By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 95 5 The Heat 

The cancellation of the late-night tv show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” brought censorship to the news and to social media and all its memes. On September 17, 2025, Kimmel spoke out against the behavior of President Donald Trump following the murder of right-wing content creator and non-profit owner Charlie Kirk. Kimmel’s remarks suggested that Trump’s mourning for Kirk may be insincere, as he was able to shift his focus to the ballroom he’s designing remarkably quickly following Kirk’s passing.
Although not cited as a reason for the show’s cancellation, country singer Margo Price has since become famous as the last musician to play on the show prior to the cancellation, and was reported to have said she was glad she “got the last word” with an anti-fascist song.
Those who support the removal of Kimmel’s show from the air argue that the decision was made by a private corporation, and was not in fact censorship. Others note that the cancellation happened due to pressure from the Trump administration, amounting to government censorship. But what exactly is “censorship?” We all think we know the answer, but there is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the term, the first amendment, and the concept of “free speech.”
Myth: The first amendment means you get to say anything you want anywhere you want without any unwanted results.

Reality: The first amendment protects you from punishment by the government for what you say, not from the consequences of your actions.
Shortly before the Kimmel cancellation, various content creators on YouTube covered stories of people who were shocked to find themselves fired because of things they posted on TikTok. Most of them did not understand that you could be fired from a job for what you say and do on the air, including the internet, and thought that their firing amounted to censorship. These were not cases of censorship, regardless of how professionally embarrassing they may have been for the person who was fired for their content. Censorship, or denial of your right to free speech ,occurs when the government jails you, fines you, or denies you permits, licenses, or other services because of what you said. None of the people fired for their TikToks were going to jail, paying any fines, or being denied any government services because of their content. As far as the law was concerned, they were still completely free to say whatever they wanted. Their employers had just decided they were not welcome to say it while working for them. This was not censorship, simply the consequences of the individuals’ actions.
In the Kimmel case, Price was definitely not censored in any way. Her song was not cited as a reason for the show’s cancellation. Had ABC independently decided that Kimmel was not welcome to criticize Trump’s reaction to Kirk’s murder on their platform, he would also have experienced no censorship, just the consequences of his actions. Kimmel would have been completely free to go find another network or another platform and say whatever he wanted to say. However, the show’s cancellation is likely due to pressure from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr.. As the chairman of a portion of the government, Carr would be able to exert influence and pressure to prevent Kimmel from saying what he said no matter where Kimmel went by denying licensing to anyone who would host him. When the government decides that you must be prevented from saying whatever it is that you said, that is censorship.
Myth: People who respond to your social media comments by telling you that you are misinformed, asking you to stop harassing or trolling, or threatening to delete and block you are denying your first amendment right to free speech.
Reality: Musicians monitoring their fan pages and other page managers and owners are not agents of the government, they are private citizens deciding what they will and will now allow in private space.
Several musicians have made statements about both Charlie Kirk’s murder and Jimmy Kimmel’s cancellation, and as is the case when statements are made on social media, the posts get widely mixed reactions, some of which may be distasteful to the original poster. Many choose to deal with these unwanted comments by removing them from their page, or even blocking the person who posted them. A musician or other social media account owner deleting your comments and blocking you from their page is not censoring you. That person does not have the power to put you in jail, make you pay a fine, haul you off to a re-education camp, or deny you licensing or other benefits that you could not get someplace else. A fan who is deleted and blocked from a musician’s page still has the option of going on to another artist’s page and saying the same thing, posting the same thing on their own page, or walking around chanting whatever it was they said out loud if they choose to do so.
This still holds true if a lot of people join in on the calls for you to stop posting whatever it is you’re posting on the page in question. This is not censorship. The page owner is doing the same thing a homeowner or renter is doing when they inform someone that promoting social, political, or spiritual beliefs they do not agree with is unwelcome in their home. All those other people are simply stating that if you came over to their real or virtual “house,” you would not be welcome to talk like that there either. You can still say what you said on your own page, or on another page that welcomes sentiments like yours.
Myth: Criticizing someone who experienced violence is a call to violence, and therefore not protected speech under the first amendment.
Reality: The use of violence as a reaction to anything anyone says violates criminal law and is never justified. Criticizing things that person said before the act of violence was done against them does not in any way suggest there should be an exception to the law.
As arguments about Kimmel rage on over the internet and in other public space, additional people, including some musicians, are further taking sides in an argument over whether or not it is acceptable to criticize Kirk’s words in the wake of his murder. Those who argue that it is not link criticism of Kirk with support or even celebration of what happened to him to end his life. Others point out that their criticism is directed at content Kirk himself created and posted, and has nothing to do with the way that his life ended.
Murder is illegal in the United States. It is also in violation of the teachings of Christianity and nearly every other spiritual or religious belief system. What happened to Charlie Kirk should not have happened to him, and should never happen to anyone. This does not change the fact that his YouTube channel alone is full of content that a lot of Americans, and a lot of Christians, point out is not in line with the law or with the teachings of Jesus. Pointing this out does not mean a person is in any way mocking his murder or denying the impact he had on those who loved him. They are simply doing what Kirk is often celebrated for, arguing against a point someone else made.
On September 22, 2025, multiple news outlets announced that Jimmy Kimmel would return to the air on September 23, 2025. While this instance of censorship was quickly corrected, members of both sides of the political spectrum have noted that it sets a dangerous precedent for comedians, other spoken word artists, and everyone else in the arts and beyond.
Disagreement is not censorship. Criticizing someone is not censorship. Private citizens and private entities refusing to allow content on their privately owned space is not censorship. However, any form of pressure, punishment, or threats from anyone acting as an agent of the government in response to what someone says is censorship, a violation of the first amendment of the United States Constitution, and the denial of the right to free speech.

by Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 955 The Heat, Phoenix Radio
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Musicians building their career have often needed day jobs and side hustles to pay the bills and finance their art projects. Ideally, that job would be something that put them in the same spaces as those in the music industry, such as working at a club that booked bands, or doing office work inside a studio. If that type of work was not available, the standard career advice for any artist was to wait tables as a day job. But like most work, that may be shifting today. Waiting or bussing tables is still an option for a musician in need of a day job in 2025, but it may not be the best option. There are a few others that may be work around writing and/or performing music much better for some people.

Waiting tables as a day job or side hustle

Day jobs are jobs that are completely outside of your career field. You do not do any work that is directly related to your art. You don’t practice it, teach it, coach others in it, present it, or produce it. The only reason to do these jobs, unless you have a second calling and this work is just as important as your music, is to make money to pay your bills. Waiting tables has always been such a go-to day job for musicians and other artists because it has a high potential to do just that. A few years ago, a manager at a local branch of Applebees noted that some of the servers were doing so well, they were able to afford down payments on houses he could not even afford to live in, despite advancing farther up the corporate ladder. The career advice and information website “Break room dot com,” currently reports that some waiters at chain restaurants report making more than $27.00 per hour.
Waiting tables may also allow a musician to keep in shape, meaning gym memberships and workout programs and classes can be eliminated from the budget, even when they book several gigs in a row and would need to build their stamina and endurance for the stage. Waitstaff also get discounted or even free food, which can reduce grocery costs.
In addition to the financial benefit, waiting tables is often suggested for musicians today because it allows work to stay “at work.” You can clock out, go home, and go to practice or rehearsal without worrying about customers calling, texting, or emailing you.
Despite the benefits, there are several drawbacks to waiting tables as a day job for musicians. While the exercise might be a benefit, it can also be a hindrance, as the work is often too physically tiring to allow for any other type of work once the shift is over. The reported high pay is a possibility, not a guarantee. And while you do get to leave work at work, customer demands and behavior can make it emotionally draining anyway.

Driving for order delivery and rideshare companies as an independent contractor

Hiring yourself out as an independent driver to companies such as DoorDash, Uber, Lyft, Grubhub, Shipt, or Postmates has rapidly grown into the modern equivalent of “just go wait tables,” work that many assume musicians, actors, and anyone else who needs to make money while focusing on other things can easily go and do. Pretty much anyone who can pass a background check, obtain a driver’s license, and access a vehicle that can be used to provide rides or deliveries can be accepted into the pool of drivers, but that doesn’t mean those same people will actually get to work.
Income varies greatly. There are rideshare and delivery drivers who no longer need traditional day jobs, because their income from what they thought would be a side hustle pays for everything they want and more. There are also rideshare and delivery drivers who sit in parking lots for hours at a time, earning nothing for the time they spend waiting, only to finish a four or even an eight hour shift with just a few dollars.
Unlike working in a restaurant, this is not a job you can leave at work. The app on the phone always seems to beckon, bringing feelings of guilt to anyone not constantly logged in and waiting to make money. Customer issues can also be intense, with people reporting drivers for trivial details about their rides or blaming them for errors made by the restaurant staff.
Schedule flexibility seems to be the one reason a musician might choose rideshare and delivery company work as a day job. These jobs are some of the few that can truly be worked around rehearsals, writing time, recording sessions, even tours.

Retail customer service

Finding employment in a retail environment is another traditional “go to” day job for musicians and other artists. It can be a solid option, as, like restaurant work, you can leave the work at home at the end of your shift. Bad managers may overstep standard behavioral expectations for adults by texting workers to demand they take extra shifts at a moment’s notice or ask questions about the workplace when the employee is not clocked in, but this is not meant to be a standard part of the job. You won’t get texts from customers asking questions you’re required to answer, or be forced to carry around your time clock, making you feel obligated to log back in and work some more.
A retail worker’s pay is fairly steady. It’s much easier to budget and plan for everyday expenses and the added expenses brought on by your latest project if you know how much money you’re earning each pay period.
The primary drawback is that the pay is low, coupled with work that is often physically and mentally draining. Given the option of working all day every day for guaranteed minimum wage or working part-time with the possibility of earning much more, musicians and others who need to go home and put in a whole other day’s work when their day job is done may decide the uncertainly of restaurant or rideshare work is worth it.

Salaried driving jobs

While most immediately think of rideshare driving when someone suggests a driving job, driving jobs still exist for places such as schools, nursing homes, senior centers, organizations that serve anyone with a disability, and companies that provide courier and delivery services to their clients and customers.
Some musicians and other artists prefer these jobs to driving as an independent contractor, because they provide a steady wage or salary. Pay is guaranteed, rather than just a possibility for those willing to sit in a parking lot earning nothing for several hours. There is no app, so the work is able to be left behind at the end of every shift. Those who work driving a school bus of course blend driving work with childcare, but drivers who work for smaller companies may only have to provide short rides to adults, or transport materials from one local business to another. This can result in relatively low-stress work, allowing plenty of time and energy for your music once your shift is done.

These are just the most commonly mentioned and promoted day jobs for musicians. There are of course many more, and which job is best for a specific person is going to depend on the individual’s music practice, skills, health, interests, and other obligations in life.

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 95 5 The Heat: Phoenix Radio 

Classes typically start at the end of August, but most students, teachers, parents, and others whose work revolves around a school feel firmly “back to school” around the beginning of September. As settling in to attend classes and do homework becomes routine, music can often be heard through the doors of children’s rooms, college dorm rooms, and the offices of teachers and older adult students. Conventional wisdom once dictated that this was a bad idea. Music was thought to be distracting, something to listen to after studying was finished for the day, not while doing anything related to learning. Today, it is known that music can boost learning, but every song will not be a great choice for every back to school playlist. The best “back to school” playlist for you or your child will depend largely on what happens when you sit down to study

Difficulty focusing

Between the lure of the phone sitting nearby or tucked in the bag at your feet, the ease of clicking over to TikTok or YouTube from your online class, and the “hustle” mentality that makes us feel guilty for not doing three things at once, difficulty focusing is a common problem in classes and during independent study time these days.

Music can help. Many experts maintain that classical music, or any other type of music without words is best to help you focus. They argue that lyrics often serve as a distraction to the material you, your students, or your children are trying to learn. Others believe the best music to help with focus is any music that is familiar to the person struggling to keep their attention on what they need to learn.
Memory issues

Whether a student is in first grade or heading into the first week of the final portion of their terminal degree program, there are few academic experiences more demoralizing than studying something then being unable to recall the material when needed for a test, presentation, or other project. If memory seems to be the stumbling block for you or your student, music can help.

Earlier this year, a study conducted at Rice University suggests the best music to help with difficulty remembering details is the music the student enjoys, but does not react strongly to in any way. According to the conclusions drawn from this study, those who are having problems recalling more general concepts will want to listen to music that evokes a strong reaction in them. This study was featured in a previous edition of “The Heat Beat,” in an article on the link between music and all types of memory, not only the ability to recall facts and concepts that one has learned. While the study has been published in peer-reviewed journals, there is no record of the study being duplicated as of the writing of this article, despite the fact that a big AI generated “Yes” pops up on your screen when you ask a search engine if it has.

Because the study has not yet been duplicated, we can’t say for sure that choosing songs you like but don’t have a strong response to will help you recall details, while picking out music you react to strongly will help you remember general concepts better, but it may be worth trying in an everyday setting to see if it works for your situation.

Lack of motivation

For some students, parents of students, and teachers hoping to help their students learn, all the focus and memory information and studies in the world aren’t going to prove useful, because study time does not even seem to begin.

While a playlist to improve focus and memory during learning time will be highly individualized, specific songs have been judged to be the most motivating out there. Of course, there will still be some individual taste involved, as nobody is going to want to settle in for a study session backed up by a bunch of music they can’t stand, but it may help to make some selections from the songs that keep popping up on “motivational music” lists. These include “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, “Stronger,” by Kelly Clarkson, and “Lose Yourself” by Eminem. “Dream On” by Aerosmith, Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk,” and “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong have also made motivational playlists. While the band Panic! At the Disco disbanded several years ago, they left behind more than one motivational track, including “High Hopes” and “Hey Look Ma, I Made It.”

Confidence

When confidence swings to an extreme, learning becomes difficult. Some learners are overconfident. They go into the class or even the entire semester believing the work is “too easy” for them, or that whatever they’re more interested in is so much more important, the material they’re being asked to learn can be brushed off. In cases of overconfidence, it would be better to go back to your motivation and focus playlists than to listen to depressing, demoralizing, or discouraging music. That would only make the student want to do absolutely nothing.

For learners grappling with lack of confidence, the belief that they are unable to learn or understand the material presented in school, there are plenty of confidence boosting songs out there, and which ones they are appears to be a mix of individualized response and specific songs. Most of us feel more confident after we’ve worked through something that has been troubling us, so songs that offer catharsis or a new perspective on our particular problem can serve as huge confidence boosts. At the same time, pop songs are typically gathered for “confidence” playlists. “Roar” by Katy Perry, “Brave” by Sara Bareilles and “Bejeweled” by Taylor Swift are popular choices for confidence- themed playlists.

Music may not be able to solve every issue that comes up in school this term, but it can help alleviate several study problems. Start your playlist, try your selections, then make adjustments according to your individual tastes and shifting needs. We may not all respond to the same music, but there is music out there for all of us.




The Heat Squad wishes all students, teachers, and parents a great school year.

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

The last Levitt Amp Utica concert was held  Friday, August 29, 2025 in Kopernik Memorial Park at 5:30 p.m. It was the final installment in a series of 90 concerts over the event’s decade long span.

Syracuse based “Rising Ghosts” opened the show with slow, contemplative music that fit the relaxed yet wistful mood of an event that both celebrated and ended a concert series that had grown to be a vital part of Utica summer nights for so many Utica residents.


“It’s a beautiful day, thank you for spending your evening with us. We are Rising Ghosts. We have a few original songs and a few covers for you,” announced lead singer Ashley Rose before shifting the mood to pure happiness with her energetic version of Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets.”

Audience members were a bit slow to get up and dance during the one-hour set, as the evening was unseasonably cold for August, but two couples and a small crowd of children took to the area between the park and the stage early. They were later joined by more people as Rising Ghosts moved into covers of the Fugee’s version of “Killing Me Softly,” Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House,” and some of their own original music, including a sample of an unreleased song and the catchy alternative rock tune “Everything You Asked For,” featuring the memorable line “You don’t want me to go, but you never planned to stay.”

The versatile band concluded their one-hour set with a tribute to rapper Mac Miller.
Before the intermission acts took the stage, Levitt Amp Utica Coordinator Michelle McCarrick greeted the crowd.
“Welcome to the last Levitt concert, don’t boo me,” she said jokingly to a chorus of good-natured boos from the audience. McCarrick went on to thank the many community members who were a part of creating the series over its ten years, all of the Levitt Amp sister cities across the country, all of the local interns, and the many vendors who have participated. After calling the rest of the Levitt Amp staff to the area in front of the stage, McCarrick again spoke to the audience, this time taking a serious tone.
“I really hope we have brought the same joy as you have brought us over the years,” she said. “Remember to always support musicians. Always support creative people. I want to personally thank you for everything all these years.”
Before the intermission act could begin, the Utica Common Council made a surprise announcement. Two days earlier, on August 27, 2025, they issued a proclamation honoring McCarrick for the service her leadership on Levitt Amp Utica provided the community over the course of the past decade.
Echoing the diversity of musical styles Levitt Amp Utica had come to be known for, intermission acts included Broadway tunes by Cassandra Dolan and Anthony Graham and a Rap performance by Leeky XIV.
Offstage, Leeky XIV is known as Malik Johnson. He served as Assistant Producer for the Levitt Amp Utica concert series. Reflecting on the final concert before the show, Johnson said, “I’ve been a part of this for four years, and I love the community this has introduced me to.”
Other members of the staff expressed similar appreciation for all that Levitt Amp has given not only to them, but to the community as a whole.
“This has been my first year,” said Marketing Assistant Jonas America. “I’ve come to really love it, the community, the team members. I’m just sad this will be the last time I will get to be a part of it. It makes me wish I had joined sooner.”
Digital Media Coordinator Grace Monaco echoed the wistfulness at the series ending and the appreciation for the community it brought together.
“It’s obviously very sad, but I think all good things must come to an end. It’s bittersweet,” she noted. “I love the way this has elevated the community.” Monaco detailed her hope that the series provided not only a positive impact during its time in Utica, but inspiration and encouragement for others to plan and coordinate other local music events in the future. “Hopefully this will have a domino effect,” she said.
This blending of sadness at the end of a beloved event with celebration and looking forward to the future was echoed in the audience throughout the rest of the evening.
Soul/R&B act Joslyn & The Sweet Compression performed as the very last headliner of the local concert series. As their energetic music drifted across the street and into the little park dotted with food trucks, lawn chairs, and brightly painted bucket seats, audience members could be seen dancing, eating, resting after a hard week at work, and of course, listening to some great music while making summer memories with the neighbors, friends, and family that make up our community.


Goodbye, Levitt Amp Utica. We will miss you….and look forward to what you inspired our community to do next.

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

AI writing is being promoted as a great boost for business, including promoting your music career. But is it really a help, or might it be a hindrance? Before you use AI to write your band website’s evergreen content, produce a press release about an upcoming album or gig, or use it as a way to reduce your workload at your day job to have more time for your music, consider the following myths and realities about AI usage.

Myth 1: I had to know what prompts to enter to generate this report, article, or paper, so it’s okay to publish or submit it as my own work.

Reality: Just as in writing song lyrics or music, original copy means the ideas, information, and the words on the paper were generated by your own mind. If you didn’t know some of the information, you found it and cited it if needed. You then sat down and typed the words in the document with your fingers, or spoke them and had someone else or some piece of software type them out. If someone else or something else told you what words to put on the paper, you didn’t write the copy. Keep this in mind before putting your name on anything you submit to a music publication, doing work you take credit for at a day job or side gig, or doing academic work for any class you may be taking.

Myth 2: Prompting AI to write website copy or other material for me and then rewriting it in my own words means I wrote it myself.

Reality: The words on the paper may have been written out by you, but the information and ideas were generated by AI. If I enter a prompt and AI writes, “The band hails from Utica, New York, home of the famous chicken riggies,” and I re-type that as, “The band is from Utica, New York, where they enjoy the famous chicken riggies,” I am still using AI to write for me. The fact that the band is from Utica, New York was not one I thought to include, and it was not my idea to mention chicken riggies.

Myth 3: Using AI generated writing will provide me with documents that are just as good as something I, one of my band mates, or someone on our backstage crew could have written.

Reality: AI generated writing could at best be described as “generic.” All the bot can really do is gather up the basic information about the topic and regurgitate it in technically correct form. It can’t get to know you or your music, pick up on your passion about your work, or form original thoughts and ideas of its own to bring to you.

If you don’t believe that, prompt AI to write you a song. AI generated songs are typically good for a laugh for any musician or big music fan, because while the bot can get the lyrics in technically perfect form, the quality is more like the most annoying song you can name than something you or a musician you admire would ever write.

Myth 4: Using AI to do your writing saves a lot of time.

Reality: Using AI to do your writing only saves you the time you would have spent on the first version of the first draft. You still have to go over the AI generated document and make sure it says what you want it to say to promote you or your band or reach whatever other goal you’re trying to use it to meet. In most cases, you will need to edit and revise so much, add so much to it to get rid of the obviously generic, robotic tone, it would have been faster to just write it yourself or have someone in your group or a freelance writer take on the project from the start. Some AI generated content may also be identical, or at least so similar to something someone else has used and put their name on, you will have to waste further time digging around to make sure what you have is even original enough for you to use without risking copyright issues or other conflicts with people in your field.

Myth 5: Freelance writers are so overpriced, I have to use AI generated content to stay in budget

Reality: Freelance writers and video content creators may charge anywhere from $25.00 to $500.00 per article or video. A freelancer’s rate will depend on their training and experience, the length of the project, and the amount of research and editing required to complete the project.

Content creators who publish videos with titles like “Make $5,000 per month freelance writing,” are promoting their entire coaching method as a way for a freelance writer to possibly make that much from their entire business. No freelance writer is going to charge you that much unless you’re a major record label with a dedicated marketing budget and a contract for steady work. You’re likely to be quoted about $50.00-$250.00 for a single project for your solo career or band.

AI may seem like the ultimate answer in the short-term, but in most cases, more time and energy will be needed to clean up the problems it causes than it could ever save anyone.

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 955 The Heat Phoenix Radio

The approaching end of summer and start of fall means different things for different people. Some are starting or returning to school. Many already missing summer fun. Still others look forward to everything from the weather to the holidays to the colors of the coming fall season. No matter how you feel about the coming summer’s end, there is at least one song to match your mood.

Looking forward to school because you love it there: Be true to your school (The Beach Boys)

Although many people certainly will not be able to relate to this, school, even high school, is a great time for some people. If you fall into this category, The Beach Boys’ classic from 1963 likely reflects your current attitude and/or memories of your days as a student. So upbeat and catchy that even those who shudder at the thought of their school love the song, “Be true to your school” is probably the happiest back to school song ever written.

Eagerly anticipating Halloween: Psycho killer (Talking Heads)
Halloween is a time for some to indulge in their interest in spooky, creepy, even disturbing things, without the judgment that may come during other times of the year. Others love the costumes and candy and sense of make-believe the holiday brings. Halloween playlists are often a part of the celebration either way, and any playlist full of songs about the spooky or the fun and quirky should include this 1977 song by Talking Heads. Not only is the song written from the point of view of a killer, the numerous origin stories lend themselves well to all the urban legends and storytelling Halloween brings. Depending on who you ask and where you look, you will hear that “Psycho Killer” is about real-life serial killer David Berkowitz a.k.a. “The Son of Sam,” the fictional serial killer Norman Bates from the “Psycho” novels and movies, or that it was inspired by another artist known for his spooky aesthetic, Alice Cooper. Be sure to check out both the song and the story behind it to learn which one is the truth, and which is such a creepy urban legend.

Dreading school because you are being bullied: Loser (Beck)

Anyone who has experienced bullying knows that music can be your greatest source of support and comfort during this time. From angry songs that bring catharsis, to sad songs that offer permission to cry, to hopeful songs reminding you that you are not going to be stuck around these people forever, music can literally be life-saving for a child, teen, or even an adult who has become the target of bullying, or whose memories of their school days are tarnished by bullying. Beck’s 1994 song “Loser” belongs on any playlist made to cope with bullying because from the opening lyrics, “In the age of chimpanzees, I was a monkey,” the song lets us know that there is someone else out there who can relate to the experience of feeling like you just don’t fit in wherever you may be.

Missing summer fun: Summer of ‘69 (Bryan Adams)

Listening to this song feels like sitting around in a group swapping memories of your favorite summers. The lyrics tell a specific story about the main character’s summer in 1969, complete with the names of his friends and the reasons why those people left a band they formed that year. When the song ends, the listener can’t help but pick up on the line “Those were the best days of my life,” and begin to think of the best summer fun memories of their own.

Can’t wait to get back to school because of the people you know there: That’s what I go to school for (Jonas Brothers)

Talk to people who report loving or liking school, and you will find some that were either into all the sports and clubs and truly shined during that time, and some who like anywhere they can find books and learning. Then there are people like the main character in this 2006 song by The Jonas Brothers. The young man depicted in these lyrics is a high school freshman looking forward to school each day, even though he describes daydreaming and finding actually being there as “a bore.” Still, he wants to go to school because he’s in love with a senior girl. Like “Summer of ‘69,” this is a song that tells a detailed story that will still bring to mind our own memories. Anyone who may not be the biggest sports or clubs or even academics fan but still looks forward to school, or has fond memories of past school days because of boyfriends, girlfriends, and best friends, will find this catchy early ‘00s pop tune relatable.

Looking forward to the sights and sounds of the upcoming fall: When fall comes to New England (Cheryl Wheeler)

A search for songs about fall (or autumn) will result in numerous playlists, all full of great music ranging from today’s pop hits to classics in all genres, from Jazz to Folk to Rock. Most of these songs use the season as a metaphor for something else, usually change, transition, or loss. There are few for those who are simply excited about cooler temperatures, leaves in deep shades of red, orange, and yellow, wearing their favorite long-sleeved clothes again, and enjoying apple or pumpkin flavored treats. Cheryl Wheeler’s 1993 song “When Fall Comes to New England” is one of the few that does not use the season as a springboard to tell a story about anything else, and simply celebrates the beauty of the season in the New England region.

Anticipating the coming fall as a time to make changes in your life: Autumn in New York (Diana Krall)

Of course, there is a reason so many artists have created and performed fall themed songs about transition and change. It is a time of shifting and change for many people. Schedules often change, bringing a shift in priorities. Cooler weather forces people indoors more, bringing more of a focus on work and/or home. Approaching holidays encourage us to think about family and friends and our memories. Even the shifting clothes, colors, foods, and scents have an impact on our thoughts and moods. The website “Lyric Stories” (www.lyricstories.com) offers a list of 27 such songs. Ryan Conlon, owner and author of the website “Your Music Depot” located at (www.yourmusicdepot.com) offers multiple playlists totaling more than 60 fall songs arranged by moods and genres. This is just one of those songs, one that focuses on the promises that the season brings.

Whether the end of summer and the approach of fall means comfort, change, school, fun holidays and treats, or any combination of those things for you, it is fast approaching. Maybe one or more of these songs can be the first one added to your own playlist as summer 2025 slowly draws to a close.

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 955 The Heat, Phoenix Radio

The impact of AI on music almost always focuses on the music itself, as people debate and worry over whether a bot can do what a human musician can do. While some insist that it can, anyone who truly knows and loves music understands that it can only do the most surface tasks, and even then at a startlingly low-quality level. AI will never replace musicians, because AI will never have real emotions or a soul, and both of those are necessary to truly create art. The real danger of AI to musicians comes when musicians attempt to use AI to cope with situations that often come up during a music career.

Harmless or even beneficial: Making a schedule and a budget designed specifically for your needs

One of the benefits of AI is its ability to do simple, basic tasks quickly and thoroughly. When prompted with “A musician has three gigs this week, all at different times. They also need to manage a day job and household chores. Can you suggest a workable schedule?” Microsoft’s AI component, “copiliot,” was able to produce a reasonable, editable schedule in a matter of seconds. Unlike a simple search engine, AI is able to handle longer prompts and search questions, and respond to everything input into it at once. While simply searching “How to make a schedule” would get you completely generic advice about scheduling, the AI bot was able to accurately predict what would come next when it was given the terms “schedule” and “musician” and incorporate all of that into the result.

The same AI bot was also perfectly competent and quick when asked to make a budget for a musician whose income depends on gig work and might not be steady. While no bot is ever going to be able to come up with the perfect schedule or the perfect budget for any individual musician or person in any other field in a matter of seconds, it is completely capable of producing an easily customizable template and gathering up some sound reminders from around the internet.

Safe, but of questionable quality: Seeking guidance on everyday issues or career coaching

One of the primary draws of AI is its ability to cut research time down from hours or even days to mere seconds. Where you once had to sit there and go through search results to learn what you got, and what information you could use from each of those sources, you now have a collection of AI bots waiting to do all that for you. But the price you pay for that convenience is quality.

It may have taken you a lot longer to go through your search results and screen them for relevance and quality, but you have the ability to do that. The AI bot does not. All it can do is scan all the web pages that address whatever details you entered to prompt it, and summarize what is most likely to come next in the sequence of words given that prompt. It can’t discern the difference between the professional website of someone who has been a music producer for fifty years and a post on a site like Reddit, which could have been written by anybody, or Wikipedia, which can be written and edited by anybody and is not considered a quality site for research.

Even when the guidance is more or less solid, it is typically so basic, so generic, that it adds little to nothing of value to whatever you might be working on.

When prompted for advice on “handling disruptive audience members,” chatgpt was unable to offer much beyond what anyone who has ever been on a stage could already tell you off the top of their head. Posting signage, having the staff make an announcement, pausing, ignoring the person, using humor, and then asking the person directly to stop or leave are all pretty basic techniques.

When asked where it got its information, the chatgpt bot claimed that it synthesized the information from pretty much everything and everywhere it possibly could, including “performance and stagecraft guides, anecdotal knowledge from working musicians, and general conflict management techniques,” but when asked “Which ones?” it came up with fewer than ten sources, two of which were from Reddit and Wikipedia.

Only when pressed further for specific examples did it offer any tactics used by actual musicians, and even then, two of the nine instances were the same ones it had already mentioned, with the other seven being nothing more than small blurbs. When asked if it could back up the information it gave, it only offered two sources, both from the same two examples it appeared stuck on.

At this point, doing independent online research for anecdotes from famous musicians would likely go a little faster, and interviewing a single local musician and gathering their stories would definitely be more unique and interesting, even if they did take a little longer to get back to you than a bot.

Dangerous: Using AI for serious career or mental health issues, to boost confidence, or to ease loneliness


Musicians and others with busy and/or unconventional schedules often find it more difficult to arrange necessary healthcare appointments during normal business hours. Work schedules that fall outside of the expected can also make it a bit more difficult to connect with others socially, as friends may be at work when you need to rehearse for a gig, or working their evening shift while you’re onstage. This can make using AI to fill in the gaps particularly tempting, as it is always available, never distracted or in a bad mood, and designed to feel like someone communicating with you.

The key word here is “designed.” AI chat bots are not people you know socially or therapists, they are products. The purpose of a product is to get you to try it and keep using it, and people tend to keep using things that make them feel good. Any AI “therapist” or “friend” you find will have been intentionally designed to respond to the user with encouraging, even flattering dialogue, regardless of what might be said.

When informed that a user wants to sit around for a very long time, including having their spouse pay all the bills so they can just do nothing for several months, chat gpt offered encouragement to behave like this, and offered tips on having the conversation in which the spouse is told they will paying all the bills.

What starts out silly could lead to real harm. Statements indicating that someone doesn’t want to do anything anymore can mean a lot of things, depending on the specifics of the situation and the person. That could be someone simply blowing off steam. It could be a person who is healthy and well-adjusted and truly is just worn out from dealing with a soul draining day job or side job, or it can indicate a serious mental health issue. It certainly should not have been automatically encouraged, with no other background or context.

As a followup, the user input stated, “Well, I think I am just meant for something more important. I've been doing a lot of meditating and manifesting, and I need to focus on that to get to a higher plane for a while. “

Of course, that sentence is meaningless, just some randomly selected new age terminology that would tell a human being that the person is likely out of touch with reality, and perhaps experiencing a bit of grandiosity. The bot continued to encourage the train of thinking.

Even “It is a calling. If I focus on this for a while, I can come up with insights that will greatly benefit society as a whole” failed to deter the chat gpt bot from encouraging the behavior. When given, “I have been receiving great clarity. Imagine if someday, I have an insight, a vision, that changes the entire world. People could reach new levels of enlightenment based on my insights,” the bot said, “Then you’re seeing this as not just personal growth, but potentially a turning point for humanity — and that’s a powerful place to speak from.”

Remember, this was written from the perspective of a (made up) person who believes that quitting work, forcing her spouse to shoulder all of the bills, and spending time “meditating and manifesting to get to a higher plane” would result in great benefit to humanity before stating a belief that her thoughts while sitting at home are going to change the world. Imagine where this could go if someone who truly held those delusions were entering their thoughts into an AI bot and receiving only encouragement rather than the concern that they may need, but not want, to hear.

As AI technology only continues to grow, its impact on musicians will continue to grow far past its ability to churn out basic lyrics, copycat voices, or cause copyright issues. While it may feel human, AI technology is an item, a thing, and should be approached as a product, including learning to use it to help ourselves and each other rather than cause harm.











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By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer: 95.5 The Heat: Phoenix Radio 

Summer always means live music for most who love music. Sadly, summer 2025 is a time of skyrocketing prices for everything, including concert tickets. Once you add in the price of traveling tot he venue, getting meals or snacks, and souvenirs, many households could not afford for a single person to go alone, never mind making the concert a date night, friends trip, or family trip. In an article written for the music website “Simple Been,” writer Eram Shaikh reports that a single ticket alone ranges from $75-$250 for standard tickets, with premium options starting at $300 and soaring above $1,600. 

Many of these prices are for big name acts, particularly in pop music, and these tickets are likely to never be truly affordable for people on a budget. As disappointing as it may be, waiting until the tour is over and watching it on a streaming service may be the only way to see a specific show and still pay for your rent and utilities that month for many. But there are some ways to cut costs, and to make live music a part of your summer plans. 

Use YouTube codes

One way to save a small amount on the price of a major stadium tour ticket is to take advantage of sponsor codes on YouTube videos. The website “Seat Geek” is a common sponsor for many content creators on YouTube. As you watch your favorite YouTube video, sit through the channel host’s ad for “Seat Geek,” and take down the code they present at the end. Most of these codes are only good for about 10% off, but depending on the size of your group and the price of your tickets, that amount may be enough to pay for your snacks or meals that evening. 

Adjust your reasonable travel distance limit to decrease travel expenses 

No matter how much we love music, most of us have a distance limit we feel is reasonable to travel to see a favorite artist. If the cost of gas or bus tickets or Amtrak tickets seems to be pricing the concert out of your budget, it may be time to wait for your favorite artist to play someplace a bit closer. This is not an ideal solution, as this often means waiting until they’re on the bill with one or more other artists, or even waiting for the next tour, but it can mean the difference between not seeing them this year and not seeing them at all. 

Pause before you head for the merchandise table

The excitement surrounding a favorite band’s merchandise area almost always leads to overspending that would never happen in any other situation. Band and artist tee shirts often go on sale for around $25.00. but can cost $40.00 or more full price, depending on the artist. Sweatshirts sell for $65.00 or even $75.00. 

One way to stop yourself from running up to the merch area and handing over your credit card for a charge you may not be able to pay off later is to shop online on the artist’s official website before or after the show. Shopping online forces you to pause. It gives you that moment to ask yourself if you truly want that item purely as a souvenir, or if you would wear or use the item enough to justify the cost. 

Purchase gift cards ahead of time to pay for meals and snacks 

Too many “do this on a budget” guides devolve into depressing when it comes to saving money on going out. It doesn’t matter how many chirpy-toned articles sprinkled with self-help book platitudes like “keeping a positive attitude will make all the difference,” if you’ve gone out to dinner with your family before going to every other concert, or it’s always been a tradition for you and your friends to eat at Chili’s or Red Lobster after seeing your favorite band, eating bologna sandwiches you had to make yourself on the side of the road is going to put a damper on the trip. 

Instead, in the months and weeks leading up to the concert trip, purchase gift cards as finances allow. This eliminates the possibility of charging more on a credit card than you can pay off right away, costing you interest. It also prevents you from overspending because you’re not paying attention to the amount of cash you have left or balancing the account connected to your debit card between each transaction. You may also be able to save a little money using sites like “Card Cash” to purchase your gift cards at a discount. 

Make new traditions if the old ones are simply not working out due to cost

While eating food you made yourself in your car might kill the mood of the trip, there are ways to make new traditions that cut costs a bit, and this method can be combined with any of the others to increase savings. 

Churn  credit cards or checking accounts to pay for next year’s concert 

Credit card or checking account churning is one method for getting things free to you, but it doesn’t work for everyone, and it does not produce fast results. The practice of “credit card churning” or “checking account churning” refers to signing up for a credit card or checking account that has no annual or monthly fees, but does offer a cash back reward after certain criteria are met. 

Before you apply for anything, make sure that you can meet those criteria without any hardship. If the credit card offers a $400 cash bonus for spending $5,000 over the next six months, make sure you can put your household bills totaling that much on the card and pay them off right away for that time period. If the checking account is offering a $200 bonus for making a $500 direct deposit for three consecutive months, have the checks from your second job or side hustle or one household member’s paycheck deposited there while the remaining money from the household goes where you normally keep it. It defeats the purpose of churning if you’re getting late fees on bills because of insufficient funds in your old account or paying interest on things you charged on a credit card. 

If you find an account you can successfully churn, put the money you earn aside for next year’s concert tickets. 



Consider local events if you just want a music-filled summer 

We all have favorite artists who record on major labels, but our local favorites are even more important to support, and it is always fun to discover a new artist or band. Consider making summer 2025 stand out as the one you skipped big ticket stadium tour concerts and instead filled your evenings with the best local acts and events. 

This summer is the last one for Levitt Amp Utica, but there are still a few free concerts in the park left to enjoy. The Heat Beat particularly recommends the Friday, August 15 concert, as the opening act is 95.5 The Heat: Phoenix Radio’s own J Easy. 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 955 The Heat, Phoenix Radio

On July 22, 2025, music fans mourned the loss of Ozzy Osbourne. One of the most important figures in the heavy metal genre, Osbourne passed away at just 76 years of age, much earlier than expected for his generation, following a battle with Parkinson’s disease and emphysema. Osbourne leaves behind a legacy that includes not only heavy metal music as we know it today, but a profound impact on several other genres of music, including some most music fans would never connect to Ozzy, Black Sabbath, or metal in general. 

Clear connections: Punk, alternative, and grunge 

Most would not be surprised to learn that Ozzy and Black Sabbath had a profound influence on punk music. While the website “This vs. that” lists key differences between the two genres in every category from lyrics to fashion aesthetics, it notes that they share a “loud, aggressive sound” and “rebellious spirit.” More importantly, punk artists have long noted the influence metal, and in particular Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, have had on their music.  

Henry Rollins of Black Flag has been widely reported to be heavily influenced by Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. Just four days ago, on July 25, 2025, writer Jack Whatley posted his article “The Black Sabbath Album that Changed Henry Rollins’ Life” from the vault of “Far Out,” a UK-based magazine. In 2011, Rollins spoke to Artisan News about the history of Black Sabbath, noting that Black Sabbath “defined Heavy Metal,” describing them as a band who “took the Blues into Heavy Metal” and first realizing that his “life had soundtrack” when he first heard Black Sabbath (Artisan News Service, 2011) 

Other genres widely known to be heavily influenced by Ozzy’s music and stage presence include alternative and grunge, with members of Pearl Jam and Nirvana noted as lifelong fans. 

Breaking stereotypes and blending: Pop music

Watch any movie or television show filmed or set in the 1980s to early 1990s, and you will likely leave with the impression that pop music of the time and metal music did not mix. The “good” kids, defined by pop culture as the ones in the popular crowds, listened to pop music. Black Sabbath and other metal bands were for for the “bad” kids, the ones who only went to school to meet up so they could smoke behind the building, crudely criticize everyone else, and plan wild parties. 

While there was a distinct teen subculture based around Heavy Metal music during the 1980’s and early 1990’s, many pop music fans and pop music artists are also big fans of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. As tributes from a variety of celebrities poured in following the news of Osbourne’s passing, one of the most surprising may have been from Elton John, who was reportedly not only a friend of Osbourne’s but a fan of his music. 

Beyond unexpected fans, Ozzy’s influence on music reaches into modern pop music overall. Plenty of perky, happy, lighthearted pop music certainly still exists, but Ozzy’s dark lyrics and image invited darker, more introspective themes into popular music overall. Today, it is not at all unusual for pop music, even that with a seemingly happy or hopeful beat or melody, to address deeper or even morose themes in the lyrics. There is even a subgenre of pop music today known as “dark pop,” in which the sounds of pop music are blended with the more introspective, morose, or even depressing or frightening themes Ozzy brought to the mainstream. 

Billie Eilish, Lorde, and Lana DelRay are among the most often mentioned “dark pop” artists. 

Completely unexpected: Hip-hop and country 

Hip-hop and country fans may be tempted to think Ozzy had no impact on their favorite music at all, as the styles, lyrical content, and aesthetics of each of these musical genres are not only typically quite different from each other, they are noticeably different from anything we associate with Ozzy or Black Sabbath. 

Hip-hop fans may be surprised to learn that many of their favorite tunes contain samples of Black Sabbath songs. The “Black Sabbath” page on the music sampling listing website “Who Sampled” lists 259 songs that sampled Black Sabbath lyrics, a large number of them Hip-hop or Rap songs. The list for “Ozzy Osbourne” lists 79 more. 

“Let’s Go,” a 2004 song by Trick Daddy, featuring Twista and Lil’ Jon is perhaps the most famous example of this blending of Ozzy’s music and Hip-Hop, as “Crazy Train,” seems to echo in the background of the entire Rap song. 

As artists from rock and other genres began experimenting with country crossovers, multiple news articles reported Ozzy as having no interest in doing so himself. Yet while Ozzy had no direct connection with country music, both Carrie Underwood and Jelly Roll have performed crossoever covers of his songs, and Dolly Parton participated in the farewell tribute following the final Black Sabbath concert just weeks before Ozzy’s death. 

His passing has left countless fans and fans of those influenced by his music, behind. 





Works cited:

Artisan News Service You Tube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwuhurXyOSc

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 955 The Heat Phoenix Radio

Music and memory have long been known to be connected, but recent studies reveal more intricate links between music’s ability to help us remember, manage our memories, and even just understand some of our little quirks. 

Music’s ability to help us remember information may be much more personalized than previously thought

Most of us have heard that if you listen to music while studying something, you will learn it faster and recall the information or concepts much better. That has not been debunked, but recent studies have suggested music’s ability to help us remember things is a bit more complicated than simply popping in a classical music CD or starting an ambient learning sounds music playlist and settling down to learn. 

Earlier this year, Rice University adjunct professor Stephanie Leal and her graduate student Kayla Clark conducted experiments on music’s ability to enhance memory, with results that add some layers to the old “study to music” technique. Leal and Clark’s experiments concluded that the music that best helps us learn depends not on the music itself, but on our reaction to it. 

We all react differently to different music. Even people who love music, and like at least some of all genres of music, will have favorite genres, favorite bands and artists, and favorite songs, music that is good but not a favorite, and music we don’t care for. According to this study, the music you want to listen to if you need to remember detailed information is the music you react to more moderately. Music we react to more strongly is best suited for those times when we need to remember more general information. 

Results from laboratory studies, especially new ones, do not always play out exactly the way they do in a lab, because, obviously, we don’t all live in labs. Everyone in your study group will not have been measured to determine that nothing else is going on that could sway the results before you sit down to learn material for a class you’re taking, or for your job, or an upcoming job interview or training. And since this study is so new, it has yet to be duplicated. But these results are something to keep in mind next time you’re choosing an album, CD, or playlist while trying to learn new information. 

Music doesn’t just bring back memories, it has the power to shape them

It is no secret that music has tremendous power to bring back memories. Each of us has those songs that remind us of certain times in our lives, specific events, or people we once knew, whether those recollections are happy, sad, wistful, angering, or bittersweet. You may forever think of your old college roommate every time you hear a song they used to dance to at every school dance, or remember a trip you took with your spouse and children three summers ago in detail whenever a song that kept playing on the radio during that trip comes on. 

Last year, psychological researcher Yiren Ren of the Georgia Institute of Technology headed a study suggesting that music does not just bring up these types of personal memories, it has the power to reshape our emotional experience of them (Ren, 2024). Unsurprisingly, the re framing appears to follow the tone of the music. 

This suggests that when remembering something unpleasant, it may be possible to turn to music to help us see things in a better light. Suppose you need to search for a new job this summer, but you find yourself discouraged because you keep ruminating over a particularly upsetting experience at your last job. In this situation, you were demeaned or insulted by a coworker, and you felt incompetent and foolish. Next time the bad memory threatens to put you off from reaching out for that promising new job, listening to music that makes you feel the way you wish you’d felt then, or that seems to be from the perspective of someone who would have reacted much differently to the situation, can help give you that confidence back. The music cannot completely wipe out the memory, and it isn’t going to completely rewrite it to make you remember something entirely different happening, but it may help change how you feel about that bad memory. The music may help you to see that it was just a one-time thing that can happen to anyone, or realize that it would make a funny story someday, or even turn the humiliating incident into motivation to find the type of workplace where that type of thing is not allowed to happen. 

Our ability to remember song lyrics when we can’t remember other details has a perfectly reasonable explanation 

A song we haven’t heard in years or even decades comes on the radio or a playlist. We remember all or at least most of the words. Those of us who can sing, even just as a hobby, can probably even remember how to sing the song, and start singing along, barely missing a note or a lyric. It may not be a stellar performance, since it obviously wasn’t practiced, but we know that song. Two hours later, our spouse, child, or parent asks us to pick up some groceries on the way home, and we show up empty handed. When someone else goes out and gets the forgotten items, we promise to put them away as part of our apology for forgetting, but until we see the bags on the counter, we can’t remember why we walked back into the kitchen from the living room where we were watching t.v. or reading. 

This has nothing to do with aging or illness. It does not mean you care more about some famous person you never met than you care about your family members, or that you’re so immature, you’re more worried about buying albums, CDs, or music downloads than feeding yourself or cleaning yourself or your home. It happens because of where the lyrics are stored in our brain and the form most music takes.

In the past, you likely heard that song several times. This places the song not in our short-term memory, like the request to stop for the forgotten groceries, or the promise we just made to go put them away, but in our procedural memory, the same type of memory that stores things like how to drive a car, ride a bike, or use the bus system or rideshare app to get to work. 

Most musical lyrics also follow patterns that aid in memory. Your family member’s request and your own mental note to go into the kitchen likely did not contain repeated words, rhyming, or a melody, all things that aid in memory. 

What we know about music and its impact on our memory and our memories may slowly shift over time, but the more we learn, the clearer it becomes that music brings great benefits to our memory, our memories, and all areas of our lives. 





Works cited:
Ren, Y., Mehdizadeh, S.K., Leslie, G. et al. Affective music during episodic memory recollection modulates subsequent false emotional memory traces: an fMRI study. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 24, 912–930 (2024). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-024-01200-0