entertainment blog
ÎLESONIQ Announces Full Lineup, Run of Show Ahead of 2022 Festival
îLESONIQ has been one of Canada’s premier electronic music festivals since 2014, hosting an impressive array of DJs and even extending beyond EDM to include hip-hop heavyweights. Presented by Bell, îLESONIQ returns to Montreal’s stunning Parc Jean-Drapeau from August 5-7. The fest’s organizers pulled out all the stops for the 2022 edition when they announced the first phase of the lineup last month, revealing one of its biggest lineups to date with headlining performances from Eric Prydz, Swedish House Mafia, and a massive B2B set by ILLENIUM and Excision. But they didn’t stop there. Phase two has now been revealed, adding Montreal’s own Black Tiger Sex Machine, German techno stalwart Dixon, and future house pioneer Don Diablo. Other major artis...
New Software Compensates Music Producers When DJs Play Their Songs In Clubs
Unclaimed and unpaid public performance royalties could soon be a demon of the past. DJ and music producer DVS1 recently launched Aslice to help alleviate the issues that come with public performances in clubs and venues around the globe. It operates on a donation-based system, so DJs can pledge a percentage of their gig fee to the songwriters and producers whose music they’re playing. The company recommends 5%, but more can be pledged and the figure won’t be disclosed. Aslice’s beta testing in November 2021 had 100 DJs upload 110 playlists and 5,291 tracks. Of those tracks, 4,339 were accurately identified and matched, a clip of 82%. This equated to 2,213 producers receiving payments averaging $1.40 per song. The money that wasn’t able to be tracked will be do...
A Snorkeler Swam His Way Into a Free Ultra Music Festival Pass—Then Raved In His Wetsuit
Oh, the places you’ll go, Dr. Seuss once said, with a little bit of spunk, ingenuity… and snorkeling gear? Last weekend, a man named Jack Davidson somehow made his way into Miami’s Ultra Music Festival by snorkeling through the nearby harbor. He dodged police boats and suspicious onlookers along the way, and a classic “Do it for the Vine” mentality ensured it was all caught on camera. And hey, who could blame him? After all, headlining performances by the likes of Alison Wonderland, David Guetta, Kygo and Hardwell (check out his full comeback set here) were at stake. Davidson was ultimately caught by police officers on patrol, but they were apparently so amused by his efforts that he was granted a free VIP wristband for the day. But the hilarity doesn’t end th...
UMPG Wants More of Its Songwriters Working in Podcasts
Universal Music Publishing Group has announced a new partnership with narrative-focused podcast creator Audio Up, opening up new opportunities for their songwriters to write original music for the company’s programs. According to the announcement, UMPG writers can be “signed” by Audio Up to make these themes and scores. Additionally, UMPG signed the company’s CEO, “Jingle Jared” Gutstadt, to an exclusive global publishing deal. With a background in writing and producing for production and contemporary music, Gutstadt is the rare example of a working musician and music business entrepreneur. He founded both Audio Up and music production agency Jingle Punks, which sold to Anthem Entertainment (formerly known as Ole) in 2015. Audio Up productions are supported by SiriusXM and Audible, and the...
Kelly Clarkson Takes Kellyoke to Church for ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ Cover
Kelly Clarkson put her own spin on a classic on Thursday’s episode (March 31) of The Kelly Clarkson Show. In the latest edition of Kellyoke, the singer performed Dusty Springfield‘s “Son of a Preacher Man,” which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1969. Clarkson wore a long-sleeved black floor-length dress, which fittingly resembled the clerical clothing worn by preachers. The backup singers, who also wore all black, accompanied the 39-year-old vocalist in the gospel choir’s style, highlighting the song’s religious theme. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news This is not the first time the American Song Contest host has tackled a 1960s song for her Kellyoke segment, which has featured an eclectic mix of recent hits and classics span...
‘Summer of Soul’ Producer Says Will Smith & Chris Rock ‘Robbed’ Oscar Moment With Slap, ‘Four White Guys’ Joke
One of the producers behind Summer of Soul (… Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), awarded the best documentary feature Oscar immediately in the aftermath of Will Smith’s onstage attack on Chris Rock, took to social media Wednesday not only to criticize Smith for his actions, but also Rock for a joke he made about the team when they won. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Summer of Soul‘s director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and producers Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein had the unenviable task of walking to the stage to collect an award with the entire Dolby Theatre still reeling in shock from when Smith rushed the stage and assaulted Rock moments earlier. On Wednesday evening, Patel took to Twitter to give his side o...
New Around the World: Demi Lovato’s ‘Cool for the Summer’ Reheats on Global Charts
Glass Animals, GAYLE and Anitta infuse the upper reaches of the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated April 2) with songs from 2020, ’21 and ’22, respectively. But elsewhere on the global tallies, a hit from the mid-2010s roars back. Demi Lovato debuts in the top half of both global charts with 2015’s “Cool for the Summer,” at No. 66 on the Global Excl. U.S. list and at No. 93 on the Global 200. The song, from 2015, earned 13.4 million official streams and sold 950 downloads worldwide in the week ending March 24, according to Luminate, formerly MRC Data. Those figures represent increases of 224% and 573%, respectively, week-over-week. [embedded content] “Cool” is resurging as a sped-up, pitched-up remix of it has gone viral, soundtracking numerous dance videos ...
HHW Gaming: A ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Bug Is Making Life Miserable For PS5 Owners
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Crystal Dynamics/ Marvel’s Avengers After its not-so-stellar launch in 2020, Crystal Dynamics Marvel’s Avengers was supposed to find its second wind with its post-game content. Sadly that hasn’t been the case. Marvel’s Avengers has seen some decent post-launch content and solid expansions that introduced new characters with the addition of Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, Black Panther, and, recently, Spider-Man. Unfortunately, the game is still a mess, and now a new game-breaking bug is making life miserable for the few who still play the game on PS5 consoles. Related Stories The bug causes Marvel’s Avengers to crash every time players load up the game, and the only way to get around it is by deleting their game progress. The development team behind the game is wel...
OG Aunt Viv Janet Hubert Comes To Will Smith’s Defense, Calls Chris Rock “Mean Spirited”
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Rob Kim / Getty Will Smith’s pimp slapping of Chris Rock this past Sunday night at the Academy Awards is still reverberating across the entertainment industry and across the culture alike and while everyone has their opinions on the matter, ultimately it can be understood from both sides of the field. After days of celebrities taking to social media to express their support or disgust for Will Smith’s actions, actress Janet Hubert is the latest to come to Will Smith’s defense at a time when social media has decided to come for the iconic actor. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the OG Aunt Vivian from the first three seasons of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air came to the defense of Smith on her IG page even though their relationship hadn’t been the best ...
Halle Bailey & DDG Make It Official with Loving Birthday Post
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Jeff Kravitz / Getty After ongoing speculation regarding their relationship status, DDG and Halle Bailey have finally made it official. The “Elon Musk” MC took to Instagram to show Bailey some love for her 22nd birthday, by posting a photo dump full of pictures of the two and a video showing the Grown-ish star flossing an enormous studded “Halle” necklace as DDG placed it on her neck before embracing her with a hug. “Happy Birthday to the beautifulest, the flyest, the sweetest ❤️,” he wrote. “Love you forever 🥺💎,” prompting Bailey to respond to the kind gesture, commenting “u will make me cry again” with a few heart emojis. The confirmation comes three months after the two were spotted together at Usher’s Las Vegas concert on...
The YEEZY Boost 350 “Turtle Dove” To Re-Release In April 2022
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Melodie Jeng / Getty Kanye West might not be the most beloved musician in the culture at the current moment due to his Sleeping With The Enemy-ish ways, but best believe that backlash he’s getting from people across the board isn’t hurting his sneaker sales. That being said, adidas is ready to release the highly-anticipated Yeezy Boost 350 “Turtle Dove”‘s seven years after originally hitting the street scene and getting the whole YEEZY brand off the ground and taking adidas into another stratosphere at a time when Nike and Jordan had the game on Hulk smash. According to Sneakernews the OG Yeezy Boost 350 is set to be re-issued sometime in April and best believe hypebeasts will be patiently waiting to pounce come release day. Related Stories “Originally re...
New Blockchain-Based Platform, Independent, Lets Fans Invest In Their Favorite Artist’s Music
A new blockchain-based platform wants to empower independent artists—and the fans who support them. Based on the Solana blockchain, Independent is a decentralized marketplace that caters to the interests of independent musicians by letting them share a piece of the pie with their fans. The goal is for artists to release music as NFTs and monetize their creations while empowering their fans. Built on the Solana blockchain, Independent is powered by the creators of Monk Mafia, an NFT marketplace that made international headlines after receiving support from a number of high-profile backers in Asia. Those include Keiji of the chart-topping J-pop band EXILE and the award-winning Netflix documentarian Nirmal Purja. Artists releasing on Independent choose what percentage of t...
