Women in Music Industry Still Face ‘Prevalent’ Discrimination, Underpayment and Under-Recognition: ‘Women in the Mix’ Study

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSlimkid3, Imani and Fatlip of the Pharcyde were never supposed to rap together again. After producing two classic ‘90s hip-hop albums — “Bizarre Ride: The Pharcyde” and “Labcabincalifornia” — the galvanizing West Coast hip-hop group crumbled and went their separate ways.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe family of legendary singer-songwriter Nat King Cole, one of the most important and influential musicians of the 20 th century, has entered into an agreement with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group to manage and expand his legacy to new generations, the company announced today.Details of the transaction were not disclosed, beyond the fact that it “encompasses a broad range of rights from Cole’s legendary career including his recorded music, publishing, television shows, and name and likeness.”In the decades before his 1965 death from lung cancer at the age of just 45, Cole scored more than 150 singles across Billboard’s pop, R&B, and country charts and has sold an estimated 50 million-plus records worldwide. While best known as a crooner, he was a formidable jazz musician as well, and is best known for classics like “The Very Thought of You,” “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” “Unforgettable,” “Nature Boy,” “Stardust,” “When I Fall In Love,” “Mona Lisa,” “L-O-V-E,” and the holiday staple, “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire).” As the announcement notes, Cole, who was born in Alabama in 1919, was subjected to all the barriers of the Jim Crow era, yet his success played no small role in advancing Black Americans’ presence in entertainment and public perception.

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 EditorIn what is rapidly becoming a mass music exodus out of Russia, Kobalt became the third major company to announce on Thursday that it is suspending business activity in Russia due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Of the three global major labels, Sony and Warner announced their pullout within an hour of each other on Thursday morning, and Universal made the move on Tuesday.Kobalt’s move is doubly significant because although it is a global company, Kobalt was founded in London by Swedish-born Willard Ahdritz and in many ways is a European company.

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 EditorSony Music has suspended all of its operations in Russia, the company has confirmed to Variety. “Sony Music Group calls for peace in Ukraine and an end to the violence. We have suspended operations in Russia and will continue our support of global humanitarian relief efforts to aid victims in need.,” the company said in a statement.Sources tells Variety that the company’s staffers will continue to receive their salaries for an undetermined time; the artists’ situation is still being worked out.Universal Music Group announced that it is suspending its operations in the country on Tuesday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhile businesses across the globe have been pulling out of Russia, many have wondered why the music industry largely has not been following suit. While sanctions have severely hampered Russia’s global business and the music industry is a very small part of that business, the optics on continuing to work in the country are not good.CISAC, the global confederation of authors societies such as ASCAP and PRS, has launched a new support fund dedicated to helping the victims of the war in Ukraine, although it stopped short of suspending operations with Russia, as Universal Music Group and many other companies have.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“Clive Davis: Most Iconic Performances,” a four-art series featuring concert clips chosen by and interviews conducted by the legendary music executive, will premiere exclusively on Paramount Plus in the U.S. and internationally beginning Wednesday, March 23.In this special miniseries, culled from his virtual 2021 pre-Grammy Gala events, sees Davis taking viewers through some of his favorite musical performances from the last few decades.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe U.S. recorded-music business continues its upward swing, posting a near-record $15 billion in revenue for 2021, driven by a surge in streaming, solid vinyl and even CD sales, and the inclusion of TikTok music revenue for the first time.In fact, all major formats of music posted growth over the prior year, except digital downloads.

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 Editortoday (March 9). He is based in the Republic Records Los Angeles office.Most recently, Beard  spent a decade at APG, where he rose from intern to senior VP of A&R and brought in Charlie Puth, Alex Benjamin and Pink Sweat$; he also has worked closely with David Guetta, Jason Derulo, Pitbull and Flo Rida, in addition to songwriters such as Amy Allen, Sean Douglas, Madison Love, Salem Ilese, and others. He also worked extensively as a DJ in nightclubs across the U.S., on-air for KIIS-FM and at private events.Goldstein said, “Miles has really set the pace for pop music with an unbelievable winning streak of incredible signings throughout the past decade.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter a giant boost in streams that followed Eminem’s Super Bowl Halftime performance with Dr. Dre, Mary J.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMitski, the National and the Roots will headline the Pitchfork Music Festival when it returns to Chicago’s Union Park, running from Friday, July 15 through Sunday, July 17.The Festival kicks off on Friday with The National, who played Pitchfork Music Festival’s first year in 2006, Spiritualized, Parquet Courts, Tierra Whack, Amber Mark, Dawn Richard, Tkay Maidza, Indigo De Souza, Spirit of the Beehive, Spellling, Camp Cope, Wiki, Ethel Cain, and CupcakKe.The festivities continue on Saturday with Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, Lucy Dacus, Low, Magdalena Bay, Dry Cleaning, Karate, Iceage, yeule, Arooj Aftab, The Armed, Chubby & the Gang, Hyd, and Jeff Parker & the New Breed. Closing day features The Roots, Toro y Moi, Earl Sweatshirt, Noname, BadBadNotGood, Cate Le Bon, Tirzah, Xenia Rubinos, Erika de Casier, Injury Reserve, Kaina, L’Rain, Sofia Kourtesis, and Pink Siifu.“This year’s lineup is a celebration of the rising indie class, and those who continue to pave the way for innovation,” said Puja Patel, editor in chief of Pitchfork.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs more and more companies have cut ties with Russia in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, many have wondered why more music companies have not done the same.Early Tuesday, the U.K.’s performing rights organization, PRS for Music, said it has formally and immediately suspended its rights representation relationship with RAO, the Russian collecting society for musical works, “pending confirmation of its separation from the Russian Government and those individuals and companies on the sanctions lists.“We are also working with CISAC to consider the ongoing membership of Russian societies in the global network. It is not our desire to punish the Russian composer, songwriter and publisher communities who support peace, and we will work with the global community to identify opportunities to amplify the voices of protest.

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 EditorKobalt today reported that its gross collections grew by 15% to $548 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021. The company also reported its first-ever year of profitability with $48.5 million EBITDA. The company also said it expects to approach $625 million in gross collections and near $65 million in EBITDA profit for the next fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, Kobalt sold two businesses: In May 2021, it sold its AWAL label services company and neighboring rights businesses for $430 million, which yielded a gain of over $335 million (and was recently approved by U.K.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the Prince estate slowly digs itself out of the legal and procedural morass that ensued after the legendary musician died in 2016 without leaving a will, a standoff between the estate and Morris Day, Prince’s near-lifelong friend and collaborator and frontman of the first Prince-spawned artist, broke into the open last week.At issue is Morris’ use of the name the Time, which an attorney for the estate claims it owns the rights to, citing a 1982 contract between Day and Prince. Day, who says his rights to use the name were never questioned by Prince himself over the many intervening years, blasted the estate on social media last week, and a rep shared the attorney’s letter, which proposes that Day license the name — presumably for a fee.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTom March has been named president of Geffen Records in the U.S., the company announced today (March 7). March, who as co-president of Polydor Records made the label one of the top imprints in the U.K., will begin his tenure at Geffen in July.Geffen Records was relaunched by Interscope Geffen A&M chairman & CEO John Janick two years ago as a label within Interscope, and it launched 2021’s breakout star Olivia Rodrigo, who is nominated for seven Grammy Awards.

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.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRepublic Records has appointed David Wolter executive vice president of A&R,label  co-president Wendy Goldstein announced today (March 7). He is based in Republic Records’ New York headquarters.Throughout his career,  Wolter has signed or worked closely with artists ranging from Gorillaz to Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers. At Republic, he will oversee upcoming releases for Benee, Greta Van Fleet, Jimmy Fallon and others, in addition to signing new talent.Prior to joining Republic Records, Wolter had been an executive VP of Virgin Records at Capitol Music Group since 2017.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHipgnosis Song Management has acquired the song catalog of Leonard Cohen, poet, novelist, performer and one of the most influential songwriters of the past 50 years. The Canadian-born artist, who died in 2016 at the age of 82, is an inductee of both the Songwriters Hall Of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.Hipgnosis has acquired rights in all 278 songs and derivatives written by Leonard Cohen, including “Hallelujah,” which has been covered more than 300 times.