Devo Inks Publishing and Recording Deal With Primary Wave Music (EXCLUSIVE)

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPhoebe Bridgers was already a rising star when her sophomore full-length “Punisher” was released in June, but the rapturous response the album has received from fans and critics has vaulted her career into the fast lane. Needless to say, Bridgers’ view of her incipient stardom is almost entirely from her Los Angeles apartment.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe three major music companies — Sony, Universal and Warner Music — have asked employees to work from home as much as possible for the rest of 2020 due to concerns over COVID-19.While the offices will be open for employees who must be there for business reasons, according to internal memos obtained by Rolling Stone (which first reported the news) and Variety, the companies, which are the largest recorded-music and music-publishing businesses in the world, have

Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited has acquired the 982-song music catalog of four-time Grammy winner Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, who under the terms of the deal will also join Hipgnosis’ Investment Adviser’s Advisory Board. The agreement includes 100% of Jerkins’ writer’s share of income for his early works and 100% of his publishing interest and writer’s share of income for his later works.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAhead of Spotify’s earnings call for its second-quarter results, the company’s cofounder and CEO Daniel Ek and CFO Paul Vogel got on the phone for a short call with Variety’s Jem Aswad and Todd Spangler.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNot surprisingly, Taylor Swift’s excellent surprise album has huffed up most of the oxygen on this mid-summer day — and Kanye West’s album will probably do the same, whenever he actually finishes it — but that’s all we’re going to say about them because this week saw an absolute avalanche of great new songs — and even two new songs by the Avalanches.It was a very difficult week to narrow the list down to five, so with a shout-out to the runners up — songs by Reese

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHuey Lewis and the News have dropped an eye-popping video for their single “While We’re Young” that is sure to win the hearts of any fans of old-school videogames and the ‘80s.The clip, styled like an early videogame, sees the Huey character walking through his life, reaching new levels and winning rewards with each milestone, with loads of references to high points in his and the band’s career (from “Level up: Puberty!” and “Record deal!” to “Platinum: You found a

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTikTok and the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), today announced the signing of a multi-year agreement, which accounts for TikTok’s past use of musical works and “sets up a forward-looking partnership,” according to the announcement.The popular mobile video site — which features music in many of its posts — and NMPA, the trade association representing American music publishers and songwriters, had previously sparred over terms, and according to sources,

“STOP, IT’S ME”Heard has said she was repeatedly assaulted by Depp during their stay in Australia.She described how at one stage, he had forced her, naked, against a kitchen counter covered in glass and pressed on her neck, choking her. Holding back tears, she told the court she tried to push him off, saying “Johnny stop, it’s me, stop please.”As she gasped for breath and writhed around, she said she cut her feet and arms on the glass.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDave Grohl has spoken out in defense of teachers as the Trump administration continues its “daunting and evermore politicized question of reopening our schools in the coronavirus pandemic.”In the first audio version of the Foo Fighters founder’s “Dave’s True Stories” series, Grohl — whose mother (pictured with him above) was a public school teacher — says:“Every teacher has a ‘plan.’ Don’t they deserve one too? My mother had to come up with three separate lesson

Dave Franco has thanked his wife Alison Brie for giving him the courage to make his directorial debut The Rental.The 35-year-old star heaped praise on the actress, who he married in 2017, after they teamed up for the new horror movie.

Denise Petski Senior Managing EditorEXCLUSIVE: The Act star Joey King has closed a first-look deal with Hulu.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor years many observers have said that the Recording Academy president/CEO role was too big for a single person, and the organization on Friday announced the creation of two key senior leadership positions — chief operating officer and chief industry officer — amid a larger staff reorganization.According to the announcement, key features of the reorganization are the streamlining of most of the Academy’s staff into three divisions:  the Entertainment / Consumer

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Prince Estate, in partnership with Warner Records, has dropped “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (1979 Version),” a previously unreleased early version of the song from the forthcoming expanded reissue of Prince’s classic 1987 album “Sign O’ the Times,” which is out September 25.“I Could Never Take the Place Of Your Man (1979 Version)” was recorded at Hollywood Sound Recorders, Studio A on May 23, 1979, and engineered by Bob Mockler.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCharli XCX is releasing a documentary film called “6ft Apart,” based on the recording of her quarantine album, “How I’m Feeling Now,” which was released in May. The album, the first to be made in quarantine by a major artist.

Warner Chappell Music, the music publishing arm of Warner Music Group, has signed an exclusive worldwide publishing deal with Bronco.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDina LaPolt is one of the music industry’s leading attorneys — and she is almost indisputably the loudest. Outspoken and seemingly fearless, the owner and founder of LaPolt Law represents artists including Steven Tyler, Britney Spears, 21 Savage, Deadmau5 and, for many years, the Tupac Shakur estate.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTwo men and two teens have been charged with killing rapper Pop Smoke during a robbery in February, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday (July 13).Corey Walker, 19, and Keandre Rodgers, 18, were each charged with murder Monday, with the special circumstance allegation that the murder occurred during the commission of a robbery and a burglary, making them eligible for the death penalty, according to the announcement.

The front desk supervisor at Johnny Depp’s Los Angeles penthouse building has told the High Court in London that she saw marks on Amber Heard’s body after Tesla founder Elon Musk had apparently spent the night there.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVeteran rapper and activist Talib Kweli announced today that he will be launching his new album, “Cultural Currency,” via the independent subscription service, Patreon. While artists like Kimbra and Ani DiFranco have released songs through the service, Kweli is the first major artist to use it for a full album.While details on the album itself were scant, the Patreon plans are spelled out in detail on https://www.patreon.com/TalibKweli.