Showbiz Sandbox 477: The Recording Academy Upstages Itself During Grammy Week
January 21, 2020
Even before this year’s Grammys are handed out next Sunday the Recording Academy is making headlines, not necessarily in a good way. In a controversial move, the organization put its CEO Deborah Dugan on administrative leave after less than six months on the job, citing reports of alleged misconduct. However, this came after Dugan sent a memo to the academy’s board highlighting voting irregularities, financial mismanagement, exorbitant legal bills as well as conflicts of interest with the organization’s board members, executive committee and outside lawyers.
It will take some time to sort out what is actually going on within the Recording Academy’s executive ranks, though we should know who takes home the Album of the Year Grammy by next week. If the academy plays it safe, it just might be Vampire Weekend, but we think Lizzo should be a frontrunner.
Meanwhile, Chinese New Year is upon us, the biggest movie-going week in the Middle Kingdom. As usual the country has blacked out Hollywood film releases to help bolster attendance of homegrown movies. Yet this may not even be necessary since lately domestic titles are doing better than imported content.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Netflix plans to spend billions on content and why we might be headed for another writers strike.
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Disney Drops Fox From Names of Studios It Bought From Rupert Murdoch
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/business/media/disney-fox-name.html
Comscore Worldwide Box Office
https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Rankings#tab_worldwide_box_office
Box Office: ‘Frozen 2’ Tops $1.4B As ‘Jumanji 3’ Tops $700M Worldwide
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2020/01/19/frozen-2-jumanji-3-1917-knives-out-bombshell-parasite-jojo-rabbit-little-women-oscars-box-office/
China’s Blockbuster Lineup Signals Tough Year for Hollywood
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-14/china-s-blockbuster-film-lineup-signals-tough-year-for-hollywood
‘Parasite,’ ‘Jojo Rabbit’ Win ACE Eddie Awards for Top Feature Films
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/parasite-jojo-rabbit-win-ace-eddie-awards-feature-films-1203471705/
SAG Awards: ‘Parasite’ Wins Top Film Prize; ‘Crown’ and ‘Mrs. Maisel’ Named Best Drama, Comedy Series
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2020-sag-awards-winners-complete-list-1269687
2020 PGA Awards: ‘1917’ Takes Home the Top Prize
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/01/pga-producers-guild-awards-full-list-winners-film-1202204375/
A Record Four Movies With 10+ Nominations & The ‘Parasite’ Factor Means This Thing Is As Wide Open As It Gets
https://deadline.com/2020/01/oscars-wide-open-race-sets-record-nominations-joker-parasite-1202828765/
Hollywood Is Again Bracing for a Writers’ Strike
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-01-18/hollywood-wga-strike-preparation-goodman
‘The Culling Has Begun’: Inside the iHeartMedia Layoffs
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/iheartmedia-mass-layoffs-937513/
International Theater Attendees Reach Record High in Broadway League Survey
https://broadwaynews.com/2020/01/13/international-theater-attendees-reach-record-high-in-broadway-league-survey/
Netflix Projected to Spend More Than $17 Billion on Content in 2020
https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/netflix-2020-content-spending-17-billion-1203469237/
2020 Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Announced
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nine-inch-nails-notorious-big-whitney-houston-rock-hall-of-fame-937737/
Songwriters Hall of Fame 2020 Inductees
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8548194/2020-songwriters-hall-of-fame-inductees
Justin Bieber in Spotify Stream-Gaming Controversy As He Directs Fans to Play New Single On Repeat
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/justin-bieber-in-spotify-stream-gaming-controversy-as-he-directs-fans-to-play-new-single-on-repeat/
Recording Academy President Placed on Administrative Leave a Week Before Grammys
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/recording-academy-president-deborah-dugan-placed-administrative-leave-a-week-before-grammys-1270608
Nancy Lewis, the Pythons’ Ticket to America, Dies at 76
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/arts/television/nancy-lewis-dead.html
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