Music Industry Moves: Ex-XXXTentacion Manager Solomon Sounds Joins Capitol as A&R Senior VP; Sandbox Moves Into Estate Management

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGrammy-winning songwriter and producer James Steed, professionally known as DJ SwanQo, has signed with Giant Music Publishing, a division of the Azoff Company. Giant, in partnership with Pardison Fontaine’s St.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVivendi, owner of the world’s largest music company, Universal Music Group, told investors on Tuesday that it is considering selling an additional 10% stake in the company to an unnamed U.S. investor.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhen the votes were tallied in Georgia last November, then counted again and again, Donald Trump was characteristically vocal in his outrage that Georgia, a longtime Republican state, had turned blue.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe “Hella Mega Tour” featuring Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer has unveiled new dates, beginning in July and stretching into September.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOne thing we did not expect to see on this Spring Monday morning was a high-quality audio duel between two of the world’s biggest music streaming services.At around 9 a.m. ET, Apple announced that its Apple Music is bringing “industry-leading” sound quality to its subscribers, with the addition of Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSecretly Group’s Dead Oceans is the new label partner for the back catalog of veteran indie-rock outfit Bright Eyes, the group has announced.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor the past 15 months, many of us have felt starved by the absence of live music from our lives — as if our bodies have been deprived of an essential nutrient and we’re suffering from some existential scurvy.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorManuel Abud has been named CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, effective Aug. 1, the Board of Trustees announced on Wednesday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn one of the more surreal developments the music world has seen in a year filled with them, Rough Trade NYC, the sprawling record store that closed down its location in trendy Williamsburg shortly after the pandemic hit last year, will be opening in a new location on June 1 — in the iconic 30 Rock building in Midtown Manhattan, the longtime home of NBC, just steps from Radio City Music Hall.“Following the impact of COVID-19, Rough Trade’s decision to relocate

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJust under a year ago, as protests gripped the U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd will perform at the Billboard Music Awards on May 23 — which is only fitting since he’s the top finalist this year with nominations in 16 categories, riding the success of his blockbuster “After Hours” album and its smash single “Blinding Lights,” which has crushed multiple streaming and chart records.Over the course of his decade-long career, the Weeknd has racked up a dazzling number of Billboard chart records: He’s had 34 top 40-charting hits on the

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLongtime Live Nation CFO Kathy Willard is retiring effective June 30, CEO Michael Rapino announced during the company’s earnings call on Thursday. The company is planning for Joe Berchtold, who currently serves as Live Nation’s president, to assume the role of president and CFO.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorXXXTentacion’s estate will release a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) containing five tracks that have never been commercially released, as well as previously uncirculated video footage from his only tour in 2017, according to a report in Rolling Stone.The late rapper’s former manager Solomon “Sounds” Sobande — who announced a new job as an A&R senior VP at Capitol Records earlier this week — and estate, run by his mother Cleopatra Bernard, have joined forced

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHipgnosis Songs has acquired yet another catalog, this one from Andrew Watt, who recently was named 2021 Grammy Producer of the Year for his work with Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Post Malone and Ozzy Osbourne.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA picture paints a thousand words, the old cliché goes, but it’s truly amazing how much publicity photos of musicians can say about a certain year: The clothes, the shoes, the hats, the belt buckles, the scarves — and most of all, the hairstyles (and lack of styles). G.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhen Variety interviewed the Weeknd over the weekend about the Grammys’ decision to eliminate nomination-review committees (more on that here), we naturally slipped in a question about the new music he recently hinted at in social media posts, which presumably will be the follow-up to his blockbuster 2020 album, “After Hours.” To our surprise, he answered the question — and in characteristic, slightly enigmatic fashion, no less.“If the last record is the after hours

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd has responded to the rule changes for the Grammy Awards announced by the Recording Academy on Friday — primarily a change that eliminates the “secret” nomination-review committees that played a key role in his being shut out of all nominations for the 2021 awards, despite having one of the biggest albums and the most-streamed single of the year with “After Hours” and “Blinding Lights,” respectively.“The trust has been broken for so long between the Grammy

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGoldman Sachs’ annual “Music in the Air” study is widely recognized in the music industry as an optimistic but authoritative survey of the business — and yet again, it will make Universal Music Group very happy, as it has valued the company at a whopping $53 billion ahead of its IPO, expected this fall.That’s up from the $36 billion posited in last year’s report, and shows the strength of the recorded-music and publishing businesses, which are primary among UMG’s

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRed Bull Records has bulked up its staff with a number of hires and promotions. Nikki Cox will serve as the label’s Chief Marketing Officer, leading the organization’s efforts across marketing, digital, publicity, and streaming.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpotify, the world’s top paid music-streaming service; Hybe, the company formerly known as Big Hit that spawned BTS; and Clubhouse, the actual-human-conversation-based social-media platform launched just last spring, have made Time magazine’s annual “100 Most Influential Companies” list.According to the announcement, “To assemble it, Time solicited nominations across sectors including health care, entertainment, transportation, technology and more, from our global