Music Industry Moves: Apollo Theater Signs With UTA; BMG Streamlines U.S. Repertoire Operations

Madison Beer has discussed feeling “very silenced” by older men in the music industry.The singer, who releases her debut album ‘Life Support’ today (February 26), was speaking to NME in a new cover feature.In the interview, Beer reflected on being dictated to by record executives, before learning “how to stand my ground”.“I’ve also learned how to pick my battles,” she said of her responses to the comments.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn its pursuit of carbon neutrality, BMG has committed to offsetting all of its global site and employee-related greenhouse gas emissions, the company announced. In defining a long-term strategy to avoid, reduce, and offset CO2 emissions, BMG revealed it had offset over 3,000 tons of CO2 produced in 2019 by investing in Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCBS) certified climate protection projects.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSydney’s The Kid LAROI has signed a worldwide deal with Sony Music Publishing. The artist, songwriter, and producer, whose real name is Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, is currently riding the success of his song “Without You” and 2020 debut mixtape, “Fuck Love.”In his native Australia, The Kid LAROI, who is signed to Columbia Records, is the youngest solo artist to reach No.

Boris Johnson’s “roadmap” out of lockdown.The Prime Minister announced his plan to lift coronavirus restrictions earlier today (February 22), setting out the various stages the country will go through to get “back to normal”.According to Johnson, the government will “aim to remove all legal limits on social contact” by June 21.

London Grammar frontnwoman Hannah Reid has discussed her experiences of music industry misogyny in a new interview with NME.In the new cover feature, ahead of the release of the band’s third album ‘Californian Soil’, Reid discussed being forced into wearing certain clothes on photoshoots and in performances, and how her experiences have been different from her male bandmates.Reid recalled how, in one instance, she was not allowed backstage at one of her own gigs, with her protests leading a

UTA has signed writer-director Dylan Meyer. Meyer has become an increasingly in-demand screenwriter.

Coming up roses? One month after calling off their engagement, Clare Crawley and Dale Moss sparked reconciliation speculation.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIndependent label, distributor and publisher EMPIRE has opened a division in the US to help grow the local scene in West Asia and North Africa and its diaspora. To head up the territory, EMPIRE has hired Suhel Nafar (pictured above) as Vice President of Strategy & Market Development.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAustralia’s proposed legislation that will make tech giants pay local media firms for news has not yet become law. But already it is sparking historic – and contrasting – reactions from Google and Facebook, the world’s two largest vectors for digital advertising.The proposed News Media Bargaining Code was born of a study from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in April last year.

Billionaire’s Dirt Road, a hidden retreat in Westchester’s North Salem.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpotify announced Tuesday that Mona Sutphen will join its board of directors in April, subject to shareholder approval.Sutphen is a private equity advisor and a co-founder/advisor for several technology start-ups, and was a senior White House official during the Obama Administration. She is currently a Senior Advisor at The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based private equity firm, and is a venture advisor and co-founder of several technology start-ups.

reeling in anger at Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage’s response to a debate in Parliament last week where she again rejected the idea of a visa-free “musicians passport” for artists and crew and repeated claims that the EU was at fault, today saw the Minister quizzed by MPs on the government’s handling of the situation and potential routes towards a solution.Before Dinenage faced questioning, the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee heard the testimony of voices from across the worlds

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorReclusive R&B superstar D’Angelo will face off against unnamed “friends” in a Verzuz DJ battle aimed straight at the hearts of the series’ core audience. The battle will take place on Saturday, Feb.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHarlan Coben has signed on for representation with UTA.He will continue to be represented by literary agent Lisa Erbach Vance of The Aaron Priest Literary Agency and attorney Michael Gendler of Gendler & Kelly.Coben has penned over thirty novels, includingNew York Times bestsellers “The Boy From The Woods,” “Run Away,” “Fool Me Once,” “Tell No One,” and the Myron Bolitar series.

The Meister Series to shine a light on the trailblazers and innovators of the music industry.The new online series is particularly championing those creative, influential and unique individuals and organisations who work within the industry, while also aiming to give music fans reasons to be cheerful for the long-term future of live music.The first episode of The Meister Series, which you can watch below, features an illuminating discussion with the organisers of Boomtown Fair.

280,000 people signed a petition calling for the government to establish visa-free touring for artists and crew through EU member states after Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal failed to do so, the campaign was debated by MPs in Parliament yesterday (February 8).Cross-party MPs repeated fears that the new added huge costs to future live music tours of the continent would prevent rising and developing artists from being able to afford it, as well as claims from European promoters that they’re likely to

Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater is set for a cross-platform close-up after signing for representation of its IP in all areas with UTA. Long known as a gathering place for New York City's African-American community, including during its famed amateur night, the Apollo adapted Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me memoir as a stage play before a TV special was produced for HBO.

UTA has signed cultural landmark the Apollo Theater in all areas.

Chris Willman Music WriterIn his recent song “Livin’ the Dream,” a tellingly somber number that stands out amid his otherwise upbeat smash “Dangerous: The Double Album,” Morgan Wallen sings about how success is not all it’s cracked up to be, concluding that it’s at least a little bit lonely at the top even in the midst of being “a rock star, in and out of cop cars, livin’ out a suitcase, trashin’ hotel bars… Between alcohol and women and Adderall and adrenaline, I don’t ever get no rest.”A rest

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal failed to secure visa-free travel for UK artists and their crew wishing to tour Europe (adding huge costs to future live music tours of the continent and preventing rising and developing artists from being able to afford it), a row erupted over who was responsible.Now, ahead of the matter being debated in Parliament next week, many of the UK companies that help make touring possible look set to move to Europe in order to continue – taking a wealth