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David Swartz Launches Singular Arts Group Artist Management Company in Berlin With Matt Lambert
Mykki Blanco, Patrick Wolf, Finn Ronsdorf & FaltyDL are the first four artists on the Germany-based company’s roster. David Swartz launched a Berlin-based full-service artist management company Friday (Dec. 4) called Singular Arts Group in partnership with Matt Lambert. Swartz spent the early part of his 20-year career in the business in the live music sector, from concert promoter to booking agent, before moving into artist management. He started Kosher Management in Los Angeles in 2009 and managed American and European acts mainly across the rock and electronic genres until 2016 when he moved to Germany. Lambert, who will serve as Singular Arts Group’s creative director, has more than 15 years of industry experience working as a filmmaker, photographer, artist and cr...
PRS for Music Proposed Livestreams Rate Scheme Draws Managers’ Ire
“For the sake of all artists, songwriters and the wider industry, it is crucial that this new format is allowed to grow and thrive,” the artists and managers say in their letter. “Charging artists up to four times the live rate strangles rather than nurtures this innovation.” Signing onto the letter were managers for such artists as Dua Lipa, Biffy Clyro, Liam Gallagher, Bicep, Fontaines D.C., Gorillaz, Yungblud, and Arlo Parks, as well as a group of songwriters. In a statement sent to Billboard, PRS for Music did not detail the proposed scheme for its Online Live Concert license, which it said was “still evolving.” The organization says the new scheme will allow the necessary rights to be licensed and says it welcomes “the many initiatives to move live concerts online.” The manager and ar...
Teyana Taylor Announces Retirement From Music: ‘When One Door Closes Another Will Open’
She continued by announcing that she’s “retiring this chapter of my story with the comfort that i can depart with peace of mind seeing that all the hard work & passion put in was indeed loved & supported somewhere in the world!” “To all my supporters from day 1 & all my new ones I love you and I thank you for everything & don’t worry y’all know,” Taylor concluded. “all hustlers have the understanding that when one door closes another will open…either that or I’m pickin da locks petunia!!! So wassup.” See the post here. Billboard has reached out to Taylor’s rep for additional comment. Since her debut in 2014, the multihyphenate has released three albums and one EP, the most recent being 2020’s The Album. S...
Chance the Rapper Hit With $3M Lawsuit From Former Manager Pat Corcoran
Corcoran is suing for breach of contract, violation of the Illinois Sales Representative Act and unjust enrichment, among other counts. He is additionally asking the court to order an accounting of all amounts earned by the Bennetts beginning in Feb. 2013 — the date Corcoran says that Bennett agreed to pay him 15% commission on all touring, merch and album sales, among other income streams — as well as to enforce a sunset clause that will entitle him to future commissions for a three-year post-termination period ending Apr. 25, 2023. The complaint names as defendants Chance the Rapper, LLC as well as the rapper’s merchandise and touring companies Cool Pop Merch and CTR Touring. The 20-page suit (read in full here) narrates Corcoran’s years-long relationship with Bennett a...
SKILLET’s JOHN COOPER: ‘If You Build Your Life On Top Of The Words Of Jesus Christ, You Will Be Unshakeable’
John Cooper, the frontman and bassist for SKILLET, a Grammy-nominated Christian rock band with three gold-certified albums and one double-platinum-certified album to its name, spoke to “The Eric Metaxas Radio Show” about his recently released debut book, “Awake & Alive To Truth (Finding Truth In The Chaos Of A Relativistic World)”. Regarding his inspiration for writing the book, John said (see video below): “My mom was a Jesus freak, so I was raised in a Christian family. My mom taught me about the Bible ever since I was a kid. “For 20 years on the road, people always ask, ‘What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?’ And I say the best advice I’ve ever been given is seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness...
BLACK SABBATH: ‘Breaking The Band’ To Premiere On REELZ This Sunday
“Black Sabbath: Breaking The Band”, which focuses on BLACK SABBATH‘s huge success and subsequent downfall, will premiere on Sunday, December 6 at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on Reelz. With its mischievous and prankster lead singer Ozzy Osbourne juxtaposed against the business-minded and reserved band founder Tony Iommi, BLACK SABBATH was, at its core, a volatile mix. Add on bad management, grueling touring demands and heavy drug use and you get a band that reached its breaking point. Often called the godfathers of heavy metal rock music, BLACK SABBATH came from humble origins to become some of the most successful and outrageous of rock stars. Their hedonism and antics on stage were unparalleled as was their volatility off stage. “Black Sabbath: Breaking The Band” fol...
SLASH’s Son LONDON HUDSON Signs With ASBA Drums
French drum company ASBA has just signed London Hudson, 18-year-old son of GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Slash. London is currently a member of the Southern California rock band SUSPECT208 which released its debut single, “Long Awaited”, in November. He is joined in the group by 20-year-old Noah Weiland, the son of late STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer Scott Weiland; and 16-year-old bassist Tye Trujillo, son of METALLICA bass player Robert Trujillo. An EP will follow in the coming months. In a 2018 interview with the “Appetite For Distortion” podcast, London was asked when he realized how famous his father was. “Since I was little, especially with the VELVET REVOLVER stuff, because that was the most I toured with him, was for the VELVET REVOLVER stuff,” he sai...
JAY WEINBERG On New SLIPKNOT Music: ‘We’re All Very Excited To Have Time To Focus On Our Creativity’
In a new interview with DJ Chewie of WSOU, SLIPKNOT drummer Jay Weinberg was asked if the band has used the downtime during the coronavirus pandemic to work on material for the follow-up to last year’s “We Are Not Your Kind” album. He responded (hear audio below): “The short answer is that, yeah, I can’t talk about it. But it’s been said before, and I have no problem reiterating it, is that we’re all creative people, and when you have creative people like SLIPKNOT has, downtime is not a thought; it doesn’t exist. So when we need time to recharge, we recharge. And there’s a saying in SLIPKNOT that ‘off is off.’ So we kind of respect that — when off is off, off is off, and that means I’m not gonna answer your phone calls...
The Grio.TV Set To Premiere MLK Weekend Says Byron Allen
Source: Greg Doherty / Getty Get ready, the Grio.TV is coming to 100 million households next month. Allen Media Group founder Byron Allen announced on Friday (Dec.4) the Grio.TV will be apart of the rebranding of his newly acquired MGM over-the-air broadcast network Light TV into a channel that will focus on African American-featured content. The Grio reports that the channel’s slogan will be “Our Culture Forever” and will feature movies, game shows, sitcoms, dramas, concerts, variety shows, news, and lifestyle content when it launches on Martin Luther King weekend. Viewers can watch the new channel via free digital streaming,over-the-air broadcast television stations, cable/telco/satellite platforms. Allen, who purchased the website in 2016 and successfully grew its active from less...
For Us, By Us: Twitter Reacts To User’s Harmless Tweet Who Just Found Out FUBU Is Black-Owned
Source: Ron Galella / Getty Iconic streetwear brand, FUBU, is trending on Twitter, and it’s for the most Gen-Z reason ever. Today (Dec.4), many Twitter users were reminded how old they are thanks to one harmless tweet. A user who goes by the handle @KiarraLe_ asked this mindblowing question: “Did y’all know FUBU was black-owned? And means “For Us By Us.” Did y’all know FUBU was black owned? And means “For Us By Us” — Ki (@KiarraLe_) December 4, 2020 Immediately, millennials reacted to the Tweet in amazement that now we are the point that clothing brand has now become “a little known Black history” fact as another user put in response to the tweet. Lawd…I lived to see the day that FUBU and it’s meaning became a little known black history fact. I’ve never felt so old. https://t.c...
CERTIFIED FRESH: Australian-American Rap Duo GUMBO Music Talk Debut EP, Expat Life & BLM
Source: Kai Godeck / GUMBO Nate Wade and Kev Hannibal of the Hip-Hop duo GUMBO Music were raised in North Carolina and New York City, respectively, but didn’t even end up meeting until they were both on the other side of the world. Now based in Australia, the two men have forged a friendship rooted in fatherhood, expatriate experiences and Hip-Hop. This ‘rap duo’ idea just happened to work out just as COVID-19 peaked worldwide and global shutdowns were already underway. “With most ex-pats, you just sort of gravitate towards those you assimilate with,” Nate shares. “So it becomes a group of African Americans, a very small group, there aren’t a lot of us, but we’ve known each other for so long, just being homies. The music thing didn’t start for us until six months ago.” Before t...
Oscar Isaac Cast as Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid Movie
Oscar Isaac has been cast as Solid Snake in Sony’s upcoming film adaptation of the beloved Metal Gear Solid video game franchise, according toThe Hollywood Reporter. Unless you’ve been hiding in a cardboard box for the last 30 years, you’ve probably heard of Hideo Kojima’s blockbuster stealth action series. The character first appeared in 1987’s Metal Gear as a naked homage to Snake Plissken, the protagonist of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York. Solid Snake (sometimes known as Iroquois Pliskin and sometimes just David) is a secretive special forces operative and occasional self-employed mercenary. The backstory is notoriously dense, and the series has long deployed lengthy cut-scenes that, while not always fun to play, would seem to make the material perfectly suited for...
