Music Industry Moves: Universal Partners With Indie Powerhouse [PIAS], Atlantic Ups Kevin Holiday to Executive VP

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.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaAmblin Partners and Netflix have forged a partnership, one that will see the company headed by Steven Spielberg produce multiple new feature films for the streaming service every year.

Once upon a time in Hollywood, “The Lego Movie” felt it was going to be the second-coming of animation as the first installment was a decent financial success raking in $468 million and led to a somewhat successful spinoff, “The Lego Batman Movie” directed by Chris McKay earning an impressive $312 million globally.

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

Fast-rising singer-songwriter Clairo has signed with Universal Music Publishing Group, in advance of her forthcoming second full-length album, “Sling,” which was co-produced by Jack Antonoff and marks her major-label debut (on the Fader label via UMG’s Republic Records). Now 22, Clairo’s (Claire Cottrill) success story began in 2017 when her song “Pretty Girl” went viral and made her a titan in the indie-sphere; it’s clocked more than 74 million YouTube views.

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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Mischa Barton is opening up about the trauma she suffered for being "sexualized" in the past as a young actress in Hollywood. The "Hills" alum, 35, penned a lengthy essay published Friday in the U.K.'s Harper's Bazaar in which she discussed the importance of the Me Too movement and the scrutiny she faced playing "mature" characters onscreen.

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.

Chris Willman Music Writer+ Nick Petropoulos, who joined Arista Records early last year after an 11-year run at Glassnote Records, has been upped by Arista to oversee the label’s promotion department.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWarner Chappell Production Music has opened the doors to two new recording facilities: SkyLight Studios in Los Angeles and Sandtrack Sound in Nashville.The WCPM team partnered with David Kotch of Criterion Acoustics to redesign SkyLight Studios, a former mastering lab located in Hollywood.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOne year ago today was  “Blackout Tuesday” — during which the music industry took a work pause to protest police violence against the black community and consider its social justice policies and efforts in the wake of the murders by police of George Floyd, Breona Taylor and so many others over the years.