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Gary Clark Jr., Tones and I to Headline The Surf Lodge Virtual Concert Benefit
The Endless Summer series isn’t quite over: Gary Clark Jr., Tones and I, Oli Benz and Blackillac will take the stage this weekend. This weekend, The Surf Lodge will close out its summer programming schedule with a two-night concert event. In partnership with Bumble and The Governors Ball, the virtual celebration will feature Australian breakthrough artist Tones and I on Saturday evening with opener Oli Benz at 7:30 p.m. EST. On Sunday night, Gary Clark Jr. will close out the weekend with opener Blackillac, also at 7:30 p.m. EST. One of Clark’s previous performances at The Surf Lodge has been viewed 5.6 million times on YouTube. The events serve as fundraisers for Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative, an organization that works to end mass incarceration, excessive punishme...
Live Nation, Ticketmaster Move Forward With New Round of Furloughs
Live Nation Entertainment has begun a second round of companywide furloughs through its U.S. venues and Ticketmaster North America divisions. The cuts affects hundreds of staff members as the concert business continues to grapple with the human costs of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2019, Live Nation generated $11.6 billion in revenue, but the publicly-traded company is now less than a month away from beginning its third quarter with virtually no revenue and a $185 million in monthly expenses. The touring giant pulled its tours from the road on March 13 and has since only dabbled in pandemic-safe productions, such as drive-in concerts. While Billboard doesn’t have an exact number, sources estimate that hundreds of employees have been affected by the latest round of cost redu...
The Mavericks Debut at No. 1 on Latin Pop Albums Chart with ‘En Español’: ‘This is Beyond Us’
The set marks the country music band’s first full-length foray into its Hispanic roots. The Mavericks debut at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Latin Pop Albums chart (dated Sept. 5) with En Español. The band concurrently earns its first top 10 on the all-genre Top Latin Albums chart, where the set bows at No. 8. The new album marks the first visit to the Latin album charts by the group, which has notched five top 10 efforts on the Top Country Albums chart dating back to 1994. “This is an amazing feeling,” Raul Malo, The Mavericks’ lead singer, tells Billboard. “To wake up and receive a text from our manager that we have a No. 1 record. That’s not in the cards, this is beyond us. But you feel good about the work because you’ve put a lot of effort, a lot of love and time...
Miley Cyrus Says Vocal Surgery Got Her Sober
Silence might be golden. For Miley Cyrus, silence was a gift. The “Wrecking Ball” singer underwent surgery on her throat late last year, and emerged from the experience clean, sober and emboldened with a fresh outlook. Those silent post-operative days created a window of self-reflection. “I kind of learned a lot about the voice and how our experiences affect our voice,” Miley told Seth Rogan during a candid chat for the Joe Rogan Experience, which clocked-in at two hours. Following a Reinke’s edema diagnosis — that is, swelling of the vocal cords due to the presence of fluid — Miley underwent surgery in November 2019. “Over the last year I noticed a really big change to my voice, kind of a heaviness to it,” she explains. “And I experienced some heavy things. I...
BTS on Gaining Respect in the U.S.: ‘We Definitely Feel That’
Loud and happy screams erupt in unison from the seven-member pop stars BTS when they hear they have notched their first No. 1 hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart. “DREAM,” yells band member RM. “It still doesn’t feel real,” adds SUGA, speaking in Korean through a translator. “We’re really happy.” “Dynamite,” the group’s first all-English song, debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. music charts this week, making BTS the first Korean pop act to top the chart. The upbeat song even supplanted “WAP,” the raunchy smash hit by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, to claim the No. 1 position. “Never expected it,” RM tells The Associated Press of beating “WAP” for the top spot. “Never! It’s like the song of the year.” But getting their first chart-topping track seemed inevitable for the K-pop boy band,...
BET Amplified Goes Global With Sampa the Great
BET Amplified, ViacomCBS-owned BET’s stamp of approval highlighting “the next big thing in music,” is going global. BET and BET International on Tuesday announced Zambia-born, Botswana-raised rapper Sampa The Great as the first-ever BET Amplified global artist. The network brand said it was kicking off a month-long “effort to build awareness around Sampa to [its] core audiences globally and will highlight her work in a multitude of ways, including linear and digital programming across BET Jams, BET Her, BET Soul and BET International channels,” including in Africa, the U.K., France and South Korea. “This marks the first BET Amplified artist for BET International [which] will continue to spotlight international artists each month with BET Amplified Intern...
Metallica Eye Fourth No. 1 In U.K. With ‘S&M2’
The race is on for a U.K. albums chart title, with five new releases jostling for position. Just 3,000 combined sales separate the all-new top five, according to the Official Charts Company, with Bay Area metal veterans Metallica the best chance for the crown. Metallica’s live album S&M2 (Vertigo) leads the midweek chart and could go on to give the band their fourth U.K. No. 1 and first since 2008’s Death Magnetic. Some 2,000 chart sales behind in second place on the Official Chart Update is jazz artist Gregory Porter’s All Rise (Blue Note), the most downloaded album over the Bank Holiday weekend. London hip-hop artist Nines (real name Courtney Freckleton) arrives at No. 3 on the midweek chart with Crabs In A Bucket (Warner Records), the most streamed album in the firs...
Brandy Vs Monica’s ‘Verzuz’ Was a Record Breaker
The Brandy vs Monica “Verzuz” wasn’t just a hit, it was huge. The R&B legends smashed all “Verzuz” records, organizers say, en route to pulling-in more than 6 million views. That’s well up on the initial reports of 1.2 million fans tuning in on Instagram. Breaking the numbers down, the online face-off raised more than $250,000 for Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote, and generated 1.9 million tweets, including 1 million in the U.S. alone. The veteran artists used the sparring session to “remind the world how next-level their respective catalogs,” wrote Billboard’s Carl Lamarre. Also during the back-and-forth, Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris called in with a live video message for the two artists, thanking them for their contributions to the culture and using the pla...
LL Cool J, Chris O’Donnell to Produce Dance Competition for CBS
NCIS: Los Angeles stars LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell are taking on a new case at CBS: producing a competition series. The pair will executive produce a show called Come Dance With Me for the network. The show comes from CBS Television Studios and 3 Ball Productions. The family-friendly show will feature talented young dancers from across the country who invite one inspirational, and untrained, family member or other adult who has supported their dance dreams, to become their dance partner for a chance to strut their stuff for a grand prize. The kids will share their love of dance with their mother, father, grandparent or other hero on an uplifting and emotional journey to learn and perform challenging routines, with the assistance of professional choreographers, in a competition wit...
Tainy & J Balvin Top Latin Airplay Chart With ‘Agua’: ‘We Have That Chemistry’
The SpongeBob-featured tune rises 2-1. Tainy and J Balvin’s “Agua” top s Billboard‘s Latin Airplay chart, rising 2-1 on the Sept. 5 survey. Balvin accumulates 25 No. 1s, moving closer to Enrique Iglesias’ record 31. Tainy, meanwhile, ups his career count to two leaders. The tune is from the forthcoming soundtrack to The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. The song arrived in July, while the film is set to premiere at a date to be announced. “It’s a career highlight,” Tainy tells Billboard. “This one is special because it was fun. Working with Balvin is always amazing. We have that chemistry, we are friends and it showed with the final product. We mostly had fun while creating. We’re both big SpongeBob fans who gre...
BMG Posts Solid First Half of 2020, With Revenue Jumping 4.8% and Streaming Up 26%
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the company says it just had its best first half since launching in 2008. The pandemic-causing economic downturn didn’t slow down BMG as the music company posted a 4.8% increase in revenue to €282 million euros ($310.8 million) at the mid-year point ended June 30, up from €269 million ($303.9 million) in the year-earlier period. The music operation of German conglomerate Bertelsmann also managed to hold its own in terms of profit, posting €49 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the same amount it had in the first half of 2019. But with profit levels holding steady while revenue grew, that resulted in EBITDA margin falling to 17.3% from 18.1% in the prior half year results. The results represent the company’s “...
Look, Up In the Sky: Amazon Gets Approval to Deliver Packages by Drone
Getting an Amazon package delivered from the sky is closer to becoming a reality. The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday (Aug. 31) it had granted Amazon approval to deliver packages by drones. Amazon said that the approval is an “important step,” but added that it is still testing and flying the drones. It did not say when it expected drones to make deliveries to shoppers. The online shopping giant has been working on drone delivery for years, but it has been slowed by regulatory hurdles. Back in December 2013, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said in a TV interview that drones would be flying to customer’s homes within five years. Last year, Amazon unveiled self-piloting drones that are fully electric, can carry 5 pounds of goods and are designed to deliver items in 30 minutes b...
