Music

Guy Oseary’s universe thrums with activity as a cross section of talent traverses music, film, TV, art and tech. It’s why Variety has named him 2022’s Music Mogul of the Year. Today, Oseary’s resume includes management of the megastar who put him on the map, Madonna, as well as U2 and the Red Hot Chili

Universal Music Group racked up a strong earnings report for the second quarter of 2022, with about $2.7 billion in revenue, a growth of 17.3% in year-over-year in constant currency, a percentage gain that carries over for the entire first half of the year. Recorded-music revenues were up 16.2% (9% in constant currency) to around $1.96

Sandy Roberton, a producer and manager who worked with artists ranging from Steeleye Span in the early 1970s to the Matrix in the 2000s, died Monday in a hospital in London, colleagues report. After a successful career producing records and managing artists in London in the ’70s, the Scottish-born Roberton moved to Los Angeles in

AVOD service Amazon Freevee has set an Aug. 12 premiere date for concert tour documentary “Post Malone: Runaway.” In Sept. 2019, Grammy-nominated musician Post Malone embarked on a 37-date tour of North America before COVID-19 shut the world down. The film features exclusive backstage access, live performances and interviews. Produced by Pulse Films (“Gangs of

Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.” Tommy Chong says reuniting with the “That ’70s Show” cast for the upcoming “That ’90s Show” reboot felt like no time had passed. Chong reprises his role as Leo in the Netflix series, which also sees the return of Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp as Red and

Approximately 36 hours before its scheduled release at midnight E.T. on Thursday, Beyonce’s full album has apparently leaked. Social media was filled with comments on the leak and Variety was able to find high-quality flac files that certainly sound like the album within a matter of minutes. Some posts showed CD copies of the album

Madonna became close with the man she calls her “ride or die” in the same way that most people bond: through late nights out, long conversations — and no small amount of mischief. In an interview with Variety, the pop icon opens up about her unconventional relationship with Variety’s 2022 Music Mogul of the Year

Three weeks after postponing his “Wonder” world tour to focus on his mental health, Shawn Mendes announced on Wednesday that he’s canceling the tour altogether. “As you guys know, I had to postpone the past few weeks of shows since I wasn’t totally prepared for the toll that being back on the road would take

The Newark Museum of Art is presenting two stunning exhibits of photography featuring Billie Holiday and a selection of jazz legends. “Jazz Greats: Classic Photographs from the Bank of America Collection” and “Billie Holiday at Sugar Hill: Photographs by Jerry Dantzic” opened last month and will run through August 22, 2022. Eartha Kitt 1956 Tony

Spotify turned in strong numbers for the second quarter, beating expectations for total and paid subscriber adds and reporting 23% revenue growth. Premium subscribers grew 14% to 188 million, a net gain of 6 million (and 1 million above guidance), “aided by promotional intake and household plans,” the company said in announcing results. That included

Music festival Lollapalooza is debuting in Asia with Mumbai, India, set to become its eighth destination next year. The two-day festival will be held over Jan. 28-29, 2023, with BookMyShow serving as promoter and producer of the Indian edition alongside global producers Perry Farrell, WME and C3 Presents. The inaugural Lollapalooza India will be open

Some 30 years after its first bow, music festival Lollapalooza is headed to India on January 28 and 29, 2023. To be held in Mumbai, it marks Lollapalooza’s first time on the Asian continent, following international editions in Berlin, Stockholm and Brazil, among other countries in Europe and South America, in addition to its homebase

Bruce Springsteen fans have been asking to hear from the artist or his camp directly in the wake of a firestorm over extremely variable ticket costs for a 2023 U.S. tour that has gone on sale last week and this week. On Tuesday, six days into the controversy over “platinum” ticket prices — which had

The shortlist for 2022’s Mercury Prize has been revealed, and includes albums from Harry Styles, Little Simz and Wet Leg. This year’s ceremony for the prestigious award, which celebrates the best of British and Irish music, will take place on Sept. 8 at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith and feature live performances from many of

Ashley Judd has spoken up at greater length about the mental illness that led to the suicide of her mother, Naomi Judd, almost three months ago, and about the very different passages of grieving she and other family members have gone through, in an hour-long interview for the Spotify podcast “Healing With David Kessler.” Judd

Former President Barack Obama has unveiled another of his summer playlists, and as in the past, it’s a combination of the expected — NPR-level but edgy rap and R&B, some old soul chestnuts, a smattering of alt-rock and country, a nod to his podcast-mate Bruce Springsteen, and some international gems — along with a couple

Her most famous client only needs one name to be recognized, but legendary Madonna publicist Barbara Charone can go one better: she’s known throughout the music industry simply by her initials. BC’s remarkable 50-year career is now being celebrated in her new memoir, “Access All Areas,” which has been the talk of the U.K. industry

YouTube has announced the Foundry Class of 2022, welcoming 30 new artists to its global artist development program. The Class of 2022 is Foundry’s biggest class to date, featuring indie talent spanning genres and continents. Created in 2015, Foundry is YouTube’s incubator for independent music, supporting indie artists at all stages of their careers through

MTV has unveiled the nominations for the 2022 VMAs: leading the pack are Jack Harlow, Kendrick Lamar and Lil Nas X with seven each, closely followed by Doja Cat and Harry Styles with six, and Billie Eilish, Drake, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and the Weeknd with five. The show takes place at the

Hold me closer, Britney Spears? Some six years after she last released newly recorded music, Spears is back in the studio recording music with Elton John, according to reports in Page Six and TMZ — and it will be a brand-new recording of John’s 1971 song, “Tiny Dancer,” which took on a new life after

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Balloons, multi-colored disco balls and retro jukeboxes are splashed atop phone cases and other tech accessories in Casetify’s newest collection with BTS. Fans of the ultra-popular K-pop group will recognize some of this imagery

The release of Lizzo’s “Special” album finally gave her “About Damn Time” single the surge it needed to conquer the Billboard Hot 100, after the song had bided its time for weeks in the No. 2 spot on that chart, waiting to knock Harry Styles’ long-standing “As It Was” out of the top spot. The

Hollywood Records and Marvel Music have released the first three tracks in anticipation of Marvel’s upcoming “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The three-track prologue soundtrack features Nigerian artist Tems. The singer, who is currently riding the wave of Afrobeats musicians, was heard this weekend when the trailer was released at Comic-Con. Tems sings a cover of

Though regarded by cinephiles as one of the architects of the “New Hollywood” largely because of moody character studies like 1970’s “Five Easy Pieces,” filmmaker Bob Rafelson — who died Saturday at 89 — will also always be adored for his co-creation and production of the decidedly less moody, madcap television series “The Monkees,” and

Some of the celebrity guests at Joni Mitchell’s private hootenannies have sworn that she has been an enthusiastic participant in the living room sessions in her Santa Barbara-area home. But until now, most fans had to take these reports on faith. At the Newport Folk Festival on Sunday, an all-star Mitchell tribute concert proved to

Adele has announced rescheduled dates for her “Weekends With Adele” Las Vegas residency, which was abruptly postponed the day before it was scheduled to begin in January. The new dates — including one on Christmas Eve — will take place at the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and begin November 18; they are

Korean pop act Girls Generation will release new studio album “Forever 1” on Aug. 8, their agency SM Entertainment announced on Monday. It will be their first album in six years and accelerate a comeback movement that began last year. The girl group was originally founded in 2007 as an act with nine members. It

In the wake of an ongoing furor over “dynamic pricing” for Bruce Springsteen’s tour, Ticketmaster took the unusual step Sunday afternoon of releasing some statistics about costs and percentages for the dates that went on sale last week. Downplaying the number of controversial “platinum” tickets with variable prices that reached as high as $5,000 apiece

A rain-pelted Saturday evening in a Denver stadium may not be the ideal setting for the Red Hot Chili Peppers to announce their new album — “Return of the Dream Canteen,” the group’s second full-length of 2022 — but the show must go on, and it did. The rain started mere minutes before the long-running

For Nicolle Galyon — a BMI songwriter of the year honoree and co-writer of nine No. 1 country songs, including Miranda Lambert’s “Automatic,” Blake Shelton’s “Minimum Wage” and Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” — there was nothing automatic about making the shift from hit tunesmith to (basically) first-time recording artist. But two decades into her Nashville