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Roger Whittaker, the gentle-voiced British easy-listening singer who had an unlikely pop hit in 1975 with the song “The Last Farewell,” died Sept. 13 in Toulouse, France, following a lengthy illness. He was 87.

Diddy has not only a boatload of legal issues but a ton of debt, too!

New York Dolls’ David Johansen, John Lyon and more.The lawsuit was in an effort to regain control of the artists’ masters, and has finally come to a settlement after years of closely-watched class-action litigation against major record labels over copyright law’s termination right.Announced in court papers last week, the agreement between the music label and the musicians will resolve a case which saw artists accuse Sony of unfairly rejecting their efforts to invoke termination – a federal law that’s supposed to let authors take back control of their works decades after they sold them away.Per Reuters, Johansen, Lyon and Paul Collins sued Sony Music back in 2019, accusing the label of barring their termination notices for their music and proceeding to sell it without permission. The case had ben on pause for settlement since 2021.The musicians based their claims off of a part of the Copyrights Act.

according to Billboard.The deal would also be the biggest ever for the work of a single musician, the BBC reported.Jackson, who died in 2009, remains immensely popular on music streaming services like Spotify, where he averages 40 million monthly listeners.Just two of his countless hits, “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” have each been played more than one billion times on Spotify alone, according to the BBC.The deal comes just as an upcoming biopic about Jackson’s life and career starring his nephew is set to hit the big screen next year.The deal also reportedly includes tracks by other artists that had been acquired by Jackson’s Mijac publishing group — including hit songs by Ray Charles, Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, the BBC reported.The Jackson deal is as big or bigger than the $1.2 billion deal sought by Queen, which includes royalties for streams and other uses like the Freddy Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” and theatrical productions, according to Billboard.Sony’s deal with Jackson’s estate does not include royalties from the Broadway play and other theatrical productions featuring his music, the outlet reported.Sony paid $100 million in 1991 to buy the first half of what became Sony/ATV— ATV being the catalog that Jackson purchased in 1985 that included the Beatles catalog, according to Billboard.

https://t.co/TNiwrKkPEJ pic.twitter.com/JnZ7IoUAOt— Council of Music Makers (@CounMusicMakers) November 20, 2023Frazer added: “The UK’s strengths and accomplishments in art and entertainment mean we are well placed to take advantage of developing technologies in this field. But creatives rightly have concerns – and proposals – about how their work is used by artificial intelligence now and in the future, and I want to hear them.”She continued: “As Culture Secretary I want to maximise the potential of our creative industries and grow them by £50 billion by 2030, creating one million new jobs.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Music and Music Women* Germany (MW*G), the nationwide umbrella music organization of all female-identifying and non-binary individuals, have revealed the 2023 winners of the Female* Producer Prize. The prize aims to support and promote the careers of emerging female-identifying producers from across the country. The winners include Mimski, who broke through via the Novembars competition and is currently working on her first album, which will be released on the RUNTLIFE Records label; Evîn, a German/Kurdish singer and producer in alternative R&B who combines elements from different genres like soul and hip-hop with her Kurdish roots; and Kota No Uta, who works mainly in jazz, soul and neo and has recently released a song, “Autumn Leaves.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Triller reached an agreement with Sony Music Entertainment to pay $4.57 million to settle the music label’s breach of agreement lawsuit against the TikTok-style video sharing app, according to a court fling. Triller has admitted liability in the dispute, according to the filing, submitted by Sony Music’s lawyers April 26 to the federal district court judge in the case. Reps for Triller did not respond to a request for comment Friday. A Sony Music spokesman declined to comment. “Prompt entry of judgment is needed to protect against any further dissipation of Triller’s assets or, worse still, a bankruptcy filing,” Sony Music said in the request for the court to rule on the consent agreement. “Triller is more than a year late on some of those contract payments and Sony Music should not have to wait longer to enforce a judgment to collect.”

Thania Garcia Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Ozuna is calling 2023 his year. With a new album on the way, the release of a live album today, and an arena tour kicking off this summer — there’s a lot to chat about. “There are a lot of challenges, a lot of newness coming my way this year,” Ozuna tells Variety over the phone. “But I like a good challenge — and I’m at a point in my career where I have the energy to really give it my all. There’s a lot of goals I want to cross off.” Time is of the essence for the chart-topper who will embark on a new tour that will kick off in May, and continue on through the end of the summer in Europe. He’ll make stops in arenas across cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas and Miami — including European stops in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and more — before wrapping on Aug. 5 in Torrevieja, Spain (see full schedule below). Tickets will go on sale on March 3, with more details to be announced soon.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sony Music Entertainment Middle East and Kuwait-based music studio and video production company Ghmza have forged a partnership to produce music and promote emerging pop artists from the Gulf Cooperation Council and across the Middle East. Under the deal, popular actor and Arabic pop singer Bader Al Shuaibi, and Kuwaiti singer, songwriter and television personality Bashar al-Shatti will be the first two artists to work with Sony Music in the Gulf region. A pioneer in the genre known as Khaleeji pop reinvention – the term Khaleeji refers to nationals of six states: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the U.A.E. and Oman – Bader Al Shuaibi has over one billion audio and video streams and three million social media followers, according to a Sony Music statement.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Sony Music Entertainment filed a lawsuit against Triller, seeking millions of dollars in damages after the video-sharing app allegedly stopped paying licensing fees in March 2022. According to the suit, filed Monday in New York federal court, Triller continued to allow Sony Music songs to be shared on the app even after the music company terminated their deal. “Despite extolling the importance and value of ‘innovative technology and intellectual property,’ and claiming to hope that its efforts to curb copyright infringement ‘will set a precedent for us and all content creators going forward that stealing is not going to be tolerated,’ Triller displays brazen contempt for the intellectual property rights of Sony Music, its artists, and others,” Sony Music said in the lawsuit.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Music and Music Women* Germany (MW*G), the nationwide umbrella organization of all music women and female-identifying and non-binary individuals, have revealed the winners of the Female* Producer Prize. The prize aims to support female producers in Germany who often lack visibility and support in the country. The winners include Novaa, producer, songwriter and Berlin based artist who produces her own tracks as well as for Keke, Fløre, Amanda Tenfjord and LEA; Jenny Gerdts, music producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist; and GOTOPO, Berlin-based Colombian-Venezuelan producer and artist.

Thania Garcia Although Harry Styles’ “As It Was” maintains its run atop the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for the fifth week, it’s Kate Bush’s 1985 classic “Running Up That Hill” that’s the talk of the charts as it has re-entered the chart at No. 8. The revival of the track on the new fourth season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” became the launching pad for the song to outpace its 1985 No.

The Jimi Hendrix estate and Sony Music have filed legal papers with the courts in New York seeking a declaratory judgement that agreements reached with other members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience in the early 1970s are still in force. The move follows threats in the UK by the estates of those former Experience members – Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell – to sue for supposedly unpaid royalties.The agreements that the New York courts are being asked to confirm were signed by Redding and Mitchell in 1973 and 1974 respectively, and were the result of negotiations that occurred following Hendrix’s death in 1970.Under those agreements, Redding and Mitchell basically gave up any copyright or royalty claims in relation to recordings made by the Jimi Hendrix Experience in return for “significant monetary consideration”.

The frontman of Midnight Oil has spoken about the recent exposé on the toxic corporate culture at Sony Music Australia, his band having worked with the Australian division of the major since 1981.

K.J. Yossman Disgraced Sony Music Australia boss Denis Handlin has had his ‘Icon’ award revoked by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), it was reported today.Once the most powerful man in the Australian music industry, Handlin left the company abruptly in June following a number of allegations regarding his conduct and the “toxic” culture he had presided over.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWarner Music Group will acquire the assets of 12Tone Music, the label founded by industry veteran Doug Morris after he stepped down as CEO of Sony Music, the companies announced Tuesday (July 20).Founded in 2018 and most recently distributed by Warner’s independent label and artists services arm ADA, 12Tone’s catalog and roster include artists such as Aftermath’s four-time Grammy winner Anderson .Paak, country legend Dolly Parton, the 88 Rising collective

K.J. Yossman Sony Music Australia staff have spoken out about the company’s “nightmarish and toxic” culture following CEO Denis Handlin’s abrupt exit last week, with some even exploring legal action.Until last week, Handlin was Sony Music’s longest-serving employee, having been with the label for over 50 years.

K.J.

Naman Ramachandran Indian music giant Super Cassettes Industries, popularly known as “T-Series” after its label, has joined the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), becoming the last music major in the country to do so.T-Series joins the existing IPRS members who include Sony Music Entertainment India, Saregama India, Universal Music Publishing, Times Music and Aditya Music.T-Series, also a leading film producer, operates a vast music library of 200,000 titles, including more than 50,000

Neon Hum Media, the Sony Music Entertainment-backed podcast company, is launching a training bootcamp for aspiring podcast editors from underrepresented groups.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorFacebook said Friday it will launching a new feature in partnership with top labels to bring official music videos to U.S.

Simon Cowell is to take full control of “Got Talent” and “The X Factor” producer Syco Entertainment after agreeing to buy out Sony Music Entertainment’s stake in the joint venture.Cowell is personally buying out the stake and the move will give him sole ownership of the entertainment company.

Artists from all corners of the music industry are calling on labels, streaming services and other corporate entities to contribute to the cause of racial justice.

Bad Bunny’s album YHLQMDLG debuted on the March 14-dated Billboard 200 at No. 2 with nearly 179,000 album consumption units for the week ending March 5, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, making it the highest-placing Spanish-language album in the chart's history. The album’s unprecedented success shows the U.S. market’s gr

After a decade in the role, Sony Music France president Stéphane Le Tavernier has left the company, effective immediately.Staff at the label learned of the exec’s exit in an internal memo from Daniel Lieberberg, Sony Music Entertainment’s president of Continental Europe and Africa, sent Monday.