UPDATED: Katy Perry, co-writer and producer Dr. Luke, their collaborators and Capitol Records are on the hook to pay rapper Flame $2.78 million for borrowed elements in their song “Dark Horse,” a jury decided Thursday afternoon. The jurors in the copyright case came in with a judgment that Perry should pay Flame (Marcus Gray) $550,000
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Big Sean just released the video for “Single Again,” his second single of 2019, and the clip has racked up more than 3.15 million views in just three days. The track features ex-girlfriend Jhene Aiko and Ty Dolla $ign, celebrating the notion of independence and freedom from relationships. The Lawrence Lamont-directed visual simultaneously arrives as
Even though the eternally troubled Woodstock 50 festival has finally been cancelled, the artists who were scheduled to perform are getting a big payday without ever having to play a note. A rep for the festival confirmed to Variety that every artist on the bill has been paid in full — that’s some 76 artists,
August 1, 2019 2:01PM PT A downside of Prince’s fierce desire to own the rights his music is that he took many recordings out of circulation, apparently figuring if he couldn’t make what he felt he deserved, no one would. Many titles have been reissued in the years since his death in April of 2016,
There are some country albums you play for your friends who think they don’t like country music to convince them that they really do and just don’t realize it yet. Justin Moore’s “Late Nights and Longnecks” is not one of those albums. Nor is it one for the country intelligentsia, probably — it’s easy to
Country star Maren Morris is having a busy week. Right on the heels of having her single “Girl” reach No. 1 on the country airplay charts, and of her side project the Highwomen making its concert and TV debuts, Morris has signed with Universal Music Publishing Group to administer her self-published catalog of songs. “I
Ric Ocasek, the primary singer and songwriter for the Cars and a recent inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has signed with SESAC Performing Rights for his music publishing. He formerly had a long association with ASCAP. Although the Cars have been inactive as a group for more than 30 years, with
Sony/ATV Music Publishing is improving the way it reports and pays royalties to its songwriters with a series of major upgrades. According to an announcement, over the course of the next year, the company will roll out significant new initiatives that will speed up how quickly songwriter earnings are processed and allow songwriters to get
Lena Waithe will helm a new television series called “Twenties,” set to premiere in 2020 on BET Networks. The actress, screenwriter, and producer is executive producer on the half-hour comedy, which depicts a group of friends in their twenties trying to navigate careers, love and relationships, and life in general. Loosely based on Waithe’s own
A$AP Rocky took the stand Thursday to testify in a Swedish courtroom that his actions during a violent confrontation with another man were out of self-defense. The 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, and two companions have been charged with assault stemming from the June 30 incident. They have been in custody in
Woodstock 50 passed away today at the age of 7 months, following a brave and very, very long battle with cancel. The festival’s timely demise was confirmed in a statement from Sallie Hofmeister, who, as Harvey Weinstein’s publicist, has become a specialist in sensitive terminal cases. The canceled gathering was preceded in death by Curveball,
Media reports around the Katy Perry “Dark Horse” case, in which a jury found this week that she and her producers and cowriters had infringed upon the copyright of Flame’s 2013 song “Joyful Noise,” often focus upon the damage the case might do to her career, her reputation or her bank accounts. But the crux
July 31, 2019 3:00PM PT Saying he had concerns about the case being “tried in the public domain,” a federal judge in Chicago Wednesday approved a protective order in the child pornography and obstruction case against R. Kelly, according to the Chicago Tribune. In the course of the argument — which is in favor of
Woodstock 50 is officially off, multiple sources tell Variety. Vendors and stakeholders were notified this morning, July 31, that the beleaguered festival was not going on. The festival was originally scheduled for Aug. 16 through 18. Yesterday it was reported that headliner Miley Cyrus had pulled out of the festival, joining the Raconteurs, the Lumineers
July 31, 2019 11:21AM PT Lana Del Rey revealed some details for her highly anticipated new LP on Tuesday, specifically its release date and tracklist. The album, which Del Rey has been teasing since 2018 and is titled “Norman F—ing Rockwell,” will be released Aug. 30. The 14-song track list includes songs “Mariners Apartment Complex,”
July 31, 2019 11:00AM PT Good Charlotte co-founder Joel Madden has partnered with ICM to identify and develop emerging artists and brands in addition to servicing current agency music clients. Madden, who launched Good Charlotte with his brother Benji in 1996, linked up in 2015 with older brother Josh Madden to found music company MDDN.co.
Any number of people in the music industry will claim that they know a hit when they hear one, but not Andrew Watt, who co-wrote two of the ubiquitous songs of summer: “Señorita,” Camila Cabello’s collab with Shawn Mendes (which has racked up sales of 168,000 song units), and “Call You Mine,” the Chainsmokers’ banger
While PledgeMusic’s long-expected official move into administration — the British equivalent of bankruptcy — was rumored to take place today, instead the deputy CEO of the trade organization UK Music called on the government to take urgent action to investigate the troubled company and prevent a similar situation from happening. PledgeMusic, a direct-to-fan marketplace for
A Cardi B concert scheduled for Indianapolis Tuesday night was called off less than an hour before showtime, with the performer and her management citing a “security threat” as the reason. “Dear Indiana people, I’m so sorry for today,” she tweeted later in the evening, two hours after the ticketed showtime. “I will like to
As we proceed through the 50th anniversary celebrations of some of the great moments of rock, it may be instructive to look back at what a Rolling Stone critic considered a peak moment at the time. “Tommy”? Nah-me. “Abbey Road”? Reviewer J.R. Young was ready to cross to a different side. The album he considered
The Grammy Museum announced today the promotion of Michael Sticka to president, with a contract that extends through 2022. According to the announcement, as president, Sticka will continue to lead the museum’s growth and sustainability strategy as an independent nonprofit arts organization and oversee all aspects of museum operations, including curatorial, development, marketing, grants and
It’s been a tough 24 hours for Woodstock 50: Headliner Miley Cyrus has pulled out of the festival, multiple sources tell Variety, joining the Raconteurs, the Lumineers and original Woodstock 1969 performers John Sebastian and Country Joe McDonald, all of whom since last night have said publicly that they’re not performing. Earlier, headliners Jay-Z and
Time flies when female artists aren’t catching much of a break. Maren Morris has reached No. 1 on Billboard’s country airplay chart with the title song from her second album, “Girl” — and she’s the first woman to do so since Kelsea Ballerini topped that chart 17 months ago, with “Legends” in February 2018. Morris
July 30, 2019 12:19PM PT Model and social media influencer Jordyn Woods celebrates decadent living alongside Rick Ross, DJ Khaled and Swizz Beatz in a music video for “Big Tyme” that was released today. The video follows the trio as they live it up in swanky clubs and cruise around in expensive cars and yachts.
Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA), the independent distribution division of Warner Music Group, today announced the appointment of John Franck to EVP, Commercial & Marketing. In this newly created role, Franck will have oversight of ADA’s global commercial relationships, digital marketing, and digital sales & strategy. He will report to Eliah Seton, President of Independent Music & Creator
July 30, 2019 11:21AM PT As expected, Universal Music Group announced today that Mike Biggane is joining the company, effective September 13, as Executive Vice President of Music Strategies and Tactics. According to the announcement, this is a newly created role that will work across UMG’s labels and territories as an accelerator for artists’ careers
Indie luminary Angel Olsen, recently featured on Mark Ronson’s “Late Night Feelings” album, will drop her fourth full-length album “All Mirrors,” on Oct. 4. An extensive North American tour will follow The album represents a directional change from her previous work, veering between quiet moments and “huge string arrangements and bellowing synth swells,” according to
Veteran rock band L7 is one of the thousands of musicians left financially stranded by PledgeMusic, the direct-to-fan marketplace that filed for the British equivalent of bankruptcy earlier this year — and today the band issued a statement about PledgeMusic and the status of “Scatter the Rats,” the album that was left in the lurch
A$AP Rocky, who has been charged with assault in Sweden following a confrontation in Stockholm on June 30, entered a plea of not guilty at the start of his trial Tuesday. The American rapper, who maintains that he was acting in self-defense when he punched a man on the street, has been in custody in
Two iconic performers of the original Woodstock are the latest to pull out of the beleaguered Woodstock 50 festival, which sources tell Variety is now tentatively scheduled to take place as a one-day event at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland. Country Joe McDonald and John Sebastian, both of whom were scheduled to appear at