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Session Musicians Win Greenlight for $8M Royalty Fee Settlement With AFM, SAG-AFTRA
The lawsuit, filed by musician Kevin Risto in June 2018, accused AFM and SAG-AFTRA of essentially taking an illegal cut from the recording royalties that are paid to so-called non-featured artists — better known as session musicians. The two unions administer the Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, which holds performance royalties from non-interactive digital streaming services like Pandora for the use of copyrighted sound recordings. The fund then distributes that money to session musicians, both union and non-union alike. Risto, a non-union musician, accused AFM and SAG-AFTRA of exploiting their control over the fund to improperly tack on a new 3% service fee, paid directly to the unions, before distributing that money. The lawsuit said the new fee was not in the best ...
Billie Eilish and The Count Team for a Duet of ‘Happier Than Ever’
In what’s already been a busy year, Billie Eilish found time to swing by Sesame Street. While there, Eilish teamed up with The Count for a version of “Happier Than Ever.” [embedded content][embedded content] Everyone’s favorite mysterious, yet friendly puppet and the Grammy-winning artist—who released her sophomore record, Happier Than Ever, this year—sing a wholesome rendition that could only be heard on Sesame Street. The track is (obviously) the title track of the recently released album, yet in the pair’s rendition, they serenade each other about counting apples and Bert’s sweaters, up to the number 2. The episode of Sesame Street featuring Eilish will air Thursday, June 16 next year, so the above video (for you Sesame Street fans out there) is the be...
Nandi Bushell Has In-Person Drum Battle with Queen’s Roger Taylor: Watch
After her epic virtual drum battle with Dave Grohl last year, Nandi Bushell is now taking on rock icons in the flesh. In a new video, the 11-year-old wunderkind has an in-person drum battle with none other than Queen legend Roger Taylor. Nandi recently returned to her native England after a US trip that saw her jam “Everlong” onstage with Foo Fighters at a Los Angeles concert, and record an original song called “The Children Will Rise Up” with Tom Morello and his son Roman. “I have just had another INCREDIBLE day,” wrote Nandi in the YouTube description of the Roger Taylor video. “I just jammed with @Roger Taylor Solo the AMAZING drummer from @Queen Official!!! Mr Taylor was so nice and kind to me. We had a little drum battle then we jammed a few Queen songs. I am so grateful and truly app...
beabadoobee Says Her Next Album Will Sound Completely New: “Every Single Song is in a Whole Different World”
beabadoobee has had quite a year. Following the release of her long-awaited 2020 debut album Fake It Flowers, the Londoner upped the ante and wrote and recorded Our Extended Play EP, released in June, with labelmates Matty Healy and George Daniel of The 1975. And finally, as restrictions have begun to lift and live music is returning, beabadoobee is back on the road, currently touring through North America with fellow Dirty Hit signees BLACKSTARKIDS and Christian Leave as support. As Bea’s sound has transformed from her lo-fi bedroom pop to a heavier, grunge-forward vibe, her songwriting itself has become much more specific and noteworthy. Seeing her show at Webster Hall in New York City last week, it was extremely clear that this sonic evolution has come to define the project and its futu...
Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf Costume Fetches over $200K at Auction
In news that’ll leave you screaming for, “Santaaaaaa!” Will Ferrell’s costume for Buddy from the 2003 movie Elf has fetched north of $200,000 at auction. The auction was held by Prop Store, and via TMZ, Buddy’s costume was expected to be worth around $30,000. But that estimate turned out to sit on a throne of lies. Instead, it went for a whopping £175,000, which translates to about $237,000 USD. The ensemble includes a green pointed hat that comes with a yellow pleated sash and red feather; a matching green tunic with white fur collar and cuffs; a pair of yellow stockings; and black leather shoes with curled toes. The hat, tunic, and stockings are all stocked with a Carelli Costume tag reading “Mr. Ferrell,” while the shoes have been labelled “02 Buddy.” Advertisement Related Vid...
Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy to Star in Afghanistan Evacuation Thriller
Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy have boarded an upcoming film about a group of former special forces members who orchestrated a rescue mission to save their Afghan counterparts during the fall of the country earlier this year. George Noffi (The Banker, The Adjustment Bureau) will write and direct the as-yet-untitled film for Universal Pictures. During America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan earlier this month, several former US special forces members launched ad hoc rescue missions to save former Afghan allies, their families, and other individuals who were not prioritized by the US government as part of its official evacuation efforts. Advertisement Related Video One group, “Task Force Pineapple,” consists of former Green Berets and aid workers who’ve established an underground railroad networ...
No Sign Of Life – UNLEASHED
RATING: 8/10 When you start something, you have every right to finish it. UNLEASHED were battering people with tales of Viking tumult and vengeful Norse Gods long before most, and even as the Swedes approach their 33rd anniversary (one for the Jesus fans, maybe?), they show no signs of losing faith nor fire. The fifth chapter in frontman Johnny Hedlund‘s “Odalheim” saga, the band’s 14th full-length, wastes no time in the pursuit of new ideas. What it does, and brilliantly, is consolidate everything that has been so thrilling about UNLEASHED‘s relatively recent return to top form. As with their last two albums, “Dawn of The Nine” (2015) and “The Hunt for White Christ” (2018), “No Sign of Life” seems to draw from every aspect ...
NAPALM DEATH Releases Music Video For ‘Contagion’
British grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH have released a music video for the song “Contagion”. The clip, which was directed by Marc Nickel and Ljuba Generalova, can be seen below. NAPALM DEATH frontman Mark “Barney” Greenway stated: “Although we can only hope to provide a snapshot in four minutes, what we wanted to try to illustrate with the ‘Contagion’ video is how difficult it has been made to do something as fundamental as moving freely as a human being. There is downright absurdity in that some people have to resort to mortal danger doing things like riding atop trains whilst others can move seamlessly and freely without a second thought. We advocate for an end to borders of all description. Complementing that, the sweaty live footage was shot b...
M. SHADOWS On New AVENGED SEVENFOLD Album: ‘We’re Gonna Release It When We Wanna Release It’
AVENGED SEVENFOLD‘s M. Shadows spoke to the “Tuna On Toast With Stryker” podcast about the progress of the recording sessions for the band’s long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s “The Stage” album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “The songs are done. I still have some vocals to do and we have some strings to record. And the thing with the strings is that in L.A., they’re simply not allowing people to be within six feet [of each other]. And we have experience — I’m not gonna name bands, but our producer worked on some records, and he’s, like, ‘Listen, you put somebody six feet apart and you mic them all, and it does not sound like a group playing together.’ He’s, like, ‘They are hearing the no...
ZZ TOP’s BILLY GIBBONS Releases ‘Jingle Bell Blues’
Billy F Gibbons, apart from his five decades-long role fronting ZZ TOP, has in recent years recorded three much-lauded solo albums for Concord Records, including “Hardware”, released this past June. To cap off the year, Concord is releasing a singular single, “Jingle Bell Blues”, on November 9. It’s Billy‘s reworking of the eternal “Jingle Bells” with some significant modifications or “Kustom” touches. “Bells on hot rods ring” is one such and mention is made of a “drop-top” sleigh. While the song exudes holiday cheer, the gut- bucket vocal approach that Billy applies to the repertoire is nothing short of extraordinary. Billy‘s guitar solos can best be described as “epic” and should heat up...
Summer Walker Performs “Unloyal” on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’
On Monday, November 8, Summer Walker performed “Unloyal” from her latest studio album Still Over It on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Walker’s intimate performance was accompanied by her bandmates in a red velvet-clad room. The song that champions independence and not letting a lover waste your time also features R&B artist Ari Lennox. However, Lennox was not a part of The Tonight Show performance. Before the album’s November 5 release, Walker took to Instagram to convey that “Unloyal” was her favorite song from Still Over It. Walker’s sophomore album is slated to open at No.1 on the Billboard 200 Chart. The project is forecasted to earn 185,000 to 210,000 in equivalent album sales in the first week, 9,000 to 12,000 album sales and about 225 million to 250 million on-demand au...
Lauren Jauregui Shows Her Own Colors
By Lucas Villa In the three years she has spent navigating the music industry as a solo artist, Lauren Jauregui has explored new sounds and discovered the strength in her struggles. On “Colors,” a gauzy and personal new song that ends with the 25-year-old reciting a spoken-word reflection, she reveals: “Creator’s watching, I know that much / Sat me down and told me to stop watching, start doing.” These lessons, coupled with a newfound determination, encompass her intimately vulnerable debut EP, Prelude, released on November 5. “I would say they’ve been very healing and introspective,” Jauregui says over Zoom about her solo years after her group, Fifth Harmony, went on indefinite hiatus in March 2018. “I’ve been very much in my own little cave of thoughts...
