Questlove Hearts Pandora, Carpool Karaoke is Dope for Artists, and Puppies Are The Shiznit: Liv Buli’s This Week in Music and More

Another week has ended and its time for a bit 'o buli, as in Liv Buli, who as Data Journalist for Pandora's Next Big Sound has the bestest job title ever. Each week she steps away from the stats to share her version on 5 Bullet Fridays for the music industry. Read and learn:

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Hello friends,

I spent the morning volunteering at BARC shelter in Williamsburg. It was probably the best way to spend a morning ever, even though the puppy I was walking pooped a good five times.

It went pretty much like this:

PUPPIES!!!!

In more serious (but also fun) news, big announcement in the NY Times for us this week. Questlove is going to be partnering with Pandora and hosting a weekly podcast. If the mixtape is any indication, this will be sick guyzzzz.

Pandora Looks for a Way Out of the Doldrums. Cue Questlove.

As of last weekend, Frank Ocean kind of put me out of my misery and released both an album, “Blonde” (spelled “Blond” on the cover which is like ridiculously confusing as this whole ordeal has been), and a visual album, “Endless.” Both are Apple Music exclusives though, so…

Frank Ocean, Apple Music, and the Headache of Streaming Exclusives

But then, according to Ben Sisario, Lucien Grainge was like ‘wassup peeps, had enough of this already,’ and put the kaibosh on future exclusives.

Frank Ocean's 'Blonde' Amplifies Discord in the Music Business

And obviously everyone was talking about it.

Earlier this week, I took a quick look at how James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke series has impacted the tracks that they sing.

James Corden's Carpool Karaoke Gives Music Artists A Huge Boost

Speaking of Carpool Karaoke, Britney Spears (who just dropped her new album “Glory”) made an appearance this week. The parts where she lip-syncs make me feel a little uncomfortable.