Recording Academy Creates New Roles, Names Branden Chapman COO, Ruby Marchand Chief Industry Officer

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPhoebe Bridgers was already a rising star when her sophomore full-length “Punisher” was released in June, but the rapturous response the album has received from fans and critics has vaulted her career into the fast lane. Needless to say, Bridgers’ view of her incipient stardom is almost entirely from her Los Angeles apartment.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVTop CAA agent Nick Khan, who was Co-Head of Television, is departing the agency to join client WWE as President & Chief Revenue Officer, reporting directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.Khan fills the void left by the January exit of Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson who were ousted in January amid a rocky last year for the company.

Marco Rubio (R-FL) -- who sponsored the Continuing Small Business Recovery and Paycheck Protection Program Act as chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship -- the trade organizations voiced their support for the legislation, which has been integrated into the $1 trillion Senate stimulus package known as the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act.Under the proposed legislation, no company with more than 300 employee across

Social media star, entrepreneur and TalentX Entertainment co-founder Josh Richards has been named chief strategy officer at AI-driven music video and entertainment platform Triller, which he also invested in. In his new role, Richards will lead strategy at Triller while also overseeing the company’s implementation of live streaming and monetization tools.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIf there’s one thing that can make most of the music world stand still, it’s a surprise Taylor Swift album. And that’s exactly what happened Thursday night for “Folklore,” an album that virtually no one who hadn’t signed a non-disclosure agreement knew was coming until Swift revealed on Thursday morning that it was coming in about 15 hours.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhile Taylor Swift always has a group of collaborators on her albums, there’s usually one chief wingman, whether it was Nathan Chapman, Max Martin and Shellback, or, as on her last pair of albums, Jack Antonoff.But for her surprise-announced eighth album “Folklore,” which drops tonight, it’s apparently Aaron Dessner of the long-running Brooklyn-based band The National, who co-wrote and produced 11 of the project’s 16 tracks.Although well-known to alternative music

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTaylor Swift surprise-announced that she will be releasing her eighth studio album, “Folklore,” at midnight tonight — July 24th.In a social media posts, Swift explained that the album is the result of many of her plans for 2020  — including a short stadium tour supporting her 2019 album “Lover”  — were scrapped due to the pandemic.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrimary Wave Music Publishing has acquired a stake in the music publishing catalog and master recordings of Devo, one of the most influential and longest-running acts to emerge from the new wave era.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorThe New York Times Company announced that COO Meredith Kopit Levien, who has overseen its digital businesses, will succeed Mark Thompson as president and CEO effective Sept. 8.Kopit Levien, 49, will become the youngest chief exec of the media and publishing company.

Sony Pictures Classics is set to release Michael Covino’s The Climb, which bowed in Cannes, starting in in New York and Los Angeles theaters on Oct. 9.

Branden Chapman, the academy’s new COO. Trade/industry will be led by Ruby Marchand, who joins the academy as its new chief industry officer.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Prince Estate, in partnership with Warner Records, has dropped “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (1979 Version),” a previously unreleased early version of the song from the forthcoming expanded reissue of Prince’s classic 1987 album “Sign O’ the Times,” which is out September 25.“I Could Never Take the Place Of Your Man (1979 Version)” was recorded at Hollywood Sound Recorders, Studio A on May 23, 1979, and engineered by Bob Mockler.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCharli XCX is releasing a documentary film called “6ft Apart,” based on the recording of her quarantine album, “How I’m Feeling Now,” which was released in May. The album, the first to be made in quarantine by a major artist.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn July 9, the same day that Live Nation Entertainment was sued by a furloughed executive claiming race and gender discrimination, the company’s CEO Michael Rapino posted an open letter to employees across the world promising greater diversity in the years to come, along with a $10 million investment to “focus on developing, promoting and hiring Black and underrepresented talent.”With 2025 as a target date, the document pledges to double the overall percentage of

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn July 9, the same day that Live Nation Entertainment was sued by a furloughed executive claiming race and gender discrimination, the company’s CEO Michael Rapino posted an open letter to employees across the world promising greater diversity in the years to come, along with a $10 million investment to “focus on developing, promoting and hiring Black and underrepresented talent.”With 2025 as a target date, the document pledges to double the overall percentage of

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn “The Adventures of Moon Man & Slim Shady,” a new tag-team single with Kid Cudi, Eminem slams New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, police violence and offers some characteristically intricate rhymes about the coronavirus pandemic, George Floyd, protests and the messed-up state of the world.In a dig most likely inspired by Brees’ comments last month that he’d “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag” by kneeling during the National Anthem — addressing

Lil Nas X,GunnaandVictoria Monetare among 2,321 people who have been invited to join the Recording Academy. That is nearly 1,000 more invitations than the academy issued last year, when it invited 1,340 new members.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentThe Cesar Academy, which distributes France’s equivalent to the Oscars, has unveiled new rules aimed at ramping up diversity and parity within its board.The new guidelines were put together with the help of a mediator appointed by France’s National Film Board (CNC) following an industry consultation.

Lil Nas X, Gunna and Victoria Monet are among 2,321 people who have been invited to join the Recording Academy. That is nearly 1,000 more invitations than the academy issued last year, when it invited 1,340 new members.