Mondo.NYC Music & Tech Conference Unveils 2021 Schedule, ‘Hopeful’ for In-Person Event

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNew York’s SummerStage concert series has announced plans to return to live, in-person concerts and performances at outdoor venues this summer.According to the announcement, “Pending adjustments to current NYC restrictions, free music and dance performances will return to Rumsey Playfield in Central Park this summer and performances will also be held in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park/Richard Rodgers Amphitheater.“Performances will follow all state and local regulations

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt would be an understatement to say that Jeffrey Harleston is a busy man. As if being general counsel and executive VP of business and legal affairs for the world’s largest music company, Universal Music Group (UMG), wasn’t enough, he has five or six other major gigs going on simultaneously.For the past year, Harleston, who is keynote speaker at Variety’s Power of Law breakfast this year, has also been interim chairman/CEO of Def Jam Recordings.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAttorney Joel Katz, former founding chairman of Greenberg Traurig’s entertainment and media practice and a top official at the Recording Academy, has joined Barnes & Thornburg. He will remain based in Atlanta, where he will serve as as senior counsel for the firm’s entertainment, media and sports practice.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGuns N’ Roses have rescheduled their upcoming UK and European tour dates to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic, which is in a third spike in several countries on the European continent.The dates, originally scheduled for 2020, will now take place in June and July 2022, the band announced on social media Tuesday morning.“Hey Gunners, unfortunately we need to ask for your patience one more time,” the band said in a statement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd has announced a new, exclusive NFT collection of artwork and new music, that will be available exclusively on Nifty Gateway. The limited-time auction will be held on Saturday, April 3rd at 2 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSony Music Publishing announced it has acquired the song catalog of Paul Simon, one of the most successful and influential songwriters of the past 75 years. The milestone deal includes Paul Simon’s classic songs spanning more than six decades, from his time as a member of Simon & Garfunkel, through his extraordinary career as a solo artist – among them, “The Sound of Silence,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “The Boxer,” “Mrs.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, Foo Fighters, Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, Janelle Monae, Tame Impala and many more are scheduled to perform at the 2021 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. The event’s 20th anniversary edition is scheduled to take place September 2–5, 2021 on the Bonnaroo Farm, located 60 miles southeast of Nashville in Manchester, TN.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn an optimistic move toward normalcy, the Recording Academy has announced that the 64 th annual Grammy Awards will take place at the show’s traditional home of the Staples Center on Jan. 31, 2022 — exactly a year after the originally scheduled date of the 2021 awards, which were moved to March 14 due to a spike in coronavirus cases in Southern California.As usual, the show will broadcast live on the CBS television network from 8 – 11:30 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAhead of Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey testifying before the House Energy & Commerce Committee this afternoon, the RIAA, the National Music Publishers Association, the American Association of Independent Music, Songwriters of North America and the Music Artists Coalition have jointly penned a letter to committee leadership detailing how Twitter has “failed to meet the basic standards of moderation when it comes to the rampant theft of creative works on its platform,”

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the wake of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement last month that mass-gatherings can begin a cautious return this summer, the London music festival All Points East has announced more performers for its 2021 edition — scheduled for August 27-30 in Victoria Park — and the country’s largest festival, Glastonbury, is moving ahead with plans for a scaled-down event in September.Joining previously announced All Points East headliners Jamie xx, Kano, and

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn observance of Women’s History Month, MIDIA Research and TuneCore/Believe have released a new study on the challenges faced by female creators in today’s music industry.The report, BE THE CHANGE: Women Making Music 2021, collects the views of 401 female creators –artists, songwriters, producers and DJs – from around the world, many of whom are independent artists.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTriller, the short-form video app, has struck a licensing agreement with the National Music Publishers’ Association, which represents most American music publishers. The deal will see the platform compensating the songwriters and publishers covered by NMPA when their songs are used in videos on the platform.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe already-crowded music-catalog-acquisition business just got a formidable new player: Germany-based music company BMG and global investment firm KKR have announced they will join forces to pursue recorded music, music publishing and other music-rights acquisitions.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe staff of Secretly Group, one of the largest independent music companies in the U.S., announced plans on Tuesday morning to form a union to address a list of concerns they’re hoping to correct with a union contract, according to an open letter and an article in Rolling Stone.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDaddy Yankee was named Songwriter of the Year for the third time and Sony Music Publishing won top publisher honors at the ASCAP 2021 Latin Music Awards on Monday night. Daddy Yankee’s haul for the evening added to his record-setting total of 42 ASCAP Latin Music Awards.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorStrokes frontman Julian Casablancas has signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Concord Music Publishing, covering his past and future solo works (including his 2013 song with Daft Punk, “Instand Crush”) and various projects including The Voidz. Casablancas won his first Grammy last weekend, for the Strokes’ album “The New Abnormal.”“We are beyond excited that Julian has joined Concord Music Publishing.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLegendary singer Linda Ronstadt has sold her recorded music assets to Irving Azoff’s new venture, Iconic Artists Group.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn Saturday (March 20), Duran Duran cofounder and keyboardist Nick Rhodes will release the first music from a collaborative project with British artist and singer/violinist Wendy Bevan.While in lockdown over the past year, Rhodes (in London) and Bevan (in Los Angeles) collaborated on a monumental series of 52 cinematic instrumentals inspired by the Universe. The recordings will be presented as the Astronomia project across four 13-track, individually named albums.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs more and more artists have learned in the nearly 15 years since Spotify first launched, the way that it pays out streaming royalties is very, very complex, based on a dizzying number of factors that add up differently for each artist. On Thursday morning, the company made a welcome step toward demystifying that process by unveiling “Loud and Clear,” a relatively straightforward explanation of the way its payment system and related factors work.