It is no secret that the current music-streaming payment model is no longer working — created more than 15 years ago, the so-called “aggregate” model, whereby artists and songwriters are paid according to their percentage of total streams, disproportionately rewards superstars while most others are earning a fraction of what the top artists are collecting. There
Following the auction in 2022 of a new version of “Blowin’ in the Wind” that sold to a bidder for $1.8 million, three more re-recordings Bob Dylan has made of his classic songs with producer T Bone Burnett are also now being put up for sale via Christie’s: “A Simple Twist of Fate,” “Masters of
A collaborative track featuring AI-generated facsimiles of Drake and the Weeknd’s voices titled “Heart on My Sleeve” has been submitted for Grammy consideration. One caveat: Neither Drake nor the Weeknd had anything to do with it. Ghostwriter, the shadowy creator of the AI-generated song that went viral in April, is seeking the music industry’s most
The Rolling Stones debuted their new album “Hackney Diamonds” in London on Wednesday. The legendary rock group’s first studio album since 2005 was launched at the historic 122-year-old Hackney Empire in London’s East End. The group’s three principals, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, were interviewed live by “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon. The album’s first single
Break out your headbands, Upper East Siders and Jenny Humphrey stans. Taylor Momsen reunited with “Gossip Girl” star Penn Badgley for the first time since the 2012 series finale of The CW teen drama, appearing on the Sept. 6 episode of “Podcrushed,” Badgley’s podcast with Nava Kavelin and Sophie Ansari. During the hour-long episode, the
Penélope Cruz is set to star as Olga, a writer forced to give up her artistic ambitions when her husband suddenly leaves her and their two young daughters, in Isabel Coixet’s English-language adaptation of Italian author Elena Ferrante’s “The Days of Abandonment.” The deal to make the film, which is now in development, was signed
Ahead of its ambitious release scheme, Shudder has granted Variety exclusive access to the lurid teaser trailer for Argentine genre-phenom Demián Rugna’s fifth feature “When Evil Lurks” (“Cuando Acecha La Maldad”). With Paris-based prestige sales agent Charades (“Little Girl Blue”) handling global sales, the film debuts at the Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness screenings on Sept. 13.
Emily Blunt is at the center of a criminal conspiracy in the first official trailer for Netflix’s “Pain Hustlers,” which is set to debut on the streaming service Oct. 27 after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival. As a mother struggling to support her daughter, Liza Drake (portrayed by Blunt) seeks out a new
Disney+ customers can start streaming Pixar’s “Elemental” animated adventure next week. “Elemental” will hit Disney+ worldwide on Sept. 13, coming 89 days after the movie’s theatrical open. Alongside the streaming premiere of “Elemental,” Disney+ also will debut that day the making-of documentary “Good Chemistry: The Story of Elemental,” as well as Pixar Animation Studios short
Billie Eilish, Peter Gabriel, Sheryl Crow, Nile Rodgers, Bootsy Collins, Sofi Tukker, Rufus Wainwright, Bush and many more have joined a coalition of musicians called Artist for Action to Prevent Gun Violence designed to inspire people to volunteer, donate and vote to end the epidemic of gun violence plaguing the United States. The organization is
Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone, who is a two-time Cannes jury prizewinner, with “Gomorrah” in 2008 and “Reality” in 2012, is in competition at the Venice Film Festival for the first time with his immigration-themed drama “Io Capitano.” Shot in Senegal, Italy and Morocco with a cast of largely non-professional actors, “Io Capitano” narrates the Homeric
At the Venice Film Festival press conference for Ava DuVernay’s new film “Origin” on Wednesday, the director revealed that she has previously been told not to apply to the festival because “you won’t get in.” DuVernay is making history this year as the first African American woman in the festival’s 80-year existence to have a
Jung Kook of BTS will make his solo debut on the Global Citizen Festival stage for the 2023 iteration, joining a lineup that also includes previously announced headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lauryn Hill, Anitta, Megan Thee Stallion, Stray Kids, Conan Gray and more. Taking place in New York City’s Central Park on Sept. 23,
Roku will cut more than 300 staffers — laying off 10% of its workforce — as the streaming-platform company continues its battle to control costs. In addition, Roku will remove certain licensed and owned content from its platform as part of a “strategic review of its content portfolio,” resulting in an impairment charge of up
Mexico’s Los Cabos Intl. Film Festival, one of the country’s very top pre-pandemic movie events, has cancelled its 2023 12th edition, citing “the lack of the economic support which was vital in prior editions to carry out this important film event.” In a written statement, the festival organisers thanked “those people, companies and institutions who
Amid an ongoing strike, the Writers Guild of America East begins voting today on its new council members, including the successor for longtime president Michael Winship. With the strike environment generating solidarity across the WGAE and its WGA West counterpart, it would seem that the election would be a straightforward affair with WGAE members on
An investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by a former director of the Busan International Film Festival has not reached a conclusion, several months after it began, the festival said on Tuesday. The festival has said that it is urging former director Huh Moonyoung to cooperate with an external investigator. The festival held its annual
Chinese director Bi Gan, whose 2018 film “Long Day’s Journey into Night” played at Cannes, will next direct “Resurrection.” The ambitious sci-fi detective movie is to be headlined by Chinese superstar Jackson Yee (“Better Days”) and actor Shu Qi (“The Assassin”) who sits on this year’s Venice jury. Boasting Bi’s edgy aesthetic and narrative style,
Abacus Media Rights has pre-sold the feature documentary “The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee,” to Sky Arts, SBS Television Australia; to NonStop Entertainment for Scandinavia, Iceland and the Baltics and to Movistar for Spain. Lee is known as the Dracula character and for transitioning from 1960s Hammer horror films to a distinguished acting career that encompassed James
Gayle Hunnicutt, the Texas-born actor known for 1969’s “Marlowe” and her role as Vanessa Beaumont in “Dallas,” died on Aug. 31 in London, according to The Times of London. She was 80. Hunnicutt played Vanessa Beaumont, an English aristocrat who shares an illegitimate son with Larry Hagman’s J.R. Ewing, in the final three seasons of
Disney is offering a significant discount on the ad-supported version of Disney+, as it looks to drive up subscribers for the package before the end of the current quarter. Starting Sept. 6 and running through Sept. 20, new and returning Disney+ customers in the U.S. can subscribe to Disney+ Basic (with ads) for $1.99/month for
Prolific Indian studio Applause Entertainment and Zindagi, the Indian subcontinent-focused programming block on streamer ZEE5 Global, have set a wide-ranging content partnership. The partnership will create South Asian-themed content from across the subcontinent. The initial burst of productions will be in the Hindustani (combining Hindi and Urdu) language that is understood across the subcontinent. Production will then
Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” stars Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, a milquetoast philosophy professor who moonlights as an undercover cop set on flushing out people who hire contract killers. One day, Johnson gets the call to pose as a killer for hire, and proves he has a real talent for impersonation — and arrests. He
If we’ve learned anything from the last few years of polarized political discourse surrounding everything from gun control to gender identity, it’s that when somebody pulls out the “won’t somebody please think of the children” card, the children are rarely the first thing on their mind. Even as it plays out on a specifically Hungarian
Story Protocol, which is developing what it says is an open system for extending intellectual property through online collaboration and paying any number of contributors, announced that it has raised more than $54 million in funding. The funding was led by a16z crypto, part of venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, along with investors including Endeavor and
Khaby Lame may be best known for wordless videos featuring his hyper-expressive face, but make no mistakes: he’s a gamer, too. The social media juggernaut, who’s the most popular person on TikTok with over 160 million followers, just wrapped one of his most ambitious projects yet: becoming a video game character. Lame is featured in
Marc Becker, CEO of the Tangent Agency and former Universal executive who worked on campaigns for films including “Despicable Me” and “Fast & Furious,” died Aug. 27 of cancer. He was 37. “If you have worked with us over the years, you have no doubt gotten to experience the larger-than-life presence that was Marc,” Tangent
Universal Music Greater China (UMGC) has appointed Timothy Xu as its new chairman and CEO of the Greater China division. He will be responsible for the music company’s operations across mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, effective immediately. Xu joins UMGC from Taihe Music Group, one of China’s most reputable indie companies, where he served
Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” received a spirited five-minute standing ovation on Tuesday night, as the director handed out high fives. The action comedy, which stars Glen Powell, received cheers from the beginning, with the crowd clapping throughout the film during various scenes. During the standing ovation, Linklater looked overwhelmed by the applause, mouthing “thank you
Documentary veterans Natalie Bullock Brown, Kirsten Johnson, Mary Lampson and Jacqueline Olive are the inaugural documentary film fellows for the documentary film in the public interest research initiative by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center. As the first cohort of doc film fellows, the foursome will join the center for the fall 2023 semester. There, each fellow will