Jem Aswad-Senior: Last News

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIndie-rock pioneers Sonic Youth have released a live album recorded in 1989 in Kyiv to support relief efforts in Ukraine, in the wake of Russia’s brutal invasion of the country.To set the context of the concert — which was recorded exactly 33 years ago — at the time, Sonic Youth were one of the first bands of their ilk to play behind what was then still known as the Iron Curtain; the Berlin Wall would come down a few months later. But at the time, U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“Moonage Daydream,” a David Bowie historical film featuring a bounty of previously unreleased footage and helmed by Brett Morgen, the director behind “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” “Jane” and “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” will be distributed in the U.S. by Neon and internationally by Universal Pictures Content Group, with a streaming premiere on HBO and HBO Max in the spring of 2023.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“Cheesin’,” the charity single released at the beginning of the global pandemic in 2020, has raised more than $175,000 for MusiCares, the song’s distributor announced on Wednesday. The song, a collaboration between Cautious Clay, Remi Wolf, Still Woozy, Sophie Meiers, Claud, Melanie Faye, and HXNS was released via JJ Corsini’s label, Slowplay, in partnership with Republic Records/ Imperial.Since the song’s release, 100 percent of net profits from every stream and download has been donated to MusiCares, the Recording Academy’s charity that supports artists and those in the music community.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCourtney Holt, a top executive in Spotify’s podcasting business and a four-year veteran of the company, is leaving the streaming giant, a source close to the situation has confirmed to Variety. The source said that Holt’s departure was his decision and is amicable, and that he will stay on as an advisor to the company for the next several months at least.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVeeps, the streaming platform founded by Benji and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte and acquired by Live Nation, has announced a new series of consumer apps and slate of concerts to go with them.Forthcoming livestreamed concerts include Kings of Leon from London’s O2 Arena, dance act Galantis from the stunning Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, the folk-rock duo Indigo Girls, Icelandic blues-rock band Kaleo), singer/songwriter LP, avant-metal singer Poppy and Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and his group with Conspirators.The new products mean that viewers can receive the stream directly in their televisions without having to cast from a phone, screen-share or connect with cables; at the same time, the phone and tablet service has been upgraded to native app quality. “We think that the future of concert streaming is fans in all corners of the globe having access to every tour, and getting concert streams natively into TVs and phones is a gamechanger for artists and their fans,” says Joel Madden.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJ Balvin has postponed his long-awaited “Jose” tour, which was scheduled to launch next week in San Antonio, citing Covid-related “unforeseen production challenges.”The six-week tour was scheduled to cross North America before wrapping in Puerto Rico on June 4; he was also scheduled to appear at the Viva LA Music Festival in Los Angeles on June 25. A quick look at Ticketmaster shows a large number of unsold tickets in many venues on the tour.Balvin, who recently released two songs with Ed Sheeran, “Sigue” and “Forever My Love,” is renowned for elaborate and eye-popping concert tours like, his 2019 “Arcoiris” tour, which stunned the Coachella audience and then traveled across the world.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe 100 Percenters, a music-creatives advocacy nonprofit, has announced a partnership with Sony Music Publishing designed to provide financial relief and support to U.S. songwriters, composers, and producers.With support from SMP, the 100 Percenters will offer relief funding to songwriters who the ongoing pandemic has impacted through its Songwriter Stimulus Program, according to the announcement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBrooklynites will be excited to learn that BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! will return to the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park at full capacity, with live, free and in-person performances in June, kicking off on the 8 th with a performance by saxophonist-composer-producer Kamasi Washington and closing on August 6 with Nigerian singer-songwriter Yemi Alade.The innovative Los Angeles-based musician is one of the major jazz musicians to emerge in the past decade, having collaborated with a galaxy of jazz artists as well as Kendrick Lamar (on his groundbreaking “To Pimp a Butterfly” album), Florence + the Machine and others. He also has performed at multiple nights of BRIC JazzFest in years past.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorElvis Presley’s catalog will be administered by Universal Music Publishing and represented by Authentic Brands Group, the companies announced Tuesday.As part of the expanded relationship, UMPG and ABG will represent Presley’s catalog of hits worldwide (excluding the U.K.), which includes such classics as “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “It’s Now or Never,” “Memories,” “A Little Less Conversation,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Love Me Tender,” “Viva Las Vegas,” “Amazing Grace,” “All Shook Up,” “Tears on My Pillow” and countless more.The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, comes at an auspicious time, as Baz Luhrmann’s biopic “Elvis,” starring Tom Hanks and Austin Butler, arrives in theaters June 24 and premieres next month at the Cannes Film Festival. ABG’s formidable portfolio includes such iconic celebrity brands such as Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe estate of the late Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel has signed an exclusive, worldwide agreement with Virgin Music US Latin and extended its agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group. Under the new deal, Virgin Music US Latin will now represent Juan Gabriel’s post-2008 catalog and future recordings, while UMPG will represent his entire catalog through an extended, exclusive global publishing agreement, bringing Gabriel’s music under the Universal Music roof.New music will be released “in the coming months,” the announcement continues, including the highly anticipated “Los Duo 3, including duets with Mon LaFerte and Gloria Trevi as well as posthumously recorded duets. Billboard notes that Gabriel, who died in 2016, left behind dozens of unreleased recordings, including new songs and re-recordings of older ones.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRepublic Records is relaunching the Mercury imprint as an “extension” of the label, the company announced Monday. The move is similar to Atlantic’s relaunch of Elektra and Interscope’s of Geffen, an effort to split the parent label’s large roster so that artists receive more attention.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorComing off of her three Grammy Award wins last weekend, Olivia Rodrigo has added ASCAP Pop Music Awards Songwriter of the Year to her growing trophy case. The singer takes home the top ASCAP honor —her first ASCAP Award ever— recognizing her songs “Deja Vu,” “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U” and will accept the award in an exclusive video on ASCAP social media.Recognizing the chart-topping songwriters, producers and publishers behind the biggest pop music hits of 2021, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has announced the winners of its 2022  Pop Music Awards in virtual ceremonies.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLorde, Mitski and Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers will headline the 2022 All Things Go Music Festival, which returns to the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland on October 1. The festival, which will host 16 artists across three stages, will also feature King Princess, Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker, Maude Latour, Bartees Strange and more.Tickets go on sale Friday, April 15 at 10 a.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor a decade, YouTube has been the best way to experience the Coachella festival without actually being there, and that will continue this weekend.According to an announcement on Monday, the streaming giant will livestream both weekends of the festival — April 15-17 and April 22-24 — via desktop, mobile or the YouTube Music app, with three different simultaneous livestream feeds of different stages and performers.The company has also doubled down on its offerings, with artist interviews, behind-the-scenes content and sweepstakes, pre-parties and more, and this year virtual festival-goers will have the opportunity to purchase exclusive Coachella and artist merchandise via YouTube Shopping and interact with one another in real-time through YouTube’s Live Chat. Along with headliners Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Swedish House Mafia featuring the Weeknd, the Coachella 2022 lineup also includes Lil Baby, Daniel Caesar, Phoebe Bridgers, Big Sean, Megan Thee Stallion, 21 Savage, Danny Elfman, Doja Cat, Joji, Run the Jewels and many more.Weekend 1 Festival Livestream (April 15-17)The livestream program, being co-hosted by Joe Kay, Quenlin Blackwell, Therapy Gecko, and Veronica De La Cruz, starts at 4 PM PST / 7 PM EST on Friday, April 15 and runs through Monday evening, April 18, including replays.Weekend 2 Coachella Curated Livestream (April 22-24)Hosted by Joe Kay and Veronica De La Cruz, Coachella Curated deep dives into the stories of some of today’s artists.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt is perhaps a telling sign of this strange era that one of the breakout music acts of the past 12 months was formed for a laugh by a pair of friends — singer-guitarists Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers — who had for years been trying to perform more “serious” music, mostly unsuccessfully. (Oddest of all, they didn’t even break through via TikTok.)But within weeks of sending around a private link containing four songs with their now-trademark new wave bounce and hilariously deadpan vocals, the deliberately ridiculously named Wet Leg had top management and a record deal.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThere is exactly one person on earth who could be serenaded on his 90th birthday by (in order) Barry Manilow, Patti Smith, Dionne Warwick, Kenny G, Art Garfunkel, Earth Wind & Fire, Bruce Springsteen and Alicia Keys — and have the whole evening capped off by a brilliant Mark Ronson-helmed “megamix” of great songs from across that birthday boy’s 60-plus-year career. The answer is so obvious we’re not even going to bother.Yes, Clive Davis’ 90th birthday party, held Wednesday night at the memorably named Cipriani South Street at Casa Cipriani in Lower Manhattan, was truly one for the ages.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThree members of Congress have written to Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek, criticizing him over the company’s policy of promoting an artist’s music on its Discovery Mode platform in exchange for a reduced royalty rate. Among other notes, the letter requests that Spotify label such as paid content; the company announced the policy, which has come under heavy criticism, in 2020.The letter, written on official Congress stationary and obtained by Variety, is dated March 26, 2022 and signed by Reps.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorClive Davis doesn’t do anything by half, and his 90th birthday is no exception. Not only will there be a star-studded party tonight at Cipriani in Lower Manhattan, there’s a four-part music-and-interview series on Paramount Plus culled from last year’s virtual pre-Grammy galas; a Clive Davis Gallery with personal items from across his career at New York University’s Brooklyn location; an interview on the “Rock & Roll High School With Pete Ganbarg” podcast airing April 14; a talk at the 92 St.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs predicted, Swedish House Mafia and the Weeknd will replace Kanye West at Coachella on Sunday night.They will perform in the festival-closing Sunday night slot, joining Harry Styles (Friday) and Billie Eilish (Saturday) as Coachella’s 2022 headliners.Although many media outlets reported that the Weeknd would take the slot himself, that was never a realistic proposition: For the past several months he’s been immersed in the HBO series “The Idol” — which he is co-writing, co-directing and stars in — and his own stadium tour doesn’t start until July.Other names thrown into the week’s frenzied prediction mix include Justin Bieber, Travis Scott, Silk Sonic (featuring Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak) and Tyler, the Creator. When the 2022 Coachella lineup was announced back in early January, Swedish House Mafia had rare, almost unprecedented placement in the hierarchy of the festival’s all-important official poster: in a headliner-sized font, but at the bottom of the lineup, and with no specific date listed.A few days later, Variety unspooled several hundred words speculating about what that might mean, one possibility of which was that the festival was hedging its bets in case headliner Kanye West — who’d pulled out of a previous Coachella lineup literally days before it was announced — pulled out again, which is exactly what happened on Monday.It is important to note that not just anyone can pull off a headlining set at North America’s biggest and most popular music festival.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDowntown Music Services has inked a global music publishing administration agreement with Brooklyn-based artist, composer and producer Daniel Lopatin, the company announced Wednesday.Lopatin, who records and performs as Oneohtrix Point Never, has released multiple albums and tracks over the years including his most recent project, “Magic Oneohtrix Point Never.”He also has collaborated extensively with the Weeknd over the past two years, serving as an executive producer on the recent “Dawn FM” album, and also was musical director of the artist’s 2021 Super Bowl Half Time performance. Earlier this year he completed work on his first full album production for another artist, Soccer Mommy’s upcoming album “Sometimes, Forever.” His production credits over the years also include David Byrne, Moses Sumney, Anohni and Charli XCX as well as collaborations with Iggy Pop, Rosalía, James Blake and Elizabeth Fraser.His original film scores include Josh and Benny Safdie’s “Uncut Gems” and “Good Time,” for which he received the Best Soundtrack Award at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhen the 2022 Coachella lineup was announced back in early January, Swedish House Mafia had rare, almost unprecedented placement in the hierarchy of the festival’s all-important official poster: in a headliner-sized font, but at the bottom of the lineup, and with no specific date listed.Variety unspooled several hundred words speculating about what that might mean, one possibility of which was that the festival was hedging its bets in case headliner Kanye West — who’d pulled out of a previous Coachella lineup literally days before it was announced — pulled out again, which is exactly what happened on Monday.Yet in the hours after news broke that West would not be performing at the festival, which starts in 10 days, speculation was rife about who — if anyone — might fill his slot. Variety has been blowing up phones for the past 24 hours trying to find out what’s what (as has Hits magazine), and while we don’t have any definitive answers, we’ve got some interesting off-the record perspectives.