There’s a good chance that you’ve never heard the name Richard Gottehrer — but there’s an equally good chance that if you’re even a casual music fan, you know something, or several things, he’s done very well. As a songwriter in the early ‘60s, he co-wrote such hits as “I Want Candy,” “My Boyfriend’s Back”
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Universal Music Publishing Group has named Jennifer Knoepfle executive vice president and co-head of US A&R, effective immediately, the company announced on Wednesday. Based in Los Angeles, Knoepfle will report to UMPG chairman-CEO Jody Gerson. According to the announcement, Knoepfle — who joins after 13 years at Sony Music Publishing, where she worked with Gerson — will work closely
After three consecutive sold-out shows in his hometown of Medellín, reggaeton artist Feid has released his new album “Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo Te Pirateamos El Álbum” early in response to it being leaked months ahead of its scheduled December release date — and says he’ll be releasing another album on Dec. 1 “A little sad that
Jesse Powell, the R&B singer best known for his 1999 hit “You,” died on Sept. 13 in his Los Angeles home. The news was confirmed via social media by his sisters and singer-songwriters Tamara and Trina Powell. He was 51. “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our beloved son,
Maluma and Megan Thee Stallion are set to headline Penske Media Corp.’s first-ever culture and creativity festival, LA3C. The two-day event is set to take place on Dec. 10 and 11 at the Los Angeles State Historic Park. Megan will headline the show on the 10th, while Maluma will headline on the 11th. The festival
When Demi Lovato debuted her fresh, hard, alt-rocking material on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” earlier this summer, the blonde guitarist headbanging alongside the vocalist tore into her six strings as if they owed her money. That was Nita Strauss, the Los Angeles-based guitarist whose crunching chords and pummeling rhythmic interplay lift the rocking arrangements and curt,
At this point, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and full-on metal legend Ozzy Osbourne has lived in Los Angeles much longer than he lived in his native England, so even though he and wife Sharon have said they’re returning to Merrie Olde, it made perfect sense for the “Prince of Fucking Darkness” to
It’s no secret that non-male producers are a rarity in the music industry: According to a USC Annenberg report released earlier this year called “Inclusion in the Recording Studio?,” just 2.8% of the credited producers of 1,000 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 from 2012 to 2021 were women. It’s a completely counterintuitive prejudice —
To paraphrase Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, getting on the cover of Rolling Stone was a major goal for any rock artist, and midway through a one-hour conversation with Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner at the 92nd Street Y in New York City Tuesday night, Bruce Springsteen had a bone to pick about that
On the eve of AmericanaFest in Nashville, Lucinda Williams was celebrated at BMI’s headquarters as the recipient of the performing rights organization’s annual Troubadour Award, where an invitation-only crowd heard Williams’ songs covered by Jason Isbell, Angel Olsen, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Amos Lee and Madeline Edwards. Other artists saluted Williams via taped congratulations, like
Lowry Mays, the San Antonio entrepreneur who turned Clear Channel Communications, the predecessor to iHeartMedia, into the largest broadcasting conglomerate of the post-consolidation era, died on Monday (Sept. 12) at 87 in his hometown. Said iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman: “We built this company on the foundation and vision created by Lowry Mays. He started it
BMI has distributed and administered $1.471 billion to its songwriters, composers and publishers, marking its highest royalty distributions ever, in the year ending June 30, 2022. Revenue also grew, totaling a record-breaking $1.573 billion — a $212 million, or 16%, increase compared to the last fiscal year. On Tuesday, the group published its annual report
Jann Wenner is not just “like” a rolling stone — he was Rolling Stone, for most of the magazine’s history, to the extent that it very closely followed his melange of sensibilities from its 1967 founding until he sold off his last stake in it three years ago. [It’s now owned wholly by Penske Media,
La Macarena in Colombia has a long history of hosting boisterous energy. The stadium has served as a venue for both concerts and bullfights since 1945, but on the weekend of Sept. 9, the ring was populated by Medellín native Salomón Villada Hoyos, otherwise known as Feid. The reggaeton singer-songwriter sold out three consecutive nights
Audible will be spotlighting two R&B powerhouses — John Legend and Brandy — for its final “Words + Music” volumes of 2022, which pairs an original performance with a personal memoir. Legend’s “Living Legend” will debut on Oct. 3, followed by Brandy’s “A New Moon,” to be released on Dec. 2. Legend, who is set
It’s surreal enough that the legendary Rough Trade record store — an indie-rock mecca that was born in punk-era London and opened a sprawling location in Brooklyn’s hipster heaven Williamsburg in 2013 that sadly did not survive the pandemic — is now located in Rockefeller Plaza in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, literally in the same
Reach Music Publishing has acquired a 50% copyright interest — together with 100% of the writer’s share, including global administration rights — in the song catalog of Public Enemy’s Chuck D, one of the most influential rappers and lyricists in hip-hop history. Further terms of the deal were not disclosed. As a founding member and chief songwriter of Public
Harry Styles has announced that he is partnering with non-partisan voter-engagement organization HeadCount in an effort to inspire his U.S fans to check their voter registration status and vote in this year’s midterm elections — and he’s throwing in a free trip to his legendary “Harryween” Halloween concert as an incentive. As part of HeadCount’s “Good
Universal Music Group has announced the launch of the Virgin Music Group, a new global division comprised of Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, Ingrooves Music Group and Mtheory Artist Partnerships. The third element is new to UMG: It has acquired Mtheory’s bespoke label division, Mtheory Artist Partnerships, although its manager services business is not
British musician Sam Fender has canceled his upcoming U.S. tour dates citing mental health concerns. However, the singer-songwriter said that he is “super excited” for his Australia gigs in November and “everything to come in 2023.” “It seems completely hypocritical of me to advocate discussion on mental health and write songs about it if I
“Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls” won the competition series Emmy on Monday night. This ends the four-year streak of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The series sees the singer audition a group of women for the chance to be a Big Grrrl — one of the plus-sized backup dancers who perform with her on tour.
UPDATED: Rapper PnB Rock was shot today in Los Angeles as a result of a robbery attempt. He was pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital, the L.A. Times reported. An explicit and graphic video is currently circulating online purportedly depicting Rock, whose real name is Rakim Allen, on the floor surrounded by a
Legendary jazz musician Ramsey Lewis, known for hits such as “The In Crowd” and “Wade in the Water,” died Monday morning at his home in Chicago. He was 87. Lewis recorded over 80 albums in his career, during which he received five gold records and three Grammy Awards. The jazz pianist and composer’s death was
Starz has ordered the pilot of an interview series hosted by Bronx rapper Fat Joe. Described as a “genre-busting series that blends interviews with celebrities and high-profile guests with an elevated documentary style format,” the untitled pilot will be executive produced by Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Revolt Studios and LeBron James’ SpringHill. “We’re about to create
Bad Bunny and Harry Styles are back in the spots it’s been hard to force them out of for the last few months: at No. 1 on Billboard’s album and song charts, respectively. But the real achievement of the week may belong to someone who’s hovering below them: country star Morgan Wallen, who has set
Grammy-winning producer-songwriters Hit-Boy and James Fauntleroy have signed on as co-executive producers and the sonic creative team for the “NFT supergroup” Kingship. Together, the pair will work with Arnell, Kingship’s “Mutant DJ and Producer,” to oversee the group’s music direction and sound. “I’m always looking to push things forward musically,” said Hit-Boy, who has worked with Beyonce,
Nearly half of all the music played on American broadcast and cable TV is production music, according to a new study by music data company BMAT. The survey, commissioned by the Production Music Association, looked at 47 high-rated channels including broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW; and cable channels including A&E, CNN,
It’s easy to assume that the life of a guitarist in one of the biggest alternative bands is fairly uninhibited. However, for Joe Trohman, co-founder and lead guitarist of Fall Out Boy, that’s not always the case. “I have, like, severe mental illnesses that do not allow me to see myself as somebody that ‘rocks’,”
The lineup for the 2023 Stagecoach Festival includes one very familiar veteran of the festivities, Luke Bryan, who will be making his fourth headlining appearance in the California desert, along with two stars who have made regular appearances at the festival but have moved up into headliner slots for the first time, Kane Brown and
Amid the series of bombshells about her family, her conservatorship and business managers Britney Spears has dropped on her Instagram account, on Sunday she posted a lengthy message in which she says that she will “probably never perform again.” After writing about the lack of creative control she was allowed during her conservatorship, particularly with