Vivendi’s revenues were up 11.3% to €13.93 billion ($15.7 billion) in 2018, powered by Universal Music Group, which delivered such hits as the “A Star Is Born” soundtrack and Drake’s new album. UMG’s revenues climbed by 10% to €6 billion ($6.8 billion) compared to 2017. On top of the “A Star Is Born” soundtrack, the […]
February 15, 2019 2:18AM PT Turner Asia Pacific has signed an MOU to formalize a partnership with Beijing-based animation company UYoung Culture & Media to develop new IP, the company has announced. The signing occurred earlier this week at the Kidscreen Summit in Miami. Details of any new IP won’t be revealed until later in […]
Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group), the operator of Scandinavia’s leading streaming service Viaplay, has ordered “Cryptid,” the Swedish-language horror series produced by Dramacorp, and Per-Olav Sørensen’s series “Commando” which is based on actual events and set in Norway, Libya and the UK. “Commando” is an eight-episode series based on the special operation carried on in […]
Jessie Ware has shared her first new track of 2019, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The song is called “Adore You,” and it was co-written and produced by Metronomy’s Joseph Mount, and mixed by Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford. Listen to that below. Of the new single, Ware said in a statement: “I’ve wanted […]
Lizzo has released the title track of her new album, Cuz I Love You. Check it out below, along with the album art. The LP arrives April 19, via Nice Life/Atlantic, before she embarks on a North American tour that month. Find all the dates on her website. The album features the Minnesota rapper’s recent […]
Waxwork Records has announced the vinyl edition of the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman. The album is pressed on red-and-black smoke colored vinyl, and the packaging was designed by Aesthetic Apparatus. The soundtrack goes on sale tomorrow, February 15. Preview the record and listen to BlacKkKlansman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) below. Terence Blanchard composed the […]
They’re back! Country’s dynamic duo Florida Georgia Line returns with Can’t Say I Ain’t Country, their much-anticipated fourth studio album. FGL’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley each co-wrote more than half the tracks on Country, which spans 19 songs, including the previously released “Talk You Out of It,” “Sittin’ Pretty” and “Colorado.” Jason Derulo, Jason […]
First they tease, then they please… Cardi B and Bruno Mars pack a 1-2 punch on the sexy new collaboration “Please Me.” Produced by Mars and the Stereotypes, the new song dropped at midnight across digital music services. We knew it was coming, but everything else was kept a closely-guarded secret until the big reveal. Cardi has […]
Miley Cyrus can’t stop a copyright lawsuit from a Jamaican songwriter — at least not yet. Michael May in March 2018 sued Cyrus, claiming her song “We Can’t Stop” infringes his copyright in a 1988 song called “We Run Things.” At issue is whether the phrase “we run things, things don’t run we” is protectable […]
The Chinese city that is home to the world’s largest film studio has released lists of its top registered taxpayers in 2018, revealing the payments by major production companies and movie stars at a time when new tax regulations have upended the industry. In years past, the small city of Dongyang in coastal Zhejiang province […]
February 14, 2019 4:27AM PT Most web series and online films in China must register with the government and report their budgets and actor salaries starting from this Friday, the country’s media watchdog has decreed, in a further tightening of official oversight of the entertainment sector amid an uproar over talent pay. All live-action and […]
Netflix is closing in on a deal for Antonin Baudry’s “The Wolf’s Call” (“Le Chant du Loup”), an anticipated big-budget French submarine thriller, for multiple territories. The streaming service is in advanced negotiations to pre-buy “The Wolf’s Call” from Pathé International for North America, Latin America, Spain and Scandinavia, as well as for France, where […]
A new documentary about Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater is premiering at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. The Apollo, directed by Roger Ross Williams, will open the fest on April 24 and air on HBO later this year. It’s set to feature archival footage from the theater’s history, as well as new interviews with artists including […]
The Guild of Music Supervisors announced their winners at the 9th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards on Wednesday. The ceremony took place at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. Music drama A Star Is Born was a big winner of the night, taking home the awards for best music supervision for a […]
Hwasa of K-pop pop vocal quartet Mamamoo made her solo debut on Wednesday (Feb. 13) with the release of her song “Twit,” five years since the group got its start in 2014. Not quite a Valentine’s Day anthem, the single is a statement track fitting of Hwasa’s charismatic nature. “Twit” is a bouncing pop melody […]
It was finale night for season two of Celebrity Big Brother. On Wednesday the final five, Tamar Braxton, Dina Lohan, Ricky Williams, Lolo Jones and Kandi Burruss competed against each other in hopes of making it to the final two. First up, Kandi was voted out of the game by Ricky in a move that […]
Sky Vision has secured a raft of international deals with major partners for “8 Days” and “Bullets,” the two high-end drama series it is showcasing in Berlin. The buyers include HBO Europe and RTL in Germany. “8 Days” is produced by Neuesuper for Sky Deutschland and is the pay-TV broadcaster’s latest original drama. Bowing on Sky […]
The proposed $640 million expansion of Britain’s iconic Shepperton Studios has taken another step forward. The proposal received local planning approval Tuesday from the Spelthorne Borough Council, despite some objections from area residents. The Pinewood Group’s £500 million (about $640 million) application to increase Shepperton’s capacity for film and high-end television production now goes to […]
Dish Network lost a record 381,000 satellite TV subs in the fourth quarter of 2018, as the carriage standoffs with AT&T’s HBO and Univision accelerated the pain the company has already been feeling from cord-cutting trends. Dish eked out a net gain of just 47,000 subs for Sling TV, its cheaper over-the-top subscription offering, in […]
Kali Uchis and Jorja Smith have announced a joint tour. The aptly named “Kali & Jorja” Tour kicks off April 28 with a show at the Anthem in Washington, D.C., and will take the duo across North America. Other cities on the schedule include Boston, Philadelphia, NYC, Houston, Vancouver, Chicago, and more. Check out the […]
When the lights went up on Cardi B’s burlesque-inspired performance of “Money” at the Grammy Awards, the first thing that everyone at home saw was a woman wearing an extravagant couture gown perched at a Swarovski crystal-studded piano. (It turned out that the piano had previously belonged to none other than Liberace.) She glared into […]
Richmond, Virginia metal band Inter Arma are back with a new album called Sulphur English. Their fourth LP is out April 12 via Relapse. It’s the follow-up to their 2016 release Paradise Gallows. Today, the band have shared the leading single from their forthcoming project. Listen to “Citadel” below. [embedded content] “The lyrics to ‘Citadel’ […]
The female stars of Todd Strauss-Schulson’s comedy Isn’t It Romantic — Rebel Wilson and newly married Priyanka Chopra Jonas — dropped into the stages of The Late Late Show to chat about the film with host James Corden Tuesday night. Corden teased his guests appearance by tweeting a photo of himself with Wilson and Chopra […]
Hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash, violin virtuoso Anne-Sophie Mutter and the music charity Playing for Change have been named the Laureates for the 2019 Polar Music Prize, to be presented by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden on June 11. The announcement was made Wednesday (Feb. 13) morning at Stockholm City Hall by Alfons Karabuda, chairman […]
During Bill and Melinda Gates guest appearance on The Late Show Tuesday night, host Stephen Colbert referenced their status as “billionaires,” asked their opinions on the functionality of the U.S. tax system, and brought up the question of a presidential candidacy. Speaking first about taxes, the Gateses said that wealthy individuals should be taxed at […]
Constantin CEO Martin Moszkowicz called the fast and far-reaching changes sweeping across the film and TV industries an “El Dorado” for producers, as increasing competition from new and established players creates soaring demand for fresh content. “There’s going to be more competition from the buyers’ side. There’s going to be more product needed,” he said. […]
February 12, 2019 3:10AM PT Amazon Prime Video has inked a major deal with Italy’s Leone Film Group, giving the streaming giant full exclusive Italian pay-TV rights to all of Leone’s local releases for the next 30 months. The growing distribution-production company originally founded by spaghetti Western master Sergio Leone has output deals for Italy […]
BERLIN — Attendees of Berlinale’s Drama Series Days followed a busy and wide-ranging program on Monday with a packed opening reception, supported by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, and the Norwegian Film Institute, and with Variety as a media partner. After a lively day of panel discussions and sessions focused on the future of television, guests partied at […]
Pitchfork is pleased to announce the latest edition of Pitchfork Radio. Taking place February 15-17 at Pitchfork & The Art Institute of Chicago’s Midwinter, Pitchfork Radio will broadcasting live from Price Auditorium at the Art Institute. It will feature interviews, live sets, appearances, and more from Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox, CupcakKe, Zola Jesus, Kamasi Washington, Mary […]
Turning the table on his hosting role as he likes to do, Last Week Tonight frontman John Oliver dropped into The Late Show to chat with Stephen Colbert about the current U.S. presidency and the situation with Brexit in Oliver’s homeland. Colbert began the interview, which he referred to as Oliver’s “annual check-up,” with a […]