Taylor Swift has signed a global recording agreement with Universal Music Group, the company announced today. Under the multi-year agreement, UMG will serve as the exclusive worldwide recorded music partner for Swift and UMG’s Republic Records will serve as her label partner in the U.S. According to the announcement, the multi-album agreement, effective immediately, deepens
Music
Spotify honored the year’s behind-the-scenes music-makers at the Secret Genius Awards tonight (Nov. 16). Held at the Ace Theater in downtown Los Angeles and hosted by Ne-Yo, winners for the top prizes included Murda Beatz for Producer of the Year, Ali Tamposi for Songwriter of the Year and Benny Blanco for Secret Genius: Pop. Tricky
U2’s Experience + Innocence tour wrapped in Berlin earlier this week, and with a final tally of $126,188,794 and 927,034 tickets sold, the Irish band is on track to finish with one of the highest-grossing tours of 2018, according to Pollstar. The tour — which featured 59 performances in 30 arenas — supported the band’s
Two of the world’s biggest indies, Glassnote Music and Kobalt Music, today announced a long-term strategic alliance. Glassnote will leverage Kobalt’s AWAL and its digital and traditional distribution expertise to further maximize the opportunities and promotion of Glassnote’s artist roster and catalog. The agreement sees Glassnote leaving its distribution arrangement with Universal. Glassnote — whose
November 16, 2018 10:45AM PT The Chainsmokers dropped a new song this morning called “Beach House” with a line near the beginning that references the long-running Baltimore dreampop duo: “Listening to Beach House, takin’ my time.” The Chainsmokers even tweeted about their affection for the group, writing, “Really love this song as well ’cause we
David Foster disappeared into the wilds of retirement for Michael Buble’s last album, but he’s back in the fold for the singer’s emoji-titled new one. In a Q&A with Variety, he explains why he couldn’t stay away. You’re presenting Michael Bublé with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Why does he deserve it? DAVID FOSTER: I
Michael Bublé has released eight studio albums over a 15-year career. On the eve of his latest, he took a look back at the previous seven: “Michael Bublé” (2003) I felt powerless. I didn’t have as much control of how the project turned out, or at least the process. I was a songwriter, and I
“Are you comfortable? You don’t look like you’re as comfortable as you could be,” says Michael Bublé, who is standing bedside on one leg as he slips off a shiny black loafer. “You want to lay back? Lay back.” Before I know it, he’s untucking the bed covers and fluffing the pillows behind my head.
“Back in the USSR” is back in the top 10. Or the album that contains it is, anyway. Newly released 50thanniversary editions of “The Beatles,” popularly known as the White Album, are selling in strong enough amounts that the group’s 1968 landmark is expected to easily reenter the top 10 of the sales chart for
Tupac is being resurrected for a new apparel and accessories collection that merges the late rapper’s lyrics and iconography with images from the film “Black Panther.” The “Tupac x Black Panther” collection is believed to be one of the first times the rapper’s estate has licensed his imagery for use since his death. Tupac’s estate teamed
Iggy Azalea, who earlier this month announced she’d parted ways with Island Records, claims that she signed a new $2.7 million “deal/partnership” that apparently includes a custom label and allows her to keep the rights to her master recordings. “Proud to say I literally just signed my new deal/partnership!,” she wrote on Twitter Thursday night.
November 16, 2018 7:18AM PT Pandora has unveiled its Artists to Watch for 2019, a diverse group that ranges from Fifth Harmony member Normani and rap groups the City Girls and Brockhampton to Glassnote singer-songwriter Jade Bird to South Korean boy band Monsta X. The annual list uses a combination of curation and data from
“Black Panther” took home three prizes at the 9th Annual Hollywood Music in Media Awards, clawing past “A Star is Born,” with two wins. Songwriter Diane Warren was the only individual to nab multiple honors, while Germany’s Max Richter earned the best original score trophy for his contemporary take on the 16th century with “Mary
November 15, 2018 6:16PM PT Beyonce’s Parkwood Entertainment company yesterday bought out British retailer Arcadia Group Ltd, the co-owner of the Ivy Park fashion brand. Arcadia chairman Philip Green is currently being investigated for sexual and racial harassment, as former British cabinet minister Peter Hain reported. Hain also said Green was granted a court injunction to
The road to success for Sutton Foster was not always an easy journey, but it was a trip she looks back on with laughter. “Auditions are terrible. They really are,” the “Younger” star told Variety at New York City Center’s 75th anniversary gala, which included a performance of the Broadway audition musical “A Chorus Line.” “I
In the last decade, Meek Mill has topped the Billboard charts, released platinum-certified albums, and established himself as one of the most popular rappers around. He’s also served stints in prison and has been on probation his entire adult life, with six years left. Mill spoke with Philadelphia 76ers owner Michael Rubin and other panelists
November 15, 2018 1:58PM PT Wassim “Sal” Slaiby is donating funds earmarked for the party to support the LAFD. The Weeknd and French Montana manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby is forfeiting his annual birthday bash out of respect for those affected by the wildfires in California, particularly in the Malibu area. Now based in Los Angeles,
In recent years some of New York’s most unusual concerts have taken place at its most prestigious museums, either as special events or as entertainment at benefit parties for donors and members. We’ve seen artists ranging from The Weeknd and Robyn to James Blake and even Tei Shi performing at the Museum of Modern Art;
Roy Clark, the legendary guitarist and singer, Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member, Grammy, ACM and CMA award winner and co-host of the “Hee Haw” television series, died today at the age of 85 due to complications from pneumonia at home in Tulsa, Okla. His starring stint on the at times deliberately corny “Hee
Maverick Management today announced that Katherine Keating will be joining the company as its Chief Sustainability and Strategy Officer. She comes to Maverick after driving Vice Media’s advocacy efforts, and was also the founding publisher of Vice Impact. Keating joins Chief Impact Officer Molly DeWolf Swenson, who was hired in March to launch Maverick Impact,
November 15, 2018 8:55AM PT The 2018 CMA Awards posted a new all-time low in the overnight ratings, shedding a massive chunk of the show’s audience from last year. Airing from 8-11 p.m. on ABC, the awards telecast is currently at a 2.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 10.1 million viewers. Last year’s telecast drew
November 15, 2018 8:30AM PT Rachel Reynolds, a 12-year veteran of Santa Monica-based public radio station KCRW, has joined Concord Music as senior director of the label group’s creative content production department. Reynolds will relocate to Nashville where she’ll lead the creation and execution of video content, podcasts and live events for the company’s imprints, including
November 15, 2018 7:35AM PT Brooklyn Johnny has entered into an exclusive partnership with RCA Records for a new joint venture label, District 18 Entertainment, the companies announced today. Brooklyn Johnny will be CEO of the label. Over the past two years Brooklyn Johnny has played an instrumental role in bringing Cardi B and Kodak Black
In a situation unique to the United States among the world’s major countries, terrestrial radio stations have never paid royalties to record labels, artists and producers, although they do to songwriters and music publishers. A2IM CEO Richard James Burgess, formerly a music producer and head of Smithsonian Folkways Records, weighs in on that situation below.
If there’s one thing that’s usually certain about the Country Music Association Awards, it’s that whoever wins the top prize, Entertainer of the Year, will be someone who didn’t win another award all night. That was the case again this year, although uncertainty did figure in, in that it went in an upset to Keith
“The world rarely sees so much talent wrapped up into one person,” reads LA-based heavy metal outfit Threatin’s bio on Spotify. With a statement as absurd as that, one has to ask if bandleader Jered Threatin is casting himself as some sort of cartoonish musical villain intentionally. The one-man band has been at the center
After nine months on the market at a succession of declining prices, Usher finally unloaded his Mediterranean villa just above L.A.’s world famous Sunset Strip for $3.3 million. Unfortunately for the eight-time Grammy winning R&B artist and media/music industry entrepreneur, the sale price is not only a notable $900,000 less than the in-hindsight pie-in-the-sky original
John Legend, lately seen as Jesus, took on the role of another king of kings Tuesday night: Otis Redding. He electrified the room at the BMI Country Awards in Nashville by appearing for a climactic surprise performance of “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,” a song that by the performing rights organization’s calculations has
November 14, 2018 9:38AM PT Preeminent soprano saxophonist Kenny G, known for his schmaltzy, smooth jazz stylings, has listed a gated property in the foothills above Coldwater Canyon in Studio City, Calif., at a smidgen less than $4 million. The kinky-haired, 16-time Grammy-nominated musician purchased the half-acre hillside property in 2007 for $2.85 million. Invisible
iHeartMedia has announced the Board of Directors that will take effect when the company emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Board will include current chairman and CEO Bob Pittman as well as executives who have worked with Disney, MGM and Goldman Sachs, among others. “We are excited about both the depth and range of our