Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the music industry is in crisis. No one's getting rich, right? Probably not, but some investors who were already very rich are about to get richer. The New York Times reports that Warner Music Group — a label group with artists ranging from Led Zeppelin to Cardi B to Ed Sheeran — is moving ahead with a planned initial public offering of stock that will value the company at $13.3 billion.

Not a bad profit for the Russian-born billionaire whose conglomerate bought Warner Music for just $3.3 billion nine years ago. Back in 2011, the recording industry was in freefall, with music sales devastated and streaming still very uncertain as a source of profits. Streaming revenue was already booming before the pandemic, which has further motivated people to sign up for subscriptions, even while overall listening is down.

This kind of evidence that streaming is starting to generate multi-billion dollar profits for investors is sure to fuel further calls to share a more meaningful cut of that income with the artists who actually make the music people are paying for.

Artists looking to rarity, rather than ubiquity, as a way to see income from livestreams

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, everyone from Christine and the Queens to Neil Young jumped on the internet to connect with their fans via livestream. It was mostly free, and it seemed to feel very necessary for everybody. As the crisis drags on, though, artists are rethinking that model.

As Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara told the Guardian recently, "My hesitation is that [livestreaming] is a form of labor we do for free that is generating money for Instagram and Facebook and Twitch."

Laura Marling is taking another tack this weekend with two livestreamed concerts that will be ticketed and have already sold out. Because there's actual money coming in for these shows, her team can invest in the kind of production values that will make it look and feel more like a traditional stage show. There will be professional lighting and several cameras capturing the performances. The UK digital ticketing company handling the show says this may be the way of the future. Phil Hutcheon, CEO of DICE TV, says that when the lockdown hit, "We were seeing lots of artists jumping on to Instagram Live, doing a two-song thing. And it was like, 'Why isn't anyone doing this the right way, and why isn't anyone charging for it?'" (Rolling Stone)

Steel guitarist Bucky Baxter dies at 65

Steel guitarist Bucky Baxter has died at 65; the cause has not been announced. You've heard his playing if you know Bob Dylan's album Time Out of Mind or Dylan's MTV Unplugged special...or if you know R.E.M.’s Green, or Ben Folds's Songs for Silverman, or Steve Earle albums like Guitar Town and Copperhead Road.

The Florida-born guitarist was a founding member of Steve Earle's band the Dukes; it was Earle who introduced Baxter to Dylan, and Baxter would play over 750 shows as part of Dylan's Neverending Tour band from 1992 to 1999. His death was announced by his son Rayland Baxter, a singer-songwriter with whom he also collaborated. (Rolling Stone)

Billie Eilish releases film slamming body-shaming

Billie Eilish has released a three-and-a-half minute film she wrote and directed, addressing body-shaming and alluding to her widely-discussed preference for loose, baggy clothes. The film was originally part of her Where Do We Go? world tour, which is postponed due to the coronavirus crisis. The title of the film refers to other people's opinions about her appearance: "Not My Responsibility."