The omicron variant is here — and it’s starting to settle in. Like tourists hitting the streets for the holiday season, the latest strain of the COVID-19 virus began making … Click to Continue »
The Jonas Brothers are coming to a screen near you: On Monday afternoon (Dec. 6), Joe, Kevin and Nick revealed they’ve been cooking up a special behind-the-scenes look at their recently wrapped Remember This Tour.
“As some of you already know… we were doing a bit of filming during the #RememberThisTour,” the sibling trio shared on Instagram. “Starting tomorrow we’re dropping a mini-series (including footage from a special secret show in LA) all month on Facebook. It’s so exciting for us to be able to share some off these off-stage moments with all of you. Thank you again for making these last few months special for us.”
The first episode of Moments Between the Moments premieres Tuesday via Instagram and Facebook Messenger. If the promo photo of the guys in custom Red Sox jerseys is any indication, the premiere — which happens to be titled “A Year of Firsts” — will follow the JoBros’ epic show at Boston’s Fenway Park last October.
The cross-country trek, during which the Jonas Brothers debuted their latest single, “Who’s In Your Head,” raked in more than $300 million across 44 dates. Meanwhile, Moments Between the Moments will arrive fresh on the heels of Netflix’s Jonas Brothers Family Roast, which hit the streamer over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Next, the brothers are set to open a Nellie’s Southern Kitchen location at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas early next year. The Southern-style eatery will be the family’s second restaurant venture following the original Nellie’s in Belmont, North Carolina, which was opened by the brothers’ parents.
Music industry veteran Anthony Martini has joined record label, distribution platform and music licensing startup Slip.stream as chief music officer and partner, it was revealed today.
The announcement comes several months after Slip.stream acquired the brand and name of Martini’s indie hip-hop label, Commission Music, along with the recording contracts for Powers Pleasant, Big Havi, DJ Envy and DJ Holiday, in August. At the time, it was announced that Martini would join Slip.stream’s board to help guide the development of the company’s frontline record label. He will now lead that process, while also developing new music products across the intersection of gaming, content creators and brands.
Martini joins Slip.stream from a brief stint at Royalty Exchange, where he was appointed CEO in March. During his tenure there, the company paid out over $90 million to artists and Martini helped launch a new program allowing rightsholders to sell their royalty streams as NFTs. He became the first to take part in that program, selling an NFT of his share of the publishing royalty stream for his longtime client Lil Dicky’s 2015 track “Save Dat Money.”
In addition to his executive duties, Martini is an investor and advisor to the metaverse media company Factory New, which is behind TikTok avatar rapper FN Meka. He previously managed artists including Tyga and founded Commission Records, whose roster included Lil Dicky and MadeinTYO, before selling a majority stake in the company to Big Noise Music Group in 2019. (Big Noise still owns the entire Commission Music catalog along with MadeinTYO’s recording contract.)
Martini joins Slip.stream founder and co-CEO David Carson, co-CEO Dan Demole and CMO Jesse Korwin, the latter two of whom previously co-founded synch licensing company Jingle Punks. Slip.stream launched in July with a library of over 100,000 licensed music tracks and sound effects, which creators can access by purchasing a subscription plan.
“The music fan experience needs freedom to be more dynamic,” said Martini in a statement. “The reality is, people don’t just listen to music, they want to USE it. The more people can use music, the more exposure it gets, which increases an artist’s chance of success. Slip.stream is built on that premise. It never made sense to me how labels would pay an influencer to promote a song, but then penalize them if they promoted it for free. That’s the type of outdated model that I’m on a mission to change.”
Slip.stream’s label releases in 2021 have included Powers Pleasant’s single “Evil Twin” featuring Denzel Curry and Zillakami, DJ Five Venom’s “Look at What I Did,” and Big Havi and KyleYouMadeThat’s “Important!”
More than two years after it was first announced, Live Nation has finalized the acquisition of a 51% interest in Mexican concert promoter OCESA Entretenimiento, the company announced Monday. Live Nation bought its stake from CIE, a Latin American entertainment company, and media company Grupo Televisa, for MXN $8.84 billion – $416 million at Monday’s exchange rate but $444 million when the deal was announced in July 2019.
OCESA significantly improves Live Nation’s presence in Latin America and further expands its international business. In 2019, OCESA’s holding company, Grupo Corporación Interamericana de Entretenimiento, reported $233.2 million in ticket sales to 936 events for 4.3 million fans from 3,400 shows spanning from the U.S. to Colombia, according to Billboard’s 2019 year-end Boxscore charts. Live Nation’s international concerts – primarily in Europe – totaled 11,830 that year, compared to 28,400 in North America.
The resulting joint venture is led by Alejandro Soberón Kuri, chairman of the board and chief operating officer of CIE. Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino will be the joint venture’s chairman of the board of directors.
Initially, Live Nation believed the deal would close by the end of 2019. But a slowdown in the regulatory approval process delayed the expected closing date to the second quarter of 2020, president Joe Berchtold said during Live Nation’s February 27, 2020 earnings call. Then in May 2020, following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Live Nation postponed the acquisition while it shored up its liquidity for a prolonged cessation of touring. The touring business has since stabilized, and Live Nation is optimistic about its 2022 touring schedule. Despite having $4.6 billion of cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet on Sept. 30, and $571 million of available borrowings in a credit facility, Live Nation sold $450 million of notes in September to fund the purchase.
Additionally, the deal adds OCESA’s ticketing business, Ticketmaster Mexico, to Live Nation’s high-margin Ticketmaster division. “This strategic agreement extends the already successful relationship we have with Live Nation and we are very proud to take it to the next level,” said Soberón Kuri in a statement.
Documentaries about Billie Eilish, Tina Turner, Brian Wilson, The Velvet Underground and Sparks are among 138 features that are eligible in the documentary feature category for the 94th Academy Awards.
Summer of Soul (..or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), which is a Grammy nominee for best music film, is also vying for an Oscar nod. The film is about a 1969 concert series in Harlem that was overshadowed by Woodstock, which was held in New York that same year.
Eilish, who is also a Grammy nominee for best music film with Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles, is eligible for an Oscar nod with a different film, Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry. Eilish also has a good chance of landing an Oscar nod for best original song for “No Time to Die” from the James Bond film of the same name.
Other films on the eligibility list include The Jesus Music, a doc about the rise of the contemporary Christian music genre; Fire Music, about the free jazz movement of the 1960s and ’70s; Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres, a doc about one of that magazine’s top writers and editors from shortly after its inception in 1967 until 1981; and Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It, about the performer who in 1977 became just the third person ever to complete the EGOT.
Members of the documentary branch will vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced on Dec. 21.
Here’s a partial list of docs, with a focus on music and entertainment, that are eligible this year:
Ailey [a portrait of dance pioneer Alvin Alley]
Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road
Can You Bring It: Bill T Jones and D-Man in the Waters [about Jones’ ballet of the same name]
The Capote Tapes [Truman Capote]
Dave Chapelle Live in Real Life
Ennio [also known as the Glance of Music, about film composer Ennio Morricone]
Fire Music
The Jesus Music
Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres
No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics
On Broadway
The Real Charlie Chaplin
Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided to Go for It
Road Runner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
The Sparks Brothers
Summer of Soul (..or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Tina
The Velvet Underground
Here’s some fine print from the Academy: “Some of the films have not yet had their required qualifying release and must fulfill that requirement and comply with all the category’s other qualifying rules to advance in the voting process.
“Documentary features that have won a qualifying film festival award or have been submitted in the international feature film category as their country’s official selection are also eligible in the category. Films submitted in the documentary feature category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including best picture.”
Click here to view the complete list of 138 eligible films in the documentary feature category.
P!nk took time out of her busy schedule recently to connect with a terminally ill fan over Zoom.
Sixty-three-year-old Diane Berberian is currently in hospice with terminal bone cancer, and she shared a portion of her chat with the pop star on social media. “THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE TIME TO TRY AND MAKE CONNECTIONS… OUR DREAM CAME TRUE!!!!!” the triathlete and Ironman competitor captioned the post.
“You have a kind of bravery I don’t understand,” P!nk says in the 13-minute clip to Berberian, who competed twice in the U.S. Paratriathalon National Championships. “You’re bringing comfort to other people while you’re walking through this.”
The singer also treated Berberian to a cover of Queen’s “We Are the Champions” over the call, which the elite runner promised she would attempt to “share later.”
As the visit wrapped up, the Philly native let P!nk know just how important it was that the superstar reached out to meet her. “You’ve made my day,” Berbian said with a smile. “I mean, I don’t even know what’s on my bucket list now. Because you were so far at the top, and all the other things started to happen, so it’s kinda like, ‘OK, I’ll think of something else.’ ‘Cause I am gonna rest for a couple days, but something else is gonna come up.”
Watch P!nk’s heartwarming chat with Berberian below.
Enjoy it while it lasts. Miami’s beautiful start to December likely will shift to steamier weather during the week. Forecasts show a cold front approaching Florida but not getting south … Click to Continue »
Lizzo made a splashy return to the stage Saturday (Dec. 4) as the singer helped close out the last night of Art Basel Miami with a special performance for American Express cardholders.
Lizzo’s American Express UNSTAGED concert took place right on the beach, just steps from the Miami Beach EDITION hotel, with the singer performing for a few hundred Amex card members in person and thousands of fans who were able to stream the concert via the live streaming site LIVENow.
Kicking the show off with her latest single, “Rumors” (song partner Cardi B was coincidentally just a few blocks away, launching her vodka-infused “Whipshots” at the Goodtime Hotel), Lizzo’s Miami performance was just the second time the singer has taken the stage for a live show since the pandemic began. Though she revealed that she had been battling a sinus infection for three days (“My nose is stuffed up with so much green stuff it’s like my bank account,” she quipped), it was evident from the time she set foot on stage that she was here to have a good time.
“We’ve been through some s— in 2020, but I’m excited to be here to not just do this for me, but to do this for you,” she said, before launching into “Good as Hell,” backed by an all-female band and eight dancers (a.k.a. her “Big Grrrls”).
The singer ran through a tightly-choreographed, 70-minute set, which also included her hits “Truth Hurts” and “Juice,” along with brief covers of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” and even a Chris Evans-directed version of Erykah Badu’s “Tyrone.” (“Maybe I should call Chris Evans, so Captain America could put another bun up in my oven,” she sang, before adding, “Maybe I should call back Drake.”)
WHY AM I THIS WAYYYYYY 😩 https://t.co/QGXv8EZsop
— ALL THE RUMORS ARE TRUE (@lizzo) December 5, 2021
The unofficial theme for the evening according to Lizzo was “Breathe, B—-,” and the two words were prominently displayed on stage behind the singer. “I was so caught up in fear [last year] that I forgot to breathe,” she explained, about the significance of her now-mantra. “When I breathe, I bring life back to my joy.”
“This has been one of the craziest years I’ve ever witnessed,” she said later on in the show, “and to be present in my body right now and to be able to do this for you right now is a blessing and I’m so grateful.”
Lizzo’s concert marked the last American Express UNSTAGED event of 2021, and company reps say there was no better person to help celebrate the return of live music.
“Lizzo has continued to grow and really develop her voice, especially over the past few years, of just living authentically and highlighting racial injustices and different issues that are happening all over the world,” says Brandy D. Sanders, vice president, global entertainment experiences & partnerships, American Express, who heads up the company’s UNSTAGED partnerships. “As we think about American Express and even just personally as a woman of color, this is really special to be able to highlight diverse and inclusive artists and really give them a platform for the whole world to see their magic. We are so pumped,” Sanders says, “to be able to bring Lizzo’s Black girl magic to the whole world.”
While Saturday’s in-person event was reserved for American Express cardholders and select fans who were able to snag a ticket online, Lizzo’s set was able made available for live streaming via LIVENow. Sanders says it was important for American Express to provide an experience not just for card members, but for everyone.
“What we’re so excited about is that we’re also shooting this for our fans around the world,” Sanders says. “We’re obviously in a new day and age, and now we are bringing together for the first time ever, this new iteration of a ‘live plus digital’ hybrid.”
The American Express UNSTAGED program launched just over 10 years ago, and the concert series has featured partnerships with everyone from Coldplay and John Legend to Alicia Keys and Shawn Mendes. While Sanders says that each artist has brought something unique to the table, she admits that it’s always nice to see some of the artists’ careers grow alongside the UNSTAGED platform.
“I feel like every artist that we work with is so special, and obviously there are some that we work with multiple times over time — Lizzo being one of them,” she says. “We have a long history of working with Lizzo, starting with the Cuz I Love You Tour in 2019,” Sanders continues, “and it was amazing because she was actually in this very crazy trajectory at that time where it was starting very small, but she was growing. When you got to see those performances, they were in small clubs and theaters and nobody had anticipated her growth. Now,” Sanders says, “it’s so sweet to be able to bring it full circle.”
Olivia Rodrigo fans had a weekend full of fresh footage of the “Drivers License” hitmaker.
Rodrigo walked the red carpet and was honored at the Variety Hitmakers Brunch with the songwriter of the year award, which was presented to her by Avril Lavigne. She also made an appearance at the Teen Vogue Summit and Block Party, where she performed a stripped down, acoustic rendition of the usually pepped-up “Good 4 U.”
Rodrigo’s episode of her recent performance at Austin City Limits, shared with fellow songstress Phoebe Bridgers, also premiered on Saturday on PBS.
The performance marked her first in Austin, and fans at home were able to enjoy an 8-song set from the artist who has yet to go on tour. Rodrigo performed the majority of her Sour album live, opening the show with “Brutal.” “Happier,” “Jealousy, Jealousy,” “Drivers License,” “Traitor,” and “Favorite Crime” followed.
She introduced the next song, “Enough for You,” with a personal anecdote: “I wrote it on my bedroom floor, actually looking in a mirror, which is kinda weirdly metaphorical and I didn’t mean it that way,” she noted, “but when I wrote it I always felt this inferiority with people. I always felt like I wasn’t pretty enough, or good enough, or smart enough to be in somebody’s life. One of the awesome parts of growing up for me was realizing that when you’re in a relationship with someone, platonic, or romantic, or whatever, usually when someone makes you feel like you’re not good enough, it’s because they don’t feel like they’re good enough themselves.”
Rodrigo closed her Austin City Limits performance with “Good 4 U” (a full-band version, this time).
Watch both her Teen Vogue Summit and Austin City Limits performances below.
🎥 | Longer video of Olivia performing an acoustic version of good 4 u today, at #TeenVogueSummit! pic.twitter.com/hPVT2siU0k
— Olivia Rodrigo Daily (@DailyRodrigo) December 5, 2021
Before the release of 30, Adele had one entertaining chat with fans on Instagram Live — but she has no plans to do that again any time soon.
In her recent interview with makeup and beauty vlogger NikkieTutorials, the “Easy on Me” singer admitted that she didn’t love handling the live streaming experience herself, and that she doesn’t even have the password to her account anymore, anyway.
“In COVID, they let me have my password,” Adele, whose new album is currently spending its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, said in the YouTube clip, which had Nikkie showing the “power of makeup” by applying it to only half of Adele’s face. “I was never allowed my passwords for my socials before. It’s actually quite a well-known fact.”
She clarified, “They were worried if I’d get drunk, or be annoyed, whatever I would do. Not responding to anyone, more just posting my general thoughts.”
But once Adele had her official social media account login details, she explained, “I would just share funny memes and stuff with my actual friends.”
“And then I posted a picture, which a lot of people know about. It’s the only picture I ever posted myself. And then they took my password away from me again,” said Adele. (She didn’t specify which photo got her password revoked, but in the summer of 2020, a number of celebrities and fans were talking about a personal snapshot she posted in which she wore traditional Bantu knots and a Jamaican flag bikini top at the Notting Hill carnival in London.)
Nikkie then asked Adele if she’d go on Instagram Live again. Adele didn’t hesitate to answer.
“No, because I had no idea how to f—ing use it … I would never do it again,” she quipped. “I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I didn’t enjoy it at all. I mean I enjoyed it while I was doing it, but then all my friends were like, ‘Are you OK?’ And they told me what I was supposed to be doing, and what I was supposed to look like … Honestly, it was, like, meme-worthy.”
Watch her chat about it in the makeup video/interview with Adele below.
