With ‘Devastating’ Costs and COVID Risks, Many Musicians Can’t Make Touring Work

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Kendrick Lamar’s sold-out show at the Accor Arena in Paris on Saturday will be livestreamed exclusively through Amazon Music and Prime Video, the company announced today. The event will mark the 10-year anniversary of the release of Lamar’s monumentally influential album, “Good Kid, m.A.A.d City” and will give fans with a special look at Lamar’s 65-date world tour in support of his latest release, “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.” Airing live on October 22 at 2 p.m. ET, fans will be able to watch the livestream for free exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide, the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, and on the Amazon Music app. The stream will also feature sets from pgLang’s Tanna Leone and Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Baby Keem. Lamar’s performance will be available to view on-demand on Prime Video following the livestream event.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Warner Chappell Music publishing has unveiled an original podcast series called “Setting the Standard: Stories from the Great American Songbook,” in partnership with Bang/Audiation – the team behind WCM’s podcast “Final Sessions: Harry Nilsson’s Losst and Founnd.” The new podcast will “weave together story and song into a tapestry of American cultural history for songwriters, historians, musicians, artists, and fans alike,” according to the announcement. Launching on October 25th, “Setting the Standard” will feature eight episodes – each on a different legendary songwriter – starting with three-time Oscar-winning and pioneering film composer Harry Warren. Additional episodes will roll out throughout the year and spotlight composers and songwriters including Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Jule Styne, and more. Using historical sources and new discussions with scholars, critics, artists, and family members, the series will tell the stories of their lives and highlight their most iconic songs. It will also feature exclusive interviews from artists like Billy Corgan and Michael Feinstein, and top songwriters such as Justin Tranter.

Another actress nearly played Olivia Rodrigo‘s role on HSM: The Series – Just Jared Jr Certain British royals and former Parliament members are trying to get everyone to boycott The Crown – Celebitchy The internet can’t handle Usher serenading Issa Rae – Popsugar Laura Marano was just honored with a big award – Just Jared Jr

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Grammy and Oscar winning singer-songwriter Sam Smith has announced their fourth studio album, “Gloria,” will be released on January 27, 2023 via Capitol Records. Made with longtime collaborators Jimmy Napes, Stargate and Max Martin stablemate Ilya, the album is described in the announcement as “not only a creative revelation but something of a personal revolution for the celebrated artist. Lyrically, the subjects dive deep and wide, into contemporary narratives around sex, lies, passion, self-expression and imperfection.” Smith says, “It feels like emotional, sexual and spiritual liberation. It was beautiful, with this album, to sing freely again. Oddly, it feels like my first-ever record. And it feels like a coming of age.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In the digital age, the traditional songbook — filled with lyrics and sheet music and maybe some pictures — can feel like a lost art, but it certainly is not to classical musicians, and particularly musical theater veterans. So even for Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Pulitzer winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, his first songbook, containing 27 songs from “Hamilton,” “Encanto,” “In the Heights” and more, was a big deal.Can’t believe there’s enough music for a collection, but here we are. I have a songbook. From In The Heights through Encanto. Wrote a foreword and everything. Overwhelmed and proud and grateful. Available now from @hal_leonard. -LMM pic.twitter.com/ydfREAs3Ym Such a big deal that Miranda’s songbook-release party in Manhattan last week was an extended-family gathering, attended by his parents, sister, nephews, friends, music teachers from several New York schools — and even Lin-Manuel’s former teachers — as well as city music programs serving underrepresented children, and fellows from the Miranda Family Fellowship Program, which aims to increase access to education and careers in the arts for emerging artists from underrepresented communities.

Lizzo happily reunited with fellow singer, Harry Styles, in a new photo collage that she uploaded onto her Twitter earlier Sunday morning. The Truth Hurts hitmaker, 34, and talented performer, 28, held excited smiles as they ran into each other in Chicago amid both of their tours.  The former One Direction member, who has been on the road for his Love On Tour,  and the rapper, who has also been performing on stage for her Special Tour, have had a close and supportive friendship since 2019.  Friendship: Lizzo, 34, uploaded a tweet earlier Sunday showcasing herself spending time with her friend and fellow musician, Harry Styles, 28 The Grammy award-winning singer shared a photo compilation of both herself and Harry high-fiving each other while enjoying some downtime backstage.  The duo held big smiles and appeared to be having a blast as they spent time catching up.

Olivia Rodrigo decided to make a trip to New York City, to watch ‘Funny Girl’ on Broadway. The talented singer, who recently visited Katy Perry at her Las Vegas residency, was spotted Wednesday night at NYC’s August Wilson Theater, watching Lea Michele take the stage.Olivia was thrilled to watch Lea’s performance as Fanny Brice, even taking a moment to visit the star backstage, posing for a sweet photo.

“Don’t Worry Darling,” according to a new interview. Wilde, 38 — who directed the film as well as starring with Pugh — said it’s “shocking” to see “so many untruths traded as fact,” in regards to the behind-the-scenes drama of the highly anticipated flick.Speaking with Ellefor the 2022 Women in Hollywood November issue, Wilde said Pugh made a “wise comment” when she recently quipped that the cast “didn’t sign up for a reality show.”“And I love that she put it that way, because it’s as though the general public feels that if you are making something that you’re selling to the public, you somehow have accepted that your life will be torn to shreds by a pack of wolves,” Wilde continued. “No, that’s actually not part of the job description.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor TikTok parent ByteDance has begun talks with music labels about expanding its music-streaming service into more than a dozen markets in a move that would place it in direct competition with Spotify, Apple Music and other major streaming services, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to the report, the initial plan is to expand the company’s Resso service, which is currently only available in India, Indonesia and Brazil, into more than a dozen markets, although the U.S. is not said to be part of the next phase of expansion. The Journal’s sources say significant hurdles remain in the negotiations, but ByteDance wants the service to eventually be integrated within TikTok and to serve as a major platform for distributing music around the world.

Rapper, singer and rising actor Bad Bunny scored a leading eight nominations for the 2022 American Music Awards, which will be handed out next month. Beyoncé, Drake and Taylor Swift are next with six noms each, followed by Adele, Harry Styles and The Weeknd with five apiece.

American Music Awards nominations have arrived!The hottest acts in music will reunite for the annual celebration at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles in November. This year, reigning Favorite Male Latin Artist Bad Bunny leads the pack with a whopping eight nominations! If he were to sweep, he'd tie Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston for most awards won in a single year!Meanwhile, superstars Beyoncé and Taylor Swift hold the honor of being the most nominated female artists this year, with six nods each, while Adele, Harry Styles, and The Weeknd follow close behind with five a piece.Check out the full list of nominees — which also includes some brand-new categories! Adele Bad Bunny Beyoncé Drake Harry Styles Taylor Swift The Weeknd Dove Cameron GAYLE Latto Måneskin Steve Lacy Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Cast “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” Elton John & Dua Lipa “Cold Heart — PNAU Remix” Future ft.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Bruno Mars has announced that Silk Sonic — the R&B duo consisting of him and Anderson .Paak — will not submit their album “An Evening With Silk Sonic” for Grammy consideration, he told Rolling Stone. “We truly put our all on this record, but Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album this year,” Mars said. “We hope we can celebrate with everyone on a great year of music and partake in the party. Thank you for letting Silk Sonic thrive.” The album’s lead single, “Leave the Door Open,” was released in April of 2021 and won four Grammys for which it was nominated at the 2022 awards, including album and single of the year. The album was released last November and thus of last year and is not only eligible for 2023 awards, but was expected by nearly all prognosticators to be a top contender for album of the year .

The 2022 American Music Awards nominations are in!

Jordan Moreau Bad Bunny leads the 2022 American Music Awards nominations with eight nods, followed by Beyoncé, Drake and Taylor Swift with six apiece. The Weeknd, Adele and Harry Styles each earned five nominations. The winners will be announced at the awards show on Sunday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. EST/PST on ABC at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Fan voting for all awards is now open via VoteAMAs.com and Twitter, except for favorite K-Pop Artist which will open on Tuesday, Nov. 1. See the full list of nominations below. ARTIST OF THE YEARAdeleBad BunnyBeyoncéDrakeHarry StylesTaylor SwiftThe Weeknd

Giving Us deja vu! Joshua Bassett had jokes when he took to social media to seemingly poke fun at his breakup with his High School Musical: The Musical: The Series costar Olivia Rodrigo.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic When it comes to the 2023 Grammys, it’s easy to jump ahead and look at what we expect will be the final showdown on Feb. 3 between the top two competitors — Adele and Beyoncé. Because, yes, in the top three general categories, it’s likely to be a narrow contest that runs the gamut from A to B, as it were … almost a direct sequel to the 2017 Grammy race, in which “25” was pitted against “Lemonade.” The big question may be, will this movie have the same ending, with Adele apologizing to Bey for besting her, again? But there’s a lot of road to travel before then and considerable suspense over which other eight artists will fill out the 10 available slots in the album, record and song of the year categories. (The Recording Academy upped the slots from eight at the last minute last year, only in those divisions.) The only other virtual certainties in all three of those categories are Harry Styles and Silk Sonic, neither of whom can be completely counted out as ultimate winners, should the voting members decide they don’t even want to have to decide between all that big diva energy again

At the time of writing, we're 151 days or 21 weeks into Little Mix's hiatus (if you know, you know). In that time, Leigh-Anne Pinnock's been keeping fans updated through her newsletters, Jade Thirlwall's been living her best life with Janet Jackson and Perrie Edwards has been...keeping a fairly low public profile.

during a Vogue cover shoot.They’ve appeared in the hands of modern folk-rockers like Kurt Vile — who was spotted plucking one on the cover of his excellent 2015 album “B’lieve I’m Goin Down.”Seizing on the resonator’s renaissance, guitar giant Fender has launched a brand new take on the guitar, the PR-180E Resonator, as part of its Paramount Bluegrass collection.News.com.au was lucky enough to try one and we can see what all the fuss was about.The versatile axe can be used for traditional and modern music styles and it has a booming tone that accentuates finger-picking.It can be used as a normal acoustic guitar with an added warmth and volume due to its spider resonating cone, or it can be used as a lap steel slide to hit those sweet country swells.You can pick one up for $595 from the Fender website.It’s clear from the rise of the resonator and the fact that Kate Bush and Metallica are topping the charts show that retro is on the rise in today’s world.The fascination of the vintage era, from classic songs re-entering the charts decades later through TikTok or thrifting as a sport, shows 82 percent of consumers feel a positive emotion when purchasing vintage items.It is with that in mind that Fender has today announced the American Vintage II Series, an electric guitar and bass line celebrating Fender’s iconic models through the decades, equipped with authentic specifications and aesthetics for lovers of vintage-inspired style and sound. During the monumental musical decades of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, Fender forever reshaped the sonic landscape with its innovative electric guitar and bass designs.“The iconic models in the American Vintage II Series are a near 1:1 comparison with their original predecessors.

Charlie Puth doesn’t think that Harry Styles is one of his biggest fans. During an interview on the on Tuesday, the “Light Switch” singer recalled the reason why Styles may not be too fond of him.  Puth shared that during the “2014 One Direction era” right after he signed his record deal, he went into a high-profile sushi restaurant, and that’s where he accidentally blew the star’s cover after he walked into the place with his manager.