Sony Pictures Television Launches Music Division, Headed by Palash Ahmed (EXCLUSIVE)

Hollyoaks star Lucy-Jo Hudson has opened up to fans about the challenges of having a child with an allergy as she recalled the moment her son passed out and 'stopped breathing' when he was just 18 months old.

Heineken UK is to invest £25m in its landmark brewery in Manchester in a major project to reduce its carbon emissions.

If you’re jetting off on holiday it’s important to keep updated on the status of your flight. Cancellations or delays can occur at the last minute, impacting scheduled departures.

Stacey Solomon jokingly told her fans that she and her husband Joe Swash may not make it to their first wedding anniversary later this month as they were seen bickering at home following their reunion after days apart.

A supermarket has splashed the price of 500 key 'weekly shop' products in a bid to help families through the cost of living crisis.

Former Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt recently gave birth to her first child - and she's been keeping people updated about their progress. Scarlett, a past winner of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here, welcomed the new arrival five weeks early, she announced last month.

Naman Ramachandran Music tourism spending in the U.K. in 2022 was £6.6 billion ($8.6 billion), a report from industry body U.K. Music has revealed. In 2022 – the first full year of post-pandemic festivals, gigs and concerts in the U.K. – music tourists were lured by the return of major events such as Glastonbury, where headliners included Paul McCartney, and U.K. tours by top British artists, including Dua Lipa, Stormzy, Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran and Elton John, the report said. The key findings of U.K. Music’s 2022 “Here, There and Everywhere” report include: total number of music tourists attending live music events across the U.K. in 2022 was 14.4 million; total number of international music tourists in 2022 was 1.1 million; total number of domestic music tourists in 2022 was 13.3 million; and total employment sustained by music tourism in 2022 was 56,000.

Naman Ramachandran India’s media and entertainment industry is expected to reach $73.6 billion by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.48%, says consultancy firm PwC’s “Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2023-2027” report. In terms of growth percentage, streaming leads the way with revenue surging 25% in 2022 to reach $1.8 billion. The market will continue to grow at 14% CAGR to produce revenue of $3.5 billion in 2027. This will be driven by the competitive SVOD sector, which accounted for 78% of sector revenue in 2022, the report says, adding that while subscription service revenues will expand at 13% CAGR to reach $2.6 billion, ad-supported services (AVOD) will grow at a higher rate, albeit from a lower base.

Manchester United have embarked on a packed pre-season schedule - with a relentless tour itinerary having previously been cited as a reason behind poor starts to the Premier League campaign.

A new drug has been hailed as a "turning point in the fight against Alzheimer’s" after it was found to slow the progression of the disease.

Oprah Winfrey has a very tight-knit inner circle and she previously said that she only has a few close friends.

Jim Caviezel stars in the new movie Sound of Freedom, which has been a surprise mega-hit at the box office this summer.

Britney Spears appears to be making a musical comeback, and we want to know who you think she should work with next.

Jamie Lee Curtis‘ family is increasing with the birth of her “movie daughter” Lindsay Lohan‘s son Luai.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Movie stars Zhou Xun and Jelly Lin head the cast of “Imperfect Victim,” a new mainland Chinese drama series that focuses on workplace sexual harassment and leads to a rape trial. Zhou (“Cloud Atlas,” “The Silent War,” “Painted Skin”) plays a lawyer who steps in to represent the character played by Lin (“The Mermaid”), who alleges assault by her boss at work. He is portrayed by TV veteran Liu Yijun (“Nirvana in Fire,” “The Pretender”). The case becomes complicated and Zhou’s character is forced to question her own ethics. The show is highly topical, given the slowly building #MeToo movement in China. This is being fuelled by numerous instances of sexual discrimination, sexual assault and outright violence towards women, many instances of which have gone viral on Chinese social media before being deleted by censors.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Laurie Anderson will lead a post-screening conversation with legendary singer Joan Baez and director Karen O’Connor after a screening of the new documentary, “Joan Baez I Am a Noise” at the Hamptons International Film Festival on July 22. (Read Variety‘s review of the film here.) The 2023 edition of the documentary showcase festival will conclude with a presentation of the documentary, which was produced by O’Connor, Miri Navasky and Maeve O’Boyle on Saturday, July 22, at 7 p.m. at the Regal UA East Hampton Cinema. Following the film, Baez and O’Connor will join the musician and artist Laurie Anderson for an intimate conversation.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music At a time when more than 120,000 songs are being uploaded to streaming services every day and artists are continually seeking ways to stand out, Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast, exclusively available on Spotify, has brought a big boost in streams — at least on Spotify, which happens to be the world’s biggest paid streaming service. According to data provided by Spotify, in the 48 hours following their guest appearances on the show, Anitta’s streams rose 155%, Madison Beer’s climbed 130% — and even long-established artists like John Legend and John Mayer saw boosts of 200% and 350%, respectively. The show was the most popular podcast globally on Spotify Wrapped for 2022 — behind the ever-popular Joe Rogan, of course.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music After months of speculation, TikTok is finally launching its own “social music streaming service,” initially in Indonesia and Brazil, the company announced Thursday, with licensing from all three major music companies. The service, hich is premium-only, will allow users to synch with their existing accounts and also share and download the tracks they discover on TikTok. The service is now available in both countries with a one-month free trial, according to The new service will replace the company’s existing streaming service, Resso, on Sept. 5. The transition began in May, which TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, announced that Resso would become a premium-only service.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The Eagles, one of the most successful and longest-running acts in the history of popular music, have announced the first of what they say are their “final” tour dates. After 52 years, more than a thousand concerts and over 150 million albums sold, the group has announced the initial 13 dates of their final farewell tour, beginning on Sept. 7 in New York, with more to be added. According to the announcement, the Eagles — Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit, with Vince Gill and Deacon Frey — will perform “as many shows in each market as their audience demands.” The tour is expected to continue into 2025. 

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music HarbourView Equity Partners, the asset-management company founded by Sherrese Clarke Soares, announced today it has agreed to partner with and purchase “select” recorded-music assets of Grammy-winning rapper-singer Nelly, a rep for the company confirms to Variety. Further terms of the deal were not disclosed, although TMZ reported that the deal was for $50 million and covered half of Nelly’s recorded-music assets. Nelly was represented by Steven Shapiro of Davis Shapiro Lewit & Grabel LLP. The deal includes some of Nelly’s most iconic tracks such as “Ride Wit Me,” “Dilemma” featuring Kelly Rowland, and “Hot in Herre,” both of which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for multiple weeks.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music When the Recording Academy announced its latest updates to the Grammy Awards rules last month, there was a frantic, last-minute tweak to the wording of a new rule governing the eligilibity of recordings that used AI — so last-minute that a rep was contacting journalists beginning at 4:30 a.m. Pacific time. A new rule governing music that used AI technology, which the Academy had hoped to keep simple by saying that only human-generated music would be eligible, had been extensively revised, although the upshot remained the same: Yes, recordings that use one of the multiple types of AI technology will be eligible, but “we’re not going to be giving a nomination or an award to AI computer or someone who just prompted AI,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. clarified to Variety late last month. “That’s the distinction that we’re trying to make. It’s the human award highlighting excellence, driven by human creativity.”

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The No.1 albums never stopped for Kylie Minogue in the U.K. – but in recent years that hasn’t been the case with her singles. All that has changed with the lead track from Minogue’s forthcoming 16th album, “Tension,” due out September 22. “Padam Padam” has become her first Top 10 U.K. hit as a lead artist since 2010, and her first appearance in the chart’s top tier of any kind since 2011. That means she has now had Top 10 British hits across a remarkable five consecutive decades. “We were all confident we were going to have a great result,” says Jamie Nelson, SVP of U.K. Recordings at Minogue’s label, BMG, who has worked with the star for over 20 years. “But it’s now flipping into an area that’s unprecedented, not just for her, but for a lot of projects that have got so much history.”

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Fifty years ago today, on the stage of London’s Hammersmith Odeon, David Bowie killed Ziggy Stardust. Of course, it was not a conventional murder: Ziggy was Bowie’s creation, a character he’d created, a vessel for his rise to fame behind his blockbuster 1972 album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,” which led to one of the fastest and most meteoric rises to superstardom in pop-culture history and created something of a self-fulfilling paradigm, involving the rise of the titular rock star whose fame went to his head and maybe died, maybe didn’t. After nearly a decade of trying and mostly failing to become famous as himself, Bowie apparently figured it might be easier to do it as someone else — as a “totally credible plastic rock star,” as he would later describe it.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Travis Scott and organizers behind the Astroworld Festival will not face criminal charges related to the deaths of 10 people who were suffocated when the crowd rushed the stage during his performance at the festival in October 2021. A grand Jury in Houston made the ruling on Thursday, according to the Houston Chronicle. 50,000 fans attended the show, which led to a surge during Scott’s performance at the festival outside NRG Park.  At a press conference following the concert, Houston fire chief Samuel Peña clarified the timeline. He said that the crowd began surging forward at 9 p.m., as there was panic involving people running for safety. At that point, Scott paused his set several times to ask security to help out fans, and members of the fire department were sent into the dense crowd to rescue the injured.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Puerto Rican superstar singer Ozuna has signed with Scooter Braun’s SB Projects, in partnership with his longtime manager Edgar Andino, CEO of Andino Marketing Group, the companies announced on Thursday. Ozuna, one of Latin music’s most popular artists, joins a roster that includes Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, The Kid Laroi and others. Colombian singer J Balvin signed with the company in 2020 but left recently. “We’ve been following Ozuna’s career for years and we’re excited to be bringing him into the family to work with him and Edgar. Ozuna’s music is unmatched.  His ability to work across genres including reggaeton, Latin pop, and more, is phenomenal. With unique songs offering fresh perspective and beautiful sounds, We’re thrilled to amplify his artistry with this partnership,” offered Jennifer McDaniels, President of Management, SB Projects.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Madonna’s forthcoming “Celebration” tour has been postponed, according to an Instagram post from her manager Guy Oseary. The tour had been scheduled to launch in Vancouver on July 15. “On Saturday, June 24, Madonna developed a serious bacterial infection which led to a several-day stay in the ICU,” he wrote. “Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected. “At this time we will need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour. “We will share more details with you as soon as we have them, including a new start date for the tour and for rescheduled shows.”

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Hairspray. Spandex. Leather pants. Makeup. The ‘80s metal scene left a long and lasting legacy, and the stories of five of its top artists are told in “I Wanna Rock: The ‘80s Metal Dream.” Paramount+ has announced that the new three-part docuseries will premiere exclusively on the service on Tuesday, July 18 in the U.S. and Canada and internationally on Wednesday, July 19 in the U.K. and Australia, with further international markets to follow later this summer. The series follows members of the bands Skid Row, Winger, Twisted Sister, Vixen and the Scream as they chased fame and found it. While artists like Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Guns N’ Roses and others found even bigger and more lasting success, these artists’ stories are more suited to tell the story of struggle, success, and struggle again.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The estate of legendary British singer Joe Cocker has entered into an agreement with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group to acquire and develop the singer’s five-decade catalog. The acquisition includes the singer’s music intellectual property assets, including his interest in his sound recordings, compositions, and his name, image and likeness; further terms were not disclosed. After working as a singer through the early 1960s, Cocker burst into the mainstream in 1969 with his electrifying cover of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends,” which topped the British charts and sparked a major U.S. following, thanks in large part to his show-stopping performance at the Woodstock festival (and subsequent film). With his powerful and unmistakable soul-blues voice and explosive stage presence, Cocker’s popularity grew with the “Mad Dogs & Englishmen” tour, live album and film, which featured an all-star band helmed by Leon Russell.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Three hours and 52 minutes is a long time to be doing anything except sleeping — driving, cooking, painting a room — and it’s an excruciatingly long time to spend watching an awards show. But unlike those other activities, spending 3:52 watching a televised awards show (and that total doesn’t even include the hour-long red-carpet pre-show) leaves a person with little sense of accomplishment or rejuvenation. The BET Awards are always unusually long for an awards show that isn’t an Oscars or a Grammys — the network traditionally blocks out three-and-a-half hours on the last Sunday night in June — and most years it delivers with either a stacked talent lineup and/or a series of water-cooler moments. But whether due to the ongoing writers’ strike — which got at least two statements of support from people on the BET stage — or the fact that many artists, including Sunday’s big winners, SZA and Beyonce, are on the road, making up for touring time lost to the pandemic, there was little of either in evidence on Sunday night, in a show that, without naming names, was dominated by mediocre talent, over-long speeches or paid programming of some kind. It’s a safe bet that even the biggest fans of hip-hop and R&B had no idea who was on stage for a large percentage of the time. (The full winners list appears below.)

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Those who wondered if or when Migos might perform together again after the tragic death of cofounder Takeoff got their answer on Sunday night, in a total surprise performance by surviving group members Quavo and Offset. The show returned from a commercial break with a curtain raised on a darkened stage with two shoadwed figures emerging — who turned out to be Quavo and Offset, standing before an image of the Space Shuttle. As a recording of Takeoff’s verse on the song “Hotel Lobby” began (as recorded by his duo with Quavo, Unc & Phew), it became clear who they were and the crowd erupted. “BET!” the announcer shouted. “Doin’ this for Take!” The image of the Space Shuttle took off and was replaced by an image of Takeoff with his hand reaching skyward, and the pair launched into the group’s biggest hit, “Bad & Boujee.”

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Young Thug — who has been awaiting trial in an Atlanta jail for over a year — may not belong in an orange jumpsuit, but he’ll probably reinvent the attire at some fashion show when he gets out. Thugger is one of the top rappers in the game, and yet he’s been sidelined by allegations from Georgia’s Fulton County that his Young Stoner Life label is actually a criminal gang. Thug’s response: a surprise album, as he awaits jury selection, that doubles as a kind of opening statement, not for the “peers” to be selected by the court, but for his friends, fans and family rooting for him from the sidelines.  Arriving just a week after “Gift & a Curse,” the new album from labelmate and former associate Gunna — who was also indicted but pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering and has been freed — “Business Is Business” is Thug’s first solo release since 2021’s “Punk,” and since his was incarcerated. Despite its “Godfather”-ish title, the album reflects the divides in the YSK camp: BSlime, Lil Gotit and Yak Gotti are the only featured crew members, Gunna is nowhere to be seen, and Wheezy has three production credits on the album but none on a “Gift & a Curse.” Consequently, it’s missing the camaraderie that has been a hallmark of Thug’s career, from “Best Friend” to the YSL collaborative album, “Slime Language 2” — although it does feature guest verses from Travis Scott, Future, 21 Savage, Lil Uzi Vert and more.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music In what may be the first AI-specific senior executive role in the music industry, Sony has hired former BPI CEO Geoff Taylor as executive vice president of AI, according to an internal memo obtained by Variety. In his new role, Taylor, who was CEO of the British Phonographic Industry trade organization for 15 years and is a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), will report to Sony Music Entertainment COO Kevin Kelleher. According to the memo, Taylor’s responsibilities will include coordinating the company’s business efforts surrounding artificial intelligence, and coordinate across the global digital business and business and legal affairs division.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles has announced a special initiative to help save Rockwood Music Hall, the long-running independent New York City music venue, which is in danger of closing. The #PreserveRockwood benefit concert series will launch on June 30 with Bareilles and will be an opportunity to see artists perform in the venue’s intimate setting while helping to keep it alive. 100% of the proceeds from the shows will be donated to Rockwood to help continue a space for independent and emerging artists to perform. Other artists initially joining the series include Chris Thile and Michael Daves (July 1), Amy Helm (July 6), Isabel Hagen (July 10), Ingrid Michaelson (July 20), Elle King (July 31) and The Lone Bellow (August 10), and more.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Warner Bros. Discovery is negotiating to sell around half of the storied Warner studio’s film and TV music-publishing assets for approximately $500 million, three sources confirm to Variety. The news was first reported by Hits. While it is unclear exactly which assets are on the table, one source says that the rights to “slightly less than half” of the catalog, with a price of around $500 million, are likely to go to a major label, with Sony said to be in the lead. The catalog is believed to include music from such films as “Purple Rain,” “Evita,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Rent” several “Batman” films and many more titles, as well as songs included in iconic films such as “As Time Goes By” from “Casablanca” — iconic titles to be sure, but again, it is unclear exactly which rights are in play. Top attorney Allen Grubman is said to be overseeing the deal for Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Highly touted British rapper Central Cee has signed a joint venture agreement with Columbia Records in partnership with Sony Music U.K., Variety has confirmed. Known to fans as “Cench,” the rapper became the first-ever British male rapper to be included in XXL magazine’s influential annual “Freshman Class” list, which was unveiled on Wednesday. Central Cee will also perform at this week’s 2023 Glastonbury festival, the largest festival in the U.K. The deal was led by Columbia executive vice president Bu Thiam with Central Cee’s manager, Bello. The fiercely independent rapper was the object of a heated bidding war in recent weeks; while terms of the Columbia deal were not announced, the joint venture suggests that he is likely to retain ownership of his recordings, as he has to date.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Paul McCartney has somewhat belatedly responded to the hysterical speculation that followed his announcement earlier this month that a “new” Beatles song has been created from a late ‘70s John Lennon demo recording with the assistance of AI. “Been great to see such an exciting response to our forthcoming Beatles project,” he wrote on social media. “No one is more excited than us to be sharing something with you later in the year. “We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it,” he continued. “Seems to be a lot of guess work out there. Can’t say too much at this stage but to be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings – a process which has gone on for years.