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Now that Taylor Swift has revealed that her mysterious Folklore co-writer William Bowery is actually boyfriend/actor Joe Alwyn, she was able to open up further about their songwriting process in a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in discussing her latest surprise album, Evermore.
In a nearly hourlong conversation with Lowe (watch in full below), Apple Music’s Songwriter of the Year covered a range of topics, including why artists should own their own master recordings and how she’s feeling “really close” to her old songs again in the process of re-recording them. But the real peek behind the curtain was hearing about Swift and Alwyn’s very private (and very creative) quarantine life and how it birthed standout songs on her pair of 2020 albums.
“He’s always just playing instruments and he doesn’t do it in a strategic ‘I’m writing a song right now’ thing,” Swift said of Alwyn. “He’s always done that. But do I think we would have taken the step of, ‘Hey, let’s see if there’s a song in here. Let’s write a song together’? If we hadn’t been in lockdown, I don’t think that would have happened, but I’m so glad that it did.”
One of the songs to come from their new musical partnership was Folklore’s “Exile,” Swift’s duet with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. “We’re so proud of that one,” she said. “Also because I do remember the exact moment that I walked in and he was playing that exact piano part. And all I had to do was follow the piano melody with the verse melody. So because the vocal melody is exactly the same, pretty much it’s mirrored with the piano part that he wrote. And we did the same thing with [new Bon Iver-featuring song] ‘Evermore,’ where I’ll just kind of hear what he’s doing and it’s exactly, it’s all there. All I have to do is dream up some lyrics and come up with some gut-wrenching, heart-shattering story to write with him.”
And about those gut-wrenching, heart-shattering lyrics: It turns out that’s just how Taylor and Joe like it. “Joe and I really love sad songs,” she said. “We’ve always bonded over music. … We write the saddest. We just really love sad songs. What can I say?”
The couple also collaborated on “Champagne Problems” from Evermore. “He started that one and came up with the melodic structure of it,” she said. “And I say it was a surprise that we started writing together, but in a way, it wasn’t because we have always bonded over music and had the same musical tastes. And he’s always the person who’s showing me songs by artists and then they become my favorite songs or whatever. But yeah, ‘Champagne Problems,’ that was one of my favorite bridges to write. I really love a bridge where you tell the full story in the bridge, like you really shift gears in that bridge. I’m so excited to one day be in front of a crowd when they all sing, ‘She would have made such a lovely bride. What a shame she’s f—ed in the head.’ … Because I know it’s so sad. I know it’s so sad, but it’s those songs, like ‘All Too Well’ — performing the song ‘All Too Well’ is one of the most joyful experiences I ever go through when I perform live. So when there’s a song like ‘Champagne Problems’ where you know it’s so sad, you know that, but I love a sad song, you know?”
Watch Swift’s full interview below:
It looks like that “lonely witch” from Taylor Swift’s “Willow” remix released first thing Tuesday morning (Dec. 15) isn’t so lonely anymore. On Tuesday night, around 8 p.m. ET, Swift released yet another take on her Evermore single with the “willow (moonlit witch version).”
This marks the third remix since the album and song were released on Friday, starting with the “dancing witch” version on Sunday, remixed by Elvira.
“Ever find yourself waiting for the signal & meeting someone after dark & happening upon a majestic coven in the woods?” Swift asked in a tweet late Tuesday. “Me neither but do you want your [music] to make you FEEL like that? Then the ‘willow moonlit witch version’ is for you.”
The latest version is produced by only Aaron Dessner, just like the album cut, but he’s replaced his folky production with a much poppier, upbeat take this time around. “Dancing witch,” eat your heart out. (Listen to all the versions of “Willow” here.)
Listen to “willow (moonlit witch version)” below:
Our lives in 2020 would especially suck without Kelly Clarkson’s covers of every hit known to man. Whether it’s pop, rock or country, she never fails to bring the house down with her “Kellyoke” covers to kick off The Kelly Clarkson Show.
But this year, the double doors with theater marquee lights didn’t reveal the Grammy-winning singer’s grand entrance to the studio, where in-house audience members clapped, cheered, danced and sang along with her. Instead, vertical screen panels replaced physical seats but doubled as performance decor. And she had more room to turn her show into a full-on movie set for a Halloween-themed special.
Billboard rounded up Kelly Clarkson’s 10 best “Kellyoke” covers of 2020 below, in chronological order.
“Good as Hell” (Lizzo cover)
She was feeling pretty in pink and good as hell for this Lizzo anthem! No hair tosses during her performance, but Clarkson tossed in a couple of incredible vocal runs and some Southern twang.
“Tennessee Whiskey” (Chris Stapleton cover)
She slipped some soul into her version of “Tennessee Whiskey,” which went down as smooth as ever before she topped it off with some sweet high notes for a little kick.
“Confident” (Demi Lovato cover)
What’s wrong with being confident — or Clarkson boldly belting the lyrics to Lovato’s hit with gusto? Absolutely nothing.
“Perfect” (Ed Sheeran cover)
She coated her perfect performance of Sheeran’s 2017 No. 1 hit with her sugary vocals and an angelic high note to finish it off.
“Ring of Fire” (Johnny Cash cover)
Clarkson set the stage ablaze with virtual flames and turned her band Y’all into a mariachi band for her scorching “Ring of Fire” performance.
“Stayin’ Alive” (Bee Gees cover)
Clarkson transformed her daytime talk show into the set of the 1992 film Death Becomes Her and transformed herself into Meryl Streep’s character Madeline Ashton for a haunting Halloween edition of “Stayin’ Alive.” Even her virtual audience members arose from their tombstones before coordinating their dance moves to the 1977 Saturday Night Fever classic.
“It’s My Life” (Bon Jovi cover)
Don’t be fooled by her Led Zeppelin tee, because she lives her best rock-star life with “It’s My Life,” starring the one and only Sheila E. on drums and Cory Churko on guitar. Even Jon Bon Jovi gave her his stamp of approval.
“Mr. Brightside” (The Killers cover)
Call her “Mr. Brightside” now because she tore through her killer cover of The Killers’ debut single, with red and white strobe lights building the anticipation for the beloved sing-along chorus.
“Dream On” (Aerosmith cover)
She nailed former American Idol judge and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler’s transition from the melancholic melody to the spirited shrieking in the bridge of Aerosmith’s 1976 top 10 hit “Dream On.”
“Need You Now” (Lady A cover)
All she really needed was a piano man (her musical director Jason Halbert) and a center spotlight to get her fans right in the feels for her stirring rendition of the Grammy-winning record.
The Recording Academy paid $4,522,077 in legal expenditures from August 2018 to July 2019, according to the nonprofit’s most recent 990 filing with the IRS — with 65.6% of that total going to two outside law firms accused by former chairman/CEO Deborah Dugan of receiving “exorbitant” fees.
The academy has been criticized for continuing to pay millions to outside law firms when it could hire in-house counsel. During an October roundtable discussion with academy interim president/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer Valeisha Butterfield Jones, omalilly projects founder Binta Niambi Brown and others, Brown told Billboard that she had been in talks to become the academy’s in-house counsel before Dugan was fired. This would have translated into “substantial savings” for the nonprofit, Brown said in a separate interview.
The 990 filing covers fiscal year 2019 for the academy, which ended July 31, 2019, the day that Neil Portnow’s contract expired, and he stepped down as chairman/CEO.
Dugan’s short-lived tenure as Portnow’s successor began Aug.1, 2019, and her salary — as well as any changes in expenditures that occurred under her short-lived tenure — are not indicated in this filing.
Five days after being put on administrative leave on Jan. 16, 2020 — just 10 days before the 62nd Grammy Awards — and eventually terminated, Dugan filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to Dugan’s EEOC complaint, she learned in May 2019 that “[Joel] Katz and his law firm [Greenberg Traurig] are paid an exorbitant amount of money by the Academy.” She accused the academy of being “boys’ club network” — a place “where men work together to the disadvantage of women and disenfranchised groups in order to line their own pockets and maintain a firm grip of control on the Academy’s dealings.”
“This is evident in many ways,” the complaint elaborated, “including, but not limited to, the Board’s willingness to acquiesce to the payment of exorbitant legal fees to male partners of large law firms who are extremely conflicted with respect to their work for the Academy.”
Dugan is still engaged in arbitration proceedings with the academy, according to sources. Sources say that Greenberg Traurig and Proskauer Rose continue to conduct legal work for the academy.
During the Billboard Roundtable, Mason said that the academy had considered hiring an in-house counsel “for probably the last five or so years,” But he added that it was not a decision he could make unilaterally. “The finance committee, the trustees — these are decisions that would go beyond just the CEO or even the chair. It is something that we are evaluating,” he said.
Dugan’s EEOC complaint claims that she was removed from office, not because of complaints that she had bullied coworkers, but because she raised concerns about “egregious conflicts of interest, improper self-dealing by Board members and voting irregularities with respect to nominations for Grammy Awards, all made possible by the ‘boys’ club’ mentality and approach to governance at the Academy.”
In addition to Katz and Greenberg Traurig, Dugan’s EEOC complaint contends that media reports have identified Proskauer Rose (and former Proskauer Rose partner, Chuck Ortner) as another firm that has billed millions of dollars to the Academy.”
“Both Mr. Katz and Mr. Ortner are currently Board members of the Academy’s museum,” the report continues, claiming that “during the first week of her employment Ms. Dugan was asked to approve a $250,000 retainer agreement to Mr. Ortner for “consulting” services.”
The academy’s most recent 990 shows that 65.6%, of the legal fees the academy paid in fiscal year 2019 went to those two firms: Greenberg Traurig received $1,472,364 and Proskauer Rose received $1,035,240l, of a total $4,522,077 in legal fees — of which, according to the Recording Academy CFO Wayne Zahner, $700,000 was an amortization from the CBS contract negotiation that was paid prior in 2017. (Zahner says $5 million was paid to Greenberg Traurig for the CBS deal, less than 1% of the contract value.)
With the exception of 2016, those totals are in line with the amounts paid to the two firms over the last three years. According to the last six 990 filings, Greenberg has been paid $13,144,028 in legal fees and Proskauer Rose $3,644,576 since 2013:
- 2017: The academy paid Greenberg Traurig $1,758,388 and Proskauer Rose $906,691 of a total $3,737,440 in legal fees.
- 2016: Greenberg Traurig was paid $6,309,936. (The significant increase may related to the academy’s negotiations to extend CBS’ broadcast of the Grammys through 2026, given Mason’s comment during the Roundtable that, “We’ve done two contracts with CBS — deals that were in the hundreds of millions of dollars — and the commissions from those deals are part of the legal fees we paid over the last few years.) Proskauer Rose received $873,611. Legal fees totaled $3,922,593 that year.
- 2015: The academy paid Greenberg Traurig $1,167,029 and Proskauer Rose $829,034 of a total $2,169,229 in legal fees.
- 2014: The academy paid Greenberg Traurig $1,107,705 of a total $1,925,119 in legal fees (Proskauer Rose is not listed in the filing).
- 2013: The academy paid Greenberg Traurig $1,328,606 of a total $1,824,446 in legal fees (Proskauer Rose is not listed in the filing).
By comparison, the Academy of Motion Pictures’ most recent 990, indicates a total of $1,724,551 in legal fees in 2018. That included $313,137 for an in-house general counsel and additional legal fees of $1,411,414.
The Recording Academy’s fiscal 2019 filing also indicates that its income from the Grammys totaled $82,984,592 and that it spent $22.4 million in salaries and employee benefits in 2018 — including Portnow’s $1,174,972 base salary. It also paid $17,822,438 to AEG Ehrlich Ventures, which produced the Grammys telecast, and distributed $8 million in grants.
Greenberg Traurig and Proskauer Rose did not provide comment at time of publishing.
UPDATE: This story was updated at 8:20 EST on Dec. 15 to correct the total legal fees for the 2019 fiscal year as $4,522,077, not $7,029,681 million as previously published, as well as note the $700,000 amortization from the CBS contract negotiation. The original article counted what’s listed as additional legal fees in addition to the payments to Greenberg Traurig and Proskauer Rose, but their payments are actually included in that total.
Margin Walker Presents, Texas’ largest independent promoter, announced Monday that it would closing its doors permanently. Since its launch in 2016, Margin Walker has booked and promoted over 3,500 shows across Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston.
Like many in the live entertainment business, Margin Walker was forced to cancel shows in mid-March due to the coronavirus and attempted to stay afloat through various measures, including show bonds, for the past nine months. But in a message posted Monday on the company’s website and socials, the promoter said it had reached the end of the line: “Even with strategic changes in the business, painful staff cuts, and taking loans and grants, sadly, we at Margin Walker Presents have not been immune, and it breaks our hearts to announce that this wild ride has come to an end, and we are closing the business, as of this week.”
“It’s been kind of a long time coming behind closed doors,” Margin Walker Presents owner and founder Graham Williams tells Billboard. “We’ve been watching it happen over time and we’ve really adjusted and re-strategized so many times, and then nine months now with no shows and no income, we just finally said, ‘Okay, we know it’s far enough off that we can’t keep doing it.’”
Williams explains that Margin Walker lost steam after shows and tours continued to be booked, rebooked and then canceled all together. While he calls the team at Margin Walkers passionate, he says it was unrealistic for them to keep going until shows return either late next year or in 2022. Willams says the company dug themselves into debt assuming they would be back to doing shows in the summer of 2020, but the financial hole eventually became too big to recover from.
“Even if you’re an optimistic person, you have to be realistic too and recognize where there’s challenges and right now there’s just too big a gap between what we do for a living being doable and where we are right now,” says Williams, who also predicts that the shows could be light in attendance when they do return due to a lack of income for many concertgoers.
Larger promoters may follow in Margin Walker’s footsteps in the coming months even with a vaccine in circulation, Williams predicts. He adds that smaller promoters without venues, offices or a lot of overhead are most likely to weather the storm.
Despite the difficulties facing the live sector right now and in the near future, Williams says he isn’t going away permanently. “I’ve just done it for so long. It’s what I know. I honestly don’t know if I could get a job anywhere else,” he says.
The live music industry’s focus right now should be on saving independent music venues, Williams says. Texas has already lost 14 music venues since the pandemic started, and the ones that remain are holding out for significant financial relief from the Save Our Stages Act that is currently working its way through Congress. That bill would establish a $10 billion grant program for live venue operators, promoters, producers and talent representatives.
“I am most concerned about the venues,” Williams says. “I’m shocked how many have made it this far, and without major government help. While there is some stuff around the corner that’s hopeful, even then it’s… a daunting task to imagine.”
Williams says that continued widespread closures of music venues will be devastating for everyone in the live music ecosystem, from venue owners to indie promoters who will have fewer rooms to fill. As someone who plans to re-enter the live game in the coming years, he says, “My fingers are crossed.”
For fans who have purchased tickets through Margin Walker Presents, the promoter asks that they contact Eventbrite at eventbrite.com/support. For additional info on a specific show, they can email the venue directly.
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