (1:02:31) Why the Infidels Jazz t-shirt is the most meaningful piece of clothing he owns.Recs: Will - album Ce qui tourne dans l’air by l’Oumigmag, Carson - album All Ashore by Punch Brothers We’ll take a short break now and return in July.FIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

Shout-out to our friends in The Shorties! We then get into a story called "Why it’s Time to Support Grassroots Venues with a £1 Ticket Levy" by Dan McCarthy in The Quietus (5:09), an out-of-nowhere but relevant reference to the 2015 vote on our local transit authority in Vancouver (21:41), and the video "Why EVERY Artist should be on YouTube" by Jon Talks Beats (26:55).Recs: Will - album Sancocho Trifásico by Empanadas Ilegales, Carson - album Caroline 2 by CarolineFIND US: Will -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/Carson-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/ -Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/ Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.