Universal Music Extends Chairman-CEO Lucian Grainge’s Contract, With One-Time Stock Grant of Up to $100 Million

Sofia Richie and her fiancé Elliot Grainge are having some fun in the sun ahead of their big day!

Universal Music has again called on the streaming platforms to play their part in ensuring that generative AI tools are not infringing the copyrights of the music industry. Though this time it stresses that that also involves removing music created by copyright infringing AI technologies, as well as stopping said technologies from scraping the music stored on their servers.The latest statement has been issued after another AI-created Drake track caught everyone’s attention.

Thania Garcia Universal Music Group Nashville (UMGN) has tapped Lori Christian and Rob Femia to join its executive board. Christian has been upped to executive VP of marketing, while Femia has been named executive VP of business and legal affairs for the label group consisting of Capitol Records Nashville, EMI Records Nashville, Mercury Nashville, and MCA Nashville. Christian was formerly senior VP of marketing, a role she occupied in 2020 after leading the publicity department at UMG Nashville following the 2012 merger of EMI and UMG. In her elevated post, she will oversee UMG Nashville’s artist development, brands and sponsorship, creative services, international marketing, and media marketing departments for the label’s artist roster. She has previously worked to launch projects for Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Darius Rucker, Keith Urban, and Luke Bryan, among others.

Universal Music Group has been in correspondence with the major music streaming platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify, to demand that the companies help block the AI programs that are creating new songs based on the music of UMG artists. A report published last week by the Financial Times contains emails and interviews with sources close to UMG.

Vanderpump Rules alum Brittany Cartwright and her matron of honor, Katie Maloney, haven't talked in a while. Cartwright revealed on the Thursday's episode of Watch With Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor that the two have grown apart with time. «We still have love for each other,» Cartwright said. «It's crazy seeing Katie because she was literally my matron of honor.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor The world’s largest music company, Universal Music Group, is asking major streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music to block artificial intelligence companies from using its music to “train” their technology, according to a recent report in Financial Times. Confirming the report, a UMG spokesperson told the FT: “We have a moral and commercial responsibility to our artists to work to prevent the unauthorized use of their music and to stop platforms from ingesting content that violates the rights of artists and other creators. We expect our platform partners will want to prevent their services from being used in ways that harm artists.”

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, led a delegation of lawmakers last week for meetings in Hollywood and Silicon Valley, with an eye toward gathering information on how the two California-centric industries interact with Beijing.

“Scream VI,” the first instalment of the adored slasher series, is unquestionably on course to set box office records for the series.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Another box office slay for Ghostface. “Scream VI” will cross $100 million in domestic ticket sales on Thursday. It’s the first installment in the long-running slasher series to hit the coveted milestone in 26 years, since 1997’s “Scream 2” ended its theatrical run with $101 million. In the coming days, “Scream VI” will overtake the original 1996 “Scream” ($103 million) as the highest-grossing entry in North America, not adjusted for inflation. Paramount and Spyglass brought the sixth chapter to the big screen in March, crushing franchise records with its $44.5 million debut. “Scream VI” has also collected $56.25 million at the international box office, bringing its global tally to $156 million. The first “Scream” still stands as the biggest worldwide earner of the bunch with $173 million, followed by the sequel with $172 million.

From the Bachelor mansion to the driving range! Michelle Money and Mike Weir have been going strong since 2016.

Wednesday’s all-new episode of “Vanderpump Rules” sees Raquel Leviss continue her pursuit of Tom Schwartz, despite his ex-wife, Katie Maloney’s insistence against it.

 sees Raquel Leviss continue her pursuit of Tom Schwartz, despite his ex-wife, Katie Maloney's insistence against it.Ahead of Scheana Shay's wedding in Mexico, the group prepares for a white party, happening around one of the resort’s pools. And while it's Leviss who engages in the liplock with Schwartz, it's Shay who once again urges the action, with the soon-to-be bride telling Tom Sandoval that she «wants Schwartz to make out with someone at the wedding.»Sandoval's then-girlfriend, Ariana Madix calls Schwartz over to the group.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Neon’s “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” is perhaps best described as part heist thriller, part climate change documentary. Helmed by Daniel Goldhaber, the film, in theaters April 6, follows a fictional crew of young environmental activists who execute a daring mission to sabotage an oil pipeline. Cast members include Ariela Barer, who also produced and co-wrote the film; “Euphoria’s” Lukas Gage, Kristine Froseth, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner and Jake Weary. As soon as composer Gavin Brivik began working on the film, he flew out to the set and recorded music samples that included banging on oil drums in the desert.

Sofia Richie converted to Judaism.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Endeavor is bringing together two of the world’s biggest combat-sports franchises — UFC and WWE — in a blockbuster merger announced Monday. It’s a deal in which “one plus one equals three,” said Endeavor president and COO Mark Shapiro, who will serve in the same role for the merged UFC-WWE. The pact, valuing the combined company at roughly $21.4 billion, is anticipated to close in the second half of 2023. The deal will result in an estimated $50 million to $100 million in annualized run-rate cost synergies, according to Endeavor, including by moving WWE to Endeavor’s back-office infrastructure. Shapiro said Endeavor, when it acquired UFC, realized $70 million in cost savings.

the indictment of Donald Trump, which is of course something of a surprise, since documents released as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News prove that at least in 2021, he hated Trump “passionately.”Nevertheless, Carlson was outraged on Trump’s behalf on Friday’s episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” and while articulating his disdain of the American legal system, Carlson devised an unusual legal argument in Trump’s defense. In short, “I know you [the grand jury] are but what am I {Trump]?”You can watch the clip at the top of the page (courtesy of nikki mccann ramírez on Twitter).The comments came during a longer rant where among other things, Carlson called the situation “third world.”“And if that isn’t third world enough, someone leaked the news of Donald Trump’s grand jury indictment to the media.

The Downtown Albuquerque Railyards will serve as the headquarters for the New Mexico Media Academy, a collaborative workforce development program equipping NM residents with the skills they need to build successful film and TV careers, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on Wednesday.

Twice-impeached former president Donald Trump hasn’t been arrested yet, but Jimmy Fallon is pretty sure he’s starting to feel the heat. During Monday night’s episode of “The Tonight Show,” Fallon joked that the location of Trump’s first official 2024 campaign rally was the clearest sign of that.On Saturday, Trump stopped in Waco, Texas to make his first official campaign bid to the people and, as always, his speech was full of lies and gripes about how he’s being treated unfairly.

The Smile have confirmed that they have been working on their second album.The supergroup – made up of Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner – told fans the news at the end of an email newsletter that was announcing additional North American tour dates. “We’re deep in recording, week 7,” The Smile wrote.

Manchester United's pre-season tour to the United States of America can be the ideal opportunity for Donny van de Beek to stake his claim for a place in Erik ten Hag's first-team squad next season.