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Tim Sweeney’s ‘Beats In Space’ Radio Show Moves to Apple Music

For over 20 years, Tim Sweeney delivered the best of dance world underground to the masses through the airwaves of New York’s WNYU. Now, Sweeney’s show is getting a new and bigger home at Apple Music.

Beats In Space launches on Apple Music today (Nov. 1) at 7 p.m. PT, with new episodes airing live, for free, every Monday at that same time. Each episode will feature two hours of music, with the first hour a mix from that week’s special guest DJ, followed by a mix from Sweeney.

Both Sweeney and the guest’s DJ mixes will then be available on the Beats In Space show page, along with on-demand guest interviews. Sweeney’s debut guest is English electronic artist Planningtorock, with their mix featuring music from their 2021 EP Gay Dreams Do Come True, along with edits they’ve done for Romy and Lady Gaga and favorite tracks by Jimmy Somerville, Arca and more.

Influenced by the UK’s pirate radio culture, Sweeney began Beats in Space in 1999 while a student at NYU, with his program giving a platform to the then almost entirely underground world of techno, house, ambient and more. He’s done more than 1,000 episodes of Beats In Space since the show’s launch, with guests throughout the years including stars like Gerd Janson, Carl Craig, Andrew Weatherall, DJ Harvey and Four Tet.

“After 21 years on college radio in NYC, it felt time to graduate and take the next step to bring things to a wider audience,” says Sweeney. “I still have the freedom to choose the music and guests DJs I want for the show, but now I have a team of people to help make that vision a reality.”

Sweeney announced his departure from WNYU this past March with a pair of farewell mixes featuring music from Donna Summer, Vangelis and more, although he did not then reveal his plans to relocate the show. With the move to Apple, he plans to record installments of the show from locations well beyond New York.

“I’m really excited about taking the radio show on the road,” he says. “We can record at a Beats In Space festival in Japan, a warehouse party in São Paulo or use one of the many Apple Music studios (New York, LA, London, Paris, Berlin and Tokyo). It’s a chance to really showcase what’s happening in dance music culture around the world. I’ve been traveling as a DJ for the past 20 years and bringing back what I’ve found to the radio in New York, but now I have a chance to show people what is happening in different cities straight from the source. It opens up so many opportunities to explore what is happening in this thriving and global dance music scene.”

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Bad Bunny, Alejandro Fernandez, Mana & More Set To Perform At 2021 Latin Grammys

The Latin Recording Academy has announced a new wave of artists set to perform at the 2021 Latin Grammys on Nov. 18, Billboard has learned.

Pablo Alborán, Bad Bunny, Alejandro Fernández, Maná, Juanes, and Myke Towers are all set to take center stage, joining the roster of previously announced performers including Ozuna, Paula Arenas, Nella, Danna Paola, Banda El Recodo De Cruz Lizárraga, Los Dos Carnales, Calibre 50, La Arrolladora Banda El Limón de René Camacho, and Rubén Blades, who will be honored as the Person of the Year.

Five-time nominee, C. Tangana, is set to perform alongside Antonio Carmona, Diego del Morao, Jorge Drexler, Israel Fernández, La Húngara, Natalia Lafourcade and Omar Apollo.

Additionally, Juanes will perform a new arrangement of Juan Gabriel’s iconic “No Tengo Dinero,” alongside Rubén Albarrán and Meme del Real of Café Tacvba.

Colombian singer-songwriter Camilo leads the 2021 Latin Grammys nominees with 10 nods, including nominations in the album, record, and song of the year categories. He’s followed by tropical music icon Juan Luis Guerra with six, Spanish rapper Tangana with five nominations, and multiple artists, including Bad Bunny, with four.

The 22nd annual Latin Grammys will air live on the Univision network on Nov. 18 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. See the complete list of nominees here.

 

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Dale Ann Bradley Serves a Poignant Reminder With ‘In the End’ Video

When Dale Ann Bradley, who won the 2021 International Bluegrass Music Award for female vocalist of the year for the sixth time earlier this year, first listened to “In the End,” the stunning vocalist knew she was hearing words she needed to share.

The song, which appears on her album, Things She Couldn’t Get Over, has a message we all can benefit from hearing in these divisive times: all that will matter in the end is how we treat other people and that our love can overcome hate. The video for the song premieres below.

“When I listened to this song for the first time, I knew it was a message that was needed, especially with all that has been going on in our country and the world,” Bradley, a founding  and former member of bluegrass band Sister Sadie,  tells Billboard of the tune written by Jill Gilliam. “It said to me, that what matters is what we leave on this earth for others, and we sometimes don’t remember that we are all leaving this world. What truly matters is the love and kindness we leave behind. It’s the only thing that will make things change after we are gone. We all have differences, but fighting about things that are superficial doesn’t matter, it only leaves hurt behind for generations. The only thing that lasts and nurtures future generations is how we’ve loved.”

As Bradley went to record the song, it took on an added resonance as right before going into the studio, she got a call from friend and backing vocalist Debbie Gulley telling Bradley that Gulley’s husband, Steve, who also sings with Bradley, had been diagnosed with cancer.

“We went into the studio the next day to do vocals. It took on an even deeper meaning than when I first heard it,” she says. “The main takeaway that I hope people get from this song is to live every day like it’s their last. Little things that make no difference at all, truly make no difference at all. In the big picture, those things that we think are important are not.”

The video, which is performed to a scratch vocal, was taped after Steve Gulley and two other people close to Bradley had died. “When we shot it, in my mind I imagined those three people there, and that they validated that love and kindness is all that matters at the end of the day,” Bradley says.

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The First Billboard: All That Was ‘New, Bright and Interesting on the Boards’

On Nov. 1, 1894, Billboard published its first issue, one that’s vastly different from today’s magazine (and Billboard’s expanded platforms). The premiere issue wasn’t even focused on the music industry; Billboard’s eventual trademark concentration on music, and, of course, charts, would develop over decades.

THE FIRST ISSUE

Before it became a weekly publication, and a 24/7 presence online, Billboard launched as Billboard Advertising. Its original mission? One that helps explain its name: “A monthly resume of all that is new, bright and interesting on the boards.”

Upon its premiere, the eight-page magazine (priced at 10 cents an issue, or, 99 cents per year), was “devoted to the interests of advertisers, poster printers, bill posters, advertising agents & secretaries of fairs.”

The magazine’s first cover subject was R.C. Campbell, then-president of the Associated Bill Posters’ Association. “No more fitting tribute can be paid to Mr. Campbell than to state that he is a man of infinite resource, progressive ideas and tireless industry,” Billboard noted in the inaugural issue.

“In selecting his photograph for the first number of this magazine, the Editor was actuated by the fact that he is the acknowledged leader, the first and foremost and most eminent man in the field which we aim to cover.”

THE CHARTS

As 127 years have passed (and Campbell has ceded the cover to, most recently, Halsey, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross), Billboard’s mission to report on and analyze the entertainment business remains on point, although with, for the past seven-plus decades, a more specific focus on the music segment of the industry.

The magazine’s first national music chart, the 10-position “National List of Best Selling Retail Records,” appeared in the July 27, 1940, issue. Previously, Billboard had highlighted the national “Sheet Music Best Sellers,” “Records Most Popular on Music Machines” (compiled from national reports from phonograph operators), and “Songs With the Most Radio Plugs” on a handful of New York radio stations. The “National List of Best Selling Retail Records,” however, was the first to poll retailers nationwide on record sales.

Tommy Dorsey crowned the first retail list with “I’ll Never Smile Again.” The eventual standard, featuring vocals by Frank Sinatra, would total 12 weeks at the summit. The scorecard paved the way for the industry-standard Billboard 200 albums chart (which became a weekly chart on March 24, 1956) and Billboard’s present-day menu of MRC Data-based format-centric song and album rankings and more. The Billboard Hot 100 songs chart premiered Aug. 4, 1958, with Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool” the first of the tally’s 1,131 No. 1s and counting.

In more recent years, Billboard’s charts offerings have expanded to include surveys covering social and streaming activity, with streams added to the Hot 100’s weekly tabulation. Billboard has also launched the weekly Billboard Artist 100, expanded touring tallies, weekly surveys ranking songwriters and producers, the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. lists and, most recently, Hot Trending Songs charts, powered by Twitter.

“LET ITS GROWTH BE NATURAL”

Meanwhile, Billboard has grown to encompass multiple platforms, including the top-rated Billboard Music Awards, Women in Music, industry conferences, podcasts and publications in addition to the weekly magazine and more.

“Although only in its swaddling clothes, [our] success is already absolutely assured,” Billboard proclaimed on page four of the maiden issue. “The publishers aim to have it always newsy and to maintain a high and exacting standard of excellence in all articles appertaining to the interest of its readers.”

As a “What They Think of Us” feature reflected, “Responses to the very modest prospectus demonstrated that beyond all doubt or peradventure … surely a journalistic youngster was never started under such auspicious circumstances.”

“Start the new paper in a small and inexpensive manner, and let its growth be natural. Do not force it. You will not need to. There is a field for it,” advised Col. Burr Robbins.

Added Al. Bryan of Cleveland, “It should have been started long ago.”

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Listen to Flo Milli’s new single ‘Ice Baby’

Flo Milli has released new single ‘Ice Baby’, her first solo single since ‘Roaring 20s’ came at the start of 2021 – listen below.

Following the release of her mixtape ‘Ho, why is you here?’ in 2020, the Alabama rapper has released a string of collaborations with the likes of Destiny Rogers, YungManny and Rich The Kid but has now returned with solo single ‘Ice Baby’.

The track, produced by Brad!, brettonthebeat and Slade and released via RCA Records, was launched last week with a live performance before the studio version dropped earlier today (November 1). Listen to the track here and check out the accompanying video below.

The reason I’m different, I do what you don’t. You do what you can and I do what I want. The second that I get turned off then it’s on,” raps Milli on the track.

Milli was meant to perform at Post Malone’s Posty Fest 2021 alongside the likes of Megan Thee StallionLil Uzi VertRoddy RicchJack HarlowTurnstile and Polo G before the event was cancelled just two weeks after it was announced.

Last month, Rico Nasty teased a collaboration with Flo Milli. On Rico’s TikTok account, the rapper posted a clip where she pretends to play Red Light Green Light, the childhood game from Netflix show Squid Game alongside the caption, “POV: they play your song with Flo Milli in Squid Games

The collab would follow on from Nasty surprise releasing five songs earlier this year on her SoundCloud page: ‘Switch Places’, ‘Grow Up’, ‘Cotton Candy’, ‘Show Me Your Love’, and ‘How Ya Feel’.

Earlier this year, Nasty also performed a guitar-heavy set for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. The five-song set saw Nasty backed by an all-female band.

The post Listen to Flo Milli’s new single ‘Ice Baby’ appeared first on NME.

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Mariah Carey Smashes Pumpkin, Declares Halloween Officially Ovah

Mariah Carey is a patient woman. But when it comes to Christmas cheer, she has her limits. After recently telling us it was too early to start jingling bells in the midst of Halloween season, at midnight on Sunday (Oct. 31) she finally said goodbye to all things spooky and officially ushered in the holiday season.

In a brief video that opened with a Halloween tableau featuring candles, tombstones and gourds arrayed in front of a series of three pumpkins carved with the words “It’s Not Time,” Carey strutted out in a glittery red floor-length gown and matching heels as she happily swung a candy-striped baseball bat.

As spooky music played behind her and the sound of a clock ticked down, Carey wound up and demolished the “Not” pumpkin with gusto as the clock struck midnight and she busted out into giggles. Of course that’s when Carey’s titanic 1994 classic, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” busted out and the Halloween decorations disappeared and MC was magically transported to a winter wonderland.

Carey did a quick-change into a shimmery Santa suit, tossed some snow in the air, dangled an ornament and gave a quick glimpse of a wrapped present that had Nov. 5 written on it, which the Lambily took to mean that the Christmas Queen is planning to drop something festive on Friday. The clip ended with the phrase: “It’s Time!!! To smash that pumpkin and treat it as pie… cause we still gotta get through Thanksgiving!!!”

Carey’s “All I Want” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for the second time last December.

Watch Mariah get in the spirit below.

Ready? Let’s go! ➡️#MariahSZN pic.twitter.com/cEaFrRBHwJ

— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) November 1, 2021

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Donald Glover Posts Mysterious ‘Atlanta’ Season 3 Trailer

The long wait for the return of Earn, Paper Boi, Darius and Vanessa is almost over. Atlanta mastermind Donald Glover debuted the first teaser clip for the long-awaited third season of his FX series over the weekend. And, just as you’d expect, it’s full of cryptic scenes and very few solid clues about what we can expect from the gang of A-town strivers.

In keeping with the show’s often inscrutable vibe, Glover wished fans a happy Halloween in a tweet that also included a link to something called “Gilga,” which whisked them off to a site hosting the clip — at press time the video was hidden, with a note explained that, “while under construction, Gilga is a ‘nite-site’ operational hours are 8 p.m.-3 a.m.”

The minute-long trailer, soundtracked by Sun Ra’s meditative, droning 1970 spoken word jazz composition “It’s After the End of the World,” features a series of desolate, nighttime scenes from European cities — from museums to trashed hotel rooms and escalators — ending with an image of star Brian Tyree Henry (aka rapper Paper Boi) sitting at a table in front of a giant floral display with two hotel employees flanking him while facing the wall.

As the camera pushes in on the hard-grinding MC he stares into the camera with a blank look as Ra’s skronking soundtrack plays out behind him. Not surprisingly for the often cryptic, impressionistic show, the trailer didn’t provide much context or plot points, perfectly in keeping with the series’ non-linear vibe.

Three years since the finale of the show’s second season in May 2018, season three is slated to debut next year, according to FX boss John Landgraf, who told The Wrap in August that the dramedy would be back in the “first half of 2022.” He also revealed that it was mostly shot in Europe and that the third go-round had been delayed because the show went right back into production on the fourth season in Atlanta.

Watch the teaser below.

happy halloween https://t.co/KCt26LMaAq

— donald (@donaldglover) November 1, 2021

Atlanta Season 3 teaser trailer pic.twitter.com/BFByTLlBMa

— Miguel Lozada (@MLozada) November 1, 2021

 

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Europe-bound Soulemane Chabi Yo says pandemic forced him to leave UST

MANILA, Philippines — Soulemane Chabi Yo has decided to forego his final year with University of Santo Tomas, according to The Varsitarian, the school’s official publication, on Monday. Chabi Yo is reportedly heading to Europe to play for a fourth-tier team in Spain. “My plan was to finish my playing years in UST before leaving […]

The post Europe-bound Soulemane Chabi Yo says pandemic forced him to leave UST appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

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Moby calls on COP26 world leaders to negotiate plant based treaty

Moby has called on world leaders at this month’s COP26 to negotiate a treaty that will help shift the international community onto a plant-based diet.

READ MORE: Moby – ‘Reprise’ review: ‘Mr. Advertising’ doubles down on the background sounds

The electronic artist, who is vegan, has posted a video message urging world leaders to prioritise the move amid the “methane emergency”, which is a major component of climate change.

COP26, the UN’s climate change conference that’s being held in Glasgow, Scotland this November, will see leaders come together to set new targets for tackling rising global temperatures. Grassroots activists are launching the official Plant Based Treaty alongside the event as a companion to the Paris Climate Accords.

Moby said in his video message: “We face a climate catastrophe and especially a methane emergency. We need to strike a global agreement about a shift to a plant-based food system this year at COP26.

“We are on track to hit 1.5C warming around 2030 and 2C warming around 2040. This would lead to catastrophic climate impacts such as increased heat waves, more intense hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, food shortages, violent weather patterns, sea level rise, climate refugees, coral bleachings, and the ongoing mass extinctions of thousands, tens of thousands and millions of species.

“We need to address all three greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Our biggest chance of limiting temperature rises in the next 25 years is cutting methane.

“The Paris Agreement is completely silent on animal agriculture but a third of methane emissions come from animal agriculture. We can all make a difference. Fight climate change simply with diet change.

He rounded off his message with a plea for support from viewers.

Moby. (Credit: Mercury Studios)

The Plant Based Treaty seeks to; halt the expansion of animal agriculture and deforestation; incentivise a shift to a plant-based food system by redirecting subsidies, taxes and public information campaigns, and back reforestation and rewilding of land.

Global campaign coordinator Anita Krajnc said: “In the IPCC’s first Scientific Assessment report, the pre-industrial levels of methane were reported at 800 parts per billion, by 1990 they increased to 1720 and are currently at 1900, more than doubling. We are facing 1.5 degrees warming sooner because of the methane emergency. Moby is lending his celebrity status to raise the alarm bells on the looming climate catastrophe.”

Meanwhile, Moby released his 12th album ‘Reprise’ earlier this year, which features orchestral and acoustic arrangements of songs from his career.

In a three-star review, NME‘s Gary Ryan wrote: “By drilling down to the compositional basics of his songs and divesting them of production flourishes, he makes them feel even more like aural wallpaper.

“‘Reprise’ is full of dignified reworkings that don’t offer too many surprises, which – given he’s still weathering the backlash that greeted his 2019 memoir Then It Fell Apart – is perhaps the point.”

The post Moby calls on COP26 world leaders to negotiate plant based treaty appeared first on NME.

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Check out the best celebrity costumes of Halloween 2021

A whole host of musicians and actors dressed up to celebrate Halloween – see the best of the bunch below.

READ MORE: 66 killer songs for your Halloween playlist

After it was cancelled last year thanks to COVID, Harry Styles finally brought “Harryween” to New York’s Madison Square Gardens on October 30 for the first of two concerts at the venue. To celebrate the occasion, The Wizard Of Oz.

For night two, Styles dressed up as a clown and covered Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’.

Also taking to the stage for Halloween, Billie Eilish dressed up as Sally for a ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ concert while Ashnikko dressed up as a moth for a TikTok livestream.

@ashnikko

I’M LIVE-STREAMING ON TIK TOK IN 1 MINUTE!!!!!!

♬ Halloweenie IV: Innards – Ashnikko

Both Cardi B and Charli XCX dressed up as Morticia Addams, while Chrissy Teigen and John Legend made use of their kids to recreate the entire The Addams Family.

MORTICIA ADDAMS pic.twitter.com/brlGo1zEI4

— iamcardib (@iamcardib) October 31, 2021

Also getting into the early ’90s spirit was Kali Uchis, who dressed up as Agent Honeydew from Dexter’s Laboratory and Lauren Mayberry, who dressed up as Sarah Sanderson from Hocus Pocus. Her CHVRCHES bandmate Martin Doherty however took things back to the ’80 with his Teen Wolf costume.

Agent Honeydew lizta para jalowuin pic.twitter.com/X8X9Dm0SVy

— KALI UCHIS (@KALIUCHIS) November 1, 2021

Elsewhere, The Rolling StonesMick Jagger and Ronnie Wood took a break from their ‘No Filter’ tour to dress up in last-minute Halloween costumes.

Happy Halloween from Ronnie and me! pic.twitter.com/Scpz2FLEfO

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) October 31, 2021

Paul McCartney also left things to the last minute, sharing a tweet of him wearing a skeleton mask and wishing his followers a “scary Halloween”.

BOO! Have a scary Halloween – Paul pic.twitter.com/CS2yZ0lfi7

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) October 31, 2021

At the other end of the effort scale, Lil Nas X dressed up as Harry Potter’s nemesis Voldermort, even sharing a TikTok tutorial on how he got the impressive look

Ariana Grande also shared an extreme makeover, dressing up as both the titular character from The Creature From The Black Lagoon and Audrey from The Little Shop Of Horrors.

Also doubling up on costumes, Megan Thee Stallion transformed herself into Pinhead from The Hellraiser before channeling 101 Dalmatians‘ Cruella De Ville.

Lizzo was another star that had plenty of Halloween inspiration. First, she shared images of her out on the town as Baby Yoda before taking on Robin’s ex from cult ’90s film Bébé’s Kids.

In-between those two looks, she dressed up as the creepy doll from Netflix smash Squid Game and did the ‘Thriller’ dance onstage during her performance at Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.

Blackpink’s Lisa also took inspiration from Squid Game’s Red Light, Green Light ringleader for her costume.

Elsewhere, Yungblud dressed up as a devil while Yonaka’s Theresa Jarvis dressed up as Pennywise from It, and her bandmate Alex Crosby took on Edward Scissorhands.

Robert Irwin, son of famous Crocodile Hunter Steve, dressed up as Marvel character Loki while actress Mindy Kaling transformed herself into a strawberry.

Winning the award for most horrifying costume however was Muse’s Matt Bellamy, who dressed up as a deer hunter (taking influence from The Lost Boys‘ Edgar Frog) while his wife Elle and daughter Lovella wore deer costumes.

Earlier in the night, Bellamy had shared images of him dressed up as Captain Hook, with his wife playing Tinkerbell from Peter Pan.

Saweetie, meanwhile, may have won Halloween with her take on Catwoman, complete with guest appearance from Halle Belle (who played the role in the 2004 film of the same name).

The post Check out the best celebrity costumes of Halloween 2021 appeared first on NME.

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Madonna says there’s “no debate or discussion” over vaccines due to “cancel culture”

Madonna has said that there’s “no debate or discussion” over vaccines thanks to the fear permeated by “cancel culture”.

READ MORE: The ages of Madonna – the evolution of an icon

The singer said in a new interview that the vaccines debate, which includes jabs for COVID, is stilted due to what she believes is fear for being reprimanded by having certain opinions.

Asked by playwright Jeremy O Harris for V Magazine where peace exists in a world affected by a pandemic, Madonna replied: “It’s interesting because peace is subjective. The way people think about the pandemic, for instance, that the vaccination is the only answer or the polarisation of thinking you’re either on this side or the other. There’s no debate, there’s no discussion.”

She continued: “No one’s allowed to speak their mind right now. No one’s allowed to say what they really think about things for fear of being cancelled, cancel culture. In cancel culture, disturbing the peace is probably an act of treason.”

Harris then said that he believes that cancel culture isn’t as frightening as “some people feel it is”, to which Madonna replied: “The thing is, the quieter you get, the more fearful you get, the more dangerous anything is. We’re giving it power by shutting the fuck up completely.”

Madonna added that she is “frightened” by censorship.

For some morbid and eerie reason, Madonna decides to re-create Marilyn Monroe’s death bed. The black and white photo is actually Marilyn Monroe’s bedroom where she died. pic.twitter.com/beQJ1Av3Ij

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) October 29, 2021

The photo shoot that accompanied the interview was criticised last week for its allusion to Marilyn Monroe’s death and the actress’ final photo shoot.

Madonna is seen posing in similar positions to Monroe’s last shoot, Bert Stern’s The Last Sitting (1962), which was completed six weeks before the star’s death. In the photos Madonna wears blonde ringlets in the style on Monroe and lies on a hotel bed next to prescription pills.

Monroe died at the age of 36 from a prescription pill overdose. She was found dead in her bedroom the following morning on August 4, 1962.

Elsewhere, last year Madonna’s Instagram account was flagged for posting a coronavirus vaccine conspiracy.

According to the BBC, the ‘Madame X’ pop star claimed in a video upload that a COVID vaccine had already been discovered but was being kept under wraps in order to “let the rich get richer”.

The post was subsequently labelled by Instagram for containing “false information” and was deleted from Madonna’s profile, which is followed by over 15 million users.

Madonna speaks onstage during the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center on September 12, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Picture: John Shearer/MTV VMAs 2021/Getty Images for MTV/ViacomCBS)

In other news, the singer recently provided an update about her biopic.

Madonna announced in September that she is co-directing and co-writing the forthcoming film, which she recently described as a “visual autobiography”.

“Grateful for the success of Madame X, that my script is almost finished and for the support of my beautiful children!” she wrote online.

The post Madonna says there’s “no debate or discussion” over vaccines due to “cancel culture” appeared first on NME.

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Grammy NFTs On Deck After Recording Academy Strikes Deal With OneOf

The Recording Academy has struck a deal to release NFT collectibles for the next three Grammy Awards with NFT platform OneOf, the organization tells Billboard.

Details on the collection, which will include digital collectibles and experiences celebrating Grammy winners and nominees, will be unveiled in January. The Recording Academy says a portion of the proceeds from the NFT sales will go to its scholarship fund.

OneOf is billed as an environmentally friendly NFT platform designed specifically with the music industry in mind. The platform doesn’t charge its artist and creator partners any minting fees to create NFTs — which can be expensive when you’re minting hundreds or thousands of NFTs — and the company says it uses 2 million times less energy than blockchain networks like Ethereum, the network most NFTs utilize. (OneOf operates on the Tezos blockchain protocol.) OneOf also accepts credit and debit cards, which should lower the barrier of entry for the average fan.

“In considering a NFT partner, we were committed to working with a like-minded organization that had an artist-first approach and we have undoubtedly found that in OneOf,” Panos A. Panay, co-president of the Recording Academy said in a statement. “As an Academy, we are always looking for ways to help artists discover new forms of creative expression, while also creating new ways of income generation and ways for fans to interact with the artists that they love. OneOf shares that vision, and we are proud to work with a sustainable NFT company.”

The exclusive partnership will cover the 64th, 65th and 66th Annual Grammy Awards, a win for the NFT upstart which is backed by Quincy Jones. OneOf has already locked up partnerships with the iHeartRadio Music Festival as its official collectibles partner and notable artists including Doja Cat and The Game have released NFTs on the platform. Alesso, Charlie Puth, H.E.R. and Jacob Collier have also signed on to release NFTs through OneOf. The startup raised $63 million in seed funding earlier this year.

“If used to their full potential, NFTs will empower the music industry in a way few other technologies ever have,” Lin Dai, Adam Fell and Joshua James, Co-Founders of OneOf said in a statement. “It is our great honor to work with this prestigious organization to help shepherd this bright future to the industry.”

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