M.I.A. Signs With Island Records , Drops New Song ‘The One’

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSony Music Entertainment has named Vanessa Picken to the role of chair and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Australia and New Zealand. Reporting to Sony Music Group Chairman Rob Stringer, she will begin her new role in September.Based in Sydney, Picken will oversee all operations, artist signings, marketing, and business partnerships for the company, according to the announcement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNicki Minaj, A$AP Rocky and Future will headline the Rolling Loud New York festival, taking place at Citi Field in Queens on the weekend of Sept. 23-25.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWME has signed Puerto Rican reggaetón and Latin trap singer-songwriter Ozuna in all areas. All four of his albums have topped the Billboard Latin Albums chart, as did a collaborative album with Anuel AA, “Los Dioses”; he is currently at work on his fifth solo full-length.“I am excited to collaborate with many of the top agents at WME to further connect with my incredible fans in inventive ways and continue to bring my culture to the masses,” Ozuna says. “As an artist, I want to expand my brand and develop new and exciting opportunities together in all aspects of entertainment.”Ozuna kicked off 2022 with “Santo,” a collaboration with Christina Aguilera, and followed with the singles “Deprimida,” “G-Wagon” and “Apretaito”; his latest “Ceremonia,” dropped on Fridayand appears in the upcoming HBO Max remake of “Father of the Bride.” His previous studio albums have all received multi-platinum certifications from the RIAA: “Odisea” 16 times platinum, “Aura” 12 times, “Enoc” six times, and “Nibiru” four times.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJust three days after he replaced Migos on the lineup for New York’s Governors Ball this weekend — and just hours before he was due to perform — Lil Wayne has pulled out due to “flight disruption” and been replaced on the bill by A$AP Ferg (who prefers to be known as just Ferg), the festival announced late Friday afternoon.Due to flight disruptions, Lil Wayne will no longer be performing this evening.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThursday morning’s announcement of several new Grammy Awards, particularly the long-overdue Songwriter of the Year honor, has already gotten a strong response from the music community. It also reflects an Academy that has been increasingly and more immediately responsive to calls from the community — while the Songwriter of the Year has been a glaring and baffling omission in the half-century-plus since the Grammys began, calls for it have increased in recent years.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“It’s a little surreal, seeing my best friend’s face blown up so big,” says multimedia artist Laurie Anderson, gesturing to a giant photo of her late husband, Lou Reed’s, at the beginning of a media tour of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ stunning exhibit on the legendary singer, songwriter and Velvet Underground co-founder. It is open to the public — and free of charge — beginning Thursday (June 9).“We’ve been working for years to put this together,” she continued, “and I just wanted to say that it’s my dream to have [the archive of] this great poet of New York in the Public Library.” While she did not mention this during the tour, the archive was originally intended to join those of James Joyce, Norman Mailer and Don DeLillo at the University of Texas, but Anderson changed her mind after a handgun law allowing people to carry handguns on college campuses was passed in the state; the NYPL acquired much of the archive in 2017.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhile he hasn’t been active in the music world for a couple of decades, Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, is indisputably one of the greatest record executives in history. The list of artists that the company spawned under his watch is astonishing and arguably without peer for a company of its size: U2, Bob Marley, Nick Drake, King Crimson, Roxy Music, Traffic, Free, Cat Stevens, Grace Jones, Robert Palmer, Brian Eno, Steve Winwood, Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention, Toots & the Maytalls, the Cranberries, Marianne Faithfull, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, King Sunny Ade, Eric B.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrince’s musical career had many peaks, but he was most on top of the world — literally — on March 30, 1985, when he and the Revolution played a concert at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York that was broadcast all over the planet in the first global telecast of its kind.Even with the “Purple Rain” album, film and tour at the peak of their Oscar, Grammy and chart popularity, and the 100-date tour in support of both nearing its end, Prince was never one to stay in the same place for long. By that date, he and the Revolution had completed their next album, “Around the World in a Day,” and were already working on the next one (“Parade”), and would embark for the South of France to shoot their next feature film, “Under the Cherry Moon,” within a few weeks.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a letter shared with the BTS “Army” earlier today (Monday, June 6), the group announced the #MyBTStory challenge in partnership with YouTube, starting on Friday and running through July 9, exclusively on YouTube Shorts.In celebration of their new album, “Proof,” dropping on Friday, the group is inviting the Army and all music fans to join them in the #MyBTStory challenge.Dear ARMY, We want to remember and celebrate all the special moments we've had so far. What's your #MyBTStory? 함께한 수많은 날들을 다같이 축하하고 추억하는 소중한 시간이 되었으면 좋겠어요.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVeteran Chicago rapper and drill pioneer Chief Keef has launched a new label, 43B (“Forget Everybody”) in partnership with RBC Records and BMG, and his first signing is Atlanta-based rapper Lil Gnar (pictured above, right, with Keef).Since 2014, Chief Keef has released several albums through RBC — including “Sorry 4 the Weight,” “Thot Breaker” and “Mansion Musick” — which was acquired by BMG four years ago.According to the announcement, 43B is a multi-tiered label, offering distribution and marketing services for artists and producers. It also notes that the name (“Forget Everybody”) is intended to emphasize the importance of individuality and autonomy.The label will be helmed by Chief Keef’s longtime manager, Idris Dykes, who will be acting as co-CEO, as well as Sophie Kautz who has been appointed as the head of A&R and marketing.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAngel Olsen’s new album, “Big Time,” is the kind of rare, generation-spanning album that you could give to your sister, your aunt or your grandparents. Its 10 soulful, country-inflected songs recall everything from Dusty Springfield’s 1969 masterpiece, “Dusty in Memphis,” to Shelby Lynne’s 2001 Grammy-winning “I am Shelby Lynne,” from Tammy Wynette to Lucinda Williams — and at the center of it all are Olsen’s soaring songs and crystalline, versatile voice.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSome nine years after the release of their last album, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are back with a killer new song, “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” and a new album, “Cool It Down,” due Sept. 30 on Secretly Canadian.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMelissa Ormond has been appointed chief operating officer of Goldenvoice, the promoter and live-events company behind the Coachella festival and many other concerts in the U.S. and Europe, it was announced by parent company AEG Presents.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFormer President Donald Trump has a long history of using music at his rallies against the wishes of the artists, and that continued with his speech at controversial National Rifle Association rally in Houston last weekend, which took place just three days and less than 300 miles from the site of the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, where 19 children and two adults were murdered, evoking yet more “thoughts and prayers” and nothing else from the Republican party.Trump capped his speech with Sam and Dave’s 1966 hit “Hold On, I’m Coming,” written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, which took on an even more tasteless meaning when one considers the phone calls from children in the school while police waited outside for more than half an hour before entering. A rep for Hayes’ estate said in a statement to Variety, “The estate and family of Isaac Hayes DID NOT approve and would NEVER approve the use of “Hold on I’m coming’” by Sam and Dave by Donald Trump at this weekend’s National Rifle Association  convention.Our condolences go out to the victims and families of #Uvalde and mass shooting victims everywhere.”Porter tweeted, “Hell to the NO! I did not and would NOT approve” of Trump using the song “for any of his purposes! I also know Isaac’s estate wouldn’t approve as well!”Someone shared with me Donald Trump used the song “Hold On I’m Coming” for a speaking appearance of his.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJustin Timberlake, one of the most successful pop singers of the past 20 years, has sold a song catalog to Hipgnosis Song Management, the company has announced.Hipgnosis has acquired 100% of all of Justin Timberlake’s copyright, ownership and financial interests of the writer and publisher’s share of public performance income, and the catalog of musical compositions written by Justin Timberlake, according to the announcement. Also included in the sale to Hipgnosis are the worldwide administration rights to the compositions, subject to the remaining term of Universal Music’s administration rights, which expire in 2025.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor everything that music and entertainment do to better people’s lives, it’s all put into a sobering context when you hear someone speak about their work at a cancer treatment center. And the music industry’s work with City of Hope cancer treatment and research center in Los Angeles is one of its greatest charitable efforts.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorKanye West’s long-promised “Donda 2” album has apparently taken a step closer to reality, as Columbia Records announced a collaboration with the late XXXTentacion called “True Love” — which appears in the new “Look at Me: XXXTentacion” documentary, which airs on Hulu beginning Thursday, May 26, and on the accompanying album, “Look at Me: The Album,” due on Friday.“True Love,” officially billed to Ye & XXXTentacion, will see its official release via Columbia Records at the standard drop time of 12 a.m. ET Friday / 9 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment has announced the full slate of programming for the fifth annual New York Music Month, to run throughout the month of June 2022 in New York City.This year’s NYMM will feature a combination of in-person and virtual programming, with more than 20 events, including an all-day industry conference on the future of NYC’s music industry, skill-building workshops, free rehearsal space, songwriting camp, and showcases of emerging NYC artists. This month-long series aims to support songwriters, established musicians, emerging artists, and NYC’s entire musical community, many of whom were severely impacted by the pandemic.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“This is a very special evening for me, for us,” Harry Styles said to a crowd of nearly 20,000 at the UBS Arena on Friday, and to millions over an Apple Music livestream. “We’re in New York City for one night only, and we’ll be playing this new album for you the way it was intended to be heard: From start to finish.”And with a giant neon outline of a house behind in, that’s what Styles and his tightly drilled band did: Premiere his just-released third solo album, “Harry’s House,” at a “One Night Only” concert, an arena-sized album release party offered for Styles’ most devoted fans (even if the title was a little bit of a misnomer: There’s a similar concert taking place in London next week).

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“Combat Rock” is the Clash’s most commercially successful album, and it’s also the one that tore them apart. Although it contains their two most-popular songs — “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and “Rock the Casbah”— and made them into one of the world’s biggest bands, it’s a disjointed, confusing album, with three absolutely killer tracks, a handful of middling ones and a bunch of indulgent solo experiments.