Music

October 26, 2018 10:23AM PT Pitbull, the artist and entrepreneur also known as Armando Christian Perez, has signed with UTA across all areas worldwide, the company announced today. Musically speaking, the artist recently completed his second co-headlining tour with Enrique Iglesias this year and supported Britney Spears on her European tour, along with his “Time of Our

“I would take my music around to the labels and would get the whole ‘It’s not black enough’ [response]. … The people at the R&B A&Rs couldn’t deal with the pop side, and the people on the pop side were confused as well.” Lenny Kravitz, the four-time Grammy winner whose 1989 debut album, “Let Love Rule,”

Justin Timberlake may be used to putting his thoughts into lyrics, but in his new book, the singer is putting pen to paper, revealing some of the biggest moments — and missteps — from his career. Out this Tuesday in bookstores and online, “Hindsight: & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me”

October 26, 2018 9:09AM PT Popular “Fortnite” Twitch streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is teaming up with recording label Astralwerks to create a soundtrack based on his gaming life. He announced the album on Friday during TwitchCon in San Jose, Calif. “Ninjawerks” will be available in digital, CD, and vinyl formats and it will feature music

October 26, 2018 8:26AM PT The European Commission said on Friday that it had approved Sony Corporation’s move to take full control of EMI Music Publishing, saying the deal will not raise anti-competition issues. The Commission said it had cleared the transaction without conditions. Sony Corporation announced the deal, which would see it acquiring Mubadala Investment

The legacy of Marc Bolan and T. Rex will be celebrated in extravagant fashion next year, when BMG will release a tribute album — for which U2, Foo Fighters, Elton John and others are recording tracks — and documentary honoring the singer. Veteran producer Hal Willner (Lou Reed, Lucinda Williams, Laurie Anderson, “Saturday Night Live”)

Cameron Dallas knows a thing or two about constructing the sort of pop song you can’t deny. First, there’s the length — a neatly compact three minutes for his major label debut single, “Why Haven’t I Met You?,” released on Oct. 26 by Columbia Records. Second, there’s the stark acoustic guitar coupled with the soft,

A compilation containing every single (a.k.a. 7” or 45) released by a record company in a given time frame is an unpromising prospect. The law of averages dictates that even the greatest labels will bat .500 at best — witness the exhaustive and exhausting multi-volume “Complete Motown Singles” collections — and even a small, stylistically

Eight years can be several eternities in the music world, and it’s a very long time for an artist to go without releasing a new album. But if you’re Sade, D’Angelo or, evidently, pop savant Robyn, you can take your sweet time, because your fans trust that it will be worth the wait. Indeed, after

October 25, 2018 2:53PM PT Caroll Hall, who composed and wrote the music for the Broadway musical “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” died Oct. 11 in New York City, her publicist announced. Hall had been living with a rare form of dementia called logopenic primary progressive aphasia for three years. She was 82. “The

Swamp-rocker Tony Joe White, a cult-favorite singer/songwriter whose songs were covered by everyone from Elvis Presley to Tina Turner, died Wednesday at 75. White had just released his latest album, “Bad Mouthin’,” on the Yep Rock label Sept. 28 and had made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry that same night. “He wasn’t ill at

Pencils of Promise, a non-profit that helps to build schools and educational opportunities in developing countries, did not see a scheduled appearance from Justin Bieber at its 10 th anniversary gala in New York Wednesday night, but raised more than $3 million anyway. Bieber is an honorary chair of the event and longtime supporter of

October 25, 2018 1:04PM PT [embedded content] Samsung and Epic Games, along with “Fortnite” streamer Ninja, announced the winner of the #NinjaGalaxySquad contest Thursday. Grand prize winner Hector Diaz was selected out of the entrants to join Ninja’s “gaming squad,” consisting of Blevins, “Crazy Rich Asians” star Nora “Awkwafina” Lum, and rapper Travis Scott for

Ariana Grande today announced the initial run of dates for her “Sweetener” world tour, promoting her chart-topping latest album of the same name. The first leg of The Sweetener World Tour will begin in North America on March 18 in Albany, NY., and finish June 18 in New York, NY. at Madison Square Garden; more dates will

October 25, 2018 10:51AM PT The “Beastie Boys Book,” a sprawling and detailed 600-page history of the group that comes out on Oct. 30, has an impressive and characteristically diverse roster of guest narrators for its audio edition: Snoop Dogg, Elvis Costello, Steve Buscemi, Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart, Will Ferrell, Wanda Sykes, Public Enemy’s Chuck

October 25, 2018 9:35AM PT Just a week before the Nov. 2 release of the Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” 20th Century Fox has released a final trailer for the film. This one is even more Mercury-focused than the previous ones, providing previously un-aired looks at scenes between the singer and his family,

Two decades ago, “… Baby One More Time” was a new single and Britney Spears was another young singer hoping to ride the fast-rising wave of teen pop. As the song rose on the charts across the globe, the burgeoning star, who’d just turned 17, went on a promotional visit to Canada, where “One More

For the first time in its 13 year history, the annual celebration of all things Blizzard from World of Warcraft to Overwatch has an executive producer. The decision, made by the co-founder and chief operating officer of the mammoth company brings into focus just how important BlizzCon is to the company. “They thought that BlizzCon

To say that the 2019 Grammy Awards have something to prove is an understatement of epic proportions. While 2018 seemed set to be a triumph for the ceremony — a return to New York for the awards’ 60th anniversary, capped by possibly the most racially and musically diverse slate of nominees in Recording Academy history —

The term “Nash Vegas” was originally coined as a joke about Nashville getting glitzier, but the tables are turning, as Las Vegas is going Nashville by playing host to more country music residencies. Lady Antebellum announced their own extended stay in the desert Wednesday, using a video of themselves putting on bling inside the Palms

October 24, 2018 2:29PM PT Justin Timberlake has “severely bruised” vocal cords, he announced to fans in an Instagram post Wednesday afternoon, explaining why he was calling off a Madison Square Garden concert at the last minute. “Hey guys, I’m sorry to announce I have to postpone the show at MSG tonight on doctor’s orders.

October 24, 2018 10:00AM PT Excursions to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean are set to sail in 2019. Jon Bon Jovi is adding Collective Soul and Grace Potter to the lineup of his Runaway To Paradise cruises. As previously announced, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will perform on two excursions — to the

Universal Music Group today announced that Jaime Weston has been named executive vice president of consumer marketing, effective immediately. According to the announcement, in the newly created role, Weston will develop targeted marketing strategies to grow the global audience for UMG’s artists across platforms, products and initiatives. In addition, Weston will develop a consumer engagement

When “Bohemian Rhapsody” dances into wide release on Nov. 2, it will arrive encumbered by a number of headline-grabbing issues that threaten to detract from what the film was intended to be: a showcase and Oscar launchpad for Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury and a two-hour rock singalong for American moviegoers. Extensive conversations around alleged sexual

Dash Radio announced several landmarks on Wednesday. For one, the company now reaches over 10 million monthly listeners. It also announced the addition of several board members: Kevin Tsujihara (Chairman & CEO of Warner Bros.), John Burbank (Founder & Chief Investment Officer of Passport Capital), and Michael Zeisser (former Chairman U.S. Investments, Alibaba Group, Liberty Media, McKinsey & Co.). And finally, the company announced the close of its

Kristin Chenoweth remembers the day Ariana Grande came to see the original Broadway production of “Wicked.” Adam Lambert fondly recalls playing the role of Fiyero in the touring production before “American Idol” made him a star. Original cast members and first-wave fans of the smash Broadway musical “Wicked” have come together for a salute to

Sean “Diddy” Combs announced Tuesday that he’s pledging $1 million to the Capital Preparatory Schools network to help provide children from underserved communities access to high-quality education. The school has been approved to expand to a third location in the New York City’s Bronx borough, and is set to open in September 2019. Capital Prep

The numbers for Beyonce and Jay-Z four-month-long, time-zone spanning “On the Run II” tour are in, and they’re impressive. The epic jaunt grossed some $254,050,706, according to Pollstar data provided to Variety. The 48-date tour launched in Cardiff, Wales on June 6, rolled through Europe for 18 shows before crossing the Atlantic for another 30

Freddie Mercury was the most majestically debauched of all rock stars. A bad-boy diva with a famous overbite that made him look not just sexy but libidinous, he strutted around onstage with the come-hither flamboyance of a leering vampire prince. And, of course, no one in rock history had pipes like his. In his heyday

Anyone seeking an inspiring music-industry talk with some good stories along the way, look no further than Scooter Braun — manager of Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and on-again-off-again with Kanye West — who’s built a formidable  company, SB Projects, and made some stellar investments over the past 12 years. We’ve heard him speak several times before