Dave Matthews Band, HeadCount Rally Music World Around National Voter Registration Day Tuesday

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn World Mental Health Day, Saturday, October 10, MusiCares is launching a new Wellness in Music survey. According to the announcement, this new annual survey will help the organization to assess the music community’s mental health and wellness to better inform MusiCares of the needs facing their clients.“As we settle into month seven of the global pandemic, MusiCares is asking music professionals with 5+ years of experience to share their honest realities,

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBritish soul singer Celeste has dropped the video for her new single “Hear My Voice,” via Interscope Records.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJay-Z and Meek Mill’s Reform Alliance announced today that it has bolstered its executive leadership team with the hiring of Janet Choi as Chief Content and Communications Officer.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFoo Fighters, Miley Cyrus, Dave Matthews, the Roots, Brittany Howard, G-Eazy, Leon Bridges, YG, Finneas and Phoebe Bridgers are just some of the 35 acts who will perform at the #SOSFEST, a three-day virtual music festival to spread awareness of the $10 billion Save Our Stages Act currently before Congress, and raise funds for independent venues that are the beneficiaries of the act — if it passes.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA 77-track benefit album featuring Pearl Jam, David Byrne, Aimee Mann and many others raised more than $550,000 for voting-rights organizations on Friday, the only day it was available.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Live Free 999 Fund established in honor of the late rapper Jarad “Juice WRLD” Higgins by his mother announced today that it has donated a complete set of band and orchestral instruments to his former school, Deer Creek Christian School, in Chicago Heights, IL. The instrument donation fully outfits the school’s band and orchestra and also provides beginning instruments for younger students in the preschool through second grade levels.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGoldenvoice, founder and producer of the Coachella Festival, has announced several social-justice initiatives including Black Lives Matter-inspired clothing by four Black designers based in California.The initiatives, launched by GV Black, an internal organization launched in 2017 to “guide the venues, festivals, and company forward in the mission to expand on racial justice work,” include:We commit to continuously evolve as a festival that not only speaks on

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBack in February, Billie Eilish dropped “No Time to Die,” the theme song from the James Bond film of the same name.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTwitch, the livestreaming and gaming platform owned by Amazon, now offers users a way to avoid avoid copyright takedowns when using music, although it has not yet licensed by major labels.The platform on Wednesday announced the beta launch of Soundtrack by Twitch, a music-streaming service within the platform that includes more than a million songs by independent artists that users can employ in their livestreams, legally and free of charge, with all rights cleared.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrimary Wave Music Publishing and Lava Media have announced a new business relationship that sees Primary Wave making an investment in the Lava Media businesses, including the “Lava Music” and “Lava for Good” podcasts, and providing marketing and branding support for the podcasts as well as access to Primary Wave’s roster of artists and writers.In addition, Lava will work closely with Primary Wave on new publishing signings and catalog acquisitions and will

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLast week, Universal Music Group and its Task Force for Meaningful Change (in partnership with UMG’s °1824 and Diversity & Inclusion teams, Def Jam Forward, Interscope/Geffen/A&M and Republic Record’s Action Committee), launched a series of special programs and discussions in celebration of this year’s Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference.The events are free and open to the public.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBarely half a day after Tory Lanez refuted Megan Thee Stallion’s allegations that he shot her via the lyrics in his surprise album “Daystar,” Megan’s team fired back with a claim that representatives for Lanez have attempted to stage a “smear campaign” against her in an effort to discredit her claims against him.The incident in question took place in Los Angeles on July 12, when Lanez was arrested for possession of a concealed firearm after being pulled over in a

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhen you love something — a person, a dessert, a hat, or in this case, an album — you tend to want more of it. Usually, in the case of albums, there are some leftover songs that are not-quite-as-good as the ones that made the cut, and occasionally there are great ones.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUTA announced that Samantha Kirby Yoh has been named co-head of UTA Music, joining David Zedeck in overseeing the company’s worldwide music operations.“Sam and David see eye-to-eye on how to build a great music business and will be strong partners in leading UTA Music,” said UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer. “We have long admired Sam’s success working with unique and powerful artists, and we’re thrilled she has chosen to join us.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorC.J. Strock, formerly of William Morris Endeavor, joins Patrick McAuliff and Phil Egenthal, formerly of Paradigm Talent Agency to form Mint Talent Group, the new company announced early Tuesday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSuperstar DJ Tiesto, alt-rock group Fitz & the Tantrums, bluegrass artist Billy Strings and funk-jam band Lotus will perform concerts from Red Rocks Amphitheater that will be livestreamed in 4K via Nugs.net, from Thursday to Sunday this week.There will be an “extremely limited number” of in-person tickets made available for purchase via axs.com and redrocksonline.com and in strict accordance with venue and local government safety guidelines, according to the

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMusic publishing giant Kobalt, whose roster includes Paul McCartney, The Weeknd, Dave Grohl, Childish Gambino and Lorde, responded to sale rumors that broke into the open on Wednesday evening with a wordy “maybe.”“We’ve always had great interest in the company,” a rep for Kobalt said in statement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGrammy-winning DJ-producer Tiesto has signed a worldwide deal with Atlantic and Big Beat Records and will drop a new single called (fittingly enough) “The Business” next Friday (Sept. 25) — hear a preview of the song below.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorToots Hibbert, who passed away Friday night at the age of 77, was one of the last surviving founders of reggae music. The influence of his six-decade career is evidenced by the wide variety of artists paying tribute to him in the hours after his death.Ziggy Marley, recording artist and son of reggae titan Bob — who was a friend and contemporary of Hibbert’s — wrote, “The Legendary Toots Hibbert has passed.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDespite the COVID-19 pandemic, revenues for recorded music actually increased in the U.S. in the first half of 2020, according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s mid-year report.