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Universal Music Publishing Group Names Joe Fang Managing Director In China
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has named Joe Fang — a longtime media executive with a focus on global markets — its first-ever managing director, China. Based in UMPG China’s new Beijing headquarters, Fang reports to Andrew Jenkins, UMPG president, Australia and Asia Pacific Region. In his new role, Fang will oversee the publishing giant’s Chinese language roster, and lead the development of UMPG Hong Kong, working closely with Universal Music Group in China as well as local partners. UMPG recently joined the Music Copyright Society of China, and is deepening its cooperation with Chinese DSPs, tech companies and content providers. “Continuing with our efforts to be best-in-class around the world, we have put a strong and strategic emphasis on UMPG’s gr...
12 Songs You Didn’t Know Julia Michaels Co-Wrote
You may recognize Julia Michaels from her breakout single “Issues,” which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, or the rock-tinged “Uh Huh,” another track included on her 2017 debut “mini-album” Nervous System. But chances are, you’ve been listening to the 26-year-old’s catchy, emotive, and often tongue-in-cheek lyricism for longer than you think. Michaels began her music career as a songwriter, penning hits for the likes of Fifth Harmony, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. And her co-writing catalog spans a range of diverse artists and genres, from pop radio material to rugged acoustic sounds and rock. Most recently, Michaels imparted her songwriting wisdom on the Monday (May 11) episode of NBC’s Songland, where sh...
Bryan Adams Blasts ‘Wet Markets’ for COVID-19, Faces Accusations of Racism
Bryan Adams posted an acoustic quarantine video performance of his 1983 hit “Cuts Like a Knife” on Monday (May 11) on the day that he was slated to kick off a run of shows at the iconic Royal Albert Hall in London. But it was his angry rant about the COVID-19 pandemic that really caught people’s attention. “Tonight was supposed to be the beginning of a tenancy of gigs at the @royalalberthall, but thanks to some f—ing bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards, the whole world is now on hold, not to mention the thousands that have suffered or died from this virus,” Adams wrote, along with the hashtag #banwetmarkets, the latest in a series of wet market criticisms from the vegan musician. “My message to them other than &...
Peel Sessions From Nirvana, David Bowie, Siouxsie and the Banshees Organized Online
Disc jockey John Peel was a music institution for almost four decades, highlighting influential bands and underground sounds on his BBC Radio 1 program. The shows featured over 4,000 in-studio sessions from over 2,000 artists — captured from 1967 up through his death in 2004. A good chunk of those recordings are floating around YouTube, but it’s exhausting trying to wade through them all. Now, thanks to blogger David Strickland, that process just got a whole lot easier. Over at his “Formally Known as the Bollocks” blog, Strickland is rounding up an exhaustive, alphabetized list of the Peel sessions available online — at least 1,000 so far. Highlights include two Nirvana performances (1990 and 1991), David Bowie’s 1972 recording with the Spiders from Mars, five sets from Siouxsie and the Ba...
Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo Covers Nirvana’s ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ on Piano
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is a self-proclaimed Nirvana super-fan, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he covered one of that band’s signature tracks, “Heart-Shaped Box,” during quarantine. The performance, which originated from a Zoom session hosted for fans, finds the songwriter stripping back the heavy In Utero rocker to a quiet solo piano ballad. Decked out in a tank top and seated next to a massive plant, he plucks out the chords and nails the track’s verse-to-chorus dynamic shift — even replicating the guitar solo melody. Cuomo has gushed about his Nirvana obsession in the past, telling Rolling Stone in 2014, “In some ways, I feel like I was Nirvana’s biggest fan in the Nineties. I’m sure there are a zillion people who would make that claim, but I was just so passionately in lo...
The Beths Second-Guess the Future on New Single “I’m Not Getting Excited”: Stream
This summer, The Beths will return with a sophomore album called Jump Rope Gazers. After previewing the release with last month’s “Dying to Believe”, the New Zealand indie pop outfit is unboxing a new single in “I’m Not Getting Excited”. While musically a jumpy, driving number, its subject matter is about denying oneself the freedom to enjoy excitement and success — all because of constant second-guessing. In a statement, lead singer Elizabeth Stokes explained this case of imposter syndrome, “People always ask ‘are you excited!?’ and it’s a fair question, because exciting things do happen to us sometimes. Support slots, overseas tours, music releases. Stuff we’ve dreamed about for years. So the correct answer is always ‘yes.’ But the truth is that deep down there’s a tiny Liz saying, ‘don’...
Hamilton Movie Being Released 15 Months Early on Disney+
Disney is fast-tracking the release of a film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical, Hamilton, starring the original cast. Originally, the film was set to hit theaters in October 2021, but with millions of Americans currently stuck at home in quarantine, the studio is now altering those plans. Not only will Hamilton be released 15 months early — July 3rd, 2020, to be exact — but it’ll be streaming exclusively on Disney+. “In light of the extraordinary challenges facing our world, this story about leadership, tenacity, hope, love and the power of people to unite against the forces of adversity is both relevant and impactful,” Disney chairman Bob Iger said in a statement. “We are thrilled to bring this phenomenon to Disney+ on the eve of Independence Day, and we hav...
Hundreds of Hard-to-Find Peel Sessions Cataloged on YouTube
John Peel’s BBC 1 radio show was iconic at the time it aired. In hindsight, it’s only grown all the more legendary. The legendary broadcaster recorded over 4,000 sessions with over 2,000 artists, which is, objectively speaking, a lot. To help make sorting through the Peel Sessions archive easier, angel-in-disguise and blogger Dave Strickson has uploaded and alphabetized hundreds of available recordings from the show to stream online (via BrooklynVegan). Most of the original studio sessions from Peel’s radio show were released as Peel Session EPs by his label, Strange Fruit Records, but many of those are unavailable to stream online. Thankfully, listeners occasionally upload those almost-lost-to-time recordings to YouTube. That’s where Strickson comes in. To help make the process of di...
Jordana Makes Sleek Pop on New Single “I’ll Take It Boring”: Stream
Bedroom pop artist Jordana is back with a brand new single called “I’ll Take It Boring”, and it’s pretty much another guaranteed hit from the 19-year-old wunderkind. A few months ago, Jordana signed to Grand Jury Music and re-released her debut album, Classical Notions of Happiness, through the label. If you haven’t heard it, check it out ASAP. It’s a collection of folk-tinged pop songs that’s as witty as it is personable, landing Jordana alongside fellow young singer-songwriters like Sidney Gish and Caroline Rose. Thanks to “I’ll Take It Boring”, fans don’t have to wait to hear what she was working on as a follow-up. “’I’ll Take It Boring’ is a song about my experience at a Halloween party which I regretted attending,” Jordana said in a press release when asked about the track’s origins. ...
Q&A: Incubus Talk New EP, Conspiracy Theories and This Year’s Darwin Awards
“Have you guys gone down the rabbit hole on any of these conspiracy theories?” His trademark long hair tied up in a bun, Incubus lead singer Brandon Boyd poses a question to the rest of his bandmates on our Zoom call. The rest of the guys — guitarist Mike Einziger, drummer Jose Pasillas, bassist Ben Kenney, and DJ Chris Kilmore — murmur some variation of “yes” or “no.” Pasillas shakes his head, laughing, “I don’t got time for that shit.” “There’s incredible mental gymnastics happening,” Boyd muses at length. “From a psychological perspective, there is some rationale for people pulling disparate elements into one place to come to some form of like a theory, and the fact that we have no centralized response and we don’t know who we’re supposed to trust, and everything’s just so up in the air...
Live’s Ed Kowalczyk Talks Band Reunion and Planning a New Album in Quarantine
Since reuniting in 2016, Live hasn’t stopped touring. They had to be stopped. And from a logistical standpoint, quarantine couldn’t have happened at a better time for the group. While Live never quite had the iconic power of tourmates like Counting Crows and Bush, the passion of their performances (and inescapable hits like “I Alone”) has helped them steal the show on numerous occasions. Those loyal to classic alternative radio are widely familiar with 1994’s Throwing Copper, the record that landed a number of singles and topped the charts in 1995, but the band’s catalog runs deeper with more mature songs — particularly on 1997’s abrasive Secret Samadhi and 1999’s more melodic The Distance to Here. In 2018, they didn’t overthink things and surprised everyone with the Local 717 EP...
The Black Keys Cancel Summer Tour
A few weeks after canceling their Canadian tour, the Black Keys have pulled the plug on their summer U.S. tour. Considering that the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging and only a couple of states have allowed live music to resume, it seems like a sensible decision. Add to that that Live Nation is only gradually opening up small venues, playing a summer tour at an amphitheater in front of tens of thousands of people would be negligent. “We are very disappointed to let you know the U.S. Let’s Rock Summer tour is no longer happening. We were looking forward to seeing you all out there, but the health and safety of our fans and crew has to take priority. We hope to see you all soon. Please stay safe!” the band said in a statement. The...
