Warner Music Group has brought on Sherry Tan to be its head of recorded music business in mainland China. She will be based in Beijing and report to Jonathan Serbin, CEO of Warner Music Greater China. Tan comes to Warner from a position as CEO of Mengxing Media, a start-up company she co-founded that has
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Fast-rising singer-songwriter Clairo has signed with Universal Music Publishing Group, in advance of her forthcoming second full-length album, “Sling,” which was co-produced by Jack Antonoff and marks her major-label debut (on the Fader label via UMG’s Republic Records). Now 22, Clairo’s (Claire Cottrill) success story began in 2017 when her song “Pretty Girl” went viral
Without Brian Wilson, the world would be devoid of West Coast anthems like “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.” The musician and record producer, who founded the Beach Boys in 1961 with his brothers Dennis and Carl, as well as their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine, is the subject of a new
Haim, St. Vincent, Charli XCX, Lauv and more will headline the 2021 All Things Go Music Festival, which makes a big move up to the 20,000-capacity Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday, Oct. 16. All Things Go festival Courtesy All Things Go Girl in Red, Cautious Clay, Beach Bunny, Soccer Mommy, Gus Dapperton, Tkay Maidza, Jelani
UPDATED: At a recent pro-Julian Assange event, Roger Waters said Facebook offered him a big chunk of change to use the 1979 Pink Floyd hit “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” in an upcoming advertisement for Instagram. “It arrived this morning, with an offer for a huge, huge amount of money,” Waters said. “And
Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman do not have as much on-camera time as they did during their time as the focal points of Prince’s group, the Revolution. But, in the 35 years since the disbanding of the Revolution, Melvoin and Coleman have stealthily worked three-quarters of their way to an EGOT. They snagged their Academy
In what is described as a major tactical restructuring of the national and regional staffs of the Epic Records Urban Promotion Department, Cynthia Johnson and Cory “Sparks” Johnson have been promoted to Vice Presidents of Urban Promotion, it was announced today by the company’s EVP of promotion, Traci Adams, to whom both will report. According
Music industry veteran Jim “Koz” Kozlowski died in New York City on Sunday, May 2, after suffering a stroke. He was 71. Kozlowski was born and raised in East Hartford, Connecticut, the only child of John J. and Adele T. Kozlowski. He attended East Catholic High School, where he was a distance runner and played saxophone. He
Demi Lovato has signed with United Talent Agency for worldwide representation in all areas, Variety has confirmed. The Grammy-nominated pop star, actor and podcast host was previously with WME. Lovato, who came out as non-binary in May and uses they/them pronouns, has a slew of upcoming projects, including in TV and digital media. Most recently, they
The Academy of Country Music, one of the few orgs that puts on two awards shows every year, has named the recipients of non-competitive honors that will be given out in August in a ceremony that traditionally serves as the adjunct to the ACM Awards in April. Honorees at the 14th annual “ACM Honors” ceremony
Sales, production and financing company Premiere Entertainment Group has acquired worldwide rights to the live-action musical fantasy “A Fairy Tale After All.” PEG will be introducing the film to buyers during the virtual Cannes market. The family film stars Emily Shenaut as Sky, a high school teenager who is magically transported to the fairy tale
Almost six months after Congress passed the $16 billion Save Our Stages act into law, less than 100 of the nearly 5,000 struggling independent venues have been approved for relief money, according to its most recent report, released June 9 by the Small Business Administration, which distributes the loans. Venue sources tell Variety that just
The new report on “Inclusion in the Music Business: Gender & Race/Ethnicity Across Executives, Artists & Talent Teams” from the USC-Annenberg Inclusion Initiative makes no bones about how far the music industry has to go in its stated goals of gender and racial equality — even after most major music companies loudly trumpeted their commitments
Black and underrepresented artists may be heavily represented on the charts, but the music companies that release, promote and tour those artists have a long way to go when it comes to diversity in their executive ranks, according to “Inclusion in the Music Business: Gender & Race/Ethnicity Across Executives, Artists & Talent Teams,” an authoritative
After taking a Taylor Swift/Olivia Rodrigo break, hip-hop is back on top of the album chart, as “The Voice of the Heroes,” a joint album by Lil Durk and Lil Baby, debuted at No. 1 with 143,400 album-equivalent units. Although album sales were a scant 3,300, the collaboration attracted a massive 176.3 million individual song
A one-time retrospective show by Kendrick Lamar has been announced for Day N Vegas, a three-day hip-hop festival to take place in Las Vegas Nov. 12-14. Travis Scott and Tyler, the Creator join Lamar as nightly headliners, with such major names as Lil Baby, DaBaby, Doja Cat and SZA also on the bill. Lamar’s appearance
As California braces for a significant reopening for vaccinated citizens, a new live music experience is popping up at Los Angeles’ South Coast Botanic Garden. The DiscOasis, an interactive playground of roller-disco and performance art, is launching with Grammy-winning host and emcee DJ Nile Rodgers. The event will run from July 16 through Labor Day
Chicago will give away 1,200 Lollapalooza tickets as an incentive for people to get vaccinated. Anyone with an appointment at one of four of the city’s vaccination sites on June 26, dubbed “Lolla Day,” will receive a single-day pass to the Grant Park music festival this summer. The city said there will also be an
After the initial May 26 initial announcement that Jay-Z’s curated two-day festival, Made in America, would return to Philadelphia for its tenth edition on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4-5, Justin Bieber and Lil Baby were named as the event’s headliners in a Monday morning announcement. Along with Bieber and Baby, neither of which are assigned
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. The summer solstice hasn’t technically happened yet, but we’d argue that Lorde’s sunny outfit in her “Solar Power”
Demi Lovato is celebrating Pride Month by designing a face mask with Richfresh’s Henry to celebrate and support the non-binary community. The mask is included in a limited-edition four-pack of masks, available starting Monday, which also feature butterfly and UFO designs. Lovato revealed in May that they identify as non-binary. “Not only has my life
MusiCares, which has distributed more than $25 million in Covid-19 relief to members of the music community, announced Monday that it is distributing a “final round” of such funding. The effort continues the support for music professionals, concluding upon distribution of the $2 million raised during its Music on a Mission concert and campaign in
It’s not exactly an iron-clad guarantee — especially by Drake standards — but the superstar rapper said on Saturday that his long-delayed “Certified Lover Boy” album, which he’d originally promised would be out in January but then changed his mind, will be out by the end of the summer. On Saturday night, Drake sat down
“American Idol” alum David Archuleta has come out as part of the LGBTQIA+ community and is opening up about his experience reconciling his Mormon faith with his sexuality. “I like to keep to myself but also thought this was important to share because I know so many other people from religious upbringings feel the same
Chicago rap star Polo G was arrested in Miami, Fla. Saturday morning, Variety has confirmed. The 22-year-old, born Taurus Bartlett, was booked at 8 a.m. at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center for five charges totaling $19,500, according to jail records obtained by the Miami Herald. The charges include battery on a police officer, criminal mischief and
Record Store Day is back to put the drop on vinyl hounds and their long-suffering debit cards. At least, a modified version of it is. As happened last year, pandemic conditions caused the traditional RSD April event to be delayed and broken up into two theoretically crowd-suppressing halves, with the first of two RSD Drops
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s joyous celebration of the Washington Heights neighborhood, “In The Heights” has finally arrived on the big screen and HBO Max… and also Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music and all other DSPs, for a soundtrack that soars just as high even without benefit of interstitial dialogue and sumptuous visuals. Adapted from the Broadway musical, the
K-pop group BTS’ limited-edition branded McDonald’s meals were so hot in Indonesia this week that dozens of stores had to close for fear that the crowds clamoring for them would spread COVID-19. The meal debuted locally on Wednesday, and demand quickly overwhelmed stores. Most Indonesian customers had placed their orders online due to the pandemic,
In an ever-changing musical landscape, where tastes change with lightning speed and stars fizzle out as quickly as they are discovered, Maroon 5 is a constant. Since the group’s 2002 debut, Adam Levine and company have thrived in the physical, digital and streaming eras. Almost like clockwork, the band has emerged every two or three
It’s already the most prolific band you’ve heard of but never listened to, but after 18 wildly different albums in a decade, Australia’s King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is still just getting warmed up. On the heels of two loud and unusual LPs written in the decidedly non-Western microtonal tuning, King Gizzard’s latest release,