Music

Neil Young may have effectively signed over some of the rights to use his music in advertising when he sold 50% of his publishing to Hipgnosis Songs in 2021. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t reserved the right to weigh in — subtly — when his music is licensed for commercials going forward. Young seems

Sony Music Publishing has signed a global deal with singer-songwriter and actress Dove Cameron, who has seen major success this year following her gold-certified queer anthem, “Boyfriend.” The 26-year-old singer-actress — who won a Daytime Emmy Award for her dual role as the eponymous characters in the Disney Channel series “Liv and Maddie” — recently released her

No need to send out a search party for the “Searchin’ My Soul” singer. It’s true that Vonda Shepard has kept a low profile of late, not just during the pandemic but for a few years before it, not having released an album of new material since 2015’s “Rookie.” But she’s back with her 13th

Britney Spears and Elton John have released the video counterpart to “Hold Me Closer,” a colorful, nearly four-minute music video full of interpretive dance numbers. However, it does not include appearances from Spears or John. The music video was directed by Tanu Muino, who also helmed Harry Styles’ “As It Was” and Lil Nas X’s

There’s no Weeknd like Thanksgiving Weeknd. The pop superstar has announced the rescheduled date for the L.A. show he recently had to call off mid-show, and he’s added a second show on top of that one, to end his tour with a two-night stand at SoFi Stadium. The rescheduled date for the concert that ground

During a brief headlining-making (like most everything he’s up to these days) stop in London for Fashion Week, Kanye West made an appearance at an afterparty where he previewed some new songs he and James Blake had recorded. In videos captured by partygoers, West appeared in good spirits as he took over the DJ booth and

After hundreds of passes, DJ Cassidy’s mic is about to be set down, at least as far as TV specials go. His celebrated “Pass the Mic” series — which started online as a pandemic phenomenon bringing together classic R&B and rap stars, before moving to BET as a succession of post-awards specials — will have

In a telling example of the state of the touring industry in 2022, indie artist Santigold has canceled her upcoming North American tour, citing the “devastating” costs due to inflation, soaring costs and the glut of artists on the road after pandemic restrictions lifted early this year.  “As a touring musician, I don’t think anyone

Orlando Wharton has been named executive vice president of Capitol Music Group and president of Priority Records. The announcement was made by CMG chair & CEO Michelle Jubelirer, to whom Wharton will report.  According to the announcement, in his new position, Wharton will sign and guide artists across CMG’s portfolio of labels, and will relaunch

Nicki Minaj fired off at YouTube on Monday afternoon after the platform age-restricted her “Likkle Miss Remix” music video with dancehall artist Skeng, alleging that the company is “in bed” with rival artists’ camps. “Imagine this. They restricted my fucking video but have things a million fucking times worse on their bogus fking platform,” Minaj

Blackpink makes history on this week’s chart with its sophomore set, “Born Pink,” the first album from an all-female group to hit No. 1 since Danity Kane’s “Welcome to the Dollhouse” in 2008. “Born Pink” moved an equivalent of 102,000 album units in its first week of release in the U.S., in the week ending

The iHeartRadio Music Festival, after 12 years as a staple event in Las Vegas’ datebook, took over the T-Mobile Arena Friday and Saturday with the top stars of music and podcasting, radio and streaming, canvassing both the audience, onstage and backstage. Known for its surprise collaborative performances and world premieres, the iHeartRadio Festival crosses genres

Helium-pitched vocals and kitschy lyrics made Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” a novelty hit for the ages, and the perky euro-pop anthem, which took the world by storm in 1997, is still going strong 25 years later. The candy-colored video has amassed more than 1.1 billion views on YouTube and any conversation about Greta Gerwig’s upcoming “Barbie”

Gorillaz used their tour stop in Los Angeles not only to play a packed show at the city’s Kia Forum but also to hold a special advance listening session for their new album, the provocatively titled “Cracker Island,” set for release on February 24, 2023. Gorillaz albums are always filled with guests, and the Damon

This weekend’s Rolling Loud Festival at Citi Field in New York experienced several last-minute cancellations and a long list of other performance snafus. So much so that 21 Savage — who was supposed to hit the stage before the night’s headliner, Future — tweeted that the festival would “never get a show” out of him

Writing new music for the “Star Wars” universe would be daunting for any composer, considering its iconic scores by the legendary John Williams. Luckily for “Andor” composer Nicholas Britell, writer-producer Tony Gilroy and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy gave him “total freedom” to imagine a new, totally unique soundscape for the backstory of Cassian Andor (Diego

Metallica have announced that they will perform a special tribute concert on Nov. 6 to honor Jonny and Marsha Zazula, the founders of their original label, Megaforce Records. The group, which will be joined by fellow Megaforce alums Raven, will perform songs from their early career, dating from 1983 and ’84. The concert will take place

In recent years, artists have created a booming business out of essentially putting their archives on tour — the “David Bowie Is” and “Rolling Stones Exhibitionism” — traveling exhibitions of their wardrobes, instruments and multiple other artifacts from their long careers. Well look out, because here comes “Pavements 1933-2022: A Pavement Museum” — a semi-jokingly titled international

Does Doja Cat’s hit song “Vegas” qualify to be an Oscar best song nominee? The short answer is: Maybe. But the tune from Baz Luhrmann’s biopic “Elvis” faces more challenges than the average new movie song. The three-and-a-half-minute, commercially released version of “Vegas,” a portion of which is heard during the first half-hour of the

Today is officially Rihanna’s day, with fans of the R&B singee celebrating her confirmed return to the live music stage for the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show in Feb. 2023. Among those looking forward to witnessing Rihanna’s Halftime takeover is Dr. Dre, who gave an award-winning performance at the Super Bowl this year alongside Snoop Dogg, Mary

If the planet was under threat of annihilation from beyond, and we had to present our divine or interplanetary overlords with just two musical emissaries to make a case that humankind is worth being spared as a species, Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples might be the couple we’d want to pick. Fortunately, with no such

The 10th anniversary of New York’s Global Citizen provided, much like the city that hosted it, a melting pot of artists from as far away as Spain (Rosalia) and Italy (Maneskin) and as local as New Jersey natives, Charlie Puth and the Jonas Brothers, and Long Island’s own Mariah Carey. The crowds were out in

Rihanna has slyly affirmed that she will be performing at the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show in Feb. 2023. Roc Nation also officially confirmed the singer’s participation through a statement released on Sunday. The singer shared a picture of an NFL-branded football on her Instagram. The post came amid reports that the singer was “in

Ahead of what was originally planned to be the Judds’ reunion tour, Wynonna Judd opened up about the death of her mother, Naomi Judd, and discussed what she calls “a new chapter” in a new interview with CBS Sunday Morning. The 58-year-old country music singer said that she still feels “incredibly angry” following her mother’s

Post Malone’s fall through a stage trap door during a concert last weekend may have resulted in injuries more serious than they first appeared, judging from the performer’s description of extreme pain he was suffering Saturday night that caused him to cancel a concert in Boston at the last minute. The performer posted to fans

Pharoah Sanders, an American jazz saxophonist whose career sprawled across six decades, has died at the age of 81. His death was confirmed to Variety by a representative for his label, Luaka Bop. “We are devastated to share that Pharoah Sanders has passed away,” the label’s statement reads. “He died peacefully surrounded by loving family

The Doobie Brothers announced the death of drummer John Hartman Friday, collectively saying in a social media post, “Today we are thinking of John Hartman, or Little John to usJohn was a wild spirit, great drummer, and showman during his time in the Doobies.” He was 72. No cause of death was immediately announced. Hartman,

Lil Baby was recognized with the Black Music Action Coalition’s Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award on Thursday night at the Music in Action Awards Gala. After being introduced with a video congratulations from his mother Lashawn Jones and Quality Control Music Group founder Pierre Thomas as well as a letter written by Quincy Jones, the rapper

Sir Elton John was moved to tears as President Joe Biden surprised the enduring music icon with a National Humanities Medal. John, at the White House on Friday to perform at A+E and History’s “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme,” looked visibly shocked and humbled as the president addressed the thousands in the audience.

Netflix dismissed a copyright lawsuit on Friday that it had filed against the creators of “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical.” The court filing did not indicate whether the streaming service had reached a settlement with Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow, the creators of the musical. However, the pair had earlier canceled a performance of the musical