The Northeast Maglev project aimed to drastically reduce the travel time to and from Washington, DC, Baltimore, and New York City; however, the reduced travel time would have seen significant disruption of multiple neighbourhoods, many housing “working-class, low-income, or minority” Americans — those who, ironically, would have benefited from better public transport. The upheaval of the working-class, along with the high train ticket cost, made the project too unappealing to Baltimore’s planning and transportation chiefs, acting as a contributing factor to the scrapping of the project altogether. Read full article here
Oddities
Why Do Modern Pop Songs Have So Many Credited Writers?
The music industry has changed dramatically over the last few decades – with the number of songwriters credited on number one hits more than doubling. This is due to a combination of factors, including money, the computer and a changing definition of what songwriting is. For example, if The Beatles’ classic “I Feel Fine” was released today, it would likely have four writers credited instead of two, due to the influence of producers, samples and interpolations. With the rise of lawsuits, artists now preemptively add songwriter credits to their songs, even if the similarities between their song and the source material are coincidental. It all goes to show that the music industry is becoming more complex and competitive. Read full article here
Merv
March 29, 2023
