Music Industry Moves: UMG Nashville Launches TV/Film Production Company, Announces War and Treaty Docuseries

Meghan Markle‘s Hollywood reinvention has officially begun!

Could The Toms be close to losing their restaurant?

Louis Walsh has been sticking the boot in to many a famous acquaintance during his time in the Celebrity Big Brother house, but when he branded Jedward "vile" it sparked a furious reaction. Jedward just happened to be watching the ITV reality series from close pal Gemma Collins ' house and the trio hit back with their own anecdotes about Louis. But as viewers might have guessed, there's a long history to the animosity between the Irish stars after their X Factor collaboration turned sour.

Jedward have taken aim at their former manager Louis Walsh, following him branding them as “vile”.The former X Factor judge made the comments while appearing as a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother last night (March 12), when another contestant asked him what it was like working with the pop duo.“They were vile…But they were great. I got five million quid for them, I swear on my mother’s life,” he said.“But they were vile.

Thania Garcia Together with Spotify, the 100 Percenters, who have long rallied for more equitable treatment for songwriters in the industry, will offer career grants of $2,500 each to ten professional songwriters and producers. The partnership is supported by Spotify’s Creator Equity Fund as the latest part of its ongoing commitment to fostering equity in the audio space. Applications for these grants will be open starting March 15 and will close April 15.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Media and entertainment powerhouse Banijay has launched joint venture Dynamic Ally Pictures in Germany, further expanding its scripted capacity in the country. The Berlin-based production company, founded and led by “Helgoland 513” executive producers Veronica Priefer and Johannes Kunkel, is dedicated to developing, packaging and distributing scripted content for the German and international market.

Reading & Leeds and Glastonbury.Raised in Kilmacthomas, Power moved to London when he was aged 15 and eventually went on to establish the venue and events group Mean Fiddler in the early ‘80s. Towards the end of the decade, the group took control of the Reading festival, before broadening their sights to other music events.These included Leeds Festival, Glastonbury, Phoenix Festival, Hop Farm Music Festival, Benicàssim, Tribal Gathering, Homelands Liverpool and Fleadh.

Veteran producers Cora Yim and Benjamin Lin are launching a production company, S11 Partners, with an equity investment from Hong Kong-listed Medialink Group.

After a difficult few years for the Royal Family with the deaths of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and the reduced number of working royals following the departures of the Duke of York and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, one royal has truly stepped up to the plate. Known for carrying on his father's role with the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme and his passions for the arts, Prince Edward has truly come into his own in the last few years and become a key source of support for The King.

Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue, has said that the presence of advancing artificial intelligence technology in the music industry is “terrifying”.The songwriter, who is best known for collaborating with Williams over the last two decades, expressed concern that AI technology has the potential to replace songwriters during a talk for music and entertainment industry apprentices at the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies in Nottingham.“I think we may get to a stage in the future where an album will need to have a badge saying ‘this is an all-human record’,” he said. [via The Guardian]“From what I’ve seen of AI, the acceleration is pretty terrifying, in terms of what it can do and how it could replace songwriters.“Any person could put into an AI programme something like ‘I want a song 100 BPM that sounds like a cross between ABBA and Arctic Monkeys’.

There may soon be another actors strike in Hollywood — this time against the video game industry.

Tribeca Enterprises has launched a subscription offering, with members gaining access to special events, limited-edition merchandise and discounts on Tribeca Festival tickets and packages.

key demand – a cut in the VAT charged on tickets.In response, several representatives from various live music organisations have responded negatively to the proposed budget.Jon Collins, the CEO of Live (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment), issued a statement expressing frustration on the lack of action in cutting VAT rates.He said: “Today’s Budget represents yet another missed opportunity to accelerate the growth of the live music sector and the wider economy while also providing urgently needed support for grassroots music through the reintroduction of a lower VAT rate. 20% VAT on tickets in the UK is vastly out of step with our competitors in Europe and North America and has become a material factor limiting the number of gigs, tours and festivals our world class industry can put on.”He continued: “Fewer shows mean reduced economic activity in towns and cities across the country – an estimated £1m is spent in local businesses for every 10,000 people who attend a gig – and heaps further pressure onto grassroots music venues that are closing down at an alarming rate.

Selena Gomez is walking back her comments about leaving the music industry.

Angelique Jackson Queen Latifah will return to host the 55th annual NAACP Image Awards after emceeing the ceremony for the first time last year. The NAACP also announced that writer, poet and activist Amanda Gorman will be honored with the prestigious Chairman’s Award, while this year’s Vanguard Award will go to costume designer, designer and tastemaker June Ambrose in honor of her decades as a pioneer in the fashion industry.

Thania Garcia Raphael Saadiq has signed with Tyler Childs at Forward Artist Management, the management company announced Monday. The Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated producer and singer-songwriter is a member of the American soul/R&B band, Tony! Toni! Toné!, with whom he recently went on tour for the first time in 25 years. Saadiq co-wrote and produced both of Beyoncé’s latest country singles, “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the latter of which is currently the No.

New York Dolls’ David Johansen, John Lyon and more.The lawsuit was in an effort to regain control of the artists’ masters, and has finally come to a settlement after years of closely-watched class-action litigation against major record labels over copyright law’s termination right.Announced in court papers last week, the agreement between the music label and the musicians will resolve a case which saw artists accuse Sony of unfairly rejecting their efforts to invoke termination – a federal law that’s supposed to let authors take back control of their works decades after they sold them away.Per Reuters, Johansen, Lyon and Paul Collins sued Sony Music back in 2019, accusing the label of barring their termination notices for their music and proceeding to sell it without permission. The case had ben on pause for settlement since 2021.The musicians based their claims off of a part of the Copyrights Act.

There are so many major music industry stars in power couples!

UK Music, which is the collective voice of the UK music industry, has urged Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to cut VAT in the spring Budget to throw the sector a “vital lifeline” and save venues that are threatened by closure.Tom Kiehl, UK Music’s Interim Chief Executive, has asked Hunt to use his Budget next Wednesday (March 6) to lower the current 20 per cent VAT rate on tickets to 10 per cent as a “boost for consumers, music professionals and venues”.The request to slash VAT is among the recommendations that UK Music has made to the Government in its Budget submission, which outlines the support the sector needs to grow (read it in full here).Currently, music fans in the UK must pay 20 per cent VAT on their tickets – almost double the EU average (10.3 per cent) and around triple the rate in countries like Belgium (six per cent) and Germany (seven per cent). ‌ The 20 per cent rate is the third highest rate of cultural ticketing in Europe. Gig-goers pay more tax on UK tickets than anywhere else in Europe, except Denmark and Lithuania.The calls come amid growing concerns for the future of grassroots venues.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor film an intense scene for their new movie.