“It’s a pipeline issue: it’s a lot easier to come up with school librarians if you’re actually bothering to train them.” Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that librarians are on the decline in many areas of the US, especially high-poverty and majority-nonwhite districts. This seems to be the case because training to become a librarian can be quite tedious. Several states have no librarian training programmes in place; aspiring librarians must undergo distance training, or go to another state to do their training. 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
