Jem Aswad-Senior: Last News

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor While the title of the “world’s greenest music festival” may be impossible to determine with total accuracy, Norway’s long-running Øya is as close as it gets. The festival — which has featured Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Robyn, Lana Del Rey, the Cure and hundreds of Norwegian acts since it launched in 1999 — has been named an “Outstanding” honoree by the international non-profit A Greener Festival nine out of the last 10 years the awards were held, and is certified as an “Environmental Lighthouse” by the Norwegian foundation of the same name. In 2010, it even received an honorary award from Norway’s minister of agriculture for its work in promoting organic food. 

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Michelle Branch appeared on the “Tamron Hall Show” Thursday to address her recent martial problems with her husband, the Black Keyes’ Patrick Carney, which saw her arrested for domestic disturbance. “They are not allegations,” she told Hall, according to Rolling Stone. “Violence — I don’t condone violence. I slapped my husband. Not the finest moment of my life.” The singer said several factors contributed to the incident, including postpartum depression and having had “a few drinks” at a friend’s birthday party. Branch, 39, and Carney, 42, married in 2019; their son was born the previous year and their daughter this past February. Branch filed for divorce on Aug. 12, citing irreconcilable differences.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor There’s a good chance that you’ve never heard the name Richard Gottehrer — but there’s an equally good chance that if you’re even a casual music fan, you know something, or several things, he’s done very well. As a songwriter in the early ‘60s, he co-wrote such hits as “I Want Candy,” “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “Sorrow.” As a producer, he helmed classic albums by Blondie, the Go-Go’s, Richard Hell, Joan Armatrading, the Raveonettes and the Dum Dum Girls among many others. As an artist, he formed a short-lived group called the Strangeloves with songwriting/producing partners Jerry Goldstein and Bob Feldman that nonetheless racked up several hit singles (including the original “I Want Candy”). As an executive, he co-founded Sire Records with Seymour Stein in 1966, and 30 years later, he co-founded the Orchard with Scott Cohen. Now owned by Sony Music, that company is one of the world’s largest distributors of independent music.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Reach Music Publishing has acquired a 50% copyright interest — together with 100% of the writer’s share, including global administration rights — in the song catalog of Public Enemy’s Chuck D, one of the most influential rappers and lyricists in hip-hop history. Further terms of the deal were not disclosed. As a founding member and chief songwriter of Public Enemy, Chuck D co-wrote nearly all of the group’s songs, including such classics as “Fight the Power” (theme song to Spike Lee’s 1989 film “Do the Right Thing”), “Bring the Noise,” “Welcome to the Terrordome,” “Shut ‘Em Down,” and “He Got Game,” all of which are included in the Reach Music acquisition. In total, over 300 songs are included in the deal. 

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor YouTube, the world’s largest streaming platform for music, announced that it has paid more than $6 billion to the music industry in the 12 months between July 2021 and June 2022 — some $2 billion more than it said it paid in the previous 12 months. Like last year, the announcement comes in the form of a blog post from the platform’s head of music, Lyor Cohen. While short on specifics, the post does outline some of the contributing factors. “We want our twin engine of ads and subscriptions to be the #1 contributor of revenue to the industry by 2025,” Cohen wrote. “That’s why YouTube is monetizing all music formats (short & long form video, audio tracks, Live, etc.), on all platforms (desktop, tablet, mobile, and TV), in over 100 countries. And overall watch time of music content on YouTube across desktop, tablet, mobile, and TV continues to grow year over year.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Harry Styles has announced that he is partnering with non-partisan voter-engagement organization HeadCount in an effort to inspire his U.S fans to check their voter registration status and vote in this year’s midterm elections — and he’s throwing in a free trip to his legendary “Harryween” Halloween concert as an incentive.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Grammy-winning producer-songwriters Hit-Boy and James Fauntleroy have signed on as  co-executive producers and the sonic creative team for the “NFT supergroup” Kingship. Together, the pair will work with Arnell, Kingship’s “Mutant DJ and Producer,” to oversee the group’s music direction and sound.  “I’m always looking to push things forward musically,” said Hit-Boy, who has worked with Beyonce, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West and many others, “and this is a great opportunity to do something new in the web3 space.” Fauntleroy, who’s collaborated with Beyonce, Rihanna, Drake, Nipsey Hussle and others, added, “It’s so exciting to be a part of something historical and ambitious. As a huge nerd, and music fanatic, I can’t wait to see what comes from the intersection of the web3 collectors/creatives and the entertainment creative community.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor YouTube’s royalty system has long been criticized by multiple music-industry organizations for opaqueness, a lack of oversight and, many feel, insufficient payments. But a new report in Billboard makes a number of detailed allegations, supported by claims from a number of unnamed sources, who say that YouTube — which is the single largest streaming service for music in the world — has a rights-management system that is “full of errors” and “ripe for abuse,” and claim that Create Music Group, which initially established itself as a royalty-collection service for music companies, frequently collected royalties to which it is not entitled. Create co-founder Jonathan Strauss categorically denied those claims, and said the company’s claims are always guided by its clients’ deals — “CMG does not input or remove shares without authorization.” In a statement to Variety, a rep for Create said: “At Create Music Group we work tirelessly to ensure that our clients, independent artists and labels, receive all of the revenue that they are entitled to. We take that responsibility very seriously. We unequivocally deny, however, the assertion made in the Billboard article by our competitors that we “game the system,” and the data proves this out. More than 90% of the conflicts created by our competitors, over 26,000 in all, have been settled in our favor. We follow both the letter and spirit of the rules YouTube has set up for our industry and are very proud of our track record in this regard.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Amid the series of bombshells about her family, her conservatorship and business managers Britney Spears has dropped on her Instagram account, on Sunday she posted a lengthy message in which she says that she will “probably never perform again.” After writing about the lack of creative control she was allowed during her conservatorship, particularly with music videos and photographers, she took aim at her father and former conservator, Jamie Spears. “…[T]he most offensive SO CALLED professional pictures on every tour,” she said. “I mean they could have at least cheated and retouched them for me … just saying … 2 day shoots for new show in Vegas literally the worst ever … and me excited for the pictures for 5 months on tour … they never showed me any. I’d rather quit shit in my pool and shoot photos of myself in studios over working with the most offensive people in my life.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Dolly Parton and this week’s Variety cover star Kelly Clarkson have collaborated on a new version of Dolly’s hit “9 to 5,” ahead of the “Still Working 9 to 5” documentary that premieres on Sept. 16. The pair teamed up with the film’s executive producer Shane McAnally, Sasha Sloan & King Henry to, as the announcement states, “reimagine the classic song into a melancholic yet inspirational anthem over 40 years after the original’s release as the fight for workplace equality persists.” Written and recorded by Dolly Parton and produced by Gregg Berry, the original “9 to 5” debuted in 1980 in tandem with the film of the same name starring Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. The song went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Original Song and four Grammy nominations – winning two of the latter for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor If the past few years and months have proven one thing, it’s the importance of voting in the United States. While Census Bureau’s estimates confirmed that 2020 voter turnout was the highest in nearly 30 years — 66.8%, 5 points higher than 2016 — the forthcoming midterm elections, which traditionally have much lower turnout than presidential ones, are vitally important as well. In that spirit, Lizzo, who released her stellar second major label album “Special” over the summer, has joined forces with the nonprofit, non-partisan voter-engagement organization HeadCount to encourage her fans to get out to the polls and make their voices heard this election season.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor For all the uproar it caused 45 years ago, for all the controversy and outrage, it’s hard in retrospect not to see the Sex Pistols’ world-changing single “God Save the Queen” for what it was: Rebellious young people with a Svengali-like manager trying to be shocking (and succeeding). Deliberately released the week before the Silver Jubilee, a major national celebration observing her 25 years as on the throne, the song was just a loud raspberry (and, not incidentally, a stone-cold rock and roll classic). They didn’t really believe the Queen wasn’t a human being or led a fascist regime, whatever issues they might have had with the concept of royalty. And while the group’s singer and lyricist, John Lydon a.k.a. Rotten, certainly had issues with the institution of monarchy (and has had other issues in recent years, leaning conservative and voicing support for both Donald Trump and Brexit), he said in a commentary this past June that he never had one with the Queen or the royal family.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Hours after Queen Elizabeth II’s death at the age of 96 was announced on Thursday, Elton John — who enjoyed the closest relationship with the Royal Family of any music artist — paid tribute at his concert in Toronto. “We have the saddest news about the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,” he said. “She was an inspiring person to be around — I’ve been around her and she was fantastic. She led the country though some of our greatest and darkest moments with grace, decency and a genuine care and warmth. “I’m almost 75 — she’s been with me all my life and I feel very sad that she won’t be with me anymore. But I’m glad she’s at peace, and I’m glad she’s at rest, and she deserves it because she’s worked bloody hard,” he continued as the audience cheered.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Busta Rhymes received the Icon award, Megan Thee Stallion and Christopher “YC” Pearson were named songwriters of the year and Justin Beiber’s “Peaches” was song of the year at the BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards, held at Miami’s LIV nightclub on Wednesday night. Other top honors went to Sony Music Publishing as publisher of the year and Silk Sonic/ Drake/ H.E.R. collaborator Dernst “D’Mile” Emile was named producer of the year. The event, which recognizes the top producers and songwriters of the previous year’s 35 best-performing R&B/hip-hop songs in the U.S., was hosted by BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neill and Vice President of Creative (Atlanta) Catherine Brewton. (Pictured above, L-R: O’Neill, Busta Rhymes, DJ Khaled, Brewton and Khaled’s wife, Nicole Tuck.)

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Shortly after the death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced on Thursday, Elton John, who has had a close relationship with the Royal Family for the past several decades, posted a heartfelt remembrance on his social media accounts. “Along with the rest of the nation, I am deeply saddened to hear the news of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s passing. She was an inspiring presence to be around and led the country through some of our greatest and darkest moments with grace, decency and a genuine caring warmth. “Queen Elizabeth has been a huge part of my life from childhood to this day, and I will miss her dearly,” he concluded. Indeed, John was 4 years old when Elizabeth ascended to the crown in 1952.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Anyone who clicked on this article knows that the Byrds are one of the greatest and most influential rock groups of all time: They weren’t only influenced by the Beatles, they influenced them; they showed the world that Bob Dylan songs could rock; and via their own songs like “Eight Miles High,” “So You Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star,” “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” and “Time Between,” they paved the way for countless artists that followed, from jangle-pop to psychedelia to country rock. Well, fans are getting the Byrds history they’ve always dreamed of with BMG Books’ stunning “The Byrds: 1964-67” — out Sept. 20 — which is a comprehensive oral history and a gorgeous coffee-table photo book all in one: The editors basically licensed virtually every known photo of the group from the era, sat down with surviving founding members Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman and got them to share their memories of the moments, the band, the era, each other and lots more. (The book follows the group as it gradually goes from a quintet to a quartet to a trio, and leaves off before Gram Parsons’ arrival in 1968, which launched a whole new chapter of the Byrds.)

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Three days after the Weeknd was forced to call off his second concert at Los Angeles’ Sofi Stadium after just 15 minutes, he has announced that his voice has recovered, his two Toronto dates later this month are on track, and he’s looking to reschedule Saturday night’s postponed show. Further details were not immediately available. “Doctor says my voice is safe and with rest i’ll be solid and able to bring the show my TORONTO fans are waiting for,” he posted Tuesday afternoon. “LA date is being worked out soon. thank you SO much for all the love and understanding that’s come my way. i love you all so much… XO”A post shared by The Weeknd (@theweeknd) Around 15 minutes into Saturday’s show, the Weeknd’s voice audibly gave out as he shouted “What’s up, L.A.?” and, after four songs, he decided he couldn’t continue.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Anyone who’s been to a concert knows the sound: The crunch of hundreds of plastic cups underfoot, which are used once and thrown away, creating countless acres of garbage. Live Nation Entertainment has made a move to reduce that waste at its venues and festival via a strategic investment in Turn Systems, which operates a leading reusable cup system. According to the announcement, it is “another step in the company’s goal to eliminate single-use plastics and work toward zero-waste concerts.”  The Turn system includes reusable cups, collection bins and mobile washing systems. A single reusable TURN cup has the potential to displace up to 100 single-use cups and can break even on its environmental impact in as few as three uses. (For more on Turn Systems, see the company’s website.)

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Jason Aldean’s publicity firm of 17 years, Nashville-based outfit the GreenRoom, has resigned following comments posted by Aldean’s wife, Brittany, that many have considered to be transphobic. According to a report in Billboard, GreenRoom co-owner Tyne Parrish did not say Brittany Aldean’s comments were the reason for the split, the timing does not seem coincidental. “Music has always been and remains The GreenRoom’s core focus, so we had to make the difficult decision after 17 years to step away from representing Jason,” Parrish said in a statement to the publication. “We aren’t the best people for the gig anymore, but will always be big fans of his music — he is one of the greatest live entertainers in country music.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor It’s safe to say that the most talked-about and conversation-stopping song on Kendrick Lamar’s brilliant and challenging new album “Mr. Morale & the High Steppers” is “We Cry Together,” a horrifyingly realistic depiction of an argument in an abusive relationship that finds Lamar and actress Taylour Paige saying absolutely horrible things to each other, with her delivering an entire verse while sobbing, and culminates with the two of them having sex. (Trigger warning: the uncensored video features nudity, graphic language and situations.) On Thursday, Lamar dropped a short film, in both censored and uncensored versions, for the song that stars himself and Paige, and it brings the song to life in a way that’s essentially exactly what you would expect: The two of them arguing in a small apartment, with Paige on her way to work and Lamar in a menial-job shirt — with “Dante S.” on the name tag, possibly a reference to the character of that name in Lamar’s 2012 song “Collect Calls” — and backward baseball cap bearing the combined logos of the Los Angeles Dodgers and his own company, pgLang.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor After a grueling, hard-fought and ultimately victorious legal battle over streaming rates for the years 2018-22, the National Music Publishers’ Association, the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and the Digital Media Association today have announced a settlement with streaming services for certain mechanical streaming rates in the U.S. for the years 2023-2027: 15.35%. The announcement comes as a surprise, as the NMPA has been saying for months that it would push for a 20% rate for the forthcoming period. However, sources tell Variety that concessions were made on both sides, likely in the form of modifications that reach beyond the headline rate, such as the way that “bundles” — such as discounted streaming subscription rates for family and student plans — and per-subscriber minimums are treated.