On November 3 -- with a record number of voting ballots returned, the voice of America called for change -- ultimately expected, with a growing lead, over 77-million voters have chose democrat, Joe Biden for President of the United States. The U.S. House of Representitives also remained democratic blue. For four years, the American way has been constantly challenged, and by voting for a change in leadership, the country asserted who does not represent it. The U.S. Senate also had a few changes of seating, a few senate races are still being counted. Recounts and runoff senate races are expected -- current president, Donald Trump has continued to dispute the results.
Ahead, the United States has a lot of work to combat the coronavirus and get back on track as a country -- from rebuilding its departments and recovering destroyed research to sorting out intelligence and fighting remaining corruption. If parties can work together, more stimulus will likely easily be passed, and help fuel the slow careful recovery required to stomp out the coronavirus -- the slow but necessary aggressive/balanced recovery that the previous administration repeatedly has failed to make happen.
In addition, American culture needs to get on a new track and consider what happens after the current president exits and as Biden takes office. Citizens need a positive way of understanding how the country has changed, narrating the previous presidency, and dealing with the times it affected them. It might never be known the extent in which 2020's issues were directly caused by those in power.
In 2020, torrents and peer-to-peer file-sharing programs are no longer as popular, it's easy to assume everyone switched to streaming, however; what if the industry overlooked something important?
Kyle Keith, Ascendents Corporation founder/president and lead singer-songwriter/electric guitarist from The Ascendents rock band, mentions how the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected industry artists -- when normally musicians everywhere could be generating income from live events/touring, currently it is not happening legally, causing skilled music artists whose careers rely on the music industry to struggle even harder for survival, greater hindering culture/society's ability to create art.
Discovering artist music downloads being leaked/offered for free by a trusted distribution partner (as if the work is worthless) is disappointing, because of a consensus that these mainstream distribution partners had a similar business model of generating income for artists all around the world.
Perhaps this alternate server interfaces with their main servers, while removing undeniable connections back to their business, because if the backdoor website is simply a hack by another third-party and the site name is a coincidence, then why would the real company allow it to continue, maybe they aren't watching their Google results?
Try this!
Verify the existence of the download site for yourself! (For information purpose only, not for illegally downloading music)
1. Google search for: qq music search
2. Navigate to download site
3. Search for a song
4. Press the download button
More information
It's easy to wonder how many random internet users have found their way to the download site, the streaming service is said to have half a billion listeners.
Use this calculator to estimate potential lost music revenue.
i.e. 20,000,000 users * 50 songs each * $0.99 per song = $990 million dollars per period
Music from all major distributors have been found on the site, escalating this for public discussion.
Article from The Conversation reported, Why do American cops kill so many compared to European cops? "American police kill 100 times more civilians than Finnish police. Racism and gun control are just part of the problem," and, "...people in Europe are, therefore, more likely than their American counterparts to encounter well-educated and restrained police officers." (Read also related article: How Police Training Contributes To Avoidable Deaths, The Atlantic).
vox.com/identities/2016/8/13/17938170/us-police-shootings-gun-violence-homicides See image article -- "Americans make up less than 5 percent of the world’s population, yet they own roughly 45 percent of all the world’s privately held firearms." Also, here is FBI data for Law Enforcement Officers Assaulted: Type of Weapon and Percent Injured, 2009–2018.
In a newly released May 2020 publication, nces.ed.gov (the U.S. National Center for Education and Statistics) reported showing 14% of Americans with reading ability proficiently/at high-school level, and 8% are proficient at mathematics. This is similar to a 2019 report from Wylie Communications, which used NCES PIAAC numbers from 2014, where, "just 12% of Americans can read at what we consider the high school literacy level," and, "2% have college literacy levels."
NCES releases various publications of 4-year and 10-year studies that benchmark Americans with other countries.
Apparently, the majority of people cannot do their own research; they might not comprehend what they are reading or writing -- they might not know if they have quality information.
Ascendents Records (the record label/corporation) has opened a small store with music and accessories for its artists, fans, and nearby residents/the surrounding area in Southeast Portland, Oregon. Until now for the area, the closest gear and instrument dealers running the scene have been Guitar Center, and Portland Music Company. When smaller music stores catered to acoustic guitar players, for other genres, such as rock, artists would have to visit a larger store, however; with the rise of online sales and increased competition, the power chains have been found chasing every penny.
"We narrowed down the search to bring our customers the products with the best value," said Ascendents Corporation President, Kyle Keith; he continued, "you can't go to just one store and buy everything we carry," implying that the expert work to create their instrument/gear/accessories/music selection is a reason to check out the location. Keith continued, "we offer customers gear for our favorite styles of music/market." With decades of production experience, he has claimed to have been through enough situations to know the quality and type of equipment people really need the most. "We carry many cool products -- including equipment from well-known trusted brands such as Shure, Peavey, Boss, and Yamaha, and Fender -- we also have some of the best entry-level gear for those on a tighter budget, however; we are official authorized dealers of PreSonus products. For those brands, visiting Ascendents Records just might be a best option; oftentimes we purchase directly from the manufacturer -- plus we work with our customers."
With its retail store section opened (get directions), local artists and also those from out of town traveling have stopped in to talk/inquire about record deals, leaving demos, and producing songs. Others have dropped by looking for music, different types of mixer gear, or accessories such as adapters and strings. Keith said, "we welcome everyone, not only our label-artists. Bring us your band's CDs and t-shirts to sell. Bring us posters for our wall along with upcoming event flyers; we can even help you sell tickets."
Image from ascendentsmusic.com
As a record label, Ascendents Records offers its signed artists professional and state-of-the-art album production/encoding deals with manufacturing/distribution, licensing/rights/catalog and administrative management, artist/songwriter services, and appearances/marketing support -- including music such as The Ascendents' 2020 release, Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll.
Keith's emerging grunge punk alternative rock band (The Ascendents) and a few musically-inclined friends currently have stepped up to help maintain the shop. On the busy street of 82nd avenue, the black and white sign for the music and accessory store reads, "6819 Ascendents Records -- Music & More."
Kyle also mentioned that for now it will focus on bringing affordable gear to the local area, however; as it works with a partner internet corporation, Ascendents.net, Inc., and details expanding to sell more products online through their web store https://ascendents.net/store/, the company could reach new markets. Ascendents Records' physical store has hundreds of products/accessories. Their website, https://ascendentsrecords.com, has a note about the store opening. Keith also added a dedicated webpage with business hours, phone number, a map/driving directions, and current specials, and extra information about the brands/products available. A partial list of available products is here: https://ascendentsrecords.com/offers.
The recent Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the way people do business. While the store is currently closed to walk-up customers, people can still call-in orders and arrange to have products picked up or delivered.
Update (May 2020): The store has re-opened to customers and complies with statewide mask rules.
