Mercury Studios, which is a part of Universal Music Group, has announced that they will be making a special documentary about the world famous recording studio Abbey Road. This documentary titled, If These Walls Could Sing, will be directed by none other than Mary McCartney, Paul McCartney’s daughter.

The documentary will provide viewers with a behind the scenes tour of the studio along with a history of the famous space and it’s most illustrious guests. Some of the biggest names in the music industry have recorded there and some of the most famous albums of all time have come out of Abbey Road Studios. The final studio album by The Beatles was named Abbey Road after the street that the studio is located on. In turn, the studio formerly known as EMI recording studios was renamed Abbey Road Studios to pay tribute to the global superstar band. The Beatles may have put the recording studio on the map but since then artists such as Pink Floyd, Florence + The Machine, The Cranberries, Kanye West, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Oasis, Amy Winehouse, Adele and Lady Gaga have recorded there. 

If These Walls Could Sing will be released in November of 2021 which will coincide with the studio’s 90th anniversary. 

2021 Grammys Postponed

The 2021 Grammys which were originally scheduled to take place January 31st, will be postponed until March 14th, 2021 due to recent COVID related concerns surrounding the city of Los Angeles. It was announced January 5th by the Recording Academy, the organization that is in charge of setting up the award ceremony, in a joint statement with CBS that the most anticipated music award ceremony of the year would be postponed. 

“The deteriorating COVID situation in Los Angeles, with hospital services being overwhelmed, ICUs having reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have all led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do.”

The Recording Academy was originally planning to host the Grammys without spectators or nominated artists and only having those that are scheduled to present an award or perform in attendance. This still appears to be the plan for the Academy to meet social distancing and other COVID requirements for the show. 

This will be a strange music award ceremony to cap off a strange year for sure. Some of the biggest names in the music industry have been nominated for the 2021 Grammys including: Post Malone, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, Black Pumas, Coldplay, Phoebe Bridgers, Noah Cyrus, Harry Styles, Doja Cat, Lady Gaga and many many more.

Neil Young Sells 50% of Songwriting Catalog to Hipgnosis

Neil Young has reportedly sold a 50% stake of his songwriting catalog to the Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Hipgnosis is a song investment and management company founded by long-time music manager, Merck Mercuriadis and Chic guitarist and Daft Punk collaborator, Nile Rodgers in 2018. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange later that year. Approximately 1200 of Neil Young’s songs were purchased in the deal. Although the financial terms were not disclosed, the size of the deal is estimated to be over $100mm.

Young was in the rare position of owning both the publisher’s share and the artist’s share of his songwriting catalog and has been notoriously conservative about allowing for commercial use of his music. Reports indicate that he will retain some control over the administration of his work but no details have been confirmed by either party.

Young’s catalog is the newest addition to Hipgnosis but the acquisitions of the catalogs of Lindsey Buckingham and the production royalties of Jimmy Iovine were announced only a few days prior. Hipgnosis has been acquiring numerous songwriting catalogs and other assets over the past two years including those of Skrillex, Timbaland, The Chainsmokers, Blondie, 50 Cent and many more.

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