Pink, Sony Publishing CEO Jon Platt, Busbee to Be Honored at SONA Warrior Awards

Sony Music Publishing has signed Danger Mouse – real name Brian Burton – to a new worldwide publishing agreement.Burton himself was not on hand to comment on the deal, but three people from Sony have. And in many ways that’s better, isn’t it? Yeah? Good.“Danger Mouse is not only a brilliant songwriter, but a true innovator who pushes creative boundaries and challenges listeners to think outside the box”, says SMP CEO Jon Platt.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLive Nation has re-upped longtime CEO Michael Rapino to a new five-year contract that will see him earn $30 million year if he and the company meet performance metrics, according to documents filed with the SEC.While Rapino’s annual salary holds at his previous $3 million per year, the annual target cash bonus is climbing from $6 million to $17 million per year. The news was first reported by the Hollywood Reporter.Starting next year, Rapino will also be eligible for an annual grant of restricted shares valued at no less than $10 million.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAugust 08, singer-songwriter known for his work with the LA-based collective 88Rising, has inked with Allel Sound, Jhene Aiko’s joint label venture with Def Jam. His debut EP, “Towards The Sun,” drops tonight and includes the new single and video “Water Sign,” which features Aiko.“August is an incredible writer, singer and artist whose music speaks to me on so many levels,” said Aiko.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorManny Charlton, founding guitarist of the hard rock band Nazareth and producer of Guns N’ Roses early demos, has died, according to a post from his grandson. No cause of death was cited; he was 80.He was Nazareth’s guitarist, producer and songwriter from the band’s formation until 1990, performing on the band’s most successful albums, notably 1973’s “Razamanaz” and 1975’s “Hair of the Dog,” which went platinum and featured the group’s biggest hit, a dramatic cover of “Love Hurts,” originally made famous by the Everly Brothers, that reaced the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.In 1986, Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose reportedly wanted “the guy who produced Nazareth’s ‘Hair of the Dog’” to produce the band’s debut full-length.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLaPolt Law, the Los Angeles-based music and entertainment firm founded by Dina LaPolt in 2001, is elevating five of its attorneys to partner. The promotions, effective immediately, reflect their contributions to the firm, which specializes in intellectual property law, music law and public policy.The new partners — pictured above (back row, l-r) Kristin Wenning, Mariah Comer, Lindsay Arrington and (front row, l-r) Dominic Chaklos and Tom Dean, with LaPolt in front — have expertise in a range of issues, including brand partnerships, catalog sales, executive contracts, and projects in emerging media such as NFTs, Web3.“They are all zealous advocates for our clients,” LaPolt said of the attorneys.

Moving on! Meghan King is dating business mogul Trevor Colhoun less than one year after ending her whirlwind marriage to Cuffe Owens.

K.J. Yossman Sarah Edwards, creative director and senior vice president of global unscripted entertainment at Sony Pictures Television International (SPT), has departed the company, Variety can confirm.Edwards stepped down last month with a view to taking a break for family reasons.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a big win for the publishing and songwriting community, the Copyright Royalty Board reaffirmed the 15.1% headline rate increase in royalties paid by streaming services to publishers for the 2018-22 period.The rate was decided in 2018, but streaming services Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube/Google and Pandora appealed the following year, arguing that the increase will make their business models untenable in light of the billions of dollars that they already pay in royalties.While the decision was not immediately released publicly, sources and National Music Publishers Assn. president/CEO David Israelite shared that the headline rate will increase to 15.1% from 11.4%, as decided.However, in a minor win for the streaming services, the TCC rate, or percentage of label revenue, has been capped, and the definition of bundling — the “family plans” and other discount packages — has reverted to an earlier definition more favorable to the services.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJohn Mayer — singer-songwriter, virtuoso guitarist, solo artist, member of Dead & Co and definitely the funniest speaker at Variety’s Hitmakers event last December — has signed with CAA in all areas globally.He has won seven Grammy Awards out of 19 nominations and since his 2001 debut album “Room for Squares”  has earned three No. 1 debuts on the Billboard Top 200, with the triple-platinum “Heavier Things” (2003), double-platinum “Battle Studies” (2009), and gold-certified “Born and Raised” (2012). He has sold an estimated 20 million-plus albums worldwide.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLegendary rocker Alice Cooper, who should need no introduction, has signed with CAA to represent his touring in North America.He has sold more than 50 million albums over the years and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. His nightly radio show, “Nights With Alice Cooper,” continues to air in nearly 100 cities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFast-rising 18-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter Lauren Spencer-Smith has inked with both Warner Chappell Music publishing and longtime Shawn Mendes manager Andrew Gertler’s AG Artists in partnership with Ziggy Chareton, Variety has confirmed. The news was first published in Hits.A native of Vancouver Island, the singer’s confessional, intimate songs like “Fingers Crossed” and her latest single “Flowers” have effectively set her on a track to be this year’s Olivia Rodrigo.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe BET Awards are officially a celebration of “Black excellence,” and Sunday night’s show featured blockbuster performances from Lizzo, Mariah Carey, Latto, Jack Harlow (who was joined by Brandy and Lil Wayne) and an elaborate tribute to Lifetime Achievement honoree Sean “Diddy” Combs that included an unannounced in-person speech from Kanye West.But for the second time in three years, the show coincided with galvanizing events in the United States: In 2020, it was George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police and the ensuing the Black Lives Matter protests, and this year it was the Supreme Court’s polarizing overturn of Roe v. Wade and the impending loss of a woman’s right to choose in many states in the country.

Fierce fashion! Hollywood’s biggest names stepped out in their best and boldest looks to celebrate the 2022 BET Awards.

The CAA Amplify summit will make its in-person return on June 22 featuring speakers across entertainment, sports, media, technology, and social justice.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSteve Cooper, CEO of Warner Music Group for the past 11 years, will step down next year, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal that was confirmed to Variety by a rep for the company.The transition will be a gradual one, the rep emphasized, as the company seeks a suitable successor.Warner is the third-largest major music group, after Universal and Sony, and Cooper has run it with a firm, calm and non-flamboyant hand through the first decade of the streaming era and as it went public for a second time in the early months of the pandemic in 2020. The company earnings were declining at the time of his arrival and he not only reversed that trend but doubled its revenue and embraced new technologies and business opportunities.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCity of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a leading research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, announced that its Music, Film and Entertainment Industry group’s 2022 Spirit of Life Gala will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson.The gala will take place Oct. 27, 2022, at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles — the first after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Naman Ramachandran Paramount‘s free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) provider Pluto TV has launched four new channels in collaboration with Sony Pictures Television (SPT). The new channels will bring SPT content to Pluto TV across Europe and the U.K.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to the documentary Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, on the heels of its June 12th world premiere in the Spotlight Documentary section of the Tribeca Film Festival.