Music Industry Moves: WME Hires Dru Bass; Fader Label Launches Management Division

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor the most part, David Bowie’s career can be divided into eras by decade — the ‘60s, when he tried almost anything to make it (Mod-pop, Buddhism, folksinging) and mostly failed; the ‘70s, when he released some of the most exciting and innovative albums in music history; the ‘80s, when he got a taste of platinum success with “Let’s Dance” and lost his muse; and the period encapsulated in the latest career-spanning boxed set, “Brilliant Adventure: 1992-2001” — when

Chris Willman Music WriterOneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder‘s interest in evolving technology is well-documented (see his recent interview with Variety about moving into the NFT space). Now, he’s put his cryptocurrency where his mouth is, as OneRepublic became the first major-label U.S.

Lady Gaga tweeted in response to the not guilty verdict.Systemic oppression is evil and destroys the world #Rittenhouse— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) November 20, 2021Destiny’s Child‘s Michelle Williams simply tweeted that she was “not surprised” at the verdict, while The Roots‘ Questlove told his followers to “Stay Home.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorApple Music has released an expanded, exclusive holiday collection with its second annual “Carols Covered” playlist, available in Spatial Audio.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTidal has announced a number of new updates including a new free tier and enhanced paid subscription tiers, direct-to-artist payments, what it describes as “fan-centered royalties.”Most interesting are the latter two categories, which partially address a longstanding complaint about streaming services: In a nutshell, under the current model, streaming services put all streams into one pile and pay artists, songwriters and rights-holders based on their percentage of

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWarner Music announced early Wednesday morning that its acquisition group has raised $535 million in a secured senior notes deal.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJoie Manda has announced the launch of Encore Recordings, an independent, full service music company based in Beverly Hills, Calif. Manda is an industry veteran specializing in hip-hop with more than 20 years of experience at Interscope and Def Jam Records and Warner Music Group.Ned Monahan, whose departure from Spotify after two years as head of global hits was confirmed Tuesday, will become GM of Encore effective January 1, 2022.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNed Monahan, Spotify’s head of global hits and overseer of several of the platforms top playlists, is leaving the company, a rep confirmed to Variety.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs expected, veteran agent Scott Clayton, who left his role as co-head of music at WME late last month, has joined UTA as co-head of its global music division and as a partner, the company announced Monday.Clayton and current UTA Global Music Co-Heads Sam Kirby Yoh and David Zedeck will together “create a powerhouse leadership trio spanning UTA’s New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville music hubs and further solidify the agency’s reach across all music genres,”

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSnap has struck a licensing deal with Sony Music Entertainment — which means the music of all three major labels/ publishers and many indies is now available on the platform (which prefers to be called a camera company, not a social media network).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPeter Jackson’s reinterpretation of the film footage that became the Beatles’ swan-song film “Let It Be” has had a long road, even since it was first revealed a couple of years ago — first it was an Apple feature film for 2020, then it became a six-hour docuseries on Disney+ airing this coming Thanksgiving, and that’s on top of the 50-plus years that the footage has been sitting on shelves.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor the uninitiated, Idles are a monumentally powerful British hard rock band whose music is loaded with punk and hardcore influences, although it’s not accurate to label them as either.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWas the deadly tragedy at Travis Scott’s ill-fated Astroworld Festival at Houston’s NRG Park on Nov.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHouston mayor Sylvester Turner has promised a “thorough review and investigation” of the tragedy at the Travis Scott-headlined festival in the city, where eight people died and more than 300 were injured as crowds surged and stampeded during Scott’s set.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAhead of his “Astroworld” festival taking place in his Houston hometown this weekend, Travis Scott has dropped two new songs, “Escape Plan.”The songs are likely from his forthcoming album “Utopia,” which he and producer Mike Dean have teased on social media over the past few weeks.Although “Escape Plan” drew most of the initial attention upon the midnight drop — within the first 13 minutes, the audio of “Escape Plan” had 18,000 listens on YouTube and “Mafia” had

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA murderer’s row of top hip-hop producers including DJ Premier, Swizz Beatz, Mustard, The-Dream, Mike Will Made It, No I.D, Hit-Boy, Take A Daytrip and Tainy will release EPs via Mass Appeal’s “Hip Hop 50 the Soundtrack,” as part of the company’s #HipHop50 campaign in celebration of the genre’s 50th year.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGrammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Lionel Richie has signed an exclusive, global publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group, the company has announced. The deal includes songs written throughout Richie’s solo career, including smashes like “Hello,” “Lady,” “Dancing on the Ceiling,” “All Night Long,” “Say You, Say Me” and many others; he also co-wrote the charity single “We Are the World” with Michael Jackson in 1985.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThere’s little question that the past 20 months of the pandemic have been devastating. But for all that has been lost, musicians and the industry around them have found countless innovative and inspiring ways to survive, cope, adapt and even thrive.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBruce Springsteen is in talks to sell the rights to his recorded music to Sony Music as well as his publishing catalog, three sources confirm to Variety. While the album catalog deal is nearly done, some sources say, the publishing catalog remains in play.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCardi B will host the American Music Awards, which will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m.