Flicking through Twitter on a Friday night is not an ideal way to start the weekend.
22.06.2023 - 14:45 / variety.com
Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music BMG has acquired a “substantial stake” in the work of legendary songwriter and two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Paul Simon, the company announced Thursday. The acquisition includes his royalty income in Simon & Garfunkel recordings as well as his neighboring rights income; Simon sold his publishing catalog to Sony Music Publishing in 2021. According the the announcement, the deal includes such songs as ‘The Sound Of Silence’, ‘The Boxer’, ‘Mrs Robinson’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Paul Simon was represented in the transaction by Gene Salomon and Don Passman at Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.
Thomas Scherer, BMG’s President, Repertoire & Marketing, Los Angeles and New York, said, “In any list of the true greats, Paul Simon stands as one of the pillars of popular music history. We will play our part to ensure his music continues to be honored and respected.”
BMG CEO-designate Thomas Coesfeld said, “We are delighted to have secured the agreement of Paul Simon for BMG to acquire his royalty interests in Simon & Garfunkel recordings and his neighboring rights income. This is a significant transaction. Our ability to secure this deal demonstrates once again that BMG provides the best home for the greatest artists.” In the recent years BMG has concluded acquisitions for rights and/or royalties in the work of artists and/or songwriters including Tina Turner, John Legend, Mötley Crüe, ZZ Top, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Frampton, Harry Nilsson, John Lee Hooker, Simple Minds, Primal Scream, Jean-Michel Jarre, and most recently The Hollies, among others. BMG already represents or owns rights in the work of artists including Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Tina Turner, George
Flicking through Twitter on a Friday night is not an ideal way to start the weekend.
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is uniting with another 2000s TV staple, “Breaking Bad.” Season 16’s “Celebrity Booze: The Ultimate Cash Grab,” which is set to premiere Wednesday, June 28, will follow the gang as they meet Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, who play themselves in the episode. In the clip, Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Mac (Rob McElhenney) have a plan in store for Paul and Cranston as they make an appearance in Philly to launch their own celebrity liquor label, Dos Hermanos. But that scheme comes to a screeching halt when Paul refuses to shake Dennis’ hand.
Over the past week, you’ve likely heard the outcry from filmmakers and film fans about the uncertain fate of TCM under the Warner Bros. Discovery regime.
just keeps raising the bar! The show returned on Tuesday for the fifth night of the audition rounds, and the show introduced fans to a whole new slew of jaw-dropping performers and impressive entertainers.The show's stalwart stars -- including judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara and Heidi Klum, as well as host Terry Crews -- returned to the Pasadena Civic Auditorium as another group of hopefuls hit the stage to show off their skills.After the last few weeks of Cowell's voice starting to waiver, Tuesday saw his voice go out almost altogether, leaving the outspoken judge using a digital soundboard to speak to contestants and give his feedback — which elated the fellow judges. However, even without his voice, he was able to express excitement over the night's most memorable performance.That truly moving number came from a vocal teacher and aspiring songstress, Lachuné, who explained why she's been hesitant before now to chase the dream of musical stardom herself.«I grew up in a singing family. I spent most of my years observing them do it. I just never pictured myself actually having the moment to be onstage,» she shared.
Darrell Issa Guest Columnist Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet represents California’s 48th Congressional District. Later today on the Nashville, TN campus of Belmont University, I’ll convene a field hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. The hearing won’t just take place in Music City, USA but five years after Congress achieved that rarest of things: A consensus solution that recognized the rights of musical artists and created a way they could be compensated fairly by publishers. It may be hard for some to believe, but at the time we crafted this legislation, the music industry and other content owners were being crushed by widespread piracy and an inability to monetize the value of musical creativity.
Paul Simon leaned on dreams he had while sleeping to create his latest studio album, "Seven Psalms." "The dream said, 'You're working on a piece called 'Seven Psalms,'" Simon recently shared with CBS News. He told the outlet that he woke up, wrote down the idea on a legal pad in his cabin in Texas where he lives with his wife of over 30 years, Edie Brickell. He said since the idea came to him in a dream, he needed to "wait 'til there's clarification" on what he's supposed to do.
Paul McCartney might be joining Elton John on stage at Glastonbury Festival this weekend.The Beatles legend was among VIPs who were spotted watching Foo Fighters side stage when the band performed their surprise set as mystery band The Churnups yesterday (June 23).However, festival-goers and watchers have suspected that Macca is down on the farm for another reason – to appear as John’s special guest when he performs in the Legends slot tomorrow (June 25).Back in December, John was confirmed as first Glastonbury Festival 2023 headliner, which will be the final UK show of the ‘Rocket Man’ singer’s last ever tour.He’s since revealed that he has developed a “brand new show” for his Glasto set.Rumours of potential guests first arose following a recent interview with John, in which he teased that some special guests would be joining him for during his closing headline set on Sunday.
little help from AI — but just a little.Paul McCartney has responded to the speculation about the use of artificial intelligence in the Beatles’ upcoming song.McCartney, 81, told the BBC that “the final Beatles album” will be released later this year — using AI technology to “extricate” John Lennon’s voice from a previously unheard track.“It was a demo that John had that we worked on, and we just finished it up, it’ll be released this year,” he said in his initial announcement on June 12. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI, so then we could mix the record as you would normally do.”With AI being at the center of much concern and debate, many fans jumped to conclusions and assumed that the technology was being used to generate fabricated vocals from the late Lennon.McCartney took to social media to ensure his fans that nothing was fabricated.“Been great to see such an exciting response to our forthcoming Beatles project. No one is more excited than us to be sharing something with you later in the year,” he tweeted.“We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it.
Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles has announced a special initiative to help save Rockwood Music Hall, the long-running independent New York City music venue, which is in danger of closing. The #PreserveRockwood benefit concert series will launch on June 30 with Bareilles and will be an opportunity to see artists perform in the venue’s intimate setting while helping to keep it alive. 100% of the proceeds from the shows will be donated to Rockwood to help continue a space for independent and emerging artists to perform. Other artists initially joining the series include Chris Thile and Michael Daves (July 1), Amy Helm (July 6), Isabel Hagen (July 10), Ingrid Michaelson (July 20), Elle King (July 31) and The Lone Bellow (August 10), and more.
Hollyoaks star Paul Danan has paid tribute to co-star Frankie Julia Hough following her death. The latter star appeared in the soap in the role of Jess Holt alongside Paul, who played Sol Patrick between 1997 and 2001. Hough died after being involved in a motorway accident last month.
Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Warner Bros. Discovery is negotiating to sell around half of the storied Warner studio’s film and TV music-publishing assets for approximately $500 million, three sources confirm to Variety. The news was first reported by Hits. While it is unclear exactly which assets are on the table, one source says that the rights to “slightly less than half” of the catalog, with a price of around $500 million, are likely to go to a major label, with Sony said to be in the lead. The catalog is believed to include music from such films as “Purple Rain,” “Evita,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Rent” several “Batman” films and many more titles, as well as songs included in iconic films such as “As Time Goes By” from “Casablanca” — iconic titles to be sure, but again, it is unclear exactly which rights are in play. Top attorney Allen Grubman is said to be overseeing the deal for Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Unless you’ve got a “Succession”-sized story of ludicrous wealth combined with horrible behavior, it can be very challenging for a documentarian to make the life of an executive seem exciting — even one as colorful as that of Ron Delsener, one of the greatest concert promoters of all time… which is what makes “Ron Delsener Presents,” a documentary on that colorful life, all the more impressive. While the 90-odd-minute doc is a bit overlong and based largely on wealthy old music-biz veterans telling war stories from their rough-and-tumble years, director Jake Sumner uses deep research, fascinating concert and other archival footage, animation and snappy editing to create a very entertaining, if slightly smoothed-over, film that doubles as a sort of mini-history of the American concert business.
Simon Pegg said on the red carpet of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in Rome on Monday that the cast and crew worry about star Tom Cruise every time he films another one of his ambitious stunts that have become a hallmark of his career.
Taylor Swift's music catalog sale is in the spotlight once again. After Music Business Worldwide published a report claiming that Taylor's dad, Scott Swift, made $15 million on the highly-publicized sale of her music catalog to Scooter Braun, a source tells ET that the elder Swift was unaware of the planned action, despite any profit he made from it. A source close to the negotiations tells ET that the drama began 48 hours before Scooter's purchase of Scott Borchetta's Big Machine Label Group was made public in 2019.
posting an article that details his life and impact. Gottlieb was born April 29, 1931, and was raised in the Manhattan borough of New York City. He graduated from Columbia University in 1952 before attending Cambridge University in the U.K for two years.
an immediate standout star in the current series of America's Got Talent, blind singing sensation Putri Ariani has revealed her lofty career ambitions - and her hopes that Simon Cowell will be the man to help her achieve them. The talented 17-year-old wowed viewers with her show-stopping performance on June 7, which even moved normally stoic judge Cowell, 63, to tears. In fact, the British judge was so impressed by the multihyphenate musician's triumphant performance he pressed the golden buzzer to send her straight through to the live rounds.
Colleagues, friends and fans are remembering Treat Williams, the versatile and prolific actor who died in a motorcycle crash today at 71. Have a look at a sampling of reaction posted on social media below.
Hailey Bieber to relaxed activewear championed by Olivia Wilde, there are plenty of sartorial themes to tap into this season. June is the hottest month for horseracing, Midsomer, and royal birthdays, so we can expect a blanket of stars to descend for each occasion. From Hailee Steinfeld to Emily Ratajkowski and Beyoncé, we’ve rounded up the best dressed celebrity for you to enjoy and hopefully gain a style trick or two from.
the Sun reported Friday, as a tribute to their late drummer Charlie Watts, who died at 80in Aug. 2021 after a battle with throat cancer. Lead singer Mick Jagger, 79, reportedly invited Wyman to recording sessions in Los Angeles to work on the track.“Bill hasn’t seen the band together for years but always loved Charlie.
Simon Pegg has revealed that he kept his alcoholism secret on the set of Mission: Impossible.Speaking on BBC4’s Desert Island Discs recently, Pegg says that he hid his reliance on alcohol while on film sets in the early 2000s.“You become very sneaky when you have something like that in your life,” he told the show’s host, Lauren Laverne.He continued: “You learn how to do it without anyone noticing because it takes over. It wants to sustain itself and it will do everything it can to not be stopped…But eventually it just gets to a point when it can’t be hidden, and that’s when, thankfully, I was able to pull out of the dive.”Pegg had spoken before about how his mental health problems began after he experienced depression as a teenager after his A-level exams and before studying at the University of Bristol.It later returned unexpectedly in 2006, while he was working on Mission: Impossible III, and Pegg recalls using alcohol to help numb his pain.