Taylor Swift’s 2012 album “Red” is next in line in her series of album re-records. After much fan speculation, Swift announced on social media Friday that the re-recorded version of her fourth studio album, “Red (Taylor’s Version),” will be released on Nov. 19. The re-recording will feature 30 songs, including one unspecified ten-minute track that
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It took composer Dan Romer a while to find the right Italian touch for the music of “Luca,” Disney-Pixar’s animated fantasy (opening June 18) about young sea monsters masquerading as humans on the Italian Riviera. “Not quite Italian enough” was director Enrico Casarosa’s response to his first try. “Too Italian!” was the response to his
When preparing for H.E.R.’s Variety cover shoot, stylist Wouri Vice was riffing ideas with photographer Arielle Bobb-Willis. As Juneteenth came into the conversation, he thought of the singer in a black hoodie with “8:46” embossed on it. “Those who know, know — they will continue to fight,” he says. The number is the amount of
Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Nile Rodgers was unanimously re-elected to serve a second three-year term as Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame by the SHOF Board of Directors at its annual board meeting held on June 11. A cofounder of Chic and cowriter of nearly all of that group’s songs, Rodgers has worked
Spotify has snapped up another player in the podcast space, announcing the acquisition of Podz, a startup that developed an auto-generated “audio newsfeed” for podcasts. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. New York-based Podz raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by venture-capital firm M13 along with Canaan Partners, Charge Ventures and Humbition, as
L.A.-based music company Score a Score has launched “Homesick Sounds” to help workers ease back into the office workspace without having to give up the commonplace sounds they became accustomed to during quarantine. “Homesick Sounds” consists of over 50 loopable sounds available on its interactive soundboard. Users can choose between leaf blowers, old AC units
Michael B. Jordan, Carrie Fisher, Nipsey Hussle, Francis Ford Coppola, James Hong, DJ Khaled and Black Eyed Peas are among the entertainers who will receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Walk of Fame Class of 2022 includes Hollywood’s biggest names from motion pictures, television, recording, radio, live theatre and sports entertainment. Hailing
Even if some music fans may be burned out on straight performance livestreams after 16 months, no one at Amazon will take the bait to knock the format — they’ve used it before, and they may well end up using it again. But for this Amazon Prime Day, at least, there was a clear mandate
Republic Records, Sony Music Publishing and Spotify were among the big winners at last week’s Clio Music Awards. Presented by Citi for the sixth consecutive year, the Clio Music Awards “recognize excellence in creative work for the marketing or promotion of an artist, label, music brand, product or service, as well as the use of
“We have just been informed that the mayors of Boom and Rumst will announce a ban on Tomorrowland 2021,” event organizers said in a statement. “That hits like a sledgehammer, very hard and unexpected.” Tomorrowland organizers said they will appeal the local decision to the Belgian national government. During a press conference Thursday in Belgium,
H.E.R., Tyler the Creator and Lil Baby are among this year’s A-list artists set to perform at the 2021 BET Awards, airing live from Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater on June 27 at 8 p.m. Also appearing at the BET Awards, which will deliver the most performances of its 21-year history, are Migos, DaBaby, Andra Day,
Tyler, the Creator has announced his new album, “Call Me If You Get Lost,” is arriving June 25 via Columbia Records. On Wednesday, the Odd Future alum put out “Lumberjack,” the album’s first song and video, running just under a minute and a half. In the self-directed video, Tyler gets his nails painted and endures
Facebook is making it easier for independent artists and creators to share their music across the company’s different products — and get paid. For the Facebook Independent Artist Program, the company teamed with third-party music distribution companies DistroKid and TuneCore to help artists get their music on Facebook and Instagram quickly and at no cost
While in conversation with Variety Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tangcay at Wednesday’s Changemakers Summit, H.E.R. talked about her music, her identity as she straddles both the Black and Filipino communities and her plans for an eventual E.G.OT. She also went into the making of her award-winning protest song “I Can’t Breathe,” which she wrote in response
Sean “Diddy” Combs has signed with WME in all areas and will launch “The Excellence Program,” a virtual development program and resume database for aspiring entertainment executives hailing from underrepresented communities. The Excellence Program, created in partnership with Endeavor, will debut on July 12. The six-week program will be free for eligible students looking to
The Beatles’ forthcoming film “Get Back” — a Peter Jackson-directed documentary culled from the footage from the 1970 “Let It Be” film — will premiere as a Disney+ original documentary series over the Thanksgiving holidays. Because of the wealth of tremendous footage Jackson has reviewed, which he has spent the past three years restoring and
Veteran artist-producer DJ David Guetta has entered into a career- agreement with Warner Music that sees the company acquiring his recorded-music catalog from the last two decades, as well as striking a new deal for future recordings. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but initial sources say it was for “dozens” of millions.
As previously reported by Variety, Imran Majid and Justin Eshak officially have been appointed Co-CEOs of Universal Music Group’s legendary Island Records label, effective Jan. 1, 2022. Eshak and Majid will join Island from Columbia Records, where they were previously co-heads of A&R. The appointment, effective January 1, 2022, marks a return to UMG for Majid
Universal Music France and Mediawan’s Method Animation (“The Little Prince,” “Miraculous”) are joining forces on “Jam,” a animated music anthology which will showcase the greatest talents in both music and animation. Co-developed with Universal Music France’s original contents department, the 15-part series will be directed by Michael Gracey, the revered helmer of “The Greatest Showman,”
With almost no tours having been undertaken in the past year, the Pollstar Awards pivoted in two different directions for the 31st annual edition of the show held Wednesday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel ballroom. One shift in focus was to deliver awards to the top touring artists of the last decade, instead of
The answer, our friend, is streaming on the web. The question is, how will Bob Dylan make his return to live performance after the pandemic forced an extended time-out in his usually robust and never-ending touring schedule? Dylan’s camp announced Wednesday that the singer-songwriter will offer his first streaming performance, under the title “Shadow Kingdom,”
One the many legal standoffs between Chris Cornell’s widow Vicky and the surviving members of Soundgarden has been at least temporarily resolved: The bandmembers now have access to the band’s official social media accounts and website, which Vicky Cornell has barred them from for the past few years. “Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell, the personal representative of
“I don’t know when it will be safe to sing arm in arm at the top of our lungs. But we will do it again, because we have to,” wrote Dave Grohl for the Atlantic in May of 2020 when things were looking especially bleak. Tuesday night, on the first night of California’s reopening, that
After going virtual for 2020, the iHeartRadio Music Festival will be back live and in Las Vegas this year, iHeartMedia announced Wednesday, with Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Lil Baby among the performers set to take the stage at T-Mobile Arena over two nights on the tail end of summer, Sept. 17-18. Also
A decade after the release of “Friday” — the ode to the start of the weekend that catapulted a then-13-year-old Rebecca Black to fame — the singer-songwriter finally feels like she is in control. With her new project, “Rebecca Black Was Here,” out today, Black transforms herself from one-hit wonder to a bonafide pop star.
Cynthia Erivo has set up a remake of the Bette Midler-starring film “The Rose,” signing on to produce and star in the new movie for Searchlight. The Grammy, Tony, and Emmy winner and two-time Oscar nominee will take on the title role in the musical romantic drama, which follows a self-destructive female rock star who
After months of rumors, music agents Matt Galle, Mike Marquis and Rachel Pestik have joined CAA’s Music Touring department, the company announced Wednesday. Galle most recently served as a member of Paradigm Talent Agency’s Music Executive Leadership Group. A 12-year veteran at that company, Galle’s client roster over the years has included Shawn Mendes, Bruno Mars,
The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) will present an overview of its inaugural Industry Action Report Card on Friday morning June 18th as part of the National Museum of African American Music’s State of Black Music Summit. With journalist and industry exec Naima Cochrane, BMAC drafted its first-of-its-kind report to “track and measure how individual
Even if you think that Brian Wilson is God — and yes, I do — you could easily say that we don’t need another documentary about him. There have been some good, rich, and deep ones, like “Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times,” the 1995 musicological meditation directed by record producer Don
Anti-vaccine protesters congregated outside of Foo Fighters’ show at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, Calif. on Tuesday night (June 15). What looked like several dozen protesters carried signs reading “Foo Fighters fight to bring segregation back” and “event for vaccinated only, unvaccinated not allowed,” according to several Twitter posts. One Instagram post appeared to