Ethan Millman

Rolling Stone • 6th March 2024

How Taylor Swift Took Over Your Local Record Store

As a Rolling Stone analysis of the 100 bestselling vinyl albums of each year since 2012 shows, pop is taking over from rock as the medium’s dominant genre. As vinyl has once again become a mainstream listening and collectible format, vinyl buyers are getting increasingly younger, and the most popular albums have shifted from indie rock to mainstream pop records from the likes of Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and Lana Del Rey.

Rolling Stone • 20th February 2024

Beyoncé Just Became the First Black Woman Artist With a Number One Country Song

Beyoncé has become the first Black woman artist ever to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in the modern history of country music, thanks to her country debut “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which also opened at Number Two on the Hot 100.

Rolling Stone • 2nd February 2024

His Song Was Going Massively Viral. Hours Later, Universal Music and TikTok Went to War

On Tuesday, Cody Fry was elated when his record label, UMG-owned Decca Records, told him that his single “Things You Said” had blown up on TikTok. The excitement ended within hours, as soon after Fry saw news of UMG's open letter claiming they hadn’t renewed their licensing agreement with the social platform and that all of the company’s music would be removed the following day.

Rolling Stone • 31st January 2024

TikTok's Music Armageddon May Be Coming. Here's What You Need to Know

If Universal Music Group pulls its music from TikTok, it could be a massive tidal wave on the world’s most influential social media platform.

Rolling Stone • 27th December 2023

2023's Music by the Numbers: Taylor Swift Dominated, Country Boomed, and Hip-Hop Sunk

Taylor Swift had four of the top 10 most-consumed albums in the U.S., while a whopping 30 country songs made the year-end Hot 100.

Rolling Stone • 11th December 2023

Go-Go's Guitarist Jane Wiedlin Claims Influential Rock DJ Sexually Abused Her as a Teen

Six women now accuse famed former KROQ DJ and club owner Rodney Bingenheimer of molesting them when they were underage.

Rolling Stone • 30th November 2023

The Music Industry's #MeToo Wave Is Just Getting Started

The surge of sexual-abuse lawsuits that hit some of the music industry’s most powerful figures last week isn’t over yet, several lawyers tell Rolling Stone. Last week, as the window for New York’s Adult Survivors Act (ASA) was nearing a close, it brought forward one of the widest sets of allegations to hit the industry in years as renowned artists and executives including Axl Rose, Sean “Diddy” Combs, L.A. Reid, and Jimmy Iovine all faced lawsuits that detailed allegations of sexual abuse. The

Rolling Stone • 30th October 2023

'Fake Bullshit Shows': Guess Who Co-Founders Sue Ex-Bandmates

Founding members Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings filed a suit against the band and fellow founding members Jim Kale and Garry Peterson, calling the current lineup a "cover band".

Rolling Stone • 19th October 2023

Danny Elfman: Second Woman Accuses Composer of Sexual Misconduct

A second woman has come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against composer and musician Danny Elfman, according to a lawsuit obtained by Rolling Stone. The suit comes three months after a Rolling Stone investigation revealed that Los Angeles composer Nomi Abadi previously accused Elfman of exposing himself and sexually harassing her in 2017.

Rolling Stone • 4th October 2023

Top Hipgnosis Exec Sued For Sexual Assault, Harassment

A top executive at Hipgnosis Songs — the company that helped drive the music industry’s copyright acquisition boom while buying catalogs from stars like Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake and the Red Hot Chili Peppers — has been accused of sexual assault, according to a new lawsuit filed in Los Angeles and obtained by Rolling Stone. A former colleague of Kenny MacPherson, the CEO of Hipgnosis’s publishing arm Hipgnosis Songs Group, sued MacPherson on Wednesday, when he was president of music publ

Rolling Stone • 2nd October 2023

Artists Sound Off on Merch Sales Fight: 'It Feels Like You're Dealing With the Mob'

Merch fees are a standard strategy at venues of all sizes, with artists handing over between 15 and 30 percent of their merch revenue back to the venue each night, but the tax is one of the most hated policies among touring musicians, who argue that many venues can hardly justify that cut other than a spot at the venue for a crew member to hawk shirts and albums.

Rolling Stone • 5th September 2023

Country Music's Summer of Streaming Domination

Led by digital-first behemoths like Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan, Luke Combs, and Jelly Roll, country music experienced a massive surge this year that shows no sign of abating any time soon.

Rolling Stone • 1st September 2023

How Teasing Tunes on TikTok Screws Songwriters

Testing songs on TikTok before an official release has become a standard practice to gauge demand. But songwriters like One Republic frontman Ryan Tedder say it takes money from their pockets

Rolling Stone • 31st July 2023

Jason Aldean Turns 'Small Town' Fear-Mongering into the Number One Song in the Nation

Jason Aldean is riding the controversy behind his single “Try That in a Small Town” all the way to the top of the charts: The song is Number One on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Rolling Stone • 20th July 2023

Danny Elfman Settled a Sexual-Harassment Allegation for $830,000

Danny Elfman, one of the most prolific and celebrated film and television composers of all time, entered into a settlement and nondisclosure agreement with a former friend and fellow composer in 2018. Now, the woman is suing Elfman, according to new court documents obtained by Rolling Stone, alleging that Elfman has failed to fully pay the agreed-upon $830,000.

Rolling Stone • 7th July 2023

Hip-Hop's Chart Dominance Is Slipping This Year

Lil Uzi Vert and their new album Pink Tape could finally bring hip-hop its first Billboard Number One album of 2023 next week — a rare delay for the genre, which has gone more than half the year without topping the chart. The streak has been one of the bigger talking points among hip-hop heads and industry onlookers this year as they ponder what’s going on.

Rolling Stone • 28th June 2023

How to Make a Viral AI Hit

We asked a Grammy-winning songwriter to show us how to make a song using AI. We got a brand-new Biggie rap with a hook by a fake Harry Styles

Rolling Stone • 13th June 2023

Hit Writers for Katy Perry, Beyoncé Ask: Is It Time to Strike?

It may surprise most music fans to hear a songwriter whose credits include seven multi-platinum singles say there isn’t much money to make for their work anymore. But to the fellow songwriters who’ve spent years asking why their revenues have dried up in the streaming era, such a claim is yet another affirmation for how difficult it’s become to enjoy a sustainable career.

Rolling Stone • 11th May 2023

We've Heard the Future of Music. So Far, It Sounds Terrible

Google just rolled out one of the most anticipated artificial intelligence music generators in the industry, a powerful tool that can let anyone who uses it describe music they want to hear and have a track generated seconds later. It’s a potential game-changer in the buzzy AI music sphere, but at least for now, much of the music itself just doesn’t sound very good. Google first previewed MusicLM in a report in January, impressing the music and tech world as it showed off samples of tunes the s

Rolling Stone • 7th May 2023

WGA Writers Want Reforms. Songwriters Ask, 'When's Our Turn?'

As the Writers Guild of America continues to ramp up its first strike in over 15 years, no one in the music business has been looking on with more intrigue — and maybe a hint of envy — than songwriters. The cadre of behind-the-scenes hitmakers have themselves been looking for ways to push reforms of their own for years, albeit to much less media coverage than what the WGA saw this week.