business
Yeasayer Drop Copyright Lawsuit Against The Weeknd & Kendrick Lamar for ‘Black Panther’ Hit ‘Pray For Me’
Yeasayer voluntarily dismissed the copyright lawsuit against The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar over their Black Panther: The Album highlight “Pray For Me.” In this dismissal obtained by Billboard today (July 10), the indie rock band and its record label We Are Free “confirmed to their satisfaction that no copyright infringement occurred” by the defendants The Weeknd (real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye), Lamar (Kendrick Lamar Duckworth), Canadian producers Doc McKinney (Martin “Doc” McKinney) and Frank Dukes (Adam King Feeney), and labels Universal Music Group, Interscope, Aftermath and Top Dawg Entertainment. In February 2018, “Pray For Me” propelled both The Weeknd and Lamar into another echelon of superstardom when it...
Nielsen to Shed 3,500 Jobs in Restructuring
Nielsen will cut up to 3,500 jobs as part of a restructuring of its businesses to save money and focus on its core holdings. The data company and TV ratings provider says the moves are part of a “broad-based optimization plan” to cut costs and make the remaining assets more efficient, as well as making Nielsen more profitable. Under the plan, Nielsen will “exit several smaller, underperforming markets and non-core businesses” in the next few months. The optimization plan includes cuts of 3,500 staff worldwide — about 8 percent of the company’s employees. “Across Nielsen Global Media and Nielsen Global Connect, we are making progress on increasing our operational and financial discipline, including zero-basing our cost structure as we move toward the plan...
Why NYC’s Entertainment Commissioner Sees Reopening Music Venues as a Chance to Rethink a ‘Flawed’ System
“It strengthens the argument that we really need to support our local venues, and for us to represent their needs at the table,” says Anne del Castillo. This week, New York City enters phase three of reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, meaning the return of hair and nail salons, basketball courts and more spaces in addition to outdoor dining. But for local music venues from (Le) Poisson Rouge to Brooklyn’s Elsewhere — many of which faced rising rents, gentrification and other challenges even before the pandemic began — the road to reopening remains ongoing and uncertain. Anne del Castillo knows this struggle well. The New York City native took over as commissioner of Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) in April 2019, with a foc...
Paul Weller’s ‘On Sunset’ Heats up Midweek U.K. Albums Chart
Paul Weller shouts to the top of the U.K. midweek chart with On Sunset (Polydor), his fifteenth solo album. The former Style Council and The Jam frontman takes the lead on the Official Chart Update, with a 11,000 chart sales advantage over its nearest competitor, Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon (Republic Records). If On Sunset holds its position when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published this Friday (July 10), it’ll be Weller’s first leader since Sonik Kicks opened at the summit, eight years ago. On Sunset will be the veteran British artist’s 20th solo Top 10 album, and it’s the best-seller across physical albums and downloads in the first half of the chart cycle. Pop Smoke’s debut comes in at No. 2 on the midweek albums chart, and three songs ...
Tones And I, Julia Jacklin, Flume & More Score Nominations for 2020 AIR Awards
With three nominations, Tones And I has a fine chance of taking home silverware at the 2020 AIR Awards, to be held Oct. 1 in Adelaide. Tones’ global hit “Dance Monkey” is up for independent song of the year, her debut EP The Kids are Coming is in the running for independent pop album or EP and she’s nominated for breakthrough independent artist of the year. The former busker is coming off the type of year most artists can only dream of. “Dance Monkey” led the ARIA Singles Chart for a whopping 24-weeks, easily an all-time record. And in the U.K., the song led the national singles tally for 11 weeks, the longest streak ever by a solo female artist. The track has now raced past seven billion streams across all platforms. In May of this year, Tones snagged two APRA Music Awards — includi...
U.S. ‘Looking At’ TikTok Ban Says Sec. of State Mike Pompeo
Sec. of State Mike Pompeo said that the U.S. would “certainly look at” banning Chinese social media apps including short-form video app TikTok over national security and privacy concerns. “With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too,” Pompeo said in an interview on Monday’s episode of Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle. “I don’t want to get out in front of the president, but it’s something we’re looking at.” Pompeo added that people should only download TikTok “if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.” The news comes as TikTok increasingly looks to distance itself from its parent company Beijing-based...
Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s ‘Savage Love’ Rules ARIA Singles Chart
Jawsh 685 claims a slice of history as “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” (Columbia/Sony), his collaboration with Jason Derulo, climbs to the summit of Australia’s singles chart. The Auckland producer (real name Joshua Stylah) becomes just the third New Zealander to lead the ARIA Singles Chart in its 37-year history. And at 17 years of age, he’s the youngest. It’s been nearly a quarter century since a Kiwi act led Australia’s singles chart. OMC last did it with “How Bizarre,” back in April 1996. The first New Zealander to lead the chart was Dave Dobbyn with Herbs’ “Slice Of Heaven” in May 1987. “Savage Love,” which also rules the Official U.K. Singles Chart this week, becomes the fourth No. 1 single in Australia for U.S. R&B singer Derulo after “In My Head” (February 2010), “Talk...
Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s ‘Savage Love’ Takes Early Lead In U.K. Chart Race
Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” (RCA) is on track for a second week atop the U.K. singles chart. The single, combining the talents of 17-year-old New Zealand producer Joshua Stylah and featuring the vocals of U.S. R&B artist Derulo, climbed to the summit in its third week on the tally. Following the weekend’s sales and streaming activity, “Savage Love” pulls ahead with a lead of 2,300 combined sales, according to the Official Charts Company. It’s the top title on the Official Chart: First Look, ahead of Dababy’s “Rockstar” (Interscope) featuring Roddy Ricch, and Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” (Interscope), respectively. AJ Tracey and Mabel’s “West Ten” should score the week’s highest new entry when the Official U.K. Sin...
Ennio Morricone, Legendary Composer for the Movies, Dies at 91
Ennio Morricone, the Oscar winner whose haunting, inventive scores expertly accentuated the simmering, dialogue-free tension of the spaghetti Westerns directed by Sergio Leone, has died. He was 91. The Italian composer, who scored more than 500 films — seven for his countryman Leone after they had met as kids in elementary school — died in Rome following complications from a fall last week in which he broke his femur. A native and lifelong resident of Rome whose first instrument was the trumpet, Morricone won his Oscar for his work on Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (2015) and also was nominated for his original scores for Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1978), Roland Joffe’s The Mission (1986), Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987), Barry Levinson’s Bugsy (1991) and Giuseppe To...
The 13 Best Things That Happened in Music This Week (July 3)
This week was full of star-studded events and awards shows, with the “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future” concert, BET Awards and Juno Awards all taking place virtually. In other awards show news, we’ve got an update on the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards — more on that later. Take a look at some of the week’s biggest music happenings below. Stars came together for the virtual “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future” concert From Jennifer Hudson’s rousing kickoff to Justin Bieber and Quavo’s stripped-down performance, the “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future” event on Saturday (June 27) was chock-full of amazing moments. Christine and the Queens, Chloe x Halle, Shakira and more also performed. In case you missed the concert, you can watch all of the must-see performance videos here! The 20...
Executive Turntable: Royalty Network Names Black Empowerment Advisory Council, Grand Hustle Founder Launches Music Incubator
Indie publisher The Royalty Network has launched Black Empowerment Thru Music, a new program designed to connect emerging black musicians, producers, songwriters and entrepreneurs with music industry leaders. As part of the initiative, the company is now inviting professional and established musicians, artists, attorneys, songwriters and others to get involved in the effort in a multitude of ways – whether by providing free studio time, financially supporting designated organizations, donating instruments to schools, matching grants or mentoring, among other activities. A number of established industry players have signed up to serve on the Black Empowerment Thru Music advisory council, including artists stic & M-1 of hip-hop duo dead prez, producer Darien Bankhead, entrepreneur and ex...
Guy Sebastian’s Former Manager Titus Day Arrested For Allegedly Defrauding Singer
Chart-topping Australian pop singer Guy Sebastian says he’s “absolutely devastated” by allegations his former manager Titus Day had ripped him off to the tune of more than A$1 million ($690,000). Day was arrested Wednesday night (July 1) at his home in Bondi, Sydney and was charged with multiple fraud offences. New South Wales police allege Day defrauded Sebastian of A$1.15 million ($800,000) over a seven-years period, from December 2013. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Day is facing 61 counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception. On Thursday, he was granted bail at Waverley Court, under the condition that he surrenders his passport, puts up a A$10,000 surety and he is not to contact Sebastian. The court heard that Day, who worked w...
