business
Universal Music UK Reboots EMI Records With Rebecca Allen at the Helm
Universal Music Group is relaunching EMI Records, the iconic British record label which UMG acquired for $1.9 billion in 2012. As part of the relaunch, UMG’s Virgin EMI is renamed EMI Records, effective immediately. The Virgin Records imprint will continue under the new EMI Records banner. At the helm is newly-appointed EMI president Rebecca Allen, a 20-year UMG veteran and former Billboard Women In Music honoree. Closely associated with the British pop movement of the 1960s, EMI’s star-studded roster in the UK in the ’60s and ’70s included The Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Jackson Five, The Temptations and Smokey Robinson. EMI continued to be home to the UK’s top music stars in the 1990s, when it signed acts l...
Liam Gallagher On Track For Third Solo U.K. No. 1 With ‘MTV Unplugged’
Liam Gallagher is plugged in for a third solo No. 1 in the U.K. The former Oasis frontman blasts to the top of the midweek albums chart as his live LP MTV Unplugged (Warner Records) outsells the rest of the top 5 combined, the Official Charts Company reports. If the set holds its spot when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published this Friday (June 19), it’ll continue a streak for Gallagher, which began with As You Were (from 2017) and continued with his sophomore album Why Me? Recorded in Hull City Hall, MTV Unplugged has generated the most physical sales — CD and vinyl – and is the most downloaded release in the first half of the week, according to the OCC. The album was due to be released April 24 but was delayed when the vinyl manufacturing plant pressing the LP was temporarily...
Universal Music Opens First-Ever Offices in Israel and Morocco
The new outposts, in Tel Aviv and Casablanca, continue the arms race among the labels of overseas resources sniffing for new talent. After broadening its footprint in Asia in 2019, Universal Music is continuing its global expansion with new offices in Israel and Morocco, marking the label as the first major music company to open standalone operations in either country. The new outposts in the Middle East and North Africa will add to UMG’s existing network of A&R and marketing in more than 60 countries. UMG Morocco will be based in Casablanca, while the Israel office will operate out of Tel Aviv. The moves come one month after Universal officially opened a new hub for hip-hop label Def Jam Africa based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Lagos, Nigeria. And the push into North Africa and...
BMI Announces Winners of 2020 Film, TV & Visual Media Awards
The winners of BMI’s 36th annual Film, TV & Visual Media Awards were announced Monday (June 15) across the organization’s social and digital platforms. Honorees — who were awarded for their work on the top-performing films, TV shows and other visual media from the previous year — include composers Tyler Bates, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Atli Örvarsson, Mike Post, Mac Quayle and Brian Tyler. Örvarsson was the top winner this year, with a total of five awards (known as “crystals”) for his work on TV series including Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, FBI and FBI Most Wanted. Elsewhere, Tyler, Quayle and Bates received three apiece. Tyler won for his work on Hawaii Five-0, Magnum P.I. and Yellowstone; Quayle won for 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star and American Horror Story;...
Twitch Users Are Getting Takedown Notices En Masse for the First Time: Here’s Why
A flurry of copyright takedown notices hit Twitch users last week, causing a storm on social media. Here’s what’s really going on and what to watch for next. Over the last week, users on gaming-focused livestream platform Twitch received a sudden flurry of takedown notices for clips of old videos using unlicensed background music. The more than 2,500 notices — which the RIAA filed on behalf of rights holders for recordings including Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” and DNCE’s “Cake By The Ocean” — caused a storm on social media, with users complaining on Twitter they felt blindsided by the requests, some for clips dating as far back as 2017. Contrary to some users’ claims, Twitch’s Music Guidelines — which explicitly prohibit users from incorporating music into their streams wit...
Lady Gaga’s ‘Chromatica’ Enters Week Two Atop Australia’s Chart
Lady Gaga’s Chromatica (Interscope/Universal) hangs on for a second week at No. 1 in Australia, as DaBaby’s “Rockstar” (Interscope/Universal) completes a month at the top. Chromatica, which also snares the U.K. chart lead for a second week (by a narrow margin), is Gaga’s fourth No. 1 Down Under. The highest new debut this week belongs to Melbourne alternative rock act Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, whose sophomore album Sideways To New Italy arrives (Ivy League/Universal) at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart and is the best-selling vinyl album of the week. It’s the followup to their debut Hope Downs, which peaked at No. 24 in June 2018. Sideways To New Italy impacts the Official U.K. Albums Chart this week, at No. 45. Also bowing in the Australian top 5 is The Ghost Inside’s self-title...
Tekashi 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj Aim for U.K.’s Highest New Debut With ‘Trollz’
Tekashi 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj are bound for the highest new entry on the U.K. singles chart with “Trollz”. After a busy weekend of sales and streaming activity, “Trollz” starts at No. 5 on the Official Chart: First Look. It’s on track to secure Minaj her highest-charting single in the U.K. since Little Mix’s 2018 hit “Woman Like Me,” on which assisted. “Woman Like Me” peaked at No. 2. Tekashi 6ix9ine has only impacted the U.K. top 10 on one occasion, with his “comeback” track “Gooba,” which hit No. 6 last month. A portion of the proceeds from the single, including merch items, will benefit The Bail Project, Minaj explains, which provides free bail assistance to low-income individuals who can’t afford to pay bail while awaiting their trial. Leading the U.K. sales blast is DaBa...
Tones And I, Jimmy Barnes, Amy Shark & More Set for COVIDSafe Concerts Program In Australia
BRISBANE — Live music is returning to Sydney, with a little help from government. As Australians kicked back for another weekend in lockdown, a statement dropped Saturday (June 13) from the New South Wales government detailing “Great Southern Nights,” a live music campaign featuring some of the biggest and brightest homegrown artists. A lineup starring Tones and I, Jimmy Barnes, Birds of Tokyo, Missy Higgins, The Jungle Giants and Paul Kelly will present 1,000 gigs for Great Southern Nights, curated by ARIA and an industry advisory committee and playing out in venues across regional New South Wales and the state capital, Sydney. Other big names booked include Thelma Plum, The Presets, Amy Shark, Tash Sultana, The Teskey Brothers and The Veronicas. There is one slight catc...
What the 2021 Grammys Could Look Like
With a confirmed date for the 2021 ceremony, the Recording Academy is now focused on pandemic-proofing the show. The show will go on. That’s the word from Recording Academy chair and interim president/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. about the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, slated to take place Jan. 31, 2021. Less certain, in the age of the coronavirus, are all of the other particulars, including whether the ceremony will air live from Los Angeles’ Staples Center as planned. Mason says he is in “constant communication” with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office, medical advisers, network partner CBS, the venue and executive producer Ben Winston regarding the latest updates that inform the reopening process. California is currently in stage two — and concert venues in the state do not reopen until ...
Halsey Launches Fund to Amplify Black Creators’ ‘Art, Voice and Perspective’
Halsey is stepping up her support for the Black Lives Matter movement by launching a special fund to help black creators. The Black Creators Fund will provide financial support, resources and a platform to black creators, the singer explains in a statement posted to Instagram. “Looking for black creators who want to enrich the world with their work,” she writes, “use #BLACKCREATORSFUND & tag your favorite black creators in the comments.” Launching Thursday (June 11), the fund will help amplify black artists’ voice and perspective, read a statement. The initiative is an ongoing one, and it’ll be entirely funded by the Halsey team. “If you’re an artist, poet, graphic designer, writer, film maker, music producer, journalist, make up artist, or creator of any kind,” reads the launch statem...
BMG Commits to Review of Historic Contracts, Diversity Shakeup In Pledge Against Racism
In the wake of international protests against the death of George Floyd and other Black men and women at the hand of police officers, BMG has committed to action. And timeframes. One week on from “Black Out Tuesday,” BMG has set out its stance on racism and inequality. The music company circulated a message to thousands of its artists and songwriters with a pledge: “We need to play our part in addressing historical injustices inflicted on black people.” Mindful of the music industry’s “record of shameful treatment of black artists,” the message reads, “we have begun a review of all historic record contracts. If any inequities or anomalies are found, BMG will create a plan to address them within 30 days.” BMG also promises to address diversity within its workplace. “...
Coachella Announces 2021 Dates After Cancellation News
Now Coachella is being planned for April 9-11 and April 16-18, 2021, and Stagecoach is scheduled for April 23-25, 2021. Following news Wednesday Coachella and Stagecoach festivals’ October dates were canceled by county health officials, promoter Goldenvoice announced new dates on Thursday (June 11) in 2021 for the Indio, California, events. Now Coachella is being planned for April 9-11 and April 16-18, 2021, Stagecoach is scheduled for April 23-25, 2021. Coachella’s 2020 edition was previously scheduled to take place April 10-12 and April 17-19 with headliners Travis Scott, Frank Ocean and Rage Against the Machine. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was then pushed back to the weekends of Oct. 9-11 and Oct. 16-18 and Stagecoach was moved to Oct. 23-25. R...
