Universal Music Expands Relationship With Twitch and Amazon Music

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz will co-write and co-direct Spanish Dracula, the true story about how silent film star and Mexican actress Lupita Tovar found a second wind starring in  Spanish language versions of Hollywood films like the Universal classic Dracula. The Weitz Brothers are her grandsons, and they will produce through Depth of Field, along with Pancho Kohner. He is their uncle and author of The Sweetheart of Mexico, a memoir he helped his mother write about her most fascinating life.

Kanye West has regularly connected his personal life to his music and other work throughout his career. While he’s performed tons of songs that reference friendships, his kids, and past romantic partners, one person who’s been a constant from day one is his mom Donda West. He’s been referencing his mama from his first album, well into his most recent record Donda in 2021. With the expected release of Donda 2, it’s clear Ye will keep paying tribute to his mom, who died in 2007 for years to come. Find out everything you need to know about Donda here.

Sting has become the latest elder rocker to cash in his songwriting catalog, selling his back output to Universal Music for a reported $300 million.

Jonathan Cohen Amazon Music and Amazon Live will unveil an in-depth conversation between Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Bruce Springsteen centered around Vedder’s new solo album, “Earthling,” which will be released tomorrow by Seattle Surf/Republic. Directed by longtime Springsteen collaborator Thom Zimny, the interview premieres tomorrow at 2 p.m.

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.

Universal Music Publishing has signed Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, to a new global publishing deal as his legal dispute with former label Domino on the recordings side continues to go through the motions. Although the albums removed from the streaming services as part of that dispute are back online.“Four Tet has soundtracked my life from GCSE revision to dancefloors at university and now I get the pleasure to work with him”, says A&R Director at Universal’s publishing business, Pete Simmons.

Dane DeHaan (The Staircase, ZeroZeroZero) has signed on to star alongside Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie and Josh Hartnett in Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer for Universal Pictures, Deadline has confirmed.

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong is asking his fans for help. On Saturday morning, the 49-year-old musician took to Twitter revealing that his 1962 Chevy II had been stolen in Costa Mesa, California. "My car was STOLEN 1962 Chevy II," he wrote alongside several photos of the missing classic.

One of the most anticipated series this spring is HBO’s “Winning Time,” a look at the 1980s LA Lakers Dynasty based on the book “Showtime” by Jeff Pearlman. With Adam McKay directing, that’s bound to be a rollicking comedic look at the Showtime era of Lakers basketball and its most familiar face, Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorAmazon Prime Video has acquired the North American and Latin American rights to Anthony Nardolillo’s “7th & Union,” starring Mexican actor/comedian Omar Chaparro (“Pokemon: Detective Pikachu,” “Stuck”). Grandave Intl.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe CMT Music Awards, which agreed to move their date and venue when the 2022 Grammy Awards announced their relocation to Las Vegas, have unveiled the new date and venue for their inaugural broadcast on CBS: The show will now broadcast live from Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium on Monday, April 11, from 8 p.m – 11 p.m. ET; the West Coast broadcast will be delayed, although the show will also be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.“The biggest and best moments in music are coming to CBS this April,” said Jack Sussman, executive vice president, specials, music, live events & alternative programming for CBS.

EXCLUSIVE: SmartLess, the podcast set up by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes and sold to Amazon Music and Wondery in a multi-million-dollar deal, is expanding.

Toward the end of a riveting NFC Championship game at SoFi stadium in Inglewood yesterday, the camera singled out a number of famous names in attendance. They included Leo DiCaprio, Jessica Alba, Magic Johnson and California Governor Gavin Newsom. None of them was wearing a mask.

Neil Young has offered fans free four-month subscriptions to Amazon Music as his Spotify row continues.Earlier this month, hundreds of scientists and medical professionals asked Spotify to address COVID misinformation on its platform, sparked by comments made on its original podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.Young then pulled his music from the platform, sparking a protest against the misinformation being spread about the virus on Rogan’s Spotify original podcast. The likes of Joni Mitchell and Crazy Horse member Nils Lofgren then followed his decision.Taking to Twitter on Friday (January 28), Young plugged Amazon Music to his followers, offering them free access for four months.“Amazon has been leading the pack in bringing Hi-Res audio to the masses, and it’s a great place to enjoy my entire catalog in the highest quality available,” he wrote.“Thanks also to Apple Music (I LOVE APPLE) and Qobuz for sticking with my High Res music.”All folks looking for my music can easily head to AMAZON MUSIC and click here https://t.co/xvhKGMkA36 – all new listeners will get four months free.

Neil Young has taken a stand against the COVID-19 vaccine misinformation being disseminated on Spotify via “The Joe Rogan Experience”, pulling all his music off the music-streaming service in protest.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNeil Young wants his fans to keep on rockin’ in the free world — but on Amazon Music, not Spotify.On Friday, Young announced a special deal with Amazon Music, giving new subscribers four months free of the streamer. The move by the 76-year-old music icon comes two days after he demanded that Spotify pull his tracks off its service in protest of Spotify’s failure to curb COVID misinformation in “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.On Friday, the Neil Young Archives website directed fans to Amazon Music to take advantage of the offer of the service’s premium Unlimited tier (at this link for U.S.

A day after Neil Young’s music left Spotify, the “Heart of Gold” singer is showing nothing but love for Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Music.

iHeartRadio Music Awards nominations are here!Celebrating the most-played artists and songs on iHeartRadio stations and app from last year, the ninth edition of the awards ceremony is set to be a star-studded affair. Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, Karol G, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Megan Thee Stallion, Bad Bunny and many more are among the nominees.This year, listeners will have the chance to decide winners in several new and established categories.