Music Industry Moves: Clairo Signs With Universal Publishing; iHeart’s Lisa Worden to Be Honored at MUSEXPO

the government’s proposed full easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England from July 19.Prime Minister Boris Johnson today (July 5) announced details for the fourth and final stage of unlocking in England later this month, which is set to be confirmed next Monday (July 5) after a data review.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMotown Records announced that Brian Nolan has been appointed executive vice president of the label and executive VP of marketing, effective immediately. According to the announcement, in this new role, Nolan joins the label’s executive leadership team and will help guide the company as well as oversee Motown’s marketing teams and initiatives.

coronavirus.As reported by Music Week, 22 MPs from across the main political parties have come together to outline the support needed by the music industry, which has been significantly impacted by ongoing COVID-related restrictions.Signing a Commons motion, the MPs said that many freelance and self-employed workers have been without work since the first national lockdown began back in March 2020.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorYoung Thug has landed a major role in the musical dramedy “Throw It Back” — appearing in the movie and overseeing its soundtrack as executive producer. Directed by Shadae Lamar Smith from a script written with Rochée Jeffrey, the film stars Shahadi Wright Joseph and will feature Tiffany Haddish in a supporting role.

Brexit negotiator Lord Frost used a government committee hearing today (Tuesday June 29) to hit back at Elton John over his claims around the European touring fiasco, before coming under fire himself for his “inaction” over the situation.Sir Elton has been very vocal over the government jeopardising the future of touring for the UK artists, after the Brexit deal secured with the EU failed to negotiate visa-free travel and Europe-wide work permits for musicians and crew.

just 28 people who attended pilot events researching the impact of large-scale gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic tested positive for the virus.The new data was released by scientists working for the UK government’s Events Research Programme (ERP), which was commissioned in February to help determine the roadmap out of lockdown restrictions.

a weekend of events in Liverpool, the BRIT Awards and Download Festival.Events organisers were eagerly anticipating the results of the programme last week ahead of a planned summer of live music, but they were delayed without explanation.They are now attempting to open up the industry once again, after initial results suggested that attending a live music event posed as much risk of contracting COVID-19 as going shopping.A spokesperson for Boris Johnson told The Guardian: “These pilots provide

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA year on from the “Blackout Tuesday,” during which the music industry paused to take a look at its racial policies and plan to reform them, how is it doing? According to both last week’s USC-Annenberg “Inclusion in the Music Business” study and a “report card” released over the weekend by the Black Music Action Coalition — a 200-plus-member organization formed around this time last year — it’s doing fair-to-badly.BMAC’s 37-page report takes a look at dozens of

Michele Amabile Angermiller Michelle Edgar is joining LiveXLive Media as head of strategic partnerships where she will work on artist and label relations in addition to liaising with consumer brands and creating partnership opportunities. LiveXLive is a global platform for livestream and on-demand audio, video, and podcast/vodcast content in music, comedy and pop culture.

Sinead O’Connor has confirmed her retirement from the music industry, weeks after making similar claims and later retracting them.The Irish singer said on social media that she had been in “two minds” about retiring, but confirmed that she will now begin a new career as a writer.“This is to announce that having been in two minds about retiring I have now, in consultation with my medical team, and on their advice, decided to go ahead and retire so that I may now focus on my new career as a

Diana Ross is returning with her first album of original music in more than 20 years, Thank You.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe new report on “Inclusion in the Music Business: Gender & Race/Ethnicity Across Executives, Artists & Talent Teams” from the USC-Annenberg Inclusion Initiative makes no bones about how far the music industry has to go in its stated goals of gender and racial equality — even after most major music companies loudly trumpeted their commitments to advancing its efforts in those directions in the wake of Blackout Tuesday and the Black Lives Matter protests last year.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBlack and underrepresented artists may be heavily represented on the charts, but the music companies that release, promote and tour those artists have a long way to go when it comes to diversity in their executive ranks, according to “Inclusion in the Music Business: Gender & Race/Ethnicity Across Executives, Artists & Talent Teams,” an authoritative new study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.

coronavirus restrictions on June 21.After figures showed that the rumoured delay could see over 5,000 events cancelled, LIVE CEO Greg Parmley says they want “transparency” from the government on the process.Parmley said: “The briefing we are seeing of a delay to our reopening later this month is devastating to the live music industry.

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Lorde‘s new single ‘Solar Power’ was released last night (June 10), and it’s been revealed that Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo are credited as backing vocalists on the track.The New Zealand singer’s new song is the first from her third album, which is also called ‘Solar Power’, and NME has hailed it a “gorgeous, sun-kissed rebirth”.Co-produced with Jack Antonoff, the single also features two other recognisable names in Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo.According to Stereogum, the pair sing backup vocals on

Mischa Barton’s life as a young actress was a difficult one.

Clairo has returned today with the release of her first single in two years, ‘Blouse’.The song is the first to be lifted from Clairo’s forthcoming second studio album, ‘Sling’, which has just been announced and is due out on July 16.‘Blouse’ is an incredibly delicate affair, with production from Jack Antonoff and background vocals provided by Lorde.

If you’re of a certain age and have kids, it’s almost certain you have seen or heard ‘Roblox’ being played in the background. For a long time it was the game that isn’t ‘Minecraft’ in many households, but it gained a massive following and became a huge success all on its own.