Music

Composers from Amazon’s leading shows joined the Variety Streaming Room for a Q&A moderated by Variety‘s Artisans Editor, Jazz Tangcay. “Tales From the Loop’s” Paul Leonard-Morgan and “Carnival Row’s” Nathan Barr joined composers Emile Mosseri (“Homecoming” Season 2), Ariel Marx (“Ted Bundy: Falling For A Killer”), Faith Soloway (“Transparent: Musicale Finale”), Thomas Mizer and Curtis

Bob Dylan’s first album of original material in eight years, “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” got a rowdy and welcoming reception from fans, entering the charts at No. 2 on strong sales and coming in only behind Lil Baby’s streaming giant of an album. “Rough and Rowdy Ways” debuted with 54,700 album units. Nearly all of

Long-running Los Angeles-based law firm King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano has announced that Marjorie Garcia has been promoted to partner in the firm. According to the announcement, Garcia will build upon her practice in entertainment law, focusing on music-related talent representation and transactional matters for the firm’s diverse roster of clients, including recording artists, songwriters,

Downtown Music Holdings has announced the launch of Downtown Summer School, a week-long virtual program for continued learning about all aspects of the music industry and the business of music. The program — which, according to the announcement, “seeks to reimagine summer internships impacted by Covid-19” — will broadcast live the week of July 27

After a few days of rumors and some revived activity on social media, Kanye West has dropped a new song and video called “Wash Us in the Blood,” which features Travis Scott and was mixed by Dr. Dre. The song, from West’s recently announced tenth studio album “God’s Country,” is the first new music from

Mandy Moore insists she doesn’t know the complete history of Rebecca Pearson and Miguel Rivas’ relationship on “This Is Us.” “I know as much as the audience knows at this point — Rebecca and Miguel were in each other’s lives,” Moore, who earned an Emmy nomination last year for her work as Rebecca, says on

Common, Questlove and Lila Downs are among the artists performing at the 2020 BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival, which has been reinvented this year as an “immersive, virtual multi-platform destination.” For 41 years, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival has presented a wide variety of artists across all genres, along with dance troups, film projects and more. This

Well, we can’t have the Rolling Stones tour that was scheduled for this year, but they’re coming to a drive-in near you: CineLife Entertainment is launching the group’s concert movie, “The Rolling Stones: Havana Moon,” to North American drive-in theaters starting July 10. The company announced Tuesday it will partner with UK content provider Eagle Rock

Radio and podcast giant iHeartmedia has accelerated the launch what it says it the first — and only — 24-hour service dedicated to news coverage from a Black perspective. BIN: Black Information Network is “focused on service to the Black community and providing an information window for those outside the community to help foster communication,

Epic Records has signed South African rap sensation Sho Madjozi. The critically lauded artist first came on the scene in 2017 garnering instant attention for her unique delivery of Xitsonga lyrics and colorful fashion that mixes traditional African dress with modern flourishes. Nominated for best new international artist on Sunday’s BET Awards for the second

Alessia Cara was the big winner at tonight’s virtual 49th annual Juno Awards — Canada’s answer to the Grammys — taking home songwriter, pop album and album of the year for “The Pains of Growing.” The Toronto native was supposed to host the nationally televised ceremony back in mid-March in Saskatoon, SK, before it was

In a video statement released on his social media accounts, country singer Chase Rice offered no apologies or clear regrets about a weekend concert that stirred outrage for its packed, no-social-distancing, mask-free crowd conditions. But he acknowledged that “a lot of people seeing that online had a big problem” with the appearance of the show,

It is tempting to envision Chinese media firms as the local equivalent of a familiar Western brand. That mindset imagines Weibo as the Chinese Twitter, iQIYI as the Chinese Netflix, and WeChat as a Middle Kingdom version of WhatsApp. The reality is usually more complicated. Largely walled off from international competition, many Chinese media-tech firms

The BET Awards received a healthy audience boost this year thanks to a first ever simulcast on CBS. The awards show’s 2020 telecast, which was hosted by Amanda Seales and featured appearances from an impressive array of talent (including Beyonce), amassed 3.7 million total viewers across BET, BET Her and CBS. For comparison, last year’s

A week ago, I hopped on a Zoom call not knowing what to expect. The Town Hall-style conference was for a newly formed non-profit organization called The National Independent Talent Organization, or NITO (www.nitolive.org). I knew there would be a solid showing of people on this call, figuring maybe around 40 to 50 attendees from

The Weeknd on Monday announced that he has made a $1 million donation to coronavirus relief, giving $500,000 each to MusiCares and to the front-line hospital workers of Scarborough Health Network, the hospital network in the Ontario city where he was raised. He also brought back the line of facemasks themed for his XO company,

Benny Mardones, best known for his 1980 hit “Into the Night” — which cracked Billboard singles charts three separate times — died at his home in California on June 22 after a 20-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, his producer Joel Diamond confirmed to Variety. He was 73. The singer was born Ruben Armand Mardones in Cleveland,

Since 2002, the Stereogum website has been a vital chronicler of the alternative music universe, with an expert and enthusiastic take that has played a huge role in the rise of countless artists of the indie-rock ilk and beyond, ranging from Billie Eilish and Vampire Weekend to Drake. With a small but motivated and productive

Next year’s edition of the Brit Awards, the annual showcase for the U.K. music industry, is moving from its usual February slot and will now take place on May 11, the organizers have announced. This is with a view to attracting a full complement of music stars. The awards’ organizers, trade body BPI, made the

Michelle Obama honored Beyoncé with the Humanitarian Award at the 2020 BET Awards on Sunday. In her intro, Obama noted that Beyoncé’s talent is matched by her philanthropy. “Ever since she was a little girl in Houston, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has been lighting up stages and gracing the world with her talent, with her generosity of

Jennifer Hudson is earning everyone’s respect as Aretha Franklin in the new trailer for the upcoming biopic about the Queen of Soul. Released during the BET Awards, the trailer starts off with Hudson singing her iconic song “Respect” (which the film is coined after) with the word spelled out behind her in giant neon-style letters

Country singer Chase Rice is taking heat after sharing video footage of a concerts he played in east Tennessee Saturday night, with footage showing large, packed outdoor crowds rocking out shoulder-to-shoulder with no sign of social distancing or masks. Rice posted video of his riled-up audience in east Tennessee, taken from the stage, as part

In a sign of what may be seen as an emerging, successful alternative to expensive red carpet charity events, Saturday night’s two-hour Lead With Love: Project Angel Food Emergency Telethon, which aired live for the first time on KTLA 5, smashed fundraising goals by exceeding its $500,000 goal by nearly $200,000, totaling more than. $700,000

In a surprise, Disney Plus announced a new visual album from Beyoncé — “Black Is King,” inspired by “The Lion King” — is coming to the streaming service next month. “Black Is King,” written, directed and executive produced by Beyoncé, will premiere globally on Disney Plus on July 31, 2020. It will drop just after

For years, it has seemed as if Donald Trump can always get what he wants, at least when it comes to using classic rock and pop hits at his campaign rallies against the wishes of the original artists. But the Rolling Stones, who have tried for years to keep the president from appropriating “You Can’t

Syndicated radio host Elvis Duran has announced the event “Elvis Duran’s Drag Spectacular,” set for Tuesday, July 21 at 7 p.m. EST in support of the Drag and LGBTQ community. The “Drag Spectacular” will stream on Duran’s YouTube Channel and feature a panel celebrity guest judges including Cynthia Germanotta (Lady Gaga’s mother and Born This

When former Vice Pres. Joe Biden declared that he supported same-sex marriage during a “Meet the Press” interview in 2012, he represented the highest-ranking politician to ever endorse the right for gay Americans to marry. His unplanned admission was a pivotal evolution in the now 77 year-old presidential candidate’s stance on gay rights and — significantly

Listening to CeeLo Green’s new album, “CeeLo Green Is … Thomas Callaway,” is like getting into a time machine and heading to 1968 — not the ’68 of Motown or Stax but that of Elvis, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash and Dusty Springfield. That’s because the album was recorded in Nashville at Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye

One silver lining of the pandemic has been an absolute avalanche of songs dropping every week — there are 99 in Spotify’s “New Music Friday” and we’ve heard loads more. There were fewer protest-themed songs this week than in the past couple, and while we certainly applaud and encourage social relevance in song — something

Songwriter and producer Savan Kotecha is the man behind such hits such as Ariana Grande’s “Break Free” and “No Tears Left to Cry,”  Demi Lovato’s “Cool for the Summer” and The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face.” His music is about go global again this weekend with the release of Netflix’s “Eurovision: The Story of Fire