We've got you covered weekly for all the best moments in pop culture from Halsey to Luke Combs, rom-coms to horror and The Bachelor to Yellowstone. This is your rundown, providing you with the moments of the last 7 and a preview of the next 7.
Music Beat
Eminem Surprise-Releases New Album ‘Music to Be Murdered By’
Eminem surprise-released his 11th album on midnight Thursday, ending weeks of rumors on when the rapper would unveil the follow-up to 2018’s Kamikaze. The 20-song album features several guest appearances by Ed Sheeran, Black Thought, Q-Tip, Royce Da 5’9″, Anderson .Paak, Young M.A. and a posthumous appearance by Juice WRLD.
The rapper also unveiled the anti-gun violence video for “Darkness.” What starts off as a song about loneliness and the weight of solitude leads to a tale of a man murdering people with guns as his outlet. The clip is an homage the 2017 Route 91 Harvest music festival shooting in Las Vegas, where a gunman opened fire from his hotel room and killed 58 people before killing himself.
Eminem announced the album on Twitter by sharing its cover art and writing, “It’s your funeral…
Ed Sheeran Forced To Reveal His Concert Revenues by a Federal Judge
A new judicial order relating to the “Thinking Out Loud” copyright infringement lawsuit is forcing singer Ed Sheeran to reveal his concert revenue and expenses. Multiple plaintiffs are currently suing Sheeran over his hit song, believing that it infringes on Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” which was written by the late songwriter Ed Townsend. The plaintiffs are demanding to know just how much money Sheeran has earned from performances of the song. This includes not just ticket sales but also merchandise sold during the shows.
Donald Zakarin, who is Sheeran’s lawyer, made a number of arguments against making the disclosure. He first argued that there was no “causal nexus” between concert income and the claimed infringement. But he also insisted that Sheeran had a right to perform “Thinking Out Loud” even if it infringed on “Let’s Get It On” because of blanket performance licenses Sheeran had from the organization that holds the rights to Gaye’s song.
In his ten-page opinion, the judge is requiring Sheeran to provide financial data about his concerts, including revenue and expenses.
He wrote, “[T]he defendants’ argument lacks a foundation. There is no ‘right’ to infringe. BMI’s and ASCAP’s blanket and venue licenses could not grant a right to infringe, for there never was one. Absent inapplicable exceptions, neither the author nor any licensee of an infringing work has the right to perform it publicly.”
The judge continued with, “BMI’s and ASCAP’s blanket licenses conveyed to licensees the authors’ rights to perform their songs. They did not convey the consent of any author to play music which infringes his songs. And the licenses do not transform an infringing work into one that could not, as a matter of law, be infringing.”
Notable Single Releases This Week
2 Chains - Dead Man Walking ft. Future (Capitol Records) (Jan. 10)
Hayley Kiyoko - she (WEA International Inc., Warner Music Group, EMPIRE & Atlantic Records) (Jan. 14)
blackbear - me & ur ghost (Alamo Records & Interscope Records) (Jan. 16)
Lauv - Tattoos Together (Kobalt (AWAL Digital Limited) (on behalf of Lauv)) (Jan. 16)
The 1975 - Me & You Together Song (Interscope Records, Polydor Records & Dirty Hit) (Jan. 16)
BTS - Black Swan (Big Hit Entertainment) (Jan. 17)
Jonas Brothers - What A Man Gotta Do (Republic Records) (Jan. 17)
John K & Kelsea Ballerini - If We Never Met (Epic Records/Sony Music Entertainment) (Jan. 17)
Louis Tomlinson - Walls (Syco Records & Sony Music Entertainment) (Jan. 17)
TV Today
Netflix Unveils Paris Office, New French Originals
The streaming giant is making a major European push as new studio competitors enter the SVOD market.
Netflix kicked off 2020 with a bang in Paris on Friday (01/17/20), as CEO Reed Hastings opened the company's new French headquarters and unveiled a slate of original French TV series and films.
Amelie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet will make Big Bug, his long-in-development “science fiction comedy with robots,” for Netflix. The project had been turned down by most of France's major studios, who didn't see its commercial potential. Elsa Zylberstein, Isabelle Nanty and Manu Payet will star.
Other French projects announced Friday include a six-part series from Call My Agent! writer Fanny Herrero about four young comedians trying to make it in the Paris stand-up scene; the action film Sentinelle starring Olga Kurylenko from director Julien Leclercq (The Assault); and the second season of YA sci-fi series Mortel.
Netflix has already announced some 20 French originals, including the Damien Chazelle-directed The Eddy, created by Jack Thorne, set in the French jazz scene, which stars Leïla Bekhti and Tahar Rahim; Arsène Lupin, starring Omar Sy and created by George Kay in collaboration with François Uzanand; and the historical thriller La Révolution created by Aurélien Molas (Red Creek).
Netflix will also also continue working with film school La Femis to support an 11-month full-time training course. The streaming giant also pledged to continue its work with the Gobelins animation school, funding four-year scholarships for five students as part of their Master of Arts in Character Animation and Animated Filmmaking.
CW Mid-Season Premieres This Week (& The Next)
All of your favorite CW shows are making their mid-season returns over the next few weeks. This week saw the return of Nancy Drew on Wednesday, along with Supernatural and Legacies on Thursday. Friday's primetime lineup features Charmed (8/7c) and Dynasty (9/8c).
In the middle of the month, there will be a crushing turn of events for Arrow fans as the show takes its last run of episodes post-Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. The show will be followed by DC's Legends of Tomorrow at 9 p.m.
See the full schedule of mid-season premieres below:
Sunday, Jan. 19
8/7c: Batwoman
8/9c: Supergirl
Monday, Jan. 20
8/7c: All American
8/9c: Black Lightning
Tuesday, Jan. 21
8/7c: Arrow
8/9c: DC's Legends of Tomorrow
Wednesday, Jan. 22
8/7c: Riverdale
Tuesday, Feb. 4
8/7c: The Flash
Opening This Week In Martin
Bad Boys For Life (Now Playing)
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