iHeartRadio should revive the Dance Music Hall of Fame

There are halls of fame for rock and roll, country, gospel, blues, bluegrass and other music styles, but there’s no hall of fame for dance music. That includes disco and electronic dance music (EDM).
There was a short-lived Dance Music Hall of Fame, which held just two rounds of introductions in 2004 and 2005. It honored artists, records, producers, DJs and remixers. The organization inducted just six artists before it went inactive: Chic, Sylvester, Gloria Gaynor, Bee Gees, Donna Summer, and Barry White.
I suggest that iHeartRadio acquire the rights to the Dance Music Hall of Fame and resurrect it. It would be a good fit for the company’s Pride Radio. IHeartRadio already puts on a bunch of concerts throughout the year, including festivals and awards shows. This would be a good addition.
If acquiring the rights to the Dance Music Hall of Fame is too difficult, an organization could create the Electronic Dance Music Hall of Fame and consider artists from the Disco era as “early influencers.”
I’d love to see a reputable hall honor dance music artists that wouldn’t get recognition elsewhere. I’d like to see artists inducted like Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Daft Punk, Ace of Base, Martha Wash, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Avicii, Calvin Harris and more.
Other individuals have created halls of fame online, but they don’t have prestige. These include the U.S. Dance Music Hall of Fame, the International Electronic Dance Music Hall of Fame, and the Disco Hall of Fame.

Photo: Cover of Kylie Minogue album “Disco” (2020)

Top-grossing music documentaries and concert movies

While the best-reviewed music documentaries feature Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan and Talking Heads, the highest-grossing movies in the genre feature Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson and Miley Cyrus.
What follows is a list of the top-grossing music documentaries, according to Box Office Mojo.

Top 20 highest-grossing music documentaries

Listed by movie title, artist and gross in millions

1. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011), Justin Bieber, $73.0
2. This Is It (2009), Michael Jackson, $72.1
3. Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008), Miley Cyrus, $65.3
4. One Direction: This Is Us (2013), One Direction, $28.9
5. Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012), Katy Perry, $25.3
6. Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009), Jonas Brothers, $19.2
7. Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991), Madonna, $15.0
8. U2 3D (2007), U2, $10.4
9. U2: Rattle and Hum (1988), U2, $8.6
10. Amy (2015), Amy Winehouse, $8.4
11. Tupac: Resurrection (2003), Tupac Shakur, $7.7
12. Buena Vista Social Club (1999), Cuban musicians, $7.0
13. Justin Bieber’s Believe (2013), Justin Bieber, $6.2
14. Shine a Light (2008), The Rolling Stones, $5.5
15. Stop Making Sense (1984), Talking Heads, $4.9
16. 20 Feet from Stardom (2013), backup singers, $4.9
17. Bring the Soul: The Movie (2019), BTS, $4.8
18. Amazing Grace (2018), Aretha Franklin, $4.5
19. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (2019), Linda Ronstadt, $4.3
20. Burn the Stage: The Movie (2018), BTS, $4.2

The most divisive Vogue magazine covers of 2018

Fashion magazine Vogue frequently stirs up controversy with its cover choices. Its magazines in 2018 were no exception.

The June cover of Vogue Arabia featuring a Saudi princess behind the wheel of a convertible drew widespread criticism.
The issue claimed to be “a celebration of the trailblazing women of Saudi Arabia,” including cover subject Princess Hayfa Bint Abdullah Al Saud. Saudi Arabia had recently lifted its ban on female drivers.
Critics called the magazine tone deaf, noting that at least 11 activists had been arrested in Saudi Arabia in the previous two weeks, most of whom were women who fought for the right to drive.
(See articles by NPR, CNN and Time.)

Vogue Italia was slammed for using “black face” with its cover image of model Gigi Hadid for its May 2018 issue.
Hadid and Vogue Italia later apologized for the photo shoot. Hadid said her skin was bronzed for the session, but also darkened in post-production.
(See articles by People, CBS News, the Daily Mail and Page Six.)

The February issue of British Vogue was mocked for featuring two white actresses, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie, with the cover line “Why we need to talk about race.”
British Vogue has faced criticism for its lack of racial diversity within its covers.
(See articles by the Independent and AJC.)

The March issue of Vogue India was criticized for featuring reality-television star Kim Kardashian West on the cover instead of a South Asia woman.
She also was lambasted for cultural appropriation in the photo shoot. Kardashian West wore a lehenga, a traditional Indian skirt typically worn to formal events or on special occasions.
(See articles by Insider, Fashionista, Indian Express and the Daily Mail.)

Reality-TV star Kylie Jenner stirred up controversy on social media with her appearance on the cover of the September issue of Vogue Australia.
Her makeup artist, Ariel Tejada, implied that Jenner was makeup-free, except for moisturizer, on the cover. People took to social media to call B.S. on that claim.
(See articles by Insider and Dankanator.)

Readers complained about the cover selection for the first issue of Vogue Czechoslovakia. They called the cover ugly and said it wasted Czech beauty Karolina Kurkova by photographing her back.
(See article by the Fashion Spot.)

Finally, in May, readers ridiculed the cover of U.S. Vogue’s Met Gala Special Edition. They knocked Katy Perry’s outfit and said other celebrities at the show had much better ensembles. But no one dared to complain about Rihanna, who shared the cover. (See article by the Fashion Spot.)

Fun videos: Bad Lip Reading, Without Music, Tronicbox, Homemade Movies

YouTube features the work of some very clever creators who have consistently made entertaining videos. I’d like to spotlight a few of my favorites today, including Bad Lip Reading, Without Music, Tronicbox and Homemade Movies.

Bad Lip Reading

Bad Lip Reading has 6.7 million subscribers for its funny videos. The channel spoofs movies, TV shows, sports and political news stories by overdubbing humorous vocal work that matches the lip movements of the subjects.

Without Music

Without Music has 703,000 subscribers for its video channel. It takes music videos and strips out the audio track and then overdubs it with sound effects and vocal performances that match the on-screen action. It’s all done for comic effect.
My favorite is “Bad Blood Without Music,” a remix of the Taylor Swift video for “Bad Blood.”

Tronicbox

Tronicbox has remade a bunch of modern pop music songs as if they were done in the 1980s. The effect is pretty entertaining. Songs done in the synthesizer-heavy sound of the ’80s include “Firework” by Katy Perry, “Cool for the Summer” by Demi Lovato, and “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra.
Tronicbox has 300,000 subscribers.

Homemade Movies

CineFix does ultra-low-budget homemade remakes of Hollywood movie trailers like “Justice League” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” They’re cheesy, but you have to admire the dedication of these film fans. Cinefix is owned by Mashable, a unit of Ziff Davis.

Link rot, a problem with no end in sight

Every year I run a scan of Tech-media-tainment to check for broken weblinks and each year I’m saddened by how many I find.
I like to include weblinks to news articles, blog posts and websites to provide additional resources for readers. But as the years pass, a lot of those links stop working. People clicking on those hyperlinks will get 404 and other error messages.
That’s frustrating for readers. And it’s frustrating for blog editors like me. I spend a few hours every year deleting dead links, a problem known as link rot.
Link rot makes it difficult to preserve information and research online. What’s here today might not be here tomorrow. It is the biggest failed promise of digital content.
Once again I used the free online tool at BrokenLinkCheck.com to scan for web pages with broken or dead links. The tool processed 1,513 web pages at Tech-media-tainment and found 161 broken links.
Quite a few websites simply went kaput, including specialty sites and viral media aggregators on Tumblr and elsewhere.
Among the websites that shut down were those for older movies and canceled TV shows, including “Katy Perry: Part of Me,” “Terminator: Salvation” and NBC’s “Do No Harm.”
Defunct businesses that let their websites expire included the Bikini Hockey League and Lingerie Basketball League.
Another website that closed was for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. That website, Recovery.gov, was President Barack Obama’s plan to get the U.S. out of the Great Recession. I guess his administration said “Mission accomplished” and shut it down.
At least 16 of the bad links belonged to the Huffington Post. In many cases, HuffPo had run an Associated Press story, but the licensing rights likely expired.
News websites especially need to be better stewards of online content and keep weblinks from expiring. There needs to be more permanence to online content.

Photo: Huffington Post 404 error page.

The 20 most significant magazine covers of 2015

Some prominent magazine covers last year were as notable for their subject matter as their design.
After running down the 20 most controversial magazine covers and the top 20 naked celebrity magazine covers of the year, it’s time to consider the most significant magazine covers of the year.

Sports Illustrated; July 20, 2015

Sports Illustrated had a field day making covers for the U.S. women’s soccer team winning the 2015 World Cup.
First, it made a stunning digital cover with the team celebrating with the trophy.
Then, it created 24 covers for the print magazine: one cover for each of the 23 players and their coach.
(See articles by Sports Illustrated, the Daily Mail and the Huffington Post.)

Charlie Hebdo, January 2015

French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo courageously illustrated the Prophet Muhammad on the first cover of its publication after a terrorist attack on its offices.
The cover showed a crying Muhammad holding a sign reading “Je Suis Charlie,” the viral refrain of support for the staff of Charlie Hebdo.
On Jan. 7, 2015, two Islamic terrorists killed 12 people and injured 11 others at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Witnesses said the attackers yelled, “We have avenged the prophet.”
Some Muslims believe any depiction of the Prophet Muhammad is blasphemous, and Charlie Hebdo has published multiple satirical depictions of the prophet in the past.
Many U.S. news media refused to run a photo of the cover for fear of angering Muslims.
(See articles by Reason, the Boston Globe, the Verge and a follow-up article by Reason.)

Time; April 20, 2015

Time magazine earned kudos for its April 20, 2015, issue with a cover story on the implications of the fatal shooting of African-American man Walter Scott by Charleston, South Carolina, police officer Michael Slager.
(See article by the Huffington Post.)

Time; May 11, 2015

A few weeks later, Time magazine earned similar praise for its dramatic cover spotlighting the Baltimore riots after the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of police officers.
(See articles by the Huffington Post and Time.)

National Geographic, November 2015

National Geographic raised the temperature on the global warming debate by devoting an entire issue to the subject.
National Geographic’s “Climate Issue” has been nominated for an Ellie Award by the American Society of Magazine Editors. The 2016 National Magazine Awards for Print and Digital Media will be awarded on Feb. 1.
(See articles by National Geographic and ASME.)

Bloomberg Businessweek; June 15-28, 2015

Also nominated for a 2016 Ellie Award is Bloomberg Businessweek for its single-topic issue entitled “Code: An Essay.”
Bloomberg devoted its entire issue to the topic of software engineering.
(See articles by Bloomberg, the Huffington Post and another piece by HuffPo.)

Newsweek; Jan. 2-9, 2015

Newsweek had a bestseller on its hands with its cover story on the Bible. “So Misunderstood It’s a Sin,” the subhead said.
(See articles by Newsweek and CNN Money.)

Time; Dec. 21, 2015

Time magazine picked German Chancellor Angela Merkel its 2015 “Person of the Year.”
It faced the usual criticism for not picking someone controversial. (In years past, it has overlooked Edward Snowden, Osama bin Laden and others.)
(See articles by Reuters and Reason.)

Sports Illustrated; Dec. 21, 2015

Sports Illustrated picked tennis great Serena Williams as its 2015 Sportsperson of the Year.
(See articles by Sports Illustrated and the Daily Mail.)

Vogue, September 2015

Beyonce nabbed the cover of Vogue’s September issue, the fashion magazine’s most important issue of the year. She is just the third black woman, after Naomi Campbell and Halle Berry, to appear alone on the September issue cover.
(See article by the Huffington Post and a follow-up piece by HuffPo.)

Maxim, June and July 2015

Men’s magazine Maxim dumped its traditional Hot 100 list of sexy women and chose singer Taylor Swift as No. 1 on its reinvented Hot List.
The magazine wanted to “redefine what hot means,” according to editor-in-chief Kate Lanphear. Swift was chosen as much for her accomplishments as her good looks.
(See articles by WWD, the Huffington Post and Entertainment Weekly.)

Forbes; July 20, 2015

Singer Katy Perry was named the top-earning female celebrity of the year by Forbes magazine and earned a cover photo.
(See article by the Daily Mail.)

Sports Illustrated; June 15, 2015

Sports Illustrated commemorated the Triple Crown victory of racehorse American Pharoah with a dramatic cover photo.
(See article by Sports Illustrated and a critique by the Huffington Post.)

The New Yorker; June 22, 2015

The June 22, 2015, cover of the New Yorker magazine sparked a debate about kids spending too much time in front of computer screens.
(See article by the Huffington Post.)

The New Yorker; Sept. 14, 2015

The Sept. 14, 2015, cover of the New Yorker poked fun at rapper Kanye West and his stated plans to run for the presidency in 2020.
(See article by the Huffington Post.)

New York; Oct. 5-18, 2015

New York magazine turned a critical eye toward the state of Times Square in its Oct. 5-18, 2015, issue. Its racy cover was a parody of the famous Alfred Eisenstaedt photo of a U.S. sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day.
(See articles by New York magazine and Cover Junkie.)

Maxim, September 2015

Actor Idris Elba became the first ever male to appear solo on the cover of Maxim magazine with the September 2015 issue.
Maxim is trying to reinvent itself as it and other lad mags struggle.
(See article by the Daily Mail.)

Zoo, December 2015

British lad mag Zoo published its final print issue in December. The cover series featured the magazine’s usual array of beautiful busty women. Zoo’s end followed the demise of other lad mags, including Loaded, Nuts and FHM.
(See articles by the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Telegraph.)

Details, December 2015

Conde Nast printed its final issue of men’s magazine Details in December with actor Eddie Redmayne on the cover.
(See articles by the Daily Mail and the Wall Street Journal.)

Oh My Vlog! July 22-Aug. 18, 2015

The premiere issue of Oh My Vlog! magazine was roundly criticized online. The new publication focuses on the superficial world of video bloggers, a new class of celebrities primarily on YouTube.
(See articles by the Huffington Post, Wired and Glamour.)

The 20 most talked-about magazine covers of 2014 (that didn’t feature nudity)

Magazine covers often try to be provocative to attract attention.
Sometimes they become news stories themselves.
What follows are some of the most talked-about magazine covers of 2014. I’ve excluded the notable ones that involved nudity because they were too numerous and I discussed them in an earlier article.

The New Yorker; Jan. 20, 2014

When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was accused of shutting down the George Washington Bridge as political payback, the New Yorker magazine depicted him as a little boy with a ball stopping traffic on the bridge.

GQ, February 2014

GQ may have gone bust trying to get this issue on the rack.
The cover features pop singer Katy Perry with her breasts nearly popping out of her top.
In the accompanying article, Perry talks about praying for large breasts as a young girl. She got her wish.
(See GQ photo spread and articles by Us Weekly and E Online.)

Rolling Stone, Feb. 13, 2014

Pope Francis scored another magazine cover with his appearance on music magazine Rolling Stone. It was the first time Rolling Stone has featured a pope on the cover.
(See articles by the Huffington Post and Information Overload.)

Milwaukee Magazine, March 2014

Milwaukee Magazine caused a stir with its cover story on same-sex weddings. The cover featured a lesbian couple in wedding gowns embracing.
Sendik’s Fine Foods in Brookfield, Wis., blocked the cover, thinking it would offend customers. Instead it ignited a debate about censorship.
(See articles by Jim Romenesko, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and WISN.)

Newsweek; March 14, 2014

The March 14, 2014, issue of Newsweek promised to unmask the mystery man behind the crypto-currency Bitcoin. The article erupted into a firestorm of controversy after the story’s accuracy was questioned.
(See articles by Adweek, Reuters, Medium, Los Angeles Times and BuzzFeed.)

Jalouse, April 2014

French magazine Jalouse caused controversy when it featured 12-year-old Thylane Blondeau as its cover model. It touted her as the next Kate Moss.
The Jalouse cover raised concerns about the sexualization of children.
(See articles by the Daily Mail and Huffington Post.)

Vogue, April 2014

A lot of people were outraged that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were on the cover of the April 2014 issue of Vogue.
A Vogue cover is a major accomplishment for fashion models. Giving the cover to a reality-TV fame whore and an egotistical rapper was inappropriate, critics said.
(See articles by New York Magazine and Hollywood Life.)

Golf Digest, May 2014

Golf Digest took heat for its choice of model Paulina Gretzky as its cover subject for the May 2014 issue.
She doesn’t play professional golf but is engaged to PGA tour star Dustin Johnson.
The move irked members of the LPGA, who are largely ignored by the magazine.
(See articles by the Huffington Post and Business Insider.)

Time, June 9, 2014

Laverne Cox made headlines when she became the first openly transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine. Cox, who stars in the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black,” was featured on the June 9, 2014, issue. (See article by Entertainment Weekly.)

People; June 16, 2014

The June 16, 2014, cover of People magazine sparked concerns about the health of possible presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In the picture, it looked like Clinton was using a walker. She was actually leaning on a patio chair. (See article by Business Insider.)

Sports Illustrated, Aug. 25, 2014

Thirteen-year-old sensation Mo’ne Davis became the first Little Leaguer to grace the national cover of Sports Illustrated.
(See article by Mother Jones.)

People; Aug. 25, 2014

People magazine’s best-selling cover of the year was its Aug. 24, 2014, issue on the death of actor Robin Williams.
The issue earned the inaugural People Magazine Award for Best People Magazine Cover of the Year.

Wired, September 2014

The Wired profile of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden featured a cover without text except for the magazine’s title. The dramatic design earned many plaudits.

Time, Sept. 1, 2014

Time magazine earned kudos for its Sept. 1, 2014, cover about the racial unrest in Ferguson, Mo.
(See article by the Huffington Post.)

Entertainment Weekly, Sept. 5, 2014

Entertainment Weekly did four covers for its Sept. 5, 2014, issue about the fifth season of the “Walking Dead.” The most popular cover, according to a reader poll, was that of Danai Gurira as sword-wielding zombie killer Michonne.

The New Yorker, Sept. 8, 2014

The Sept. 8, 2014, issue of the New Yorker earned stellar reviews for its cover featuring the retirement of New York Yankees great Derek Jeter.

The New Yorker, Sept. 29, 2014

The New Yorker cover on Sept. 29, 2014, about the NFL’s legal problems was an attention-grabber.
The New York Times did an article about the magazine’s covers shifting from polite to provocative.

Bloomberg Businessweek, Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 2014

Bloomberg Businessweek did a cover story on the spread of Ebola.
The cover reflected the terrifying nature of the disease.

Vogue China, November 2014

The November 2014 issue of Vogue China earned headlines because the model was wearing the upcoming Apple Watch. The smartwatch was modeled by Liu Wen.
(See articles by the Huffington Post, the Verge and Fashionista.)

Time, Dec. 22-29, 2014

Time magazine chose the Ebola fighters for its Person of the Year issue. It created five covers for the special edition.