Guns N’ Roses, Eagles, Pearl Jam Took PPP Loans for Canceled Tours

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA tearful Megan Thee Stallion took to Instagram Live on Monday afternoon to thank her fans, assail her haters and speak briefly about the July 12 incident during which she says she was shot in her feet. On that night, she and another woman were in a car with rapper Tory Lanez when he was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEven though its existence was announced just 15 hours before its release, Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” sold more than 1.3 million copies globally in just 24 hours, according to Republic Records, which released the album.According to the announcement, the album also broke the global record for first-day album streams on Spotify by a female artist with 80.6 million streams, and delivered “the most-streamed pop album on Apple Music in 24 hours” with 35.47 million streams.

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 EditorIf there’s one thing that can make most of the music world stand still, it’s a surprise Taylor Swift album. And that’s exactly what happened Thursday night for “Folklore,” an album that virtually no one who hadn’t signed a non-disclosure agreement knew was coming until Swift revealed on Thursday morning that it was coming in about 15 hours.

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 EditorPandora has announced a new virtual concert series, which kicks off with country artist Kane Brown on July 28.

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,

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhile Taylor Swift always has a group of collaborators on her albums, there’s usually one chief wingman, whether it was Nathan Chapman, Max Martin and Shellback, or, as on her last pair of albums, Jack Antonoff.But for her surprise-announced eighth album “Folklore,” which drops tonight, it’s apparently Aaron Dessner of the long-running Brooklyn-based band The National, who co-wrote and produced 11 of the project’s 16 tracks.Although well-known to alternative music

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTaylor Swift surprise-announced that she will be releasing her eighth studio album, “Folklore,” at midnight tonight — July 24th.In a social media posts, Swift explained that the album is the result of many of her plans for 2020  — including a short stadium tour supporting her 2019 album “Lover”  — were scrapped due to the pandemic.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrimary Wave Music Publishing has acquired a stake in the music publishing catalog and master recordings of Devo, one of the most influential and longest-running acts to emerge from the new wave era.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt appears that the lobbying by representatives for independent venues has at least begun to pay off on Capitol Hill: Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota introduced a new relief bill for indie venues impacted by the coronarvirus pandemic.The “Save Our Stages Act” would provide six months of financial support to help “keep venues afloat, pay employees and preserve a critical economic sector for communities across America,” according to the

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe series of videos from The Weeknd’s blockbuster album “After Hours” continues with “Snowchild,” a semi-autobiographical song from the album that gets a semi-autobiographical animated treatment from the D’ART Shtajio studio, the first black-owned Japanese animation studio in Japan.The clip — which is loaded with easter eggs for fans — begins with his busted-nose “After Hours” character in the desert, then quickly segues to The Weeknd’s hometown of Toronto and

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn what would have been Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell’s 56th birthday (July 20), his estate has posted the singer’s previously unreleased cover of Guns N’ Roses’ ballad, “Patience.”The song, originally released on GNR’s 1988 compilation “Lies,” unveiled a more acoustic and sensitive side of the band that it had showcased during low-key performances after the release of their debut album the previous year, “Appetite for Destruction” (although another song on the

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPollstar has revealed the second annual “Impact 50,” its list of the 50 top executives having the most influence on today’s live business. The honorees (see full list below) are spotlighted in the new issue of the magazine, which also features a cover interview with Dayna Frank, head of the National Independent Venues Assn.

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.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorKhalid and Post Malone tied for Songwriter of the Year and Halsey’s 
“Without Me,” co-written with Delacey, won Song of the Year
 at the 2020 BMI Music Awards. Sony/ATV Music won awarded Publisher of The Year for the eighth time.BMI also celebrated the songwriters and publishers of the 50 most-performed Pop songs of the previous year.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUPDATED: Malibu Entertainment, a company connected to Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming service, was among the businesses applying for and accepting Paycheck Protection Program loans for between $2 million and $5 million, according to documents released by the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department; a source close to the situation tells Variety the loan was for $2.1 million.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA new photo and poster effort called Bring Music Home (BMH) has been launched, in an effort to document and raise funds for the hundreds of music venues across the U.S. that have been financially devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Rolling Stones have announced a deluxe edition of their 1973 album “Goats Head Soup,” a 4-CD boxed set with 10 unreleased tracks and a full concert from the same year. The set is due on Sept.