Music Publishers File Legal Complaint Against Spotify With Federal Trade Commission, Claiming ‘Unfair, Deceptive and Fraudulent Business Practices’

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As this album’s cover artwork suggests — it appears to show a restaurant table with one man drinking tea and eating baked beans, and the other drinking syrup — a full-length collaboration album between British avant singer-songwriter James Blake and psychedelicized Atlanta rapper Lil Yachty might not have been on anyone’s prediction list for 2024. But even knowing both artists’ predilection for the unexpected, it’s a surprisingly symbiotic alliance.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music In a brief Instagram Live video Wednesday, Donald Glover — aka Childish Gambino — somewhat clarified the burst of unclear messaging about his new album and film that appeared on the Internet the previous night.CHILDISH GAMBINOLITHONIAJULY 2 pic.twitter.com/Hqg3jaSoVa Several online posts stated that he has a project titled “Lithonia” arriving on July 2, which was accompanied by an official-looking graphic and a photograph of letters projected onto a wall simply stating “Bando is coming.” All of those things were consistent with the cryptic messaging he’s been dropping for the past few weeks via his Gilga Radio show and website — Lithonia is a city near Atlanta, setting of his popular television series; Bando is part of the title of his next album and film — but it was unclear where these messages came from, although some pointed to a post that appeared briefly on the streaming distributor Audiomack before being taken down. In a rambling talk Wednesday night on Instagram Live — that was frequently paused by poor connectivity — as he wandered around his beloved California farm, Glover said that what is arriving on July 2 is a single titled “Lithonia” that is apparently a prequel to the album.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As part of its long-term effort to update and diversify its membership, the Recording Academy — home of the Grammy Awards — has extended membership invitations to more than 3,900 established music professionals spanning diverse backgrounds, genres and disciplines. According to the announcement, the 2024 class of invitees is 45% women, 57% people of color and 47% under the age of 40. With this year’s new member invitees, the Recording Academy is on track to achieve its goal of adding 2,500 women voting members by 2025 this year — one year ahead of schedule.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It is a plight common to most professional songwriters: Everyone knows their songs, but few people know who they are. And it’s hard to think of a more vivid example of that syndrome than Gerry Goffin, Carole King’s late ex-husband and longtime writing partner, who was responsible for the lyrics of such timeless songs as “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?,” “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,” “Up on the Roof,” “The Loco-Motion,” “One Fine Day” and dozens more — he wrote the lyrics for a total of 114 Billboard Hot 100 hits for artists including Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Natalie Cole, James Taylor, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue and of course, King (with whom he is pictured above, in the early 1960s).

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Rob Stone, who co-founded the influential music marketing company Cornerstone Agency and the magazine the Fader, died Monday after a battle with cancer, according to social media posts from his family and his longtime friend and co-CEO Jon Cohen. He was 55. “It is with a heavy heart and sadness we share the news of the passing of Rob Stone,” his family wrote.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Lainey Wilson and Chuck D joined U.S. Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken and YouTube’s head of music Lyor Cohen in Washington D.C.

Alan Shearer commented on England's performance against Denmark, raising questions about John Stones and Phil Foden's roles in the team.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The Queen music catalog, along with a number of other rights, is in the process of being acquired by Sony Music for £1 billion (around $1.27 billion), two sources confirm to Variety. The news was first reported by Hits; according to their report, the only revenue not covered in the deal is for live performances, which founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor, who still actively tour with singer Adam Lambert, will retain.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Verzuz, the online platform launched during the pandemic by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, has struck a distribution partnership with Elon Musk’s X. The pair made the announcement during Cannes Lions conference in France on Wednesday. Earlier in the year, Swizz and Timbaland reacquired Verzuz from their previous partner Triller and now own 100% of the platform, while retaining their equity (along with the artists who participated in Verzuz) in Triller, according to the announcement.

Thania Garcia Latin Grammy winner Lasso has signed an exclusive management deal with WK Entertainment. This includes a comprehensive 360 contract under the leadership of Andres Gomez, who will support Lasso in touring, brand partnership strategies, A&R, marketing and more on a global scale. Lasso has also announced his first 15-date U.S tour, “Quedarse Solo Para Siempre,” promoted by Live Nation.

Countryfile's Adam Henson has shared a poignant update with fans after the loss of one of his beloved animals.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Scooter Braun, who had unofficially stepped back from managing such top artists as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande at least two years ago, finally made it official on Monday: He is stepping back from being a manager to focus on being CEO of HYBE America, the company to which he sold his own company in 2021, and to focus on his family. He made the announcement in a nearly 1,400-word statement that follows in full: 23 years. 23 years.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Coldplay have announced the release of their tenth studio album, “Moon Music,” slated for release on October 4.
The album’s first single, “feelslikeimfallinginlove,” is due this
Friday. The album is produced by Max Martin, who has worked with everyone from Britney Spears and the Weeknd to Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Jeremy Tepper, a musician, journalist, executive, program director of SiriusXM’s “Outlaw Country” channel and for decades a leading light of the Americana/ alt-country movement, died Friday of a heart attack. Singer Laura Cantrell, Tepper’s wife of 27 years, confirmed the news on social media. He was 60.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The Songwriters Hall of Fame, which staged its annual awards ceremony on Thursday night, is an institution and an event unlike any other in the music industry, even though many of its elements are hardly unique and many things about it have barely changed over decades, and possibly since it launched in 1969. Indeed, we say many of the same things about the ceremony in an article very similar to this one every year — it’s a combination of an awards show, a family reunion and a trade event that is invite-only yet features a mind-blowing array of Grammy-level, once-in-a-lifetime performances and tributes, always held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York’s Times Square.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It’s probably safe to assume that anyone who clicked on this article already knows the context of David Bowie’s culture-shifting 1972 album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,” which is indisputably one of the greatest and most influential albums of the rock era. If not, play the album immediately, click here and here — and save “Rock and Roll Star,” the sprawling new 5-CD, superfan’s-dream-come-true boxed set, for when you inevitably become a superfan yourself, because this definitely is not the place to start your relationship with the album.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music If there was one place to be in New York on Tuesday night, it was Charli XCX’s show at Brooklyn’s newly reopened and spectacularly renovated 1920s-era Paramount Theater. Matty Healy and his girlfriend Gabriette Bechtel (who chose the occasion to apparently announce their engagement) were in the house, as were Lorde, Julia Fox, Lily Allen and probably other luminaries.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music When Indian-American singer-songwriter Zeshan B takes the stage and begins to perform, it’s safe to say that the sound you first expect to hear is not classic, gospel-infused R&B with passionate lyrics about American social justice. Nor, when you look at the credits for Zeshan’s forthcoming third album, “O Say, Can You See?,” do you expect to see the words “Executive Producer: Preet Bharara” — the former U.S.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Tom Verlaine — the guitar virtuoso, cofounder and “frontman” of the pioneering New York group Television, who died last year — might be the most low-key guitar hero in rock history. If he had only ever released “Marquee Moon,” Television’s galvanizing 1977 debut album, his place in history still would be assured: The album, which brought the sounds of late-period Velvet Underground and the early Rolling Stones into a musical era filled with bloated solos and every imaginable excess, is one of the great guitar albums of all time.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The Black Keys and managers Irving Azoff and Steve Moir have parted ways after the sudden and thoroughly publicized cancellation of the band’s North American arena tour previously scheduled for the fall. A rep for Azoff confirmed the split to Variety late Thursday, calling it an “amicable parting”; a rep for the group did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The news was first reported by the New York Times.