Jason Derulo Signs With Atlantic Records (EXCLUSIVE)

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn Saturday (March 20), Duran Duran cofounder and keyboardist Nick Rhodes will release the first music from a collaborative project with British artist and singer/violinist Wendy Bevan.While in lockdown over the past year, Rhodes (in London) and Bevan (in Los Angeles) collaborated on a monumental series of 52 cinematic instrumentals inspired by the Universe. The recordings will be presented as the Astronomia project across four 13-track, individually named albums.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJust under a year ago, Live Nation, the world’s largest live-entertainment company, launched Crew Nation, a charitable fund to which it contributed an initial $5 million donation, to help support concert crews around the world.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAt the end of 2019, singer Jason Derulo’s career was at a low ebb. While the singer had enjoyed a string of multiplatinum singles and Teen Choice Awards in the early 2010s, he hadn’t had a major hit in several years, and an attempt at branching into acting — er, in the epic star-studded flop “Cats” — hadn’t really worked out.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLuke Mitzman of 100 Management is partnering with Pulse Management, the companies have announced. Matt McNeal, who has been working as a publishing A&R consultant for parent company Pulse Music Group will also be joining the management team in a dual role for both the publishing and management divisions.

A dementia drama filmed by Oscar-winning actress Glenda Jackson in Paisley has been honoured in the annual Royal Television Society Awards. The STV film was honoured alongside acclaimed BBC drama I May Destroy You and Russell T Davies, creator of recent Channel 4 hit It’s A Sin.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCrypto.com has named Joe Conyers III EVP, NFT Platform. In his new role, Conyers, who was most recently chief strategy officer of Downtown Music Holdings, will oversee the development of Crypto.com’s invite-only NFT platform, which will feature artists, athletes and sports leagues.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhile it was announced during the Grammy Awards on Sunday, the formation of the Recording Academy’s Songwriters and Composers Wing was not done in secret, and the Songwriters of North America, the Black Music Action Coalition, the Music Artists Coalition and the 100 Percenters responded quickly with an open letter to the new organization calling on it to eliminate the Minimum Delivery and Release Commitment (MDRC) requirement in music-publishing deals.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSongwriters and composers have long felt under-recognized by the Grammy Awards — and many have advocated for a Songwriter of the Year award — and today the Recording Academy has made a step toward addressing that by announcing the creation of its Songwriters & Composers Wing, an Academy membership division representing the diverse community of music creators who provide the world with the gift of song.

Judas and the Black Messiah co-star Dominique Fishback is set as a lead alongside Samuel L. Jackson in Apple TV+’s The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey limited series. The White Tiger writer-director-producer Ramin Bahari has signed on to direct and executive produce the six-episode series based on the acclaimed novel by best-selling author Walter Mosley, who will write the screen adaptation and also executive produce alongside Jackson.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDominique Fishback has signed on to co-star with Samuel L. Jackson in the Apple drama series “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” Variety has learned.In addition, Ramin Bahrani has come onboard to direct and executive produce the limited series, which is based on the novel of the same name by Walter Mosley.Jackson stars as Grey, a 91 year old man forgotten by his family, by his friends, by even himself.

Grimes has reportedly signed to Columbia Records, according to a Billboard source.A report claims that she’s made the switch to a major label, leaving 4AD, the label she released her most successful projects to date, ‘Visions’ (2012), ‘Art Angels’ (2015) and ‘Miss Anthropocene’ (2020).In 2018, Grimes hit out at 4AD, promising that ‘Miss Anthropocene’ would be her “final album for my shit label” and looked forward to its follow-up, which she said would be “my first album on a label of my choosing

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSinger Miley Cyrus has signed with Columbia Records after seven years and four albums on RCA.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterKate Siegel, Jason O’Mara and Dule Hill have been set to star in “Hypnotic,” an upcoming horror film at Netflix.The thriller centers on a young woman seeking self-improvement, who enlists the help of a renowned hypnotist.

Jason Derulo has signed a new record deal with Warner Music’s Atlantic Records in the US. It brings the musician back into the Warner fold, albeit with a much more favourable deal.Derulo was previously signed to what was then known as Warner Bros Records.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUniversal Music Publishing has signed rising British singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone, whose debut EP received a rave review in Variety last fall, to an exclusive, global publishing agreement. The 21-year-old singer was voted No.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRepublic Records has hired Ben Facey as executive vice president of global marketing & digital strategy, EVP and General Manager Jim Roppo announced Monday morning.  He is based in the Republic’s New York headquarters.According to the announcement, in this newly established post, Facey will architect, implement, and shepherd international marketing campaigns and digital initiatives for the label’s entire roster.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSwedish singer-songwriter Zara Larsson has signed with Sony Music Publishing, the company announced Monday morning.