Spotify today announced a pair of initiatives to support the creative community in the wake of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the most immediate of which is a plan not only to donate to relief organizations — beginning with MusiCares, PRS Foundation and Help Musicians — but to match donations made via its website
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A solo Dave Matthews show, performed live from his home, will be the premiere episode of “Pay It Forward Live,” a new weekly series being sponsored by Verizon to help support small businesses suffering from lost business due to the coronavirus pandemic. Matthews’ 30-minute kickoff performance for the web series will be broadcast live Thursday
Sending some relief close to home, Boston native James Taylor and his wife, Kim Taylor, have made a $1 million donation to Massachusetts General Hospital to help with the institution’s efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. “There is no question that it’s a point of pride for New Englanders to claim the MGH as their
Jackson Browne has tested positive for coronavirus, he told Rolling Stone. Although the 71-year-old singer-songwriter would seem to be part of a vulnerable demographic, he reports that his symptoms have been mild and he has not required hospitalization or medication. “I feel lucky that I’m not really badly affected. I guess I’ve got a really
The Michael Jackson Estate today announced that it is donating $300,000 to coronavirus response efforts to help three communities that have been severely impacted by the Covid 19 virus. Broadway Cares, Three Square Food Bank (Southern Nevada’s largest hunger-relief organization) and MusicCares will each receive a $100,000 donation. “This virus strikes at the heart of
Mister Rogers, meet Dr. Dre. Memphis Minnie, meet “Dusty in Memphis.” “Wichita Lineman,” wave hello to the “Fiddler on the Roof.” “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh,” say hi to Whitney Houston. And perhaps in the time of coronavirus, all these classic records can help — in the words of Eddy Arnold — “Make the World Go
Bill Rieflin, a remarkably versatile drummer whose work over the past 30 years spanned Ministry, R.E.M., Swans, Nine Inch Nails and King Crimson, among many others, has died after a battle with cancer, according to friends and social-media posts from several artists he performed with. He was 59. A common thread throughout his career was
The Clippers organization has reached an agreement to purchase The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. from The Madison Square Garden Company for $400 million cash. The iconic venue will continue to host concerts while plans for a “fan-focused community project” that includes a NBA arena and team headquarters, also move forward. The new NBA project, which is
March 24, 2020 4:09PM PT The Shawn Mendes Foundation made a donation of $175,000 to the SickKids Foundation this week. The money will assist in the purchase of equipment and supplies for coronavirus preparedness for the community at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario. “Through The Shawn Mendes Foundation, we have been working
Lil Uzi Vert would have had an easy time staying at No. 1 on the Rolling Stone albums chart for a second week, regardless. But the fact that he released a deluxe version of his album just one week after the standard edition ensured that he really racked up big numbers. The expanded version of
AMC has given out a series order to the musical anthology dramedy “National Anthem,” with the cabler giving the series an initial eight-episode order. “National Anthem” hails from writer Scott Z. Burns with “Better Call Saul” and “Breaking Bad” executive producer Mark Johnson also set to executive produce the new series. The show is the
Steve Earle has pulled out of a lawsuit against Universal Music Group that was filed by five artists last year over damage the artists’ musical recordings suffered in a 2008 fire that destroyed many assets in the company’s vaults. With the withdrawal from the lawsuit earlier this month of the Tupac Estate and Soundgarden, and withdrawal last year of
The pace of fresh music live-streams is slowing down just a little mid-week, but Tuesday brings promising performances in store from Chloe x Halle, Kiana Ledé, “The Voice” alumna Meghan Linsey and her duo partner Tyler Cain, and a DJ set from Diplo, among others. Starting today, too, Brendan Benson is joining the ranks of
New Jerseyans Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Charlie Puth, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny DeVito, and soccer star Carli Lloyd have joined the state’s First Lady Tammy Murphy in support of the newly created New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. “New Jersey is banding together to help one another,” said Murphy, wife of Governor
Lady Gaga has announced on her social media that she is delaying her “Chromatica” album, previously set for April 10, indefinitely. Additionally, the posts reveal she had planned to do a secret set at the Coachella Festival, before that gathering was pushed back from April to October. While noting that her April 30-May 11 shows
In its earnings report for 2019, BMG, the world’s fourth biggest music rights-holder, showed a revenue increase of 10.1% to $674 million for the year, according to Music Business Worldwide. The figures are included in the latest report from the firm’s Germany-based parent, Bertelsmann, which also showed that BMG’s operating EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Tax,
Manu Dibango, the pioneering Cameroonian jazz musician whose song “Soul Makossa” was interpolated in Michael Jackson’s hit “Wanna Be Starting Something,” died in Paris Tuesday after contracting Covid-19, according to The Guardian and multiple news outlets. He was 86. A message on his Facebook page reads, “His funeral service will be held in strict privacy,
BTS’ “Map of the Soul” tour will most likely undergo schedule changes due to coronavirus concerns, its label Big Hit Entertainment announced on Twitter. The news comes following the recent addition of a show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. after the band canceled four shows in Seoul that were originally kicking off the
In the wake of a leaked tape reigniting public fascination with the 2016 feud between Taylor Swift and Kanye West, Kim Kardashian West has taken to Twitter to lay into Taylor Swift, writing Monday night that the singer “has chosen to reignite an old exchange” that “feels very self-serving given the suffering millions of real
Eric Weissberg, half of the duo that recorded “Dueling Banjos” for the film “Deliverance” in 1973, resulting in an unlikely smash hit single and album, has died at 80. Family members and friends said Weissberg had been suffering from Alzheimer’s for years. Weissberg was a fixture on the New York folk scene before being enlisted
We haven’t seen the last of Rosie O’Donnell — as a talk show host, that is. The funny lady tells Variety that the one-night-only return of “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” on Sunday may have just been the beginning of her talk show comeback. The stand-alone show, broadcast on Broadway.com and the website’s YouTube channel, raised
Bon Jovi founding member and keyboardist David Bryan revealed on Saturday (March 21) that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Less than a week earlier, he was home in New Jersey when, on March 15, he started to feel sick. “The first symptoms were flu-like, with a low level fever around 100 with body
As a preface to urging fans to donate to the World Health Organization and Feeding America, Taylor Swift stepped into a very different fray Monday afternoon, addressing the video footage that leaked over the weekend of the phone call she had with Kanye West in 2016 to say that its release completely vindicated the position
Music fans took notice in a big way Friday when the online retailer Bandcamp announced it was waiving its share of proceeds for one day to pass that money on to struggling artists during the coronavirus crisis. The site reported Monday that customers spent $4.3 million on music and merchandise Friday. That amounted to nearly 800,000
United Talent Agency has implemented a company-wide salary cut, multiple people familiar with the decision told Variety, as Hollywood deals with a near-shutdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “Like companies across the industry and our country, UTA is taking some immediate and painful steps to ensure we get through the current public health
Last week, Better Than Ezra frontman raised $40,000 for MusiCares’ coronavirus relief fund simply by performing a virtual concert on Facebook and clicking a box on the site. Asked how he did it, Griffin tells Variety: “I organized the event myself. I saw that the artist, Molly Tuttle, had done a Facebook live event that
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
The Entertainment Industry Foundation has launched the COVID-19 response fund to provide financial relief to entertainment industry workers affected by coronavirus-related shutdowns. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, our own community has been impacted tremendously. Productions have halted, many displaced workers have found themselves without pay or medical care, and live entertainment is at a standstill. Every
Christine and the Queens represent the country of France in leading a listing of Monday’s live-streamed music performances, while a pair of country music queens, Brandy Clark and Ashley McBryde, get their own turns at serenading fans in this new world of web-only concerts. Also on deck are James Blake, Orville Peck, Years & Years,
German performing rights organization GEMA has launched an emergency relief fund worth up to $43 million for its songwriter and composer members, according to Music Business Worldwide. “It is already foreseeable that the economic consequences of the corona pandemic will be devastating for the entire creative industry,” said GEMA CEO Dr. Harald Heker. “GEMA will