Music Industry Moves: EMPIRE Opens West Asia-North Africa Division; Warner Chappell, LVRN Partner on Publishing

extended hiatus to accommodate NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage, with former “SNL” writer John Mulaney hosting for the fifth time.The comic addressed his recent rehabilitation from cocaine addiction in his monologue.“It’s wonderful to be in a place that’s always emphasized sobriety and mental health,” he cracked, while discussing his recovery.In the lead skit, Mulaney played a monkey who presided over a civil case where a woman was mauled by a monkey, as lawyers Kenan Thompson and Cecily Strong appealed to the primate’s animal instincts to win the judge’s favor.The animal-related humor continued in a fake commercial as Strong and Heidi Gardner portrayed dog owners who got into a heated supermarket argument about the quality of their dog food. Mulaney played an impotent man who successfully pressured Gardner into spending $74 on a grass-fed poultry blend.One sketch lampooned the ever-evolving CDC mask mandates, as a group of politically correct people tiptoed around the effectiveness of mask-wearing at a dinner fraught with tension.“Did I have to dump my oldest friend just because he didn’t get a booster?” Mulaney asked, as his friends played by Thompson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang recoiled in horror.A video by the “Please Don’t Destroy” comedy group video imagined a new COVID-19 variant that only had wonderful side effects.

John Mulaney took to the Studio 8H stage over the weekend for his fifth time hosting, and the comic and new dad delivered a hilarious opening monologue about his tumultuous year.«For many, many reasons, I'm grateful to be here tonight. After a very complicated year, it is wonderful to be in a place that has always emphasized sobriety and mental health,» Mulaney joked at the start of his monologue, referring to 's notorious past.After recalling his intervention back in December 2020, he talked about going to rehab, «Which was a very good experience. I'm very grateful that I went.»«I was there for two months from December to February 2020.

Shordie Shordie has shared a new mini project. Me & Mine, Pt.

The line-up for U.K. festival Wireless has been announced today alongside the news that this year's event will take place across three locations with bills unique to each site. Headliners across the festival include Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Tyler, The Creator, SZA, A$AP Rocky, J.

Kanye West has released 16 tracks of new album Donda 2. Unlike last year's Donda, and all of Ye's prior albums, Donda 2 is only available via the Stem Player, a device the rapper has created himself and made available for $200.

Antonio Conte has issued a warning to Manchester United and other top-four contenders days after he appeared to be on the brink at Tottenham.

Youngsters from Airdrie-based Lanarkshire Karate Academy claimed a huge medal haul from their trip to Belfast recently.

Bevis Mugabi says the secret of his success at Motherwell is being able to adapt to wherever boss Graham Alexander needs him.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTwo of Latin music’s biggest young stars, Bad Bunny and Rosalia, teamed up for a steamy duet on their song “La Noche de Anoche,” on “Saturday Night Live” on Feb 20. Rosalia’s appearance was rumored but unannounced, and while the two are not known to be an item, they nuzzled intimately while performing the song, moving their faces closer and closer together as it ended, almost kissing — but then pulling away and laughing, like a pair of friends putting on an act.For his second performance, Bad Bunny performed “Te Deseo lo Mejor” solo atop an illuminated staircase.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe gaming platform Twitch, which has had no shortage of music-copyright issues in recent months, cut off the audio for Metallica’s BlizzCon performance Friday due to legal concerns, replacing it with comically inappropriate instrumental folk music. That the switch came in the middle of “Enter Sandman,” one of the group’s biggest hits, only made the disconnect more enraging and/or hilarious.According to reports in Metal Injection and other outlets, the news was first reporting by e-sports analyst Rod “Slasher” Breslau, who also was reluctant to post the full clip, although others did in short order.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMark Anthony Morales, known as Prince Markie Dee of early rap group the Fat Boys and a hit songwriter and producer for Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey and others, has died, according to his manager, Louie “Uncle Louie” Gregory.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs part of its mission to invest $100 million in organizations focused on achieving social justice, the Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund has announced its initial six grant recipients: Black Cultural Archives, Black Futures Lab, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), Howard University, REFORM Alliance and Rhythm & Blues Foundation.The WMG/BFF SJF was established in June 2020 in the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and many other Black people. The Fund is intended to serve as an acknowledgement of the contributions Black culture has made to the profitability of today’s music industry.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRock and Roll Hall of Famers the Beach Boys have become the latest artists to sell their catalog and other assets: The group announced Thursday that Irving Azoff’s recently launched Iconic Artists Group has purchased a controlling interest in its intellectual property, including their sound recordings, the brand, select musical compositions, and memorabilia.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorQuavo, one-third of the Atlanta hip-hop trio Migos, will make his feature-film debut alongside Robert DeNiro, John Malkovich and Jack Huston in the forthcoming film “Wash Me in the River,” which is directed by Randall Emmett (“Midnight in the Switchgrass”) and is currently filming in Puerto Rico.According to the announcement, Quavo (real name: Quavious Keyate Marshall) will play the role of Coyote, “a ruthless and heartless drug lord.” The second directorial outing by Emmett, the film is an action-thriller in the vein of “No Country for Old Men,” with an Adam Taylor Barker script focusing on a recovering opioid addict who seeks revenge on the dealer (Coyote) responsible for selling the drugs that resulted in

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNew performances from H.E.R., John Legend, Haim and Jhene Aiko will lead “Music on a Mission,” the 2021 MusiCares virtual concert being held during Grammy Week on Friday, March 12. The event — which, as always, is a benefit for MusiCares, the Recording Academy’s charitable wing — takes the place of the traditional Person of the Year concert.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBig Hit Entertainment, the South Korean company that brought BTS to the world, and Universal Music Group today announced an expanded strategic partnership that will see the two companies working together to “increase opportunities for artists through innovation and technology, whilst expanding the global reach of K-pop music and culture around the world,” according the announcement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAnnie Lennox, Cage the Elephant and Black Pumas will join the line-up for the 34th Annual Tibet House US Virtual Benefit Concert on Wednesday night (February 17).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Mechanical Licensing Collective announced Tuesday that it has received a total of $424,384,787 in accrued historical unmatched royalties from Spotify, Apple Music and other digital service providers, along with corresponding data reports that identify the usage related to these royalties. In other words, some songwriters and publishers will be receiving a windfall once the MLC reviews and analyzes the data to pay the copyright holders — the MLC anticipates sending out its first royalty payments and statements in April of 2021According to the announcement, a total of 20 DSPs separately transferred accrued historical unmatched royalties to the MLC, as part of the 2018 Music Modernization Act’s limitation on

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAlmost nine full days after the Super Bowl, the final chart numbers are in, and the Weeknd — who turns 31 today, Feb. 16 — saw an enormous bump in streams and sales thanks to his dazzling halftime performance at the big game: in fact, nearly every single song he performed in those 12-ish minutes is in the Rolling Stone Top 100 Songs chart.“Blinding Lights,” which is already one of the biggest hits in the streaming age, saw yet another bump, nearly 15 months after its first release, soaring back up to No.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpotify announced Tuesday that Mona Sutphen will join its board of directors in April, subject to shareholder approval.Sutphen is a private equity advisor and a co-founder/advisor for several technology start-ups, and was a senior White House official during the Obama Administration. She is currently a Senior Advisor at The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based private equity firm, and is a venture advisor and co-founder of several technology start-ups.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Stax Music Academy, Concord — which owns the legendary soul label Stax Records — has announced the Concord Stax Scholarships, which will provide full tuition to at least 20 students in each year over the next five school years. According to the announcement, Concord has pledged “a minimum of $1 million through donations from its owners, team members, friends and partners.” With this new funding, the Concord Stax Scholarships will underwrite music and life skills advancement for at least 100 students as well as appropriate resources needed to support SMA career development initiatives over the term of the partnership.Operated by the Soulsville Foundation,