Leonard Cohen Song Catalog Acquired by Hipgnosis

The Crow is in development, with It star Bill Skarsgård in the lead role as Eric Draven, and FKA twigs also cast.As Deadline reports, the film will be helmed by Rupert Sanders, who previously directed Snow White And The Huntsman and Ghost In The Shell.“The Crow is beautiful, dark, poetic and sometimes disturbing,” Sanders told Deadline. “It is a story of love, loss, grief and revenge.

Father John Misty has shared another new single, ‘The Next 20th Century’ – you can listen to it below.Arriving today (April 4) the brooding track will appear on Joshua Tillman’s fifth studio album under his Father John Misty moniker, ‘Chloë And The Next 20th Century’, which comes out this Friday (April 8) via Sub Pop/Bella Union.The almost-seven-minute track follows on from FJM’s recent offerings ‘Goodbye Mr. Blue’, ‘Q4’ and ‘Funny Girl’ in previewing his imminent new record.

NMIXX have performed a unique rendition of BLACKPINK’s 2019 single ‘Kill This Love’.Last week, the rookie girl group were featured on K-pop live music channel It’s Live on YouTube, where they performed their debut track ‘O.O’. In a newly released clip, the six-member JYP Entertainment act also took on the challenge of covering BLACKPINK’s 2019 single ‘Kill This Love’.For their cover, NMIXX swap out the bombastic, blaring horns of the original BLACKPINK version for a stripped-down, vocal-led arrangement, which slowly builds up intensity as the drums and electric guitar kick in.“What should I do, I can’t stand myself being so weak / While I force myself to cover my eyes / I need to bring an end to this love,” sings vocalist Sullyoon in the emotional pre-chorus.NMIXX first debuted in February with the single album ‘Ad Mare’, which included the single ‘O.O’ and a B-side track titled ‘Tank’.

Sex Pistols TV series, Pistol, has been released – check it out below.Created and written by Craig Pearce and directed by Danny Boyle, the six-episode show is set to premiere on Disney+ on May 31.Pistol is based on Steve Jones‘ memoir Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol and features a cast of newcomers, including Toby Wallace as Jones, Jacob Slater as Paul Cook, Anson Boon as John Lydon and Christian Lees as Glen Matlock.Arriving today (April 4) the brief official trailer for Pistol – titled ‘Destroy’ – sees Boon’s Lydon tell his bandmates that “the monarchy has stolen our future” before we hear of the start of “a youth revolution”.Elsewhere, there are snippets of the Sex Pistols performing onstage as well as a recreation of the moment that the band signed their record deal with A&M outside of Buckingham Palace.Check out the trailer here:An official synopsis for Pistol describes the show as being about “a rock and roll revolution”, reading: “The furious, raging storm at the centre of this revolution are the Sex Pistols– and at the centre of this series is Sex Pistols’ founding member and guitarist, Steve Jones.“Jones’ hilarious, emotional and at times heart-breaking journey guides us through a kaleidoscopic telling of three of the most epic, chaotic and mucus-spattered years in the history of music.”It continues: “This is the story of a band of spotty, noisy, working-class kids with ‘no future,’ who shook the boring, corrupt Establishment to its core, threatened to bring down the government and changed music and culture forever.”Pistol also stars Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde, Talulah Riley as Vivienne Westwood, Maisie Williams as punk icon Jordan, Emma Appleton as Nancy Spungen and

HYBE has officially unveiled former IZ*ONE’s Miyawaki Sakura as the first member of its upcoming girl group LE SSERAFIM.On April 4 at Midnight KST, HYBE subsidiary Source Music uploaded its first introduction video for the upcoming girl group featuring Miyawaki. In the new clip, the Japanese K-pop idol dons a suit as she struts towards the camera to an upbeat instrumental, later getting on a motorcycle and blazing through futuristic neon-lit tunnel.The label has also shared official photos of the ex-IZ*ONE member via its social media accounts, hinting at the forthcoming act’s fierce new image.

Kanye West has won his first two trophies of the night at the 64th Grammy Awards. The rapper and artist won Best Melodic Rap Performance for "Hurricane" featuring The Weeknd and Lil Baby and Best Rap Song for "Jail" featuring JAY-Z.

Tyler, The Creator's Call Me If You Get Lost won the Best Rap Album award at the 64th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The album was triumphant over projects from Kanye West (Donda), Nas (King's Disease II), and J.

Carrie Underwood looked absolutely flawless as she performed her latest single Ghost Story in a skintight purple dress with a dramatic train at the 64th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night.While displaying her toned legs in her thigh-skimming frock, the39-year-old country star sang into a sparkly black microphone, which was covered in silver sequins that coordinated with the bling on her gown.For the occasion, the Before He Cheats hitmaker had her golden blonde tresses styled in classic waves and sported a classic makeup look, consisting of bronzer, false eyelashes and a sweep of blush across her cheeks. Showstopper: Carrie Underwood looked absolutely flawless as performed her latest single Ghost Story in a skintight purple dress with a dramatic train at the 64th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night She was accompanied by a number ofbackup singers and stood in front of awind machine that gently blew her tresses and a smoke machine that added a cool effect to theindigo blue lit stage.

As of April 1, the price cap on energy bills for households in Great Britain has increased by a mammoth 54% and the pre-announced price rises add to the ongoing misery for consumers who are already suffering as food, fuel and other household bills continue to soar. Everything from energy bills to council tax, water bills and even the cost of a pint will be impacted and the Government is expected to announce an increase in the cost of prescriptions in England.

As universal testing ended throughout the weekend, the NHS has updated its list of official Covid symptoms.

A Tottenham Hotspur icon has given Manchester United the green light to move for Harry Kane in the summer.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGrammy-nominated rapper and Variety Hitmakers cover star Jack Harlow has announced that his second major-label album, “Come Home the Kids Miss You,” will be released May 6 via Generation Now/Atlantic Records. The album will feature the single “Nail Tech,” which was released last month.Harlow talked with Variety about the album last November.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOne might think that, just weeks after his company scraped through the biggest crisis of its existence — its stubborn defense of giving a gigantic international platform, not to mention more than $200 million, to Joe Rogan and his destructive, malignant opinions — Spotify’s Daniel Ek might exercise a little caution and humility.One might think that, after paying millions to Capitol Hill lobbyists in an ongoing battle to pay less to songwriters — the very foundation of his company’s existence — than the Copyright Royalty Board decreed it should pay, he wouldn’t spend even more millions on something as flashy and business-uncritical as sponsorship of a soccer team, especially with Russian bombs killing hundreds of Ukrainian civilians every day. But one would be wrong.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMegan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa are a formidable team, and award-winning video director Dave Meyers plays to their strengths in the clip for the pair’s new tag-team single, “Sweetest Pie.” Working a similar theme to the one from his video for Saweetie and Doja Cat’s “Best Friend” — hapless explorers of a science-fiction world stumble upon female characters with superpowers — this one turns dark quickly, as the explorers decide Megan and Dua are witches, try to burn them at the stake, and then suffer the consequences of their arrogance. Sure, it’s a not-terribly-serious, special-effect-filled music video, but it’s still a satisfying perspective during Women’s History Month.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSuperstar Puerto Rican songwriter-producer Tainy, who has helmed such hits as “I Like It” (by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin), “Dakiti” (by Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez), and “Telepatia” (by Kali Uchis), has sold his pre-2021 music catalog to fast-rising Influence Media (Influence Media Partners).Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although sources tell Variety it was in the $25 million range.The San Juan native (real name: Marco Masis) has appeared on Variety’s Hitmakers list several times and spoke with us about his hits last year. A four-time Grammy nominee and Latin Grammy winner, Tainy has helmed hits for Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Rosalia, Lauren Jauregui, Zion & Lennox, Anuel, Ozuna, Don Omar, Wisin & Yandel, Rauw Alejandro, Jhay Cortez and more.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn the heels of legendary punk progenitors the MC5’s nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the group’s guitarist and co-founder Wayne Kramer has released two new songs and announced The Heavy Lifting Tour in May, all as a “reanimation” of the pioneering group, dubbed We Are All MC5.The tour begins with a special hometown show, celebrating the birthday of Detroit’s El Club, before moving on to the East Coast (Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Brooklyn) and West Coast (Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego). Joining Kramer in the touring band will be singer Brad Brooks, drummer Stephen Perkins (Jane’s Addiction), bassist Vicki Randle (Mavis Staples), and guitarist Stevie Salas (David Bowie). “Nonstop touring, especially the last decade, I’ve come to understand that the music of the MC5 is as necessary as ever,” Kramer said.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAmazon has released the limited-access beta version of Amp, a new, free app that provides users with a way to DJ their own live radio shows. Creators can work from a catalog of tens of millions of licensed songs from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and a long list of independent music companies, such as Beggars Group, Believe, CD Baby, and PIAS, with more being added.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt’s almost become a model in recent years: If a song’s a hit, the copyright-infringement lawsuits follow, and Dua Lipa was clobbered with two of them in four days last week. Her global hit “Levitating,” which has spent 68 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, has drawn two lawsuits from songwriters claiming the song infringes on their compositions, according to multiple media reports.The first was filed March 1 by a Florida reggae group called Artikal Sound System, claiming that Lipa’s song lifts from their relatively obscure 2017 track, “Live Your Life.” That complaint includes little specific detail beyond claiming that the two tracks are so similar that it was “highly unlikely that ‘Levitating’ was created independently.” In the second, more-detailed legal complaint, filed on March 4 in New York, songwriters L.

Hipgnosis Song Management has announced a big old deal via its Blackstone-backed venture Hipgnosis Songs Capital ICAV to acquire a stack of rights in the songs catalogue of Leonard Cohen for an undisclosed sum.In total, the deal covers 278 songs and derivatives, including the all-important ‘Hallelujah’ – which has been covered more than 300 times. For songs written from the start of Cohen’s career through to 2000, Hipgnosis has acquired the writer’s share of royalties.

Leonard Cohen is the latest artist whose song rights have been bought, after his estate reached a deal with the Hipgnosis Songs Fund for an undisclosed sum.According to Rolling Stone, the deal includes all 278 songs that Cohen wrote, including his most popular songs ‘Hallelujah’, ‘Suzanne’, ‘So Long, Marianne’, ‘First We Take Manhattan’ and more.The investment company obtained the “songwriter’s share” of 127 songs from Cohen’s Stranger Music catalogue, which covers the period of the inception of late musician’s career through to the year 2000; derivative works pushes the total to 211 songs.Hipgnosis also acquired the ownership of 100 per cent of the copyrights, “publisher’s share” and “songwriter’s share” of royalties of the latter part of his catalogue, spanning from 2001 to his death in 2016.“To now be the custodians and managers of Leonard Cohen’s incomparable songs is a wonderful yet very serious responsibility that we approach with excitement and fully understand the importance of,” Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis said in a statement.“Leonard wrote words and songs that have changed our lives, none more so obvious than ‘Hallelujah’ but there are so many more that we look forward to reminding the world of on a daily basis.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAnyone paying even casual attention to the music industry must have noticed the skyrocketing value of song catalogs, which have exploded at such a rate that we’re seeing an average of two or three nine-figure deals per month, with Sting, Neil Diamond and David Bowie’s estate making multi-hundred-million-dollar sales in just the past two months.Thus, it was just a matter of time before performing rights organizations — an often-overlooked multi-billion dollar business that collects royalties when songs are played everywhere from bars and restaurants to stadiums — got into the game, and BMI, which along with ASCAP is the biggest PRO in the U.S., has enlisted unnamed advisors to assist in exploring opportunities for its members and its business, according to an internal letter obtained by Variety. In the letter, BMI president-CEO Mike O’Neill sets the scene described above and writes, “It’s important that we evaluate what this could mean for BMI, both now and into the future.