Universal Music Group Chief Lucian Grainge Addresses COVID Scare, Bob Dylan Deal in Year-End Letter to Staff

Variety Staff Follow Us on TwitterUniversal Music Group has announced a strategic expansion of its Sub-Saharan Africa leadership team, with Sipho Dlamini and Elouise Kelly named CEO and COO of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, respectively, and Chinedu Okeke named managing director of Universal Music Nigeria.Dlamini will continue to oversee all of UMG’s operations within English-speaking Africa.

Mike Tyson has no problem downing large doses of psychedelic drugs.

Selena Gomez, Halsey and Justin Bieber, but it was not until mid-March, when the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up, that things really kicked into high gear in the music industry.

Bob Dylan has announced a new box set of material recorded in 1970 to celebrate its 50 year anniversary.‘1970 (50th Anniversary Collection)’ will arrive on February 26, 2021 via Columbia/Legacy.The three-disc set features outtakes from Dylan’s sessions for studio albums ‘New Morning’ and ‘Self Portrait’, as well as his infamous 1970 studio session with George Harrison.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRare collaborations between Bob Dylan and George Harrison will be included on a deluxe reissue entitled ‘Bob Dylan – 1970’ that is due on February 26, Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, announced Friday.

A consortium led by China’s Tencent has exercised an option to purchase a further 10% of Vivendi’s Universal Music Group. The deal values the company at €30BN.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefFrench media conglomerate Vivendi said on Friday that a consortium led by China’s Tencent will exercise its option to acquire a further 10% stake in Universal Music Group, raising its holding to 20%.A Tencent consortium completed its deal to buy 10% of UMG in March this year. It retained an option running until January 2021 to double its stake, through a second purchase on the same valuation.

For as far back as Pearlena Igbokwe can remember, she's had a single wall, in every home and office that she's occupied, painted a golden hue. "The color of sunshine," she says, revealing her love for the kind of shock of color that can immediately warm up a room and put those within it at ease.

David Bowie‘s covers of John Lennon‘s ‘Mother’ and Bob Dylan‘s ‘Tryin’ To Get To Heaven’ will be released as a special 7” single to mark the late icon’s birthday.Bowie, who died in January 2016, would have turned 74 years old on January 8, 2021.

Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin have released the latest cover in their ongoing ‘Hanukkah Sessions’ series – you can watch their brilliant take on Bob Dylan‘s’ ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35’ below.The two artists have marked the religious festival by delivering their take on a selection of tracks by Jewish artists – kicking off the series last Thursday (December 10) with a rendition of Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’.Covers of Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’ , Mountain’s ‘Mississippi Queen’ and Peaches’ ‘Fuck The Pain

The Trump administration announced Monday that 70,000 migrants were apprehended at the southwest border in November, a 64 percent increase compared to 2019 -- and a sign of a possible surge that Trump officials say could become a full-blown crisis if recent policies are ended.

Bob Dylan, Mazzy Star, Arthur Russell and Tracy Chapman.The New York-based band, whose debut self-titled album arrived earlier this year, have today (November 9) shared a covers EP as well as a filmed performance of Russell classic ‘Nobody Wants A Lonely Heart’.The supergroup is comprised of Interpol‘s Paul Banks, producer Josh Kaufman and The Walkmen‘s Matt Barrick.Last Friday (December 4) Muzz gave their first ever world exclusive live performance: Muzz – Live in Kingston, NY.The show was

Fiona Apple has discussed how she ended up appearing on Bob Dylan‘s huge 2020 track ‘Murder Most Foul’.Apple and her frequent collaborator Blake Mills appeared on the track, which was part of Dylan’s studio album ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’.“So I’m sitting here with [best friend] Zelda [Hallman] in February, really relaxed, and we’re about to have dinner, and I look down at my phone and see Blake Mills texting me,” Apple told Pitchfork in a new interview.“I hadn’t heard from Blake in months.

Monday’s announcement that Dylan had sold the rights to his six-decade trove of tunes to Universal Music in a deal that is believed to be the biggest ever of its kind: Sources told Bloomberg it was more than $200 million, while the New York Times reported that it could be more than $300 million.This news came just a few days after Nicks sold 80 percent of her stake in her publishing rights — for both her Fleetwood Mac and solo work — to music publisher Primary Wave for $100 million, according to

What do you do when the likes of Hipgnosis and Round Hill have made buying up music rights a popular past-time among those super-rich city types and you’re meant to be a pro at that sort of thing? I know, get $300 million out of the cash box and buy up the entire songs catalogue of a songwriter so good he won a Nobel prize for his lyrics.

Universal Music Publishing Group, part of Vivendi's Universal Music Group, on Monday unveiled the acquisition of Bob Dylan's entire catalog of songs. The "landmark agreement encompasses more than 600 copyrights spanning 60 years, from 1962's cultural milestone 'Blowin' In The Wind' to this year's epic 'Murder Most Foul'," the music major said.

Bob Dylan's entire catalog of songs, which reaches back 60 years, is being acquired by Universal Music Publishing Group.

Read more: Hipgnosis plots £250m share placing to fund song buying spreeGallery: The biggest musical hit the year you were born (Espresso)The value of the deal was not disclosed. Bob Dylan has sold more than 125m records and was the first songwriter to have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.