Music Industry Moves: Republic Records Ups Chris Blackwell to Executive VP

Michele Amabile Angermiller Epic Records has promoted Ayanna Wilks to vice president of publicity and has hired Natalie Geday as VP of publicity as well.Both report to Melissa Victor, SVP and head of publicity for the Sony Music label. Both are based in Los Angeles.Wilks (pictured at left) was previously senior director of public relations and has worked on the media campaigns for Giveon, Bia and Mimi Webb as well as newcomers India Shawn, Melvoni and MK xyz, among others.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAngel Olsen has released a gorgeous cover of Bob Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings” as part of the soundtrack for the Apple TV+ series “Shining Girls,” with all of Olsen’s proceeds from the streaming royalties of the song going to Everytown for Gun Safety, which is billed as the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country, a nonprofit that advocates for gun control.The song is included on the album’s soundtrack but not on Olsen’s stellar forthcoming album, “Big Time,” which was produced by Jonathan Wilson (Lana Del Rey, Billy Strings, Father John Misty) and arrives next week.The “Shining Girls” score and Olsen’s Dylan cover were produced by Claudia Sarne; the series stars and was executive produced by Elisabeth Moss. According to the announcement, Olsen was handpicked by Elisabeth Moss to record the song, which is featured in the show’s finale episode set to air Friday, June 3.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSinger-songwriter and rabble-rouser M.I.A has signed with Island Records and returns with a brand-new track titled ‘The One.’ Produced by Rex Kudo & T-Minus. The track comes with confirmation that a new album titled ‘MATA’ is on the way.Listen to ‘The One’ below.  Undoubtedly, one of the most important and potent multi-medium artists of this millennium, M.I.A’s career spans 5 studio albums, international performances, multiple sold-out world tours, GRAMMY® and Academy Award recognition, while continuously pushing the boundaries of digital and ideological possibilities. M.I.Ahas never lost touch with her indelible punk spirit that inspired her glitching directorial debut; Elastica’s Mad Dog music video, to her self-directed tour visuals, graphics and NFT’s that continue to bend minds to this day.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUniversal Music Enterprises (UMe), the catalog division of Universal Music Group, has promoted Sujata Murthy to executive vice president of media & artist relations, effective immediately.In her role, Ms. Murthy will continue to be responsible for the label’s media department and oversee press strategy and campaigns, as well as work closely with artists, managers and estates across UMG’s roster.

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 EditorFormer Lady Gaga manager and Spotify exec Troy Carter and fellow Q&A co-founder Suzy Ryoo have announced the Venice Music Collective, an independent membership music community for creators powered by Web3. Launching this month, the collective is a place “where members are given access, opportunities and the ability to achieve greater wealth as an independent,” according to the announcement, which adds that “The goal is to empower and support independent artists and their careers in a more equitable way that currently exists.”Membership provides access to industry contacts: distribution, sync, analytics, financial services, events, workspaces, and more, according to the announcement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMyke Towers. Camilo and Sony Discos are among the big winners at the ASCAP “El Premio” Latin Music Awards, which take place virtually through Tuesday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLive Nation has announced ”Live Nation Next Gen”, a new career development program focused on helping young people, primarily from Black and Latinx communities, prepare for careers in the live music business. Live Nation Next Gen has partnered with SoLa Impact’s I Can Foundation at SoLa’s new, state-of-the art Technology and Entrepreneurship Center in the heart of South Los Angeles, where the organization is providing free education to train and inspire future leaders.According to the announcement, The inaugural program features an intensive 10-week program of courses for local students ages 16 to 21.

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“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.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJust over five years ago, Harry Styles dropped a solo debut that absolutely no one saw coming, especially from a guy who had closed the door on his role as lead heartthrob in pop juggernaut One Direction only 18 months earlier. “Harry Styles” was a timeless, oddly genre-less album that sounded vaguely like a pop collection from the early 1970s, and like nothing else released that year.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMy Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Future, and Jack White will headline the 2022 edition of Music Midtown, which will also feature performances from Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski, Phoenix, Turnstile, Louis The Child, A Day To Remember, 2 Chainz, Quinn XCII, Conan Gray, Denzel Curry and many more. The full lineup appears below.Over 30 artists, four stages and two full days of music will take place September 17-18 at Piedmont Park in downtown Atlanta. Two-day tickets go on sale Friday, May 20 at 10am ET via www.musicmidtown.com, with Layaway Plans starting at $19 down.“Over twenty-five years strong, Music Midtown remains a monumental music festival that brings a diverse lineup of the biggest names in music year-after-year, while giving back to the city that I proudly call home.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHarry Styles’ “One Night Only in New York” concert at UBS Arena at Belmont Park this Friday — May 20 — will be available to stream exclusively to Apple Music subscribers in 167 countries around the world, the company has announced.The concert will celebrate his new album “Harry’s House,” which drops that day, “and will see Harry performing songs from the album for the first time ever,” according to the announcement. All tickets for the show were $25 all-in, including taxes and fees, although they are currently going for thousands of dollars on the secondary ticket market.The concert will be available to stream live on Apple Music at 9:00p EST / 6p PST on Friday, May 20th HERE and will encore on May 22nd at 12:00p EST / 9:00a PT / 6:00p CET and on May 26th at 4pm BST / 5pm SGT / 7pm AEST.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLike virtually every major rock act in the mid-1970s, the Rolling Stones had become bloated and overblown. After the generation-defining singles of the ‘60s and the stellar string of albums running from “Beggars Banquet” to “Exile on Main Street,” they’d eked out three comparatively uninspired sets that, due to Keith Richards’ formidable heroin addiction and its multiple accompanying legal problems, found Mick Jagger seeking musical foils in guitarist Mick Taylor and then guest keyboardist Billy Preston.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBob Dylan’s share of the Traveling Wilburys has been acquired by Primary Wave Music — an asset that most people probably did not realize was not included in the Nobel Prize-winning artist’s nine-figure deals with Universal Music Publishing and Sony Music.Dylan’s master royalties and neighboring rights royalties for both of the group’s albums, as well as a 2007 box set, are included in the deal. Terms were not disclosed.The Wilburys were a supergroup comprised of Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison, and released two albums filled with lighthearted, not-too-serious songs in contrast to their usually weighty work.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSean “Diddy” Combs has announced the launch of a new R&B label called Love Records via a deal with Motown Records. According to the announcement, the new label “will be dedicated to R&B music and will release singles and collaborative projects from a collective of world-class artists, producers and songwriters.” Also according to the announcement, today’s news marks Combs’ official return to music.An album by Diddy himself will be Love Records’ first project, set to be released this summer.“Music has always been my first love, Love Records is the next chapter is about getting back to the love and making the best music of my life,” said Combs (pictured above, left). “For the label I’m focused on creating timeless R&B music with the next generation of artists and producers.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUniversal Music’s share of Todd Moscowitz’s Alamo Records was acquired by Sony Music Entertainment for around $125 million, with a total purchase of between $188 million and $225 million, according to Universal’s recent earnings report and an educated estimate by Music Business Worldwide published Thursday.The company, which was founded as a joint venture with Universal Music Group by the former 300, Warner Music and Def Jam exec in 2016, has been on a hot streak in recent years with Blackbear, Lil Durk and Rod Wave. Sources told Variety at the time that there was a buy/sell negotiation in the months leading up and UMG opted to walk away.While some sources at the time of the June 2021 deal put the sale price at $250 million, MBW spied an item in Universal Music Group‘s recently-issued annual fiscal report stating that Sony Music paid €102 million (around $123 million, which MBW rounded up to $125 million) to buy UMG’s interest in Alamo, which was presumably 50%, with Moscowitz owning the other half.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLos Angeles-based Saudi-Arabian/American singer-rapper-producer $kinny has released his new album, “Have a Nice Trip,” which was executive produced by Swizz Beatz, on Universal Arabic Music.The album features his new single “Salam” with Swizz Beatz and French Montana, the video for which also dropped today (pictured above at the video shoot, L-R, are Swizz, UAM CEO Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, $kinny and Montana).$kinny grew up in Los Angeles as the child of an American mom and Saudi-Arabian dad, and his music is germane to both cultures. Swizz Beatz has been spending a lot of time in the Middle East in recent years, and the match was easy.“It’s crazy, Swizz and I made ‘Salam’ the day we met,” $kinny tells Variety.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorR&B star and former Fifth Harmony member Normani has inked a global publishing deal with Hipgnosis Songs Group — but the most eye-grabbing news in the announcement comes toward the end: “Normani has confirmed new music and a larger body of work is on the way.”Fans have been impatiently awaiting new material from the singer for years, and the announcement of a publishing deal often means (although does not guarantee) that its release is relatively imminent. She was named Collaborator of the Year at Variety‘s Hitmakers event in December.The deal includes all of the future works by Normani, a six-time BMI Award winning songwriter.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPearl Jam paid tribute to the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins on the opening night of their “Gigaton” tour in singer Eddie Vedder’s hometown of San Diego on Tuesday night.Before performing “Quick Escape” at the city’s Viejas Arena Vedder paid homage to drummer Matt Cameron’s friendship with Hawkins, who died in Columbia while the Foos were on tour, and added a personal touch as well.“[Hawkins] emitted something very incredible and very special,” Vedder said to the audience, before turning to Cameron and saying, “We’re all missing him, and so, Matt, I’m sorry again for your loss. But it just gives us another chance to say how much we appreciate you as well.” Cameron and Hawkins formed a side ban called the Nighttime Boogie Association in 2020 after both took part in a tribute concert for the late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell in 2019.On Sunday night, the  Red Hot Chili Peppers honored Hawkins as well, at Jazz Fest in New Orleans on Sunday while frontman Dave Grohl, Hawkins’ widow Alison, and other members of the Foo Fighters looked on from the wings.