Grammy Chief Harvey Mason jr. Talks Rule Changes, Jon Batiste’s Big Nominations, and Rock Category

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRepublic Records has promoted Lucas Romeo to senior VP of promotion, effective immediately, EVP Gary Spangler announced on Monday.Based in New York, Romeo will oversee promotion efforts across multiple formats, guiding the promotion team and breaking artists in today’s new landscape. Romeo joined Republic in 2014 as regional promotion manager in Nashville, before returning to New York to serve as VP of Top 40.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhy was pioneering hip-hop photographer Ricky Powell important? This exclusive clip from the forthcoming Showtime documentary “The Individualist” — which premieres tonight (Dec. 10) at 8 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJack White has announced the first dates of his 2022 “Supply Chain Issues” tour, with shows in North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom.The Live Nation-produced tour — which includes White’s first headline shows in four years — will begin with two special “Fear of the Dawn” album release shows on April 8-9, 2022 at Detroit’s Masonic Temple Theatre and continue through August 29 in Kansas City (full list of dates below).Third Man Records Vault Members will have

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs we all keep our fingers crossed for a full return to things like music conferences, the South by Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) has announced a second round of showcasing artists invited to perform at the 36th annual event.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhen the 2022 Grammy nominations were announced late last month, many people were surprised to see ABBA’s first song in nearly 40 years, “I Still Have Faith in You,” as a nominee for Record of the Year.They shouldn’t have been: ABBA are one of the most popular, influential and successful groups in the history of the world.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAhead of the reveal of the 2021 Time magazine prestigious Person of the Year honor, happening Monday, December 13, the publication on Thursday has revealed that Olivia Rodrigo is its 2021 Entertainer of the Year and Simone Biles the 2021 Athlete of the Year.Rodrigo was featured on the cover of Variety’s Young Hollywood issue over the summer and was named Songwriter of the Year at our Hitmakers event on Saturday, where she gave a moving acceptance speech and was

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRepublic Records has named Dave Rocco to the newly created role of chief creative officer, label founders Monte Lipman and Avery Lipman announced on Wedesday. According to the announcement, Rocco “will bring his creative vision, innovative thinking and strategic expertise to Republic and its world-class roster of artists.”“In many ways, Dave is an artist trapped in an executive’s body,” said Monte Lipman.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDef Leppard and lead singer Joe Elliott, Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon and John Taylor, Living Colour, Rob Thomas, Gary Oldman and more are among the artists joining the second annual “A Bowie Celebration,” set for January 8, 2022, what would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTravis Scott denies allegations, including negligence, in the multiple lawsuits that have been filed against him for the Astroworld Festival tragedy, CNN states, citing court documents filed by Scott’s attorneys.Nearly 150 lawsuits have been filed in the Nov. 5 tragedy, in which 10 people died after the crowd rampaged during Scott’s headlining set at the festival.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGreg Tate, an American music and culture writer and musician, has died, a rep for Tate’s publisher Duke University Press confirmed to Variety. He was 64; a cause of death was not provided.While his writing touched on many aspects of  African-American culture, he is probably best known as a vital early hip-hop writer, particularly in his many years at the Village Voice.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUTA has signed musician and former Poison frontman Bret Michaels in all areas.“Bret Michaels is a true multi-hyphenate. From music and branding, to sports and reality tv he brings 1000% to all his business endeavors and we are honored to welcome him to our roster,” said David Zedeck, partner and co-head of global music.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAtlantic Records has announced a new artist development partnership and joint venture label deal with Detroit-based independent music company Assemble Sound.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLive Nation Entertainment, the world’s largest live-entertainment company, has closed its long-in-the works acquisition of a 51% controlling interest in OCESA Entretenimiento, a leading promoter in Latin America. The aggregate purchase price was MXN $8,835 million (around U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDrake has withdrawn his two Grammy nominations, a rep for the Recording Academy has confirmed to Variety.Sources tell Variety that the decision was made by Drake and his management, although his motivation was unclear at the time of this article’s publication.He was nominated for Best Rap Album for his “Certified Lover Boy” album and Best Rap Performance for his song “Way 2 Sexy” (featuring Future and Young Thug).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGrammy-nominated singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo — who was honored at Variety’s Hitmakers awards on Saturday — has announced dates for the her 2022 “Sour Tour” in support of her RIAA double-platinum certified debut album, “Sour.”Kicking off April 2 in San Francisco, the tour will visit more than 40 major cities across North America and Europe, including two-night runs at Radio City Music Hall in New York and L.A.’s Greek Theatre before wrapping with two nights at

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHaim have announced the dates for their pandemic-delayed tour in support of their Grammy-nominated 2020 album “Women in Music Pt. III” (and, indirectly, Alana Haim’s star turn in Wes Anderson’s “Liquorice Pizza”).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSince his career as a hitmaker first took off with Kelly Clarkson’s 2004 smash “Since U Been Gone,” Lukasz Gottwald — a.k.a. Dr. Luke, Tyler Trax and others — has reigned as one of the world’s top hitmakers via songs with Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball,” Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” Britney Spears’ “Hold It Against Me,” Pink’s “U + Ur Hand” and many more, and his Prescription Songs proves he’s no slouch as a publisher, either.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBroadly speaking, record-label bosses tend to have similar backgrounds, rising through A&R, promotion or management ranks, usually hitting a massive success that lands them the big job. And while Max Lousada, Warner Music Group’s head of recorded music, has followed some of that model, his background is unusual by any stretch, and is reflected not just in WMG’s approach to music but in the roster itself.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBola Sete was an astonishing Brazilian guitarist whose music tread the line between jazz (he played with Dizzy Gillespie and Vince Guaraldi) and bossa nova.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWendy Goldstein, the newly minted co-president of Republic Records and A&R executive for the Weeknd, Ariana Grande, the Jonas Brothers and now John Legend, received some strong, backhanded inspiration when she was starting out as a 19-year-old assistant in Epic Records’ A&R department.“I was constantly told, ‘Women can’t be A&R people — what’s wrong with you?’” she says now.