The Band’s Robbie Robertson Sells Catalog, Rights to New Firm, Iconoclast

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGrammy nominated rapper Jack Harlow, Variety’s Hitmaker cover star, dropped what is presumably the first single from his next album late Thursday: “Nail Tech,” his first new solo release since his major-label debut album “That’s What They All Say,” released 14 months ago.Just hours after it dropped Kanye West took a break from promoting his new streaming service to give the song and Harlow a big (if loaded) cosign: “This n—a can raaaaaaap bro,” West wrote on Instagram. “And I’m saying n—a as a compliment Top 5 out right now.” (Hear the song and watch the video below.)Harlow was quick to respond with effusive thanks.

Mrs. Doubtfire will return to Broadway’s Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Thursday, April 14, a month later than originally planned.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFifteen-odd years into their career, Beach House are at a point where most artists have settled into “heritage” status at best or rehash at worst. But with “Once Twice Melody,” they’ve defied those and many other odds, creating an album that is unmistakably them, and at first blush not that different from their previous work, but one that gradually unveils more and more detail, like intricate painting viewed from different perspectives.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt’s a fair bet that anyone who clicks on this article does not need a backstory on Woody Guthrie — legendary singer-songwriter, activist, poet, artist, writer of “This Land Is Your Land” and many other standards and the single greatest influence on Bob Dylan and a generation of musicians.But as a stunning, just-opened exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum shows, there was much more to him than his most well-known songs might indicate. Most striking of all, as manuscripts of his writings show, he was an amazingly deft wordsmith who would have made a hell of a rapper — and many of his verses and casual writings show a rustic, ribald sense of humor that is rarely present, or at least rarely obvious, in most of his songs.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Clive Davis pre-Grammy gala has been called off for this year, but that’s not stopping the legendary mogul from throwing a big party — his 90 th birthday is April 4, the day after the big show, and he’s throwing a star-studded bash at Casa Cipriani in New York two days later, on Wednesday the 6th, a rep for Davis confirms to Variety. The event is sure to include a guest list that outshines even his famously star-studded pre-Grammy parties — while many of these names are longtime Friends of Clive, the New York Post says invitees include Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, David Foster, Katharine McPhee, Pat Houston, David Geffen, and entertainment lawyer Allen Grubman, as well as label heads such as Monte Lipman, Tom Corson, Rob Stringer and Julie Greenwald. Davis wrote on the invite: “I personally hope you will one day be told that the next birthday you celebrate will be your 90th.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorElectronic duo Milkblood have signed with Loud Robot, the record label from JJ Abrams’ company Bad Robot, and dropped their new song and video, “No Mind.” The track is featured in the end credits of the forthcoming film “Uncharted,” starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg; the video for “No Mind” highlights scenes from the film.Milkblood consists of music producers Pat Morrisey and David Dahlquist — who have worked with SZA, Hayley Kiyoko, Weezer, Saint Jhn and others — with video director Mike Diva (Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, Run The Jewels).In 2020, Morrisey and Dahlquist launched the group with their debut single “Sick of Being Honest,”  made during lockdown. The video for the track, directed by Mike Diva, has garnered almost 13.8 million views on YouTube to date.According to the announcement: From there, the three creators conceived an entire world-building narrative around Milkblood.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBritish singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé has announced her forthcoming album, “Let’s Say for Instance,” will be released on May 6 via Chrysalis Records.Sandé has enjoyed enormous chart success in her native England, with her debut album, “Our Version of Events,” selling nearly five and a half million copies to date and becoming the biggest-selling album in the U.K. for 2012 (and the second-biggest for 2013).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorChristina Yuna Lee, a senior creative producer at the digital music platform Splice, was murdered over the weekend inside her apartment in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York. She was 35.The suspect, Assamad Nash. who allegedly was seen on security video following Lee into her apartment, has been arrested and charged in connection with Lee’s stabbing death, according to New York 1 and other local reports.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA rare acetate of the Beatles’ 1964 concert at the Hollywood Bowl sold for $23,838 in an auction held by Boston-based firm RR Auction.The disc, one of just three known to exist, features the full 12-song, 29-minute concert, along with stage comments from the group. According to the announcement, the acetate was cut directly from reel-to-reel tape three days after the concert.

Sting is selling his music catalog, including hits he made with the Police and as a solo artist, joining a chorus of stars who are cashing in with investors who see value in licensing their songs.Universal said Thursday that its music-publishing arm bought the catalog, including “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne" and “Fields of Gold.” Financial terms were not disclosed.In recent months, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young and others who sold millions of albums to Baby Boomers have sold their recordings, songwriting catalogs or both. Buyers typically get the permanent right to use the artist's songs or recordings in commercials, movies, television shows and other formats.Prices are rarely disclosed, but music industry experts put Springsteen's sale to Sony Music Entertainment in December at $550 million and Dylan's deal the same month with Universal Music Publishing Group at between $300 million and $500 million.Sting, whose real name is Gordon Sumner, helped form the Police in London in the 1970s as its lead singer, songwriter and bass guitar player.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs long expected, Universal Music Publishing has acquired 17-time Grammy Award winner Sting’s career catalog of music. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in recent months the artist was said to be seeking around $350 million.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the Prince estate moves forward after years of confusion following the singer’s 2016 death, the six heirs are divided into two camps: the three siblings who sold their interests to Primary Wave, and the three who have retained their holdings.With the value of the estate recently determined at $156.4 million, the two parties are now establishing a structure for how to work together. In a ruling on Tuesday, a Minnesota judge decided against Primary Wave’s proposal to create a single holding company.

EXCLUSIVE: Amid a streaming-spurred frenzy for music catalog rights, Multimedia Music has acquired film and TV scores from nine-time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrimary Wave Music announced that it has acquired the music rights from the estates of Layne Staley and Mike Starr of the Grammy-nominated Seattle band Alice In Chains.The deal will see the publisher acquire a stake in the Layne Staley’s and Mike Starr’s music publishing catalog, as well as master royalty income stream; terms of the deal were not disclosed.The work of the band’s main songwriter, Jerry Cantrell, was not included, nor drummer Sean Kinney or later members Mike Inez and William DuVall. However, the deal does encompass shares in some of the band’s biggest hits, such as “Man in the Box,” “Rooster” and “No Excuses,” as well as their biggest hit, “Would?” The latter song, released in 1992, and not only appeared in the era-defining Cameron Crowe film “Singles” but was also included on the hit soundtrack.

Spotify‘s royalty rates.The under-fire streaming service’s model means that a single stream of a song, and the revenue that brings in, is activated after just 30 seconds of airtime.As such, The Pocket Gods have decided to release a new album of songs that are all around the 30-second mark, inspired by an article in the i by New York-based music professor Mike Errico, who said that Spotify’s methods surrounding what constitutes a stream could signal the end of the three-minute pop song.“I saw the article and it made me think, ‘Why write longer songs when we get paid little enough for just 30 seconds?’,” The Pocket Gods frontman Mark Christopher Lee told i News.The new album – ‘1000×30 – Nobody Makes Money Anymore’ – directly references Spotify’s business model, and as such Lee says that it means the band “run the risk of being thrown off the platform”.Of the process of writing the album, he added: “We wrote and recorded 1,000 songs, each a shade over 30 seconds long for the album. The longest is 36 seconds.

EXCLUSIVE: Numerous broadcasters and streamers vied for it, but Deadline hears that Showtime is in exclusive negotiations for the worldwide rights to Nothing Compares, the Sundance buzz title documentary about the provocative life of Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrimary Wave Music has expanded its partnership with long-running British group and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Def Leppard.The deal will see the company acquire an additional stake in the band’s music publishing catalog as well as master royalty income stream.Terms of the deal were not disclosed; many of the band’s biggest hits are included in deal, such as “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Rock of Ages” and “Photograph.”The band’s repertoire includes 11 studio albums, which have sold more than 110 million copies globally.The relationship between Primary Wave and Def Leppard began in 2009 with a deal to market and administer the band’s catalog of songs. Over the years the songs have been synced on a number of television shows, including “Cobra Kai,” “Hit the Floor,” “The Simpsons Guy,” “American Horror Story 1984” and more.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a blizzard that dropped nearly a foot of snow on New York certainly could have put a major damper on the War on Drugs’ biggest-ever concert in the five boroughs — but despite those obstacles, an impressive crowd witnessed the group’s debut at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.Indeed, the Philadelphia band’s 18-song, 130-minute performance in many ways offered a refreshing snapshot of the state of arena rock circa 2022. Aside from drummer Charlie Hall’s snazzy patterned shit and windblown hair and a tasteful light show, there was little, if any, flash.

Michael Buble‘s new album is coming out so soon!

Michael Bublé is back with new music.