Music

To compensate for the lack of live music during the coronavirus pandemic, Radiohead has announced that the band will start streaming concert films on its YouTube channel on a weekly basis, starting this Thursday at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET, courtesy of the “Radiohead Public Library” launched earlier this year as a go-to for archival

The Recording Academy and MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund has passed $10 million in donations, the organizations announced today. The fund was initiated last month with a $1 million donation from each organization — MusiCares is the Recording Academy’s charitable wing — and has since seen “generous” but unspecified donations from Amazon Music, Facebook, SiriusXM-Pandora, Spotify, Tidal,

Elvis Costello, so often eloquent as a eulogist for the legends with whom he’s worked, has posted an eloquent and detailed appreciation of his friend Hal Willner, the music producer who died this week of health complications believed to be associated with the coronavirus. Costello writes on Facebook that the eclecticism of Willner’s way of

Known for his satirical songs and their unreliable narrators, Randy Newman has released what may be his least untrustworthy, most reliably narrated number ever: “Stay Away,” a short tune he put on social media at the behest of a radio station that had asked him to weigh in on life during the coronavirus crisis. “I’ve

John Prine’s wife Fiona Whelan Prine issued a statement Wednesday following the death of the great singer-songwriter, who Bruce Springsteen called “one of the best we had,” from complications related to coronavirus. He was 73, and while both he and his wife were afflicted with the illness, she has since recovered “Our beloved John died

AXS TV will bring Farm Aid to market this Saturday in the way to which all performers have had to become accustomed: at home. Farm Aid’s four foremost board members — Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews — will join together, separately, to perform live April 11 at 8 p.m./5 PT for

Creative Artists Agency is enacting pay cuts across the entire company as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc across Hollywood and the global economy, Variety has learned. The last domino to fall among the major agencies, the cuts are on a progressive basis affecting the highest paid, a spokesperson said. Agency leaders Richard Lovett,

Like many John Prine fans and friends, Brandi Carlile couldn’t sleep in the wee hours Wednesday morning. She put that insomnia to better use than most by picking up an acoustic guitar and singing a tender rendition of “Summer’s End,” the moving ballad that was a highlight of Prine’s final album, “The Tree of Forgiveness.”

The first words out of Tim Leiweke’s mouth are that he does not know when health officials will say it’s safe to return to concerts, sporting events and other mass public gatherings. Yet the live-entertainment veteran and CEO of the Oak View Group — an entertainment and sports facilities company he cofounded with Irving Azoff

Today (Wednesday, April 8) at 4 p.m. ET /1 p.m. PT, Music Biz President Portia Sabin will interview the heads of five of the music industry’s major trade organizations — the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), the Country Music Association (CMA), the National Songwriters Association International (NSAI), the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and

On the afternoon of March 5, the artist known as The Weeknd is at a rehearsal for his appearance on what will be the last live episode of “Saturday Night Live” for the foreseeable future — although no one realizes it at the time. The iconic Studio 8H at 30 Rock bustles with activity as

The experience of listening to person’s music while they’re sitting in the same room has the potential to be equally awesome or awkward for both parties. What if the music is terrible (or, worse, mediocre) and the listener feels compelled to pretend to like it? What if the listener says something idiotic and the artist

Video — usually an interview — is a standard component of most cover stories these days. But we felt lucky enough that The Weeknd chose Variety for his first sit-down interview in nearly five years — and a boring old conventional video interview was dismissed out of hand. Okay, how about if we did something

Celebrity Deaths of 2020 – Variety ad

Musicians and entertainment figures are remembering legendary singer-songwriter John Prine, who died Tuesday from complications of coronavirus. “Over here on E Street, we are crushed by the loss of John Prine,” wrote Bruce Springsteen. He recalled the similar critical takes they received when they first arrived on the recording scene at about the same time.

John Prine, who established himself as one of America’s deftest and most affecting singer-songwriters over the course of a nearly 50-year career, died Tuesday of complications of coronavirus. He was 73. His publicist confirmed his death on behalf of his family. Prine had been in the hospital for several weeks, and it was announced that

If ever a platform was built for the stay-at-home era and took years to realize it, it’s Stageit. The site is the spot where fans are paying to see upward of 700 artist performances a week in an intimate setting — face-to-face, laptop-to-laptop. With touring, a musician’s financial lifeline, ceased until this pandemic ends, Stageit

Luke Bryan has postponed the release of his new album, “Born Here Live Here Die Here,” from April 24 to Aug. 7, the singer announced Tuesday. Also pushed back is the start of his “Proud to Be Here” tour, which was due to kick off May 28 in Cincinnati. It’s now scheduled to start on

Apple Music has launched a $50 million advance royalty fund to help independent labels ensure that their artists are paid amid the economic devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, according to reports in Rolling Stone and Music Business Worldwide; a source close to the situation confirmed the reports to Variety. According to a letter sent to

Hal Willner, a record producer famed for his left-of-center tribute albums and concerts, and as the long-time sketch music producer for “Saturday Night Live,” has died of complications related to the coronavirus, Variety has confirmed. He was 64. On his Twitter account, the producer had alluded to having been diagnosed in a March 28 tweet,

A Brooklyn judge on Tuesday denied R. Kelly’s request for release due to the coronavirus pandemic, finding that he is not among the inmates most endangered by the disease. Kelly is being held at the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he is awaiting trial on racketeering, sexual misconduct and other charges in three jurisdictions. On

As the entire country reels in the wake of the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic, the music industry is just one business that has been devastatingly affected. While many organizations and musicians have found ways to raise money to help and embrace online performances, there hasn’t been much talk about how we all cope with this new reality,

A pair of multiplatinum-selling artists have found new label homes: Toni Braxton has signed a new deal with Island Records, the company announced Monday, and Jason Mraz has inked with BMG. Seven-time Grammy-winner Braxton announced her return with a new single called “Do It.” “I wrote this song about a year ago when a friend was

Most churchgoers won’t be able to enter a place of worship on this Easter Sunday, but an exception is being made for Andrea Bocelli, who will perform a concert that night at the historic Duomo Cathedral in Milan, Italy, to be offered as a global live-stream on YouTube. Bocelli will be accompanied only by cathedral

Maria Alonte has been named senior vice president, creative integration, music for Entertainment One (eOne). In the newly created position, Alonte will oversee eOne’s creative servicing hub for film, television and varied content. She’ll report to Chris Taylor, eOne’s global president, music and live. The Los Angeles-based Alonte arrives from Universal Music Group where she

Judges appear to be getting more and more skeptical of music copyright lawsuits. In the latest ruling, a federal judge has thrown out a suit claiming that the 2003 Josh Groban song “You Raise Me Up” was based on an Icelandic song from 1977 called “Soknudur.” The plaintiff, Icelandic singer-songwriter Johann Helgason, hired Judith Finell,

Orlando Puerta, a veteran of Warner Bros. Records, where he worked from 1997 to 2009 as a promotion and marketing executive, and a longtime advocate of dance music, died in the early morning hours of Saturday (April 4) of an upper respiratory infection. Although he was tested for the coronavirus, the results had not been

With self-isolation being employed universally to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Instagram Live has become the go-to for musicians of all stripes but especially stars of rap and R&B. Thanks to live battles, hundreds of thousands of viewers are able to witness a hitmaker’s skills in going up against a peer song-for-song while also

U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt today dismissed Soundgarden’s litigation in the lawsuit against Universal Music Group that was filed by five artists last year over damage the artists’ musical recordings allegedly suffered in a 2008 fire that destroyed many assets in the company’s vault. Soundgarden, Hole, Steve Earle and the estates of Tupac and Tom

Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge was among the first major music industry figures to be afflicted with coronavirus, and was admitted to Los Angeles’ UCLA Medical Center for treatment on March 13. While no official word was issued on his condition, the assumption was that no news was good news, and it appears that