Live Nation Inks CEO Michael Rapino to New Five-Year, Multi-Million-Dollar Deal

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorYouTube has announced the Foundry Class of 2022, welcoming 30 new artists to its global artist development program. The Class of 2022 is Foundry’s biggest class to date, featuring indie talent spanning genres and continents.Created in 2015, Foundry is YouTube’s incubator for independent music, supporting indie artists at all stages of their careers through annual artist development classes and ongoing release support campaigns.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMTV has unveiled the nominations for the 2022 VMAs: leading the pack are Jack Harlow, Kendrick Lamar and Lil Nas X with seven each, closely followed by Doja Cat and Harry Styles with six, and Billie Eilish, Drake, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and the Weeknd with five. The show takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Sunday, August 28 at 8 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPearl Jam have canceled a second concert on their European tour due because of damage to singer Eddie Vedder’s vocal cords from wildfires that have been plaguing France.The group canceled Wednesday’s show in Vienna and have announced that Friday’s concert in Prague is off as well.In an Instagram post on Wednesday, the band announced that “due to the extreme circumstances at the last outdoor site outside of Paris (heat, dust, and smoke from the fires) our singer Ed Vedder’s throat was left damaged. He has seen doctors and had treatment but as of yet, his vocal cords have not recovered.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBMG announced early Thursday that it has acquired the entire music publishing back catalog of French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre.The deal brings the rights in such groundbreaking albums as “Oxygene” and “Equinoxe” together with Jarre’s writer’s income stream. The company previously acquired the sound recordings of Jarre’s first three albums when it bought noted independent record label Francis Dreyfus Music in 2012.Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although for context, according to the announcement, Jarre has racked up 85 million-plus album sales over his career.Jarre said of his deal with the German-based company, “This partnership with BMG means a lot to me.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJustin Bieber will resume his “Justice” world tour on July 31, a rep for the singer has confirmed to Variety, after a diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt syndrome forced him to postpone a brace of North American tour dates early last month.The singer’s massive world tour, which has 75 scheduled dates, will resume with a performance at the Lucca Summer Festival in Italy, and follow with five dates in Europe into August before heading to South America in September. It continues in South Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and New Zealand before returning to Europe in January through March.There is no update on the rescheduled North American dates, but it seems likely they will be rescheduled for next Spring.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAugust 08, singer-songwriter known for his work with the LA-based collective 88Rising, has inked with Allel Sound, Jhene Aiko’s joint label venture with Def Jam. His debut EP, “Towards The Sun,” drops tonight and includes the new single and video “Water Sign,” which features Aiko.“August is an incredible writer, singer and artist whose music speaks to me on so many levels,” said Aiko.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorManny Charlton, founding guitarist of the hard rock band Nazareth and producer of Guns N’ Roses early demos, has died, according to a post from his grandson. No cause of death was cited; he was 80.He was Nazareth’s guitarist, producer and songwriter from the band’s formation until 1990, performing on the band’s most successful albums, notably 1973’s “Razamanaz” and 1975’s “Hair of the Dog,” which went platinum and featured the group’s biggest hit, a dramatic cover of “Love Hurts,” originally made famous by the Everly Brothers, that reaced the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.In 1986, Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose reportedly wanted “the guy who produced Nazareth’s ‘Hair of the Dog’” to produce the band’s debut full-length.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThree songs from the posthumous 2010 Michael Jackson album “Michael,” which some fans have long insisted were not sung by the late artist, have been removed from streaming services.A statement from Jackson’s estate and Sony Music, which acquired the rights to unreleased material from the singer’s vaults in a blockbuster $250 million deal in 2010, says the songs were removed in an effort to “move beyond” the controversy but effectively maintains that the vocals were not faked: “Nothing should be read into this action concerning the authenticity of the tracks,” it emphasizes.“The Estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music decided to remove the tracks ‘Breaking News,’ ‘Monster’ and ‘Keep Your Head Up,’ from the 2010 album ‘Michael’ as the simplest and best way to move beyond the conversation associated with these tracks once and for all,” the statement, issued Tuesday, reads. “The album’s remaining tracks remain available.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLaPolt Law, the Los Angeles-based music and entertainment firm founded by Dina LaPolt in 2001, is elevating five of its attorneys to partner. The promotions, effective immediately, reflect their contributions to the firm, which specializes in intellectual property law, music law and public policy.The new partners — pictured above (back row, l-r) Kristin Wenning, Mariah Comer, Lindsay Arrington and (front row, l-r) Dominic Chaklos and Tom Dean, with LaPolt in front — have expertise in a range of issues, including brand partnerships, catalog sales, executive contracts, and projects in emerging media such as NFTs, Web3.“They are all zealous advocates for our clients,” LaPolt said of the attorneys.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorYG Entertainment has announced that K-pop powerhouse Blackpink are in the final stages of recording a new album that will be released next month. The album, the second full-length, “starts a continuous large-scale project which will extend through the second half of the year,” according to the announcement.The company stated, “A lot of Blackpink-esque music has been prepared over a long period of time.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFirst things first: Adele showed up.And in many ways, that was the biggest hurdle Adele had to clear on her way to triumphing at the first of two shows at London’s American Express Presents BST Hyde Park festival.You see, the last time Adele headlined a massive outdoor run in her hometown, in 2017, she canceled the last two shows of her scheduled four-night Wembley Stadium stint after damaging her vocal cords. In fact, this was her first full live show since then.More recently, there was the small matter of her Las Vegas residency, scrapped at the very last minute, leaving many British fans stranded in Sin City.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCardi B may not have released a ton of music in the past couple of years, but when she has, she’s made them count: Following “WAP,” her 2020 smash with Megan Thee Stallion, and last year’s “Up” comes “Hot Shit,” a truth-in-advertising new track featuring Kanye West and Lil Durk with a fiery beat from Memphis-born producer Tay Keith, who also co-produced Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” and Drake’s “Nonstop.”It’s a true collaborative single, with each rapper taking a verse and super-spare production — consisting almost entirely of vocals and beat, with the occasional sound effects — and in the hands of lesser rappers it wouldn’t be anywhere near as strong.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJohn Mayer — singer-songwriter, virtuoso guitarist, solo artist, member of Dead & Co and definitely the funniest speaker at Variety’s Hitmakers event last December — has signed with CAA in all areas globally.He has won seven Grammy Awards out of 19 nominations and since his 2001 debut album “Room for Squares”  has earned three No. 1 debuts on the Billboard Top 200, with the triple-platinum “Heavier Things” (2003), double-platinum “Battle Studies” (2009), and gold-certified “Born and Raised” (2012). He has sold an estimated 20 million-plus albums worldwide.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd’s opening acts for his global stadium tour, which launches in his hometown of Toronto next Friday, will be R&B singer Snoh Aalegra, Canadian electronic artist Kaytranada and top DJ/producer Mike Dean, his team reveals in an exclusive interview with Variety. The full 19 dates, noting which acts are playing in which cities, appear below.The tour’s original opener, Doja Cat, pulled out last month to undergo throat surgery, and although “the phone was ringing” with calls from interested parties, according to Omar Al-joulani — Live Nation’s president of touring and a Toronto native who has worked with the Weeknd since 2014 — the choices reflect the artist’s long practice of having up-and-coming acts open his tours, even one as massive as the stadium show that will work its way across North America (slowly) through Labor Day weekend before moving on to the rest of the world.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorR. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in a New York court on Wednesday.Kelly, one of the most successful hitmakers of the 1990s and early 2000s, was found guilty of all nine counts against him in September, after a six-week trial revealed how he had used employees and intermediaries to lure fans and hopeful singers into sexually abusive and controlling conditions, including locking them in rooms without food or access to a bathroom for days.The 55-year-old singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a big win for major record labels, the Free Artists From Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act failed to pass out of the California State Senate’s Judiciary committee late on Tuesday night.According to a report in Billboard, the act, also called AB Bill 983, received four votes, two short of the six needed to reach a majority from the 11-member committee.The bill was the latest in a long campaign to repeal a 1987 amendment to the state’s “Seven-Year Statute” that allows record labels to sue artists if they leave after seven years after their contract was signed before delivering the full number of albums required under the contract. Labels can also sue artists for damages.Artists’ rights groups — including the Black Music Action Coalition, Music Artists Coalition and Songwriters of North America — decried the decision but promised to continue the fight.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPink, Sony Music Publishing Chairman/CEO Jon Platt and the late songwriter/producer Busbee will be honored at the Songwriters of North America’s second annual SONA Warrior Awards, taking place as a hybrid celebration comprised of an in-person gala on July 23 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and a virtual livestream via mandolin.com on July 24. SONA is one of the only advocacy organizations for songwriters, formed by professional songwriters to advocate for fair pay, safety, equality and a collective voice.The announcement notes that each of the honorees is known for their accomplishments within the industry, the Warrior Awards provide an opportunity to amplify their advocacy.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLegendary hitmaker and 12-time Grammy winner Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds  has signed with Capitol Records, the company announced Tuesday. His first project for the label will be “Girls’ Night Out,” which is described as “a sonic journey through love, heartbreak and all of the emotions in between” and features a number of top young female R&B singers, including Ella Mai, Queen Naija, Ari Lennox, Kehlani, Doechii and others.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLegendary rocker Alice Cooper, who should need no introduction, has signed with CAA to represent his touring in North America.He has sold more than 50 million albums over the years and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. His nightly radio show, “Nights With Alice Cooper,” continues to air in nearly 100 cities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs part of a big expansion of Shawn Mendes manager Andrew Gertler’s AG Artists, the company has signed fast-rising Canadian singer-songwriter Lauren Spencer-Smith and Arista’s JP Saxe, and Mendes’ longtime A&R Ziggy Chareton has joined as a partner on their management. Chareton will also co-manage Mendes.Gertler and Chareton have a long history together: They met in the early 2010s when both were interns in Atlantic Records’ marketing department.