YouTube Exec Robert Kyncl Named CEO Of Warner Music Group

EXCLUSIVE: Fox’s reality supremo Rob Wade has been elevated to CEO of Fox Entertainment.

China still has much to gain from its current relationship with Russia even as the invasion of Ukraine drags on, turning Russia into an international pariah and threatening to rub off on China’s reputation as well.  "China has, in effect, doubled down on its support for the Putin war effort, and we saw this, for instance, last month when China's third rank leader went to Moscow, spoke to the State Duma, and in very clear terms, expressed Beijing's support for Russia," Gordon Change, author of "The Coming Collapse of China," told Fox News Digital.  "Then, [we] see Jinping himself when he was in Uzbekistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, actually confirmed that endorsement," Chang added. "The only conclusion that we can come to is that Beijing is not backing away from Russia."  The China and Russia dynamic has remained a troubling one for the United States since even before the invasion of Ukraine started in March 2022.

EXCLUSIVE: Music Box Films has acquired North American rights to SXSW road-trip drama The Unknown Country starring Certain Women and Killers of the Flower Moon actress Lily Gladstone and Raymond Lee (Top Gun: Maverick).

Kim Kardashian will pay $1.26 million and has agreed not to promote any crypto securities for three years to settle charges with the SEC that she didn’t disclose payments for touting assets that were offered and sold by EthereumMX.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In a clear vote of confidence for Colombian director Juan Sebastián Mesa, Bordeaux-based Dublin Films has boarded his third film “Lovers Go Home!” The company also co-produced Mesa’s lauded sophomore pic, “The Rust.” “Lovers Go Home!” centers on a Colombian single mom who leads a double life as a webcammer. One day she meets a U.S. veteran online who becomes obsessed with her. He flies to Colombia to meet her in person. Their meeting makes them reflect on who they truly are. In development, the project participated in this year’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, one of San Sebastian Film Festival’s key industry events, which ran over Sept. 19-21. 

LABELS & PUBLISHERSWarner Music has partnered with NFT marketplace OpenSea to help the record company’s artists do some of that Web3 stuff. “Fundamental to music’s DNA, is community – it’s artists and fans coming together to celebrate the music that they love”, says WMG’s Chief Digital Officer Oana Ruxandra. “Our collaboration with OpenSea helps to facilitate these communities by unlocking Web3 tools and resources to build opportunities for artists to establish deeper engagement, access, and ownership”.

Hailey Bieber has set the record straight about those social media posts suggesting she cried at the 2021 Met Gala when the crowd shouted Selena Gomez’s name.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Orlando Wharton has been named executive vice president of Capitol Music Group and president of Priority Records. The announcement was made by CMG chair & CEO Michelle Jubelirer, to whom Wharton will report.  According to the announcement, in his new position, Wharton will sign and guide artists across CMG’s portfolio of labels, and will relaunch the legendary Priority Records label as a dedicated home for new, developing and established hip hop artists.  Wharton will assume his positions at CMG early next year, and will be based at the company’s offices in New York. The announcement closely follows the company’s hiring of Doja Cat co-manager Gordan Dillard as EVP of A&R and artist development.

Thania Garcia Nicki Minaj fired off at YouTube on Monday afternoon after the platform age-restricted her “Likkle Miss Remix” music video with dancehall artist Skeng, alleging that the company is “in bed” with rival artists’ camps. “Imagine this. They restricted my fucking video but have things a million fucking times worse on their bogus fking platform,” Minaj wrote in an Instagram caption for a screenshot of a YouTube community guidelines violation notice. “This is what they do to keep you from winning while doing ads for other ppl and posting fake fking stats. Because the same ppl who run YouTube are in bed with a certain record label and mngmnt company.”

Always the starting QB in her heart! Cooper Rush stepped up for the Dallas Cowboys after quarterback Dak Prescott got injured in September 2022 — but wife Lauryn Rush has been by his side for years.

Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo has revealed the song he believes is the best to introduce to prospective new fans of the metal icons.Across a 40-year career and 10 studio albums, the band have shared hundreds of songs, and Trujillo picked a somewhat off-the-wall choice for what he believes is the best one to play to listeners you hope to convert.“For me that’s pretty easy,” Trujillo told Revolver when being asked the question as part of the publication’s ‘Point Of Entry’ series, which asks bands which song of theirs they would use to introduce the band to a new listener.After picking ‘Master Of Puppets’ track ‘Disposable Heroes’, he explained: “The reason is because it’s really in a lot of ways – especially in metal – the perfect balance of what I call ‘power groove’.”“I liked that song before I even joined the band,” he added. “I used to go running in the hills in the Santa Monica mountains to prepare for Suicidal Tendencies tours.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Days after top YouTube exec Robert Kyncl was named as the next CEO of Warner Music Group, the company revealed in an SEC filing that he will earn approximately $15 million in his first year on the job, depending on performance targets. When Kyncl’s name was first mentioned as a potential successor to outgoing CEO Stephen Cooper, who leaves after 11 years in the role, many wondered whether the job would be sufficiently appealing for the executive who led Netflix from DVDs to streaming and has been YouTube’s business chief for much of his 12 years at the company. However, the SEC filing makes clear that the job is financially appealing: He will receive a base salary of $2 million, a target performance-based bonus of $3 million and an annual grant of performance share units with an aggregate, pre-tax value of $10 million.

Popular Mexican YouTube star known as Heisenwolf has allegedly killed six individuals in a shocking motor vehicle crash.

EJ Panaligan editor Disney Music Group has teamed up with Deaf West Theatre, a Tony award-winning company, to release an American Sign Language version of the hit song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Walt Disney Animation’s “Encanto” in celebration of Friday’s International Day of Sign Languages. The video features an all-deaf Colombian and Hispanic cast, utilizing both American Sign Language and Colombian Sign Language to add additional layers of authenticity to the song. The sung English lyrics were translated into ASL and CSL by a team of sign language choreographers who worked through the text to find an accurate signed translation of the song for the video.

A man who messaged a child decoy online was found to have been having vile conversations with three actual kids. Joseph Cooper, 22, added the ‘girl’ on Facebook before sparking a sexual chat with her.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor After a fast courtship, outgoing YouTube head of business Robert Kyncl has been named CEO of Warner Music Group and will replace Steve Cooper when he steps down next year.  According to the announcement, Kyncl and Cooper will serve as co-CEOs for the month of January 2023. As of February 1, 2023, Kyncl will become sole CEO of WMG and assume Cooper’s board seat on WMG’s Board of Directors. Kyncl brings strong music-industry experience to the job: YouTube is both the world’s largest video-streaming platform and the largest music-streaming platform, and he played a huge role in its negotiations with labels and publishers and generally received high marks (remarkably, considering the often-contentious relations between the two sides). He’s also pioneering force in the streaming business: Before he was chief business officer of YouTube, he led Netflix from DVDs to digital.

Shirley Halperin Executive Editor, Music Gordan Dillard is trading SALXCO, management home to Doja Cat, for Capitol Music Group where he joins as executive vice president of A&R and artist development. The Los Angeles-based Dillard, who plans to maintain a “strong presence” in New York, reports to CMG chair and CEO Michelle Jubelirer and is tasked with signing and developing artists across the pool of Universal Music Group labels. His start date was Sept. 19. Dillard will continue to manage Doja Cat alongside Lydia Asrat, Josh Kaplan and SALXCO founder/CEO Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, who noted: “SALXCO is about building a culture of young entrepreneurs to watch them grow into some of the industry’s most powerful players. I am so proud of Gordan and all his success.”