By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

Some of the most beautiful songs center around the theme of saying “goodbye.” Most of these songs are love songs, with lyrics about having to say goodbye to a romantic partner due to a breakup. Many more are about unrequited love, or saying goodbye to the dream of a romantic relationship that never happened. These songs provide great comfort to those who need them, but songs in which a romantic couple doesn’t work out for one reason or the other are so plentiful, anyone can find a multi-item playlist devoted to the topic with a few clicks and keywords on any music streaming service. 

But what about those other times in life we have to say goodbye? What if the romantic relationship isn’t over, or what if the situation doesn’t have anything to do with romance at all?

One of these five songs might be the perfect theme song for your own goodbye. It may even be the first on a playlist you make to fit your unique situation. 

A happy goodbye: Looking forward to your new life in a new place: Moving Song (Lou Santacroce

Moving away can be sad, if the move is forced or reluctant. It can be bittersweet, as dear friends or family members are left behind, while at the same time, new experiences and settings are eagerly anticipated. Or it can be nothing buy joyful, like this song. Released in 2018 on the album “The Man in the Rainbow Suspenders,” Moving Song describes the process of packing and loading boxes with the help of friends. The song is one of the most upbeat tracks on the album, with even the instruments described sounding happy to be packed as they’re played in the background.

Wistful goodbyes: The goodbyes to family and friends in our memories: Memories (Maroon 5)

At first listen, this one seems to be about the narrator remembering a breakup, thinking about a past love. But if you pick up on the lyric “toast to the ones here today, toast to the ones that we lost on the way,” and you realize that the song is actually about the loss of family and/or friends. There is nothing that explicitly states that the people have gone on the Heaven and not just drifted out of the narrator’s life, but it is suggested by the line ‘cause I can’t reach out to call you, but I know I will one day.”

One of the worst goodbyes: A pet going to wait for you in Heaven: One More Walk (Kevin Keating)

According to his official YouTube channel, Utica musician Kevin Keating wrote this song a few days after the passing of his beloved Border Collie, Teala. The song is a sweet, loving tribute describing both a longing for one more day spent here on earth with a pet who has passed, while at the same time knowing they are waiting to spend eternity with us.

A temporary goodbye: Leaving on a Jet Plane (John Denver)

People often reference this song when they or someone else is going on vacation, but no vacationing happens in the story told by this song. The narrator describes already being “so lonesome I could die” and says “I hate to go.” As the song progresses, we learn that the narrator regrets past bad behavior, asks the woman to please promise to wait for him, and assures her that when he gets back, they’ll get married. When read or listened to closely as a whole, this song is not about someone about to have a great trip. It’s about someone hoping his beloved will forgive him for his poor treatment of her, believe his promises to be different, and wait for him to return.

The best goodbye: Goodbye to a life without Jesus as your Lord and Savior: The End of the Beginning (David Phelps)

Christian songwriter David Phelps witnesses about the love of Jesus Christ through a story about reading a Bible on a plane, meeting someone who rejects it, and repeating the story of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, with a reminder that He did all of this for the man who doubts him. In the end, the person smiles and asks to hear more, placing him on the verge of being saved. Anyone who is saved has to say goodbye to the person they were before, but it is the best goodbye one could ever say.


There is no song for ending a work project, but two weeks from today, The Heat Beat will be saying our own type of “goodbye.” Next Wednesday, look for one last experiment involving artificial intelligence (AI) and the world of music. On the following Wednesday, come back one last time for a special announcement about the music articles we hope you’ve enjoyed here. 

By  Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

Scams may be older than the computer itself, but the same old scams always seem to be able to grow and change with the times. In 2026, three scams have been found to be especially active, and scammers are increasingly targeting those in the music business and their fans and supporters.

Extortion scams

The latest version of the extortion scam begins with the scammer hacking into the musician’s computer and/or their online accounts. The scammer then lets the musician know they did it, and demands money. If the victim ignores the threat or challenges the scammer and refuses to pay, the hacker/scammer claims to have their unreleased music or lyrics and threatens to destroy it or release and copyright it under their own name, if the musician does not hand over the requested cash. Musicians may also be told the scammer has their financial information, medical records, or other private materials that would cause serious problems for the musician’s career and personal life if they were used by someone else or released publicly.

Should you receive an email, text message, or social media message from someone claiming to have your unreleased music or any other information you have not chosen to share with the public and demanding money, stay calm. The scammer is counting on you panicking and sending them the money without thinking. Instead, reach out to the site that hosts the communication and report the incident. Then, act as fast as you can to secure any online space the scammer has threatened. Contact your bank if they told you they have your banking passwords, move your unreleased music onto a portable drive, etc.

No matter how tempting, never confront, challenge, or mock the scammer. Any further communication with them only opens up opportunities for them to install malware on your computer and do further damage.

Career advancement and other business opportunity scams

People pretending to be agents, publishers, recording studio owners, music company executives, promoters, and hosts of music festivals in order to take advantage of independent musicians and other artists have always been around. Their “job” has just gotten a lot easier with the internet, and has grown especially easy with the use of AI.

When the internet first came into everyday use, it was easy to tell the difference between the professional website of a music producer or literary agent and the personal page of a random person. Professional pages were much simpler, but very similar in appearance to the websites you visit today. Personal pages were typically hosted by a site called “geocities.” The name “geocities” could not be removed from the URL for a fee, and the available materials produced fun but clearly amateurish sites, with cartoonish graphics and fonts. Over the past few years, hosting sites have evolved to allow anyone to create a professional looking page about anything, including their nonexistent career as a top music promoter or manager.

In 2026, AI makes faking qualifications even easier. Before AI, a budding scammer would have at least needed to do enough research into the profession he or she was faking to write...or steal...some convincing copy. Today’s career and business scammer only needs to prompt a bot to generate the material for them in seconds. Then all they have to do is reach out to the musician they’re targeting via text, email, or social media, and direct the person back to their “professional” page.

Research is your best defense against this type of scam. Check and verify everything on the person’s page before agreeing to speak to them further. If everything checks out, meet with them in person, in a public place, and refuse to attend the first meeting alone. No matter how big and tough you may be, how many years you’ve been a professional musician, or how street smart you may be, always take someone you already know and trust along with you.

Celebrity impersonation romance scams

Fans seem to be the primary target of this type of scam, and musicians are often huge fans of other well-known musicians. The scam begins when the target happens upon a social media page or group devoted to the fellow musician they admire. Things go well at first. You meet other admirers of the artist or group, and begin discussing their music, perhaps swapping tips on covering their songs with other musicians who also look up to them.

Suddenly, you receive a message from the subject of the page themselves. Honored to be greeted by someone you admire, you of course engage in conversation with them. The conversation begins to take an odd turn. The person you look up to professionally is claiming to be interested in you romantically. This is the point where it would stop for most people. Even if you’re single, the musician you look up to professionally is also your celebrity crush, and that person is also single, you know that the odds of the famous person logging into a fan site are almost zero, and the odds that your message or comment would be the one that the algorithm brought across their screen at the exact right time for them to see it are even smaller. Celebrities simply aren’t on fan pages and groups flirting with people. The potential risk to their career and personal life should they trust the wrong person is too great. And even if your celebrity crush did take that risk, the odds that your comment or message would be the one their eye would land on in the sea of communications they would get are slim to none. 

Unfortunately, the scammers are ready for this scenario. While it is primarily a romance scam, with the scammer hoping to snare gullible fans with crushes on the celebrity, they have no problem pivoting to a business scam, claiming to offer business advice, grants, or investment opportunities if they think that might work to get you to hand over your money. But just as they are not online flirting with fans, celebrities are not online offering up platonic personal information about their investments or business dealings either. There is just too great a risk that someone might sell the chat logs or message history to a gossip site or channel. And even if your favorite celebrity did take that risk, the odds that they’d see you in the middle of all the comments and messages they’d receive are astronomically low.

Delete and block anyone who approaches you online claiming to be a celebrity.

The scams may be tired but the scammers are not. They’re hard at work revising and reworking their scams just a little each year, doing all they can to get money without putting in any honest effort or using any admirable skills to earn it. 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

April is a month full of notable dates in music history.  It is the birth month of some of the most influential people in a variety of genres, including Muddy Waters, Iggy Pop, and Merle Haggard. It was in April 1964 that the Beatles first had the top five spots on the US singles chart at once. Music’s most famous modern-day power couple, Beyonce and Jay-Z, celebrate their wedding anniversary this month. April has also been a month of loss in the music world, as Marvin Gaye, Kurt Cobain, and Layne Staley of Alice in Chains all passed away tragically before their time in April.  One could even argue that  Rock music itself was launched in April,. A song that is credited as popularizing Rock and Roll music, “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets, was  recorded in April of 1954. April is indeed an important month in music. 

And then there are those completely random things that happen in music. A few of these events occurred in April as well. 

A Swedish couple broke the law in April 2007 by naming their baby after the band Metallica

In the United States, parents can pretty much name their children whatever they want. A name would have to be truly horrific or threatening before anyone would step in and stop them. This is not the case in every country. In Sweden, a newborn’s name must be approved by the national tax board, and those serving on the board in 2007 did not find “Metallica” to be an acceptable name for the little girl born to the Tomaro family. The decision was later reversed. Now nineteen, it seems that Metallica herself did not choose to change her name, as there is an Instagram profile belonging to “Metallica Tomaro” listed on the site.

The Beatles were used for an April Fools Day prank as recently as 2025

The Beatles’ iconic Abbey Road album, released in 1969, features a cover photo of the band members walking across the street in a line. Featured prominently in the photo is the crosswalk they used. In 2025, Abbey Road studios issued a statement announcing that this famous crosswalk had been removed. It was an April Fools Day prank.

April 2 marks the first time a song went to number one without anyone buying an actual copy of it.

Today, more and more people purchase, listen to, and store their music collection on their phones, tablets, and laptops. Some music fans do not even own records or CDs anymore. But while this seems modern, downloading music has been going on for more than twenty years now. The first song to reach number one without anyone purchasing an actual copy of it was “Crazy,” a 2006 tune by the duo Gnarls Barkley. The song reached number one on the British singles chart before it was available on CD. People simply purchased the right to download the song. 

An April 4, 2013 Dairy blog article reported that cows like classical music

Reports and summaries of studies about the impact of music on cows crop up throughout the year, over the course of several years. People apparently devote a lot of time to playing music for cows to gauge the impact the music has on milk production. But it was on an April day that a dairy blog decided to confirm it once and for all. In a short article titled “Rock On: Classical Music a Favorite Among Dairy Cows,” the website Undeniably Dairy reported that classical music aids in milk production by keeping the cows calm and protected from potentially distressing noises around the farm.

The band Coldplay once used their website to play an April Fools Day joke on their fans

In recent years, Coldplay made the news for accidentally exposing an affair between two wealthy and powerful fans. But many years ago, the band deliberately courted controversy by playing an April Fools Day merchandise prank on their fans. Branded products offered by bands are nothing new and nothing odd. T-shirts, pins, bags, hats, mugs, even wallets are available with your favorite band’s name and logo on them. But when Coldplay announced they would be offering a custom fragrance called “Angst” in 2010, fans logging into their official website to purchase a bottle learned that no such product existed, and was not in the works. The announcement had been an April Fools Day joke.

None of this information is going to have the slightest impact on the field of music, a fan’s enjoyment of music, or any of the many parts of our lives that are made better by music. That’s the point. They’re just pieces of weird music trivia. But maybe we can share one or more of these odd facts with our friends and family today instead of playing more cruel and tired pranks.

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

Traditionally, when musicians talk about “gigs,” they’re talking about opportunities to play or sing. Today, they might be talking about their music, or they might be talking about some work they’re doing to support themselves while they wait for paying music gigs, or temporary work taken on to finance a project. While “gig work” can be used to refer to any type of short-term work, people most often use the term to refer to signing up to work for companies such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, GrubHub, or a website offering  single online tutoring sessions or other short-term projects. 

Just a few short years ago, this type of gig work seemed like the perfect resource for musicians. The work was plentiful, and appeared to be much less energy and time consuming than most day jobs. It seemed you really could sign up, pass your background check, complete any other orientation materials the company required, log on, and start making the money you needed to make your next album or buy some new instruments or equipment. Some people even launched whole new careers as online language teachers or built their delivery driving into a thriving business that allowed them to pay all of their bills. YouTube exploded with channels hosted by people reporting gig work income in the thousands per month and offering lessons and guidance on how their audience members could follow in their footsteps.

Today, nearly all of the ride and delivery companies and a few of the online tutoring and other short-term project websites still exist, but both the income potential and the demands are very different today. 

Down times/wait times are growing longer and longer

The flood of workers signing on to gig platforms would have been great if the number of customers would have increased in equal or greater proportion, allowing plenty of work for everyone who wanted to deliver, drive, tutor or complete a quick project for a fee. It didn’t. Even some of the busiest gig-based apps don’t always have enough work to go around.

For the musician delivering or driving to fund a project or pay the bills between paying music gigs, this amounts to a lot of time spent “at work” for no money. One online tutoring website that closed early this year boasted that their tutors made $16.00 per hour, with an unlimited amount of hours available to them. While this was technically true, it only really meant that tutors could sit logged in to the website for as many hours as they wished. They were only paid for time spent in active tutoring sessions or per essay evaluated. It was not only possible, but typical, to log in, sit waiting for two or three hours until offered a session, lose the session to another tutor, finally get one a few minutes later, work for an hour, and then wait several more hours for the next session. Uber drivers have reported similar experiences, extended time spent sitting in their cars for no pay, waiting to be offered a customer who needed a ride.

Rideshare and delivery companies are offering bonuses, cashback programs, and surcharges to help workers pay for gas….but it may not be enough

Gig workers are independent contractors, and as independent contractors, are responsible for paying their own costs of doing business. If you offer rides or deliveries, part of that cost of doing business is going to include paying for gas for the car you use. The major rideshare and delivery companies are reportedly offering their contractors some financial assistance to help defray these costs as gas prices continue to rise, but they’re certainly not going to cover it all. The more gas prices increase, the more that particular business expense is going to cut into your profit.

Drivers and delivery people must also pay for their own signs, cleaning supplies for inside the car, bags to carry orders, and any extras they wish to offer, such as water or candy to offer to customers. The cost of these items also continues to rise, and to cut into drivers’ profits. This is just one more way that you may wind up working for a lot less money than you originally estimated. 

In 2026, driving jobs are increasingly the only ones available

Driving jobs have always been the best-known forms of gig work, but they used to be just one option among many. Companies based in China seemed to multiply daily, offering people who wanted to do gig work without driving the opportunity to teach ESL to children online instead. Mixed media platforms such as Fiverr offered gig workers the chance to offer very short-term writing, drawing, or planning projects from home. Multiple companies offered tutors a place to do gig work. Anyone who didn’t want to deal with gas prices, increased insurance, and paying for cleaning supplies and bottles of water could simply choose a different form of gig work. 

Today, many of those non-driving companies still exist, but fewer and fewer of them are available. Those Chinese ESL companies are long gone, most shut down by a single order of the leader of China several years ago. U.S-based sites offering short-term work still exist, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to be accepted onto their platforms Those who do manage to sign on find that customers are no longer hiring freelancers to do small projects, and are instead simply running prompts through AI bots and taking the free slop. Few tutoring session sites remain in business. Gig work that involves driving is often the only real option left. This of course takes us right back to the decreased profits due to increased costs associated with driving gig work.

Those who are already working for one of these gig work platforms may want to keep them active as ways to generate some spare cash from time to time, but they may not be a viable option to fund larger projects or to replace the income from a traditional day job, even if they were able to serve this purpose just a few years ago. 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

Despite what every article about artificial intelligence (AI) continues to claim, experience and experiments have continuously shown that AI cannot replace musicians. It cannot write a song that is anywhere near as complex, unique, or meaningful as anything a human songwriter could ever create, because it can never observe, reflect, learn, or feel the way a human being can. AI cannot teach about music, as it cannot truly respond to students and has a tendency to offer incorrect information. It is a poor music researcher for this same reason. 

Although AI can never replace musicians, music writers, or music teachers, many continue to claim that it can help with your music career. It can certainly take over basic tasks like generating a rough draft of a rehearsal and practice schedule, creating a draft of a budget for an independent artist, and making an outline for a lesson plan, but can it help you create art? The latest claim coming from proponents of using AI in music is that it can help musicians and other creative people explore genres, generate ideas and overcome creative blocks.

To test this, we performed three experiments offering an AI chat bot hypothetical situations a musician might face, and examining the results for quality and usefulness. The experiments were conducted by the author of this article. 

Prompt #1: Generating ideas:  I'm an amateur/hobbyist musician. I normally sing pop, country, and folk styles. I would like to write my first song, but I have no idea where to begin. Can you help me come up with a list of songwriting ideas?

Result: AI models are sometimes jokingly referred to as “plagiarism machines,” and when prompted to offer a list of songwriting ideas, chat gpt really lives up to that title. The prompt was run twice. One set of “ideas” was nothing more than a general description of the types of songs someone might write. Chat gpt 5 suggested I use one of the “common song themes” of love in transition, freedom and escape, growth and change, and simple joys among a few others. That one of course, was completely useless. I cannot imagine anyone who has ever even listened to music somehow being unaware that writing a song about love in transition, freedom and escape, and growth and change are options for themes.

The other set, however, included “ideas” that sounded suspiciously like descriptions of several songs that already exist. The bot encouraged me to “Write from the perspective of an object” and listed a guitar as the first suggestion. That idea was unfortunately already taken sometime in the early 1970’s, as “This Old Guitar” by John Denver was released in June of 1974.

While direct copying is still plagiarism, getting inspiration and ideas from the work of other musicians and other artists is neither new nor wrong. It would just be much more inspirational, and with streaming services, faster, to simply listen to a song for inspiration. If I wanted to be inspired to write about a guitar, I could have found “This Old Guitar” just as fast as I got this list of prompts, and it would have taken me the same amount of time to listen to it as it did to sit and read over these two lists.

Prompt #2: Exploring genres: If a musician typically writes punk/alternative music, but would like to explore genres and write something more like a love song, what should they do?

Result: Punk/alternative fans will of course see that this prompt contained a test. If the bot were truly able to correctly identify all existing genres, search out new ones, and help people explore, it would respond that what I just described is called “pop punk,” with the simple suggestion to listen to some “pop punk” bands.

Chat gpt could not even manage that. In the middle of completely generic observations and advice like “Love songs aren’t just soft happy acoustic ballads. Some  of the best ones are messy, conflicted, angry or even a little obsessive,” it did suggest a few bands and artists. Unfortunately, it missed the existence of pop punk as a genre, and the name of one of the most well-known pop punk bands out there. “Study adjacent artists,” the bot advises, “Billie Joe Armstrong: punk with sincere love themes.”

Any punk/alternative fan could have just told the person running this prompt that they were talking about “pop punk” and suggested they listen to Billie Joe Armstrong’s band Green Day in about half the time.

Prompt #3: Overcoming creative blocks: What do you suggest for a songwriter experiencing creative blocks?

Result: The Chatgpt bot suggested I stop trying too hard to write something perfect, listen to some music I normally wouldn’t listen to or hadn’t listened to in a while, write without my instrument, collaborate, give myself little challenges like only writing with three chords, stepping away for a while, and looking at what’s going on with myself beneath the surface. It also suggested studying other music, and imagining my audience.

These are all actually decent ideas. They’re just generic, likely to be ones everyone who ever needed a writing prompt has already heard multiple times before. 

To give the bot a second chance, I followed up on its offer of “If you want, we can get more specific—like what kind of music you write, or what your process usually looks like—and I can help you break the block in a more targeted way. “

My “musicianship” consists of being able to sing, and singing twice per month on a volunteer/hobby basis on my church’s worship team. I’m not a professional musician, and I have never written a song unless you count silly made up chants and joking around in childhood that all little kids seem to do, so I entered “Most of the writing is based on personal experiences, but random things can also serve as inspiration. The music genre is typically alternative.”

In response, chatgpt suggested writing from a different perspective than my own, starting with a song fragment instead of a whole song, breaking my own habits, and blending the random things and personal experiences.” Again, these are not bad ideas, though the bot certainly didn’t do anything a conversation with another human musician or other artist could do much better.

The bot ended by suggesting that my block might not be a lack of ideas, but something going on in my life right now. It wanted to help me “start a song from scratch, based on what (I’m) currently feeling.”

This bot was not programmed to help me. It was programmed to get me to keep using it, and to offer it increasingly personal information. Were I actually the songwriter in the prompt, this would, at the very least, cause me to waste time talking to a bot that I could have spent writing a song.

​By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

Everyone knows who Duke Ellington was as a musician, but when you search for information about him, multiple articles about his birthplace or his fashion sense are always included in the results. Fans especially love to write “fun facts” articles about Ellington. One piece of Duke Ellington trivia that seems to always make the list but is never explained is that Duke Ellington was a Freemason or Mason. What does that mean? We’ve all heard of the Masons, but who are they, and where did they fit in to Duke Ellington’s story?

Despite conspiracy theories, the Masons are really just a very large fraternity and service organization

Masons trace their history back as far as the 1300s, but what we know today as freemasonry began in the 1700s in England. The Masons came to America before the country even officially formed, as many of the founding fathers were Masons. While the Masons do indeed gather in secrecy and perform odd rituals that would probably seem frightening to outsiders, the point behind the rituals is to encourage moral growth, namely the values of integrity and service to others.

This focus on service extends far beyond performing rituals meant to encourage it. Masons are known for charitable community projects ranging from scholarships for students entering college to nursing homes and blood donation programs. Beyond official work, Masons are strongly encouraged to quietly show up and serve whenever there is a need they can help meet in their community.

Emphasis on service does not make the Masons immune to the evils of society...but many have also been a force for change

While freemasonry has always been focused on gathering to encourage each other to serve those in need, it is made up of human beings, with the same failings as all human beings. Freemasonry was and is not untouched by the evils in our society and our history, and that includes segregation.

Duke Ellington fans who look for information about his life will find that he was a “Prince Hall” Freemason. The term “Prince Hall” does not refer to any particular ritual or charity, but to “Prince Hall,”  a black man who founded his own Masonic Lodge in 1775 because he could not join an existing lodge with white members. Ellington was inducted into one of these Prince Hall lodges, Social Lodge #1 in Washington, D.C,, in 1932, at the height of his music career. 

True to their commitment to serving others and working for what is right, Prince Hall Freemasonry did not just quietly splinter off and hold meetings. Prince Hall Freemasons, including Duke Ellington, were a strong force in the fight for the abolition of slavery, the end to segregation, and the expansion of civil rights to all American citizens, regardless of ethnic background.

Today, the Masonic organization that Ellington joined still exists, and continues to be a force for social change. While most Masonic lodges welcome men of any and all ethnic backgrounds, there are some that still have not updated their policies to include welcoming members regardless of race. Prince Hall lodges are almost universally recognized, with forty out of fifty states accepting them as official Masonic lodges.

Those who rely on AI for their information will find some misinformation about Ellington’s lodge. AI search results claim there is no current record of Prince Hall Social Lodge #1 and it is not known whether it still exists. Ignoring AI and searching around the rest of the internet reveals a webpage copyrighted as recently as 2024, with links to a facebook page advertising a golf tournament scheduled for June 5, 2026.

Duke Ellington was not just a Mason, he was a Shriner

Like most fraternities, the Masons have titles, ranks, and degrees within their membership. The highest rank in the Masons is a Master Mason. Once a person is a Master Mason, they may also choose to become a Shriner, or a Master Mason who is accepted into a shrine. Details of what it takes to become a Master Mason and a Shriner are of course some of the secrets of freemasonry, but this does mean that Ellington reached the highest possible level of his fraternal organization.


While Ellington’s membership in the Masons and Shriners certainly reflected his values, there is no credible evidence that Masonic themes are in any way incorporated into his music. Celebrity conspiracy story fans are going to be disappointed by the Ellington-Masons link, as there are no secret codes in any song titles and there were no coded gestures made on stage indicating membership in the Masons or any Masonic principles or statements. The only suggestion that Ellington’s music was Masonic in any way comes from an old web page belonging to an individual lodge with no direct connection to Duke Ellington.  The site appears to have been written independently by a member. On one page, the site’s unnamed writer says that a DJ played the song “I’m Beginning to See the Light,” which was co-written by Duke Ellington, looked it up on wikipedia, and read that the song was inspired by his joining a Masonic lodge. This theory falls apart on two points. Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information, as the articles on it can be too easily edited by anyone, and the lyrics to the song were not even written by Duke Ellington.


For some accurate information about Duke Ellington’s music, be sure to tune into “Masters of Jazz” hosted by Lou Santacroce, exclusively for Phoenix Radio. On Sunday, March 15, 2026, Duke Ellington’s music will be featured during the “artist of the week” segment of the program from 3 p.m. until 4 p.m. EST. 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

Each morning, you check your facebook page to see what’s new in the lives of your friends, family members, and coworkers. This morning there isn’t much. People are posting reports about their morning commute to work, pictures of food they made, political memes, events, and things they have for sale. A couple of your contacts shared Bible verses and prayers. More memes follow. Some are fitting. Others are confusing, as they seem to have nothing to do with any of your interests. Suddenly, you find yourself reading an article about one of your favorite musicians. Random articles about television stars, historical figures, writers, movie stars, and musicians seem to pop upon facebook at random. Some of these articles may be completely accurate, while others contain misinformation, or outright lies. That piece that popped up on your feed may be nothing more than the 2026 equivalent of those tabloids we used to see all over every supermarket checkout stand….only worse.

Those supermarket tabloids could only spread rumors about people who are fully prepared, often with legal teams, to have rumors spread about them. They wasted the dollar or two you spent on them, and the time you spent reading them. Their digital descendants may also be going for a lazy and dishonest payday, churning out “AI slop” to take advantage of facebook’s creator bonus program. The program rewards creators who get a lot of attention, not creators who do a particularly good job of researching, writing, and editing their articles. But they may also be attempting to spread malware that allows them access to your computer.

Avoid clicking on any links that take you outside of facebook, and do some independent fact-checking before believing anything you learn from articles with the following signs:



The hosting page has an odd, overly general, or untraceable name

Legitimate pages have names you can find someplace other than facebook. The name of the musician or band, for example, can be found on their official website. “The Metropolitan Opera” is a verifiable arts organization. Articles posted by ABC, NBC, or CNN were provided by that news organization. Pages that post spam or scam content often have random names. They may make little sense, such as “Fun music fun days,” or be vague like “Celebrity facts.” When you type the name into a search engine outside of facebook, the results either do nothing more than loop back to that same facebook page, or they bring up something completely unrelated. There is no music blog, magazine, podcast, or channel with that name and content.

Information that is common knowledge is presented as though it is something new

The Beatles consisted of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Elvis Presley was a famous American singer. The Rolling Stones were British. No kidding. If you have access to facebook, you have access to the internet. If you have access to the internet, you almost certainly live someplace where people have heard of the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and The Rolling Stones. If an article is full of common music knowledge, there is a good chance that it was placed there not to educate or inform, but to get you to open or share the article simply because it covers an artist you like. While the first sentence or even the first paragraph may be common knowledge, there is a chance that any specific information you find later in the article is untrue. 

Clicking on a link seems to be the focus of the piece

Links are normal. Constant prompts to click here for more information are a red flag that the only reason the article was posted was to get people to click on something, the ultimate clickbait. If all the content provider seems to be interested in doing is getting you to click on their link, the main goal was not to inform or entertain you. They just want you to click over to the page that link leads to, often to install malware on your computer.  Articles posted to serve as nothing but clickbait have no reason to be carefully researched, written, and edited for accuracy.


There is nothing specifically “wrong” about the article, but the tone is flat and generic

Technically correct grammar and perfectly acceptable word choice in an article that still manages to sound robotic and flat is the hallmark of AI generated content, known as “AI slop.” And while some of the content may be stolen from long-ago abandoned blogs or wikipedia articles or comments on sites like Reddit, the vast majority of this click-bait and creator-program exploitation content is indeed AI slop. When all you care about is either clicks or money or both, the fastest way to get content that is going to be clicked on and/or spread around is to use AI to generate it.


Your best weapon against this type of content is your lack of attention to it. Scroll past it as soon as you realize what it is. Avoid reading it, and as tempting as it may be, resist the urge to comment under the article informing everyone that this or that detail is inaccurate, or that your favorite artist would not appreciate being portrayed as they are in the article. The algorithm that rewards these dishonest content creators can’t tell the difference between flattering and critical attention. Any time spent reading the piece, any reaction button click, and any comment rewards them. 

​By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

The YouTube channel “Psychology of Rock” blends music with Psychology. It is owned and hosted by Nena Lavonne, Psy. M. As someone with both a Master’s degree in Psychology and an extensive background in music, Lavonne offers a unique perspective on both the psychology of musicians and music fans, and the impact of music on mental health. While much of the content can be applied to any and all music, there is a strong emphasis on metal, with some punk-related content. As of the publication of this article, there are 133 videos on the channel, spanning back three years.

In “Metalheads and the Psychology of Outsiders,” Lavonne explains the reasons people who feel like “outsiders,” those who are not a part of the mainstream, or the “popular” crowd or “in” group, tend to be drawn to metal music. While many outside of the community of metal fans simply brush it off as angry people enjoying angry music, LaVonne offers both a more nuanced and a much more empathetic perspective. She begins by describing the music as similar to “an understanding friend,” one that gives the listener permission to express, discuss, and deal with emotions most other parts of our culture tell us we shouldn’t even be feeling, never mind indulging in. Metal, Lavonne further explains, also provides a sense of belonging, something that is necessary for our psychological health, no matter how much we might embrace the label of “outsider.” At the same time, part of the appeal of metal culture is that it is not meant for everyone, making it feel a bit like an exclusive club. 

As with most of the videos on her channel, Lavonne uses the metal fan subculture as a springboard to teach her audience relevant terms from the field of Psychology. In “Metalheads and the Psychology of Outsiders,” we first learn about “self erasure.” Lavonne describes this psychological phenomenon as “the psychological process of minimizing, suppressing, or abandoning our core traits, emotions, or values in order to be accepted by others.” Those who identify as “metalheads” tend to be unwillingly to engage in this process. Viewers also learn about “stigma reversal,” which LaVonne teaches, “is when groups that have been marginalized reclaim the qualities that have been used to exclude them and reframe those traits as meaningful or valuable.”

In “The Brains of Guitar Players vs Drummers: A Neurological Comparison,” Lavonne details the ways that playing guitar and playing the drums rewrite the brain. She begins by explaining that some differences likely existed before, as instrument selection is not random, but is dependent on several factors, including individual psychological factors. For this video, Lavonne focuses on distinct parts of the brain, first explaining the function of that area of the brain, and then describing the unique ways it functions for guitar players and drummers. In the span of 11 minutes and 20 seconds, she teaches her audience about the location and function of several parts of the brain, and explains the unique ways that this functioning works in guitar players and in drummers.

Other videos on the channel take a more experimental approach, asking an original question from the fields of Psychology and music, and seeking to answer it in the video. One asks if Progressive Metal fans can detect AI generated music. Another explores the answer to the question of why introverts tend to like the band “Rush.” In a video from a year ago, Lavonne asks and answers a question many viewers may have, that of how to learn to play the guitar if you have ADHD.

Regardless of the topic, Lavonne comes across as that cool punk/metal woman you know from around the local arts scene, but had no idea she had an advanced degree in Psychology until she sat back and started teaching you psychological terms and neuroscience between sets. There is no pretension or any attempt to sound “academic,” despite the fact that she speaks with authority,and offers references to all of the studies she used to conduct her research for each video. Watching these videos is like taking the Psychology class you wish had existed back when you were in college if you went, or the one that would have made you want to go to college if you didn’t. Those who learn science at a much slower pace than they learn other subjects (like me) may need to occasionally stop and rewind to fully grasp some of the material about brain functions, but the more advanced material is always clearly illustrated with graphs and/or written notes on the screen, making it easy to find the spot you need to go over one more time.

Psychology of Rock is the perfect binge watching channel for anyone both passionate about music and deeply interested in psychology. It may also be a helpful resource for anyone passionate about music but stuck in a psychology class they struggle to engage in and feel like they’re just taking to rack up a needed college credit. The channel may also help mental health professionals better understand and relate to their music focused clients,  or offer those who are more interested in science better insight into their musician colleagues and friends.

To watch any of the videos reviewed in this article, or to watch and subscribe to the Psychology of Rock YouTube channel, visit Psychology of Rock – YouTube















All opinions and observations expressed in this review are that of the article’s author. Nobody associated with “Psychology of Rock” on YouTube supports, endorses, or sponsors anything stated here. 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

Attempting to replace artists, educators, and other content creators with AI nearly often results in disasters known as “AI slop.” We get portraits of people with six huge fingers on each hand, lyrics for songs nobody could even sing, videos featuring ten people with the same eyes, fiction that holds the attention of absolutely no one, and essays and reports featuring exactly what would be expected to come next after each sentence, including the misinformation pulled from the most accessible reddit posts and personal blogs. Lesson templates and lectures are similarly bland and standard, with no originality or acknowledgment of audience.

At the same time, AI is praised for its ability to complete those tasks that we want to be basic and expected. Once you enter your pertinent information, a bot can create a budget or a schedule much faster than you with a stack of pens and pieces of scrap paper and a calendar or bank statement. It can count exactly how many verses in the Bible (or whatever scripture is sacred in your faith or path) address money or rest or safety much faster and more accurately than you could ever search and catalog the same information.

What about those things that lie somewhere in between, particularly, music choice? We’ve all seen the Netflix or the YouTube algorithm produce some strange and questionable choices based solely on things we’ve clicked on. But what if the bot were given just a little bit more information?

Playlists are reportedly increasingly generated by AI today,  but like anything else, the question isn’t so much if AI can do it, but if AI can do it well, or even adequately. 

Experiment # 1: Can an AI chat bot create a good themed playlist?

For this experiment, chatgpt was asked, “Can you make me a playlist for staying inside on a cold winter’s day?”

In response, the bot generated a weird “Ohhh yes. Cold winter day, nowhere to be, maybe a blanket burrito situation? I got you. This is cozy-with-a-little-dramatic-energy—perfect for watching snow fall or pretending you’re in an indie film.” answer, but it did add on a list of twelve songs.

The song choices had some successes and some failures. It did provide a bit of variety. There were a couple of Taylor Swift songs, one by Coldplay, one by Billy Joel, and one by Kacey Musgraves. Oddly, it reportedly based its choices on what it called “vibes” rather than lyrics. In one instance, it adds a second song by the band “Bon Iver,” with the comment, “Yes another Bon Iver, winter allows it.” (bon hiver is “nice winter” or “good winter” in French). This seemed more like a programmer’s attempt to insert more human word choice into the bot than the bot displaying genuine ability. A band being named after winter doesn’t mean their work is suitable for any particular winter situation. 

Perhaps the most perplexing choice was “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron. The chatgpt bot described the song as “Main character staring at snow energy.” The song is about a main character who wishes they could go back in time and not even start a relationship with someone, because the situation faded away painfully and ended badly. One certainly could contemplate such a situation while staring at snow, so the bot isn’t entirely wrong….but this song definitely isn’t suitable for everyone stuck inside on a winter’s day.

Using AI to create a themed playlist is not a bad idea for a first draft of the playlist, but human editing for audience might be in order before setting the playlist for a specific situation or person.

Experiment # 2: When given some personal details about an individual’s music tastes, can AI come up with a playlist that person would want to listen to at least once a week or more?

The prompt for this experiment was: I like at least some of all types of music, but my favorite genre is Punk/alternative and I also love Christian pop, Jazz, Blues, classic country, and modern folk. My favorite bands are the Beatles, Train, the Replacements, Blink 182, and Gaslight Anthem. My favorite solo artists are John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen, and Norah Jones. What ten songs should I put on my main playlist first?

My expectation for chatgpt was that it would be able to easily do this. I gave it a list of bands and artists, so I would think it could easily find the most popular song from each of them, pop them onto a list, and fill it out with one or two more from the list of genres I also gave it.

The bot failed. Giving it a list of my favorite bands and artists didn’t tip it off that I actually might like to listen to those bands and artists. Only one John Mayer song made it onto the list. The rest were all artists and songs that chatgpt described as a sort of synthesis of everything I input into the prompt.

Experiment #3: Playlists for moods and situations are all over streaming services. Can AI create a personalized playlist when given a situation?

Mental health experts have nearly unanimously issued strong warnings against using Microsoft copilot, chat gpt, Replika, or any other AI chat bot as a therapist, life coach, or even peer counselor. Anyone experiencing any mental health issues should seek treatment from a human being who has been properly trained and licensed to provide mental health care. If that is not an option for you,  contact a human being on a free help line dedicated to dealing with the issue you face, or speak to your pastor or other religious or spiritual leader for guidance.

Assuming a person is already doing all of this, that they just need some music that reflects the way they feel and what they are going through, can AI generate an appropriate, helpful playlist?

As an initial prompt, I entered my real situation into chat gpt. I explained that I am an independent writer, and my writing work varies widely, from writing and presenting lessons in writing to rooms full of college students and grading, to writing a music blog, to networking to doing research for and writing my own blog and novels. I then asked it for an encouraging playlist. 

Oddly, the bot seemed to pick up on my past prompts, and offered me a list of songs that included Springsteen, Norah Jones, Blink 182, and Gaslight Anthem. It then asked me if I wanted certain modes, one of which included music blog writing. I followed up with that prompt, and received another list, one that was suitable, a mix of the artists and genres previously entered. But just like before, the bot also made choices that sharply illustrate the fact that these things can only predict what is likely to come next in any given situation, not thoughtfully reflect on real human experiences as only a real human can do. One of the songs on the list is “Subterranean Homesick Blues” by Bob Dylan. Chat gpt groups this song under the heading “Smart, Writerly Energy.” And while I do like Dylan and the song, the tempo and lyrics make it more than a little distracting to listen to while writing. Perhaps the idea is to listen to it for inspiration beforehand, but it certainly isn’t suitable for background music while writing.

Overall, AI seems to be suitable for creating first drafts of playlists in limited circumstances, but not something to be trusted completely. As of the middle of February of 2026, the bot’s responses also make it clear that issues of the dialogue being overly and unnecessarily flattering have not been addressed. Each one of these lists came with not just the list of songs it was asked for, but some type of attempt to sound like a life coach or even a friend, such as “Ooh I love this prompt” or “you’ve got taste taste.” That may be annoying at worst, even amusing or cute in some situations when you’re just asking for playlists, but can be dangerous for vulnerable people looking for deeper insight or information.

 Similarly, the constant use of terms like “vibes” and “energy” is concerning. These are terms borrowed from new age philosophies, which is going to be a concern for many Christians and others who follow spiritual paths that do not welcome new age influence already. But regardless of your opinion on new age thought and spirituality, this should still concern you, as these terms are contemporary human speech trends. Despite promises from the CEOs of the companies that market these bots, they are clearly not being programmed to sound more clinical and computer-like, and less like a human talking to you. The exact opposite appears to be true. 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

If someone were to ask a random sample of people why they dress the way that they do, most people would not answer that they dress the way they do because of the influence of music. But regardless of your personal style, you or someone of the opposite gender who dresses similarly to you probably has at least one thing in the closet that exists or at least is commonly available as a fashion choice because of music.

Dresses that can be worn comfortably:  Jazz

If you or a woman you know wears any kind of relatively comfortable dress today, that item is available because of Jazz. Before the Jazz age of the 1920s and early 1930s, women’s dresses were rather complicated. They were always long, reaching to the ankles if not the floor. Most were at least somewhat fitted, making movement difficult. Corsets were worn underneath, further restricting movement, and in some cases, breathing. Flapper dresses rebelled against such restriction. They were loose, boxy dresses that allowed women to dance to the music of the Jazz age without worrying about the restriction of a corset or several layers of fabric.

Actual flapper dresses look odd to modern eyes. They appear too loose and boxy, to the point that the woman often resembles a head floating on top of a square. But over the years, these dresses would evolve into and inspire nearly all of the styles we wear and/or see the women in our lives wear on a daily basis today, from the most casual T-shirt dress to a sparkly cocktail dress for going out.

Heavy boots worn for style not utility: Punk and Alternative

While all heavy black boots with laces are not Doc Martens, it is the most well-known brand of this style of boot. “Docs” began as work boots for British men in the late 1950s. They were never intended to be fashion items, but were designed as protective gear for the foot. In the 1970s, punk bands began to adopt them as symbols of solidarity with the working class. In the 1990’s they would become popular again as alternative rock music looked back to the punk era for inspiration in music and general lifestyle.

Today, heavy black lace-up boots worn as much for fashion as for comfort and protection can be seen everywhere. Those who favor a retro punk or grunge look of course wear them, as do those in the goth subculture. But as recently as 2025, “Docs” were featured on fashion websites for academic, preppy, and even “clean” styles, when added to the “clean” look’s signature all-white clothing.

Ultra-casual wear worn as outfits: Rap, Hip-hop

Long, loose T-shirts, baggy sweatshirts, hoodies, joggers, sweat pants, and other clothing that was either originally designed for exercise or for lounging at home may not be acceptable absolutely everywhere, but it is certainly acceptable for the most casual public environments today. Nobody would be considered under dressed or improperly dressed if they were seen wearing a pair of baggy joggers and a bulky hoodie while out running errands, shopping, going to the movies, or hanging out at a diner or cafe.

This was not always the case. Athletic-wear inspired styles were seen in public in the 1960s and earlier, but social expectations about what was acceptable to wear in certain situations were much stricter then. You certainly would not see the loosest, most comfortable clothing available worn while going out with friends or running errands.

The shift began in the early 1970s, with the emergence of Rap and Hip-hop music. The styles that we most closely associate with Rap and Hip-hop music today, which are not limited to but include things like joggers or track suits and hoodies, were based on the items that teens and young adults in the Bronx of the 1970s were already wearing. 


Adopting a curated and named fashion aesthetic: Jazz, Punk, Classic Rock, Pop

Unlike some individual items of clothing, the whole practice of curating a specific fashion and lifestyle aesthetic did not stem from or become popular because of a specific style of music. The trend of purposely  adopting an aesthetic is a recent one, with most sources tracing it back only about six years, and linking it to the extreme boredom and excessive time for self-reflection offered by the shutdown that occurred at that time. Music still plays a significant part in the trend, as many of fashion aesthetics are part of broader lifestyle aesthetics, complete with signature  styles of music.

The hippie/bohemian aesthetic is deeply connected to the music of the counterculture of the 1960’s, particularly the Grateful Dead. Hipsters embrace elements of both 1990s grunge rock fashion and the styles of the 1920s Jazz era. VSCO girls (pronounced “vesco” and associated with a laid-back, beach-inspired style) are exemplified by Indie Pop and Surf Rock.


No matter how you choose to dress, something you wear, or something you see someone else wear as you go about your day today, is worn because of music. It truly does touch all parts of our lives.