DEALS
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Sony Music has acquired half of Michael Jackson's music catalogues - songs and recordings. According to sources, the deal - which closed late last year - values the assets at between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion, which would make it the highest valuation for a single artist's music. That said, it is thought the deal may also include the Mijac publishing catalogue, which includes songs written or performed by Sly & The Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Ray Charles, Percy Sledge and others, as well as Jackson himself. That catalogue was separate to Sony/ATV - Sony and Jackson's former joint venture, which Sony took complete ownership of in 2016.
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Booking agency UTA has signed singer, dancer, actor and model Lucky Love. It will represent him in the live entertainment domain for the world, excluding his home country of France.
ARTIST NEWS
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Paramore have been announced as ambassadors for this year's US Record Store Day. "The discovery of music was always meant to be romantic", they say. "Indie record shops are some of the only spaces we’ve got that offer a tangible, tactile experience of music discovery". This year's Record Store Day - in the UK as well as the US - is on 20 Apr.
LIVE BUSINESS
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London venue Rich Mix has announced a partnership with venue and festival programmers LNZRT, who will now "work closely with the in-house music team to establish Rich Mix as a premiere live music destination in the capital for emerging artists, community focused collectives and internationally recognised touring acts". Says LNZRT co-Director Jamal Guthrie, "Rich Mix has the potential to be a fantastic grassroots live music venue for London at a time when we’re losing far too many from the circuit".
MEDIA
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Radio station Kiss has announced that Ace is joining its line-up to present a weekly R&B show every Sunday night at 9pm. It follows his recent departure from the BBC where he spent more than two decades presenting shows for 1Xtra. "I am so excited to fly the flag for R&B on a station with the legacy that Kiss has", he says. "I look forward to introducing you to your next favourite R&B artist while reminding you why you fell in love with the genre".
ARTIST NEWS
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There is a trailer for the film version of the stage show 'Wicked' which stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. The film itself won't be released until 27 Nov. And that's just part one.
GIGS & TOURS
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AC/DC have announced a new European tour kicking off in May, which will include two shows at London's Wembley Stadium on 3 and 7 Jul. Tickets will go on sale on Friday.
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Chameleons have announced a UK tour for December, finishing up with a ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’ show at Manchester’s Albert Hall on 14 Dec. Tickets go on general sale on Friday.
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Robert Jon & The Wreck will return to the UK later this year for a series of shows, including a gig at Islington Assembly Hall in London on 28 Nov. They also have a new album, 'Red Moon Rising', out on 28 Jun. Here's the video for the title track.
RELEASES
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Beyoncé will release new album 'Act II' on 29 Mar. The album was announced on Instagram shortly after she appeared in an ad for internet firm Verizon during the Super Bowl, in which she was seen unsuccessfully employing various tactics in order to "break the internet", before signing off with the line "drop the new music". There are two new tracks to enjoy right now: 'Texas Hold Em' and '16 Carriages'.
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Alien Ant Farm have posted a video for their single ‘So Cold’ from their new album '~mAntras~', which is out on 26 Apr.
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Nina Cobham has released new EP 'Antes'. “Every song on this project was written in 2021", she says, "before a lot of the good things in my life right now, back while I was still feeling very lost and taking space to work things out. ‘Antes’ translates to ‘Before’, I wanted to call this little project that because the place I was in when I wrote these songs is a completely different place to where I am now, it’s like a little memory capsule".