TaP Music’s Ed Millet and Wendy Ong on Managing Lana Del Rey and Dua Lipa, Misogyny in the Industry and More

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBMG and KKR have put their recently announced partnership to work, acquiring the “entire music interests” of long-running American rock band ZZ Top for a sum sources place at around $50 million.The agreement includes a buyout of the band’s publishing catalogue and their income from recorded royalties and performance royalties.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA New York Times report published Monday raises questions about whether Lou Taylor, the business manager long associated with Britney Spears’ recently concluded conservatorship, improperly enriched herself using the singer’s earnings. In the report, titled “Britney Spears Felt Trapped.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the Covid-19 Omicron variant continues to spread, particularly in New York, Brooklyn Steel has canceled the remaining three dates of LCD Soundsystem’s “You Are Here” 20-night residency at the venue: tonight (Sunday) through Tuesday.A statement from the venue reads, “LCD Soundsystem’s shows at Brooklyn Steel on December 19, 20 and 21 have been cancelled.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs expected, Warner Music Group has acquired 300 Entertainment, home to Megan Thee Stallion – who won Best New Artist at this year’s Grammy Awards — Young Thug and his label Young Stoner Life, Gunna, Fetty Wap, Highly Suspect, the newly signed “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul” Mary J.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn what may be the biggest single-artist music-catalog deal to date, a report in Billboard claims that Bruce Springsteen has sold his entire recorded-music and publishing catalog to Sony Music for around $500 million, topping Bob Dylan’s sale of his publishing to Universal for nearly $400 million.Reps for Springsteen and Sony Music either declined or did not respond to requests for comment, but multiple industry sources tell Variety that “the deal is done.”News of

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOlivia Rodrigo and Morgan Wallen topped the RIAA’s 2021 gold and platinum awards, the organization announced on Wednesday, with both artists’ latest albums attaining double-platinum status and Rodrigo’s blockbuster “Drivers License” single being certified four-times platinum.A total of 16 albums and 98 singles released this year achieved gold or platinum status; highlights appear below.RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier said: “With another year of Gold & Platinum

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMidem, for decades the primary international conference for the music industry, will not be returning in 2022 and the brand will be taken over by the city of Cannes, France, owner RX France announced on Wednesday.“Due to the lasting pandemic and following a review of its activity, RX France [formerly Reed Midem] has decided to no longer organize the Midem events,” the announcement reads in part.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGoldenvoice, the AEG-owned company that founded and promotes the Coachella Valley Music and Artist Festival, filed a complaint Tuesday in a California U.S. District Court claiming that a new festival called Coachella Day One 22 and promoted by its chief rival, Live Nation, infringes on the original festival’s trademark.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRepublic Records has promoted Lucas Romeo to senior VP of promotion, effective immediately, EVP Gary Spangler announced on Monday.Based in New York, Romeo will oversee promotion efforts across multiple formats, guiding the promotion team and breaking artists in today’s new landscape. Romeo joined Republic in 2014 as regional promotion manager in Nashville, before returning to New York to serve as VP of Top 40.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUTA has signed musician and former Poison frontman Bret Michaels in all areas.“Bret Michaels is a true multi-hyphenate. From music and branding, to sports and reality tv he brings 1000% to all his business endeavors and we are honored to welcome him to our roster,” said David Zedeck, partner and co-head of global music.

Lana Del Rey has set her sights on a collaboration with Migos, saying that she “loves everything” that the rap trio make.The singer was speaking after picking up Variety‘s Artist Of The Decade Award at its Hitmakers brunch in Los Angeles on Saturday (December 4), making an emotional acceptance speech.On the red carpet at the event, Lana said that she hopes to work with Migos in the future and showered them with compliments.She said: “I love them. Everything they do.

Lana Del Rey was the recipient of Variety‘s Decade Award yesterday (December 4), receiving the title at its Hitmakers brunch in Los Angeles.After being presented the award by producer Mike Dean, who she collaborated with on recent track ‘Wildflower Wildfire’, she thanked many of the people who helped her on her journey in an emotional acceptance speech.“My managers helped me up the stairs,” she said. “I still haven’t mastered the art of walking in heels.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorJack Harlow told tales of being in second grade. Lil Nas X admitted he “had a lot of fun pissing people off” this year.

William Earl Lana Del Rey was presented with the Decade Award during the Dec. 4 Variety Hitmakers brunch held in Los Angeles.

Kyle Eustice Mike Dean is fielding texts from Madonna, promoting his latest solo album, “4:22,” nursing a joint and trying to answer interview questions. But there’s beauty in the chaos.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBroadly speaking, record-label bosses tend to have similar backgrounds, rising through A&R, promotion or management ranks, usually hitting a massive success that lands them the big job. And while Max Lousada, Warner Music Group’s head of recorded music, has followed some of that model, his background is unusual by any stretch, and is reflected not just in WMG’s approach to music but in the roster itself.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWendy Goldstein, the newly minted co-president of Republic Records and A&R executive for the Weeknd, Ariana Grande, the Jonas Brothers and now John Legend, received some strong, backhanded inspiration when she was starting out as a 19-year-old assistant in Epic Records’ A&R department.“I was constantly told, ‘Women can’t be A&R people — what’s wrong with you?’” she says now.

Mike Wass Some artists launch themselves into the world with a cautious toe in the water; some make a huge splash. Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games,” which may have been one of the first songs to “go viral,” was more than just a song — it was a statement of intent and a blueprint for everything she’s done since.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpotify has unveiled its annual 2021 Wrapped campaign — where users can see the music they listened to the most all year — and with that comes the top artists, albums, songs, playlists and podcasts on the world’s largest streaming service, with more than 381 million total users.The full charts are below, but first, some stats:Globally speaking, with more than 9.1 billion streams this year, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny is Spotify’s most-streamed artist of 2021,