Music

After a 12-year run representing some of Nashville’s most high-profile artists at the Big Machine Label Group, Jake Basden is exiting that familiar role to join Sandbox Entertainment Group in the role of president. At Sandbox, the company led by manager-producer Jason Owen, Basden will be working with a roster of artists that includes Kacey

Columbia Records has promoted Jenifer Mallory to the role of president, the company’s chairman/CEO Ron Perry announced Tuesday. Mallory, who will continue to report to Perry, has served as the company’s executive VP and general manager since 2018. In her new post, she will continue to oversee marketing, digital, publicity, video production, licensing, and brand

Hit songwriter and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, veteran artist manager Ron Laffitte and former Downtown Music Chief Business Officer Andrew Sparkler have launched Runner Music, a new venture that initially will be primarily focused on music publishing, both by acquiring existing copyrights as well as entering into inspired partnerships with established and emerging songwriters, according

Female artists are increasing their presence on popular music charts, but representation behind the scenes is still an uphill battle. The latest findings of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s “Inclusion in the Recording Studio?” report show a 7% increase in women artists from last year’s report, but the presence of female songwriters, producers, and engineers

Two-time Grammy-winning singer Lauren Daigle has signed with Atlantic Records in partnership with Centricity Music, the companies have announced. The Louisiana-born singer, who also has won four American Music Awards and seven Billboard Music Awards, will release her next album in the spring. Daigle’s last album, 2018’s “Look Up Child,” debuted at No. 3 on

Long before they joined forces to found Mashina, arguably Israel’s most popular rock band, Yuval Banay and Shlomi Bracha were 16-year-old surfing buds, catching waves along the Mediterranean coastline. So it seemed fitting that three days after selling out the 5,000-seat Tel Aviv exhibition Hall with their ‘Mashina Celebrates’ show — marking 40 years of

Spotify packed on 10 million Premium customers in the last three months of 2022 to stand at 205 million, topping its previous guidance. The growth of its paid subs, up 14% year over year, was “aided by promotional intake and household plans,” the company said. Overall, the streamer gained 33 total monthly active users in

Morgan Wallen is set to return with his first full-length album since his previous release broke some all-time chart records… and first since he became arguably current music’s most polarizing figure as well as one of the biggest. The country superstar is following up 2021’s still-bestselling “Dangerous: The Double Album” with “One Thing at a

“Hell yeah, they did it right, picking me,” says Amanda Shires, on being named as one of Record Store Day’s 2023 Ambassadors. Unlike most of the previous stars to hold the position (like last year’s ambassador, Taylor Swift), Shires actually did time as an indie store clerk. She can also offer a heck-yes in support

At a time when nothing feels normal anymore, the first “normal” Grammy Week in three years is shaping up to be even more action-packed than the pre-Covid years. Starting Wednesday, nearly every day and night is jam-packed with parties, showcases, brunches, lunches and happy hours like it was 2019 all over again. Amid all the

Thomas Coesfeld has been named the new CEO of BMG and will succeed longstanding CEO Hartwig Masuch effective Jan. 1, 2024, the company announced Monday. Masuch will remain a consultant to Bertelsmann, BMG’s parent company. The change in leadership is part of a long-term succession plan “which will be finalized at the end of the

A planned video appearance by Volodymyr Zelensky at Italy’s upcoming Sanremo song festival, which is the country’s top-rated TV event, is sparking protests from local politicians of different stripes. The Ukrainian president has been invited to appear on the song fest with a pre-recorded video message to be aired on Italian state broadcaster RAI. The former actor

Resistance against Iran’s oppressive Islamic regime, which has governed the country for the last 44 years, is now in its fifth month. The uprising, which was sparked by the Sep. 16 murder of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, has resulted in hundreds of deaths — among them, four executions by public hanging, and over 18,000

Thomas Bangalter, half of the pioneering French electronic duo Daft Punk, who announced their split in 2021, has released the first song from his first orchestral solo album. “L’Accouchement”, performed by the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine conducted by Romain Dumas, is the first track from “Mythologies,” Banglater’s 90-minutes score for choreographer Angelin Preljocaj’s for the ballet

In the latest in a series of sexual misconduct lawsuits against Marilyn Manson, the singer has been sued by an anonymous woman who claims he groomed and sexually assaulted her multiple times in the 1990s when she was underage, according to a new lawsuit reported by Rolling Stone. The new lawsuit, the first in which

Harry Styles will perform at the  65th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 5, it was announced during the AFC Championship game on Sunday evening. Styles joins previously announced performers Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs, Steve Lacy, Lizzo, Kim Petras, and Sam Smith. He’s finishing up the months-long North American leg of his “Love on Tour” just three nights before the

Barrett Strong, one of Motown Records’ original hitmakers and the songwriter for “Money (That’s What I Want),” and many other soul classics, has died. He was 81. Strong is perhaps best known for his collaborations with fellow Motown hitmaker Norman Whitfield, which include Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” and Edwin Starr’s “War,”

“A kiss of death, the embrace of life.” — “Marquee Moon” The notice came in the form of a Facebook post with a broken heart emoji. “Rest in Peace, Tom,” wrote CBGB’s veteran Brooke Delarco. Tom Verlaine (ne Thomas Miller) was gone at a way-too-young 73 from prostate cancer.  Verlaine’s passing — officially announced, appropriately

“I’ll always be an Aussie,” supermodel and entrepreneur Miranda Kerr told the crowd Saturday night at Los Angeles’ Skirball Cultural Center as she was honored along with other Australians in the entertainment industry at the 20th anniversary G’Day USA Arts Gala. Kerr, “Avatar” star Sam Worthington and rising-star rapper The Kid Laroi were feted by

Musicians are mourning Television founder and frontman Tom Verlaine, who died Saturday at the age of 73. The rock guitarist was a groundbreaking figure of the punk era, whose inventive, askew playing style can be seen as an influence on younger groups like Sonic Youth, the Feelies and countless other groups. Patti Smith, Verlaine’s former

Tom Verlaine, who redefined rock guitar in the punk era of the 1970s with his band Television, died Saturday in Manhattan. He was 73. Verlaine’s death was confirmed to the New York Times by Jesse Paris Smith, the daughter of Verlaine’s peer and former partner Patti Smith. She shared that the musician had died “after a

With the 2023 Grammy Awards a little more than a week away, invitations for the hottest pre- and post-Grammy parties and events have already begun to circulate around Los Angeles ahead of the big show at the Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 5. From the annual, and coveted, Clive Davis soiree on Saturday night to Spotify’s annual best

With this weekend’s release of her third full-length album, “Come Get Your Wife,” Elle King does exactly what she’s always threatened to do: go authentically full-blown and earnestly country, with the deepest affection and sincerity for the genre. The results of taking on Nashville lock-stock-ham-hock-and-smoking-barrel is King’s most dynamic full album, one full of wonder,

With an uncommonly powerful voice and a debut album that garnered four Grammys, Sam Smith easily could have stayed in the same lane for their entire career — beautifully sung songs about heartbreak and longing in a smooth, sometimes slick pop-R&B vein with a dazzling array of vocal pyrotechnics. But after three albums, so much heartache

The Jonas Brothers’ forthcoming sixth album features elements of classic ’70s pop and Americana with a modern edge, the trio tells Variety ahead of the band’s Jan. 30 Hollywood Walk of Fame star dedication ceremony. In much the same way that Ryan Tedder captained the ship on their last release, “Happiness Begins,” artist-producer Jon Bellion

Rita Ora’s new wedding-themed music video features some very unpredictable cameos from Kristen Stewart, Lindsay Lohan, Jodie Turner-Smith, Chelsea Handler, Addison Rae and Sharon Stone, who plays the pop star’s over-the-top fairy godmother. On Friday, the British singer-songwriter released the vibrant Charlie Sarsfield-directed music video for her latest single, “You Only Love Me” from her

The Jonas Brothers’ legacy will be cemented, quite literally, on Jan. 30 when the band is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — an accolade that feels both too soon and long overdue. Barely in their 30s, the band members are very much in their prime and the trio continues to

Authorities in Hong Kong have initiated new prosecutions against contractors following the incident in July last year when a giant video screen fell from the ceiling of a venue where popular boy band Mirror was performing a concert. The incident happened on July 28, 2022, at the Hong Kong Coliseum, a major performance venue that

The California Court of Appeal has decided Live Nation is not legally liable for the death of Eric Johnson, Jr., a Bay Area event promoter who was shot and killed during rapper Young Jeezy’s Under the Influence of Music tour in 2014. According to the Tuesday ruling obtained by Variety, Live Nation had enough admissible

Music credits database Jaxsta has revealed its annual top producers list, with Tyler Johnson, Tainy and Kid Harpoon taking the first three spots, respectively. Johnson’s production work is up for three Grammys this year, including album of the year for Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House,” as well as song and record of the year for Styles’