Jackie Post to Head up Connection Music Publishing, New Company From Glassnote’s Daniel Glass and Chris Scully

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSinger-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter, newly signed to Island Records, is making a splash with her surprise first release on the label: a song that obviously addresses the drama surrounding her, “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” stars Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo, and Rodrigo’s smash hit, “Drivers License.”Many fans have speculated that Rodrigo’s song is about the rumored relationship between Bassett and Carpenter.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs promised, Billie Eilish has finally dropped her long-awaited collaboration with Spanish singer Rosalia, “Lo Vas a Olvidar (You Will Forget Her),” is dropping Thursday, Jan. 21, at noon ET / 9 a.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLate on the day that Lil Wayne officially received his long-rumored pardon from former President Trump, he dropped a new song called “Ain’t Got Time.”While the song’s lyrics don’t specifically address the pardon, he does reference the December 2019 federal weapons charges that were cleared by it.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt is no overstatement to say that on an Inauguration Day filled with memorable moments, 22-year-old poet Amanda Gorman’s poetry reading was definitely one of the most lasting.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA Michigan nurse whose informal performance of “Amazing Grace” at a local hospital became an online sensation last year will sing at a memorial for those who have died from COVID-19 on Tuesday (Jan. 19), ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.Lori Marie Key, 29, of Belleville, Michigan is set to sing “Amazing Grace” as part of the tribute ceremony to be held at 5:30 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDue to the ongoing Covid‐19 pandemic, the producers of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell have decided to postpone this year’s event until the fall. Jazz Fest 2021 is scheduled for October 8‐17.Quint Davis, Producer/Director of Jazz Fest, said, “We are all ready to get together again and share that special spirit that lives at Jazz Fest.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLegendary singer Ronnie Spector, who sang many of Phil Spector’s greatest productions as lead vocalist with the Ronettes and was married to him for six tumultuous years, posted about his death on Sunday, calling him a “brilliant producer but a lousy husband.”“It’s a sad day for music and a sad day for me,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “When I was working with Phil Spector, watching him create in the recording studio, I knew I was working with the very best.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn observance of what would have been Aaliyah’s birthday on Saturday, her estate posted an update on its progress in the long-overdue process of bringing her music to streaming services.Much of the influential R&B singer’s catalog, who died in a plane crash in 2001 at the age of 22, has never appeared legally on streaming services due to legal issues with her estate.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the wake of Hipgnosis Song’s blockbuster growth, former Geffen Records president Neil Jacobsen, who launched his own songwriter-producer management firm in 2019, is lining up a $200 million IPO on the New York Stock Exchange for a new company called the Music Acquisition Corporation.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a move that brought deep chagrin to songwriters and publishers and joy to the broadcasting industry, after years of talk, the Justice Department has decided to leave unchanged the 80-year-old consent decrees that govern the public performances of music, Makan Delrahim, the outgoing Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, announced Friday.The music publishing community and particularly performing-rights organizations ASCAP and BMI

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSylvain Sylvain, cofounder and rhythm guitarist of legendary early 1970s proto-punk quintet the New York Dolls, has died after a battle with cancer, according to a social media post by his wife and multiple media reports. He was 69.While often lambasted in their era — either as Rolling Stones knock-offs or for their shocking-at-the-time androgynous look — the Dolls were one of the key influences on punk rock, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEddie Vedder, Phoebe Bridgers, Brittany Howard, Laurie Anderson and more will perform at the 34th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert, which returns this year for a special virtual edition, combining live and pre-recorded segments streaming via the livestream platform Mandolin.Also joining composer and artistic director Philip Glass at the event, which is ordinarily held at New York’s Carnegie Hall, are Valerie June, Angélique Kidjo, Tenzin Choegyal, Rubin Kodheli

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBMG announced that it has acquired “outright” Fleetwood Mac co-founder Mick Fleetwood’s interests in the band’s recordings.The deal gives BMG Fleetwood’s royalty interest in over 300 recordings, including the hits including “Dreams” — which enjoyed a massive resurgence due to recent popularity on TikTok — “The Chain,” “Go Your Own Way” and “Landslide” from albums including the multiplatinum albums “Fleetwood Mac,” “Rumours,” “Tango in the Night” and others.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn an announcement that reflects Dr.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAtlanta rapper YFN Lucci is wanted on a murder charge in connection with the Dec. 10 shooting of 28-year-old James Adams last month in the southwest area of the city, Atlanta police confirmed to Variety.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorElectric Lady Studios, one of the few remaining major recording facilities in New York City, continues to expand its creative endeavors by striking a partnership with the estate of legendary indie singer/songwriter and visual artist Daniel Johnston.As part of the new partnership, Outsider Art Fair will present “Daniel Johnston: Psychedelic Drawings,” an exhibition of over 30 works by the late musician and self-taught artist, at the studio — you can see five examples

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt’s not the same as being there, but Sony unveiled a new technology — featuring Epic artist Madison Beer — at CES on Monday that at least looks a lot like an actual live concert.In it, Beer is a virtual avatar performing her song “Boyshit” at Sony Hall in New York before a virtual live audience on a virtual stage in a meticulous facsimile of the venue — although as the accompanying footage (below) shows, she was actually performing in a studio, wearing a

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNew York Music Month has become a city institution over the past four years, but for its 2021 iteration, New York Music Months would be a more appropriate title: The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) announces that this year, the series will become “New York Music Month Extended Play,” a six-month virtual edition of the program, launching January 11, 2021 and wrapping June 30, 2021.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOnline gaming platform Roblox announced Wednesday that it has raised $520 million in new Series H funding with investors that include Warner Music Group and the Investment Group of Santa Barbara.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe music-publishing catalog of songwriter-producer Dan Wilson, known for his hits with Adele, the (Dixie) Chicks and his own band Semisonic, has been acquired by Primary Wave.Terms of the deal include some of Wilson’s biggest hits: three from Adele, including the smash “Someone Like You”; six from the (Dixie) Chicks, including their Grammy-winning hit “Not Ready to Make Nice”; and songs recorded by Taylor Swift, John Legend, Dierks Bentley, Pink, Josh Groban, Chris