Music

UPDATED: Taylor Swift made a surprise announcement that she will be releasing her eighth studio album, “Folklore,” Thursday midnight. In a social media posts, Swift explained that the album is the result of many of her plans for 2020  — including a short stadium tour supporting her 2019 album “Lover”  — were scrapped due to

Jill Weindorf has been promoted to general manager of Concord Recorded Music, chief executive Tom Whalley announced on July 22. Most recently serving as the senior vice president of promotion and marketing, her new position finds Weindorf supervising all label services operations across Concord’s label roster, both current releases and catalog. She’ll also continue to

BBC radio and music is strengthening its diversity commitments, dedicating £12 million ($15.2 million) of its commissioning budget over the next three years towards diverse and inclusive content. This amount will cover new programming commissioned by network radio and BBC Sounds from 2021/22, open to both in-house and independent production companies to compete for. The

One Direction returned to Twitter for the first time in two years on Wednesday, July 22, posting ahead of its 10-year anniversary: “Tomorrow! You and me got a whole lot of history #10YearsOf1D,” the band wrote. The tweet swiftly accumulated nearly 1 million re-tweets in 14 hours and more than 1.7 million likes and spurred

J. Cole has dropped the first tracks confirmed to appear on his upcoming album, “The Fall Off,” on Wednesday night. “The Climb Back,” which he produced, and “Lion King on Ice,” which he co-produced with T-Minus and Jetson, will be listeners’ first look into the new record, and follows his last album, “KOD, ” which

When pioneering rock ’n’ roll artist Little Richard died recently, fellow ’50s pop music icon Pat Boone’s name was prominently noted in many of the obituaries. One of Boone’s biggest records of the era was a cover version of Little Richard’s rock classic “Tutti Frutti,” but the references to Boone weren’t all positive, and the

Tomorrowland Around the World performers Katy Perry, David Guetta, Steve Aoki, Nervo and Dimitri Vegas joined Tomorrowland co-founder Michiel Beers and moderator Sean Dhondt in an online press conference today to preview what fans can expect from the virtual festival. Scheduled for July 25 and 26 on the Tomorrowland website, Tomorrowland Around the World has

A new report by members of the U.K. Parliament has severely criticized the government’s “slow” response to the needs of the country’s cultural sector that is facing an “existential threat.” The report, titled “The Impact of Covid-19 on DCMS Sectors,” compiled by a Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, found it “regrettable” that

It appears that the lobbying by representatives for independent venues has at least begun to pay off on Capitol Hill: Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota introduced a new relief bill for indie venues impacted by the coronarvirus pandemic. The “Save Our Stages Act” would provide six months of financial support

Nick Cordero’s “Feinstein’s/54 Below concert Live Your Life” live album will be released on September 17, to coincide with what would have been the late actor’s 42nd birthday. The album, which was recorded in 2019, will feature guest performances by Kathryn Gallagher (“Jagged Little Pill”), Drew Gehling (“Waitress”), Sara Chase (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), and Zach

Stu Cohen, a longtime head of promotion for Warner Bros. Records, died on July 20 from esophageal cancer. He was 66. Cohen had also been suffering from having contracted Covid-19 as well as a fractured hip resulting from a fall, although you’d never know it judging from his always-optimistic Facebook posts about his progress while

The band Dawes has signed with Rounder Records, a return to a “major indie” after four self-released albums that followed on the heels of two early efforts on the ATO label. The group’s seventh release and first for Rounder will be “Good Luck With Whatever,” slated to come out October 2, preceded today by a

“All I Can Say” filmmakers Danny Clinch, Taryn Gould and Colleen Hennessy struck gold when they decided to make a Blind Melon documentary. The  team had no shortage of material. Band frontman Shannon Hoon religiously filmed himself between 1990 to 1995, a five-year period that roughly encompasses Blind Melon’s formation and rise to the top

Even as many of New York City’s homeowners and prospective buyers hightail it to the suburbs, long-married Hollywood couple Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have added to their sprawling real estate portfolio with the $3.5 million purchase of a two bedroom condo — as was first reported in the New York Post — located in

In the wake of Kanye West’s behavior in recent days related to his bipolar disorder, his wife Kim Kardashian West posted a long statement Wednesday morning asking for “compassion and empathy” for her husband. “As many of you know, Kanye has bipolar disorder,” she wrote on her Instagram story. “Anyone who has this or has

As a preview to their forthcoming “Goats Heads Soup” deluxe edition, the Rolling Stones have dropped “Scarlet,” a previously unreleased 1974 outtake featuring Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and former Traffic/Blind Faith bassist Ric Grech. Recorded in October of 1974, the song features some distinctive Page soloing over a choppy Keith Richards riff, and according to

Dave Grohl has spoken out in defense of teachers as the Trump administration continues its “daunting and evermore politicized question of reopening our schools in the coronavirus pandemic.” In the first audio version of the Foo Fighters founder’s “Dave’s True Stories” series, Grohl — whose mother (pictured with him above) was a public school teacher

In the wake of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against several employees and artists associated with Burger Records, the Southern California indie label has confirmed that it will shut down completely, forgoing an earlier plan to rebrand under new management. This follows a statement released earlier on Tuesday evening by the lable’s would-be interim president

Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer Brandi Carlile and her musical collaborators, twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth, have signed a worldwide administration agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). Carlile has won five Grammys since releasing her critically acclaimed 2018 album “By The Way, I Forgive You,” which was written by Carlile and the Hanseroths

The Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund has announced the external members of its Board of Directors. According to the announcement, the five leaders will help ensure the Fund’s governance will include independent oversight and accountability. The 15-strong Board will also include seven executives from Warner Music Group and three rotating

Egomeli Hormeku has been appointed Senior Vice President & Creative Director, Def Jam Recordings, company EVP and GM Rich Isaacson announced. According to the announcement, Hormeku will provide creative oversight in content creation, digital and social strategies, and brand identity and partnerships.  Based in New York, he will report to Isaacson. “A successful mover and shaker

Over the last handful of years, Coldplay front man Chris Martin has quietly amassed an impressive portfolio of multi-million dollar properties in Malibu. It seems, however, he’s decided to thin his holdings, listing a 6.5-acre spread in the prestigious Point Dume area with an asking price of not quite $5.5 million. The English musician, songwriter

Mitch Slater, a trailblazer of the concert promotion business, died on July 21 following an extended illness. He was 59. His brother, former Capitol Records CEO Andy Slater, commented: “To most people he was one of the architects of the modern concert era, but to me he was my baby brother. When he started in

Live Nation Philadelphia, in partnership with the Philadelphia Phillies, has announced plans for a four-week local drive-in concert series coming to the parking lot of Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies. The Live-In / Drive-In Concert Series presented by Budweiser Zero kicks off on Sunday, August 16 with comedian Bert Kreischer, and will continue with a

“American Utopia,” a filmed-version of David Byrne’s hit Broadway show, will be the opening night presentation of the 45th Toronto International Film Festival. This edition of the annual Canadian gathering for film lovers is unlike any of the previous 44 iterations. Due to coronavirus, TIFF will be a mixture of physical and virtual events and

Spotify is beefing up its big podcasting push by adding video to select shows — on the theory that “vodcasts” will prove even more engaging. Spotify’s new video podcasts are available in all markets where podcasts are supported, and, of course, for those which the creators have produced a video companion. Starting today, Spotify Free

Southern California independent label Burger Records has announced a series of structural changes after a number of young women came forward with accusations of sexual misconduct and predatory behavior amongst artists and employees associated with the label, its events and its Fullerton offices. As first-hand accounts continued to grow on social media — many gathered

For the past nine years, the iHeartRadio Music Festival has been a staple of the music calendar. Every September, for two nights on the third weekend of the month, some of the biggest names in music — among them: Bon Jovi, Bruno Mars, Fleetwood Mac, Pink, Jack White, Harry Styles and the Weeknd — converged

Hit producer WondaGurl, who’s worked with some of the top names in hip-hop and R&B, including Travis Scott, Jay-Z, Drake, Pop Smoke, Rihanna, Bryson Tiller, Lil Uzi Vert and SZA, has signed a global agreement with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, in partnership with Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack Publishing. WondaGurl is among the youngest women to have

With the end of July marking the end of enhanced unemployment benefits, working songwriters and composers are facing another financial hurdle, to the tune of as much as $600 a week in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. Anticipating another crisis moment, performance rights organizations ASCAP, BMI and SESAC joined together with trade orgs National Music Publishers