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☆ Neil Young Will Return to Spotify After Joe Rogan Protest
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Following Young’s protest, the singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell also removed her music from Spotify, and the R&B singer India.Arie circulated clips showing Rogan using a racial slur repeatedly on the show. Rogan apologized for his use of the word, and Spotify quietly removed dozens of episodes of his show. Spotify signed Rogan to a deal in 2020, worth at least $200 million, that made his show exclusive to that platform. Last month, the company announced a new, multiyear arrangement with Rogan in which Spotify would also distribute “The Joe Rogan Experience” to other podcast platforms, as well as YouTube. In his statement on Tuesday, Young didn’t give a timeline for when his music would return to Spotify, and a representative of Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Robert Malone, ”, Joni Mitchell, India.Arie, Rogan, Daniel Ek, Joe Rogan, Young didn’t, Mitchell Organizations: Spotify, Street Journal Locations: Covid

☆ Twice, a K-Pop Girl Group, Tops the Billboard Chart for the First Time
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The nine-woman K-pop group Twice leads the Billboard album chart for the first time this week with its latest mini-LP, thanks to collectible CD and vinyl sales, while Morgan Wallen marks a full year of blockbuster streaming numbers. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with the equivalent of 95,000 sales in the United States. “With You-th” also garnered 6.3 million streams, the lowest streaming total for a No. 2 in its 52nd week on the chart, with the equivalent of 67,000 sales. 6 on the all-genre album chart — and even then, only hitting that low point two times.

Persons: Morgan Wallen, Celine Dion’s “, ” Locations: United States

☆ How Sean Ono Lennon Helped His Parents Send a Message
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That “felt unnecessary” for such a well-known track, he said in a recent interview. What intrigued him more was the possibility of expanding the song’s message through a narrative film. After about two years of work, that project became “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko,” directed by Dave Mullins, which was nominated for an Academy Award for best animated short film. In the story’s climax, both armies are ordered into bloody hand-to-hand combat while the opening lines of John and Yoko’s song ring out: “So this is Christmas/And what have you done?”

Persons: Sean Ono Lennon, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Lennon, Yoko, ”, Dave Mullins Organizations: Music, John

☆ Ye Spends a Second Week at No. 1 With ‘Vultures 1’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ye, the rapper and provocateur formerly known as Kanye West, has the No. 1 album for a second week with “Vultures 1,” narrowly beating out a new release from the Oregon rapper Yeat. He released “Vultures 1” independently and promoted the album with a pair of well-attended listening events at arenas in Chicago and Long Island. It is Ye’s first album to spend more than a single week at No. According to an estimate computed by Billboard, “Vultures 1” earned about $1 million in its first week from sales and streams in the United States alone.

Persons: Ye, provocateur, ”, Yeat, Ty Dolla, Jay Organizations: “, Billboard Locations: Oregon, United States, Chicago, Long

☆ Sean Combs Accused of Sexual Misconduct by Music Producer
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Ben Sisario | Julia Jacobs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sean Combs was sued on Monday by a music producer who accused the hip-hop mogul of making unwanted sexual contact and of forcing him to hire prostitutes and participate in sex acts with them. The latest misconduct allegation against Mr. Combs was filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan by Rodney Jones Jr., also known as Lil Rod. In 2022 and 2023, Mr. Jones says in his suit, he worked on what became “The Love Album: Off the Grid,” the latest album by Mr. Combs, the hip-hop and R&B impresario who has variously been known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy. Mr. Jones says he served as a producer on nine of the album’s tracks and lived with Mr. Combs for months at a time. His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines.

Persons: Sean Combs, Combs, Rodney Jones Jr, Lil Rod, Jones, Diddy, ” Mr, Mr, Shawn Holley, ” Organizations: Court Locations: Manhattan

☆ Apple Music Removes New Ye Album Amid Distributor Dispute
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ye, the rapper, producer and provocateur formerly known as Kanye West, has what will likely be the No. 1 album on next week’s Billboard chart, with “Vultures 1.” But on Thursday, the LP disappeared from Apple Music, one of the world’s top streaming platforms. The reason was unclear, and Apple gave no explanation. But the removal came a few hours after an independent distribution outlet complained that its system had been used to release the music in violation of its service terms. It also remained unclear whether — and how soon — Ye’s album might return to Apple, perhaps through another distributor.

Persons: Ye, provocateur, —, Ty Dolla Organizations: “, Apple Music, Apple, Adidas

☆ Beyoncé Announces New Album in Super Bowl Commercial
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After days of speculation and online sleuthing by fans — just another week, in other words — Beyoncé used her appearance in a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday to announce that she would soon be releasing new music. In a Verizon ad that ran shortly after halftime, Beyoncé joked with the comedian Tony Hale about doing something that would “break the internet” (i.e. She ran through a few riffs, like “Beyonc-A.I.,” a Barbie-like “Bar-bey” and a presidential “BOTUS.”Then she said, “Drop the new music,” before the commercial ended. Soon after, Beyoncé’s website updated with the announcement that a new album, identified as “Act II,” would be released on March 29. It appeared to be the second part of Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album project, and perhaps one with a country-rock theme, given the sound and look of two new songs, “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages,” that quickly appeared online.

Persons: —, Beyoncé, Tony Hale, “, bey ”, BOTUS, ” Organizations: Verizon Locations: Beyoncé’s, Texas

☆ Where Has Tracy Chapman Been?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Ben Sisario | Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Despite some scattered performances on television and at awards shows, Chapman, 59, has remained almost entirely absent from the music world in recent years, having released her last studio album in 2008 and done her last tour in 2009. Since she first emerged in the late 1980s, she has always been known as a reclusive and private figure. But I am bit shy.”The acclaim for her Grammys performance — Taylor Swift could be seen singing along in the crowd — was a sign of how beloved Chapman remains. Combs’s note-for-note cover of “Fast Car” went to No. 2 on Billboard’s pop singles chart last year, and after the Grammys, Chapman’s original began shooting up iTunes’s download chart.

Persons: Tracy Chapman’s, Luke Combs —, Chapman, “, ”, — Taylor Swift, Chapman’s Organizations: Irish Times

Two of the night’s strongest performances came from young women using pianos to accompany the wispy, stratospheric upper reaches of their registers — and to comment on the tyranny of fragility and prettiness. The second was Olivia Rodrigo, who nailed the vertiginous high notes that punctuate her rock-operatic smash “Vampire,” and then riffed on the song’s theme as she smeared herself with spurting fake blood. Each performance, in its own way, felt like a rebuttal to the constricting standards to which so many young women are held. Eilish’s was about the pain of being perceived as an object; Rodrigo’s reimagined the same kind of pressure as a horror movie. LINDSAY ZOLADZ

Persons: Billie Eilish, Barbie, Olivia Rodrigo, Eilish’s, LINDSAY ZOLADZ

“Kimberly Akimbo” won last year’s Tony Award for best musical, and “Parade” won the Tony for best musical revival. Only “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Sweeney Todd” are still running on Broadway, and if you want to see them in New York, now’s the time: “Kimberly Akimbo” has announced plans to close on April 28 and “Sweeney Todd” is expected to end its run on May 5. “Kimberly Akimbo” is planning a national tour that is scheduled to start in Denver in September. A “Shucked” tour is to begin in Nashville in November, and a “Parade” tour is to begin in January in Schenectady, N.Y., and then Minneapolis. “Some Like It Hot” had announced an intention to tour starting this fall but has not announced any venues.

Persons: Adrianna Hicks, Christian Borle, Billy Wilder, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Jesse Green, ”, J, Harrison, NaTasha Yvette Williams, Scott Wittman, Marc Shaiman, Wittman, Shaiman, “ Kimberly Akimbo, Leo Frank, “, “ Sweeney Todd, Barber, Stephen Sondheim, “ Kimberly Akimbo ”, Tony, “ Sweeney Todd ” Organizations: Shubert Theater, Broadway, New York Times Locations: Georgia, New York, Denver, Nashville, Schenectady, N.Y, Minneapolis

☆ Takeaways From a Grammy Night Where Women Reigned
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Women thoroughly dominated the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, with a history-making album of the year win by Taylor Swift and victories by Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, SZA, Lainey Wilson, the Colombian pop star Karol G and the band boygenius. The wins capped a year when women were extraordinarily successful in pop music, and also signified a change for the Grammys, which have frequently been criticized — as recently as five years ago — for overlooking female artists on the show. In addition to the wins, the show featured powerful performances by SZA, Eilish, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo and even Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman — two godmothers of modern songwriting who have made only rare public appearances in recent years. In taking album of the year for “Midnights,” Swift became the first artist to win the Grammys’ top prize four times, beating a trio of male legends — Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon — who had three.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Lainey Wilson, Karol G, —, SZA, Olivia Rodrigo, Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, “, ” Swift, — Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon — Locations: Colombian, Dua Lipa

☆ Universal Music Group Pulls Songs From TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Videos on TikTok began to go silent early Thursday, after combative licensing negotiations broke down this week between the popular social media platform and Universal Music Group, the giant company that releases music by Taylor Swift, Drake, U2, Ariana Grande and many other stars whose songs have been key to TikTok’s rapid growth around the world. On Tuesday, a day before its licensing contract with TikTok was set to expire, Universal published a fiery open letter accusing TikTok of offering unsatisfactory payment for music, and of allowing its platform to be “flooded with A.I.-generated recordings” that diluted the royalty pool for real, human musicians. TikTok confirmed early Thursday that it had removed music from Universal, and videos on the app began to show the effects of the broken partnership. Recordings by Universal artists were deleted from TikTok’s library, and existing videos that had used music from Universal’s artists had their audio muted entirely. Universal songs were also unavailable for users to add to new videos.

Persons: TikTok, Taylor Swift, Drake, Ariana Grande, Kylie Jenner, Lana Del Rey, — Organizations: Universal Music Group, Universal Locations: A.I

☆ TikTok Just Lost a Huge Catalog of Music. What Happened?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

TikTok users woke up Thursday and discovered that many videos using songs by stars like Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Drake and Ariana Grande had gone silent, after a public brawl between TikTok and Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company. Here is a look at what happened and why, and some thoughts about what may come next. On Tuesday, Universal Music, the global giant that releases music by hundreds of major artists, published a forceful open letter to TikTok as the end of its contract with the social media platform neared. Universal said that TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, had not adequately addressed Universal’s concerns over A.I.-generated music on the platform, and that it would not agree to what Universal considered a satisfactory royalty rate. “Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business,” the label said, “without paying fair value for the music.”

Persons: Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Drake, Ariana Grande, TikTok, ” Organizations: Universal Music Group, Universal Music, Universal Locations: A.I

☆ Who Will Have the Biggest Grammy Night?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The 66th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday are poised to be a celebration of a dominant year for women in pop music, with female stars like SZA, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish facing off in the major categories. Swift and SZA each have the potential for landmark wins. For an award show that in the past has been criticized for its treatment of female stars, its lineup alone is being interpreted as a sign of progress. But the show this year is taking place in the shadow of lawsuits against two former Grammy leaders, accusing each of sexual assault. Industry politics, vote-splitting and a shifting membership have the potential, as always, to scramble outcomes, despite expectations about who may win or lose.

Persons: SZA, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, ”, Victoria Monét, Swift, Rodrigo, Eilish, Miley Cyrus, Neil Portnow, Michael Greene Organizations: Recording Academy, Industry

☆ Universal Music Group Threatens to Remove Music From TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Ben Sisario | Derrick Bryson Taylor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, said it would revoke the licenses for its vast catalog of songs from TikTok after its current contract expires on Wednesday if the two companies could not reach a new deal addressing Universal’s concerns over artist compensation, artificial intelligence and other issues. In an open letter posted late Tuesday, Universal accused TikTok of responding to its requests with “indifference, and then with intimidation,” creating a public squabble in the remaining hours of the two companies’ existing contract. If the talks fail, TikTok users would be unable to use music by Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, U2, Bad Bunny and thousands of other artists in their videos. The company says it is used by more than 150 million Americans. For a majority of TikTok users, music is an integral part of the experience, with songs — often comically sped up — playing over the short clips that fill users’ feeds.

Persons: TikTok, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Universal, ”, A.I Organizations: Universal Music Group, Universal

☆ Joni Mitchell Adds a Gig to Her Comeback Tour: The Grammys
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nine years ago, Joni Mitchell fans wondered if they might ever hear her perform again, after Mitchell — the Canadian singer-songwriter and icon of the folk movement — had an aneurysm that initially left her unable to speak. But in recent years she has made a gradual recovery, and in 2022 she surprised the music world with a performance at the Newport Folk Festival. And on Sunday, at age 80, Mitchell is set to perform at the Grammy Awards for the first time. Show organizers offered no details about her appearance, including whether she is expected to play solo or with guests. “To hear Mitchell hit certain notes again in that inimitable voice was like glimpsing, in the wild, a magnificent bird long feared to have gone extinct.”

Persons: Joni Mitchell, Mitchell —, —, Mitchell, “ Joni Mitchell, Brandi Carlile, Wynonna Judd, Marcus Mumford, George Gershwin’s, Carlile —, ” Lindsay Zoladz, “ Organizations: Newport Folk, The New York Times Locations: Newport, ”, George

In a third suit, Liza Gardner says that in 1990, Mr. Combs coerced her into sex and then, a couple of days later, choked her so hard she passed out. In a statement, Jonathan D. Davis, a lawyer for Mr. Combs, said: “The new claims against Mr. Combs for alleged misconduct from many years ago, which were filed at the last minute, are all denied and rejected by him. Because of Mr. Combs’s fame and success, he is an easy target for accusers who attempt to smear him. As news of those suits ricocheted through social media, accusations from Mr. Combs’s past were resurfaced and dissected. In a 2004 interview, Kimora Lee Simmons, the model and TV personality, said that Mr. Combs had threatened her while she was pregnant.

Persons: ”, Dan Charnas, “, Mr, Combs, Joi Dickerson, Neal, drugging, Dickerson, Ventura’s, Liza Gardner, Jonathan D, Davis, Combs’s, Sean John, Kimora Lee Simmons, Gina Huynh Organizations: Combs Global, New York Legislature, Combs Locations: New York

☆ Drake Returns to No. 1 as Dolly Parton Opens Big With ‘Rockstar’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

1 on Billboard’s album chart this week thanks to an expanded edition, while Dolly Parton notches her highest chart position ever. Six weeks ago, “For All the Dogs” opened at the top with big streaming numbers, and it has held in the Top 5 since. Last week, Drake released a new version of it — the “Scary Hours Edition” — with six new songs, which has sent the album back to No. Incredibly, “Rockstar” becomes Parton’s highest-charting album, and only the third in her storied career to reach the Top 10 of the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. Among Parton’s solo albums, and LPs with her onetime singing partner Porter Wagoner, she has had numerous titles in the Top 10 of Billboard’s country chart, including eight No.

Persons: ”, Dolly Parton, Drake, Taylor Swift’s, Parton, “, Joan Jett, Elton John, Rob Halford, Judas Priest, Paul, Ringo, Rockstar ”, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Porter Wagoner Organizations: “ Rockstar, Roll Hall of Fame, Rockstar Locations: United States

☆ Former Model Sues Axl Rose, Accusing Him of 1989 Rape
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a statement, Alan S. Gutman, a lawyer for Mr. Rose, said: “Simply put, this incident never happened.” He added: “Though he doesn’t deny the possibility of a fan photo taken in passing, Mr. Rose has no recollection of ever meeting or speaking to the Plaintiff, and has never heard about these fictional allegations prior to today.”In her suit, Ms. Kennedy says she met Mr. Rose in early 1989, when she went to a New York nightclub with a friend who was a fan of Guns N’ Roses. The band was at perhaps the peak of its fame — and its members relished their reputations as hard-partying bad boys — but Ms. Kennedy says in her suit that at the time she did not know who Mr. Rose was. According to Ms. Kennedy’s complaint, Mr. Rose invited her and another woman to a party at his suite in a hotel on Central Park West, where he offered them cocaine and alcohol. According to the complaint, the party “was in full swing” until Mr. Rose called for everyone to leave except Ms. Kennedy, the other woman and a man. According to the complaint, Mr. Rose began having sex with the other woman, in an “aggressive” way that Ms. Kennedy says in the suit “appeared painful” for the woman.

Persons: Alan S, Gutman, Rose, “, ”, Kennedy, Ms, Kennedy’s Organizations: Plaintiff, Park West Locations: New York

☆ Music Licensing Giant BMI Sells to Private Equity Firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BMI, the giant music licensing agency that represents hundreds of thousands of songwriters, including Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga, has agreed to sell itself to New Mountain Capital, a private equity firm, the organization announced on Tuesday. BMI, along with its archrival ASCAP, is one of the major performing rights organizations in the United States. Terms of the deal between BMI and New Mountain were not disclosed. In its announcement, BMI, whose full name is Broadcast Music Inc., said that the sale is subject to approval by its shareholders and “customary” regulatory review, and that it expects the deal to close in the first quarter of 2024. According to the announcement, CapitalG, a fund affiliated with Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is also acquiring a minority stake in BMI.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga Organizations: BMI, archrival ASCAP, Inc, Google Locations: United States

☆ Stray Kids Score Another No. 1 With ‘Rock-Star’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stray Kids, the eight-piece K-pop group that was formed on a South Korean reality TV show, has scored its fourth No. 1 in two years on Billboard’s album chart, bumping Taylor Swift to No. “Rock-Star,” an eight-track mini album — including two versions of a song called “Lalalala” — becomes Stray Kids’ latest No. 1, selling 213,000 copies in the United States, mostly on CD, and racking up a modest 16 million streams, according to the tracking service Luminate. After striking a deal in the United States in 2022 with Republic Records — also the label for Swift, Morgan Wallen, Drake and other stars — the group landed two albums at No.

Persons: Taylor Swift, ”, —, Republic Records —, Swift, Morgan Wallen, Drake, Swift’s, Chris Stapleton Organizations: Republic Records Locations: Korean, United States, Memphis

☆ Cassie Settles Lawsuit Accusing Sean Combs of Rape and Abuse
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And Ms. Ventura, who has already aired her accusations through a public complaint, avoids a cross-examination by Mr. Combs’s attorneys. In response, a lawyer for Mr. Combs, Ben Brafman, said, “Mr. According the suit, Mr. Combs called these events “freak offs,” and they took place in a number of high-end hotels throughout the United States. According to Ms. Ventura’s suit, Mr. Combs controlled nearly every aspect of her life, paying for her homes, car, clothes and other necessities, and even had access to her personal medical records. The suit says Ms. Ventura never went to the police because she feared it “would merely give Mr. Combs another excuse to hurt her.”

Persons: Combs, Ventura, Ventura —, Combs’s, Mr, Ben Brafman, “ Mr, Ms, Ventura’s, ” Organizations: Mr, Court Locations: Manhattan, United States

☆ Sean Combs Is Accused by Cassie of Rape and Years of Abuse in Lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The suit, which names Mr. Combs and a number of his associated companies as defendants, seeks unspecified damages. scan she had — for memory loss, possibly caused by drug use or by a beating she said she suffered from Mr. Combs — went directly to Mr. Combs. According to the suit, Mr. Combs then had his staff bring her to a hotel room to recuperate for a week. She asked to go home to her parents, but Mr. Combs refused, the suit says. The suit says that after seeing the violent repercussions of rejecting Mr. Combs, and the extent to which he would isolate her from her support network, “Ms.

Persons: Combs, Ventura, Cassie, Casandra Ventura, “, Karwai Tang, Ms, Ventura’s, Combs — Organizations: Mr, Getty, Bad Locations: Los Angeles

☆ ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Repeats at No. 1
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Taylor Swift holds the top of the Billboard 200 album chart with her latest remake, while Jung Kook of BTS opens at No. “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” a rerecording of Swift’s nine-year-old LP, stays at No. 1 for a second time after a huge debut, when the new edition topped the opening-week sales of the original. Jung Kook, the latest member of the K-pop kings BTS to release a solo album during the group’s hiatus, starts at No. 2 with “Golden,” which notched nearly 42 million streams and sold 128,500 copies as a complete album, mostly on CD.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Jung Kook, Jimmy Buffett, ”, Jung Kook —, Jungkook —, Latto, Buffett, Emmylou Harris, Angélique Kidjo, — Paul McCartney Organizations: BTS Locations: United States

☆ SZA, ‘Barbie’ Songs and Young Women Lead 2024 Grammy Nominees
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In past years, the Grammys have been criticized for failing to adequately reward female artists, and this year’s woman-heavy nominations will likely be welcomed in the industry as a sign of progress. As always, the nominations included some surprises in the top tier, particularly when it came to country artists. (“Fast Car” was not, however, eligible for song of the year, since it had already been nominated for that award in the ’80s.) (Wallen’s hit “Last Night” is up for best country song, though Wallen was not among its four writers.) Harvey Mason Jr., the chief executive of the Recording Academy, said in an interview that the nominations simply reflect the musical judgment of the academy’s 11,000 or so voting members.

Persons: Noah Kahan, Jelly Roll, Fred, Coco Jones, Swift, Gracie Abrams, Luke Combs, Tracy Chapman’s, ”, Zach Bryan, Kacey, Morgan Wallen, Wallen, Harvey Mason Jr Organizations: Nashville, Recording Academy Locations: Nashville, British

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