Summer Walker, Juice WRLD, ‘F— 2020’ and More in the Top Songs of the Week

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe three major music companies — Sony, Universal and Warner Music — have asked employees to work from home as much as possible for the rest of 2020 due to concerns over COVID-19.While the offices will be open for employees who must be there for business reasons, according to internal memos obtained by Rolling Stone (which first reported the news) and Variety, the companies, which are the largest recorded-music and music-publishing businesses in the world, have

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSiriusXM added around 264,000 new self-pay subscribers in the second quarter of 2020, the company announced in its earnings results Thursday, bringing it to nearly 34.3 million total subscribers in the first full quarter to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Its revenue was revenue of $1.9 billion, down 5% compared to the prior year period.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA$AP Ferg has dropped a new single called “Move Ya Hips,” a collaboration with Nicki Minaj and MadeinTYO that is about, well, moving your hips.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAhead of Spotify’s earnings call for its second-quarter results, the company’s cofounder and CEO Daniel Ek and CFO Paul Vogel got on the phone for a short call with Variety’s Jem Aswad and Todd Spangler.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA tearful Megan Thee Stallion took to Instagram Live on Monday afternoon to thank her fans, assail her haters and speak briefly about the July 12 incident during which she says she was shot in her feet. On that night, she and another woman were in a car with rapper Tory Lanez when he was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEven though its existence was announced just 15 hours before its release, Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” sold more than 1.3 million copies globally in just 24 hours, according to Republic Records, which released the album.According to the announcement, the album also broke the global record for first-day album streams on Spotify by a female artist with 80.6 million streams, and delivered “the most-streamed pop album on Apple Music in 24 hours” with 35.47 million streams.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNot surprisingly, Taylor Swift’s excellent surprise album has huffed up most of the oxygen on this mid-summer day — and Kanye West’s album will probably do the same, whenever he actually finishes it — but that’s all we’re going to say about them because this week saw an absolute avalanche of great new songs — and even two new songs by the Avalanches.It was a very difficult week to narrow the list down to five, so with a shout-out to the runners up — songs by Reese

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJuice WRLD’s posthumously released album “Legends Never Die” posted the biggest debut of 2020 on the Rolling Stone Top 200 Albums chart, and also topped its Artist and Songs charts, with 8 of the top 10 songs on the former chart. With 517,800 album-equivalent units, “Legends” becomes the first album to shift more than 500,000 units in its first week this year.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGotta say that with the world as crazy as it is, it’s a relief to have an excuse on Friday mornings to dig into the towering virtual pile of songs that have been released over the past week and just focus on music for a little while — it’s like a walk in the park for the soul.Anyway, in addition to the albums from the (artists formerly known as the Dixie) Chicks, Ellie Goulding and Chicago rock trio Dehd, our Fri 5 of the top songs of the week includes:DJ Khaled and

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPollstar has revealed the second annual “Impact 50,” its list of the 50 top executives having the most influence on today’s live business. The honorees (see full list below) are spotlighted in the new issue of the magazine, which also features a cover interview with Dayna Frank, head of the National Independent Venues Assn.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHipgnosis Songs has acquired the music catalog of three-time Grammy winning producer and songwriter, RedOne, the company announced Thursday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCardi B, DaBaby, Meek Mill and Universal Music Publishing are among the big winners at ASCAP’s annual Rhythm & Soul Awards, which began virtually at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday and will continue through Friday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDina LaPolt is one of the music industry’s leading attorneys — and she is almost indisputably the loudest. Outspoken and seemingly fearless, the owner and founder of LaPolt Law represents artists including Steven Tyler, Britney Spears, 21 Savage, Deadmau5 and, for many years, the Tupac Shakur estate.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTwo men and two teens have been charged with killing rapper Pop Smoke during a robbery in February, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday (July 13).Corey Walker, 19, and Keandre Rodgers, 18, were each charged with murder Monday, with the special circumstance allegation that the murder occurred during the commission of a robbery and a burglary, making them eligible for the death penalty, according to the announcement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the wee hours of Friday, Twitter lit up with people enraged that they couldn’t listen to the just-released posthumous Juice WRLD album and other new releases on Spotify. While the streaming giant sent out its customary “Something’s out of tune.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUPDATED: Malibu Entertainment, a company connected to Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming service, was among the businesses applying for and accepting Paycheck Protection Program loans for between $2 million and $5 million, according to documents released by the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department; a source close to the situation tells Variety the loan was for $2.1 million.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA new photo and poster effort called Bring Music Home (BMH) has been launched, in an effort to document and raise funds for the hundreds of music venues across the U.S. that have been financially devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Rolling Stones have announced a deluxe edition of their 1973 album “Goats Head Soup,” a 4-CD boxed set with 10 unreleased tracks and a full concert from the same year. The set is due on Sept.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorKanye West backed off of his support for President Trump, claimed he had a bout with Covid-19 in February, talked at length — if vaguely — about his own presidential campaign, slammed presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and plenty more in a sprawling four-hour interview with Forbes that published early Wednesday.