Tencent Acquires $100 Million Stake in Warner Music

Smilegate and Amazon Game Studios are working on “an entirely new region of servers in Europe” to accommodate demand for Lost Ark at launch, however many European players are leaving negative reviews on Steam to show their dissatisfaction with the current server state.Yesterday (February 13), Smilegate announced via a blog that it is “working as quickly as possible to set up an entirely new region of servers in Europe.”According to Smilegate, this is a joint expansion between itself and publisher Amazon Game Studios, and it’s “the only way to accommodate more players in Europe.”At the moment, the demand for Lost Ark in Europe is causing players in that region to suffer from lengthy queue times. Many of these players are leaving negative reviews on Steam, with some reviews stating queue times in Europe can be upwards of four hours.“While we understand lengthy queue times may persist, we will need time to ensure everything is set up to be in top shape to help accommodate all players to get in game.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorYou know how you can get together with an old friend you haven’t seen for years, and it’s like you were just together yesterday? It happens on the TK podcast, when Beastie Boys Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz reunite with Rick Rubin, who was their friend, producer and cowriter of their epochal 1986 debut album “Licensed to Ill.”And since Horovitz and Rubin hadn’t spoken in more than 20 years (not out of anger, but just because they simply hadn’t), it not only has the joyfulness of reuniting with an old friend, it almost amounts to an oral history of the group’s early years: touring with Run-DMC and Madonna, going to the legendary NYC nightclubs of the 1980s, Rubin’s infamous bubble machine

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBTS and its management company Big Hit Entertainment have teamed up to donate $1 million to Crew Nation, Live Nation’s campaign to support live-entertainment personnel impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The group had expected to be on tour for much of this year, so the move is a way to support the people who would have played a huge role in making their shows happen.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJa Rule has tried all kinds of commercial endeavors since the debacle of the Fyre Festival — which he co-produced — three years ago, but he may have hit on a way back into positive public opinion with a completely bonkers commercial for Papa Cristo’s Greek Grill in Los Angeles that seems more like a “Saturday Night Live” skit.The ad is so funny that it can’t possibly be serious — and, basically, it’s not, created for the new TBS reality show, “Celebrity Show-Off,” where stars compete to see whose clip can rack up the most YouTube views.The ad, which apparently premiered on Saturday, is nearly 100% self-parody as Ja Rule mispronounces (or gives up trying) several intentionally difficult-to-pronounce meals and

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the coronavirus pandemic has seized up the live-entertainment industry, drive-in concerts have been floated as a safe replacement for audiences jonesing for live music — and Live Nation has announced the first large-scale drive-in concert series in the U.S., beginning in July.The live-entertainment giant on Monday announced “Live from the Drive-In,” a series of nine concerts taking place July 10-12 in Nashville, Tennessee; Maryland Heights, Missouri; and Noblesville, Indiana.Country star Brad Paisley will headline shows in all three cities, and will be joined by Darius Rucker and Jon Pardi in Nashville at Nissan Stadium, with country-adjacent rapper Nelly performing in Maryland Heights, near St. Louis.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEven for obsessive Rolling Stones fans, the story of founding guitarist Brian Jones’ death nearly 51 years ago has been so clouded with misinformation, controversy and battling agendas that at a certain point one just gives up wondering. An asthmatic with a long history of substance abuse, he drowned in the pool of his lovely home on July 3, 1969, at the age of 27 — just weeks after being ejected from the Stones.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSinger-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens, accompanied virtually by virtuoso cellist Yo-Yo Ma, has released a new song called “Build a House” in honor of Juneteenth.“This song, ‘Build a House,’ came knocking a week ago and I had to let it in,” Giddens wrote in a Twitter message accompanying the nearly five-minute-long song, which features split video of her performing it with Ma. “What can I say about what’s been happening, what has happened, & what continues to happen, in this country, in the world? There’s too many words & none, all at once.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe annals of contemporary music are rife with legendary unreleased albums: the Beach Boys’ “Smile,” The Who’s “Rock Is Dead,” Marvin Gaye’s “Love Man,” David Bowie’s soundtrack for “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” several from Prince, Bruce Springsteen and perhaps most of all, Neil Young.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThough it was just five months ago, January 2020, was a very different time for Tionna “Tank” Ball and her band Tank & The Bangas, not to mention the entire world.Just days before traveling to Los Angeles for the band’s first Grammy Week, where they were among the nominees for Best New Artist, Ball, her bandmates and over two dozen of their creative friends and family gathered in their hometown of New Orleans at Marigny Studios. The occasion was to record a cover of Burt Bacharach’s “What the World Needs Now” as the theme music for a planned global campaign for the relaunch of Yahoo, set to roll out in early summer.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPhoebe Bridgers has a high, wispy, pretty voice that often camouflages the intense, incisive or batshit things she’s singing about. Combined with the soft-focus production on most of her songs, it’s almost lulling — and if you’re only half-listening, you may not realize a song is told from the perspective of a murderer taking his (or her) last breaths, is a rebuke to her estranged real-life father or is directed at a skeevy former mentor-lover twice her age.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the wake of the financial havoc wreaked on the live-entertainment industry by the coronavirus pandemic, Live Nation plans to make significant changes to its policies regarding concert tours and festivals when touring is expected to resume in 2021, according to a memo circulated to talent agencies.

LABELS & PUBLISHERSWarner Music is co-producing a film about… of course… you guessed it… tennis. Specifically the story of tennis champion Arthur Ashe – the only black man to ever win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGrammy Awards are great, but the Recording Academy’s greatest contribution to the music industry is arguably MusiCares — its charitable foundation to support music industry workers in need.In simpler times, it helps people with everything from emergency health care to substance-abuse treatment, but in recent months much of its focus has been on helping all music people — not just Academy members — who have lost their livelihoods due to the coronavirus pandemic that has devastated the music industry and much of the world.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRoad signs for Penny Lane in Liverpool, which was immortalized by the Beatles’ 1967 song, were recently vandalized due to claims that the street was named after 18 th century slave trader James Penny. The signs had the word Penny blacked out and the word “racist” written above them late last week, according to the BBC.The city’s metro mayor, Steve Rotherham, told Sky News that if the claims turn out to be true, “If it is as a direct consequence of that road being called Penny Lane because of James Penny, then that needs to be investigated,” he said.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn Monday, a day after apologizing for 2012 Tweets that many considered sexist, 5 Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford denied an accusation of sexual misconduct that were made from a since-deleted Twitter account early on Monday, saying that they are “BEYOND untrue.”A poster using the handle @knowyoureta claimed that Clifford, now 24, “used to invite underaged girls to his hotel room/tour bus after shows” in 2014 while the group was supporting One Direction on tour, according to NME.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCrushing news for Beatles fans: Peter Jackson’s documentary “The Beatles: Get Back,” which was initially set for Sept. 4 of this year will now go close to a year later on Aug.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThere have been a lot of songs released in the wake of the protests surrounding George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, but Atlanta rapper Lil Baby has dropped a new single with lyrics that address the issues of police violence against the black community with clear eyes, nuance and sensitivity.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the wake of the protests around George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, many music companies have promised to donate thousands or millions of dollars to Black-empowering organizations.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNearly 24 hours after the Riverside County public health officer announced that Coachella and Stagecoach Festivals will not be taking place in October, promoter Goldenvoice confirmed that the two festivals have been rescheduled for April of 2021, as always, at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, Calif.However, the announcement notes the uncertainly surrounding the return to mass gatherings amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, saying that “as of now,” the two-weekend Coachella festival will take place April 9-11 and April 16-18, while the country-themed Stagecoach is set for April 23-25.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, the past few weeks have seen a new wave of protest songs, and Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter H.E.R. premiered a powerful new one during her iHeartRadio Living Room concert on Wednesday.“Just by the title you know that it means something very painful and revealing,” she says, as the title comes from the final words of both Floyd and Eric Gardner, who was also killed at the bands of law enforcement officers.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhile few people expected that the Coachella and Stagecoach Festivals would actually take place in October, it’s now become official: Riverside County public health officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser announced that the festivals will be taking place next year at the earliest, according to the Los Angeles Times and a Variety source.Coachella, initially planned for April, with Rage Against the Machine, Frank Ocean and Travis Scott as headliners, had been scheduled to return to the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, Calif.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEven with Garth Brooks as the honoree, the National Music Publishers Association’s annual meeting wasn’t the splashy presentation-then-dinner-and-drinks confab that the industry has grown accustomed to — but in 2020, what is? Led by president and CEO David Israelite, the organization powered through its first-ever virtual annual meeting, with interviews with songwriter Ross Golan, RIAA chief Mitch Glazier, Nielsen’s David Bakula, Mechanical Licensing Collective CEO Kris Ahrend, Peloton’s Emma Lovewell and Gwen Riley before concluding with Brooks.Most interesting to the industry, Israelite revealed new data and insights from the past year, although he noted that the impact of coronavirus will be felt in next

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMusic mogul and entrepreneur Russell Simmons, who has been accused of rape or sexual misconduct by multiple women, as recounted in the recent documentary “On the Record,” appeared on “The Breakfast Club” Wednesday morning — and the Time’s Up movement and one of his accusers were quick to respond.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe 2020 Coachella Festival is still officially scheduled for two weekends in October, as announced on March 10. But it has long been blindingly obvious that short of some unforeseen coronavirus-quashing miracle, there’s no way that the festival will take place this year at all, at least not with an audience.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPaul McCartney fiercely criticized the Italian live-music industry over its refund policy for his canceled 2020 concerts in a Facebook post that has apparently been deleted. McCartney was scheduled to perform in the Italian cities of Naples and Lucca this week but canceled the shows early last month due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTo say that interim Recording Academy president/CEO Harvey Mason jr. has had a challenging first few months on the job is an understatement of epic proportions.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Grammy Awards will cease using the term “urban” in its awards and language as part of the latest round of annual changes to its rules and guidelines, the Recording Academy announced Wednesday (June 10). Along with the changes, which include updates to the Best New Artist category, Latin, R&B and Rap Fields, Nominations Review Committees, the Recording Academy will make the Grammy Awards rules and guidelines book publicly available for the first time — and available here.The moves are part of a larger effort to advance a “completely new, and very transparent and transformed Recording Academy,” interim president and CEO Harvey Mason jr.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLollapalooza and most of the Chicago’s other summer music festivals have been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns, the city announced Tuesday, according to the Chicago Tribune and multiple news outlets.Lollapalooza is the city’s largest festival and typically draws 100,000 fans to Grant Park to see around 170 acts over four days. The announcement is largely a formality, as few people expected it to take place; promoter C3 Presents had not announced a lineup for the event, which was scheduled July 30-Aug.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLayoffs are coming at AEG Presents, the world’s second-largest live-entertainment company, on Monday (June 8), according to a memo from CEO Jay Marciano obtained by Variety. The extent of the layoffs was unclear at the time of this article’s publication.The live-entertainment business has been laid flat by the coronavirus pandemic, with no solid timeline for when it might return.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLayoffs are coming at AEG Presents, the world’s second-largest live-entertainment company, on Monday (June 8), according to a memo from CEO Jay Marciano obtained by Variety.While the extent of the layoffs was unclear at the time of this article’s publication, a source tells Variety that they involve pay cuts,  furloughs and layoffs in all areas of the companyIn the memo, Marciano references a prior memo from president Dan Beckerman that specifically addressed cutbacks, and he acknowledges how difficult the move is to make during a pandemic and mass protests across the country.“This has been an incredibly challenging time on so many fronts, and I want you all to know that we are acutely aware of the toll that

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrince often played special concerts on June 7, his birthday — the most elaborate was probably a full-scale show at Detroit’s Cobo Arena in 1986 — and since his death in 2016, has observed the date with special events (like Spike Lee’s block party in Brooklyn in 2017) or releases (like last year’s “Originals” album).For a number of reasons, 2020 is different, not least because of the nationwide protests against police violence that have spiraled in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of law-enforcement officers in Prince’s beloved hometown of Minneapolis.Rather than an elaborate release or event, on his 62nd birthday, Prince’s estate has shared a handwritten note from the artist about intolerance, as