Music Industry Moves: Young Thug to Oversee Soundtrack for ‘Throw It Back’ Musical; Kobalt Announces Profitability

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOak View Group — the venue-development, advisory, and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries founded by Irving Azoff and Tim Lieweke — has announced a long-term partnership with Ticketmaster, the Live Nation-owned largest ticketing company in the world, covering six of OVG’s new arenas.

coronavirus pandemic revenues by the year 2025, according to a new forecast.Live music is set to return without restrictions in England on Monday (July 19) following the UK government’s decision to go ahead with lifting the majority of coronavirus-enforced rules in the country.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRichard Foster has been pro­moted to vice president, marketing at Epic Records, it was announced by Dave Bell, executive VP and head of marketing, to whom Foster reports.The New York-based Foster, who joined the Sony Music label in July 2019, is tasked with all digital marketing initiatives including podcasts, website design and data analysis, in addition to managing marketing budgets and liaising with the creative team.Said Bell: “Rich’s limitless creativity and

Live and learn! Two years after starring on Big Brother 19, Elena Davies was ready to fight for more money when she was cast on Ex on the Beach.

Vince Staples has spoken about how the music industry “monetises people’s struggles” and how that affects the image rappers try to sell.The rapper was asked about artists like Tekashi 6ix9ine and YNW Melly, who have used gang affiliation and songs about murder respectively to build their images.“This is a business where we monetise people’s struggles, pain, death and murder,” Staples told the Independent.

The story of Anne Frank and the remarkable diary she kept while spending two years with her family in hiding  from Nazis in Amsterdam between 1942 and 1944, and who tragically died at Auschwitz, has been told in many forms since being published in 1947 by her father Otto Frank, the sole survivor of the immediate family. In 1956 it became a Broadway play, and famously as an Oscar winning film in 1959 from director George Stevens.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSinger-songwriter Chris Isaak has partnered with Primary Wave in a deal that sees the publishing company acquiring a 50% stake in his master recordings and signing with the legendary Sun Records for future recordings (which was recently acquired by Primary Wave).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCreative Artists Agency announced that it has signed all six members of New Edition: Ronnie DeVoe, Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill. The company will represent the group in all areas worldwide, including touring, theatre, literature, TV/film, production, composing and others.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBrent Smith has left WME and joined Wasserman Music, the new company formed after Casey Wasserman acquired Paradigm’s North American music representation business, as executive vice present and managing executive, the company announced Tuesday (July 6).“As many of you know, the senior leadership team and I have been spending time with Brent Smith, and today I am pleased to share that he is joining Wasserman Music as EVP and Managing Executive,” Casey Wasserman wrote

Annie Mac has said that women in prominent roles within the music industry “should be a given, not an anomaly”.The DJ and presenter will leave BBC Radio 1 on July 30 after 17 years at the station, with Clara Amfo set to take over the weeknight Future Sounds show.Speaking to the Radio Times about her decision to step down (via The Guardian), Mac explained: “I feel annoyed being grateful that we have a female breakfast show presenter on Radio 2 [Zoe Ball] or 6 Music [Lauren Laverne].“We shouldn’t

the government’s proposed full easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England from July 19.Prime Minister Boris Johnson today (July 5) announced details for the fourth and final stage of unlocking in England later this month, which is set to be confirmed next Monday (July 5) after a data review.

Jehnny Beth has written about ongoing mental health issues in the music industry and her hopes for younger artists to resist “age-old patriarchal abuse”.The Savages frontwoman and soloist, who last week released a collaborative album with Primal Scream‘s Bobby Gillespie, posted a video of herself holding a burning stick as a symbol of shining “a light” on the state of the industry.“Today I want to shine a light on mental health issues in the music industry, because it doesn’t happen just in pop

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMotown Records announced that Brian Nolan has been appointed executive vice president of the label and executive VP of marketing, effective immediately. According to the announcement, in this new role, Nolan joins the label’s executive leadership team and will help guide the company as well as oversee Motown’s marketing teams and initiatives.

coronavirus.As reported by Music Week, 22 MPs from across the main political parties have come together to outline the support needed by the music industry, which has been significantly impacted by ongoing COVID-related restrictions.Signing a Commons motion, the MPs said that many freelance and self-employed workers have been without work since the first national lockdown began back in March 2020.

Grammy winner Young Thug has joined the team for Throw It Back, the musical dramedy that already stars Shahadi Wright Joseph and is in the works from Feigco Entertainment and Tiffany Haddish’s She Ready Productions. The Atlanta rapper will now co-star alongside Joseph in his acting debut as well as executive produce and supervise the soundtrack.

Brexit negotiator Lord Frost used a government committee hearing today (Tuesday June 29) to hit back at Elton John over his claims around the European touring fiasco, before coming under fire himself for his “inaction” over the situation.Sir Elton has been very vocal over the government jeopardising the future of touring for the UK artists, after the Brexit deal secured with the EU failed to negotiate visa-free travel and Europe-wide work permits for musicians and crew.

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