International
Liam Gallagher On Track For Third Solo U.K. No. 1 With ‘MTV Unplugged’
Liam Gallagher is plugged in for a third solo No. 1 in the U.K. The former Oasis frontman blasts to the top of the midweek albums chart as his live LP MTV Unplugged (Warner Records) outsells the rest of the top 5 combined, the Official Charts Company reports. If the set holds its spot when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published this Friday (June 19), it’ll continue a streak for Gallagher, which began with As You Were (from 2017) and continued with his sophomore album Why Me? Recorded in Hull City Hall, MTV Unplugged has generated the most physical sales — CD and vinyl – and is the most downloaded release in the first half of the week, according to the OCC. The album was due to be released April 24 but was delayed when the vinyl manufacturing plant pressing the LP was temporarily...
Universal Music Opens First-Ever Offices in Israel and Morocco
The new outposts, in Tel Aviv and Casablanca, continue the arms race among the labels of overseas resources sniffing for new talent. After broadening its footprint in Asia in 2019, Universal Music is continuing its global expansion with new offices in Israel and Morocco, marking the label as the first major music company to open standalone operations in either country. The new outposts in the Middle East and North Africa will add to UMG’s existing network of A&R and marketing in more than 60 countries. UMG Morocco will be based in Casablanca, while the Israel office will operate out of Tel Aviv. The moves come one month after Universal officially opened a new hub for hip-hop label Def Jam Africa based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Lagos, Nigeria. And the push into North Africa and...
Lady Gaga’s ‘Chromatica’ Enters Week Two Atop Australia’s Chart
Lady Gaga’s Chromatica (Interscope/Universal) hangs on for a second week at No. 1 in Australia, as DaBaby’s “Rockstar” (Interscope/Universal) completes a month at the top. Chromatica, which also snares the U.K. chart lead for a second week (by a narrow margin), is Gaga’s fourth No. 1 Down Under. The highest new debut this week belongs to Melbourne alternative rock act Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, whose sophomore album Sideways To New Italy arrives (Ivy League/Universal) at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart and is the best-selling vinyl album of the week. It’s the followup to their debut Hope Downs, which peaked at No. 24 in June 2018. Sideways To New Italy impacts the Official U.K. Albums Chart this week, at No. 45. Also bowing in the Australian top 5 is The Ghost Inside’s self-title...
Tekashi 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj Aim for U.K.’s Highest New Debut With ‘Trollz’
Tekashi 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj are bound for the highest new entry on the U.K. singles chart with “Trollz”. After a busy weekend of sales and streaming activity, “Trollz” starts at No. 5 on the Official Chart: First Look. It’s on track to secure Minaj her highest-charting single in the U.K. since Little Mix’s 2018 hit “Woman Like Me,” on which assisted. “Woman Like Me” peaked at No. 2. Tekashi 6ix9ine has only impacted the U.K. top 10 on one occasion, with his “comeback” track “Gooba,” which hit No. 6 last month. A portion of the proceeds from the single, including merch items, will benefit The Bail Project, Minaj explains, which provides free bail assistance to low-income individuals who can’t afford to pay bail while awaiting their trial. Leading the U.K. sales blast is DaBa...
Tones And I, Jimmy Barnes, Amy Shark & More Set for COVIDSafe Concerts Program In Australia
BRISBANE — Live music is returning to Sydney, with a little help from government. As Australians kicked back for another weekend in lockdown, a statement dropped Saturday (June 13) from the New South Wales government detailing “Great Southern Nights,” a live music campaign featuring some of the biggest and brightest homegrown artists. A lineup starring Tones and I, Jimmy Barnes, Birds of Tokyo, Missy Higgins, The Jungle Giants and Paul Kelly will present 1,000 gigs for Great Southern Nights, curated by ARIA and an industry advisory committee and playing out in venues across regional New South Wales and the state capital, Sydney. Other big names booked include Thelma Plum, The Presets, Amy Shark, Tash Sultana, The Teskey Brothers and The Veronicas. There is one slight catc...
Watch HARU NEMURI’s Raw New Video Shot in Russia, ‘Trust Nothing but Love’
J-pop artist HARU NEMURI shared the new music video accompanying “Trust Nothing but Love,” a track on her latest album, LOVETHEISM. To capture the 25-year-old singer-songwriter’s true character, the video was shot in a studio apartment in Russia using a single camera to shoot the continuous take with no editing. The “Trust Nothing but Love” visuals follow the ones for “Fanfare” and “Riot” from her new set, which dropped digitally in March. A domestic CD of the album will be released Friday (June 12), while a 12-inch vinyl will be released in the U.S. and Europe on the same day. HARU NEMURI has rescheduled her North American and European tours originally slated for March this year. The North American trek kicks off at the Knitting Factor...
ARMY, K-pop Fans Become an Unexpected Ally to American Protesters
As American protesters took to the streets to mourn the death of George Floyd, they found an unexpected ally: K-pop fans. Floyd died May 25 after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving. K-pop fans galvanized by police brutality and political disappointments swiftly mobilized, re-purposing their usual platforms and hashtags from boosting their favorite stars to backing the Black Lives Matter movement. They flooded right-wing hashtags and police apps with short video clips and memes of their K-pop stars. In a tweet Thursday to its 26 million fans, South Korean boy band BTS said it opposes racial discrimination and violence and announced a $1 million donation to Black Lives Matter. Fans quickly followed suit with the hashtag #MatchAMil...
Mark Opitz, Record Producer for AC/DC, INXS and More, Recognized In Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List
Record producer and audio engineer Mark Opitz has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, announced Monday (June 8). The Queenslander was feted for his service to the performing arts, particularly to music production, and is one of 933 Australians honored for their outstanding achievement. Opitz is among the very best in the business, having produced albums for a string of ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted artists including INXS, Cold Chisel, AC/DC and The Divinyls. During the ’90s, Optiz served with Warner Music as head of A&R and, later, joined the executive team at Michael Gudinski’s Mushroom Group, where he was responsible for overseeing Australian artists’ music projects. Opitz also had a productive stint oversees, during whic...
Atlantic Records UK Names Former Apple Music Exec Austin Daboh Executive VP
Former Apple Music executive Austin Daboh is moving over to Atlantic Records UK as executive vp, parent company Warner Music UK (WMUK) announced Tuesday (June 9). As Apple Music’s head of editorial for the UK and Ireland, Daboh oversaw the streaming platform’s playlist ecosystem, developing the Agenda brand which built out playlists with live concerts and immersive marketing initiatives. In his new role at Atlantic UK, he will be responsible for signing and developing domestic artists, and will join the WMUK leadership team. He’ll also work with Atlantic Records in the U.S. to “break the label’s black music roster in the UK,” according to a press release. Daboh will report to Atlantic co-presidents Ed Howard and Briony Turner, reporting more broadly...
Sports Team, All Time Low & Lady Gaga Lock Horns For U.K. Albums Chart Title
English indie-pop outfit Sports Team and U.S. alternative rock veterans All Time Low are in a tight battle for this week’s No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart. At the halfway point, Sports Team’s debut album Deep Down Happy (Big Desert/Island) has an advantage of just 300 chart units over All Time Low’s eighth studio album, Wake Up Sunshine (Atlantic). Deep Down Happy has the most vinyl sales over the weekend and comes in at No. 1 on the Official Chart Update, while Wake Up, initially released in April 2020, has the most CD sales to reenter the chart at No. 2. Lady Gaga is still in the hunt with Chromatica (Interscope), which last week blasted to No. 1 with the most sales of any album this year. Chromatica is the most downloaded and streamed album of the week so far and sits ...
Lady Gaga’s ‘Chromatica’ Debuts at No. 1 in Australia
Lady Gaga scores her fourth No. 1 in Australia as Chromatica (Interscope/Universal) debuts at the summit of the ARIA Albums Chart. Gaga’s sixth studio set eclipses the No. 2 best of Joanne, from Oct 2016, though it’ll need some real staying power to match her soundtrack to A Star Is Born, which spent eleven weeks at No. 1 in 2018/2019. Previously, the U.S. pop superstar snagged top spot in Australia with The Fame Monster (April 2010) and Born This Way (May 2011). Also making a splash this week is Kip Moore’s Wild World (MER/Universal), which bows at a career-high No. 4. It’s the followup to Slowheart, which peaked at No. 6 in September 2017, and the November 2018 EP Room To Spare: The Acoustic Sessions, which hit No. 18. Rounding out the top five is Cold Chisel’s classic third album East (...
Lady Gaga and DaBaby Battle It Out For U.K. Chart Supremacy
Lady Gaga has a chance of securing the U.K. chart double. Though a rockstar stands in her way. DaBaby’s “Rockstar” (Interscope) featuring Roddy Ricch takes a narrow early lead in the sprint to the U.K. singles chart crown. “Rockstar” is the most streamed song in the week so far to lead the First Look survey, while “Rain On Me” (Interscope) by Gaga and Ariana Grande is close behind. “Rain On Me” has the advantage on downloads in the first two days of the chart cycle and is firmly in the race, according to the Official Charts Company. Don’t count out Gaga just yet. Her sixth and latest album Chromatica on Friday landed the biggest opening week for any artist on the U.K. albums chart this year. Making moves on the sales blast are dance tracks “Flowers” (No. 11 via A...
