Recording Academy Unveils Date for 2022 Grammy Awards

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBrett Alperowitz has been promoted to executive vice president of A&R for Republic Records, as announced today by Wendy Goldstein, the label’s president of West Coast creative. Alperowitz, who was named senior VP in 2015, maintains his role of General Manager of Casablanca Records. He will continue to sign, develop, and cultivate talent for Republic Records and simultaneously oversee the imprint Casablanca Records.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the wake of DMX’s death on Friday after suffering a heart attack, his family has issued a statement regarding rumors that have circulated regarding the masters to his recordings and, apparently, people selling merchandise or claiming to be raising funds for the funeral of the rapper, whose born name was Earl Simmons.“There have been a few rumors following our loved one, Earl Simmons’, passing that we’d like to clear up.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGuns N’ Roses have rescheduled their upcoming UK and European tour dates to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic, which is in a third spike in several countries on the European continent.The dates, originally scheduled for 2020, will now take place in June and July 2022, the band announced on social media Tuesday morning.“Hey Gunners, unfortunately we need to ask for your patience one more time,” the band said in a statement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRepublic Records has promoted Xiarra-Diamond Nimrod to vice president of marketing strategy, the label’s EVP and general manager Jim Roppo and SVP of marketing Marleny Reyes announced.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd has announced a new, exclusive NFT collection of artwork and new music, that will be available exclusively on Nifty Gateway. The limited-time auction will be held on Saturday, April 3rd at 2 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe legendary and reclusive “dreampop” quartet My Bloody Valentine have signed with Domino Records, which has finally released the group’s entire official catalog digitally today (March 31).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBritish rock duo Royal Blood will perform a three-song virtual concert — as avatars — during the 2021 Bloxy Awards, taking place on the online gaming platform Roblox on Saturday. The awards, “Roblox’s celebration of the passion, talent, and creativity of the Roblox community of creators and players,” will take place on Saturday, March 27 at 3 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Mondo.NYC music and tech conference has announced its 2021 dates and schedule — which is currently a four-day virtual interactive meeting and livestream, although organizers are “hopeful” that conditions will allow at least some elements to take place in person.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorApril 21 will mark the fifth anniversary of Prince’s death — and on that day, Paisley Park, his home, studio and “creative sanctuary,” will invite fans to pay tribute to the late artist in its atrium free of charge. Advance reservations are required.“On the fifth anniversary of the passing of the incomparable Prince, Paisley Park, his home and creative sanctuary, is opening its doors for fans to pay tribute and celebrate his life,” the announcement reads.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDaddy Yankee was named Songwriter of the Year for the third time and Sony Music Publishing won top publisher honors at the ASCAP 2021 Latin Music Awards on Monday night. Daddy Yankee’s haul for the evening added to his record-setting total of 42 ASCAP Latin Music Awards.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVariety’s cover star Phoebe Bridgers, Run the Jewels and Perfume Genius are among the top nominees for the American Association of Independent Music’s annual Libera Awards, which are presented by Merlin.The awards, which celebrate the independent-music community, will be held virtually for the second consecutive year and will take place on June 17.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLegendary singer Linda Ronstadt has sold her recorded music assets to Irving Azoff’s new venture, Iconic Artists Group.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAmid all the headlines that came out of the 2021 Grammy Awards, one that should have been bigger is what a huge night it was for independent labels and artists: For the first time, more than half of the winners were independent artists — i.e.

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 EditorOne of the many remarkable things about first time Grammy executive producer Ben Winston and Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason jr. is that they basically haven’t stopped working since the show ended on Sunday night.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs more and more artists have learned in the nearly 15 years since Spotify first launched, the way that it pays out streaming royalties is very, very complex, based on a dizzying number of factors that add up differently for each artist. On Thursday morning, the company made a welcome step toward demystifying that process by unveiling “Loud and Clear,” a relatively straightforward explanation of the way its payment system and related factors work.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is moving from October 2021 to April of 2022, two industry sources with knowledge of the situation tell Variety.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn recent years, the Grammy Awards have taken advantage of having so many top artists in one place by taping a second show a day or two after the main Grammy ceremony, all-star tributes to artists like Prince, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and others.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe 2021 Grammy Awards were an awards show like none before them, in countless ways — and although opinions are mixed about what worked and what didn’t, the consensus seem to be pretty positive, albeit with inevitable caveats.Perhaps most of all, the way the Grammys chose to handle the “In Memoriam” segment, which on most awards shows is fraught with omissions and misspellings and subsequent outrage, received some of the most positive reactions — especially

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.