Music

It was just about a year ago when, at the 2018 Grammy Awards, JD McCrary — 10 at the time — joined Childish Gambino on stage at Madison Square Garden. After he impressed the A-list crowd with his part in their 2017 collaboration, “Terrified”, the internet clamored for details. Just who was the powerhouse vocalist

March 1, 2019 7:25AM PT Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi, billed as “the most-streamed classical artist of all time,” has signed a new worldwide contract with Decca Records, a division of Universal Music Group, the company announced today. The artist has been with the company over six albums and the past 15 years. According to the

The jingle, one of the oldest forms of advertising dating back to the early days of radio, has taken on many different shapes over the decades. In the past 15 years alone, artists ranging from Justin Timberlake and Calvin Harris to Chris Brown and OneRepublic have written full-length songs intended for a blue-chip brand’s commercials

March 1, 2019 6:19AM PT Ryan Adams’ scheduled tour of the U.K. and Ireland has been canceled, according to announcements from the tour’s ticket agents and venues. The cancellation comes two weeks after multiple sexual-misconduct allegations were leveled at the singer in a New York Times article that included interviews with several former girlfriends and/or collaborators,

March 1, 2019 12:00AM PT Lena Headey has stepped behind the camera for the first time to direct her “Game of Thrones” co-star Maisie Williams in singer-songwriter Freya Harding’s new single, “You Mean the World to Me.” Headey is known globally for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister, and Williams as Arya Stark, in the HBO

March 1, 2019 12:00AM PT Lena Headey has stepped behind the camera for the first time to direct her “Game of Thrones” co-star Maisie Williams in singer-songwriter Freya Ridings’ new single, “You Mean the World to Me.” Headey is known globally for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister, and Williams as Arya Stark, in the HBO

Ten years after brotherly love gave way to separate ways, the world is getting a bonus Jonas moment. The Jonas Brothers’ comeback video, “Sucker,” premiered Friday morning. It had a palatial setting substituting for Camp Rock, the brothers’ real-life wives or fiancés sitting in for Demi Lovato, and the memory of “Burnin’ Up” giving way to

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference has written a letter to HBO asking the network to reconsider airing “Leaving Neverland,” the two-part film about Michael Jackson’s alleged sexual abuse of minors that’s set to premiere on the network Sunday and Monday. President/CEO Dr. Charles Steele invoked the civil rights organization’s founder, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,

The end of winter marks the unofficial start of festival season, and whether you’re going to SXSW, heading to Coachella or staying up till the wee hours at Ultra, we’ve rounded up some of the best places to stay while you’re in town for this spring’s most popular music festivals. Hotels are booking up quickly,

Live Nation Entertainment today posted its eighth consecutive year of record results for its revenue, operating income and adjusted operating income. In its 2018 earnings report, the company’s revenue was up 11% to $10.8 billion (with attendance at its concerts up 8% to 93 million) its operating income was up 61%, its AOI up 22%

UPDATED: After veteran hip-hop trio De La Soul spoke out about what they feel are unfair terms for the long-awaited streaming release of their catalog on Tommy Boy Music, the label has decided to postpone them, the company said Thursday in an exclusive statement to Variety. “Because Tommy Boy has not had the opportunity to

As vinyl continues to supplant CDs as the physical medium of choice for music buffs, the annual Record Store Day event keeps growing in prominence as a clarion call to get into the groove. The lineup for this year’s brick-and-mortar blowout has just been unveiled, with (by our count) 394 mostly vinyl-excusive, mostly limited-edition releases

In recent weeks the Justice Department has been discussing reforms or even termination of the long-standing consent decrees that govern performing rights organizations ASCAP and BMI, but not their competitors, SESAC and Global Music Rights. Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal reported that the DOJ is expected to call for public input on the

February 28, 2019 7:44AM PT It’s official: after months of rumors, the Jonas Brothers have officially announced their return and will drop a new single, “Sucker,” tonight. The song, which arrives via the group’s new deal with Republic Records, will arrive at midnight ET.The news arrived Thursday morning in a teaser for “The Late Late Show

February 28, 2019 6:58AM PT In a highly enthusiastic profile last fall, the New York Times said that Solange’s new album, the follow-up to 2016’s critically lauded “A Seat at the Table,” would “likely arrive into the world fully formed at some mysterious and unexpected moment, like a meteor cratering into the culture.” Judging by

If there’s any doubt about how big Drake has become, look no further than his father, Dennis Graham, who is releasing a song of his own this week. While Graham calls his music career a “hobby,” it has brought him some legit recognition. Last year, he made an appearance in a whiskey commercial for Virginia

At the Off-Broadway premiere of “Alice by Heart,” a new musical from “Spring Awakening” creators Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik and inspired by “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” conversations with the cast and creatives revealed the impact of their work on a generation of theater-makers, including their young stars — and what the pair learned from

February 27, 2019 3:33PM PT Jane Abernethy has joined Omnian Music Group as managing director. Omnian is home to the labels Captured Tracks, 2MR, Sinderlyn and Manufactured Recordings and is partnered with New Zealand’s Flying Nun. It also co-owns the No Other Music Publishing with We Are Free management (Purity Ring, Beach House, Sleigh Bells),

Liberty Media, the U.S. investment firm KKR and Chinese giant Tencent Music are among the potential suitors to purchase up to 50% of Universal Music from Vivendi, a deal potentially worth as much as $23 billion, sources close to the situation tell Variety. The news of KKR and Tencent Music was first reported by Reuters.

The music business is entering a golden age thanks to a streaming boom that’s growing exponentially in real-time. This is remarkable because, just 15 years ago, the industry was nearly in shambles, scrambling to recover from a loss of $10 billion in revenue and more than 71,000 abolished music industry jobs in the U.S. alone.

Since he first broke into the mainstream in 2004 with his work on M.I.A.’s pivotal “Arular” album, Diplo has become one of the biggest DJ-producers in the business, working with artists ranging from Beyonce and Madonna and Dua Lipa to Skrillex and Lil Yachty, all while releasing solo singles, leading the group Major Lazer, running

February 27, 2019 9:45AM PT Not quite two years ago, rock star Travis Barker shelled out just over $2.8 million for a luxury residence in an affluent, guard-gated Calabasas, Calif., community that, after a partial, mostly cosmetic, refurbishment, has come available as a high-end rental at $27,500 per month. Occupying a corner property on more

Ryan Adams’ tour of the U.K., which was scheduled before the publication of a New York Times article containing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against the singer, is moving ahead, although several disgruntled former fans have taken to social media to express their anger at being denied refunds. Most serious of the accusations against the

February 27, 2019 6:42AM PT Oprah Winfrey is set to host a Q&A with Michael Jackson accusers Wade Robson and James Safechuck that will air on HBO and OWN after the documentary “Leaving Neverland,” which details allegations of sexual abuse by the late pop superstar. “Oprah Winfrey Presents: After Neverland” will air at 10 p.m.

The iHeart Radio Music Awards are right around the corner, with Taylor Swift slated to receive the “Tour of the Year” prize for her Reputation tour. Along with Swift, the sixth annual awards show will feature some of the biggest names in music, with performances in the works from stars like Alicia Keys, Ariana Grande,

The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas is holding a festival of sorts for the opening weekend of its new KAOS venue, with Travis Scott, Cardi B, Alicia Keys, J Balvin, Skrillex, G-Eazy and more performing over three nights, April 5-7. According to the announcement, KAOS is “a spectacular new entertainment experience consisting of a

Andy Anderson, a former drummer for English rock band the Cure and punk singer Iggy Pop, died from terminal cancer on Tuesday. He was 68. Anderson played on the Cure’s hit single “Love Cats” and on the 1984 album “The Top.” The musician, originally from Essex, England, shared the news of his stage 4 cancer

Creatives from every discipline have tried to make Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s tale “Alice in Wonderland” their own, only to find themselves falling down an artistic rabbit hole. The new interpretation now inaugurating a spiffy new home for Off Broadway’s MCC Theater, “Alice by Heart,” also joins the ranks of adaptations that have gotten tangled

Almost 24 years to the day after Selena Quintanilla-Pérez performed her last concert at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Grammy-winning country artist Kacey Musgraves returned to the same setting to pay tribute to the late queen of Tejano, who died a month after making her final appearance there. “I love the queen Selena just

February 26, 2019 2:02PM PT The global recording industry trade organization IFPI has named Drake as the world’s best-selling recording artist of 2018, based on the success of his fifth full-length, “Scorpion,” and its singles “God’s Plan,” “Nice for What” and “In My Feelings.” Drake is the only artist to ever hold this title multiple times, with his first being in 2016. The