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How Atlantic Records Plans to Promote 56 Songs From ‘American Song Contest’
The 56 artists competing in the inaugural edition of NBC’s American Song Contest – which debuted Monday (March 21) evening — will have their songs released by Atlantic Records, the legendary American label that has been home to iconic artists such as Aretha Franklin, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Ed Sheeran. Billboard spoke with Atlantic Records president, West Coast, Kevin Weaver about the label’s involvement with the competition and plans for the season. How did Atlantic Records become the label for the American Song Contest? Ben Silverman and Audrey Morrissey are both really good friends of mine. Ben propagated the deal to bring the format to the U.S. I talked to Ben very early on and then I saw the press announcements that NBC picked up the show and then they hired Audrey ...
The Legal Beat: Why Is Rap Music Still On Trial?
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings, and all the fun stuff in between. This week: A deep dive into how prosecutors are still using rap lyrics to convict the artists who wrote them; a bold new argument centered on “teetotaling” in the Prince estate’s fight against ‘Purple Rain’ wine; a big copyright settlement for Lizzo after years of litigation over her smash hit ‘Truth Hurts,’ and more. THE BIG STORY: Why Are Rap Lyrics Still Cited In Court? “It made absolutely no sense,” Ezra Rosenberg told me, speaking about the 2008 murder conviction of a New Jersey man named Vonte Skinner. Rosenberg, an attorney who worked with the ACLU on Skinner’s case, was specifically talking about t...
Labyrinthitis Is All About Destroyer Having Fun
Destroyer’s latest album, Labyrinthitis, started out as a dance record. It would have been “just like Donna Summer’s greatest hits,” frontman Dan Bejar explained in the album’s press materials. The Vancouver-based indie-rock outfit hasn’t exactly shied away from grooves before, but Bejar often suffuses those grooves with his own sardonic twist. It creates a set of expectations that Destroyer rarely strays from, refining their music à la Beach House or The War on Drugs, contemporaries who are often tagged with the “consistent” label that signifies unsurprising greatness. Now, with 13 albums under its belt, Destroyer is a legacy act, and Bejar has largely stuck to his formula of satiric lyrics and new-wave sonics that fans are well familiar with at this point. But that doesn’t mean he can’t ...
Miami Declares State of Emergency In Wake Of Spring Break Gun Violence
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Miami Herald / Getty Looks like Spring Breakers done turned South Beach into the Wild Wild West as officials in Miami is putting a damper on Spring Break due to the recent surge in gun violence that’s taken a hold of their streets. NPR is reporting that the City of Miami Beach has declared a state of emergency shortly after implementing a city-wide curfew for Spring Break due to shootings that took place over the weekend that left five people wounded. “During a news conference Monday with the Miami Beach Police Department and other city officials, Mayor Dan Gelber said that tourists had created an “unacceptable” atmosphere across the city, and that the city was “way past its endpoint.” Calling the recent surge in violence “unacceptable,” Gelber added that...
Metallica, Dua Lipa, Green Day and J. Cole to Headline Lollapalooza 2022
Last year, Lollapalooza was the first major festival to return in the face of the pandemic. Today, it announced its lineup for the annual event in Chicago’s Grant Park. This year’s headliners include Metallica, Dua Lipa, J. Cole, Green Day, Doja Cat, Machine Gun Kelly, Lil Baby, and Kygo. More than 170 bands will perform across nine stages over July 28-31 in Chicago’s Grant Park. All tickets will be available at 12 pm CST today. Alongside special guest Jane’s Addiction, artists including Glass Animals, Billy Strings, Big Sean, The Kid Laroi, Jazmine Sullivan, Don Toliver, Charli XCX, IDLES, SPIN‘s 2021 artist of the year Turnstile, and more are also slated to hit the massive festival. Some rising stars set to perform include Pom Pom Squad (who played a killer set at our SXSW showcase) Remi...
Listen to Bright Eyes’ Cover of Elliott Smith’s 1995 ‘St. Ides Heaven’
Bright Eyes recently detailed their Companion series releases that will be released over the course of the year. Today, the band unveiled a cover from the collection, Elliott Smith’s “St. Ides Heaven.” [embedded content][embedded content] Released ahead of Bright Eyes’ first North American tour in 11 years, the cover hails from Smith’s 1995 self-titled sophomore album. The song will appear on Letting Off The Happiness: A Companion, which is the first of three EPs to be released by Bright Eyes on May 27 via Dead Oceans. Bright Eyes will kick off their massive stint tomorrow, March 23, in St. Paul Minnesota. The band will perform tracks off their latest record, Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was, and songs from across their discography. The Companion series project by Bright Eyes wi...
Difficult Fun: March 2022’s Best Punk
Welcome to the latest edition of Difficult Fun! Each month, SPIN will spotlight the best punk on the planet and discuss it here, with the ambition of challenging preconceived notions of what the four-letter word actually means and, ideally, entertaining readers in the process. Purists, piss off! Everyone else, enjoy. Do rich luddites exist? Or do the very wealthy view the advent of technology — all of the industries Silicon Valley hopes to disrupt — as additional opportunities to make money, to mechanize working class jobs, to eradicate the middle class? I thought they all moved to Wyoming and Texas for the conservative politics, big private land, and lack of taxes (who needs to better the neighborhood when you’re the only one in town?) but maybe there’s a deeply felt desire to “return to ...
‘Squid Game’ Creator Teases Jung Ho-yeon’s Return for Season Two
Director Hwang Dong-hyuk of Netflix‘s smash hit series Squid Game has teased the return of breakout star Jung Ho-yeon for the second season. Hwang spoke to Deadline at this year’s PGA Awards and revealed that while new episodes of yet to begin production, fans can expect even greater excitement. The director shared, “There will be more great games, that’s all I can say. I’m just still brainstorming and collecting the ideas for season two. I haven’t even started with the writing yet.” He continued to explain that the second season will largely feature a new cast as most died in the first season. However, Hwang divulged, “I’ll try something to bring them back [for] season two.” He later gestured to Jung and teased, “Let’s say maybe she has a twin sister, you’ll see.” Jung responded...
Donald Glover Addresses His Decision to End ‘Atlanta’ After Season Four
Donald Glover recently announced that Atlanta will be ending after the fourth season. With the third season premiere slated to debut later this week, Glover spoke to Variety on is decision to end the show. Glover explained, “All good things end. It felt like it was time to end. I don’t like it when people [are] 40 pretending like they’re 15 and shit. It’s annoying.” The third season is expected to take place mainly in Europe as season two ended with Glover’s characters Earn, Paper Boi and Darius traveling to Amsterdam. Zazie Beetz, who plays Vanessa, chimed in and claimed, “I had no say in the matter.” Beetz also gave fans a glimpse of what they can look forward to in her character development in the next season, “It’s a very honest season. All of the characters are out of their element, w...
Everything Coming To and Leaving HBO Max in April 2022
As March comes to an end, HBO Max has unveiled its slate of programming for April 2022. Starring next month, subscribers can catch brand new seasons of Snowpiercer, Barry, The Flight Attendant and A Black Lady Sketch Show, as well as the premieres of Tokyo Vice, Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off and Death On The Nile. Meanwhile, April will be the last month to stream classics like 2 Fast 2 Furious, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Poltergeist II and III and more. Take a look at the full list of HBO Max titles below. Coming to HBO Max Exact Dates To Be Announced:Gentleman Jack, Season 2 Premiere (HBO) March 29:Death On The Nile, 2022 (HBO) March 31:Young Justice, Max Original Season 4B Premiere April 1:10, 1979Annabelle, 2014 (HBO)Armed and Dangerous, 1986Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach, 2009B...
James Gunn Shares Update on ‘Peacemaker’ Season Two
Director James Gunn has given fans an official update of the status of Peacemaker season two. The new season sees John Cena reprise his role as the violent vigilante Christopher Smith he portrayed in 2021’s The Suicide Squad. Since its debut on HBO Max in January this year, it has been a major hit amongst fans. In the first season, Christopher was given his own mission to uncover and stop an alien conspiracy which forced the anti-hero to confront his identity and his past. The ending of the first season saw some surprise cameos from Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller as Aquaman and the Flash, as well as highlighting the cast’s personal journeys. Going into the second season, Gunn has revealed Christopher’s state of mind. Podcaster Neil Vagg recently took to Twitter to share an excerpt of his inte...
PUP Share New Single ‘Totally Fine’
PUP has released the last single, “Totally Fine,” off of their forthcoming record, The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND along with an accompanying video. The video and song show a satirized world of news media, corporate greed and conspiracy. [embedded content][embedded content] “Totally Fine” is the third single that has been unveiled off of the album’s release on April 1. It follows the singles ‘Matilda’ and “Robot Writes A Love Song” which were released over the past couple of months after the album was announced in January. The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND was recorded over 5 days this past summer and incorporated sounds from pianos, synths, and horns for the first time. The album also features collaborations from Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties, Kathryn McCauhey of NOBRO, Mel St-Pierre of...
