Universal Music Group News

Motown Gospel is honored to announce the official signing of iconic choirmaster Ricky Dillard today. Known for his skillful directing and inimitable presentation marked by high energy, acrobatics and charisma, the 3-time GRAMMY® nominee will record his Motown Gospel debut album, along with his unparalleled choir, New G, live in Chicago on Saturday, September 28, 2019 beginning at 2:00PM at Haven of Rest Missionary Baptist Church on 7925 South Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60617. Ticket are available for purchase here.

Today at the Capitol Congress in Los Angeles, ESPN announced that Cletus the Van/Caroline recording artist Judah & the Lion will provide the musical backdrop for the 2019-20 College Football Season.  The newest single from the band – “Let Go” – will serve as the anthem for ESPN's coverage of College Football's 150th season, which kicks off on August 24. This marks the fifth year ESPN has collaborated with Universal Music Group.  Once again, music from the labels' biggest artists will be incorporated into ESPN college football programming, promotion and games throughout the season.

NBC has added the musical series 'Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist' to its freshman class for the 2019-2020 season.

The New York Philharmonic's fourth album on Decca Gold, Universal Music Group's newly established US classical music label, will be released digitally on May 17, 2019, and is now available for preorder at this link.

Gary Allan will perform at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts on September 28, 2019. Tickets are on sale Friday, May 3 at 10am and are available at the Duke Energy Center Box Office, M-F 9am-5:30pm, or by visiting DukeEnergyCenterRaleigh.com.

Big Spring Entertainment and University of Illinois Springfield announce GARY ALLAN Saturday, June 1 at 7:30 PM at Sangamon Auditorium. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 12th at 10 am.

Composer Christopher James's upcoming album Grace from Persistence, his third as a solo artist, represents a synthesis of musical genres from jazz and pop to classical and film music, informed not only by his early experiences scoring for film and television, but also by his many years working with leading artists and on major soundtracks as an executive and producer for Universal Music Group. Mr. James's music takes inspiration from the visual and the dramatic, and two of the ten tracks on this recording (“Grace from Persistence” and “Mother Russia”) feature accompanying video.

After concluding last Sunday's Blind Auditions, Coaches Luis Fonsi, Alejandra Guzman, Carlos Vives and Wisin kick-off the Battle rounds of Telemundo's "La Voz" beginning this Sunday, February 24 at 9pm/8c. During this second phase of the hit singing competition, the Coaches start developing their teams with the help of other music celebrity friends who will join them as Mentors, including Becky G, Christian Nodal, Carlos Rivera and Prince Royce. During this phase, each Coach will stage six Battles in the ring, with each Battlepitting two of the Coach's own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After each Battle, the Coach will have to make the difficult decision of which of his/her two contestants is the winner and will move on to the last round, known as the Live Shows. Coaches will have two opportunities to "steal," allowing them to prevent a contestant who was eliminated during another Coach's Battle to go home, and become part of his/her team.

Skylar Astin and Alex Newell are set to star opposite Jane Levy in Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, according to Deadline.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents Tony and triple Grammy Award-winning jazz legend Dee Dee Bridgewater in her Wallis debut with a tribute to the rich R&B tradition of Memphis - the city of her birth - on Saturday, March 23, 2019, 7:30 pm, in The Wallis' Bram Goldsmith Theater. The NEA Jazz Master and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, joined by the Memphis Soulphony, returns to her roots to bring the sultry Memphis sound to Los Angeleswith Memphis…Yes I'm Ready, based on her acclaimed album of the same title recorded at Memphis' famed Royal Studios in 2016.

Jane Levy is set to star in NBC's Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist musical dramedy pilot, according to Deadline. The pilot hails from Jake in Progress creator Austin Winsberg, Eric and Kim Tannenbaum, FeigCo, Universal Music Group and Lionsgate TV.

With SXSW 2019 just around the corner, we are excited to reveal five Keynotes as well as more Featured Speakers across 25 Tracks of curated Conference programming.

Today, the Recording Academy's Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion announced an unprecedented new initiative that aims to expand opportunities for female music producers and engineers. The Producer & Engineer Inclusion Initiative is the inaugural action of a larger strategy to address gender inequity in the music industry. According to a 2018 USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study, only 2 percent of music producers and 3 percent of engineers/mixers across popular music are women. This initiative is the first step in a broader effort to improve those numbers and increase diversity and inclusion for all in the music industry.

April 12 marks the release of Acoustic Space, the first full-length installment in The Invisible Light trilogy helmed by Grammy- and Oscar-winning producer T Bone Burnett in collaboration with Jay Bellerose and Keefus Ciancia. The albums explore the idea that society has been subject to over a century of electronic programming, a “programming pandemic,” which is causing us to lose our ability to differentiate fact from fiction. Burnett describes the trilogy as “an experimental song cycle” which consists of a single piece of poetry broken down into distinct songs. The Invisible Light: Acoustic Space track “Being There” premieres today, listen/share HERE. Pre-order Acoustic Space HERE.

Cyrus Meher-Homji, General Manager, Classics and Jazz, Universal Music Australia is awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the performing arts, particularly through music. The Order of Australia is the pre-eminent means by which Australia recognises the outstanding and meritorious service of its citizens and announced today as part of the Australia Day 2019 Honours List. The award is approved by the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.

The world's most successful and best-selling soprano, Sarah Brightman, returns to London for the first time since her Harem World Tour in 2004. Her new world tour, HYMN: Sarah Brightman In Concert will come to Royal Albert Hall, Monday 11th November, for one night only. Tickets for the one night only spectacular will go on sale to the general public on Friday 25th January at 10am and are available online at cuffeandtaylor.com.

One of the world's biggest classical stars, Lang Lang, returns with his brand new solo album 'Piano Book' – a collection of pieces which first inspired him to play the piano and led him on his path to international stardom. The recording, his first new studio album in three years, marks his return to Universal Music Group and Deutsche Grammophon – the label he first signed to in 2003.

According to Deadline, NBC has ordered a new pilot, a musical dramedy called Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist.

The Philly POPS will offer free tickets for furloughed government employees during the federal government shutdown. Government employees may present their IDs at the Kimmel Center Box Office to receive one free, complimentary pair of tickets to JAZZED! running January 18, 19 and 20 (One pair per Government-issued employee ID).

The New York Philharmonic's third album on Decca Gold, Universal Music Group's newly established US classical music label, will be released physically and digitally on February 22, 2019; the album is now available for preorder on nyphil.org