Prince’s ‘Sign O’ the Times’ Deluxe Edition Is a Sensory Overload of Great Unreleased Music: Album Review

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLava Records founder Jason Flom (pictured above, right) has long been known as one of the most successful label heads and A&R reps of the past 30-odd years.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNew York-based publisher Round Hill Music is aiming to raise $375 million for its new royalty fund when it on the London Stock Exchange next month, according to reports in the U.K.’s Times and Music Business Worldwide.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn World Mental Health Day, Saturday, October 10, MusiCares is launching a new Wellness in Music survey. According to the announcement, this new annual survey will help the organization to assess the music community’s mental health and wellness to better inform MusiCares of the needs facing their clients.“As we settle into month seven of the global pandemic, MusiCares is asking music professionals with 5+ years of experience to share their honest realities,

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJay-Z and Meek Mill’s Reform Alliance announced today that it has bolstered its executive leadership team with the hiring of Janet Choi as Chief Content and Communications Officer.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA 77-track benefit album featuring Pearl Jam, David Byrne, Aimee Mann and many others raised more than $550,000 for voting-rights organizations on Friday, the only day it was available.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMariah Carey has always been about control: over her career, sure, but also over her extraordinary voice, which is her greatest asset as a performer. And that voice is in full bloom on “The Rarities,” her new compilation of previously unreleased and low-profile B-sides.Although releasing an album of rarities and outtakes can be like sharing baby pictures with the world, based on the evidence presented here, Mariah never really had much of an awkward stage.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBack in February, Billie Eilish dropped “No Time to Die,” the theme song from the James Bond film of the same name.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTwitch, the livestreaming and gaming platform owned by Amazon, now offers users a way to avoid avoid copyright takedowns when using music, although it has not yet licensed by major labels.The platform on Wednesday announced the beta launch of Soundtrack by Twitch, a music-streaming service within the platform that includes more than a million songs by independent artists that users can employ in their livestreams, legally and free of charge, with all rights cleared.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter several days of online hints and teasers, Australian high-volume rockers AC/DC have confirmed their return to active duty by announcing that veteran singer Brian Johnson, drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams have rejoined the band after several years’ absence.A new photo of the band finds them looking older but energized, with lead guitarist Angus Young, now 65, still rocking the schoolboy outfit.The term “Pwr Up” featured in several of the teasers is

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrimary Wave Music Publishing and Lava Media have announced a new business relationship that sees Primary Wave making an investment in the Lava Media businesses, including the “Lava Music” and “Lava for Good” podcasts, and providing marketing and branding support for the podcasts as well as access to Primary Wave’s roster of artists and writers.In addition, Lava will work closely with Primary Wave on new publishing signings and catalog acquisitions and will

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLast week, Universal Music Group and its Task Force for Meaningful Change (in partnership with UMG’s °1824 and Diversity & Inclusion teams, Def Jam Forward, Interscope/Geffen/A&M and Republic Record’s Action Committee), launched a series of special programs and discussions in celebration of this year’s Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference.The events are free and open to the public.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorK-pop titans BTS have announced the release of their new album “BE (Deluxe Edition)” slated for November 20.According to the announcement, “The new album imparts a message of healing to the world by declaring, ‘Even in the face of this new normality, our life goes on.’”It also notes that “For this album in particular, the septet took a step further and was involved not only in the music making process, but also in the overall production: concept, composition,

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRapper Tory Lanez, who Megan Thee Stallion has accused of shooting her in the foot in an unexplained incident in July, dropped a 17-track album Thursday night in which nearly every song addresses the incident and its fallout, and what Lanez apparently perceives as betrayal from nearly all quarters.The new album, “Daystar,” may forever remain most famous for asking the musical question: “How the f— you get shot in your foot, don’t hit no bones or tendons?”The album

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUTA announced that Samantha Kirby Yoh has been named co-head of UTA Music, joining David Zedeck in overseeing the company’s worldwide music operations.“Sam and David see eye-to-eye on how to build a great music business and will be strong partners in leading UTA Music,” said UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer. “We have long admired Sam’s success working with unique and powerful artists, and we’re thrilled she has chosen to join us.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBruce Springsteen has released “Ghosts” from his new album, “Letter to You,” which is out October 23 on Columbia Records.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe starmaking “Purple Rain” may have been Prince’s most commercially successful album, but if fans have to pick a favorite, for many it’s “Sign O’ the Times,” his sprawling, wildly diverse 1987 double album that combines R&B, pop, rock, ballads, gospels across its 80 minutes in a dazzling display of his creativity and imagination.Yet the album was created amid dramatic personal and professional turmoil — and by the end of the year, when Prince had finished the

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorC.J. Strock, formerly of William Morris Endeavor, joins Patrick McAuliff and Phil Egenthal, formerly of Paradigm Talent Agency to form Mint Talent Group, the new company announced early Tuesday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTomorrow — Tuesday, Sept. 22 — is National Voter Registration Day and the HeadCount non-profit organization is leading a coordinated music industry effort involving hundreds of artists, concert venues, and digital platforms.For starters, more than 300 notable musicians will post messages and photos on their social media wearing “VOTE” masks and a call for followers to register to vote or check their voter registration status.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the first major pandemic awards show, the 2020 Emmys were fascinating and numbing, joyous and sad, unprecedented in most ways and, to our lockdown-dulled senses, all too familiar in others.While Jimmy Kimmel made many jokes about the situation in his audience-less (and thankless) role as host, if there was one person who made the viewing audience feel like she was performing in an arena filled with people, it was Grammy-winning R&B singer H.E.R., who delivered a

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSomehow, the mysterious British R&B/electronic-ish combo Sault has managed to drop four richly diverse, socially confrontational albums, all of them good and two of them absolutely great, in just 18 months.