‘Hundreds’ of Artists on Kobalt’s AWAL Earned More Than $100,000 in Streaming Revenue Last Year

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCompared with the avalanche of recent weeks, the days leading up to Labor Day weekend were relatively slow for incoming new songs — which means we went through just 80 instead of 120! — providing a great opportunity to shine a light on some lesser-known artists.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn an effort to rally support for the countless music venues impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of buildings across the U.S. — from New York’s Empire State Building to Seattle’s Space Needle — were illuminated in red light on Tuesday evening (Sept.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMore than 1,500 music venues across the U.S. will be illuminated in red light on Tuesday evening (Sept.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDespite the pandemic that has devastated global economies, revenues of BMG’s music division were up 4.8% year-over-year for the first half of 2020, reaching $308 million.The company’s operating income for the period was flat at $54 million, while the percentage of digital revenue was up 3%, from 56% to 59%.The company said it was its best first-half since it was founded in 2008, despite its 19 offices across the world being closed and its 926 staffers working

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEven in a pandemic, the VMAs found a way to start off their show with a bang: The Weeknd performed his smash single “Blinding Lights” 1,100 feet above New York, from the city’s highest observation deck, Edge at Hudson Yards.Weeknd was in the guise of the busted-nose character he portrays on his latest album, “After Hours,” and the performance began in a way similar to the album’s videos, which depict the character having a surreal and absolutely terrible night in

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEvery week, the avalanche gets bigger: Even though we’re reaching the end of the proverbial dog days of August, the songs keep coming, in greater numbers each week. I got nearly 400 emails between midnight and noon, and easily half were about new songs or albums (NOT COMPLAINING but wow).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe MTV VMAs are coming up fast, and the network has revealed its lineup of presenters: Anthony Ramos, Bebe Rexha, Bella Hadid, Drew Barrymore, Jaden Smith, Joey King, Kelly Clarkson, Machine Gun Kelly, Madison Beer, Nicole Richie, Sofia Carson and Travis Barker.Performers include Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, BTS, Doja Cat, CNCO, Maluma and Black Eyed Peas.Grande, Gaga, Billie Eilish and The Weeknd top the nominees list.

Aaliyah have commenced discussions that will likely see her full discography appear on streaming services for the first time.In a statement posted to social media, her estate said: “To our loyal fans: We are excited to announce that communication has commenced between the estate and various record labels about the status of Aaliyah’s music catalogue, as well as its availability on streaming platforms in the near future.”Official message from the Estate of Aaliyah Haughton.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor years, several high-profile artists — including Prince, Metallica, Bob Seger and others — held back their music from streaming services, due usually to the comparatively low royalty rates compared with physical product.However, in some cases, the holdout was due to disarray within the artist’s rights-holders — which has long been the case with Aaliyah, the R&B star who died in a plane crash in 2001 at the age of just 22.

Lance Bass' journey to fatherhood. The *NSYNC singer and his husband, Michael Turchin, «just lost our surrogate that we've had for over two years,» and are trying to find a replacement. «We're two and a half years in and we keep running into a lot of different hiccups,» Bass said in an interview with  on Friday. «We have not been — we haven't been pregnant since last year, you know, when we lost them last year.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEven in a week loaded with high-profile singles and albums, one song stands out: Pharrell and Jay-Z’s moving ode to Black entrepreneurship, “Entrepreneur,” which is part of an issue of Time magazine dedicated to the subject called “The New American Revolution” and curated by Pharrell.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPhoenix have released their first new song since 2017, “Identical,” which is featured in Sofia Coppola’s forthcoming film “On the Rocks,” which reunites the director with “Lost in Translation” star Bill Murray as well as Rashida Jones and Marlon Wayans.The song, the band’s first release since 2017’s album “Ti Amo,” can also be heard in the new trailer for the upcoming Original Films and A24 film.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWe at Variety try to shine a light on good deeds, and although we can’t say we condone Beggars Group CEO Paul Redding’s ambitious goal of swimming the English Channel in an effort to raise £200,000 for coronavirus relief and Black Lives Matter, we do applaud his intentions (and optimistically assume that he knows what he’s doing!).Redding aims to raise £200,000 for two music charities, the PRS Foundation (in the U.K.) and Sweet Relief Musicians Fund (U.S.).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs part of the #MC30 campaign celebrating the 30 years since her debut album was released, Mariah Carey will release a two-disc called called “The Rarities” on Oct.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOf all the music stars presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden could have spoken with in advance of the party’s national convention this week, Cardi B is certainly one of the most unfiltered.“I have a whole list of things that I want and I wish and I desire for our next president to root for us,” Cardi said when asked by Biden which issues are most important to her, on a Zoom call sponsored by Elle magazine.

hereHicks, from Rochdale, sent further messages 'complimenting' her and saying 'how pretty she was'.The court was told Hicks later asked the girl to delete the messages.He was arrested and claimed he didn't recall the messages he had sent to the girl.Hicks also said he was trying to 'boost her self esteem'.Prosecutors told how the messages were sent over the Christmas period."Christmas now for her is forever tainted by what happened," Judge Angela Nield said.The judge described Hicks's behaviour