Benjamin Blank Named President of Warner Music’s New Advertising and Creative Content Division

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe “Hella Mega Tour” featuring Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer has unveiled new dates, beginning in July and stretching into September.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOne thing we did not expect to see on this Spring Monday morning was a high-quality audio duel between two of the world’s biggest music streaming services.At around 9 a.m. ET, Apple announced that its Apple Music is bringing “industry-leading” sound quality to its subscribers, with the addition of Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHarvey Mason, jr. has been named the official president/CEO of the Recording Academy by the organization’s board of trustees, it announced on Thursday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor the past 15 months, many of us have felt starved by the absence of live music from our lives — as if our bodies have been deprived of an essential nutrient and we’re suffering from some existential scurvy.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDominican Bachata superstar Romeo Santos, along with Sony Music Latin, Endeavor Streaming and iNDemand, will premier two films — the concert film “Romeo Santos: Utopia Live From MetLife Stadium” and documentary “Romeo Santos: King of Bachata” — on pay-per-view June 25, 2021.Guests appearing in the films include Aventura, Cardi B, Daddy Yankee, El Chaval De La Bachata, Elvis Martínez, Emilio Estefan, Frank Reyes, Joe Veras, Kiko Rodríguez, Luis Vargas, Marc

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDef Jam Recordings, with iHeartMedia and Double Elvis are launching a new narrative podcast called “Here Comes the Break” today (Thursday, May 13).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorManuel Abud has been named CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, effective Aug. 1, the Board of Trustees announced on Wednesday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJust under a year ago, as protests gripped the U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd will perform at the Billboard Music Awards on May 23 — which is only fitting since he’s the top finalist this year with nominations in 16 categories, riding the success of his blockbuster “After Hours” album and its smash single “Blinding Lights,” which has crushed multiple streaming and chart records.Over the course of his decade-long career, the Weeknd has racked up a dazzling number of Billboard chart records: He’s had 34 top 40-charting hits on the

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLongtime Live Nation CFO Kathy Willard is retiring effective June 30, CEO Michael Rapino announced during the company’s earnings call on Thursday. The company is planning for Joe Berchtold, who currently serves as Live Nation’s president, to assume the role of president and CFO.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAgent-producer Brian Sher has been named president of Quality Films, the film and television division of Quality Control, the label and management company that spawned the careers of Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, City Girls, Migos and many more.According to the announcement, in his new role, Sher will oversee development and production of the company’s slate, which will emphasize culturally driven stories, as well as develop vehicles for the label’s artists.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHipgnosis Songs has acquired yet another catalog, this one from Andrew Watt, who recently was named 2021 Grammy Producer of the Year for his work with Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Post Malone and Ozzy Osbourne.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAvant-pop singer MNDR has returned with her first new material since 2019, a single co-produced by Grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson (Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse) called “Hell to Be You Baby.” The song is the title track from her second full-length album, slated for release on June 18th on WonderSound Records.The official video, directed by MNDR and video producers Glow in the Dirt, features a cameo from singer-songwriter Lawrence Rothman and, according to the

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA picture paints a thousand words, the old cliché goes, but it’s truly amazing how much publicity photos of musicians can say about a certain year: The clothes, the shoes, the hats, the belt buckles, the scarves — and most of all, the hairstyles (and lack of styles). G.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSolomon Sounds, ne Solomon Sobande, the former manager of the late rapper and songwriter XXXTentacion, has joined Capitol Records as senior vice president of A&R, reporting to Capitol Music Group (CMG) chairman and CEO Jeff Vaughn. Sounds is tasked with signing and develop artists for the company’s flagship label.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe new Wasserman Music agency and livestreaming service Twitch have partnered to launch “There is Light,” an indie-centric channel and concert series. The series will present 20 live concerts from independent music venues in the U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBillie Eilish, Post Malone, Megan Thee Stallion A$AP Rocky, J Balvin, Da Baby and many more are scheduled to perform at the 10 th anniversary edition of Governors Ball, New York’s largest music festival, on the weekend of Sept. 24-26 at the the Citi Field complex in the city’s borough of Queens.Other top-billed performers include Rufus Du Sol, Ellie Goulding, Leon Bridges, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Phoebe Bridgers, Portugal.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhen Variety interviewed the Weeknd over the weekend about the Grammys’ decision to eliminate nomination-review committees (more on that here), we naturally slipped in a question about the new music he recently hinted at in social media posts, which presumably will be the follow-up to his blockbuster 2020 album, “After Hours.” To our surprise, he answered the question — and in characteristic, slightly enigmatic fashion, no less.“If the last record is the after hours

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGoldman Sachs’ annual “Music in the Air” study is widely recognized in the music industry as an optimistic but authoritative survey of the business — and yet again, it will make Universal Music Group very happy, as it has valued the company at a whopping $53 billion ahead of its IPO, expected this fall.That’s up from the $36 billion posited in last year’s report, and shows the strength of the recorded-music and publishing businesses, which are primary among UMG’s

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBillie Eilish announced earlier this week that her second full-length album, the sarcastically titled “Happier Than Ever,” will be dropping in July, and has followed with a new single from it, “Your Power.”“this is one of my favorite songs i’ve ever written,” she wrote in an all-lowercase statement accompanying the song. “i feel very vulnerable putting this one out because i hold it so close to my heart.