Music

Morgan Wallen’s exclusion from the Academy of Country Music Awards this weekend is not going unnoted in Nashville, as fans have banded together to rent out billboards in highly visible locations declaring the MIA singer “his fan’s (sic) choice” for the top prize of entertainer of the year. “Support that boy from east Tennessee!” read

The Doors’ Ray Manzarek was known as a skilled keyboardist and respected music producer (his credits include seminal albums by X), but he was also a knowledgeable movie buff, having graduated from UCLA’s film program and receiving his MFA in cinematography in 1965. Forty days after school let out, he met Jim Morrison by chance

Longtime record promotion executive Jonas Cash, who founded the influential radio programming competition AIR (Active Industry Research) in Baltimore-Washington, MD, died at age 81 in his Columbia, MD home. “He was not just a promotion executive, but a real artist development guy,” says veteran promotion/marketing exec Michael Plen, who recalls how Cash helped him break

With the Oscars just ten days away, Variety has learned a number of the original song performances will be pre-recorded this coming Monday and Tuesday. At least some of the contenders will be performing their nominated songs on the rooftop of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The recorded

New York-based music-rights company Reservoir Holdings has announced that it will list on NASDAQ through a merger with the Roth CH Acquisition II Company. According to the announcement, the transaction values the combined company at $788 million and is expected to provide approximately $246 million in gross proceeds to the company. Upon closing of the

After an NFT fundraiser for independent venues raised more than $200,000 last week, Goldflyer and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) have announced the second round. Top NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway has joined the effort and announced a follow-up drop this Friday (April 16) at 1:30 p.m. ET, featuring many of the artists who have

Most songwriters spend their entire professional lives trying to achieve a run of hits as remarkable as what Omer Fedi and his friends have managed to do in the past six months. But for 21-year-old Fedi, who just started making big waves in the music industry last year, he’s only at the beginning of his

Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety“… Yvette Nicole Brown says after four years of Donald Trump, this year’s Emily’s List pre-Oscar event is “like a burst of sunshine.” As always, the organization, which works to elect female Democratic candidates, will host a keynote panel with industry figures on April 20 (see Must Attend for

As the follow-up to David Bowie’s first hit “Space Oddity,” the album known as “The Man Who Sold the World” is itself an oddity in the David Bowie canon. With dark, surreal lyrical themes and music that’s proto-heavy metal, the album, recorded in 1970, is an outlier, a drastic change of direction from the folk-rock

For more than a decade, Taylor Swift fans have been convinced that her song “Hey Stephen” is about Stephen Colbert… actually that’s not true at all, but it was the conceit for a bit on the late night host’s show Tuesday night that featured the singer. Using last week’s release of Swift’s re-recorded version of

Embattled country star Morgan Wallen posted a four-page, handwritten note to his Instagram account Tuesday afternoon, telling fans that he has been working on himself during his time out of the limelight and will not be playing any concerts or festivals this summer. Wallen’s plans for resuming his career in earnest have been a source

Sony Music Publishing has signed Supah Mario (real name: Jonathan DeMario Priester, pictured) to a worldwide deal. The songwriter, producer and beatmaker has credits on Drake’s “What’s Next,” “Ice Melts” and “Blue Tint” as well as “Wyclef Jean” by Young Thug; “That Way,” “Myron” and “Silly Watch” by Lil Uzi Vert; “Diamonds Talkin’ Back” by

Shares of radio and podcast giant iHeartMedia kicked up to all-time highs Tuesday, fueled by an about-face by a formerly bearish analyst who now forecasts an advertising resurgence for the company. On Tuesday, iHeartMedia’s stock closed at $19.79 per share, up +13.2% for the day. That came after BofA Securities analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich issued

NBC has given out a pair of comedy pilot orders, including one starring music superstar Demi Lovato. The Lovato project is titled “Hungry.” NBC had previously given the single-camera show a put pilot commitment back in January. In the show, friends who belong to a food issues group help each other as they look for

Sometimes the backstories of Oscar-nominated songs are as compelling as the songs themselves. Last week, the Songwriters Hall of Fame corralled nine of this year’s 12 nominated songwriters for a round-table discussion of how their songs came to be written, and how they feel about contributing to the art of cinema. Paul Williams, Oscar winner

In a move that shows livestreaming will be a part of the concert experience even in a post-pandemic word, Live Nation Entertainment, the world’s largest live-entertainment company, and Veeps, the livestreaming platform Veeps co-founded by Joel and Benji Madden of the band Good Charlotte, the companies announced they have started equipping more than 60 concert

While Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones have been working on a new studio album for the better part of a decade, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl likes to work fast — and his influenced apparently rubbed off on Jagger, as the duo surprise-released a pandemic anthem deceptively called “Eazy Sleazy” on Tuesday. Judging by

The late Slim Aarons was known as a photographer of the very rich and very white. The mid-century shutterbug became synonymous with pictures of the high society wealthy in extravagant settings of opulence including poolside mansion parties, ski resorts and more. Now, Jay-Z is turning those portraits on their heads in a new ad campaign

Brett Alperowitz has been promoted to executive vice president of A&R for Republic Records, as announced today by Wendy Goldstein, the label’s president of West Coast creative.  Alperowitz, who was named senior VP in 2015, maintains his role of General Manager of Casablanca Records. He will continue to sign, develop, and cultivate talent for Republic Records and simultaneously oversee

While Snoop Dogg had kept his reminisces about DMX to social media since his friend’s death on Friday, he spoke at length about him during an appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” Monday. Snoop spoke about when the two, who had been friends for three decades, faced off in a Verzuz battle last

The ASCAP Pop Music Awards named the Weeknd as songwriter of the year, and the Post Malone hit “Circles” as song of the year, in results announced as part of an extended virtual rollout of winners Tuesday. The publisher of the year prize went, as it often does, to Warner Chappell Music, whose top ASCAP-affiliated

Global Citizen, which was synonymous with advocacy-themed entertainment specials in the early months of the pandemic, will return in May with “Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World,” a special that will be shot at L.A.’s new So-Fi Stadium to run on major TV networks as well as streaming platforms. Selena Gomez will host

Demi Lovato wasn’t just dancing with the devil; she was dancing with the top spot on the album chart, as her new release had a late surge of support and nearly toppled Justin Bieber from atop the rankings. Lovato’s “Dancing With the Devil… The Art of Starting Over” bowed at No. 2 with 68,600 album

The BBC is gearing up for this year’s “Eurovision Song Contest,” with Graham Norton set to return alongside Chelcee Grimes, Rylan Clark-Neal and Scott Mills. Produced by BBC Studios, “Eurovision” semi-finals will air on May 18 and 20 on BBC Four, while the grand final is set for May 22. This year’s awards will be

A virtual 40th anniversary reunion of the original “Dreamgirls” dream cast — Loretta Devine, Jennifer Holliday and Sheryl Lee Ralph — was among the highlights of a virtual benefit Sunday for Broadway Cares, held under the auspices of RWQuarantunes, Richard Weitz’s and Demi Weitz’s ongoing series of all-star charity fundraisers. The online gala stretched just

In the wake of DMX’s death on Friday after suffering a heart attack, his family has issued a statement regarding rumors that have circulated regarding the masters to his recordings and, apparently, people selling merchandise or claiming to be raising funds for the funeral of the rapper, whose born name was Earl Simmons. “There have

New York’s SummerStage concert series has announced plans to return to live, in-person concerts and performances at outdoor venues this summer. According to the announcement, “Pending adjustments to current NYC restrictions, free music and dance performances will return to Rumsey Playfield in Central Park this summer and performances will also be held in Harlem’s Marcus

After months of lobbying and public awareness campaigns, the #SaveOurStages act was passed into law on Dec. 27, promising that small venues and theaters across the U.S. would receive relief totaling $16 billion as part of the larger stimulus plan. But last Thursday, when the website through which venues could apply for relief finally opened

Paula Abdul is returning to the “American Idol” family. For the first time since the singing competition show was revived on ABC, Abdul will return to guest judge after series host Luke Bryan tested positive for COVID-19. He is currently recovering while in quarantine, ABC announced on Monday morning. Bryan’s positive diagnosis means he will

BTS global smash hit “Dynamite” just crossed 1 billion views on YouTube — less than eight months after its debut — making it the newest entry in YouTube’s Billion Views Club. The “Dynamite” video on YouTube (titled “BTS (방탄소년단) ‘Dynamite’ Official MV”) premiered in August 2020. It garnered over 101.1 million views in its first 24