Live music is returning — slowly in some areas, swiftly in others — after the year and a half hiatus brought on by the pandemic.Live Nation is sweetening the deal for some fans, selling $20 tickets for 1,000 upcoming shows across the U.S., the major concert promoter announced Thursday. The …
Read More »Morgan Wallen, the Winner No One Can Admit
Penance as spectacle is nothing new. Recall the ancient Greeks, who, in times of calendrical disaster, would torment a human sacrifice, a pharmakós, to bring about purification to the wider community; think of the struggle sessions of China’s Cultural Revolution, in which victims were forced to plea their guilt as …
Read More »Five Months Later, Only 31 of 13,619 Music Venues Have Gotten Their Grants Approved
As the Small Business Administration slowly begins to roll out funding for its long anticipated Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, it released its first public report on the grant’s status Wednesday, revealing new figures about the rollout status while also underscoring the slow trickle toward approvals applicants have faced. Of the …
Read More »Linda Ronstadt Sells Catalog to Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group
Following deals with the Beach Boys and David Crosby, Linda Ronstadt is the latest artist to sell her catalog to Irving Azoff‘s new company Iconic Artists Group. Although Ronstadt is one of the best-selling artists of all time, the fact that she’s not a songwriter makes her deal different from …
Read More »Want to Dream With Post Malone? 'Sleep Remixes' Are Now a Thing
You can’t go sit cross-legged with Post Malone in a zen garden anytime soon — but listening to a 60-minute version of his 2019 hit “Circles” could be a close second. On Wednesday, wellness app Calm and Universal Music Group (UMG) will announce a first-of-its-kind partnership that’s resulted in a …
Read More »Billie Eilish Now Has an 'Infinite Music Video' for 'Bad Guy'
What do Russian metal heads and French autoharpists have in common? They’ve both covered Billie Eilish‘s “Bad Guy” — a song whose original music video recently surpassed one billion views. To celebrate that milestone, and the fact that Eilish’s smash hit is one of the most-covered songs the platform has …
Read More »Taylor Swift's Old Catalog Is Now Owned by an Investment Fund
Taylor Swift‘s music has been sold — and, once again, it was without her involvement or knowledge, the singer-songwriter says. Last year, music business veteran and mega-manager Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings LLC acquired Big Machine Label Group (BMLG), the record label that released every Swift album through 2017’s Reputation. Braun …
Read More »TikTok Has a New Deal With Sony Music to Promote More Sony Artists
TikTok has signed a new licensing deal with Sony Music Entertainment, the company announced on Monday, granting the short-form video app a longer term deal for access to the extensive catalog of one of the biggest companies in the recorded music industry. TikTok declined to give specifics on the new …
Read More »Spotify Has More Users Than Ever, But It's Still Losing Money
“I’ve never been more bullish about where we are today,” Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify, said to investors on the streaming service’s second-quarter (Q2) earnings call Wednesday morning. But the company proceeded to report a 21% year-over-year loss in advertising revenue, as well as a 9% year-over-year drop in …
Read More »What the Messy Legal Battle Over Lil Peep's Death Reveals
Honoring the second anniversary of Lil Peep’s death this past November were, among other things, a documentary, a pop-up merchandise store, and a full-length posthumous album commemorating the young rapper’s short-lived career. But looming over all those projects is a legal question about the circumstances of Peep’s death — and …
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