Independent Artist Group Names Jarred Arfa EVP, Head Of Global Music

SAG-AFTRA soon will be signing “interim agreements” with truly independent producers that will allow many of them to start or continue production during the strike — as long as they are not affiliated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and agree to be bound retroactively to whatever contract terms eventually are achieved with the AMPTP when the strike is settled.  

Bruce Springsteen shows at Hyde Park, Blur‘s two nights at Wembley Stadium, The 1975‘s sold-out show in Hyde Park as well as acclaimed festival appearances by Billy Joel and Lana Del Rey.According to research conducted by the Music Venue Trust and City Hall, the gigs “supercharged” the city’s economy with an estimated £320million of ticket sales. Additional spending was attributed to hotel room bookings, eating out as well as public transport travel.“Music is the glue that binds London together.

The James Gunn and Peter Safran run DC Studios at Warner Bros. has made Candice McDonough their newly created EVP of Publicity and Communications.

Thania Garcia Universal Music Group (UMG) has partnered with Kevin “Chief” Zaruk and Simon Tikhman, co-founders of a leading entertainment and talent management company Core Entertainment (TCE), to launch The Core Records. The new global label venture will sign and develop new artists, working hand-in-hand with UMG’s network. Tikhman and Zaruk founded TCE with Live Nation in 2019 as an independent entertainment collective that specializes in talent management, business and strategic partnerships, and advancements in the music, technology, and lifestyle industries. Additionally, TCE develops film and television projects and works with professional athletes.

San Diego Union-Tribune has been acquired by an affiliate of Alden Global Capital’s MediaNews Group in a sale by the Los Angeles Times. Chris Argentieri, president and chief operating officer of the L.A. Times, confirmed the sale in a statement distributed to staff members and obtained by Variety on Monday. The message included words from owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, who purchased both the Times and Union-Tribune from Tribune Publishing in 2018. “The Union-Tribune is a great news organization with a long, distinguished history that I hope will continue to serve the San Diego community for generations to come,” said Soon-Shiong. “Our intention now is to focus on the ongoing work of transforming the L.A. Times into a self-sustaining institution. Our hometown of Los Angeles and the state of California – really, the West Coast – needs a strong, independent news organization. We believe in the L.A. Times and are committed to its future.”

Get ready for some major FOMO right now!

There’s no 4th of July party quite like Taylor Swift’s — and she celebrated the Tuesday, July 4, occasion in style with some of her closest friends.

The Scottish Government is set to be investigated by UK officials over concerns it has been spending public money on matters not within its remit, Parliament has heard.

Independence Day: Resurgence star Vivica A. Fox has said that she thinks the film needed Will Smith to be a successful sequel.The 2016 sci-fi film, released 20 years after Independence Day, bombed in the US with a domestic box-office figure of $102million but recouped its $165million budget following a better showing worldwide (globally, it took $389million).

APPOINTMENTSArtist services and rights management company Interstellar has announced the appointment of Vickie Nauman to its advisory board. “Interstellar is a business that has impressed me from the off, in terms of the calibre of the team, its commitment to its clients and, importantly, the passion they have for music and its creators”, she says. “The company sits right at the intersection of music and innovation, so I hope that it will benefit from my experience as it enters its next phase of growth”.————————————————–RELEASESNZCA Lines will release new EP ‘Universal Heartbreak’ on 22 Sep.

Vivica A. Fox is getting real about the Independence Day sequel she starred in and expressing how she really felt about the film.

Vivica A. Fox was feeling Will Smith‘s absence in the sequel to their 1996 hit movie Independence Day, and she thinks everyone else was, too.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Sony Pictures Television has announced a new division focusing on music development, headed by Palash Ahmed, who worked as a music producer before joining the company in 2017. The move is intended to leverage the company’s ties to Sony Music Group and the larger music industry. In this role, Ahmed will be collaborating on music-related projects across SPT’s production groups (U.S. scripted, international production, nonfiction and kids divisions).  SPT Chairman Ravi Ahuja made the announcement in an internal note to staff, obtained by Variety. 

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Top editors are rallying behind Poland’s independent media as it comes under increased scrutiny from the country’s right-wing, nationalist government. In a joint statement, the editors in chief of local outlets such as Fakt, Polityka and Gazeta Radomszczańska as well as international media such as Forbes and Canal+, have said they “declare our unwavering dedication to stand firm and defend the independence of Polish journalism.” “Newsrooms under our leadership will exhibit solidarity and resolutely inform the public about any attempts by the ruling party to exert influence over the media,” reads the statement.

Darrell Issa Guest Columnist Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet represents California’s 48th Congressional District. Later today on the Nashville, TN campus of Belmont University, I’ll convene a field hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. The hearing won’t just take place in Music City, USA but five years after Congress achieved that rarest of things: A consensus solution that recognized the rights of musical artists and created a way they could be compensated fairly by publishers. It may be hard for some to believe, but at the time we crafted this legislation, the music industry and other content owners were being crushed by widespread piracy and an inability to monetize the value of musical creativity.

Warner Music Korea, the South Korean subsidiary of Warner Music, has issued a statement against claims by their agency Attrakt that it had attempted to illegally poach members of girl group FIFTY FIFTY.On June 26, K-pop girl group FIFTY FIFTY’s label Attrakt released a statement claiming that Warner Music Korea had been colluding with an unnamed third party to illegally poach members of the group.“We have evidence of [an outside party] clearly attempting to poach FIFTY FIFTY members illegally, and we request Warner Music Korea to provide an adequate explanation and answers,” said Attrakt earlier today, per Korea JoongAng Daily.This also comes several days after Attrakt stated last Friday (June 23) that it would take legal action against other agencies that had been spreading negative rumours about it “in an attempt to lure the members of FIFTY FIFTY” into breaking their exclusive contracts.Warner Music Korea has since denied the claims made by Attrakt in a new statement, per XSportsNews. “First, as FIFTY FIFTY’s overseas distributor, Warner Music Korea has has been working [with FIFTY FIFTY] since April 1, 2023,” it said, as translated by Soompi.“We have done our best to make the dazzling achievements of FIFTY FIFTY and their agency shine even brighter by mobilising Warner Music Group’s abilities and network, so we are very sorry that such unfortunate suspicions were raised,” added Warner Music Korea.The agency went on to say: “Attrakt’s claims are groundless, and we are regretful that they have sent [us] a certification of contents.

EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent has named Law Chen, Raven Jackson, Erin Li, Miguel Nuñez, Victoria Rivera and Claudia Sparrow as the filmmakers set for its second annual Episodic Directing Intensive.

EXCLUSIVE: Artist International Group, the globally minded management and production company founded by David Unger, on Thursday announced its signing of Umut Aral, the award-winning director behind the hit Turkish-language Netflix series, Who Were We Running From?.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Jim Osborne is a product of the mailroom. The veteran talent agent, who has been named CEO of the newly christened Independent Artist Group, got his start in the representation field the old-fashioned way — by working his way of out of the ICM mailroom and assistant pool. Osborne has spent the past dozen years at APA, rising to partner in 2015 and to president in 2020. As of today, he advances to the top post, as APA combines into a new entity with Dennis Arfa’s music touring powerhouse Artist Group International. The deal brings such superstars into the fold as Billy Joel, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park and the Strokes, and was orchestrated in part by investor Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa Co. (which owned Artist Intl. and invested in APA in 2020).

The consolidation in the talent representation space continues. Agency for the Performing Arts and music touring agency Artist Group International (AGI) are merging, with the combined full-service agency rebranded as Independent Artist Group (IAG). APA President Jim Osborne is being named CEO of IAG, with Dennis Arfa, founder and CEO of AGI, as Chairman of the Music Division of IAG. Former longtime APA CEO Jim Gosnell will serve on the board of AGI alongside Osborne and Arfa.