Senators Klobuchar and Cornyn Demand ‘Immediate Action’ by SBA Over Save Our Stages Delay

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Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs American voters’ rights have increasingly come under attack from Republican politicians and interest groups, voter-registration non-profit HeadCount has announced “Save the Vote!,” an interactive campaign to encourage young Americans and cultural leaders to speak out for voting rights.The campaign hits on the same day that a divided Supreme Court ruled to uphold restrictive voting laws in Arizona.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs Variety’s recent cover star H.E.R. announced during Sunday night’s BET Awards, the artist’s Lights On Festival will return to California’s Bay Area in September.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the latest update to the long-running saga of the $16 billion “Save Our Stages” relief fund for independent venues and theaters — which was signed into law on Dec.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGrammy-nominated singer, songwriter and actor Janelle Monáe has signed an exclusive, worldwide administration agreement with Sony Music Publishing, the company announced on Tuesday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA year on from the “Blackout Tuesday,” during which the music industry paused to take a look at its racial policies and plan to reform them, how is it doing? According to both last week’s USC-Annenberg “Inclusion in the Music Business” study and a “report card” released over the weekend by the Black Music Action Coalition — a 200-plus-member organization formed around this time last year — it’s doing fair-to-badly.BMAC’s 37-page report takes a look at dozens of

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMore than two weeks after Ariel Emanuel stepped down as a Live Nation board member after 14 years, the Department of Justice announced that he and fellow top Endeavor officer Mark Shapiro resigned their board positions after the DOJ expressed antitrust concerns, according to a DOJ statement Monday (June 21). The DOJ’s concern was that Emanuel’s and Shapiro’s “positions on the Live Nation Board created an illegal interlocking directorate,” i.e.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSongwriters Hall of Fame inductee Nile Rodgers was unanimously re-elected to serve a second three-year term as Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame by the SHOF Board of Directors at its annual board meeting held on June 11.A cofounder of Chic and cowriter of nearly all of that group’s songs, Rodgers has worked with a galaxy of stars over the course of his career as a songwriter, producer and deeply innovative guitarist, including David Bowie, Diana Ross,

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVeteran artist-producer DJ David Guetta has entered into a career- agreement with Warner Music that sees the company acquiring his recorded-music catalog from the last two decades, as well as striking a new deal for future recordings.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Beatles’ film “Get Back” — a Peter Jackson-directed documentary culled from the footage from the 1970 “Let It Be” film — will premiere as a Disney+ original documentary series over the Thanksgiving holidays.Because of the wealth of tremendous footage Peter Jackson has reviewed, which he has spent the past three years restoring and editing, “The Beatles: Get Back” will be presented as three separate episodes.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) will present an overview of its inaugural Industry Action Report Card on Friday morning June 18th as part of the National Museum of African American Music’s State of Black Music Summit.With journalist and industry exec Naima Cochrane, BMAC drafted its first-of-its-kind report to “track and measure how individual companies in the music industry delivered on their pledges to work toward justice, equality and change in the wake

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrimary Wave Music, the fast-rising independent music company, has entered into a worldwide distribution agreement with Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, an arm of Capitol Music Group in the U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRCA Records has announced a new partnership and label deal with Loud Robot, the record label from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, to release new musical talent.To kick off this partnership, Nnena, the first musical signing to Loud Robot, today releases a brand-new track and video for “Heart Moan,” the second track from her forthcoming debut EP “Bipolar AF,” which is set for release on June 25.

A $16.1 billion federal program set up to provide emergency relief to distressed movie theaters and live venues has started distributing funds, but venue operators say the process has been slow and a key deadline has been missed.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNearly six months after Congress passed the $16 billion Save Our Stages act into law, less than 100 of the nearly 5,000 struggling independent venues have been approved for relief money, according to a report released Wednesday (June 9) by the Small Business Administration, which distributes the loans — and just “a few” have actually received any funds.This stunning state of affairs stands in bold contrast to the initial PPP and the more recent restaurant relief

Sofia Vergara never puts a foot wrong when it comes to fashion, and on Tuesday night, the TV judge styled out another show-stopping look on the latest episode of America's Got Talent.MORE: Inside the AGT stars' luxurious homes - from Sofia Vergara to Simon CowellThe Modern Family star looked gorgeous in a strapless navy dress with intricate silver leaf embroidery and pearls, which was accessorised with a set of diamond necklaces.Beauty-wise, Sofia's long brunette hair was styled in loose waves,

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNew York’s City Parks Foundation returns to live, in-person performances this summer with the announcement of the shows planned for the 2021 season of Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage, New York City’s largest free outdoor performing arts festival. SummerStage shows will be returning to Rumsey Playfield in Central Park, Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, and The Coney Island Amphitheater.