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Dennis Lloyd Releases Love Story Follow-Up Music Video for ‘Never Go Back’: Watch

On Wednesday (March 20), Israeli musician and multi-instrumentalist Dennis Lloyd premiered a cinematic music video for his latest single "Never Go Back." "Never Go Back" is a follow-up to the love story in Lloyd's breakout single "Nevermind." While "Nevermind" was written about a Colombian woman he fell in love with while living in Bangkok, "Never Go Back" showcases how the story of their love led to an eventual breakup in Israel. The "Never Go Back" video follows the storyline of Lloyd and his love interest embarking on their romantic journey. The beginning of the video showcases the couple's love evolving as the two are seen doing romantic things like brushing their teeth together, taking long motorcycle drives through the forest and attending concerts together. These visuals are also directly juxtaposed with images of them fighting with each other, yelling and crying, which foreshadows their relationship coming to an end. "The vertical video is directly connected to the music video. Once you see both, you’ll understand exactly how," Lloyd says in a statement. "When writing my music, I share my experiences but recognize there are two sides to every relationship and breakup... this one is from the perspective of my girlfriend." Dennis Lloyd’s signature sound is a mix between pop, R&B, rock and reggae. Following up with the huge success of "Nevermind," Lloyd is gearing up for a busy year and is set to release his debut EP in spring 2019.

LPX Chases Love On Rapturous ‘Falling To Fall’: Exclusive

The track was co-written with Anthony Rossamondo, who also helped pen 'Shallow' alongside Lady Gaga & co.

On the eve of her new album Junk Of The Heart, LPX's Lizzy Plapinger is giving fans a taste of the record with the sparkling “Falling To Fall,” exclusively on Billboard. Over the new wave sheen of synths and fuzzed-out guitars, the former MS MR singer belts out a knowing ode to the act of falling in love for love’s sake. “Caught, caught up in the habit/I’ve never wanted what I’m chasing but always having to have it/And I’m al-always chasing the magic/But I can’t seem to grab it ‘cuz I don’t deserve to have it,” she sings dreamily, a punchy kick-snare propelling the song toward the chorus.

Nickelodeon SlimeFest: Pitbull, Bebe Rexha and T-Pain Set to Perform

Pitbull, Bebe Rexha and T-Pain are set as headliners for the second Nickelodeon SlimeFest in the U..S, which returns to Chicago June 8-9 and also will feature Nick multimedia star Jojo Siwa. The sophomore lineup signals a strong green light (pun intended) for SlimeFest—which has seen a strong following in markets including the U.K., Spain, South Africa and Australia since its debut in 2012. The event drew a crowd of primarily kids and their parents to the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island in Chicago on a chilly June weekend last year to catch headliners Liam Payne, Flo Rida, Zedd and Siwa. Round two in Chicago is a beacon of the growing drive at the company to connect families around content that appeals to multiple generations. “Nickelodeon knows how to get the SlimeFest started! This festival is for everyone - kids, their parents and all of us who take the stage,” said Pitbull. “Nickelodeon has been a great partner throughout my career, so it’s always an honor to be part of their iconic events and this one takes green to a whole new level.”

Is Michael Jackson Too Big to Cancel? After ‘Neverland,’ The Industry Says Yes

Despite the disturbing revelations in Leaving Neverland, the music industry apparently just isn’t quite ready to let go of Michael Jackson and his music. As a wide-ranging informal survey of over three dozen professionals and artists reveals, many aren’t planning to speak out -- and plenty aren’t even willing to watch the documentary. “It used to be about surviving a few news cycles,” says Jeff Biederman, partner/music group co-chair at law firm Manatt Phelps & Phillips, who hasn’t seen the film. “Now with social media, everyone is a newspaper, and the potential effect on an artist is exponentially greater. Hardcore fans won’t care. With the undecideds, it’s always going to be on your mind. But as a parent, it’s very hard to crank Thriller and not think about those children being abused.” Thus far, the overwhelming reaction from the industry is “a mix of skepticism, disbelief and outright anger,” in the words of one partner in an urban culture-focused communications firm who watched both parts of the film and found Jackson’s now-adult accusers, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, believable. “Most are refusing to watch the film,” the partner continues, “because, I suspect, they’re afraid to face the possibility that Jackson was a pedophile. But judging from the public outcry against the accusers, I can’t see a massive movement to cancel Jackson taking place anytime soon.”

Jay-Z, ‘Super Fly,’ ‘La Bamba’ Added To National Recording Registry

As it has annually for 17 years, the Library of Congress picked out a wide-ranging set of recordings — songs, albums, speeches, monologues, field recordings and some very old phonograph cylinders — to add to the National Recording Registry, bringing the total number of works within it to 525. "The National Recording Registry honors the music that enriches our souls, the voices that tell our stories and the sounds that mirror our lives," said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who in 2016 became the first woman and the first African-American to lead the Library. The most modern of this year's 25 selections is The Blueprint, Jay-Z's 2001 album that solidified the now-mogul's place in history and boosted the rise of Kanye West, who produced several of its songs. In 2002, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five's epochal single "The Message" became the first hip-hop recording included in the Registry, as part of its inaugural list. Since then, works from hip-hop luminaries Public Enemy, 2Pac, The Sugarhill Gang, N.W.A and Run-D.M.C. have been included in its catalog.

Nina Simone's lament "Mississippi Goddam," released in 1964 in response to the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers by a Klansman and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Ala. that killed four young girls, was also added to the rolls. (Simone would later say some of her songs from the civil rights era had hurt her career). Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba," the Chicano rock pioneer's adaptation of a Mexican folk song, made the young Valens' legacy just before he died in a plane crash at the age of 17. (A biopic of the same title was named to the National Film Registry in 2017). The song "continues to be a hallmark in American music and an influence on all Latino music that followed," says Louie Pérez, whose band Los Lobos famously covered the song in the 1980s, in a statement issued by the Library of Congress. Two heavily grooved, disco-era classics from 1978 also made the list — Earth, Wind & Fire's song "September" (the date celebrated in the song, for what it's worth, has no meaning beyond its satisfying sound) and Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)." Another album intrinsic to that decade's sound, Curtis Mayfield's soundtrack album for Super Fly, was added as well. Non-musical entries include Robert F. Kennedy's April 4, 1968 speech, given in response to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the monologues of Ruth Draper, whose theatrical performances brought her, by request, to Windsor Castle to perform; the comedy-history album Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Vol. 1: The Early Years from 1961; and documentation of 23 tribal languages of Native Americans from the Northwest of the country. The Registry has added recordings every year since 2002 as part of the National Recording Preservation Act, which passed in 2000 and called for the establishment of the National Recording Registry and the use of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Va., to "ensure proper storage of preserved sound recordings" — a resource that should be appreciated by all those who have reportedly lost the music they uploaded to MySpace.

Is It Possible To Separate Art From the Artist? A ‘Bad’ Tour Publicist, Industry Therapist and Exec Weigh In

I was on the Bad tour with Jimmy Safechuck and his family. MJ and Jimmy were always together, holding hands, and the press was starting to ask, “Who is the kid, and why are they always together?” The official story was he was the kid from the Pepsi commercial and Pepsi was the tour sponsor, and that’s why he was on tour with us that summer. Behind the scenes, we all thought it was inappropriate and sent someone to talk to MJ about the optics. MJ wouldn’t listen and continued taking Jimmy everywhere, holding hands. When the parents were moved to the band/staff hotel, not the MJ/management hotel, I couldn’t believe that the parents were allowing it. So no, [Leaving Neverland] did not change my mind about MJ. I suspected he was a pedophile at the time, and, obviously, I was correct. I never understood how the parents allowed their son to be with MJ all the time, without them. If MJ loved children so much, how come there were never little girls around... just boys? MJ was a super talent, and I do separate his art from his lifestyle. I have no problem listening to his music and don’t think it should be banned. I don’t quite get why I shouldn’t watch an actor play a role or listen to a musician sing a song because they aren’t “good” people. Doesn’t mean I want to spend any time with them, but I can still enjoy the art. Labels will sign and continue to work with anyone they think can make them money. I doubt [artists’ personal lives] will enter their spreadsheets -- only “Does this artist do what we want and make us money?” Then they’ll find a way to justify being in business. The only time they will reject a moneymaker is when the public rejects the product. -- As told to Melinda Newman

Third year of consecutive growth in UK record label income, boosted by surging subscription streaming

The BPI, the UK record labels association, next week publishes its annual yearbook All About The Music 2019 – with the encouraging news that UK record company trade income1 has leapt by over a fifth (+21.8%) following three years of consecutive growth since 2015. See Table 1 in Notes to Editors for full breakdown. Total industry revenues in 2018 of £865.5 million, reflecting streams and sales of music across all music formats combined with earnings from ‘sync’1, rose 3.1 per cent on the year, and now stand at their highest level since 2009, though they are still down on the £1.2 billion post-millennium peak year of 2001. The revenue increase follows a 5.7 per cent rise in music consumption across all formats, which the BPI reported earlier this year2, and broadly translates into a retail value of £1.34 billion according to ERA3. Label Income was boosted in particular by the continuing increase in subscriptions to streaming services, such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and Deezer, which rose by well over a third (+34.9%) in 2018 and which has seen a dramatic 220 per cent surge in the past three years. Subscriptions by themselves accounted for 54.0 per cent of UK record label income in 2018. See Table 2 in Notes for shares by format. The growth in subscriptions contributed to an overall 32.8 per cent rise in income from streaming. This would have been greater still had video streaming platforms, predominantly YouTube, generated a great deal more than just £29.7 million in return for an estimated 30 billion-plus3 annual plays of music videos in the UK. This represents just over half the amount generated by vinyl, which, for all its recent growth, remains something of a niche format, and further underlines the continuing problem of the Value Gap4. Revenues from ad-supported streams showed strong year-on-year growth, rising to £19.1 million – up 25.8 per cent on the year. Income from vinyl sales continues to grow – with the £57.1 million generated in 2018 up 3.7 per cent on the year, and well over double the 2015 total of £25.1 million. Vinyl LPs now account for 6.6 per cent of industry income. Revenue of £176.8 million from CD sales maintained its long-term trend, down by over a quarter (-28.4%) in 2018, but remains important to the industry, delivering just over a fifth (20.4%) of its income. Overall, income generated by physical formats dropped by 22.5 per cent. This reflects the difficult trading conditions experienced by HMV and other retailers on the High Street in the last quarter, while ‘like-for-like’ year-on-year comparisons were made more challenging by the phenomenal global success in 2017 of Ed Sheeran’s Divide album alongside the outstanding 1m-plus sales of Rag’n’Bone Man’s debut album, Human. Last year’s growth was also driven by the success of British artists, ranging from Queen, whose catalogue found new audiences through the global success of the Bohemian Rhapsody film biopic, to acts including George Ezra, Dua Lipa, Paloma Faith, The 1975, Stormzy, Dave and Calvin Harris, who are now firmly established alongside the likes of Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith as major international stars. The soundtrack to The Greatest Showman, the year’s best-selling album in the UK and around the world, made a key contribution to income, alongside other movie soundtracks which featured in the year’s Official Charts year-end top 10, such as the cast recordings for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and A Star Is Born. Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI & BRIT Awards, said: “The recorded music industry in the UK is showing consistent growth, driven by investment in new talent, innovative global marketing, and offering music fans outstanding choice, convenience and value. “The outlook for the future remains positive, but there is still a long way to go to recapture lost ground. Long-term growth depends on robust Government action to tackle the Value Gap, promote investment, ensure online platforms take responsible action to reduce infringement, and secure the future talent pipeline by giving state school pupils the opportunity to discover and develop their talent.” “All About The Music 2019” is the latest edition of the annual BPI yearbook, now in its 40th year. Featuring an introduction by BPI CEO Geoff Taylor, it gives a detailed insight into the year in UK recorded music in 2018 through facts, figures and analysis. It fully evaluates music consumption and trends, with chapters covering sales, market breakdowns, consumer behaviour, retailing and how British music is performing in the world market, along with many other insights. “ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC 2019” is out w/c 25th March. It is free to all BPI members but can be purchased from the BPI’s website on publication: https://www.bpi.co.uk/shop/

R. Kelly seeking permission to travel to Dubai

Embattled singer R. Kelly is set to request permission to travel to the United Arab Emirates to honour previously-scheduled concert commitments in Dubai. The I Believe I Can Fly hitmaker was ordered to surrender his passport as part of his bail conditions in February (19), after he was indicted on 10 felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against four victims, three of whom were allegedly minors at the time of the incidents. He is due to return to court on Friday (22Mar19), and during the hearing, his lawyer Steve Greenberg plans to ask the judge to lift his client's travel ban to allow Kelly to take a private jet to Dubai next month (Apr19) so he can perform at a series of pre-booked private gigs. According to ABC News, the legal papers will reference three to five shows scheduled to take place between 17 and 19 April (19). "He needs to be able to work like anyone else who is free on bond, and the law needs to be adaptable," Greenberg told the Chicago Sun-Times of his motion, explaining he would offer to travel with the singer to act as a "chaperone". Greenberg had previously blamed Kelly's financial woes on his damaged reputation following the January (19) broadcast of the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries, which examined a string of decades-old allegations of sexual misconduct made against the R&B veteran. He has denied all accusations of inappropriate conduct and vowed to clear his name, but the scandal has already cost him his record deal with Sony Music, as well as two shows in Germany, where promoters decided to cancel two April dates in the wake of Kelly's indictment. The disgraced star is also struggling to keep up with child support payments to his ex-wife, Andrea Kelly, who claims she hasn't received any funds from him in months. He was found in contempt of court in late February (19) as a result of his repeated missed payments, and was jailed for three days earlier this month (Mar19) after failing to settle his debt of more than $160,000 (£121,000) to help care for their three children. An anonymous donor covered the fee to secure Kelly's release.

Grimes found Elon Musk union backlash ‘very disturbing’

Canadian singer Grimes was completely "unprepared" for the "very disturbing" backlash she received for defending her billionaire boyfriend Elon Musk in a series of Twitter posts last year (18).

Newly-engaged Jennifer Lopez: ‘We’re really happy!’

Jennifer Lopez has shared her joy over her engagement to Alex Rodriguez, gushing that she and her new fiance are "really happy". The 43-year-old former baseball star popped the question to thrice-married Jennifer during a romantic vacation in the Bahamas earlier this month (Mar19). The singer-turned-actress was quick to say yes, and told People she and her soon-to-be husband are still revelling in their new relationship status. “We’re really happy,” she smiled. Alex added in the joint interview: "We have (an) appreciation for where we are in our lives today, and that’s what we’re enjoying the most." Alex is sure to be front and centre when Jennifer embarks on her It's My Party tour to mark her 50th birthday later this year. And he's more than a little excited about seeing his future spouse strutting her stuff on the stage. "I don’t have to play 162 games anymore, so I have a lot of time on my hands," former New York Yankees All-Star Alex laughed. While Alex supports Jennifer, she also backs him in all his ventures - whether in his work or personal life. And it's this mutual support that she explains sets their relationship apart. "We’re constantly supporting each other in our individual endeavours and thinking about all the things that we can build together,” Jennifer said. "Everything that we do, we do together. He knows my dreams and I know his dreams, and together we feel like we’re stronger.” "We are very grateful," Alex added. One joint venture the pair have teamed up for is a new collaboration for eyewear label Quay Australia. As well as starring in a new advertising campaign for the company, Jennifer and Alex have also inspired two new collections - Quay x JLo and Quay x ARod.