Music

With Friday’s release of his full-length solo album debut, “Optimist,” and its spare brand of electro-soul with lost-boy yearnings, Finneas has shown, again, how dramatically different his own moody music is from that of the material he famously pens with his sister Billie Eilish. Whether it’s his meditation on things he’s dreamed of (“The ’90s”)

The streaming rates determined by the Copyright Royalty Board every five years are an always-contentious situation pitting the major streaming services against music publishers, and the battle over the rates between 2023 and 2027 is no exception. That battle heated up this week when Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Pandora and Google filed documents with the CRB this week suggesting rates for the

Fifty-one years later, how do we appraise “Let It Be,” the Beatles’ swan song, the document of their breakup, the one that the bandmembers themselves initially disliked so much that Paul McCartney took legal action and John Lennon dubbed it a salvage job from “the shittiest load of badly recorded shit — and with a

Primary Wave has acquired a stake in the catalog of Gerry Goffin, lyricist for dozens of classic songs with his former wife Carole King: “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman,” “Up on the Roof,” “The Loco-Motion,” “One Fine Day,” “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “Wasn’t Born

Disgraced Sony Music Australia boss Denis Handlin has had his ‘Icon’ award revoked by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), it was reported today. Once the most powerful man in the Australian music industry, Handlin left the company abruptly in June following a number of allegations regarding his conduct and the “toxic” culture he had

Adele’s new single, “Easy on Me,” turns out to be ballsy in at least a couple of different ways. First and foremost: When she issued that 40-second preview earlier this week, and you were wondering what it would sound like when it leaped from a solo piano arrangement to something grander in the chorus after

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the eponymous debut release of Duran Duran, with the iconic group also dropping its 15th studio album, “Future Past,” on Oct. 22. The aptly titled collection is referential of Duran Duran’s signature sounds, teased out by producer-of-the-moment Erol Alkan. Italian disco and EDM composer Giorgio Moroder lends a hand on a couple

“Invincible: The Musical,” a Broadway-targeted show from rockers Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo based on “Romeo and Juliet,” will have an invite-only industry presentation at the Bourbon Room in Los Angeles Nov. 10-12. Named for Benatar’s famous 1985 single, “Invincible” features music from both Benatar and Neil Giraldo, with book by Bradley Bredeweg, direction by Scott

In the second head-turning Grammy ineligibility decision to be publicized this week, Bo Burnham’s “Inside (The Songs)” has been nixed as a contender in the comedy album category for the 2022 Grammys. The album will still be put on the preliminary ballot going out to Recording Academy members, but in the category of best compilation

Grammy, Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor-singer Billy Porter has inked a new deal with Island Records (U.K.) and Republic Records (U.S.) and is kicking it off with a new single called “Children” that will drop at 12 a.m. ET tonight (Oct. 14). “Children” is a dancefloor-ready track co-written with veteran British songwriter MNEK (H.E.R., Dua Lipa) and Little

Variety cover star Jeymes Samuel could not have been more ready for his big moment. The writer, director, producer and composer was suited and booted as he stepped onto the bright blue carpet for the Los Angeles launch of his wild Western “The Harder They Fall” on Wednesday night at the Shrine Auditorium. Since the

A duet between Mickey Guyton, one of the “CMT Artists of the Year” honorees, and guest artist Yola on the title track of Guyton’s new “Remember Her Name” album brought memorable vocal firepower to the annual show’s 2021 in-person resumption, broadcast live from Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center Wednesday night. Other highlights included Randy Travis being

Anyone who saw Prince back in the day knows that “Do Me, Baby” was a show-stopper of his early concerts, a steamy ballad from his groundbreaking “Controversy” album that he often sang sprawled on his stomach, shrieking and panting and Prince-ing while the audience screamed. A classic soul ballad, it was a prototype for many

Long-running footwear brand Dr. Martens has announced their 2021 “Dr. Martens Presents: Music & Film Series,” which explores New York and Los Angeles music communities through the lens of six emerging filmmakers: Chelsea Odufu, Wes O’Connor, Ali Roberto, Jeanette D. Moses, Ambar Navarro and Fredgy Noël. In partnership with Collide Agency, the six short documentary-style

Kendra Jae, who was recently named an iHeartRadio “On the Verge” artist, has signed with Universal Music Group’s 10:22PM label in partnership with Def Jam Recordings, home to Justin Bieber and Kanye West. The R&B and hip-hop artist’s “Seesaw” featuring Saweetie has been amassing streams (to the tune of two million across multiple platforms so

Andrea Bocelli, the Italian singer whose instantly recognizable tenor has moved more than 90 million albums and generated five billion streams to date, has entered into an exclusive, expanded global recording agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG). The strategic alliance finds UMG signing Bocelli directly and covers multiple albums worldwide. Previously, Bocelli’s was signed to

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched “The Masked Singer” Season 6, Episode 5, “Date Night,” which aired October 13 on Fox. Ruth Pointer was so excited to be on “The Masked Singer,” but a victory wasn’t automatic — and in the end, she had to jump off the stage, as

Grammy nominations are always fraught with drama, but it started early this year — six weeks before the nominations are even announced — when the president of Kacey Musgraves’ record label fired off an impassioned letter to Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason jr. on Sunday, imploring him to reconsider the decision not to count Musgraves’

Adele announced Wednesday in a lengthy Instagram post that her long-awaited ‘30’ album will be released on Nov. 19. In the post, she writes in full: “I was certainly nowhere near where I’d hoped to be when I first started it nearly
3 years ago. Quite the opposite actually. I rely on routine and consistency to

David Bowie’s would-have-been 75th birthday isn’t until January, but next week his estate is beginning “Bowie 75,” a year-long celebration that kicks off with the openings of two “curated experiential pop-up shops” — one at the site of the cover shoot of his classic “Ziggy Stardust” album in London, and another in his New York

The new book “Get Back,” which is comprised of transcriptions of conversations during the making of the “Let It Be” album and film, put the lie to the idea that the Beatles were getting a bit prickly with one another during that time frame and that not all was fab with the foursome at the

In a surprise move, the Coachella festival has reversed its plan to require vaccinations for ticketholders to its April 2022 events, and instead will only require proof of a negative test taken within 72 hours of the event (although proof of full vaccination will work as well). Curiously, the announcement was made Tuesday afternoon via

The rapper Tyga — real name: Michael Stevenson — was arrested Tuesday morning and booked by the L.A. Police Department’s Hollywood division after surrendering on charges of felony domestic violence. The LAPD confirmed the arrest in a tweet. He was subsequently seen leaving the Hollywood station after posting bail, which had been reported at $50,000.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has made no secret of his distain for Hollywood’s movie adaptation of his long-running musical “Cats.” Though the cinematic version offered up the rarity of A-list talent like Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Jennifer Hudson, Jason Derulo and James Corden pretending to be full-sized felines, “Cats” was widely panned and flopped at the

Bread Charity, a non-profit founded by Mustafa Sheikh (a.k.a. rapper Lil Mussie) with a mission to aid children living in poverty, has launched Bread Studios in Nipsey Hussle’s former middle school, Edwin Markham Middle School, in the Watts area of Los Angeles. The 1,000-foot studio features five free musical recording facilities aimed at assisting kids

All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Grateful Dead’s famous dancing bears carry whisks and pans in the iconic rock band’s new collaboration with kitchen

Smash Mouth’s lead singer Steve Harwell is apparently retiring after a controversial concert in Upstate New York on Saturday that found him slurring his words and making vaguely threatening comments toward the audience. The singer has been battling health problems for several years and the band had played some recent shows with a stand-in vocalist.

Kacey Musgraves’ “Star-Crossed” album has been ruled ineligible to compete in the Grammys’ country category this year, according to a letter written to the Recording Academy by her record company president, who is vehemently protesting the decision. Musgraves was widely expected to contend as a country artist again, as she has in the past, but

On a cool, fall October night, the Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) held its third annual “Ambassadors of Peace” fundraising event to a backyard full of smiles. After taking a year off for the pandemic, the music industry came out in force to support the organization that has tried to counteract calls to boycott Israel

Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak have announced that their new collaborative album under the Silk Sonic banner, “An Evening With Silk Sonic,” will be available on all digital streaming platforms Nov. 12. No song titles for the yet-to-be-released tracks were revealed as part of the announcement, but the album will include the two hits already